Chapter 13: Unexpected Arrival and Lingering Memories

“Wow, you actually came?”

“……I told you it was okay to come.”

“Oh? Right, right. I just said it because I was happy to see you. Don’t get upset.”

“I’m not upset.”

“You seem upset already?”

“I’m not!”

Yeon-chae huffed, his eyes narrowing to sharp points.

However, when Yoonwoo gently tapped the corner of Yeon-chae’s eye with his index finger, saying, “Look at this,” his expression immediately softened.

He glanced his way, gauging his reaction, and when their eyes met, Yoonwoo offered a casual smile. Yeon-chae paused, then lowered his head, a soft smile gracing his lips beneath his sharp nose.

Yoonwoo watched Yeon-chae’s rapid, diverse shifts in expression with amusement, all unfolding in less than ten seconds.

In the month or so since their summer MT, Yeon-chae had occasionally been prone to sulking.

Though his mood usually brightened within five minutes, his assertiveness and stubbornness had grown. This allowed Yoonwoo to enjoy seeing many different sides of Yeon-chae.

He wondered what expression would ultimately settle on his face this time.

Perhaps due to their nearly two-week separation, Yeon-chae’s relief seemed to override everything else.

Ultimately, he lifted his head, his lips curved into a wide smile, creating small dimples at the corners of his mouth. His long eyes crinkled shut, disappearing into his grin.

The day was stiflingly hot.

Yoonwoo had only just dragged himself from his bed at home to the terminal, moving at a snail’s pace.

Even so, his back was already drenched in sweat. It was the peak of summer, thick with suffocating humidity.

The sunlight on his cheeks felt scorching, leaving his entire body sticky. He had heard the news report that the discomfort index had reached a new annual high as he left the house.

Yet, when Yeon-chae smiled, a refreshing, cool scent wafted from somewhere.

‘Is this what Yeon-chae’s pheromones would smell like?’ Yoonwoo vaguely wondered, despite never having encountered an Alpha’s pheromones in his life.

“I’m here.”

After a moment of silent gazing, Yeon-chae suddenly spoke up, as if just realizing it.

Yoonwoo replied, “Welcome.”

Yoonwoo’s smile mirrored Yeon-chae’s, beginning at his lips, curving his cheeks, and spreading to his eyes. The air, which had been clinging to his neck, no longer felt hot.

It was as if butterflies were fluttering with a ticklish beat somewhere deep within his chest.

Yeon-chae, who had quietly followed him all the way to the house, suddenly hesitated before the main gate.

Yoonwoo, who had been walking excitedly, his spirits high, turned back to look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just…”

Yeon-chae hesitated a moment longer, then spoke with an awkward expression. “I came empty-handed. I completely forgot.”

“Huh?”

Yoonwoo, not quite understanding, asked again, and Yeon-chae raised both hands, a nervous look on his handsome face.

“I need to greet your parents, what should I do? I’ll just run to the mall quickly. Where should I go?”

“Oh? No, wait a minute…”

Before Yoonwoo could stop him, Yeon-chae spun around and prepared to dash off.

Yoonwoo urgently grabbed Yeon-chae’s left arm. The well-defined muscles in his grip felt even firmer than when they last met.

“You don’t have to go. No gift is necessary.”

“No, I have to prepare something, of course. I’ll be right back. Just tell me where… No, I’ll look it up on an app.”

Completely flustered, Yeon-chae became unusually agitated. Yoonwoo tightened his grip on Yeon-chae’s arm.

Feeling the warmth, Yeon-chae abruptly turned his head to look at Yoonwoo.

His earlobes seemed to have overheated on their own, blushing crimson against his otherwise pale, smooth cheeks.

Yoonwoo shook his head gently. “No, that’s not it. My parents aren’t home.”

“What? Why? Where did they go?”

“Oh, they’re on an overseas trip. My brother sent them for their wedding anniversary.”

“Ah…”

Only then did Yeon-chae seem to deflate, relaxing his entire body. He must have been quite tense for that brief moment.

Yoonwoo noticed the faint sheen of sweat on his palms as he clenched and unclenched his hands, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Did you come to ask for permission to marry or something? Why are you so nervous?”

“What? Permission to marry? M-marry what? When did I ever say that?”

Yeon-chae recoiled as if struck by a playfully tossed stone from Yoonwoo, jumping back with a startled expression.

His intense reaction, in turn, made Yoonwoo feel awkward.

“I was just joking. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

“No, it’s just that you keep…”

“Hm? I keep what?”

“You keep… Never mind. It’s fine.”

In that brief exchange, Yeon-chae looked utterly exhausted.

Yoonwoo pulled him, suggesting they stop chatting and go inside, but Yeon-chae, who seemed to be following willingly, abruptly stopped again after just a few steps.

“What now?!”

A furrow was slowly starting to form between Yoonwoo’s brows.

Yeon-chae merely parted his lips, unable to speak for a while. A blush began at the tips of his ears and spread across his soft cheeks.

Yoonwoo was dumbfounded, his mouth half-open.

“…What is it this time?”

‘Don’t just think to yourself, tell me too.’

