The Approaching Rut

“Ah, I told you we should have had the porridge too.”

“I’m about to burst! And have you no shame? We stayed at the salad bar for over two hours!”

“They said there was no time limit.”

“This is why Alphas are like this. Not a shred of social awareness.”

The meal lasted longer than expected. Because of the nature of shabu-shabu, it took time. To eat until all five of them were satisfied and full, they had to occupy the table for quite a while.

“Wow, the sun’s already set.”

“Ice cream on the way back to the dorms?”

“Go. Loser of rock-paper-scissors pays.”

Oh Dong-cheol and Kim Ye-jun, whose directions were slightly different, parted ways shortly after leaving the department store. While Yoon Dae-eon was waving softly at the two, Jeong Yun-gi also approached him.

“Dae-eon, I have somewhere to go today, so I can’t go with you.”

“Somewhere to go?”

“Yeah. I decided to go sleep at my dad’s place.”

The term ‘dad’s place’ instead of ‘home’ felt a bit awkward, but Yoon Dae-eon didn’t pry. Instead, he offered something else.

“It’s dark out, can you get there alone? Is it far? Should I take you?”

“It’s okay. You sound just like my dad, Dae-eon.”

“I think I understand why your father worries.”

“What? Pfft, ah, Yoon Dae-eon. You really are…….”

Jeong Yun-gi smiled, his eyes crinkling, and reached out instinctively. Whenever he talked to Yoon Dae-eon, there were moments he felt such warm consideration. Just like now.

However, the hand reaching for Yoon Dae-eon’s hair failed. Seon Ji-ha, who had been standing a step behind Yoon Dae-eon, had quietly pushed his hand away.

It wasn’t a hit loud enough to make a slapping sound, just a push, but the strength behind it was immense.

Oops, almost made a mistake. Thinking this to himself, Jeong Yun-gi hurriedly withdrew his hand.

“Anyway, I’m going. And about that relationship advice you asked me for, make sure to resolve it quickly!”

“Huh? Yun-gi, wait, no, ah…….”

Jeong Yun-gi left, leaving behind only the ambiguous phrase ‘relationship advice.’ Left alone with Seon Ji-ha, Yoon Dae-eon carefully read his expression before saying:

“Shall we go too?”

“……Yes.”

They walked for a while. During that time, Seon Ji-ha didn’t say a word.

For some reason, Yoon Dae-eon felt a strange sensation. He must have heard the words ‘relationship advice’ from Jeong Yun-gi a moment ago; why wasn’t he asking anything? He wiggled the hand he had been holding with Seon Ji-ha’s.

In response, Seon Ji-ha pressed down on it, as if to thoroughly block the movement. Yoon Dae-eon let out a groan without realizing it.

“Ugh.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…….”

Seon Ji-ha, who had been lost in thought, hurriedly let go. Only then did Yoon Dae-eon realize that Seon Ji-ha had been preoccupied the whole time. Come to think of it, he had been like this since they met at the department store.

“Sunbae, you’re a bit strange today.”

“…….”

“You were like this while eating, too. You hardly ate anything unless I put it on your plate.”

Seon Ji-ha’s place wasn’t that far from the department store. Thanks to that, the tall building where he lived soon came into view. When they finally arrived in front of the apartment, instead of going straight in, Yoon Dae-eon stopped and started a conversation.

“What’s wrong? I’m worried.”

“……Dae-eon…….”

Seon Ji-ha, who had merely called his name in a low voice, bit his lower lip hard for a moment.

Because he was looking down, Yoon Dae-eon couldn’t see his eyes. Yoon Dae-eon leaned down slightly and turned his head back and forth to try and meet Seon Ji-ha’s gaze.

“Yes, I’m here. Please tell me.”

The Yoon Dae-eon he met eyes with was consistently kind. He was no different from his usual self. Watching him swallow, Seon Ji-ha slowly opened his mouth.

“……I’m anxious…….”

“Anxious? Why?”

“When I can’t see you, Dae-eon, I feel anxious and restless…….”

Seon Ji-ha pressed down on the hand he was still holding. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but it was hard enough to make it difficult for Yoon Dae-eon to pull away.

How much should I tell him? Seon Ji-ha’s brain spun furiously. He intended to reveal just enough truth to stir Yoon Dae-eon’s sympathy.

“Hmm, I wonder what the reason is. Come to think of it, Sunbae, you threw away the attachment blanket you had on the sofa, too, didn’t you? Because you said you didn’t need it anymore.”

“……Even looking at that, I didn’t feel stable……. That’s why I threw it away.”

Yoon Dae-eon, who had been watching Seon Ji-ha’s eyes, realized that, unlike usual, they were trembling. What is making him so anxious? Pondering this, Yoon Dae-eon lifted their joined hands.

Eventually, he brought the back of Seon Ji-ha’s hand to his own face. The back of his hand, with its prominent veins, touched his soft cheek.

“I’m right here, Sunbae.”

“…….”

“You don’t have to be that anxious. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

With his cheek pressed against Seon Ji-ha’s hand, Yoon Dae-eon beamed. At that, the trembling in Seon Ji-ha’s gaze vanished.

