Hitomi woke up first like the usual, still feeling tired and groggy but oddly comfortable and just right. Something that she always noticed every time she woke up with Minjoo on her side, cuddling her or not.

 

The Omega didn’t immediately move away the moment she woke up, choosing to enjoy the moment of peace being wrapped by the comfort of Minjoo's arms and her favorite worn blanket. Hitomi was greedy by nature, and wanted nothing more but spent eternity being comfortable like this.

 

She looked up, a soft and sleepy smile gracing her lips as she observed Minjoo’s wonderful facial structures. From her perfectly sculpted jawline, her full lips, elegant nose and prominent cheekbones… Kim Minjoo was blessed by the Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite, herself. How could Hitomi be so lucky to ever encounter a woman as beautiful as Kim Minjoo, much less date her? If Minjoo was blessed by Aphrodite for her impeccable beauty, then perhaps Hitomi was blessed by Lady Fortune herself, for she had encountered this living Aphrodite and had her as her potential mate.

 

But frankly speaking, Hitomi had seen and met women more beautiful and dashing compared to Minjoo--but none of them made Hitomi this absolutely crazy, this deliciously obsessed--yet curiously sane at the same time.

 

She had seen and met people who were as angelic as Minjoo but none of them had made her heart flutter so much like Minjoo did to her. Even the littlest things Minjoo did to her could make her heart react in thousands of ways unimaginable.

 

Perhaps it was lust, perhaps it was attraction--or could it be love? If it was love, then never had she met someone that made her in love so quickly and so deeply within the short time they spent knowing each other. 

 

It was, for the better words, almost surreal.

 

People needed time to click so perfectly. Days, months, years--even eternity!

 

But somehow, not with them.

 

Not with them.

 

Her early morning musing was cut off as Minjoo squirmed awake, frowning as she cracked a sleepy eye open.

 

Hitomi smiled, cooing at how Minjoo hissed at the dim light coming from the lamp beside them. Sunrise was still less than an hour away, and the city was still enveloped in dark skies.

 

“Good morning,” Hitomi whispered, giving a soft peck that landed on her chin. “Ready to go?”

 

Minjoo’s frown deepened. “Good morning,” she rasped out sleepily, closing her eyes again as she shuffled forward, burying her face back into Hitomi’s tousled hair, arms tight around her partner. “I’m still sleepy…” She muttered. Her voice was a bit muffled as she pulled Hitomi deeper to her arms, reluctant to let go.

 

Hitomi giggled, patting Minjoo’s arms that still circled stubbornly around her. Not too softly as it made Minjoo grunt in annoyance. “Wake up, silly. We need to go to your hometown, right?”

 

The Alpha groaned. “...Do we have to?”

 

“Minjoo.”

 

“But it’s still soooo early,” whined Minjoo, sounding uncharacteristically childish. But she did get up, pulling Hitomi along with her, setting the Omega on her lap. Then, she went back to plant her face on Hitomi's shoulder, her breath lightly fanning the younger girl’s collarbone. “It feels so warm hugging you like this… We can’t do it on the train…”

 

Hitomi giggled. She leaned in to peck Minjoo on her cheek. When it didn’t work on causing Minjoo to open her eyes, she pinched her cheek until Minjoo screamed and almost threw her down. “Who said we’re going by train? I’ve got a car and a driver ready, geez.”

 

“You never told me that…” the still sleepy girl muttered, rubbing her sore cheek furiously. “My money… gone to waste…”

 

“Must have slipped my mind then,” Hitomi retorted, getting up from Minjoo’s lap after successfully prying Minjoo’s arms around her. She slapped her arms again as a final attempt to wake her up, rolling her eyes when the Alpha dramatically cried out her pain. “And don’t be dramatic. I’ll compensate for your loss. Come on. You wake up Hyewon unnie and Chaeyeon unnie while I wake up Wonyoung. After shower we can go back to your apartment to fetch your things. Did you pack already?”

 

Minjoo slowly shook her head, and quickly curled her body to shield herself from Hitomi's violent hands. “I’m going back to my hometown! I don’t need to pack!” She quickly added before Hitomi could even finish her long, exasperated, sigh. 

 

The Omega lowered her arm back to her side, resting it to her hips as she finished her long sigh. “Then we don’t need to go back to your apartment?”

 

Minjoo shook her head again. “Of course we still need to! I have some gifts for my siblings and they’ll be disappointed if I don’t bring them any!”

 

“Right…” Hitomi nodded. Fair point. “We’ll be staying for two days, right? Returning by evening, tomorrow?”

 

Minjoo shook her head. Again. “No?”

 

“I was thinking if we could spend another night there and return by Monday morning,” Minjoo confessed, reaching her hand up to her nape, rubbing them as she looked down to her lap. “There’s an awesome night market there and I want to… um, bring you there?”

 

“So…” God, now why is she getting shy?! “Like a date…?”

 

The Alpha looked up, but she wasn’t looking at Hitomi. She could see Minjoo’s red ears were poorly hidden by her messy dark hair.

 

“...What else would it be?!” She asked back, grumbling.

