Dirty Switch

Without thinking, Joo Taehyun ducked behind the decoration. It had been a reflex, but he was glad he’d done it. If he’d taken one more step forward, they might’ve noticed him first.
Seo Baekhan was standing near the statue modeled after Haechi—the more playful and friendly version of the one at Gyeongbokgung Palace. Surrounded by layers of ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) decor and chiffon curtains, it was a good place to avoid attention. Taehyun hadn’t known this spot existed. How many more places like this were hidden in Haechi’s new building? And how many times had Baekhan been called out to places like this?

An uneasy thought crept into his mind—maybe Seo Baekhan had been confessed to far more often than he could imagine.
“Mm, do I have to give you an answer right now?”
“…Yeah. I want to hear it.”

Of course. Just hearing the voice confirmed it wasn’t the same person who had called Baekhan out earlier. On his way back, someone else must’ve intercepted him and asked for a moment.
“…Mmm.”
“Baekhan-ah. I’ve liked you for a long time. Honestly, being part of Haechi was really hard for me, but I hung in there just because of you. This isn’t sudden—I only held back because you had a girlfriend…”

“Ah, I see.”
Seo Baekhan cut her off gently, but firmly. Even without hearing more, his tone made his refusal unmistakably clear.
Joo Taehyun tucked himself deeper behind the pillar, hunching his shoulders until he was small as possible. He knew the words weren’t meant for him, but hearing them from Baekhan’s own mouth still left a strange, unsettled feeling in his chest.

“I appreciate it, but I’m sorry. I’m way too busy right now to date anyone. I hope you understand.”
“…”
“If there’s nothing more you wanted to say, I’ll be going. Happy New Year.”

“Baekhan, Baekhan… Seo Baekhan!”
It wasn’t the pitiful tone of voice that made Taehyun pause—it wasn’t even the desperate way his name was called as he turned to leave.
It was what came next.

“Still… don’t you need a rut partner?”
Even Taehyun’s jaw fell open at the sheer rudeness of the question.
From where he was hiding, Taehyun couldn’t see Baekhan’s face—just a sliver of his ear. But even if he couldn’t read his expression, the air around him had changed completely. That much was obvious.

“I heard that when Alphas go into rut, they need a partner to relieve the tension.”
Taehyun could feel the shift in atmosphere from across the room. And yet the person right in front of Baekhan remained oblivious. The girl began clinging in the worst way possible—not to Baekhan the person, but to Baekhan the carrier.
“If that’s what it takes to be with you, fine. I don’t mind being your partner.”
“…”

“I’m not a carrier, so I can’t say I fully understand, but I looked into it. They say when you’re in rut, even suppressants can’t help. I want to help you.”
Taehyun blinked up at the ceiling, exasperated. What was today? Why was everyone around him scratching the surface of every carrier’s nerves?
But Baekhan—Baekhan was still Baekhan.

Even after hearing that, he stood perfectly calm. His fingers didn’t twitch. Not a hint of agitation. As if words like that didn’t affect him in the slightest.
A long pause passed, then Baekhan replied with a simple, “I see.” His voice cool and unshaken. He must’ve decided this person wasn’t even worth getting upset about.
If you asked a carrier what the most offensive comment was, it’d probably be: “Don’t suppressants stop working during ruts?”

The idea that carriers, regardless of gender, could reproduce had once been praised as humanity’s next stage of evolution. But in conservative East Asia, they were more often condemned as sex-crazed freaks. Even the Daehan Empire had treated them this way not long ago.
Prince Yi Hwang had worked hard to dismantle those prejudices in the public sphere, and now Seo Baekhan was being called his political heir. Which meant he stood on the front lines of that fight.
Sure, maybe this person was just ignorant—maybe she hadn’t paid attention in mandatory sex-ed classes, or maybe she was still influenced by deep-rooted biases. It wasn’t unusual.

But how, if you claimed to like Seo Baekhan, could you bring yourself to say something like that to his face?
Taehyun couldn’t understand it. Not when he himself had just been overwhelmed by how much he liked Baekhan—so much that he’d begun to dream new dreams just for his sake.
I would never do that, he thought. If I were to confess to him—

“Um, Baekhan…?”
“I don’t know where you heard that, but suppressants always work during rut.”
“Oh, uh—really?”

“And I’ve never once considered having a partner. I’ll be going.”
By the time the girl realized the atmosphere had gone wrong and frantically called his name, Seo Baekhan was already walking away.
Taehyun worried for a moment that he might head in his direction, but thankfully Baekhan strode off in the opposite way and soon disappeared.

