If You Want Me - Episode 71
<Episode 71>
“What about Secretary Bae?”
“Found him a place to stay.”
When Seo-won asked, Do-gyeom answered nonchalantly as he entered the room.
Last time when Seo-won came to the island village alone, there was no one willing to accept an outsider. So he thought there would be no home to accept Secretary Bae, who was bigger and more intimidating than him. But it was surprisingly easy to find him a place to stay. It seemed like Do-gyeom’s identity was clear and he spent some money too.
If Seo-won had known this would happen, he would have refused and told Do-gyeom to find a place on his own. He regretted it belatedly, but it was already spilled milk.
Seo-won glanced at Do-gyeom with regret. He was casually laying out the bedding he received from the grandmother next to his spot. Seo-won wanted to tell him to put more distance between them, but the room was too small for that.
This distance seemed similar to lying side by side on a double bed… While Seo-won was looking down at it with complicated feelings, Do-gyeom turned to him and asked.
“Did you wash up?”
“…Yes.”
“Then let’s sleep. I’ll turn off the lights, so lie down first.”
At Do-gyeom’s consideration, Seo-won hesitated before lying down in his spot.
Since most people in the island village go to bed early and there’s not much artificial light in the neighborhood, it was pitch dark when the lights were turned off. The dim moonlight coming through the window was all there was.
It was a good condition for sleeping, but Seo-won couldn’t fall asleep easily, perhaps because Do-gyeom was next to him. Although it was too dark to see well, Do-gyeom’s pheromones lingering in the room made his presence stand out. It made Seo-won’s heart pound and he became more and more awake.
And… there was one more reason he was concerned about Do-gyeom besides that. As far as Seo-won knew, Do-gyeom was a person who had slept on a bed all his life. Not just any bed, but expensive and luxurious ones that would be used as wedding gifts or in top-class hotels. Seo-won was worried if he could sleep on the floor.
There weren’t even enough pillows, so there was no pillow for Do-gyeom’s spot. There was a blanket to lay on the floor but no pillow. It was ironic.
Seo-won was used to this kind of thing because he had slept a lot on hard floors when he was young. After contemplating, Seo-won took the pillow from his spot and handed it to Do-gyeom.
“Young master, you use the pillow.”
Do-gyeom, who had his eyes closed, opened them and looked at Seo-won. He glanced at the pillow, then at Seo-won, and turned his gaze back to the ceiling.
“I don’t need it, so you use it.”
“It must be hard for you to sleep on the floor too. Just use it.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He didn’t deny it was hard, so it seemed difficult for him.
His words telling Seo-won not to worry made him worry even more. Seo-won put the pillow between them regardless of whether Do-gyeom would take it or not. As he closed his eyes, Do-gyeom spoke in a strange voice.
“I told you to use it?”
“Young master, don’t worry about whether I have a pillow or not either.”
“Ha…”
When Seo-won answered lightheartedly, Do-gyeom let out an empty laugh as if dumbfounded.
Seo-won thought they would bicker some more, but Do-gyeom soon took the pillow. Relieved, Seo-won turned his body to the opposite side of him, when suddenly Do-gyeom tightly hugged him from behind.
“What, what are you doing!”
Surprised by the sudden contact, Seo-won raised his voice, forgetting it was late at night when everyone was asleep.
It was surprising enough to be hugged from behind without a word, but the fact that it was Do-gyeom made it even more shocking. Seo-won tried to shake off the arms tightly embracing him, but it was no use. Rather, Do-gyeom pressed his body even closer.
W-why is he suddenly doing this… While Seo-won was startled with his eyes wide open, Do-gyeom spoke from behind.
“Seo-won-ah.”
Usually he calls me Yoon Seo-won, but…
Whenever he calls me Seo-won-ah, he says something troubling, so it made me more nervous.
What is he trying to say? As Seo-won stiffened his back and stayed still, Do-gyeom said in a low voice.
“I was wrong.”
“…”
“Please don’t push me away. I’m begging you.”
Do-gyeom’s voice was trembling. As if he was utterly terrified of Seo-won pushing him away. It was a desperate and pathetic plea.
At that, Seo-won felt pity. How did Do-gyeom end up like this? From childhood until just a few days ago, he was the most cool and upright person in Seo-won’s world.
It was so painful to see him shaken like this just because of someone like Seo-won. How could a mere imprint make a person this way…
“When the sun rises tomorrow, please go back. You said you have an important meeting.”
“I won’t go.”
“You’re going to ruin your work because of me? That’s not like you. You’ll definitely regret it.”
“How can I go back when you’re here?”
“…”
“I know it’s hard for you to understand. But… it’s true that I’ve liked you for a long time.”
Seo-won pushed him away firmly again, but Do-gyeom tried to persuade him by repeating what he said earlier.
Even though Seo-won wanted to ignore it as nonsense, he couldn’t understand why Do-gyeom kept bringing it up.
