You’re Not Getting Rid of Me That Easily

Jeongha carefully parked the car in the parking lot of Haeyoon’s building, then turned to look at the passenger seat and let out a small laugh.
Haeyoon, his thin frame curled up, was fast asleep.
On the way back home in the car, perhaps because the tension had been released, Haeyoon had kept dozing off, his head nodding heavily.
Even when Jeongha suggested he recline his seat and sleep comfortably, Haeyoon stubbornly insisted he couldn’t fall asleep next to the driver.
He tried hard to stay awake.
In the end, he still fell asleep like this.
“Why are you so cute.”
Jeongha muttered to himself.
The way he resisted and resisted falling asleep, only to eventually lose the battle and drift off—why did that come across as cute?
“…….”
Then, a moment later, he felt a surge of tenderness.
The cheek where his hair had fallen was gaunter than when Jeongha had first seen him.
He knew Haeyoon hadn’t enjoyed a single moment from beginning to end.
It was obvious he hadn’t been sleeping or eating properly.
The desire to get back what was taken from him, and the thought of whether he should go this far against people he had truly loved, must have clashed at every turn.
Seo Haeyoon wasn’t the kind of person who used his own pain as an excuse to avoid anguish.
How difficult must today have been for someone like that?
There was surely some satisfaction, but it couldn’t have been purely enjoyable.
In the silence, Jeongha reached out toward Haeyoon’s face.
His hand hesitated just before touching, then carefully brushed aside the fallen hair before gently cupping his pale cheek.
Expecting rough skin from exhaustion, he was surprised by how soft it felt against his palm.
As if feeling the touch, Haeyoon shifted slightly.
This allowed Jeongha to see his face better, and his long lashes, fluttering with each breath, stirred Jeongha’s vision.
He was beautiful.
That was the entirety of Jeongha’s sentiment in that moment.
He had met many Omegas known for their looks, but Seo Haeyoon possessed a unique aura.
Unparalleled.
And yet, to have someone so beautiful.
To have someone so beautiful, so interesting, so lovable.
Just as he was losing himself in a chain of thoughts and unconsciously leaning slightly toward Haeyoon—
“Mmm….”
With a small sound, Haeyoon stirred and opened his eyes.
Startled, Jeongha quickly withdrew his hand.
Rather than bewilderment over what he had been about to do, a stronger wave of regret washed over him.
What had been a vague desire was rapidly growing stronger and more concrete.
He wanted to be closer.
He wanted to know Seo Haeyoon beyond anything to do with Oh Jaeyeol or Ahn Seonwoo.
“Ah… did I fall asleep?”
Haeyoon asked, now fully awake, as Jeongha quietly processed the realization flooding over him.
Jeongha nodded lightly.
“Yeah. You slept a little.”
“Ah, sorry. I tried not to, really….”
“It’s fine. I told you to sleep.”
“Still….”
Haeyoon ducked his head slightly, embarrassed.
Falling asleep in the passenger seat was truly rare for him, so he must have been more tense today than he realized.
Haeyoon straightened his tousled hair and clothes, then unbuckled his seatbelt and continued.
“Thanks for the ride. Not just today, but for everything this whole time… I really owe you.”
“…….”
“Thanks to you, I was able to get through today… I don’t think I could have done it without you, Jeongha.”
Jeongha furrowed his brow slightly.
Being thanked was familiar, but it was the tone that bothered him.
Didn’t it sound like a farewell to someone you no longer needed to see?
“Are you throwing me away?”
Jeongha blurted out, half on impulse.
Haeyoon, who had been looking down, quickly met his eyes.
Without giving him a moment to breathe, Jeongha pressed on.
“Now that the wedding is over, are you throwing me away because you don’t need me anymore? Not even wanting to see me?”
Haeyoon, whose expression usually seemed ready to spit out something like ‘So what?’ or a cold dismissal, widened his eyes and clenched his fists.
“Why are you saying it like that? Throw you away—who am I to throw you away?”
“You’re doing it right now.”
“That’s not what I meant… This was a contract we started for today, and also….”
“Also?”
“You’re the one who wants to keep seeing me?”
Jeongha shrugged as if the question itself was absurd.
“Is there a reason I wouldn’t?”
“…Well, you only got involved in the first place because you were bored and thought it would be fun.”
But at Haeyoon’s following blunt truth, Jeongha had no retort.
He was the one who had consistently said that their circumstances didn’t matter much to him, that he was only agreeing because it seemed interesting.
“The most interesting part is over now, so I thought you wouldn’t want to waste any more time.”
Even regarding an event that had turned his life upside down, Seo Haeyoon casually used the phrase ‘waste time.’
There was no particular self-derision or self-pity in his voice.
