Chapter 50: The Call he couldn’t ignore.

Sayoung flinched his body greatly as if waking from sleep, startled by the sudden vibration of his phone.

He hadn’t been asleep.

He was just lost in very deep thought.

Having returned home immediately after the audition, Sayoung filled the bathtub with hot water and soaked in it for a long time.

There was nothing better than that to relax his body, stiff with tension.

However, having stayed in the water for too long with an already exhausted body, he had no strength left when he came out of the bathroom.

He had to eat, but he had no appetite at all.

It felt like he would vomit everything up if he swallowed any solid food.

Eventually, Sayoung warmed up some milk, forced himself to drink a few sips, took a pheromone stabilizer like a habit, and sat on the sofa.

He knew there was no need to take the medicine anymore, but the compulsion that had dominated Sayoung for a long time wasn’t something he could shake off overnight.

Just as his body stiffened and his heart raced whenever he stood in front of Jaewoo.

When the time came, he had to pop the medicine into his mouth to feel stable and for his brain to function properly.

After that, he sat on the sofa and stared blankly at the deepening darkness outside the window.

It wasn’t that late, but the winter sun was getting shorter day by day.

The world seen from a space away from the complex and noisy city center was infinitely quiet.

Sayoung couldn’t believe that he had been in the middle of such a fierce world until just a moment ago.

This silence of the winter night was nice, but also sad.

Sayoung was a person too accustomed to silence.

During the time Jaewoo left Sayoung alone, silence was the only thing Sayoung could call a friend, so Sayoung felt sad about the familiarity and stability he felt in the current quiet.

How long had he been in those deepening emotions?

Sayoung only came to his senses now at the vibration sound that noisily tore through the heavy air.

For a moment, he couldn’t gather his wits like a person suddenly dragged out of a swamp.

Since the phone ringing itself was so unfamiliar, he was late in realizing where the source of the noise was.

By the time Sayoung found the phone and held it in his hand after a long while, the vibration had already stopped.

The owner of the missed call displayed on the screen was Yoojun.

Sayoung swept back his still damp hair with his hand and fell into contemplation.

Should I call first? Or should I wait until he calls again?

It was difficult to make a decision.

It wasn’t because Yoojun was burdensome or difficult, but rather because it had been so long since he personally exchanged contacts with others that he didn’t know what to do.

He laughed self-deprecatingly, wondering if just one phone call was such a difficult thing to handle.

The Yoon Sayoung of childhood, whose contact list was packed with friends’ names, and the Yoon Sayoung of now were different people.

“Why aren’t you answering the phone?”

Just then, the phone in his hand vibrated briefly once more.

It was a message, and the sender was Yoojun again.

Sayoung held the phone with both hands to reply.

Another message arrived in the meantime.

“Just answer the phone properly, will you?”

Since he was looking at the window, it was immediately apparent that Sayoung had read the message.

Sayoung hurriedly opened the text window and started typing a reply.

But the phone vibrated again.

It was a call, and it was still Kim Yoojun.

Sayoung hurriedly pressed the call button and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hel….”

—”Why are you avoiding my call?”

Yoojun asked aggressively without a greeting.

Flustered, Sayoung couldn’t sit back on the sofa and answered standing awkwardly.

“I wasn’t avoiding it….”

—”You were looking at your phone but didn’t pick up.”

“It’s not that, I was doing something el….”

—”When I call, answer unconditionally without missing it. I’m helping you, Mr. Yoon Sayoung, so is it okay for you to ignore my contact?”

“No, Mr. Yoojun. I didn’t ignor….”

—”Enough, just open the door first.”

Yoojun, who only said what he wanted throughout the call, didn’t listen properly to a single word of Sayoung until the end.

Sayoung tried to explain continuously but was blocked even by the last words.

Sayoung reflexively looked back toward the entrance and asked back.

“The door…?”

—”Yes. The door.”

“Why the door….”

—”Why do you think?”

At Yoojun’s question, Sayoung slowly approached the entrance with a feeling of ‘no way.’

Inferring from the call content, it was clear that Yoojun was in front of Sayoung’s house right now.

But Yoojun had no reason to visit Sayoung.

Confused by the gap in reasoning, Sayoung carefully opened the front door.

“Mr. Yoojun…?”

Yoojun was in front of the open door.

****

“Why is Mr. Yoojun here….”

Surprised, Sayoung spoke while still holding the phone to his ear.

Yoojun also answered without hanging up the call.

“Did I come somewhere I can’t come?”

The tangled voices buzzed like noise and echoed between the two.

Sayoung murmured with a blank face.

“No, it’s just….”

“So, why didn’t you answer the phone?”

