Salt Society Chapter 30

Someone called out to Kihyun, bringing him to a halt. Kihyun turned around without much thought and looked at the person who had called him. That person was also dressed in a light windbreaker and wearing running shoes. They appeared to have come out for an early morning jog. Seeing as their gaze was slightly higher than that of Kihyun, who was quite tall, they seemed to be shorter than or similar to Cho Yeonoh. They had a friendly look with approachable eyes.

Kihyun just stared at him as if telling him to speak, wondering what he wanted. Then the man opened his mouth.

“May I ask your name?”

Kihyun had expected him to ask to borrow a phone at most, but the abrupt question about his name was so strange that he reflexively distorted his expression. The man stared intensely at Kihyun before his face suddenly turned red in embarrassment.

“Ah, well… I thought you were an Omega…”

“Pardon?”

It was such a localized piece of nonsense that he had never heard or seen before, so he had to ask back.

The man also had a flustered look on his face. He seemed to be an Alpha, and while mistaking someone in the early dawn can happen, don’t Omegas and Alphas usually distinguish others by things like pheromones? Kihyun tilted his head, but since it was just weird, he simply gave a bow.

The Alpha also seemed embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck repeatedly and bowing awkwardly. Since he had a friendly impression, he didn’t seem entirely bad. Kihyun didn’t pay any more attention and continued his walk along the path around the golf course.

After walking one or two more laps like that, the thought occurred to him to go toward the coast. Despite the sea where the dawn was breaking being only slightly visible at the very edge, it boasted surprisingly beautiful golden sparkling ripples.

“It’s really pretty…”

An exclamation escaped him involuntarily. Seeing that sight made him feel okay about being dragged out here so absurdly. It was also funny that he could find comfort in the Namhae sea—the kind of comfort he couldn’t obtain from his love.

Usually, if nine parts of life are made of anger and sadness, only the remaining one part is joy and happiness. Kihyun’s “one” was shimmering far off, reflecting the morning sunlight. Like the scales of a giant golden creature. It was the moment he was about to move his feet to go all the way to the shore.

Suddenly, he felt a gaze. Looking up to see what it was, he saw Cho Yeonoh leaning against the resort terrace, wearing only homewear pants and looking this way. He shook something. It was far away and hard to see clearly, but it looked like a cell phone.

“…”

He was probably going to nag again about not bringing it. Kihyun swallowed a sigh, finished his brief moment of leisure, and turned his back. Would the sparkling ripples he fell in love with at first sight still be shimmering behind his back? They would. Is there any way the sea would ever change? He missed it briefly as soon as he turned around.

He could smell the salt in the wind. He felt like experiencing just this much was enough. Where is the life where one lives having everything? He had lived firmly following his mother’s words to know how to feel happiness even if he had only a very small part.

Thinking that way, he felt a bit hurt recalling that she, who used to say such things, ultimately did not stay by So Kihyun’s side. The sea behind his back would likely be the same. It seemed Kihyun’s sea was not here either.

If so, where should So Kihyun go? Kihyun looked up at the terrace again. In place of Cho Yeonoh, who had already left the spot, the curtains in the half-open window were fluttering in the sea breeze.

Even though his destination had become clear, his steps grew slower and slower. Even when he scolded himself, asking what he was doing acting so pathetic, his pace did not quicken. Kihyun had no choice but to walk the short distance very slowly.

When he entered the room, Cho Yeonoh got annoyed, asking why he was so incredibly slow. Not wanting to fight, Kihyun just said “Sorry” and left it at that.

Perhaps the things piled up behind So Kihyun’s back were not the sea, but the things he wasn’t actually sorry for. Behind his back, the guest room door closed.

⏳

Breakfast, for once, was with Cho Yeonoh. He thought Yeonoh would be busy, but seeing him holding a butter knife with a scowling face, claiming he couldn’t sleep because Kihyun went for a walk at dawn, was absurd.

The table was set inside the room. He wondered if they would go down to eat, but before Kihyun could say anything, the bell rang and Cho Yeonoh went out to receive the food. On the wheeled trolley were seasonal fruits, bread, an omelet, several kinds of jam, bacon, and pancakes before the syrup was poured.

He expected a person to come in and set the breakfast, but Cho Yeonoh moved each item onto the table himself. His shoulders in the golf wear looked sturdy, and his torso was thick while his pelvis was narrow. Since his physique seemed more revealed than in his usual suits or other clothes, Kihyun made a random comment for no reason.

“Fix that habit of not being able to sleep without me. Are you a child?”

“Isn’t it also a problem for a child to sleep in the same bed as his lover?”