The girl’s voice, still echoing his name, soon turned into quiet sobbing.
Taehyun had seen Baekhan get confessed to before, albeit from a distance—but this had definitely been the worst.
Yes, what she said had offended him. But even so, he couldn’t help sympathizing with how devastated she must feel right now. He understood the regret, the self-blame—Why did I say that? That emotion hit him too, every time he sent a dumb message to Baekhan and agonized over it afterward.

Still, he’d just eavesdropped on someone’s most vulnerable moment. He had no right to linger.
Silently, carefully, he slipped away.
“I see.”

There had been no emotion in those words—just a mechanical reply.
It hadn’t even been directed at him, but every time he recalled Baekhan’s voice, his knees weakened.
Spotting a nearby decorative fixture that could be sat on, Taehyun gave up moving any farther and plopped down on it.

It probably held some symbolic purpose. It wasn’t meant to be used as a bench. But he didn’t care. His strength had left him. He couldn’t get up.
Where had Baekhan gone? Maybe someone else had already pulled him away. If so, Taehyun could only hope that person wouldn’t add to his exhaustion.
If Baekhan got a new girlfriend… it would hurt. And given his age, it wouldn’t even be strange for him to get engaged.

But if it came down to a choice—Taehyun would much rather he hear a sincere, beautiful confession from someone who truly loved him, than be subjected to the kind of garbage he’d just heard.
He knew full well he could never be that person.
Seo Baekhan liked curvy, traditionally feminine women… And Taehyun, well, gender aside, he wasn’t even in the same category.

He’d never catch Baekhan’s eye. So instead, he wished Baekhan a happy relationship with someone kind and dazzling.
And in exchange—though it wasn’t really a trade—Taehyun would go to Pyongyang University. Become his junior. Learn firsthand what a carrier-friendly environment looked like, absorb it, and one day build a foundation of his own.
He wanted to stand behind Baekhan.

So that one day, if Baekhan looked back, he might see Taehyun there—still striving.
Still reaching for him.
Come to think of it, there was no way he could talk to Baekhan tonight. Not like this. He was drained—and Baekhan must’ve been worse. He wouldn’t want to waste time on a high schooler’s college worries. Maybe he could just send a message later, and use that as a pretext to…

“Joo Taehyun?”
The voice dropped down from above him, brushing against the top of his head.
“Why are you sitting here?”

It was Seo Baekhan himself—the one he had been searching for this whole time.
“Ah, uh… hyung…”
“Your clothes.”

“…What?”
Baekhan motioned with his hand—just a flick of his fingers. It was the kind of rude gesture someone might use to call a dog. And yet, because it was Baekhan, it didn’t feel bad. It made Taehyun instinctively stand up and move toward him.
“That bastard Seo Baekhan, calling someone’s precious baby like he’s a damn mutt!”

His sister, Yoonwoo, had once gone ballistic after witnessing something similar. And yet Taehyun had never once found it unpleasant. Clearly, as she’d said, he had reinforced steel heart-shaped rose glasses plastered over his eyes.
“…What is it?”
His heart thumped in his chest. Had he been caught spying on the confession earlier? He hadn’t meant to—but what if it led to an awkward misunderstanding? He was already rehearsing excuses in his head.

“What are you wearing?”
Baekhan tugged at the hem of Taehyun’s tailcoat, smoothing out the wrinkles. The very wrinkles Taehyun had made while hiding in the corner, nervously gripping his coat as he watched Baekhan.
“…Huh?”

“What were you doing to end up looking like this?”
Maybe he’d crumpled it too long. No matter how much Baekhan tried, the coat wouldn’t lie flat again.
Taehyun had half a mind to joke—You know I don’t have friends. Who could I have been messing around with?

But when he glanced up and caught a glimpse of Baekhan’s face, he froze.
It wasn’t that his expression had changed. His usual features were all there—meticulous, composed. But… was it just his imagination, or did he seem oddly subdued?
“Didn’t you notice before you left the house?”

“…No, it looked fine then.”
And then—every time Baekhan moved his arm, Taehyun caught a familiar scent.
The peach scent from that summer night when he was twelve. The scent he remembered from the first time they met.

Unfiltered. Pure. Seo Baekhan’s pheromones.
“It doesn’t matter what brand you’re wearing. It’s obviously something nice. You’re Joo Taehyun, after all.”
“…Yeah.”

“So before you walk into a room, check for wrinkles and stains. That’s important.”
It was the kind of advice Baekhan often gave his younger male juniors. He didn’t personally fuss over the girls, but he’d adjust ties and straighten jackets for the boys.
So this wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t something to take to heart.

Taehyun knew that.
He knew not to assign meaning to things that had none.
But this time—just this once—there was something different in Baekhan’s touch. A slight pressure. A small trace of feeling.

For someone like Baekhan, who hated revealing his emotions, to show even this much… maybe it meant that the repeated confessions tonight had worn him down more than he let on.
And that alone made Taehyun’s heart flutter.