Chapter 54: The Cocoa Sabotage

“Excuse me.”

Euigeon said as he stepped into the narrow entryway even more confidently than the owner.

With an expression that was not apologetic at all.

Before Chaewoo could even take off his shoes, he slipped into the room and began inspecting every corner as if he had been waiting for this.

The old studio apartment was located on the fifth floor without an elevator.

Perhaps because he was nervous about coming with Euigeon, the stairs he was usually used to felt overwhelming today of all days.

Chaewoo’s breathing was slightly disordered as he closed the front door.

He usually kept things well-organized, so the room was neat though narrow.

Since even a little mess would shrink the usable space further, living untidily here was actually impossible.

There was no bed, and the only furniture was a folded blanket on one side, a one-person desk in the corner, a chair belonging to the desk, and a small wardrobe with a full-length mirror surface.

In the kitchen, a microwave and a refrigerator were stacked tightly like Tetris.

Once the two men entered, the space that was tight even for one person became completely packed.

Chaewoo followed Euigeon in awkwardly and stood in front of the sink.

“You can sit on the floor or the desk chair.”

Euigeon took off his coat, draped it over the back of the chair, and sat on the floor.

“I have green tea and cocoa, which do you want?”

Euigeon, still occupied with looking around the room, answered without hesitation.

“Cocoa would be better, right?”

His way of speaking was somewhat suspicious.

While Chaewoo heated water to make cocoa with a doubtful face, Euigeon was feeling the hard floor or fiddling with the blanket in the corner.

“Why are you touching that?”

“Senior Seol, don’t you sleep with a cotton quilt?”

“Who sleeps with a cotton quilt in this weather? Why? Are you cold?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Only a meaningful reply returned.

He couldn’t understand what on earth he was thinking.

Giving up on trying to understand him, Chaewoo took out a cup, poured in a cocoa stick, and added water.

Every time he stirred the cup with a small spoon, the clattering friction sound echoed exceptionally loud in the quiet room.

Even as he tried his best to act nonchalant, he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Because it was the first time an Alpha had entered this studio apartment.

No, in fact, excluding family, he was his very first guest.

“I guess you’re using the laptop well?”

“I’ve only used it a few times, but it’s good.”

Euigeon’s gaze was fixed on the laptop on the desk.

It was the one he had recently bought for him.

“That’s a relief.”

“Ah, the laptop you lent me is also there, so take it when you leave. Here, cocoa.”

As the powder dissolved well, he held out the cup to Euigeon.

“It’s hot, so be careful.”

“Thank you.”

“Why are you looking around so much? There’s nothing to see.”

“There’s plenty to see.”

Euigeon, while drinking hot cocoa, was still carefully scanning the small interior, just as he had when he first entered.

He was even worried that a hole might form in the wall at this rate.

“By the way, Senior Seol, when did you go to the military?”

Euigeon suddenly brought up the military while touching the white shirt and tie on the floor.

Chaewoo quickly folded the clothes Euigeon was touching and cleared them to one side.

This morning, while looking for an outfit suitable for participating in the competition, he had forgotten to put it back into the wardrobe.

“The military?”

“You said you even received a reward vacation for shooting. There must be plenty of ways for an Omega to avoid enlistment.”

“Ah.”

“Surely you didn’t carelessly show your body to other Alpha bastards or anything like that, right?”

Euigeon’s eyebrow raised askew.

Chaewoo grimaced at that.

“I’ve never done that, okay? I entered the military band reserved for Betas and Omegas.”

“Hmm. Then you barely did any training, did you?”

His voice, which had been subtly twisted somewhere, became gentle again.

His whims were hard to predict.

“That’s true, but shooting was also included in the mandatory training.”

“Ah. So there were no Alphas?”

“I told you it was reserved for Betas and Omegas.”

The military band reserved for Betas and Omegas had limited numbers and a high competition rate.

For a while even after his discharge, Chaewoo believed he had just been lucky to be accepted into the military band.

It was only recently that he learned it was a system where one couldn’t get in without connections in the first place.

His parents had recommended it, saying the military band would make a decent background, without any detailed explanation.

Thus, while he had once been proud of this background, he felt ashamed of it after learning it wasn’t won entirely through his own skill and luck.

“Were you in the regular army?”

“Yeah. Where it’s mostly swarming with Alphas.”

Euigeon casually opened the note on the desk.

“Hey, don’t touch other people’s things as you please.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but you take diligent notes.”

“If you touched it, at least put it back where it belongs!”

“Is this Senior Seol when you were young? Look at the baby fat.”

How on earth had he found it; Euigeon had unearthed Chaewoo’s childhood photo this time and was staring at it.

He had never seen anyone barging into someone else’s space and rooting around so freely.

He was mentally exhausted because he couldn’t let his guard down, not knowing what he would do next.

“Put it down.”

“Why? It’s not like it gets worn out from looking.”

As he reached out to snatch it, the man mischievously hid the photo behind his back.

Finding himself grasping at thin air, Chaewoo’s center of gravity shifted toward Euigeon.

