Territory and Tension

“Really? He tried to imprint on you? When you were just high schoolers?”

“It was kind of a joke. His pheromone glands were a mess, just like yours. So he said he’d rather just imprint on me and be done with it—”

CRASH!

Dae-eon’s lips snapped shut. The sound that erupted right beside him was violent. He whipped his head around to see Seon Ji-ha standing there with his head bowed low, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

At his feet lay the phone—the one he had supposedly sourced parts for all the way from America.

“Senior? Did you drop your phone?”

Startled, Dae-eon hurried over and picked it up. The screen wasn’t just cracked; it was pulverized, bits of glass falling away like dust. Dae-eon looked at the wreckage in shock.

“You didn’t just drop this, did you? It looks like it was hurled into the ground.”

“Dae-eon, be careful or you’ll cut your hand,” Jung Yoon-ki warned.

“Oh, right. Senior, are you okay?”

Dae-eon held the phone with both hands, remembering late that this device represented a significant amount of money and effort despite its dated appearance. He carefully tried to hand it back to Ji-ha.

Ji-ha didn’t take it. He glared at the phone resting in Dae-eon’s palm as if the device itself were Yoon Ju-myeong, the guy from the story.

“……Did you imprint……?”

“Huh? Imprint? Suddenly? Oh, you mean Ju-myeong?”

That was all Ji-ha managed to squeeze out. He finally looked up, his eyes rimmed with a raw, reddish heat.

“Of course not! Why would high schoolers get married?”

“……Marriage……”

“Nowadays people say even married couples don’t imprint. Who just dives into imprinting? Only reckless kids do that.”

Ji-ha exhaled a slow, heavy breath. A faint trace of relief was mingled in that sigh.

Dae-eon, finding Ji-ha’s behavior odd, offered the phone one last time. He figured someone as attached to their things as Ji-ha might still try to salvage it.

“Senior, take it. You’re going to fix it and use it again, right?”

“……No.”

“Eh? Then what?”

“I don’t care if it’s thrown away……”

Ji-ha looked indifferently at the phone on Dae-eon’s palm. It was an object he had cherished—or so Dae-eon thought. Ji-ha was a man of habit who usually kept everything he owned, tucking away old items in deep drawers even after they were useless.

But now, none of that mattered.

“Are you really throwing it away?”

“Yes. Throw it away.”

Dae-eon, who had seen enough of Ji-ha to know about his peculiar attachments, tilted his head in confusion. He walked toward the hallway with his bag, tossed the shattered phone into a nearby trash can, and watched it land with a dull thud. Ji-ha didn’t even give it a second glance.

His eyes remained fixed solely on Dae-eon.

“Senior, let’s go eat then. You’re coming to my place, right?”

“……Yes……”

“Jung Yoon-ki, let’s go. The others are already way ahead.”

Dae-eon hurried after Oh Dong-chol and Kim Ye-jun. Ji-ha followed right at his heels. Jung Yoon-ki watched the two of them in silence.

**************************************

The Housewarming

“Let’s order on the way. What do you guys want?”

“Mat-tteok for four! Level 5 spiciness!”

“There are five of us, why are you only ordering for four?” Dae-eon asked, opening his delivery app.

“Delivery tteokbokki portions are huge,” Dong-chol grumbled. “And I don’t eat much, so honestly, even three portions would be enough.”

“That’s you. I eat a ton,” Ye-jun countered.

“Why do you eat so much when you’re as skinny as a rail?”

“Is there a law saying skinny people can’t eat?”

Leaving the two to bicker, Dae-eon added two portions of Level 5 tteokbokki to his cart. He then turned to Ji-ha and Yoon-ki, who were following a step behind.

“Senior, can you handle spicy food? What about you, Yoon-ki?”

“I’m okay, I guess. But if it’s too spicy, my stomach hurts.”

“……I’m not good with spice……”

As expected. Dae-eon added two portions of Level 1 “mild” tteokbokki for them. He figured he could eat either, so it didn’t matter which side he joined.

By the time he finished ordering some fried sides, they had reached the supermarket at the crossroads. Dong-chol, who was leading the pack, turned around.

“Yoon-deon, where to from here?”

