Seo Jeong-won, brushing the back of his neck, entered the room and pulled back the blanket that bore clear marks of being wet and then dried.
He felt embarrassed.
Then, who washes that thing at Kwon Tae-hee’s house?
The gel is used a lot, and it gets damp and soaked… Moreover, it didn’t end in just one round like last night.
“Sigh…?”
He sat down heavily on the floor while taking off the mattress cover.
Seo Jeong-won, his ears flushed red, hid his face between his knees and exhaled deeply.
It was still surprising that an Alpha and Beta could have this kind of relationship, and it was still shocking that he had come to have sex with Alpha on a regular basis.
The way the mood naturally formed, and how he had become skilled in just a few days—it was unbelievable.
It was his first time, but wasn’t it too wild and obscene from the start?
He never imagined such things could happen in the bathroom or anywhere else.
It didn’t seem like the beautiful act of love he had seen in dramas or movies.
When he thought back, the only beautiful thing was Kwon Tae-hee’s face.
***
Seo Jeong-won hurriedly went out to the flower garden and quickly took care of the tasks he had postponed yesterday.
Due to a lack of extra funds, he couldn’t get more trees or flowers from the farm, so he had to make the most of what was there.
He carefully examined the pots gathered behind the flower garden to see if any had withered in the past few days.
Fortunately, the weather was cooling down.
Grasping the hose, he sprayed water into every corner.
After moving busily for quite some time, Seo Jeong-won checked the sufficiently wet leaves and relaxed his grip on the hose handle.
The scent of wet soil and grass filled the enclosed space.
Standing in the middle of the flower garden, he took out his phone from his pocket and moved his fingers skillfully.
He booked a bus ticket to visit his older brother and took a deep breath.
His heart was both at ease and uneasy.
He was afraid and scared that his brother might find out about his decision later.
Seo Jeong-won bit his lips tightly, turning his head as worries kept piling up.
He thought, “I’ll never tell for the rest of my life, so why do I keep worrying first?”
A throbbing pain was felt near his chest.
Pressing firmly with his hand there, he was startled by a presence behind him, trembling as he turned around.
“Oh. Sorry, sorry.”
“Kang Da-hyun?”
Kang Da-hyun was one of Seo Jeong-won’s few friends, a classmate from elementary through high school.
He inherited an orchard from his father and was the only one who stayed in the southwest.
Everyone said he was crazy for his decision, but Kang Da-hyun ignored them.
His father said, “We are the youngest today; we need to learn as much as we can.”
“I was just passing by, thought I’d drop in. Are you busy?”
His thick torso, tanned skin, and cool, long curved smile caught attention.
Seo Jeong-won sometimes thought about tanning himself like him.
He even stayed out in the sun for a long time on purpose, but every time his skin turned bright red, not brown.
It was the same when he worked at a construction site to raise hospital fees for Seo Kyu-won.
While others’ skin changed to light brown, only his turned red.
On the way home after work, he bought and applied burn ointment.
“No, not busy now. Are you busy?”
“I was worried if you’d be busy, so that’s a relief. Starting next week, we’ll be picking apples; can you help?
Are you free?”
“Of course, I can come. From what time?”
Wiping his wet hands on his sleeves, Seo Jeong-won quickly approached, unable to hide his gladness.
Kang Da-hyun was waiting, holding out a red apple.
He sniffed the air that floated lightly with his movement and frowned.
It was pheromones, definitely.
Even the lingering scent was strong and heavy.
The smell coming from Seo Jeong-won was unlike anything he had ever smelled before, a pheromone different in nature from his own Alpha scent.
“Is it already time to pick apples?”
“They’re all ripe. The first apples.”
“They’re beautiful this year too. Thanks.”
Kang Da-hyun quickly glanced over Seo Jeong-won’s face, shining bright in the white, clear daylight.
His gaze landed on his long, straight neck.
There were scattered red, round marks he had never seen before.
“Next Tuesday, 7 o’clock. You know we also have to help during Chuseok and October, right?”
Seo Jeong-won naturally confirmed with a smile.
It was a bright smile that showed his even teeth.
The dark, gloomy atmosphere that had surrounded him disappeared completely.
“If you pay me well, I’ll definitely do it.”
“I’ll pay well. And feed you too.”
Kang Da-hyun recalled Seo Jeong-won, who had been desperately taking on all kinds of work like crazy for the past few months.
He remembered him looking worn out every day, losing weight rapidly without saying why he was doing it.
He wondered what had happened during the few weeks he hadn’t seen him because the orchard was busy.
Even if an Alpha visited the flower garden as a customer, no crazy guy would shower pheromones on a stranger like that.
