IBS - Chapter 75

“Hyung. The store is that way…!”

“Forget the store. Something I want as a gift from you just came up.”

“Suddenly? What is it?”

“It’s not something I can buy here.”

With those meaningful words, we got on the elevator heading down to the parking garage. The people who had been on it all got off on our floor, so when we got on, there was no one else inside. That was a real relief. Because Han Jinheon cornered me.

“What is it you want to receive? Can you tell me…?”

An impassive face from which I couldn’t read any emotion, and those mysterious eyes whose meaning I still couldn’t grasp. And his posture, standing at a slant with his arms crossed, observing me, made my chest pound with anxiety and my gaze shrink. For some reason, it felt like the gift wasn’t what was important to him.

I busily tried to read Han Jinheon’s mood. He looked displeased, but he didn’t seem angry. There were aspects that seemed the same as usual. Whatever it was, this sudden change of behavior had to be because of Kim Gyuyeong, right? Don't tell me he’s misunderstanding again, thinking I like Kim Gyuyeong.

Just as I resolved to tell him first that it wasn’t true, Han Jinheon spoke calmly, his expression softening slightly.

“I only realized today. That you don’t like Kim Gyuyeong.”

“……”

“Your eyes when you looked at Kim Gyuyeong were a little displeasing, but watching closely, I got the feeling he probably wasn’t the guy you like.”

“I told you it wasn’t true. You didn’t believe me when I kept saying it…”

“Because I thought you were just making excuses. Because you were a guy who used to be head over heels for Kim Gyuyeong, so I thought it wouldn’t be resolved so easily. A prejudice, once it’s set, is a scary thing.”

“Then just stop doubting me now. Don’t ever bring up that story about whether I like Kim Gyuyeong or not… again, alright? Huh?”

“I get that, but if the person you like isn’t Kim Gyuyeong, then who could it be?”

His suspicion hadn’t ended yet. He had only gained certainty that it wasn't Kim Gyuyeong; the identity of the person I liked was still a mystery to him.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, I was dragged along at Han Jinheon’s pace. Before long, I was placed in the passenger seat, staring at Han Jinheon with a dazed expression. He leaned against the passenger door and the car body, looking down at me, and demanded softly.

“As a gift, tell me who the person you like is.”

I had misjudged. The gift was important.

Before I could even answer, the door was closed. The Alpha tossed the shopping bags carelessly into the back seat, got into the driver’s seat, and before I could say anything, made a call to cancel our dinner reservation. Then he called a different hotel and told them to prepare the room he always uses during his rut.

“I’m going to assume you'll tell me, and I’m thinking of quitting being your keeper today.”

“Quitting what?”

“The keeper. In other words, I’m going to covet the place you said I would never know.”

Clutching the seatbelt draped diagonally across my chest, I swallowed hard. Rather than regret that I was lying, my heart was pounding thrillingly at this unbelievable development. I’d be a crazy bastard, wouldn’t I?

But I think I’d be fine with being a crazy bastard. Whether I’m called crazy for doing something bad or for the thought of rolling around with Hyung, it’s all the same, isn’t it?

Calming my leaping heart as much as possible, I asked Han Jinheon. To suppress this feeling of affection, I needed a reality check.

“Hyung, I’m your brother…. Are you saying you’re going to sleep with your brother?”

“When I do this, I don’t see you as a brother. More like a cute little thing that needs a bit of handling.”

“……”

“Right now, I see you as the Santa who will give me my gift.”

Entranced by his refreshing smile, I could only blink my eyes. Nothing was giving me a proper reality check. Maybe today itself had been like that from the very beginning.

***

He was the type to believe that people change, but changing a deeply ingrained, fixed idea was a difficult task. Han Jinheon considered his own refusal to believe that Han Sol liked Kim Gyuyeong to be the highest level of difficulty. That’s why he had thought Han Sol’s thirst for Kim Gyuyeong must be severe, but what was this?

It was his own stubbornness and arrogance. He only found out after confronting Kim Gyuyeong.

I should have just believed him. I should have tried believing him just once.

But he had his own excuses. Han Sol had said it himself. That he liked someone he wasn't sure he was allowed to like. That a person's heart isn't that simple. That he would just like him from afar and then stop. At the time he said that, it was unconditionally Kim Gyuyeong. It felt like he would be treated like a fool by Han Sol if he didn’t understand that he was referring to him.

If it wasn't Kim Gyuyeong, then who in the world did he like? The spot vacated by the most suspected person was empty, but there were many candidates. 

From Jeong Seongwoo and Song Hyeon-oh to the young servants who came and went from the house. Han Jinheon had been suspicious of a wide range of people. 

But he would always end up concluding it must be Kim Gyuyeong and drop his suspicions. It seemed he needed to set a new destination. Because he now knew it really wasn’t him.

He felt a refreshing sense of relief, as if a firmly embedded nail had been pulled out. He began to feel this relief from the moment he sensed that Han Sol’s attitude toward Kim Gyuyeong was subtly different, and because of that, he didn’t even get angry. The emptiness that had been there drained away through the hole.

