Pink Flavor Omega

#39

Eunhong pulled Jaeha’s hand, who was still standing looking at the tree even after being told to go. He lightly grasped just one joint of Jaeha’s finger.

“Let’s visit the small temple inside too, it’s been a while. Come with me. I’ll show you the cats.”

Jaeha looked down at their hands, then grasped Eunhong’s hand tightly.

“There are some kittens mom’s been taking care of since last year. They’re really cute. They’re like dog-cats.”

They headed towards a dirt path trodden only by human feet. Eunhong’s pheromones flowed with the wind as he walked ahead. Jaeha was so focused on looking at their clasped hands and following Eunhong’s scent that he didn’t notice his surroundings. If he had to find this place alone later, he definitely wouldn’t remember the way.

The small one-room temple they arrived at shortly looked abandoned from afar, but it was clean and well-maintained. As Eunhong’s mother took great care of this place, Eunhong often came here when he wanted to be alone during his high school days.

Eunhong called out, “Romance, Romantic,” while peering into the corner behind the stepping stones, but there was no response. Where did they go? As Eunhong looked around, Jaeha also searched for places where cats might be.

“As if they’d come out when you call them empty-handed.”

The temple door, which they thought was locked, swung open wide. Kyunghee poked her head out and shouted. Eunhong looked up, startled.

“Mom, when did you get here?”

“I was going to come with you two, but when you disappeared, I came alone. Come in, the kitties are inside.”

“Oh my goodness!”

Eunhong, who went in first, exclaimed. He hurriedly crawled on his knees to the back of the room. He gestured for Jaeha, who was following, to come quickly, his face full of smiles.

Inside the room, there was a cozy box prepared by Kyunghee, full of wriggling kittens. They seemed to be less than a month old. The soft fur of the newborn kittens stood up in all directions as if they had been hit by static electricity.

There were so many cute little kittens. One, two, three, four… Eunhong, who was counting, turned around with a big smile.

“When were they born? I dreamed about them being born, I can’t believe they actually were. I must have some kind of psychic ability.”

Kyunghee smacked her son’s back with a practiced motion. Don’t talk nonsense about psychic abilities!

“It’s true. In my dream, I kept kissing this black one. Jaeha even got angry. It was so vivid.”

Eunhong picked up the black kitten and kissed it just like in the dream. Jaeha, who was watching from behind, narrowed his eyes.

“I had good reason to be angry.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Kyunghee expertly filled bowls with cat food and clean water, and stroked the mother cat. She also checked the warm sleeping area she had prepared. The two larger cats seemed quite friendly with Kyunghee, constantly circling around her and rubbing their heads against her.

“Have you named them all? Do they need to be neutered? Can we take them to the vet when they’re a bit bigger?”

As Eunhong muttered these questions, Kyunghee said they hadn’t been named yet. Jaeha, stroking the forehead of the black kitten Eunhong was holding, said:

“Let’s name this one Despair.”

“What?”

“Mom, dad named them Romance and Romantic, right? Let’s use the ‘mang’ character.”

“You can’t name a baby Despair, you jerk.”

Even as Eunhong frowned and glared at him, Jaeha paid no attention.

“That one over there looks intense, so let’s call it Ambition. This one here is the whitest and prettiest, so Hope. And the one that keeps following mom around, let’s call it Longing.”

The naming scheme using the ‘mang’ character was ridiculous. As Eunhong followed Jaeha’s gaze to where he was pointing, he finally let out a chuckle. Jaeha confidently added one more:

“The one you kissed is the ugliest, so it’s Despair.”

Eunhong looked at his mother as if to say, “Please smack this guy,” but his mother’s eyes looked like she was seeing a genius. While Eunhong cursed Jaeha with his eyes, his mother was already repeating the names so as not to forget them, seemingly liking them.

“I’ve never felt such cleverness from my own children, Jaeha.”

“…Mom…”

Eunhong hugged the trembling black kitten in his hands tightly. Despair is not acceptable. It can’t be.

“If you insist, let’s call it Truth. Despair is not allowed. I won’t accept it.”

***

They couldn’t reach a compromise about the names even after coming down the mountain. No, it was hopeless. Mom was already calling that kitten Despair.

Eunhong gripped his spoon with a sulky face. This situation made him feel irritated towards the person sitting across from him who had given that name.

“What’s with ‘Despair’? Why ‘Despair’?”

“Because it’s ugly.”

At this calm response, Eunhong raised his eyebrows diagonally.

“If we’re naming based on looks, then you…”

“Bunhong, you…”

Jaeha cut off Eunhong’s words and suddenly leaned forward, lowering his voice.

“You should be called Desire. Your pheromones are bursting out even now.”

Eunhong’s face burned red in shock. This bastard has no filter! As he was about to swing the spoon in his hand as a weapon, Kyunghee squeezed in between them and set down a large bowl full of side dishes and rice.