Is he dating?
But he had never dated before, and is he meeting an Alpha as his first boyfriend?
No, why would an Alpha meet a Beta?
There was nothing to see except his face.
There were more than a few strange things.
Is he really dating?
It wouldn’t be so strange if it was an Omega’s pheromones.
Why did he soak himself with that scent as if drenched in pheromones?
What was that trace?
His thoughts kept drifting toward dangerous and dirty places.
It couldn’t be, at least not the Seo Jeong-won he knew.
He wouldn’t have made such a choice.
“Really… we’re short on help. Don’t go anywhere else, come here. I’ll take good care of you.”
“Yeah, thanks for caring. Picking apples is fun. The work isn’t hard.”
“These days.”
“Hm?”
Kang Da-hyun’s words trailed off.
As if he forgot what to say, he moved his lips and awkwardly scratched his cheek.
“Did you manage to solve the money problem you said you were in a hurry for?”
“Oh, that? Yeah, it’s… it’s solved.”
“Still don’t want to talk about what happened?”
Though the amount was small, Kang Da-hyun lent Seo Jeong-won money.
When he asked why he needed it, he avoided the question and only repeated thanks.
Rumors had spread around the village that Seo Jeong-won had taken out private loans, and on weekdays, gangsters often lurked, so it was easy to tell something big had happened that he couldn’t handle.
Kang Da-hyun wanted to lend him all the money he needed, but he didn’t have cash to spare either.
Asking parents for help was out of the question.
His parents even warned him not to go near the flower garden because if he got involved with Seo Jeong-won, he’d end up in a mess.
It was after he witnessed gangsters causing trouble there.
“I’ll tell you later. I’m not sorted out right now either.”
“I’ll pay back the money I borrowed soon. I’ll pay it back for sure, so please wait a little. I’m sorry, really. I promise I’ll pay it back by the promised day.”
“More than that, do you have someone you’re seeing?”
Recently, the loan shark who hadn’t been seen anymore was asked about, and he was going to say the money was fine and he could pay back when he had time.
But the question came out of his mouth without his brain catching up.
Seo Jeong-won looked puzzled at the sudden question.
“Oh?”
“I was wondering if you had someone you’re seeing.”
“Suddenly?”
“If not, do you want to try a blind date?”
At the sudden suggestion, Seo Jeong-won laughed.
For a while, like a drought-stricken cracked earth, his smile was light.
“What blind date? I don’t have the time to meet anyone.”
“Still, just think about it.”
“No. Right now, I’m really not in a position to meet anyone.”
Seo Jeong-won, who rejected again, rubbed the shiny surface of an apple with his fingertip.
Even in the first year he took charge of the orchard, Kang Da-hyun brought him the first-picked apple before the harvest this time too.
“I didn’t expect you’d stay in Seonam. Everyone was surprised when you said you’d take over the orchard.”
“My parents had me late. I have no siblings. I have to inherit it anyway, so I didn’t want to waste time.”
“Still, you doing farming doesn’t suit you.”
Seo Jeong-won giggled and bit into the apple he rubbed on his clothes.
The fresh and sweet juice spread throughout his mouth.
“But who would have known you have the talent and could raise fruit trees so well?”
A soft voice with a trace of a smile continued.
However, Kang Da-hyun couldn’t properly hear what Seo Jeong-won was saying.
Every time he moved, the thin black hair shaking gave off a scent that made his head spin.
The pheromones were strong, and the reddish marks on his neck were clear signs of an intimate relationship.
If he really had no one he was seeing, that made no sense.
“Hmm?”
“Shall we have lunch together?”
“If you’re not busy, let’s eat together.”
“Ah, not today. I need to quickly wrap things up and go somewhere. Let’s have dinner when you’re free. I’m busy during the day.”
Kang Da-hyun thought for a moment at the gentle tone, then agreed.
He wanted to hear what was going on for sure that day.
He tended to talk a lot when drunk, so it was actually good.
Kang Da-hyun nodded several times.
“The apples are delicious. You did well this year too. Though there’s still some harvest left.”
“I’m leaving. I’ll contact you.”
“Okay.”
Walking together through the orchard to see Kang Da-hyun off, Seo Jeong-won kept munching on an apple bigger than his fist.
He smiled, unaware that Kang Da-hyun’s gaze was fixed on his lips, which looked unusually red today.
“Take care.”
“Yeah.”
Leaving Seo Jeong-won waving his hand gently behind, Kang Da-hyun got into the truck he came in and sighed deeply.
He felt heavy in his chest, not knowing what exactly that innocent woman had gone through, or what he was up to.