Chapter 39: Thirty Minutes Closer

When it was slightly before six o’clock, the two of them organized their cups and plates and left the cafe.

Descending to the underground parking lot and boarding the car, Yooha quickly put on his seatbelt before Shin Joowon could point it out.

Shin Joowon, who was searching his GPS history, glanced at Yooha and gave a light laugh.

Just as the car ascended to the surface, Yooha fumbled in his pocket to pull out his phone.

It was because a buzzing vibration was ringing.

[Woo Tae: Hyung, when are you coming ㅠㅠ]

[Woo Tae: We were supposed to eat chicken!!!!]

At the message where anger could be felt, Yooha realized his mistake.

Because being with Shin Joowon made him repeatedly forget what he had to do and lose his mind, he had forgotten once again that he should have messaged Woo Tae.

He was about to send a hasty reply when the screen suddenly changed and a call from Woo Tae began to come through.

Shin Joowon, who realized the reason Yooha was flustered, spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Answer it comfortably. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yes… thank you.”

Yooha, who offered a quick nod toward him, answered the call.

Before Yooha could even start, a voice loud enough to pierce his eardrums burst out.

It was loud enough for Shin Joowon to hear as well.

– Hyung! Where are you? Why are you so late!

Yooha hurriedly turned down the volume and hunched his body.

Feeling cold sweat break out, Yooha quickly moistened his lips and glanced at the GPS.

“I’m on my way now… I think it’ll take about thirty minutes.”

Right now it was 6:05 PM, and the estimated arrival time was 6:37 PM.

When he answered after roughly calculating the time, Woo Tae’s discontented voice came through.

– You didn’t say tutoring would end late today.

“Something came up suddenly, so I forgot to tell you. Sorry….”

– Something came up? What kind of pla…… wait. No way… are you meeting that hyung again?

“Uh… yeah. I’ll tell you when I get home.”

Shin Joowon, while pretending to focus on driving in silence, kept his nerves sharp and listened carefully to Yooha’s voice.

Judging by the first word ‘Hyung’ he heard, it seemed to be Woo Tae.

Perhaps he was comfortable with his cousin, as Joowon didn’t feel much hesitation or difficulty in the voice Yooha produced.

A voice carrying less cautiousness felt even fresh to him.

“Order it in advance. You know where the card is, right? Pay with that. If you arrive first, eat first. Ice cream? Yeah… I get it, I’ll buy some.”

‘If my two older brothers were like Jin Yooha, would our relationship have not been such a mess?’

Listening to the sweet voice conversing with his cousin, an idle thought even occurred to him.

Jin Yooha made Shin Joowon feel emotions he had never expected, and made him repeatedly imagine things by attaching the word ‘if.’

In many ways, he was a fresh and fascinating existence to Shin Joowon.

So he couldn’t stop his curiosity from growing.

He wanted to get to know him more, and wanted to continue drawing out reactions from him.

Although the expressions he wore in front of him were mostly identical because Yooha was intimidated, for some reason, he felt that if they became closer than they were now, he would be able to see much more diverse expressions.

It was a highly appealing and interesting prospect.

“I’m sorry….”

Yooha, who had finally finished the call, mumbled after stuffing his phone into his pocket.

Although he seemed like a reliable older brother when talking to his cousin, returning to being a timid hoobae who found his sunbae difficult in front of him was somehow amusing.

If it had been when he had only recently known Yooha, Joowon would have thought Yooha was putting on an act in front of him, but such suspicion had long since become useless.

Finding him difficult meant knowing how to keep an appropriate distance.

An appropriate distance made each other maintain politeness and gave space so as not to cross the line, but Shin Joowon only wanted to continue narrowing his distance with Yooha.

The thought that he wanted to keep crossing the line kept prompting Shin Joowon.

“Yooha, give me your hand.”

“…My hand?”

“Yeah.”

Shin Joowon, lightly pretending not to have heard the apology, reached out his hand toward Yooha.

“I feel like you’re going to pick at your hangnails again.”

Just in time, he had a reasonable excuse to offer.

When Shin Joowon, wearing a bright smile, extended his hand once more, Yooha couldn’t hide his flustered expression.

“I won’t pick at them….”

To draw out the pheromones suppressed by medicine, there was nothing better than contact with an Alpha and the Alpha’s pheromones.

No matter how effective the suppressants were, if the body was continuously exposed to the other’s pheromones, it would eventually react honestly.

Shin Joowon had only just realized, through their prior two experiences, that Yooha was easily agitated by and reacted to his pheromones.

“Just thirty minutes, until we arrive home.”

Shin Joowon prompted Yooha, driving skillfully with one hand.

Although he couldn’t examine Yooha’s face properly because he had to watch the road, he could roughly imagine it, given that the temperature of the hand gently placed over his own was excessively hot.

His face, which turned red at any moment, would surely be flushed as if about to explode.

Thinking of that made him smile involuntarily.