It was simply a statement of fact, devoid of any emotion beyond that.
It was Baek Jeongha who became anxious.
If he couldn’t convince him, it seemed Seo Haeyoon would truly live without ever seeing him again.
He looked like someone who would be fine either way.
He thought he held the sword handle, yet when he came to his senses, it was Baek Jeongha anxiously fearing he might be cut by the blade.
After swallowing dryly and collecting his thoughts for a moment, Jeongha finally spoke.
“Fine. It’s true I started it for fun.”
“Yeah. So.”
“But do you really think I was only ever joking around?”
This time, Baek Jeongha’s eyes grew unusually heavy.
Baek Jeongha trusted Seo Haeyoon.
He was someone who always treated people sincerely, and thus valued sincerity in return.
The only thing that would reach Seo Haeyoon was sincerity itself.
“Do you really think I only treated your feelings like a game? Do you really?”
“…….”
Haeyoon couldn’t answer easily.
Jeongha let out a silent sigh of relief.
He had spoken boldly, but he’d worried that if Haeyoon hadn’t noticed his change at all…
Taking the silence as courage, Jeongha continued.
“I genuinely think you’re a good person, and I genuinely enjoyed the time we spent together.”
“Jeongha….”
“Just because we started with a purpose, can we never even be friends?”
‘Friends.’
The moment he uttered the word, his tongue tasted bitter.
Honestly, Jeongha himself wasn’t yet clear on what he wanted with Seo Haeyoon, but he was at least sure it wasn’t just friendship.
He just needed to pace himself.
He needed time to figure out what he actually wanted with Haeyoon, and Haeyoon, wounded by people, needed time to let his walls down.
“Do you really want to cut ties so quickly?”
He deliberately made his final question sound a bit more vulnerable.
He hoped the soft-hearted Haeyoon would see him as a younger person who needed a little more care.
Image rehabilitation could come later, any time.
Haeyoon silently moved his fingertips, resting on his knee.
The fact that he was hesitating was a good sign.
If he truly had no feelings for him, Seo Haeyoon was someone who could be perfectly firm.
“Well, I suppose… we can be friends.”
Finally, a favorable answer emerged from Haeyoon’s lips.
Jeongha looked satisfied, but Haeyoon felt a bit uneasy.
Haeyoon struggled with unpredictability in life.
He wasn’t quick to react or adapt.
Sudden variables always made him tense and uneasy.
But what about Baek Jeongha?
He was practically the embodiment of unpredictability and variables.
He had reconnected with someone he never thought he’d meet again in his life, doing things he never thought he’d do, and grew close at a speed he’d never experienced before.
There were fun and fascinating moments.
But at the same time, each moment pushed him into unfamiliar territory, keeping him tense.
Whether he liked it or not, whether he wanted to continue or stop—it wasn’t clear yet.
If that was the case, it was probably alright to find out a little more.
Haeyoon decided to postpone making a decision about this relationship for the time being.
“And why are you so sure all the fun parts are over?”
Having regained his composure the moment Haeyoon gave his permission, Jeongha calmly posed his next question.
“I have a feeling there’s still something left.”
“Well… They’re married now, and I don’t want to be entangled with them anymore. Whether it’s revenge or not, it doesn’t matter to me now.”
“That may be true. But that’s from your perspective.”
Baek Jeongha’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“What about them? They might feel differently.”
Seo Haeyoon was that kind of person.
If they hadn’t kept pushing him, he wouldn’t have even considered messing with them, whether the cheating couple got married or not.
Jeongha knew that.
But what about Ahn Seonwoo?
Would someone who had the man he’d obsessed over stolen by the man he’d looked down on, and been humiliated at his own wedding, simply back down now?
Seo Haeyoon hadn’t truly known Ahn Seonwoo for a long time, but Baek Jeongha had experienced Ahn Seonwoo’s true nature enough.
Considering the inferiority he showed toward Haeyoon and the obsession he showed toward himself, there was no way this was the end.
He was certain of that.
The one Jeongha found harder to predict was Oh Jaeyeol.
He couldn’t easily guess what his reaction would be after today.
When they greeted each other, Jaeyeol had sensed Jeongha’s pheromones and made a displeased face.
It wasn’t simply because another Alpha’s scent was unpleasant.
As a fellow Alpha, Jeongha could sense the subtle rivalry in him.
Whether it was lingering feelings or simply wounded pride as an Alpha, one thing was clear: this probably wasn’t the end for Oh Jaeyeol either.
“You’ll see. It’s going to get more interesting from now on.”
Seo Haeyoon certainly hadn’t intended for it to come to this, but the storm had already begun.
Jeongha was ready to willingly be swept away.