“You were an alpha, so you know perfectly well, do you not? There are cases where a single sigh is enough for the scent to leak. A sensitive alpha would be capable of noticing.”
Fair enough. He’d seen omegas let out a deliberately languid sigh to entice someone. Then the man could simply have said to be careful about sighing. Did he have to say don’t breathe?
With his head turned the other way, Dohyeon gave the faintest nod. Whether Sinjun even saw it was another question.
There was bad news and good news. The bad news was that the very first day of shooting included a scene where Dohyeon had to gasp for breath. The good news was that no scenes with Cha Yeongu were up yet. He’d taken his medication, and as long as there was distance between them mere breathing wasn’t going to give his pheromones away.
The shoot went smoothly. This was a project whose director and production company had wanted Dohyeon from the start, so the baseline opinion of him was generous. On top of that he’d shown up early on the day of the script reading and again today, and the director seemed to be in a considerably good mood.
Presumably the satisfaction came from Dohyeon, who had attitude controversies trailing him on every other production, being cooperative on his film.
Dohyeon finished his own scenes quickly, and instead of leaving he stayed in his chair and watched the other actors work. Yeongu’s acting career was short and his roles so far had mostly amounted to the cute younger man in romances, so privately Dohyeon had had his doubts. Cha Yeongu’s acting wasn’t half bad.
Filming carried on that way, and during a short break Eunseo, who unlike last time hadn’t come to him first, approached him again.
“Um, Mr. Jeong...”
What she meant to say, he couldn’t tell yet. Unfortunately for her, Dohyeon was already thinking about escape before he’d heard a word. Sinjun knew about her asking for his number the other day as well as he did. Sure enough, the moment she spoke, the expression on Sinjun’s face where he stood beside Dohyeon turned severe. And Dohyeon hadn’t so much as answered her, let alone accepted the approach. He hurried to speak.
“Ah, Eunseo. Are you thirsty, by any chance?”
“Sorry?”
“Mr. Cha over there too. And you, Director. Anyone thirsty?”
Drifting naturally away from a bewildered Eunseo, Dohyeon raised his voice and went on.
“Thank you all for the hard work. Coffee’s on Jeong Dohyeon today, one for everyone!”
Then he shot Sinjun a quick look. Sinjun’s brow was furrowed in disapproval. He would have understood Dohyeon’s intent perfectly, though. No more graceful way of shaking Eunseo off had come to mind, so there was nothing for it. Sinjun rose without protest, and Dohyeon was about to follow him out.
“Dohyeon, why are you so nice this time around? My shoulders are practically flying up here.”
If the director hadn’t spoken to him he would have made a swift escape. The saving grace was that with the director talking, Eunseo couldn’t cut in any further.
“Once Seonguk and Eunseo wrap their scenes later, shall we talk for a bit? About this scene. I think it’d be good for you and Seonguk to get a feel for it together.”
“Ah. Sure, understood. I did think this part needed the tone adjusted, so that works.”
With that, Dohyeon followed Sinjun out as planned. Offering to pay didn’t mean the celebrity himself had to go along, but then his aim had been to get away from that spot.
He bought coffee for the staff as well with a few people’s help, came back to the entrance of the set, and stopped. His stomach had turned over without warning. He hadn’t realized it himself, but had the situation actually been stressing him out that much?
Sinjun sent the others carrying coffee inside first, then spoke to him.
“What is the matter?”
“Nothing... I’m just worried someone will talk to me again if I go straight in. Thinking I might stay out here a minute.”
Sinjun nodded, as though it was a fair point.
“Wait in the car. I will hand out the coffee, smooth things over, and come back.”
“Ah, I think I do have to go in later... I’ll just get some air and head in whenever it seems right.”
Sinjun nodded without argument. Dohyeon managed a light smile and turned away. Then he carried his unsteady steps toward the roof of the building.
The cold wind finally cleared his head a little. Dohyeon rested his arms on the railing and caught his breath. Was I really that tired... He knew how much he stood to lose, so maybe the pressure had been heavier than he thought. Having recovered a little slack, he tipped his head back, wondering whether he should have set aside a cup of coffee for himself. Only then did the blue of the sky register.
He was starting to want to just go home, and what the director had said left him stuck. Right about when he was mired in that, the roof door he’d left half shut creaked open and a familiar face appeared.
“So this is where you were. Did you come out for a smoke?”
“No.”
He answered at once. The one standing at the door was Yeongu. Had he come up knowing Dohyeon was here? If so, he was worse than Eunseo. Eunseo could be shaken off with an offer to go buy coffee, and this one had followed him even after he fled to the roof.
Then again, watching him pull a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket, maybe he’d only come up for a smoke. Dohyeon watched him pick a cigarette out of the pack, then turned his head away. He faced forward as though there were no one beside him at all.
“Want one, Mr. Jeong?”
Dohyeon shook his head immediately.
“I actually don’t smoke. I’d rather the smoke didn’t reach me.”
At that Yeongu threw away the cigarette he’d only been holding and put the pack back in his pocket. Seeing the grin, Dohyeon briefly wondered whether he was supposed to praise him for it. The thought irritated him strangely. He glanced down at the bin, which already had a heap of ash in it.
“Why don’t you quit if you can, Yeongu? Singers aren’t the only ones who have to look after their throats.”
Dohyeon had genuinely never smoked outside of roles that called for it. Even then he’d only worked at making it look convincing, never inhaling, so he’d never picked up the habit. He shrugged at Yeongu, who was watching him quietly.
“If you were planning to be a model your whole life, sure, maybe.”
He hadn’t intended to lecture. Whether the unnecessary commentary was coming out because he disliked Cha Yeongu or because of how he felt, he couldn’t say. He’d been in poor shape to begin with, so maybe talking to someone he found grating had made it worse. His head throbbed.
“Is your ideal type someone who doesn’t smoke?”
“And what would you do with that information, Mr. Cha?”
Even at that chilly answer Yeongu simply replied, unruffled, that surely it would be nice for them to get to know each other better. It occurred to Dohyeon that he’d never gotten around to searching whether Cha Yeongu really only went for alphas. Asking about his type and talking about getting to know him left plenty of room for suspicion.
Dohyeon turned to end the conversation. The churning in his stomach hadn’t let up. He needed to leave the set and rest, and soon.
But Yeongu caught him as he moved to go. Caught him literally, in the physical sense. Dohyeon looked down at the hand gripping his arm.
“Busy again today?”
“I’m always busy.”
“Heading in already?”
Nodding without an answer, he shook the hand off. Mercifully the man let go without a fight. That didn’t mean he’d given up on the conversation.
“Why?”
“Why do you think? I came out here to rest, and this isn’t exactly a restful atmosphere.”
“You can’t rest with me here?”
“That’s right. You’re making me uncomfortable as we speak.”
He answered every question without hesitating. At that, Yeongu’s face creased slightly as he smiled. It looked like the smile of a man in a difficult spot. Aren’t I the one in a difficult spot here?
“Getting close to you is really hard work, Mr. Jeong.”
He found himself a little curious all of a sudden. How Yeongu, who to his eyes was an ill mannered kid, appeared to other people. Had he never once failed when he approached someone he wanted to get close to? Had he come at Dohyeon this time purely meaning to be friendly, and was that awkward expression because it hadn’t gone his way?
In any case Dohyeon turned away again, and this time Yeongu didn’t stop him.
Thank god. I really couldn’t have held out much longer...
Thinking that privately, Dohyeon let out the smallest breath of relief and took a step, and then,
“Mr. Jeong!”
Yeongu’s voice came from above him, sounding alarmed.
...From above?