Bullshit. In reality, he just sleeps more wholesomely than children do. Kihyun was going to retort, but not wanting to say much, he put his lips to the apple juice poured into a thin glass.

“Orange marmalade? Or strawberry?”

“Marmalade.”

He accepted and ate the butter and orange marmalade spread on freshly baked bread with an indifferent face. If he was going to eat bread, he would rather eat a deluxe set sold at the fast food restaurant next to the hospital. There were pancakes on the breakfast tray, but the taste was somehow different.

“Eat some protein too.”

“Yes, nutritionist.”

Even though he sneered out of annoyance, Cho Yeonoh, who must have heard it as a joke, smirked and slid the omelet over slightly. It’s a round table anyway, and things within Cho Yeonoh’s reach are also within So Kihyun’s reach, so he thought Yeonoh was being quite excessive.

“You should eat some yourself. Didn’t you say you were doing a rounding session? Manager Yoo must be anxious.”

“You think I treat Manager Yoo carelessly because I’m the employer? He’s worse. He’s a total tough bastard.”

He was going to say “He looks that way” but stopped. It was all because of Manager Yoo’s arrangements that Cho Yeonoh had to handle a murderous schedule. Manager Yoo was the first gift the grandfather gave in order to showcase Cho Yeonoh most brilliantly within Haeseong in a few years.

“He’s not mine, so you be careful too. Don’t go believing everything that fox-like bastard says for no reason.”

Cho Yeonoh said in a dry tone as he put down the butter knife in his hand. Clean table manners, and yet an impolite way of speaking. Every paradox that makes up Cho Yeonoh. When will he be able to escape that contradiction? Kihyun answered with a sigh.

“Why call a person a fox. The manager is just an office worker too. One with an ill-tempered bastard like you as a boss, at that.”

“I told you to listen to your hyung.”

“You sure do act superior. Say that after giving me New Year’s money or something.”

“Fine, bow to me next Lunar New Year. I’ll pour an absolute fortune of pocket money on you.”

“You bow to me,” “No, you do it,” “You crazy bastard, I’ll bow to you twice (like at a funeral),” “When I become a ghost, I’ll only haunt you”—they bickered back and forth before eventually kicking each other’s shins once. Only one of the two men had eyes turning red from the pain.

“Fuck… You really kick for real, don’t you?”

Cho Yeonoh got annoyed while rubbing his shin. Kihyun shrugged his shoulders and said.

“You kick back then. Who’s stopping you? Is it my fault your lower body strength is lacking?”

“Ugh, you—” Cho Yeonoh, who suppressed whatever profanity or words he was about to say next, suddenly bolted upright so fast the table rattled, reached out both hands, and ruffled Kihyun’s hair. Regardless, as Kihyun just munched on the omelet, the touch soon became gentle.

“…Don’t go anywhere today and stay here. Or go swimming. I told them to clear out the private pool.”

It was a ridiculous thing to say after stuffing him in here, telling him not to move an inch, but Kihyun asked why out of curiosity.

“Because there are a lot of low-life bastards around, so don’t wander for no reason.”

It wasn’t that his body was weak, and though his ankle was a bit poor, it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t protect himself, so the tone of worrying about him as if he were an Omega was grating. Kihyun flicked away Yeonoh’s hand, which was still fiddling with his hair.

“I’ll live my life on my own.”

“Ah, you’re so damn rude and funny, Kihyun.”

Kihyun didn’t respond and split the remaining half of the omelet with a long silver-plated fork. The inside of the omelet, which had cooled down, was still soft.

Yeonoh, who was looking down at Kihyun, spoke as if giving a warning.

“Don’t go wandering from early dawn rubbing shoulders with Alpha bastards.”

The tone, which sounded like he was keeping a tight rein on an Omega, made Kihyun annoyed.

“I told you I’ll handle it myself.”

At those words, the guy stepped closer, grabbed Kihyun’s shoulders, placed his face close to the nape of his neck, and inhaled as if sniffing him.

“A guy who says he’ll handle it himself is walking around with some blind bastard’s pheromones on him?”

Somehow, it was insulting. He didn’t know if he was annoyed because Yeonoh was speaking as if the only Alphas who would approach Kihyun—who wasn’t even an Omega—were those with defective eyes, or if he was annoyed because Yeonoh was treating him like a child who knew nothing.

Because neither was certain, Kihyun simply shut his mouth.

“…When are you leaving.”

“Now.”

“When are you coming back.”

“I don’t know. Even if I just hit the ground to the point where I don’t know if I’m doing a rounding session or shoveling dirt, winning against those old geezers isn’t easy.”