Jung Heeyeon suddenly remembered the promise he had made to call and felt flustered. Time had flown by while talking with Lee Haejin, and before he realized it, he was already home. He had promised first and yet he forgot about it. Perhaps Director Yeon had been waiting for his call. A wave of guilt washed over him, and he anxiously fidgeted with his fingernails.
“Were you waiting for my call?”
“You said you’d call, so of course, I waited.”
The affectionate response, spoken in a gentle voice, made his fidgeting even worse.
“Oh… I’m sorry. I lost track of time while talking with Haejin hyung.”
“Did you have fun playing with Lee Haejin?”
Looking at the man’s slightly lopsided smile, Jung Heeyeon parted his lips as if to answer. He hadn’t been playing. The purpose of the meeting had been to learn, and he really had learned a lot. He wasn’t playing—he was studying. Lowering his gaze, his fluttering eyelashes cast small shadows before he looked back up at Director Yeon.
“But I wasn’t playing with Hyung… I was studying.”
After a brief hesitation, he spoke, and Director Yeon let out a quiet chuckle, lightly tapping his cheek.
“Hmmm, you weren’t playing, you were studying?”
The alpha’s large hand slowly rubbed over the soft, still slightly youthful cheeks. Its size might have been intimidating, but Jung Heeyeon let the man touch his face without any resistance.
“And yet, you left me all alone?”
Director Yeon furrowed his brows deeply, his voice thick with feigned disappointment. If Lee Haejin had seen him now, he would have called him shameless. But Jung Heeyeon, unaware of the deliberate act, only blinked his eyes. The way Director Yeon drew out the end of his sentence made it sound like he was truly hurt.
“I didn’t ignore you. I like you better, Director…”
Jung Heeyeon hurriedly denied the accusation. He hadn’t realized Director Yeon would feel that way and was taken aback. Spending time with Lee Haejin had been enjoyable, but more than that, he preferred being with Director Yeon. The person he liked most was the man standing right in front of him.
“Hmmm, you like me better?”
“Yes. Director, I like you the most.”
The words came out so naturally, as if he didn’t have to think about it at all. Hearing this, Director Yeon’s eyes curved upwards. Though it was Director Yeon himself who had guided the conversation in this direction, hearing Jung Heeyeon say it so sincerely stirred something indescribable within him. No, to be precise, it wasn’t quite an emotion—it was more of an awareness.
A realization that this naive omega might one day be put in danger because of him.
“If you like me the most, then you can’t be so defenseless around others.”
Director Yeon effortlessly concealed the dangerous thoughts creeping in. He didn’t trust his own nature, but he trusted his learned habits. He wouldn’t let himself make Jung Heeyeon cry. Probably.
“Defenseless…?”
“You showed your neck to him.”
The hand that had been resting on Jung Heeyeon’s cheek slid down, tracing the curve of his jaw before reaching his throat. Jung Heeyeon remained as calm as ever. He didn’t look like prey exposing its vulnerable spot out of fear.
As Director Yeon’s fingers moved slowly over his neck, Jung Heeyeon instinctively reached up to touch it himself. But what his fingers met wasn’t the fabric of his sweater or the softness of his own skin—it was the man’s hand. Unlike his own small, fair fingers, Director Yeon’s were large and rough, the hands of a full-grown adult.
“But my neck has always been visible… It’s just covered today because of this sweater.”
“I gave you that turtleneck so it wouldn’t be visible.”
Revealing his true intention, Director Yeon withdrew his hand. He couldn’t let the habit of touching Jung Heeyeon’s neck take root.
“Oh. So that’s why you told me to wear this today?”
“Yeah.”
So he had given him this sweater specifically so his neck wouldn’t be seen. Jung Heeyeon lowered his head slightly. The soft fabric of the knitted wear brushed against the tip of his chin. As he absentmindedly fiddled with the collar, the thick warmth of it spread through his fingertips. His neck tingled as he felt like he and Director Yeon now had a little secret, just between the two of them.
“Next time, I won’t show it to anyone else.”
The fluttering eyelashes that cast shadows beneath his eyes slowly lifted, revealing Jung Heeyeon’s gaze toward Director Yeon. A faint smile formed on his lips.
“How did you end up showing it?”
Jung Heeyeon was faintly smiling in front of him. Director Yeon suppressed the impulse to wrap his hand around that slender neck and spoke in a loose, relaxed tone. He hadn’t expected that he would even dislike the idea of another omega seeing that mark.
Strictly speaking, making Jung Heeyeon wear a turtleneck hadn’t been because of Lee Haejin. It was simply common sense not to let him walk around with a kiss mark on display.
That was all it was meant to be. Yet, as he raised a hand to the stiffening lips, a sudden wave of discomfort surged through him at the thought of someone else seeing that pale nape. It was a discomfort he had never felt before.
An alpha’s possessiveness generally fell into two categories: either discreet and concealed or openly displayed. Some alphas were meticulous about hiding their marks, while others flaunted them without hesitation. Nam Soohyun was a prime example of the latter.
Director Yeon had never really considered what kind of possessive tendencies he had. He had never been obsessed with an omega before, so there had been no need to think about it.
He hadn’t expected to learn about himself like this.
“Haejin-hyung taught me where pheromones can be felt. He touched it, and I got startled… Then he asked if he could see, so I showed him. He said the bruise was from being bitten.”
So that was his pheromone gland. Director Yeon narrowed his eyes, looking at Jung Heeyeon’s neck, concealed by the thick knit fabric, estimating the placement of the mark he had left. Instinctively, he must have bitten down on the pheromone gland. Since he had never bitten an omega’s nape before, he hadn’t even realized it. Tsk. He clicked his tongue. An alpha’s natural instincts were unavoidable after all.
“Heeyeon. From now on, don’t let anyone else touch you.”
Suppressing his sharpened nerves, Director Yeon murmured in a low voice. It was undeniably an out of line controlling demand, but Jung Heeyeon obediently nodded.
“Yes. But, Director.”
“Yeah?”
“Why did you bite me?”
“Are you curious?”
So Lee Haejin hadn’t told him that part.
“You said it was because you were being affectionate to me. But biting… isn’t that different?”
Jung Heeyeon furrowed his brows slightly. He didn’t know exactly what counted as being affectionate, but biting someone’s skin didn’t seem to fit. It felt less like affection and more like a punishment.
As far as he knew, there was only one reason why someone would bite another person’s skin—
To endure pain.
“Biting a person’s flesh after kissing means being affectionate.”
At Director Yeon’s explanation, Jung Heeyeon blinked a few times before accepting it. If Director Yeon said so, then it must be true. There must be another meaning he wasn’t aware of. The feeling of disappointment, thinking he had received a punishment, quickly faded, replaced by a sense of relief.
“…Then can I bite you too, Director?”
At the innocent question, the man tilted his head slightly.
“No.”
His lips parted into a flawless, picturesque smile.
“Because my Heeyeon is still a baby.”
–
Wrapped in the soft blankets, Jung Heeyeon sank into thought. He should have asked Lee Haejin earlier if there was another meaning of the word baby, but he had forgotten. The voice from a few days ago, saying it was okay if he couldn’t control his pheromones because he was a baby, mixed with the voice from just a few hours ago, saying he couldn’t bite the man because he was a baby.
It was a relief that his leaking pheromones weren’t a problem. But not being allowed to bite the man was a little disappointing. He couldn’t help but wonder—what exactly did Director Yeon mean every time he called him a baby?
With a deep sigh, Jung Heeyeon closed his eyes. Two months had passed since he had stepped outside the walls that confined him, and there were still far too many difficult things he didn’t understand.
***
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Thanks for great translation!