NUTMEG 23

“Ugh…”

I was just drifting off when the sensation of a warm body burrowing into my arms woke me. The hair touching the tip of my chin tickled. Not finding it particularly bothersome, Wonoh brushed it away with his hand and even patted the round head.

Through the low whirring of the air conditioner’s motor, he could hear the cool sound of pouring rain. The typhoon must be getting closer; the downpour was quite fierce. Wonoh blinked slowly. The amount of his own pheromones in the air was quite high.

Choi Wonoh was inherently skilled at perfectly concealing his pheromones. He would habitually keep them in check even when he slept. As if his pheromones were a water supply, and he was completely shutting off the valve. He had been doing this ever since his secondary gender manifested. But today had been an uncommonly tiring day. It seemed his nerves had loosened because of it.

Normally, he would have quickly reined them in, but the person next to him was a beta, Cheon Minje, anyway. With that thought, Wonoh left his pheromones as they were.

It was also because of the nagging he got from his doctor today. The doctor, whom he had known since childhood, had always been skeptical of Choi Wonoh’s ‘pheromone mysophobia’. The doctor’s opinion was that since pheromones and ruts were natural phenomena for alphas, controlling them with medication 365 days a year would surely lead to problems.

Even without the doctor nagging him every time they met, he was mindful of that much himself. So when he was home alone or on days like today, he made sure to open the valve he kept locked shut, little by little. When he did, he felt a sense of comfort and freedom, like someone who had been holding their breath underwater for a long time and finally surfaced. Every time, he was forced to realize, whether he liked it or not, that just as the doctor said, the most natural state for a person with a secondary gender was to let their pheromones out. But that’s not a human, it’s an animal.

As his retinas gradually adjusted to the darkness, the person before him came into focus.

Carrying a guy over 180 centimeters tall on his back with an injured hand, on top of the pouring rain—it was a chaotic mess of the highest order. Im Kihwan, who had been making a fuss about holding an umbrella for them, was also completely drunk, so it was a relief he wasn’t more of a hindrance than a help. After barely making it back to the dorm and dropping Cheon Minje onto the entryway floor like he was flinging him down, Wonoh was catching his breath when the man fell prostrate and started sleeping right there. Choi Wonoh had to pat his cheeks and force him up, even pushing him into the bathroom.

But the trouble didn’t end there. As soon as he closed the bathroom door, telling him to wash up on his own, he heard a loud clatter-bang from inside. Resigned to everything, Wonoh opened the bathroom door again. As expected, Cheon Minje was crouched on the tiled floor, looking miserable.

Hmm. What a complete pain in the ass…

Wonoh pulled Cheon Minje, who was still wearing his wet t-shirt, to his feet. The man, who was now docilely obeying, only shifted his eyes to look at him. His eyes, with their slightly upturned corners, were damp with drunkenness. Unexpectedly, that face overlapped with the face that had been crying on the sofa, and Wonoh raised one eyebrow in a curve.

Have I really become a pervert?

But this was no time to be placidly admiring his face. It was late, he was tired, and the damp, clinging t-shirt felt unpleasant. He wanted to quickly give this drunkard a rough wash, then quickly wash up himself and lie down.

Wonoh stripped Cheon Minje’s clothes off and stuck a toothbrush with toothpaste on it into his mouth. He meekly accepted the toothbrush. Leaning against the bathtub, Wonoh watched Cheon Minje as if supervising him. Cheon Minje, dressed only in a pair of short, tight-fitting black boxer briefs, started brushing his teeth with his eyes half-closed. Only then did Wonoh relax and put toothpaste on his own toothbrush.

Choi Wonoh was not at all used to cleaning up after drunk people. The members sometimes drank together, but the one who would abandon a dead-drunk Shotgun on the street and be the first to go home was, without a doubt, himself.

But to personally carry a man who was limp from drunkenness, strip his clothes, and even hand him a toothbrush? If the members were here, they wouldn’t have believed it even if they saw it. He himself couldn’t quite understand why he had gone this far.

“Ah…!”

“Whoa there?”

Just then, Cheon Minje, who was about to spit out the foam, swayed and stumbled. Wonoh quickly grabbed one of his arms to steady him. Cheon Minje, with foam on his mouth, stared blankly at Wonoh. Wonoh’s gaze slowly traveled down from his face to his neck and collarbones, which were blotchy from the alcohol, and then to his thick chest that rose and fell with each breath, his light-colored nipples, and his abs that were slowly taking shape.

Hmm… His muscles have shaped up nicely since he started boxing, this hyung.

When they first met, he was so skinny he looked much smaller, but he looked much better now. When Minje turned his head again and bent over to spit out the foam, the hamstrings on the back of his thighs tensed up, looking quite firm. Wonoh unconsciously reached out and squeezed the muscle.

“Heek!”

Minje let out a shrill scream as if it tickled. Wonoh, who immediately let go, was a little surprised. The spot he had touched without thinking was so soft. Does he do something special to take care of his skin? Cheon Minje, who hadn’t rinsed his mouth yet, looked over and mumbled something that sounded like a curse. Finding it funny, Wonoh couldn’t help but laugh.

“…Hhng.”

Having closed his eyes to fall back asleep, Wonoh lifted his heavy eyelids again at a shrill moan similar to the one from before.

“Hoo…”

Cheon Minje, who had somehow gotten right up to his nose, held his breath as if in pain, then exhaled sharply again. Every time he breathed out, the faint smell of alcohol rose and mixed with the scent of his own pheromones.

The bed was too small.

But for one of them to go to the living room, the air conditioner there had been broken until now. Cheon Minje must have had the same thought, because when Wonoh returned to the room after washing up, he was already asleep on the bed.

