LM 49

After the air had circulated once, they closed the windows to the bar. Perhaps due to the extreme cold, few people were walking around on the streets right then. There were also few customers inside the establishment. Maybe more would come later when Yang Hyena was scheduled to play the piano.

“Yes, Hyena.”

As if reading Kwon Siyul’s thoughts, the manager received a phone call. Kwon Siyul, who was organizing the scattered menus, looked at the manager. Her face was creased with worry lines. “Yes, yes, okay, get plenty of rest—” she said, ending the call.

“This is trouble. Hyena caught the flu and says she absolutely can’t come today.”

“Isn’t there a performance scheduled for today?”

Kwon Siyul gasped in surprise. He wondered what they would do, as some customers came specifically to the bar to listen to Yang Hyena’s performance. The manager also sighed heavily, looking at the piano. Although the regulars wouldn’t leave empty-handed…

Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, a long arm shot up. All eyes turned in that direction. Woo Taeju, sitting on a round bar stool with his hand raised, scratched his cheek and smiled shyly.

“I know how to play the piano a little. If it’s okay with you, could I perform just for today? As a substitute for Hyena?”

“Really? We don’t have sheet music here. Hyena plays without it.”

“I don’t need sheet music either. I know a few songs that I can play. Would you like to hear?”

With the manager’s permission, Woo Taeju got up from his seat, stretched his interlocked hands, and loosened up his body. He tilted his head deeply to the side with his hand on it, then went up on stage and sat at the piano. He tapped the keys a few times, and for some reason, glanced at Kwon Siyul once. The moment their eyes met, he grinned.

Without announcing he was starting, Woo Taeju began to play. Although Kwon Siyul didn’t know much about piano, the performance was as good as Yang Hyena’s. However, while Yang Hyena’s playing was smooth like flowing water, Woo Tae-ju’s was rough with force in every note. His usual grin had completely disappeared from his face. Surprised by his unexpected skill, even the manager slowly uncrossed her arms and leaned on the bar as she listened with undivided attention.

The performance ended quickly. Kwon Siyul applauded as if entranced. Others had the same reaction. Woo Taeju stood up from the chair, raised his arms, and then lowered them as if taking off a hat, bowing and responding to the applause.

“That’s unexpected. I didn’t know you could play the piano so well.”

“I guess I don’t look the type. I hear that a lot.”

He laughed boisterously. Even while talking with the manager, Woo Taeju kept glancing at Kwon Siyul.

“I’m actually better with guitar than piano. I play guitar better. If you give me a chance next time, I’ll bring my guitar.”

“Really? Then would you like to bring your guitar tomorrow? It seems Hyena won’t be able to come until she’s fully recovered.”

“Yes!”

Woo Taeju answered energetically. The manager let out a sigh of relief, saying that customers wouldn’t have come for nothing. Kwon Siyul also set aside his worries and continued organizing the liquor bottles, casually thinking that Woo Taeju, who usually just grinned at everything, could be serious sometimes too.

The performance was a success. Even the regulars who were disappointed about Yang Hyena’s absence seemed satisfied after hearing Woo Taeju’s performance. Some even secretly asked the bartender for Woo Taeju’s contact information.

Kwon Siyul threw a large, tightly packed garbage bag into the bin and dusted off his hands. It had been a while since he had disposed of it himself, as Woo Taeju would always insist on doing it, showing overprotectiveness toward him like Kwon Yuwon, saying it was too heavy for Kwon Siyul to lift. He made the decision to quickly come out here while Woo Taeju was still talking with the manager.

He stretched his stiff back and took a deep breath of cold air. Today too, there seemed to be a problem with his nose as he could smell something mixed with the musty odor of the back alley. He sniffed, trying to identify the unfamiliar scent, but it disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.

“Could it be pheromones?”

Kwon Siyul muttered to himself and then burst out laughing. It was nonsense. Didn’t differentiation usually occur during adolescence or as early as the early teens? He had long passed that age. The possibility of differentiation was close to zero.

‘The worst among Alphas are dominant Alphas. They say just being near those bastards can affect you. Even among Betas, if you’re sensitive and stay around them for a long time, there are unlucky cases where you can differentiate! You know as well as I do that neither of us has been particularly lucky!’

Suddenly, he remembered Kwon Yuwon’s words, shouted with bloodshot eyes. His laughter had slowly faded. Woo Hyunse was undeniably a dominant Alphas. No matter how much he claimed to be recessive, Kwon Siyul didn’t believe him when he said otherwise.