However, Seon Ji-ha’s lips began to dry up completely. Yoon Dae-eon couldn’t tell the subtle difference. He didn’t even know that Seon Ji-ha was biting the inside of his lips.

“……Dae-eon.”

“Yes, Sunbae.”

“Now…… go to Dae-eon’s house.”

Seon Ji-ha slowly lowered his eyes. His black pupils vanished for a moment.

“……What? Sunbae, what did you say?”

“Go home today.”

“Why?”

“…….”

Seon Ji-ha didn’t answer. Instead, he just urged Yoon Dae-eon to hurry and go.

Watching him, who was acting strangely today, Yoon Dae-eon finally relented. Yeah, he might need some time alone. However, he had to suppress the strange sense of disappointment rising within him.

Yoon Dae-eon forced a smile and let go of his hand. It seemed like Seon Ji-ha’s hand trembled slightly as their fingertips parted, but Yoon Dae-eon didn’t notice.

“Sunbae, see you tomorrow then.”

“……Yes…….”

Yoon Dae-eon turned around and walked away from the front of the building. Once he had sent him away, Seon Ji-ha stood stock-still, staring only at Yoon Dae-eon’s back. He swallowed dryly in his parched mouth.

Should I run after him and grab him?

Drag him inside and lock him up, and never let him out again.

Imaginations that troubled his scorching head appeared and disappeared repeatedly. Seon Ji-ha had to struggle not to let go of his clenched fists. Otherwise, he felt he might run after him and force Yoon Dae-eon into his house.

Once not even a single strand of Yoon Dae-eon’s hair was visible, Seon Ji-ha slowly turned around and entered the building. The gazes of the security guards, who were mostly Alphas, were intense.

One of them approached Seon Ji-ha and asked.

“Excuse me, are you alright? Your pheromones…….”

“…….”

“Ugh!”

One of the security guards, who had approached him with concern, suddenly gagged and stepped back. The others, feeling the massive amount of pheromones beginning to fill the lobby, widened their eyes.

Seon Ji-ha paid no heed to anyone’s gaze and headed for the elevator. Soon, the elevator carrying him disappeared upward.

Once he was gone, the security guards, who had finally stopped gagging, stared blankly at the elevator door and muttered.

“Was that… a pheromone…?”

Seon Ji-ha, who got off the elevator, collapsed helplessly in front of his apartment door. It was fortunate that he owned all the units on this floor. There was no one to see him.

Unable to handle his own heat, the Alpha collapsed and rolled to the floor, lying there for a long time. When he finally regained some composure, he touched the door lock with shaky vision. As the lock disengaged, Seon Ji-ha’s mind went blank.

Thud, thud!

Every time Seon Ji-ha moved, the furniture in the house shook violently. He didn’t even seem to know what his body was bumping into. His dead, black pupils had already lost all reason.

Like a machine etched with a single command, his body was moving toward the inside. Stopping in front of the innermost room, he grabbed the doorknob and pulled it violently. He hadn’t locked it, but perhaps due to his excessive force, it wouldn’t open.

Creak.

Seon Ji-ha finally managed to enter only after breaking the doorknob. It was a room with no ordinary furniture. However, in the center, there was a luxurious table with various unrelated items scattered on it.

A few spoons, a ballpoint pen, an eraser……

Scanning all those items, Seon Ji-ha hurriedly reached out and picked something up. It was the gray sweatshirt Yoon Dae-eon had worn the last time he visited Seon Ji-ha’s house.

Seon Ji-ha buried his face into the sweatshirt. Thud! Usually, this would have been painful enough to make his forehead ache, but for Seon Ji-ha, whose mind had flown far away, he felt no pain at all.

Yoon Dae-eon’s scent drifted faintly. But due to his five senses, which were extremely heightened by his rut, even that faint scent felt shockingly stimulating.

“Ah, ah, ah…….”

Seon Ji-ha hurriedly unzipped the pants that were wrapping tightly and suffocating him below. It took a while to unbuckle the belt and pull down the zipper. His hands kept making mistakes in an action he had done countless times in his life.

Once he finally got his underwear down, his stiffly erect part sprang out. However, Seon Ji-ha didn’t reach out to grab it; he had only freed his stuffy parts from his underwear. No, there was no need to.

Instead, he grabbed Yoon Dae-eon’s sweatshirt with his bare hands, crushing it. The same went for the pants beside him. Seon Ji-ha, with already dilated pupils, scoured through Yoon Dae-eon’s clothes for a long time.

This isn’t enough.

The moment that thought occurred to his incredibly dull brain, Seon Ji-ha gathered all the clothes of Yoon Dae-eon he had collected so far to one side. Now that it was a pile of clothes rather than individual pieces, Seon Ji-ha sat on the floor and buried himself among them.

Only then did Yoon Dae-eon’s scent stimulate his sense of smell to a dizzying degree. At the same time, his stiff member twitched violently as if it were about to ejaculate right then and there. But it did not erupt.

Because the inside of his organ had swollen thick.

It was a knot.

Watching his member, which had knotted just from masturbating while smelling Yoon Dae-eon’s scent, he smiled stupidly. Even in his blank, whitewashed mind, a faint thought flickered:

Ah, I’m glad I sent him away. If he had seen this, he definitely would have run away.