Since the room was extremely narrow to begin with and their bodies drew close, he could clearly feel even the smallest changes, like the other blinking or inhaling and exhaling.

He wanted to immediately pull himself up and get away from Euigeon.

However, before he could put it into action, Euigeon grabbed Chaewoo’s arm and tilted his head to the side.

Watching his face draw close very slowly, Chaewoo pulled his body back and raised his hand to cover Euigeon’s mouth.

“D-don’t.”

He didn’t say anything.

He stared at Chaewoo without moving for several seconds.

With clear eyes that seemed to pierce right through his soul.

The moment he felt embarrassed by that, a heavy, lukewarm sensation spread over his abdomen and lower half.

Feeling his pants get damp, he looked down to find the cup in Euigeon’s hand tilted, with cocoa soaking Chaewoo’s clothes completely.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

“Sorry, my hand slipped.”

Euigeon held the cup straight and raised both hands.

Just as when he dropped the box in Cheongju, he wore a shameless face as if he truly hadn’t known.

Chaewoo hurriedly stood up.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you.”

“Surely not. But shouldn’t you wash up if it’s to that extent?”

Being so utterly dumbfounded, Chaewoo scanned his clothes and Euigeon alternately.

“No? I’ll wash up once you leave.”

“It must be uncomfortable. It’s sticky.”

“It’s not uncomfortable at all. And if you’ve rested enough, leave now. I’m tired too.”

Chaewoo tore off some tissues and wiped the cocoa that had spilled on the floor and his clothes.

Since the cup was more than half empty, the spilled amount wasn’t very large.

And it had cooled down, so it wasn’t hot either.

What had touched his skin could simply be wiped off with water.

However, the problem was that his perfectly fine clothes had been stained brown because of that shameless human.

“I haven’t fully rested yet, so make me some more cocoa.”

“Sigh…”

‘Shit, I really want to beat him up.’

Euigeon was relentless.

He didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of pulling his buttocks off the floor.

If possible, he wanted to turn back time and stop his past self who had personally invited Beom Euigeon inside for tea.

He thought about just cursing him out and kicking him out, but judged that evicting Euigeon by force was close to impossible.

He felt like he roughly knew why he was acting like this, but Chaewoo tried his best to ignore him.

Seeing Euigeon lying sideways on the floor playing with his phone as he pleased, he had no choice but to stand up.

He heated water and made a new cup of cocoa as requested.

“Drink this and get the hell out quickly.”

“I have to check if the laptop I lent you works well.”

“Why now, you lunatic? Take it and check.”

‘Why check a laptop out of the blue?’

Chaewoo raised his eyes.

Even though he pretended to be fine, the skin in contact with his clothes was sticky and incredibly uncomfortable.

It was even gradually drying up in this state.

If he didn’t soak the clothes in water now, they would be stained.

The more relaxed the other party was, the more anxious Chaewoo became.

“What if you broke it after I lent it to you and then deny it? I must check it on the spot.”

Euigeon turned on the laptop he had lent him.

“I definitely didn’t.”

Pretending to test various functions under the pretext of checking if the laptop was fine, he soon began watching a video.

The newly made cocoa was only about a third empty, and he didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of leaving until he finished it.

Chaewoo let out a quiet sigh.

Perhaps, contrary to his expectations, Euigeon was enjoying his discomfort and awkwardness without any other intentions.

Since he was originally a guy who behaved so selfishly anyway.

He hadn’t even shown that he was in rut from the start, and Euigeon’s pheromones inside the studio apartment now weren’t thick enough to be bothersome.

It was so subtle that unless he told him, no one would notice he was an Alpha in rut.

Chaewoo, who had been anxious alone for several minutes, couldn’t stand the discomfort and finally grabbed a towel and underwear from the wardrobe.

Due to the clothes sticking to his skin, he had absolutely no confidence to wait until Euigeon left.

After also grabbing the pajamas hanging on a hanger, Chaewoo spoke to the back of Euigeon’s head, which made the narrow room look completely packed just by his presence alone.

“I’ll go wash up quickly, so don’t touch other things as you please.”

He immediately entered the bathroom, locked the door, and took off his clothes.

And he pulled out the plastic tub used for hand-washing, placed the cocoa-stained top and pants in together, and soaked them in water.

Even his underwear was thoroughly wet, and his entire body was sticky.

Turning on the shower and rinsing his body, he diligently cursed Euigeon inwardly.

The cocoa on his body was quickly washed away cleanly.

Once the stickiness disappeared, he felt like he could finally breathe.

The warm water softly relaxed the muscles throughout his body that had been stiff all day.

Growing drowsy from the hot steam, Chaewoo softly hummed the song that had come out of the basketball game machine.

His nerves, which had been sharply on edge, also gradually settled.

Until he heard the bathroom door, which he had locked securely, clicking.

Chaewoo, who was squeezing out shampoo after soaking his hair completely, stared at the doorknob in horror as it suddenly began to move on its own.

Click, clack.

“Beom Euigeon?”

…Surely not.

As soon as he called his name anxiously, the locked door opened, and the expected intruder barged inside.

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