The biggest factor was Hansol’s demeanor toward him. It was the same as before, yet subtly different. His eyes were still bright, but that was all. There was no emotion contained within them. They were empty, as if the dreadful, boiling, misguided affection had been pulled out by the roots.

That wasn't all. The black pearls directed at him sparkled even more. He was probably looking without any particular awareness, but his gaze held more life when looking at him than at Kim Gyuyeong. That was what was strange. It was somehow reassuring, yet it made his heart boil.

He couldn't omit the fact that Hansol didn't stop him even when he took the lead and intervened in the conversation with Kim Gyuyeong. A guy who should have been throwing a fit, saying only he could talk to him and that he shouldn't interfere in the slightest, had just stood there quietly. Quite commendably, at that.

Watching Kim Gyuyeong's retreating back, Han Jinheon thought, 'This is the end of that tiresome, disgusting guy.' And he hoped Kim Gyuyeong thought the same of his brother.

However, one slightly displeasing point remained. Just because he knew it wasn't Kim Gyuyeong, that wasn't the end of it. There was still some bastard who occupied Han Sol's heart.

His plan for today was to find out who it was, even if it meant using physical connection. Now that he had resolved himself, he would not back down. He firmed his resolve as he watched Han Sol’s face while sending Kim Gyuyeong off.

To be honest, it wasn’t a deliberate plan. Impulse accounted for more than half of it, and the start of this plan, which happened to align with the situation, wasn't the chance encounter with Kim Gyuyeong. It was from the moment Han Sol had playfully teased him with that cunning mouth of his.

He was cute when he had agreed with the statement that he probably couldn't make him c*m. It should have ended there.

‘I just, I just bite well. Think of it that way. You wouldn't know, hyung. You'll never know.’

That was a provocation.

Whether it was intentional or not didn’t matter. Han Sol had perfectly stimulated a point that Han Jinheon had been habitually dissatisfied with and subconsciously jealous of. The fact that other Alphas knew, but he did not.

Normally, he would have acted as if such things didn't matter. But at some point, the flow of Han Jinheon's psychology related to Han Sol had changed. As long as he was under him, he needed to know what there was to know. The time when he was satisfied just by knowing Han Sol's location was over.

Now, he was not satisfied. He would find out everything the other bastards knew, and furthermore, he would increase the things that only he knew. Having changed his attitude like that, Han Jinheon made the decision today to conduct a proper exploration.

He could just stop being the keeper. He had been holding back out of consideration for Han Sol, who would be disgusted by being penetrated by him, but frankly, there was no reason not to pound into a guy who didn't even share the same blood. If he wanted to be petty, he could even blame Han Sol. From the moment he had wished for his ass to be touched instead of his chest, he had been provoking his self-control.

So, he would gladly release his restraints. He would show him just how much he could charge at him like an angry bull.

The hotel room was magnificent. It wasn't just gaudy because money had been spent; the white and wood interior gave it a comfort similar to being at home. However, while Han Jinheon was familiar with the place, Han Sol couldn't even look around the room. 

It was because he was caught by the Alpha who started kissing him and stripping off his clothes the moment they entered the room. His coat had been stripped off at the entrance and lay in a heap, and his top and bottom drew a trail from the door to the bed.

Left only in his underwear, Han Sol quickly pulled a pillow to cover his upper body. Surprised by the faster-than-expected pace, he took a deep breath, puffing out his chest, and found the pillow. Even though he knew it was always useless.

“Let’s just talk for a minute. Just a minute. Huh? There’s no reason to be in such a hurry.”

“There might not be a reason to be in a hurry, but there’s no reason to go any slower from here.”

“But… I, I haven’t even told you who I like yet.”

“You can tell me slowly. As long as you say it before today is over, you’re safe.”

“What if I don’t tell you by the end of the day?”

“Tomorrow will become today.”

It meant that it wouldn't end until he revealed who it was. There was an intention to intimidate, but it was also a perfunctory statement. Today was long anyway, and within that time, Han Sol would confess.

Han Jinheon knew that people were not only weak to pain but also to pleasure. Humans were beings who crumbled under sensual stimulation, and Han Sol was, among the people he knew, both the strongest and the weakest against sexual desire.

Look at him now. The words, tomorrow will become today. Such simple words, yet he was blushing behind the pillow. Looking at him, he seems to feel pleasure so well that perhaps it's because he truly enjoys such lustful acts.

Han Jinheon tried to move the pillow Han Sol was clutching so tightly, but Han Sol hugged it even tighter and asked.

“Can’t you just be satisfied with the fact that the person I like isn’t Kim Gyuyeong?”

“I don’t think I can. Now that it’s not Kim Gyuyeong, I have to know. I’m sick of me asking and you avoiding, so how about you stop beating around the bush and just say it.”

From the moment he heard he liked someone, Han Jinheon had been persistently asking who it was, and he was fed up with Han Sol's charade of not answering.

If it had been another guy at another time, he wouldn't have forced it. But it was Han Sol, and he was in the middle of executing a plan for him to manifest as an Omega. It was, in its own way, a justifiable demand.​