Smiles, which he had always been busy manufacturing, had been popping out at unexpected moments lately.

But he didn’t dislike it.

Shin Joowon, kneading Yooha’s hand with a pleasant mind, asked.

“Can you not control your pheromones at all usually?”

“It’s not that I can’t do it at all… but I’m not good at it. That’s why I take suppressants.”

Most people with traits lived their lives taking suppressants, even after becoming skilled at pheromone control.

For a close example, Shin Joohee always took suppressants after breakfast.

Shin Joowon was a rare case.

He disliked the feeling of not being able to control his pheromones at his own will, so he deliberately didn’t take suppressants.

However, through repeated training, he had become able to hide his pheromones perfectly even without suppressants, so he had never once been gossiped about or had trouble due to his pheromones.

Unlike himself, since Jin Yooha said he couldn’t control his pheromones well, it seemed he had no choice but to rely on suppressants even more.

‘Then that means I have to keep doing this bothersome thing?’

To have to endure trouble to draw out Jin Yooha’s pheromones, which were suppressed by medicine, was something that didn’t suit Shin Joowon’s temperament.

However, the prompting in his heart that he wanted to feel Jin Yooha’s pheromones right now made him willingly endure everything.

Shin Joowon, firmly grasping Yooha’s hand, spoke again.

“Why did you take the general-use one before? The center prescribes them for everyone.”

“…I usually take them in the morning before leaving the house, but that day I forgot. I carry spares, but those were all out, too….”

“Ah… I see.”

“But you said it had no effect, Hyung… so I’m not going to take those anymore. I packed my spares again….”

Shin Joowon listened to Yooha’s answer, leaking his pheromones subtly.

Although Yooha rarely struck up a conversation first, answering with all his heart when asked a single question was so like Jin Yooha.

Somehow, he felt Jin Yooha would be this sincere in everything.

To the point where someone might click their tongue, calling him foolish.

“I heard some people don’t match well with general-use ones. Did nothing happen after I left that day? There should be some Alphas at school.”

“…Nothing happened. Since I’m a recessive type, my pheromones are weak… even if I don’t take suppressants, no one knows I’m an Omega. Uh… and…….”

“…….”

“You’re the only one… Hyung… who knows… that I’m an Omega….”

At the shyly crawling voice, he almost stomped on the brakes in the middle of the road.

It was because he became insanely curious about what kind of face Jin Yooha was making right now.

Shin Joowon, barely suppressing the impulse by clenching his teeth, stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes.

As the speed increased, the emotion that had blossomed in Shin Joowon’s heart also gradually swelled.

A bizarre sensation that seemed to have slipped out of the category of his five senses kept playing with his heart, leaving him at a loss for how to shake it off.

What on earth was that single sentence?

What on earth was so special about the fact that he was the only one who knew Jin Yooha was an Omega?

Since he was born with a particularly sensitive temperament even among Dominant Alphas, detecting that Jin Yooha was an Omega wasn’t a special thing, yet he felt so happy and proud that a smile leaked out.

An unsettling feeling similar to when he had first seen Jin Yooha’s smile spread across his chest once more.

Shin Joowon, firmly grasping Yooha’s hand as if to soothe his strange stomach, released his pheromones a little more.

Yooha’s pheromones, which were on a precarious border of feeling slightly thicker or not, were teasing him.

‘It would be perfect if it were just a little stronger….’

It was a regret that he couldn’t hold Yooha as he pleased because he was driving.

Shin Joowon, swallowing a short sigh, let his eyes shine as a familiar landscape began to appear.

Once he parked in front of Yooha’s house, an opportunity to get closer would arise, so he felt he should aim for that at least.

“Huu…….”

When they finally entered the narrow alley and stopped in front of Yooha’s house, Shin Joowon let out the sigh he had been swallowing the entire time.

He didn’t know why his own breath was ragged when it was the car that had run.

Shin Joowon, still not letting go of Yooha’s hand, turned halfway to make eye contact with him.

Yooha only wriggled while being held by Shin Joowon.

Joowon’s hand was holding his hand so tightly that he couldn’t escape.

It was only natural that Yooha, who was about to unfasten his seatbelt since they had arrived in front of the house, was flustered.

Shin Joowon whispered in a voice carrying heat he couldn’t quite hide.

“I’ll unbuckle it for you.”

Trying to unbuckle a seatbelt that could easily be released with just a press of a button was a cheesy move that would never work on anyone else.

However, Yooha, unable to produce any reaction because of Shin Joowon, who pressed his body close along with the whisper, only kept his back flat against the seat.

The excessively close distance made Yooha’s entire body throb.

Shin Joowon slowly leaned his body forward and stopped his movements abruptly when his face touched near Yooha’s neck.

As the tip of his nose brushed against Yooha’s sensitive skin, Yooha began to shiver weakly.

Just like at the library some time ago, Shin Joowon took a deep breath, slowly savoring Yooha’s pheromones.

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