Fiancé (1)

By the time they finished washing dishes side by side, the world outside had gone completely dark. Of the candles left burning on the dining table, one had gone out — only one remained, sputtering. It looked like it had about three hours left.

Liu walked to the table and blew a puff of air at the remaining flame. After moving the smoking candlestick to the counter, he approached Yeehyeon, who was finishing up the last of the dishes. He swept Yeehyeon's hair back with his still slightly damp hands.

"Should we take your medicine before showering?"

Yeehyeon nodded, his eyelids drooping languidly — as if he were enjoying the cool touch of the hand stroking his hair and rubbing his earlobe. Watching him like this, Liu knew: Yeehyeon trusted him completely.

Liu knew that Yeehyeon was not the type of person to lean on or depend on anyone. He rarely opened up even to those closest to him — believing that sharing a worry didn't halve it, but simply meant two people were now burdened by it. The way Seo Yeehyeon cherished the people around him was to resolve his own problems entirely on his own.

And yet Yeehyeon often let his guard down in front of Liu Weikun alone.

Through this trip, Yeehyeon was slowly learning — through experience — that sometimes leaning on someone didn't mean burdening them.

Each time that happened, Liu felt an overwhelming surge of affection accompanied by a slight ache in his chest. Yeehyeon was so lovely he didn't know what to do, wanting only to give him everything. He would often be overcome by a passion that made him feel capable of anything, if only it proved his love.

To quiet that intensity, Liu let out a long breath. He cupped both of Yeehyeon's cheeks, rubbed their noses together, and gently kissed his brow, the bridge of his nose, the space above his upper lip, and then his lips.

"Kun...."

Kissing each other like that, Yeehyeon suddenly grabbed Liu's wrist. Only then did Liu realize his pheromones were leaking out.

"Ah, sorry."

"No. We're alone, so there's no need to apologize...."

He could guess what the worry in Yeehyeon's eyes was about.

"It's absolutely not an issue with my control itself. We've spent so much time together on this trip with my defenses completely down in front of you — that's why I let my guard slip without realizing it when we're alone like this."

"That's a relief, then."

That's what he said to Yeehyeon, but Liu was quite startled himself. It was no longer surprising to emit pheromones when he felt sexual desire for Yeehyeon. But the kisses and affection just now had been expressions of love, not sexual caresses. This was the first time he had unconsciously released pheromones while caught up in feelings of love. It was evidence that he was being more strongly affected by the Diamond Dust.

Having spent over a month close to Yeehyeon, they had been exchanging pheromones every day — intense pheromone-driven sex at least four days a week. That must be why. Liu instinctively felt that his pheromones were beginning to bond with Yeehyeon.

He wanted to tell Yeehyeon that he felt their pheromones were starting to form a bond — but Liu smiled while hiding that excitement. He didn't want to burden Yeehyeon with it yet.

He poured a cup of lukewarm bottled water from the counter, then took out two pale pink pills from a plastic bottle nearby.

"Here. Your dose for today."

For as long as they were staying together, Liu wanted to make sure he administered the medication himself.

Yeehyeon was an immature Omega who had not yet fully manifested — still in the process of developing. He received monthly checkups from a renowned Omega specialist in Paris, and every three months, Marcus from Boston would visit Paris to see Yeehyeon separately.

Yeehyeon maintained that checkups from his regular doctor were enough, but Liu remained anxious. Since the Paris doctor only knew Yeehyeon as an Omega undergoing natural development, Liu wanted him to also be seen by Marcus, who knew about the Diamond Dust. Even if Marcus didn't know much about "Didi" either, having him involved eased Liu's anxiety a little.

Both the Paris doctor and Marcus agreed that Yeehyeon did not yet need to take heat suppressants. But because Yeehyeon was not a typical Omega, Liu could not be fully reassured.

In the end, Yeehyeon was taking the suppressants recommended by both specialists.

There were mainly two types of suppressants taken by regular Omegas who weren't Goldens: the relatively harsh Sharp, taken only during heat cycles, and Balance, taken daily like a nutritional supplement. Yeehyeon was currently taking the latter. The downside of Balance was that it had to be taken every day, but it was much gentler than Sharp and had almost no side effects.

However, just as the suppressants Liu had once swallowed by the handful had proved useless against Yeehyeon's pheromones, Liu could still sense Yeehyeon's pheromones even while on suppressants. This was because it was the Diamond Dust pheromone — something that acted only on Ghosts and was unrelated to an Omega's pheromones. A pheromone that could only stimulate Liu Weikun, the Ghost, and that only Liu Weikun could savor.

Since the Diamond Dust pheromone could only be detected by Liu Weikun anyway, that was fine. The purpose of the suppressants was to protect Yeehyeon's Omega pheromones from the pheromones of other Alphas. Liu wanted to prepare for every possibility, however remote.

Liu watched Yeehyeon swallow the medicine and took the water glass from him. Looking up at Liu's furrowed brow, Yeehyeon smiled as if he couldn't help it.

"Kun, I'm not taking medicine because I'm sick."

"I know."

"Then why does your expression change every time I take my suppressant?"

"Well, that's because..."

Because I feel sorry for you. If you hadn't met me, you could have lived an ordinary life as a Beta without the hassle of taking medicine like this. But he couldn't say that to Yeehyeon. That would have been disrespectful to Yeehyeon's decision to choose a future with him. And besides, he didn't even want to entertain the thought of "if you hadn't met me."

Yeehyeon came closer and rested his chin on Liu's shoulder as Liu set the glass in the sink.

"You're still apologizing for that... aren't you?"

"Me? No."

"I am Diamond Dust. As long as I love Awi, I have no choice but to be an Omega."

"Yes, I know."

A Beta who has no choice but to be an Omega as long as he loves me.

That was precisely what he felt sorry for — but he couldn't apologize for making Yeehyeon fall in love with him.

"And it's not Awi's fault that I'm Diamond Dust."

Liu turned to face his lover. A person who was shy and introverted but held precious convictions of his own — and who would never yield on those convictions. Yeehyeon looked up at Liu with quiet, firm eyes, dark and steady.

"Awi's mistake was breaking the order. Don't feel sorry about anything else."

Liu wrapped his arm around Yeehyeon's back and pressed his lips to his forehead, whispering like a vow.

"I won't. My angel."