I Should Stay Away From You… So Why Do I Want You More?

“Are you really going to be okay?”

Jeongha, who had brought Haeyoon to his front door, asked with a gloomy expression.

Haeyoon was barely standing, practically leaning in Jeongha’s arms.

“I’m fine. I’ll just go in and rest now.”

“What if you get sick during the night….”

“Then would you stay by my side all night?”

At Haeyoon’s joke, Jeongha pressed his lips together.

He couldn’t bring himself to answer yes, even as a joke.

Because right now, the most dangerous thing for Haeyoon was Baek Jeongha himself.

The studio sofa was a mess.

Not only was it covered in the fluids they had spilled, but the armrest Jeongha had been gripping and thrusting against was split.

Though it was an old, well-used sofa, if a piece of furniture ended up like that, it was impossible for Seo Haeyoon, who had received that force with his body, to be unharmed.

Even after the knotting subsided, Jeongha had roughly pushed into him several more times, repeatedly coming inside him.

By the end, semen was dripping from Haeyoon’s hole like an Omega’s slick.

The seemingly endless s*x only ended after Haeyoon fell asleep, practically unconscious.

He hadn’t woken even when Jeongha cleaned him up and put everything away, and even after coming to, he couldn’t walk properly.

When getting in the car, and when coming up to the apartment in the elevator, Haeyoon couldn’t stand on his own two feet and had to be held by Jeongha.

Jeongha let out a small sigh.

He wanted to stay by his side, worried he might fall sick during the night as Haeyoon suggested, but he couldn’t.

Haeyoon might not know it, but Jeongha was still leaking pheromones like a beast in heat.

He couldn’t control it, to the point where it was absurd even to himself.

It definitely wasn’t a rut; the symptoms were clearly different, yet he couldn’t understand why he had lost control so completely.

He had heard that Alphas sometimes lost control in front of Omegas with overwhelmingly intense pheromones, but Jeongha had never experienced it.

And yet, he had crumbled like this in front of Seo Haeyoon, who wasn’t even an Omega.

He couldn’t trust himself.

If he stayed by Haeyoon’s side now, he didn’t know what else he might do.

To protect Haeyoon, he had to isolate himself—what kind of fucked up situation was this?

Jeongha let out a hollow laugh and gently tidied Haeyoon’s disheveled hair.

“Go in, drink something warm, don’t do anything, and just get some rest.”

“Yeah.”

“Promise you’ll answer when I call.”

“…….”

“Answer me.”

Jeongha gently grasped Haeyoon’s sleeve with his fingertips.

It was a frail, tender gesture.

Jeongha knew very well that Haeyoon’s mind was already complicated, and that after he parted ways with him, closed the door, and went inside, it would become even more chaotic.

What happened today was so clearly impulsive.

Even Jeongha, who had already realized his own feelings to some extent, was bewildered, so Haeyoon would be even more so.

So Jeongha thought Haeyoon might even choose to shut his heart down.

Even if he did, he couldn’t blame him.

Everyone has the instinct to protect themselves from hurt.

But Jeongha didn’t want to be excluded from Haeyoon’s world, no matter what choice he made.

He wanted to clash fiercely and force his way into his heart.

“No matter what you think, no matter what you decide to do….”

“…….”

“Please don’t disappear from me without a word.”

Jeongha’s voice sounded pitiful and weak, like a plea.

This was the weapon Baek Jeongha had chosen.

To keep Seo Haeyoon from leaving him alone, from pushing him away coldly, he pretended to be endlessly fragile and weak.

Because Seo Haeyoon was the kind of person who became gentler the weaker the other person was.

“Hoo….”

Haeyoon sighed.

Jeongha inwardly rejoiced.

Because that sigh wasn’t cold.

As expected, Haeyoon quietly took the hand that was desperately clutching his sleeve and spoke.

“What are you talking about?

Why would I… why would I disappear?

That won’t happen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.

Really.”

“Thank you.”

Jeongha, mischievous to the end, pretended to be frail.

He looked utterly, completely weak.

“Go carefully.

Leave me a message when you get home.”

As Jeongha intended, Haeyoon immediately spoke like an older brother.

He seemed quite worried that Jeongha might drive while upset.

“Yeah.

I will.

Go inside.”