Yoojun ended the call first and asked.

While doing so, he naturally walked past Sayoung and entered the house.

Only then did Sayoung lower the phone he had also held to his ear, followed behind Yoojun, and answered.

“It’s not that I didn’t answer, I was thinking about something else for a moment… and when I tried to answer, it cut off.”

“Is that so? It’s really not that you purposely didn’t answer?”

“Yes. It’s really not.”

Only after hearing Sayoung’s answer repeatedly did Yoojun feel an unidentifiable relief in his heart and turned around to look at Sayoung who was following him closely.

The moment Yoojun stopped all words and actions was right then.

Only Yoojun’s gaze moved, slowly descending from the top of Sayoung’s head downwards.

His moist hair, not yet fully dry as if he had just showered, and his pure white cheeks were one thing, but a bigger problem was the shower gown Sayoung was wearing.

Because he was relaxing at home, he hadn’t fastened the gown properly, so his prominent collarbones were visible as is.

Simultaneously as his gaze touched there, a huge fire rose fiercely from inside his solar plexus.

The one shocked to the point of astonishment by that sensation was Yoojun himself.

“Mr. Yoojun?”

As he reflexively stepped back, Sayoung called Yoojun with a puzzled expression.

Sayoung had a look that truly couldn’t even guess why Yoojun was acting like this, and that point made Yoojun even more humiliated.

Sayoung wasn’t even considering the idea that him wearing a shower gown right now would have any special effect on Yoojun.

It was literally just Yoojun making a fuss alone.

Just in case, Yoojun sharpened his senses to see if he was releasing pheromones, but he could only smell a faint soap scent from Sayoung and no other scent.

“Are you okay?”

“What is that appearance treating a guest?”

When Yoojun remained silent, Sayoung took a step closer with a more seriously worried face, and Yoojun spoke in an annoyed voice.

Only then did Sayoung lower his head to check his appearance and let out a short exclamation, ‘Ah….’

But even after seeing his state, Sayoung said calmly without a hint of fluster.

“I just came out from a bath… I’m sorry. I’ll go change quickly.”

“Go quickly.”

Yoojun answered waving his hand as if seeing Sayoung’s skin was absolutely disgusting.

Soon Sayoung went into the room to change clothes.

“Haa….”

Yoojun’s deep sigh settled in the living room where he was left alone.

He couldn’t understand why nothing went his way and things kept getting twisted whenever he was in front of Sayoung.

Sayoung’s attitude was just as displeasing as himself acting stupidly.

He seemed to have no idea how his appearance reflected to others.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know Sayoung considered himself insignificant, trivial, and unattractive, but seeing an Omega acting so defenselessly in front of an Alpha even in a gown, he couldn’t help but feel anger rising.

“Han Jaewoo, that piece of trash bastard, seriously….”

The more he thought about it, the more he regretted not punching him in the face at that place today.

He had to act facing that sight in the future, and on top of that, he was in a situation where he even had to ‘seduce’ Han Jaewoo.

No matter how much he thought about it, the contract with Sayoung had no benefit for him.

Even given the premise that he could quit anytime if he didn’t feel like it, he couldn’t understand why he agreed to give such ridiculous help.

What on earth was his past self thinking?

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

Just then, Sayoung, who had changed clothes, came out to the living room.

The light cotton t-shirt had a wide round neck opening, highlighting Sayoung’s slender neck and prominent collarbones.

Because that suited him well, Yoojun got annoyed again.

“Shall I offer you something to drink?”

Unaware of another’s inner turmoil, Sayoung asked truly calmly and ordinarily.

A storm was raging in Yoojun’s head.

He was angry at Han Jaewoo, annoyed at Yoon Sayoung, and felt pathetic about himself, so it was truly a maddening situation.

Yet the person who was the cause of all this said, ‘Shall I offer you something to drink,’ which was dumbfounding.

“Mr. Yoon Sayoung.”

So Yoojun took a threatening step toward Sayoung and opened his mouth with a sharp voice.

Sensing that Yoojun’s mood was unusual, Sayoung raised his gaze without answering and met Yoojun’s eyes.

Yoojun said.

“Believing in what did you say you would take the role of Seo Danwoo, Mr. Yoon Sayoung?”

“…Pardon?”

“The role of Seo Danwoo has a charming personality, but it’s also set up as a beauty who captures attention at first sight. Isn’t that so?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“But you don’t think of yourself as an attractive person, Mr. Yoon Sayoung.”

At Yoojun’s following words, Sayoung blinked once.

Yoojun persistently looked down at the way Sayoung’s long and richly extending eyelashes trembled.

Between the calm expression and the trembling eyes, one is truth and one is a lie.