At his mother’s suggestion to have temple food while they were at the temple, they had entered the dining hall attached to the main building. Instead of the neat individual bowls of temple food seen in the media, a large stainless steel bowl of generous bibimbap was served. Eunhong puffed out his cheeks, feeling a bit embarrassed for Jaeha.

“Did you think temple food was something special? As long as it’s full of healthy greens, that’s temple food,” a female devotee sitting next to Eunhong added with a smile, seeming to have noticed the atmosphere between the two. Eunhong nodded awkwardly and was mixing the rice with gochujang and sesame oil when the door at the back of the dining hall opened and someone approached him.

“Eunhong, when did you come down?”

It was Woohyun’s mother. Wearing a colorful floral scarf like a headscarf, she came and sat next to Eunhong with a large cup of green tea. Eunhong smiled awkwardly.

“Hello.”

She nodded halfheartedly at Eunhong’s greeting and immediately turned her attention to Jaeha.

“Who’s this friend? A coworker?”

“Ah, no. A childhood friend.”

“Does Woohyun know him too?”

Eunhong shook his head.

“Right. Eunhong, you lived in Seoul until middle school, so if it’s a childhood friend, he must be a Seoul boy.”

Jaeha bowed his head politely in greeting. He seemed to have figured out who she was from the context of her conversation with Eunhong. Although Jaeha’s expression wasn’t particularly pleasant at her sudden intrusion, Woohyun’s mother proceeded to ask her questions one by one.

How Woohyun was doing these days, that she couldn’t get in touch with him, if they were getting along well, if Woohyun was eating properly, why Woohyun didn’t come down and only Eunhong came… Her persistent questioning was close to an interrogation.

“Woohyun is busy. I came to visit because I got time off due to health issues, to eat mom’s food and rest. I’ll tell him to call you because you’re worried.”

At the mention of health issues, Woohyun’s mother grabbed Eunhong’s hand.

“What’s wrong with a young person like you? I pray every day for our Eunhong and Woohyun to be healthy. After your father was sick for so long before passing away, and your grandmother leaving this world right after, I felt so bad. Your mother and I, we have no luck with husbands, left only with these ailing bodies…”

She continued her self-pitying lament, patting Eunhong’s hand, until Kyunghee appeared and separated them. Kyunghee intervened by placing a bowl between them with a thud.

“That’s enough, Bosal-nim. You’ll make the child choke on his food.”

Kyunghee pushed her away with her hip and sat next to her son. Just as Eunhong was about to take a spoonful of rice, another comment interjected.

“By the way, is this friend an alpha? Looking at him, he seems like an alpha with his handsome features. I know a lot about that because of my son.”

Eunhong hesitated with the spoon in his mouth, delaying his answer. It was Jaeha’s private life, and he also didn’t want to respond to her greedy gaze. If she knew who Jaeha was, she would undoubtedly pester him persistently.

“Does your friend have someone he’s dating? My son is an omega and his looks are quite…”

Eunhong paused while scooping rice and glanced at Jaeha. Their eyes seemed to meet briefly, but Jaeha’s gaze quickly turned to Woohyun’s mother.

“I have someone I like. I’m not interested in anyone else.”

At his curt tone, even Kyunghee and Eunhong looked at Jaeha. An awkward silence fell over the table for a moment. Woohyun’s mother frowned and laughed exaggeratedly.

“Don’t be like that, our Woohyun…”

Kyunghee, unable to bear it any longer, snapped irritably.

“Oh, let the kids handle their own love lives.”

“Ah, come on! When you’re young, you should meet different people.”

Though grumbling, Woohyun’s mother quietly backed off. Her expression was full of dissatisfaction, but sensing that no more favorable responses would come, she closed her mouth. As the three began to eat in the subdued atmosphere, she sat sipping her green tea.

The meal ended in an unpleasant atmosphere, contrary to what was initially expected. As Eunhong cleared the empty bowls and chopsticks and was about to leave the dining hall, Woohyun’s mother hurriedly followed.

“Wait, wait a moment, Eunhong.”

She grabbed Eunhong’s arm and pulled out two crumpled 50,000 won bills from her bosom. She roughly pulled at Eunhong’s clothes and stuffed the money into his pocket. Eunhong protested, saying no and asking her not to do this, but she insisted on pushing it in.

“Our Woohyun… It’s his birthday soon. As you know, I’m so busy going for treatments, and Woohyun’s older and younger brothers are busy taking care of themselves…”

Eunhong looked down at the wrinkled hands holding his.

“I’m very worried, Eunhong.”

“…”

“Use the money I gave you to make seaweed soup for Woohyun’s birthday, Eunhong. You live with him, so please do it for him. If it’s not you, I’m sure he won’t even get a birthday meal.”