Jeongha made his best ‘good little brother’ face and turned away.

His heart pounded at the feeling of Haeyoon’s gaze on his back.

This is where it starts.

They had reached a truly important point.

Though the speed was faster than intended, the result wasn’t bad.

But it was from here on that mattered.

Haeyoon was a sensitive and kind person, but he was also just as resolute and strong.

Once things went wrong, it wouldn’t be easy to get another chance.

He had to approach step by step, cautiously.

Jeongha had never once in his life tried to win someone’s heart.

It was always someone else’s role to constantly strive for even a fleeting moment of interest.

“Haa…….”

Only after walking to where Haeyoon’s gaze no longer reached did Jeongha lean against the wall and let out a long sigh.

The lingering heat in his body was so intense it was making him break out in a cold sweat.

This wasn’t his first time having s*x; he couldn’t understand this reaction at all.

Was this what it meant to be sincere with someone?

To truly want someone, to worry about them, to want to have them, to fall genuinely in love with them—did it all mean becoming this pathetically foolish?

The laugh that escaped him turned into white breath and scattered in the air.

Love.

The word “love” coming from Baek Jeongha.

Even as he thought it, he couldn’t believe it.

But could this feeling be anything other than love?

Jeongha recalled the fullness that had filled his heart the moment he held Seo Haeyoon in his arms.

It felt like he had the whole world, and like even if he lost everything, if he only had this person, it wouldn’t matter.

A destructive feeling, like something was terribly wrong, would surge, and at the same time, his chest would fill with a conviction that he was doing the right thing for the first time in his life.

A euphoria that couldn’t be dismissed as mere physical satisfaction filled his senses.

It was a kind of satisfaction he had never experienced in his life.

So how could this feeling not be love?

No, it didn’t matter even if it wasn’t love.

Whatever word it was called, it was a feeling so intense that he couldn’t live without becoming Seo Haeyoon’s one and only.

And that was reason enough for the decision he needed to make now.

Baek Jeongha would win Haeyoon’s heart.

Unable to shake the lingering heat, Jeongha let out several more hot breaths before moving again.

Only minutes had passed since they parted, yet he missed Seo Haeyoon with a heart-wrenching ache.

It was definitely love.

* * * *

Jaeyeol, lying in bed first, silently watched Seonwoo settle in beside him, then suddenly noticed his finger glittering strangely.

His right ring finger.

Seonwoo rarely wore accessories, so the ring stood out even more.

“Haven’t seen that ring before?”

“This?”

Seonwoo, who had been fluffing his pillow, turned his head at Jaeyeol’s question, then immediately answered.

“It’s an old ring I used to wear all the time, but I put it away somewhere and forgot about it.

I found it while organizing things after our wedding.

I thought of it and decided to try it on.

How does it look?”

Seonwoo even extended his hand slightly to show Jaeyeol the ring.

The lights were already off, only a small lamp on, so he couldn’t see it clearly, but the design seemed fine.

It felt a bit flashy for everyday wear, but that suited Seonwoo’s usual taste.

“Well, it suits you.”

“Right?”

Pleased by Jaeyeol’s compliment, Seonwoo smiled and lay down.

Jaeyeol turned his head slightly and quietly looked at Seonwoo.

Seonwoo kept fiddling with the ring on his right hand.

Strangely, the ring kept bothering Jaeyeol.

There was no reason for it, but he felt a sense of unease.

After turning and fiddling with the ring several times, Seonwoo eventually turned his back to Jaeyeol and lay down.

Ahn Seonwoo, who before the wedding couldn’t fall asleep without Jaeyeol’s arm as a pillow, had at some point started sleeping with his back turned, like an old habit.

Jaeyeol stared blankly at that somehow unfamiliar back, then turned his own back to him and turned off the light.

The room darkened instantly, falling silent without even the common goodnight.

Honestly, Jaeyeol preferred it this way.

He wondered if most newlyweds became this low-key so quickly, but far from feeling regretful or upset, he actually liked the lack of bother.

But today, for some reason, Seonwoo’s turned back kept making him feel vaguely uncomfortable.

Pretending not to notice this ambiguous, inexplicable displeasure, Jaeyeol closed his eyes.

His head was already complicated enough; it was better to shake off these useless thoughts quickly.