“No way…”

He shook his head, denying the possibility of differentiation. No, it was just a cold coming on. Or it could be symptoms of a mutated new virus. Hadn’t a plague swept across the world just a few years ago?

Kwon Siyul had also suffered severely from it before. It could be that the aftereffects were only now appearing, making him imagine smells that didn’t exist before.

But if he did differentiate…

Then Woo Hyunse wouldn’t need to get medicine from the hospital.

It wouldn’t be just one rut, and who knows how many he’d have to go through in the future. Relying on strong medication each time could be dangerous for his health. While he’d prefer to be an Alphas, for Woo Hyunse’s sake, being an Omega wouldn’t be too bad the more he thought about it.

There was also the advantage of being able to smell Woo Hyunse’s pheromones directly with his own nose. He had said it was like a snow-white birch forest.

If Kwon Yuwon were beside him right now, he would have immediately raised his palm and slapped Kwon Siyul’s back as if hitting a volleyball, but he wasn’t here now. Kwon Siyul, as he usually did when embarrassed, tapped the ground with the toe of his sneaker and grinned. He wanted to throw himself into Woo Hyunse’s arms right away.

He missed him.

So much.

“…”

He had once heard a definition of love on the radio. The DJ said that love was when just seeing someone made your heart flutter and you feel happy. Kwon Siyul couldn’t relate. He had never experienced what love was.

Having never received unconditional parental love, and having to survive among a swarm of children, talk of love was a luxury—survival was the main priority.

But when looking at Woo Hyunse, his heart would stir in his chest, and indefinable feelings would sprout like seedlings. Even seeing each other every morning and night wasn’t enough.

He wanted to see him more. He wanted to share more time together. He wanted to hear his voice, to hug him, to hold his hand. Even just lying together doing nothing, his heart was full of indescribable feelings. It felt like floating on warm water that would never cool, and his stomach always felt comfortably full. Just the memory made his heart swell.

He still doesn’t know what love was. But he felt like he might understand. It was vague and faint, but if he had to find a similar emotion, these words would probably be it.

“―I like you.”

The words he couldn’t say in front of Woo Hyunse suddenly burst out like a sneeze. Though it was close to a whisper, Kwon Siyul was momentarily startled and covered his mouth. He hurriedly looked around. There was no one else around but him.

Confirming that he was alone, Kwon Siyul smiled broadly. His dazed-looking eyes curved prettily and a smile played on his lips. Even with no one watching, just as flowers bloom by the roadside when spring comes, a new season had arrived on Kwon Siyul’s face. Despite the cold, dark winter alley he found himself in, the smile on his face shone as warmly as the sun in May or June.

Hurried footsteps crossing the corridor interrupted Kwon Siyul’s reverie. He inhaled and looked up, not even having time to savor the feeling he had just realized. The iron door swung open and Woo Taeju poked his head in. His cheeks were flushed red as if he had run to get here.

“Hyung! I’ve decided to work here for a while. While Hyena is resting.”

It seemed the manager had changed her mind after listening to his performance. Kwon Siyul brightened.

“That’s great! Didn’t you say your allowance was cut off?”

“That’s right. I’ve been an unpaid intern until now, but now I’m an official employee. It’s all thanks to you, hyung.”

“But I didn’t do anything.”

Woo Taeju strode over the threshold and grabbed Kwon Siyul’s hands with both of his. Even as Kwon Siyul hesitated and backed away, Woo Taeju leaned forward, bringing his face up close.

“What do you mean you didn’t do anything? You were here. I kept coming here to see you. That’s how I got this job.”

Kwon Siyul smiled awkwardly and extracted his hands from Woo Taeju’s grip. He put them behind his back to prevent the other man from grabbing his hands again and took a big step backward.

“Hyung, why do you keep…”

“No, it’s because you held my hands.”

“Is it not okay to hold them? Is it weird?”

Despite saying this, Woo Taeju kept reaching out to Kwon Siyul as if he wanted to touch him somehow. Although he didn’t want to know, even if he was oblivious, after seeing such behavior, Kwon Siyul couldn’t help but understand Woo Taeju’s feelings. It resembled the emotion he had just realized in himself. Although he hoped his conclusion was wrong, Kwon Siyul asked directly, “I hope this is my misunderstanding, but do you like me?”