Heavy Rain Chapter 72

Even if several times that amount were required, Lyle was ready to nod in agreement. However, Haejin set a condition he hadn’t even considered.

“I would like the timing of the payment to be as originally planned, after the contract ends. Not now.”

“…”

It might have been more understandable if he had said to scrap the compensation altogether. At this moment, Lyle was overtaken by a strange sense of incongruity.

However, Haejin took a firm stance, saying he wouldn’t comply unless this was accepted. At any rate, didn’t Haejin’s words include the intention to stay here during the contract period? Since it wasn’t a bad thing, Lyle nodded for now.

Nevertheless, that peculiar sense of incongruity tormented Lyle for a long while afterward.

𓂃ﾟ ⋆ ﾟ ☂︎ 🍂༄˖°

Lyle, who was pacing restlessly in the drawing room, realized he was circling the room in a pathetic manner and sat down in a chair. Even while sitting, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the door.

It was almost time for Haejin to arrive.

They had agreed to meet in Lyle’s drawing room for one hour every evening after he finished work. Lyle still couldn’t believe the fact that the boy had accepted his proposal. He wondered if his mind had finally gone mad and he was seeing illusions.

Furthermore, the condition Haejin had set weighed heavily on his mind. It was only after leaving that room and regaining his composure that he realized he had made a negotiation that offered no benefit to Haejin.

He had done something stupid. He hadn’t been able to conduct himself properly because he was too conscious of the small breaths directed toward him or that white face. He had simply been bewitched by the sight of that head nodding up and down. If Haejin came, he would have to firmly ask again what he wanted.

Just then, the bell rang from outside.

Hearing the sound of the bell, his mind felt as if it were clearing brightly. Lyle, feeling a subtle emotion, stood up abruptly and opened the door. The feeling of Haejin coming to find him was unfamiliar.

“Ah…”

As the door opened without any delay, Haejin looked a bit surprised. Lyle looked at the boy, who was using crutches with his leg in a cast, with an uncomfortable heart. It would have been better if he had been the one to go, but for some reason, Haejin chose to meet in Lyle’s drawing room.

Naturally looking around the interior, Haejin slowly moved inside. Lyle observed that appearance with a tense heart.

This was also the place where Haejin had been forced to take heat cycle medication. That was why he wanted to make it so that he was the one visiting if possible, but the boy was stubborn.

Perhaps he didn’t want his pheromones remaining in his own space.

Hiding the thoughts that naturally arose, Lyle guided Haejin toward the sofa. It was a sofa he had changed to a more comfortable material the moment it was decided he would meet Haejin here.

“…Is it really okay here?”

“Yes.”

Haejin, briefly surprised by the large sofa that enveloped his body, answered with an uncomfortable feeling.

It was because the situation wasn’t quite what he had expected. There was a reason why he had insisted on coming to Lyle’s room.

Ever since Lyle had shown him those absurd pheromones, his tension had kept dulling. Of course, it wasn’t as if he had developed any liking for him or his discomfort had disappeared. However, his body, which used to tense up instinctively, had stopped being afraid of Lyle at some point.

This wasn’t right. When he recalled the things he had endured, sorrowful feelings would certainly surge up. Despite that, strangely enough, his defensive barrier had slipped away before he knew it.

That was why he said he would come here on purpose. To naturally remind himself of the fear that used to dominate him.

It was a dangerous thing to do. However, he didn’t yet have the courage to personally visit “that room.” So, Haejin had impulsively blurted out that he would come here.

In truth, he had almost no memory of the day of his heat cycle. Because after he had struggled to reach Lyle’s room, his memories were only intermittent. He didn’t even remember the process of opening his eyes the next day and returning to his own room very well.

Still, he thought coming here would be somewhat unpleasant. He felt strange because it surprisingly felt as if it were his first time here.

Haejin, who had slightly bitten his lip, soon stopped that as well. It was because he realized only now that he was pouring mental energy into matters related to Lyle. Closing and opening his eyes slowly, he suppressed his emotions as usual.

Inwardly, deeper inside. Until he felt nothing at all.

“The proposal I made this morning seems insufficient; is there any other condition you desire?”

“I’m fine.”

Lyle was watching closely the moment Haejin, who had been contemplating something, turned expressionless again. If he were suffering because of past memories, Lyle intended to move locations immediately.

However, as always, the boy didn’t show his inner thoughts well. When he read the pheromones, he clearly felt a bit of fluster, so what had happened?

Even to the words he barely managed to say after nervously fumbling with his lips, Haejin only repeated mechanical words. Had there ever been a time he desperately wished the other would rather get angry?

“It was a condition with no benefit for you. I must give you something more.”

Only after he stared long and desperately did Haejin frown slightly. Pheromones that seemed to indicate he was troubled were felt again.

“…I will tell you if it becomes necessary.”

In the end, Lyle’s gaze fell to the floor as well. It might be a troubling thing even to say he would give something.

As he fell silent, a faint sound of a sigh was heard. When he reflexively snapped his head up, Haejin’s face, looking straight at him, came into view.

“So, what should I do and how?”

“…For now, a conversation…”

As the stuttering, foolish sound leaked out, Haejin’s eyes narrowed slightly. That mark, like a slight crack, had the power to make Lyle’s body split wide open.

“Do we have to go as far as having a conversation?”

“…”

Because his lips were parched, they stuck together and wouldn’t separate. Because of his inner feelings that felt as if they would shrivel up from more than just anxiety, even desperate pheromones were about to leak out. Lyle hid his condition by taking a deep breath without letting it show.

“Have you ever given someone a pheromone shower before?”

“No. …Can’t I just do it like I did during the previous rut?”

“It is similar.”

The pheromones that had drifted weakly toward him when he had just regained his senses back then came to mind again. Even though the Haejin right in front of him now had been emitting only a faint sense of rejection that seemed ready to scatter since a while ago.

At any rate, only after seeing this reaction did Lyle realize why the boy had readily accepted this proposal. He hadn’t accurately perceived what a pheromone shower meant.

Lyle could no longer just ignore a situation that was unreasonable only for the boy. This, too, must be an aftermath of the imprint.

“Haejin. A pheromone shower isn’t something that should originally be given so easily. …I overlooked that you might not know its meaning.”

“I did look it up before coming. I don’t really mind, though.”

Contrary to his expectations, however, Haejin did at least know what a pheromone shower was. It was because he had searched for it before coming here.

Usually, the experience of a pheromone shower for people with traits began in infancy. Parents who are Alphas and Omegas wrap their child in pheromones to allow them to feel a sense of stability.

The experience of a pheromone shower had in this way naturally continues toward an Omega or Alpha who would become a partner after growing up. The emotion of affection is adjusted to fit the situation and expressed to the other person. If it contained excessive possessiveness, it became a form of marking.

It was just that Haejin, who grew up between Beta parents, couldn’t find any inspiration in the text stating it was meant as a sign of affection. Furthermore, to place meaning on such social nuances, hadn’t the pheromone relief he had done with Lyle until now also been far from normal?

Lyle looked at Haejin, who calmly said he didn’t mind, with an unreadable gaze. Then, he soon nodded slowly.

“…Then for now, I ask of you as you did that morning.”

Haejin, recalling that morning when he had done something a bit clumsy, awkwardly touched his hair a little. Remembering the memory of that time, he opened his pheromones for now.

Honestly, however, he didn’t know what emotion to include right now. Thanks to that, pheromones containing only confusion headed toward Lyle.