After patiently waiting, Yeon-chae finally managed to speak.

“Then… are we the only ones home? You and me?”

“Hm?”

He then bit his lower lip,

“Just the two of us?”

And lowered his head completely. Even the clean nape of his neck, visible to Yoonwoo, had turned a faint red.

Suddenly, Yoonwoo also felt a surge of awkwardness.

Memories of the summer MT, which he had tried to completely erase, resurfaced. A throbbing ache began deep within his chest, just like it had then.

That night on the beach, Yoonwoo had unintentionally felt a thrill, while Yeon-chae…

‘[It’s getting late. Shall we go back?]’

He had turned his back on Yoonwoo with an expressionless, indifferent face.

“No.”

Yoonwoo blurted out impulsively. His mood plummeted instantly.

As the forgotten memory resurfaced, the butterflies that had been soaring within his chest abruptly tumbled down, as if caught in a sudden downpour during the monsoon season, leaving him disoriented.

The events of that night were not pleasant to recall. There was a reason he had buried them. A bitter taste filled Yoonwoo’s mouth.

Yeon-chae, who had been at a loss for what to do, raised his head with a bewildered expression.

Yoonwoo added, somewhat awkwardly, “My siblings will be home in a bit. They went to the library.”

“Your siblings?”

“They’re in their second year of high school. They said they had too much studying to do to go with our parents.”

“Ah…”

An emotion that could be either relief or disappointment flickered across Yeon-chae’s handsome face.

Yoonwoo couldn’t tell which it was, nor did he particularly try to.

Yoonwoo did not enjoy uncertainty, the kind that left things neither here nor there.

He preferred to tap even a stone bridge a hundred and one times before crossing, just to be at ease. It would have been even better if the stone bridge itself offered a quality guarantee and guidance, assuring him it was safe to cross first.

However, the ‘stone bridge’ Yoonwoo had encountered that MT night had not only failed to offer any guarantee but had also put up an impenetrable wall, indicating that this was not the path for him.

It wasn’t exactly heartbreaking, but it had been embarrassing and mortifying. It was still a memory that occasionally appeared in his dreams, making him kick the wall.

Yoonwoo quickly sealed away the memory that had begun to stir again.

While Yoonwoo revisited the embarrassing memory from a month ago, then startled himself and quickly suppressed it, Yeon-chae remained standing with a half-lost expression, merely blinking.

Each time, Yoonwoo found himself gazing intently at Yeon-chae’s thick eyelashes, which fluttered with every blink.

Then, his heart, which he hadn’t even realized was frozen, began to thaw on its own accord.

“All good now? Can we go inside?”

Feeling playfully mischievous, Yoonwoo asked Yeon-chae for permission as he opened the front door to his house.

Yeon-chae, still standing with a flushed expression, shot a glance at Yoonwoo.

“Hello…”

Stepping inside the entrance, Yeon-chae bowed respectfully.

“I told you, no one’s home.”

As Yoonwoo poked Yeon-chae’s bent back with his index finger, Yeon-chae straightened up and chuckled shyly.

It was a beautiful smile, like a painting, one Yoonwoo hadn’t seen in a long time. Yoonwoo couldn’t help but smile back, unable to stop his lips from curving upwards despite his efforts.

“Is this a house where only your parents live?”

Yeon-chae glanced around the interior. Seeing his curiosity, Yoonwoo briefly considered giving him a tour.

However, the house was so small that a single turn of the head was enough to take it all in. There was no need to walk around.

“Yeah. That’s the master bedroom, and this small room is used whenever my siblings or I visit. My brother doesn’t come often. That’s the kitchen, and this is the living room. The bathroom is over there.”

Yoonwoo gestured with his finger, adjusting its angle, and the house tour was over in less than a minute.

Yeon-chae listened intently, nodding, then asked cautiously with an incredibly serious expression, “Then where do I sleep?”

“Huh? You’re staying over?”

“……”

“……”

A heavy silence descended.

The color drained from Yeon-chae’s soft cheeks in real time. He bit his lower lip painfully between his teeth, then released it, leaving his plump lips flushed with concentrated blood.

Yoonwoo swallowed dryly.

“……You told me to come over.”

“Oh, oh. Right, I did…”

‘I truly didn’t expect him to actually *stay* over.’

Last night, taking advantage of his parents’ trip, Yoonwoo had finally stretched out in the master bedroom.

He turned on the new air conditioner, recently installed by Seowoo, until his entire body shivered.

Tucked under the blanket with only his face exposed to the cool air, the unpleasant stickiness of the humidity vanished, leaving him feeling completely refreshed. It was pure heaven.

Just as he was feeling utterly content, a call came in from Yeon-chae. He had received several calls from him before, but the timing had always been off, preventing him from answering.

Each time he checked his missed call log, his finger would hover over Yeon-chae’s name, then stop. He felt a bit awkward calling back. There was also a lingering, subtle resentment for no particular reason.

‘If he has something important, he’ll call again.’ He recalled vaguely thinking this as he put his phone down.

Although sleep was heavy on his eyes and his vision blurred, Yoonwoo touched the call button. A soft vibration hummed.