“Down that alley. It’s called Haneul Villa.”

“Wow, this alley is narrow. Must be creepy at night.”

“But it’s cheap.”

After his parents passed away, Dae-eon had looked into the value of the villa. The alley was dirty and there was no elevator, but for the price, it was unbeatable.

They arrived in front of Haneul Villa. The parking area was cramped—too small for five grown men to stand comfortably.

As Dae-eon stepped forward to punch in the passcode for the main entrance, Ji-ha pressed close behind him. It looked almost as if he were trying to hide Dae-eon from everyone else’s sight. Yoon-ki narrowed his eyes at the display.

Dae-eon pressed the buttons, and the glass door creaked open. Suddenly, he stopped.

“Ah. I just remembered, I’m out of water at home.”

“What? What about the Cool-Juice? Did you not order the Cool-Juice?”

“I forgot that too.”

“Dude, if you eat Level 5 Mat-tteok without anything to drink, you will literally die.”

Living alone and spending most of his time out, Dae-eon had overlooked his stock. He scratched the back of his head. “I’ll run to the convenience store and grab some drinks. I’ll be right back.”

“You’re the host, you can’t leave us in your house alone. Forget it, I’ll go,” Dong-chol said, already turning around. “Just water and Cool-Juice, right?”

“Uh…… yeah, thanks.”

“Shouldn’t we get a six-pack of 2-liter bottles?” Yoon-ki chimed in. “That’ll be too heavy for Dong-chol alone. I’ll go with him.”

Dong-chol, barely over 160cm with thin arms, probably couldn’t carry a six-pack of water and the juices alone. Dae-eon was about to suggest Ye-jun go along too, but Yoon-ki spoke first.

“Senior Seon Ji-ha, do you want to come too? I want to buy some Coke and more juice.”

“……I don’t want to……”

“Oh, right! You should go with the Senior. He’s incredibly strong,” Dae-eon said.

Ji-ha’s refusal was lightheartedly ignored. Kim Ye-jun, who hated chores and hassles more than anything, had already slipped inside the building, glad to be exempt from the errand.

Dae-eon waved at the three. “I paid for the tteokbokki, so I’m counting on you guys for the drinks!”

“Yeah, head on up.”

Dae-eon went up with Ye-jun. Ji-ha, who had desperately wanted to stay with Dae-eon, watched him disappear behind the glass door with a devastated expression. He muttered to himself:

“We could have just ordered the water for delivery……”

“Delivery? Senior, don’t you not have a phone right now?”

“……Ah.”

Yoon-ki, who had somehow heard Ji-ha’s whisper, reminded him that his phone was currently in pieces in a trash can because he couldn’t control his temper. Ji-ha let out a long, defeated sigh.

Watching him, Yoon-ki suddenly turned to Dong-chol. “Dong-chol, why don’t you go pick up the tteokbokki?”

“Huh? The tteokbokki?”

“Yeah, the shop is right in front of the crossroads. You can just grab the takeout.”

“Is that okay……?”

“Just call Dae-eon and have him change it to pickup.”

After a moment’s thought, Dong-chol agreed. He pulled out his phone to call Dae-eon and disappeared toward the main road.

Now, only Jung Yoon-ki and Seon Ji-ha remained in the villa’s parking lot.

The nearest supermarket was less than two minutes away, but Yoon-ki made no move to rush. Instead, he stared at Seon Ji-ha.

Ji-ha seemed to have no intention of moving either, staring up at the villa where Dae-eon and Ye-jun had gone. His sharp gaze flickered behind his long hair.

Suddenly, Yoon-ki asked:

“Does it make you that anxious to have Dae-eon alone in a house with another Alpha?”

Snap.

At Yoon-ki’s words, Ji-ha finally turned his head. He didn’t speak; he simply looked at Yoon-ki with cold, silent eyes.

Meeting that gaze, Yoon-ki felt goosebumps erupt along his arms. He couldn’t quite explain why. The way Ji-ha looked at Dae-eon and the way he was looking at him now were entirely different. The expressionless face of this “loner senior” felt fundamentally off.

Facing that gaze, Yoon-ki couldn’t hold back the question he had been harboring.

“Senior, have you imprinted on Yoon Dae-eon?”