Looking back at his behavior before the imprint, he never acted like someone who liked Seo-won… Seo-won got annoyed, thinking Do-gyeom saw him as naive enough to believe that.
“You want me to… believe that?”
“I kissed you. Thinking about it, I liked you even before going to study abroad.”
Before studying abroad? If he liked Seo-won since then, it meant they liked each other around the same time. Because Seo-won realized his feelings on the day they kissed.
Although he could be happy that his heartache all this time wasn’t completely in vain, Seo-won’s heart wasn’t like that right now. Seo-won replied, trying to make his voice as cold as possible so it wouldn’t show that he was shaken.
“And then you avoided me.”
“That’s because I was confused too.”
Do-gyeom explained his previous attitude with an unconfident voice, moving his lips several times.
“It may be hard to believe, but as I said earlier, superior alphas are taught not to be attracted to recessive omegas. So I thought I just liked you as a younger sibling.”
“…”
“About the kiss that time too, your pheromones burst out as you presented as a recessive omega. That day, when I heard the news of your presentation, I thought I did it impulsively because of the pheromones.”
Seo-won doesn’t know if most superior alphas receive that kind of education. However, it was true that his pheromones burst out when his presentation fever occurred.
That day, Seo-won also smelled Do-gyeom’s pheromones for the first time, and before that, Do-gyeom had said there was a nice scent from somewhere. It must have stimulated him as an alpha.
Seo-won was only a middle school student and Do-gyeom was a high school student, so they could impulsively share a kiss. So he can understand up to that point, but…
“When we made the partner contract, you said you only liked my pheromones.”
What Seo-won really can’t understand is Do-gyeom’s behavior after returning from studying abroad.
At that time, he was already at an age where he could take responsibility for himself, not immature. He was old enough to know what it feels like to love someone.
When Seo-won asked what he meant by that, this time Do-gyeom answered right away without any signs of hesitation.
“It’s true that I liked your pheromones. I kept thinking about you even after going to the US. The pheromones I felt that day when you presented.”
“…”
“I never found any other omega’s pheromones fragrant even before you presented. It was the same in the US.”
After saying that, Do-gyeom lowered his head and buried his nose in Seo-won’s neck.
When the exposed skin of his neck was touched, his body flinched and shrank. The ticklish and subtle feeling from the inhaling breath made him gasp.
“Yes, it’s this pheromone.”
He muttered as if he had missed this pheromone even when they were far apart.
His voice was full of sincerity. Seo-won had to admit that his trivial pheromones felt special to Do-gyeom.
Even so, there was something that bothered him… Seo-won hesitated, moving his lips, and asked what he had been curious about for a long time.
“Then did you not meet any other omegas when you went to the US? No, not just when you went to the US, but until now.”
There was one thing he was suspicious about, and actually, he had been curious about Do-gyeom’s dating history for a long time.
It was inevitable to wonder what kind of style and relationships the person you like enjoys. But since Seo-won had been Do-gyeom’s faithful partner until now, and it was a very personal question, he couldn’t ask him. He was afraid his feelings might be revealed if he asked…
While being partners, Seo-won had never seen Do-gyeom bring anyone else by his side. But he could have dated someone without Seo-won knowing…
As Seo-won asked with that thought, Do-gyeom released his embracing arms, grabbed Seo-won’s shoulders, and pulled him to face him.
Although it was a dark room with only moonlight coming in, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness and he could vaguely see Do-gyeom’s expression.
“How could I have dated anyone else when I subconsciously liked you?”
He answered confidently, looking into Seo-won’s eyes as if asking why he would ask such an obvious question. It was the most confident and unrestrained attitude among his answers so far.
“There’s no way that could happen…”
“Why do you think it doesn’t make sense?”
“That’s because young master, you…”
Seo-won tried to say something but shut his mouth tightly.
As he abruptly stopped talking like slamming on the brakes, Do-gyeom’s eyes narrowed.
“What is it? I won’t get angry, so don’t mind me and say it.”
“…”
Although Do-gyeom told Seo-won gently not to mind him and speak, Seo-won pressed his lips together even more firmly as if he had zipped them up.
There was one reason why Seo-won was convinced that Do-gyeom couldn’t have liked him for a long time and must have dated other people.
It might sound absurd to Do-gyeom, but…
It was because Do-gyeom was good at sex the first time they slept together.
Although Seo-won himself had never been intimate with anyone else so he had no one to compare to, Do-gyeom seemed skilled from the first time they had sex. Even though some omegas can’t feel much pleasure during their first experience, Seo-won fainted while receiving him.
Recalling the first night, he wondered if it wasn’t just because of Do-gyeom’s superior alpha pheromones… He remembered the dirty talk and the way he touched down there felt natural…
As Seo-won was recalling that memory, Do-gyeom, who had been quietly listening, slowly raised the corners of his mouth and said,
“Seo-won-ah.”
“Yes?”
“Your pheromones turned sexy.”