CR | Chapter 4.7

Remembering how he had shaken Wi Woori’s cock when he was drunk and releasing pheromones a few days ago, and how he used the excuse of a mistake to do it again without looking for suppressants during his rut, all of it was his own will.

If he’s called trash, he has nothing to say.

As Kim Donghwa concluded and sighed deeply once more, the door suddenly burst open, and Wi Woori’s cheerful voice was heard, devoid of any blame or embarrassment from last night.

“Kim Donghwa. Still sleeping?”

He slowly pulled down the blanket.

“Up?”

“Yeah.”

“Come out and eat. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Ah, it seems like Wi Woori isn’t going to avoid this.

Wi Woori was unexpectedly resolute, tending to face big issues head-on rather than turning away. Kim Donghwa, acknowledging this, started to get up but suddenly realized he was naked and hurriedly pulled the blanket over his lower body.

Seeing this, Wi Woori, who had been watching him blankly, chuckled.

“What are you covering after we’ve done everything?”

Done everything? All they did was rub each other’s cocks…

The rebuttal came to mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud, so he just kept silent. Wi Woori, still smiling brightly, added in a low voice.

“Come out, I’ve made food.”

“You made it?”

“Can’t let a guy in rut feed me.”

“Oh, right.”

After the door slammed shut with a thud, Kim Donghwa got up awkwardly. He pulled underwear from the drawer, put on pants from the closet, and threw on whatever t-shirt his hand touched before stepping out.

When he came outside, a pot of boiling soft tofu stew, which Wi Woori would only make when he was sick, was on the stove. A hollow laugh escaped him. Well, he had never been sick or felt unwell in front of Wi Woori, so it made sense that Wi Woori would make something he liked when unsure what to feed him when he was sick.

“Sit down. Do you want more broth or more solids?”

“Give me whatever’s left after you eat.”

As he sat down and gave his usual response, Wi Woori shook his brightly bleached hair gently. Humming in thought, he soon began to ladle out the stew generously with a ladle.

“Hmm… I want more broth.”

Always looking for broth, yet acting like it’s something new.

Once again, a heap of solids was placed in front of him. Not one to complain about side dishes, he comfortably started sipping the broth when Wi Woori nudged his shin under the table.

“I just took a spoonful.”

“Is that the problem?”

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you manifested as an alpha?”

Ah, going straight to the point.

Kim Donghwa closed his mouth, which had been open to eat the tofu, and put down his spoon. He slowly looked up to meet his gaze. Contrary to his expectation of anger, Wi Woori just blinked his round eyes as usual.

“…You hate alphas.”

Stammering out his excuse, Wi Woori tilted his head in confusion.

“What did you say?”

“…You hate alphas.”

“Me?”

“You always went on about how alphas are this and that. You told me not to manifest.”

Fiddling with his bowl unnecessarily while speaking, Wi Woori sighed in disbelief.

Wi Woori genuinely found this situation absurd. Letting out a long breath, he leaned back as Kim Donghwa buried his nose in his bowl. Wi Woori then hesitantly spoke to him.

“No, that was before you manifested…”

If he had known Kim Donghwa had manifested, he wouldn’t have spoken carelessly about alphas. The innocent ‘Huh?’ in response left him at a loss for words. All he needed to say was, ‘I like you, it doesn’t matter what you manifest as,’ but with his eyes bright and clear, his lips only twitched, and the words wouldn’t come out.

While he was awkwardly wasting time, Kim Donghwa, who had already finished his bowl, stared at him with an unreadable expression. His lips felt strangely dry. With things as they were, they should talk openly about what happened between them, but instead, they were just skirting around the main issue.

All he had to do was ask, ‘Are we dating now?’

While mulling over the words stuck in his throat, Kim Donghwa began quietly.

“…Let’s just ignore what happened yesterday, it was a mistake. Let’s move on.”

That was not the response he was hoping for. Wi Woori frowned at Kim Donghwa.

“What?”

“In the future, if we go into rut or heat… let’s talk about it then and deal with it. Yesterday was… a mistake.”

What’s with this attitude?

Even if they started everything under the guise of a mistake, he didn’t expect Kim Donghwa to hammer it home like this. Wi Woori looked at him with displeasure.

“I ate well, just leave the dishes in the sink. I’ll do the dishes later.”

“Hey, are you really going to just call it a mistake and end it?”

“Then what else should I do?”

“…”

Well, what could he do?

Wi Woori couldn’t stop Kim Donghwa from going back into his room.

Once in his room, Kim Donghwa pondered over Wi Woori’s troubled expression. He had intended to quietly cover it up if Wi Woori seemed to let it go, but seeing his hesitation, it seemed Wi Woori was quite concerned about their unusual behavior.

There was nothing else for him to say to Wi Woori. What happened was just a mistake by a pheromone-crazed fool, nothing more or less.

After calming his heart, he recalled the conclusion he had come to with his clearest mind right after waking up. Outside, he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. Wi Woori must have gone out for a smoke without saying anything. A sigh escaped him.

⛧⛧⛧

As Kim Donghwa had guessed, Wi Woori came out with a cigarette, sighed deeply, and struck the lighter flint to light it. He couldn’t understand why the word ‘mistake’ bothered him so much. Wi Woori, with his eyes tightly shut, forced down the boiling feelings inside.