Wonoh remembered how Cheon Minje had stubbornly gone out to sleep in the living room until just a few days ago and chuckled. He’d figured he wasn’t used to sharing a room. In fact, he himself had found sleeping this close to someone quite awkward.

“Hah… Hoo.”

Letting out another pained breath, Cheon Minje pressed closer into his arms. Is he uncomfortable because he’s drunk?

Just then, the sound of the sky vibrating rumbled in the distance, and then—flash—a huge burst of light suddenly flooded the room. Wonoh raised his eyes to glance out the window, then looked forward again and flinched in surprise. The man who had been sleeping was, at some point, looking at him.

Whoooooosh—.

As if the sky had split in two, the harsh sound of rain, incomparable to before, beat against his ears.

The dazed eyes seemed somewhat feverish. Wonoh stared into his eyes, mesmerized. Suddenly, his attention was drawn to their bare legs touching, which he hadn’t been consciously aware of until now. Minje’s cool calf, clad only in a t-shirt and boxer briefs, began to entwine with his own leg.

At the strange movement, Wonoh raised an eyebrow in a curve. The moment he was about to say something, he felt something hard pressing into his thigh; it was almost simultaneous.

Rumble, the sky prepared to vibrate again.

Minje’s erect penis pressed against his thigh, applying firm, heavy pressure. Wonoh let out something close to a dry laugh.

“Hyung, are you hard?”

This hyung has really bad drinking habits.

“Your thing is poking my thigh right now.”

Paying no mind to his words, Cheon Minje closed the distance between their faces even more. His ragged breaths, which seemed to escape with the heat, came closer and closer with the scent of alcohol, until they could get no closer.

Flash, and bright light poured into the room again. Because of it, Wonoh was able to witness the moment the dazed eyes, so close they could touch, began to take on the color of lust.

“…”

Wonoh kept his head where it was instead of pulling back. Half out of curiosity, and half because he was turned on.

Between their breaths, there wasn’t even the space of a single finger. Between Minje’s slightly parted lips, a red tongue darted out—lick—and wet his lips. Staring intently at those lips, Wonoh slid his palm and slowly stroked Minje’s waist. As if in response, hot lips pressed against Wonoh’s.

The moment they touched, the lips parted, and a hot, slick tongue poured into the cavern of his mouth. Minje’s bright red tongue sucked on Wonoh’s and swept over every corner inside, licking. Hot breath was sucked into his mouth. The sloppy tongue, which skillfully controlled even his breathing as it languidly crushed the roof of his mouth, slowly made Wonoh’s reason slip away.

Why is he so good at kissing?

Wonoh, doing as desire commanded, slowly ran his hand up Minje’s back and sucked on his lips and tongue to his heart’s content. The obscene sounds mixing with the rain tickled his ears. The resilient muscles clung to his palm even through the t-shirt. While continuing to kiss, Wonoh slid his hand under the t-shirt.

A sense of satisfaction bloomed along with excitement as he directly touched every part of the muscles he had only looked at before. And his skin really was too soft. It felt like he could just keep touching it forever. Wonoh greedily gripped that skin, twisting and kneading it hard. In response, Minje’s lower body pressed against his, and his penis, which had hardened and swelled, poked his thigh firmly.

“Hnng…”

As if stimulated by that, he even started grinding his lower body. Wanting to see his expression, Wonoh pulled his lips away, and Minje frantically wrapped his arms around Wonoh to keep him from pulling away. Then he tilted his head and pecked at his lips, peck, peck, peck. The way he did it, as if begging to be opened up again, made a chuckle escape.

‘Looks like he’s the type who wants to sleep with someone when he drinks.’

There were plenty of people who, as if a switch was flipped, would launch a physical offensive whenever they drank. But coming from Cheon Minje, it was a fresh shock. Unlike the unpleasantness he felt from those with ulterior motives…

“Hyung. You’re so lewd.”

Do you do this with just anyone when you’re drunk? Smiling, he threaded his fingers through the hair at the back of his short-haired head. A faint scent of shampoo wafted with a soft rustle.

At those words, Cheon Minje lifted his wet eyes and stared silently at Wonoh. Looking at the forehead clearly revealed by his short hair and his well-groomed eyebrows, Wonoh unconsciously caressed his cheek and the area around his ear.

He’s clearly a man. And he’s Cheon Minje. Even if this hyung does this with anyone when he’s drunk, why did I kiss him back?

Minje waited quietly for whatever Wonoh would do, but then, as if he could no longer bear it, he started grinding his lower body again. Because they were both only in their underwear, the heat had been in constant contact for a while now. Every time Cheon Minje ground against him, he let out moans at his own whim, as if excitement was blooming. He should push him away or stop him now, but for some reason, he didn’t want to.

He hated it when people crossed the line and became a nuisance or acted like a lover. So he knew with his head that the wise decision was not to touch him any further, but.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Nngh…”

When Wonoh didn’t kiss him anymore, Minje pulled his own underwear halfway down and took out his penis. Pubic hair darker than his head of hair and a red penis, its tip already thoroughly wet, were revealed before Wonoh.

“Hh, hoo.”

And then, his white fingers gripped it and began to stroke. His blotchy cheeks and the nape of his neck instantly grew hotter. His wet eyes, completely melted in arousal, looked at Wonoh. At that moment, Wonoh’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly.

His ragged breathing continued for a while, and then Minje put two fingers of the hand not holding his penis into his mouth and began to suck. The fingers moving in and out between his lips, which were red from the heat, made obscene sounds, slurp, slurp. The saliva that flowed out of his mouth in the process trickled down Minje’s cheek as he lay on his side, soaking the pillow.

Wonoh’s mind went blank at the scene unfolding before him, and he frowned.