Chapter 104: The Soaked Night at Room 302

It made no sense.

Those words alone circled endlessly in Hyunwoo’s mind.

The innkeeper urged him as he stood there blankly.

“What will you do? Other inns are quite far from here. Are you going somewhere else?”

“Ah….”

Barely regaining his senses, Hyunwoo alternated his gaze between the key the innkeeper held up and her face.

He swallowed hard, as if making a decision.

Going back out into that rain was simply impossible.

“…A room… please.”

“Good, you made the right choice.”

“Yes….”

The innkeeper’s face brightened instantly as she handed him the key.

Hyunwoo paid for one night, took the key, and trudged forward.

“…There’s not even an elevator here.”

There was no elevator in the old building.

The number 302 was written on the key.

They would have to walk up to the third floor.

“If it’s too hard, hold on to me.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Unlike Sunghyuk, who was dressed comfortably, Hyunwoo was in a suit.

Maybe that’s why the wet clothes felt even heavier.

His feet nearly buckled with every step up the stairs.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to cling to Sunghyuk.

Gritting his teeth, Hyunwoo climbed the stairs one by one.

“Hoo….”

Finally, the number 3 came into view.

They had reached the third floor.

Hyunwoo caught his breath with difficulty.

“Give me the key.”

“…Okay.”

Sunghyuk took the key and strode ahead.

Unlike exhausted Hyunwoo, he seemed completely fine.

Was an Alpha really that different?

Hyunwoo followed, feeling a faint sense of envy.

Soon, they saw the door labeled 302.

They entered the room.

“Hmm….”

The small room was empty, without even a bed.

A yellow vinyl floor, a folded blanket and pillow in the corner, and floral curtains at a small window.

It looked exactly as he expected.

He wasn’t sure how neat-freak Sunghyuk felt, but it seemed tolerable for one night.

“Well… I guess it’s not that bad.”

“……”

Hyunwoo tried to sound positive, but Sunghyuk said nothing.

Hyunwoo glanced at him awkwardly.

Would he suddenly refuse to stay here?

Finding another place in this storm would be impossible.

There wasn’t even a hotel nearby.

After a moment, Sunghyuk reluctantly nodded.

“True.”

“Haha….”

Hyunwoo sighed with relief and stepped inside fully.

His entire body was soaked, leaving drops of water everywhere.

“We should wash up first.”

“But we don’t have clothes to change into.”

“Hmm….”

Of course they hadn’t brought extra clothes for a same-day trip.

Even if they had, they would’ve gotten soaked anyway.

They couldn’t go out to buy clothes in this storm.

A hotel might have had robes, but this was an old inn.

There was nothing like that here.

“We could just wring them out and wear them…”

“You’ll catch a cold.”

“Mm….”

There seemed to be no solution.

He couldn’t move because he was dripping everywhere.

But he couldn’t go into the bathroom either.

Hyunwoo looked around helplessly.

“……”

“……”

Then both of them looked in the same direction—

The bedding.

It was midsummer, and the thin blanket looked barely warm.

And there was only one.

If he were alone, wrapping himself naked in the blanket would be fine.

But there were two of them.

“…!”

Hyunwoo jerked his head away in panic.

He had imagined the two of them wrapped under that thin blanket with nothing on.

He wanted to bite off his tongue for imagining it.

“…I’ll go ask the owner if she has any spare clothes.”

“Uh… okay.”

Thankfully, Sunghyuk seemed to have thought the same.

He turned away and left the room.

Hyunwoo finally let out a deep sigh.

“Whew….”

Not long ago, they had almost ended up staying at a hotel together.

That time had also been due to Sunghyuk’s unexpected rut.

Hyunwoo couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Being in the same room as a dominant Alpha who couldn’t control his pheromones had been torture.

But this time was different.

Sunghyuk wasn’t in rut.

Hyunwoo’s pheromones had settled, too.

Even if the situation looked similar, nothing like last time would happen.

“…Damn.”

Still, he couldn’t calm down.

Frustrated, he muttered a quiet curse.

He removed his dripping suit jacket and headed into the bathroom.

At this rate, the room would flood.

“……”

Inside, he wrung out his jacket.

His shirt clung to his body, and so did his pants.

He couldn’t strip in a shared room.

So he stayed dressed and squeezed out what water he could.

Creak.

“Oh, you’re back?”

“……”

The door opened, and Hyunwoo looked over.

Then stepped out.

But Sunghyuk’s expression was strange.

He looked startled at first, then grimaced and looked away.

Hyunwoo frowned.

Did he think he was the only one annoyed?

As Hyunwoo grumbled internally, he noticed something else.

“Oh? You got clothes?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s great.”

Sunghyuk wasn’t empty-handed.

He held a white T-shirt and black pants.

“The owner lent these. They’re her son’s old clothes.”

“Then let’s get changed. Want to shower first?”

“No… you go ahead.”

“Okay…”

Something about Sunghyuk’s expression made Hyunwoo stop insisting.

He awkwardly took the clothes and returned to the bathroom.

Click.

“…Ah.”

He finally noticed his reflection.

His soaked white shirt clung to him like a second skin.

The thin fabric had turned almost transparent.

“No wonder he looked embarrassed…”

He had basically been half-naked in front of Sunghyuk.

No wonder Sunghyuk looked uncomfortable.

But then Hyunwoo shook the thought off.

They were both Alphas.

Showing some skin wasn’t a big deal.

“……”

Still, Sunghyuk’s expression replayed in his mind.

If this had been earlier, Hyunwoo would’ve assumed he was simply disgusted.

But he now recognized the difference between discomfort and displeasure.

“Ha… damn.”

Frustrated, he turned on the shower.

Whoooosh.

Water echoed in the small bathroom.

After washing up, Hyunwoo stepped out carefully.

He froze.

“What are you… doing?”

“Ah.”

Sunghyuk turned around slowly.

He was lying on the floor with a towel or rag in hand.

“Water kept dripping. I didn’t want you to slip.”

“So you were wiping all this time?”

“Yes.”

“……”

It was incredibly considerate—

But unbelievably unlike Sunghyuk.

Kneeling on the yellow floor, wiping up Hyunwoo’s water—

Hyunwoo felt guilty.

“Sorry. I took a while.”

“No. Washing well is important.”

“…Right.”

Hyunwoo nodded awkwardly.

“Go wash up now.”

“Yes.”

Sunghyuk stood and went into the bathroom.

Hyunwoo looked at the door for a moment, then turned away.

Puddles remained where Sunghyuk had been.

Sunghyuk must have been drenched even more.

He had shielded Hyunwoo from the rain.

Still, the downpour had ruined both of them anyway.

Seeing the water on the floor, Hyunwoo felt heavy-hearted.

He picked up the towel Sunghyuk used and wiped the floor.

The towel must have been borrowed from the owner.

“Whew….”

After drying the floor, Hyunwoo looked up.

A small TV sat in the corner.

He wasn’t sure it even worked, but he turned it on.

— Since this morning, Seoul has been hit by an incredible downpour… nearly 40mm per hour…

The screen worked.

The news described the record-breaking rainfall.

The reporter stood in the dark, stormy night.

It reminded Hyunwoo of himself and Sunghyuk earlier.

He clicked his tongue sympathetically.

How long would this rain last?

The news said this was just the start of the monsoon season.

If this kept up, who knew when they could return home—

Or even get back to work.

Hyunwoo sighed deeply.