Yeah, I also did things I wouldn’t normally do because of pheromones, so it could happen. How confused must Kim Donghwa be? It seemed like he hadn’t long manifested, so it was understandable.

While his mind tried to rationalize, another part of him kept repeating, ‘But still…’

There was nothing to gain from being uncomfortable like this.

He knew it was better to look at the overall behavior rather than attaching meaning to each action, yet his heart didn’t follow his head, leaving him in turmoil.

Just as he deeply inhaled his cigarette and exhaled with a sigh, his phone vibrated in his back pocket. Wi Woori pulled it out and widened his eyes.

Donghwa
Wanna go see a movie?

“…A movie?”

Why suddenly a movie?

After all that talk about mistakes, now he’s asking about a movie?

Though the message was unexpected, Wi Woori didn’t think to refuse. He tapped on the screen and quickly typed a response.

What movie?
Why suddenly?

Donghwa
Just

“What, that’s lame.”

His grumbling was almost habitual. Despite his words, Wi Woori smiled, letting go of the noise in his heart.

“What are you going to watch?”

After sending a light-hearted reply, Wi Woori pondered if there were any movies worth watching these days. Suddenly, he remembered a junior he met at a group gathering chattering about a fun movie she watched with her boyfriend.

It was quite an intense action movie, but it was watchable because it didn’t skimp on the romance. A bright voice echoed in his ears, recommending it because it had both high booking rates and good reviews.

Donghwa
Come in first

How many cigarettes have you smoked?
I haven’t even finished one yet, you know -_-

Donghwa
Anyway

What do you mean by “anyway”?
I’m the one who doesn’t even think about coming back inside after taking out cigarettes, yet you do it and I can’t?
Picking up only bad habits from somewhere. Who taught you that, I should have given them a good kick in the shins, he thought but then stopped.

Since we were generally picking up each other’s habits, most of Kim Donghwa’s bad habits probably stemmed from him.

Instead of replying, Wi Woori inhaled deeply on his cigarette and exhaled smoke. He thought that Donghwa extending his hand to watch a movie was probably an attempt to smooth over their somewhat awkward relationship.

Well, then I guess I have to take his hand, there’s no alternative. In human relationships, the one with the stronger emotions is as good as the loser.

After flicking away the completely burnt-out cigarette butt to extinguish the ember and pushing it into the ashtray, Wi Woori immediately looked up the showtimes. Fortunately, there was a screening not too far away. Perfect, I’ll book this, he thought, returning home only to frown at the overwhelming scent of Kim Donghwa’s pheromones filling the house.

Although the pheromones certainly felt good, he was inwardly concerned about how they might affect others. Moreover, he didn’t like the idea of sharing this pleasant scent with anyone else.

Wi Woori, who had been slightly excited about watching a movie with Kim Donghwa, regained his stern look. Once this guy’s rut calms down a bit, we’ll go see it, he decided, then slumped down next to Kim Donghwa on the sofa.

He glanced at Kim Donghwa, who happened to look his way at the same moment, their eyes locking. Suddenly, his face flushed with heat. Wi Woori coughed awkwardly, adjusting his posture before asking softly.

“Are we watching the movie today?”

“Whatever… we can watch it today or another time.”

“Then let’s watch it next time. You rest today, and I’ll rest too.”

“We can watch it at home.”

Oh, right.

Did they really need to go to the cinema? With streaming sites thriving, there was no real need to go out. If they didn’t go to the cinema, he wouldn’t have to worry about others getting hooked on Kim Donghwa’s pheromones, solving all his concerns.

Plus, recent releases were quickly available for streaming, offering a wide selection. Wi Woori nodded vigorously, agreeing. They could just go to the nearby convenience store for popcorn, and at home, they could enjoy drinks while watching the movie.

“Then shall we watch it at home? It gets really dark when you close the curtains, setting the mood, huh?”

“Yeah, let’s set the mood. Is there anything you want to watch?”

“I’ll look, just a moment.”

Surprisingly, Kim Donghwa agreed to set the mood, which was the cherry on top.

Wi Woori quickly connected to a streaming site with a grin. While he scrolled through with the remote, Kim Donghwa adjusted the curtains and dimmed the lights, creating the atmosphere Wi Woori desired.

There was more than enough beer in the fridge for the two of them, and since they decided to drink, they opted for food instead of popcorn. It was a relief that they agreed on something, as they were usually too busy fighting.

It seemed like today would be a smooth day. Kim Donghwa didn’t have a strong preference for movies anyway, so all Wi Woori had to do was choose something he liked. He even started humming while picking out a movie.

Meanwhile, Kim Donghwa was busy writing something at the table. When Wi Woori finally chose a movie, he glanced over at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh, just a moment.”

Kim Donghwa, who had been hunched over the table, suddenly stood up with a sheet of paper fluttering in his hand. Wi Woori looked past him towards the fridge, wondering if it was another set of house rules. Indeed, Kim Donghwa brought over the house rules.

What did he add this time?

His head already ached at the thought of new restrictions. Suppressing his annoyance, Wi Woori forced a smile while staring at him.

“What didn’t you like this time?”

“Why would I dislike anything?”

“You only write down what you don’t like.”

“…No, I didn’t.”

There was a three-second buffering in his response.

No, you did.