 

Hitomi held her chuckle back. Tsundere didn’t suit her. “Okay.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Yes, silly.” As if to stress out her yes, Hitomi leaned forward, landing a short peck on Minjoo’s lips. “Let’s go on a date on Sunday,” she said and immediately left to wake Wonyoung up, skipping on her steps as she climbed the stairs.

 

Minjoo slowly reached her fingers to her lips, silently contemplating if she should spend more time losing her about the kiss or use it to wake Chaeyeon and Hyewon up, and possibly earn another sweet kiss for a job well done? While it wasn’t that tempting… alright fine, it sounded tempting.

 

With that in mind, she pushed herself off the couch, quickly folding the messy blanket neatly before running ahead to forcefully evict the couple.

 

--

 

 

With the couple evicted and the teenager kicked out (Chaeyeon had to drag Wonyoung home, kicking and screaming), the penthouse was finally empty with only Hitomi and Minjoo inside.

 

Hitomi chose to shower after packing extra clothes while Minjoo opted to clean up the remaining mess, even though Hitomi told her that this was a serviced penthouse. 

 

Hitomi wasn’t lazy nor slobbish, but her penthouse wasn’t that messy even though there was a party held just the night before. She didn’t think it was necessary to leave her place spotless as it would be cleaned by cleaning service later. She paid them and expected them to do their job.

 

But Minjoo wasn’t someone who could stand still after witnessing a mess, as little as it may be. Her eyes twitched and her hands itched, and soon she found herself mopping the sticky kitchen floor furiously until it was spotless.

 

(She found the mop in the storage closet, still wrapped neatly in its package, but collecting dust.)

 

Wiping her sweatless forehead, Minjoo grinned to herself, proud to see the cream colored marble floor looking squeaky clean and shining. 

 

“I didn’t ask you to mop the floor, Minmin.”

 

She didn’t jump this time unflatteringly this time as Hitomi’s voice suddenly entered her ears. Hitomi did a good job of walking very carefully to not make any sound, but Minjoo heard the Omega's incoherent muttering before she stepped foot inside the kitchen area.

 

As she turned around to face the other girl, Minjoo noticed that Hitomi was dressed very prettily with light but stunning makeup adorning her face, and had yet to style her hair. Unless it was what she planned to go with today; a simple ponytail with parted bangs.

 

How Hitomi leaned to the counter made a very pretty picture, if not intimidating, as she had a deep frown on her face and arms crossed against her chest. Her lithe fingers were tapping rhythmically against her arm, her gesture reminding Minjoo of angry madames she usually watches on TV.

 

“I can’t help it,” the dark haired girl replied as she gave Hitomi her best smile, hoping it wouldn’t annoy her too much. “There’s spilt wine everywhere when I want to grab some water. Probably Chaewon unnie’s doing, but I don’t think she’s that irresponsible.”

 

Minjoo heard Hitomi muttering something insulting about Chaewon, but didn’t ask further. “Besides,” she promptly added, “I don’t bring any extra clothes to change now so that left me with nothing to do while waiting for you.” She shrugged. “Shall we go back to my apartment so I can shower there?”

 

“Ah,” Hitomi visibly relaxed and Minjoo breathed a sigh of relief. “You can still shower here. I have some spare clothes inside the guestroom’s closet. Some new underwear too.” Minjoo failed to notice Hitomi’s quick glance to her pelvic area. “Boxers included.”

 

“Why would you have extra underwear and boxers?” Minjoo couldn’t help but ask. She had an inkling she wouldn’t like the answer but she couldn’t help it anyway.

 

Hitomi rolled her shoulders, turning around. Then, in a strange tone, Hitomi answered Minjoo’s question:

 

“I need them for my exes. Most of them… Well, I didn't handle things gently.”

 

Minjoo had to forcefully swallow the bitter lump in while slowly making her way to the guest room.

 

--

 

It wasn’t the first time Minjoo showered here in Hitomi’s place, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Minjoo was sure of that.

 

She suddenly thought of their blossoming relationship (if they could label it as blossoming) and wondered if their pace was too fast for someone who had only met two months ago. Seemed so, but there was something natural about the way they act at each other, as if honed by years of familiarity.

 

Still deep in thought, Minjoo turned off the shower, her body shivering lightly as the cold air hit her skin. Sharp fragrance from her soap immediately attacked her sinuous as soon as the steam dissipated. She quickly noticed it smelled similar to Hitomi’s scent, but a little too… flower-y. It still smelled good, though.

 

Robing herself with the fairly new bathrobe, Minjoo exited the bathroom with water still dripping from her hair, as she was unable to find a hair dryer inside the large guest bathroom. She would need to ask Hitomi if she didn’t want to get sick.

 

Minjoo hummed to herself as she walked toward the built-in closet Hitomi spoke of… and froze when it was locked. The drawers, that she guessed contained the undergarments, were locked too.

 

She searched for a key that probably would have stuck on its keyhole only to find nothing.

 

She looked into the other drawers but they were all empty.

 

The Alpha sighed.

 

She would need to confront Hitomi.

 

--

 

Hitomi was cooking a western-styled breakfast when she noticed a fragrance wafting inside the kitchen area that certainly wasn’t food.

 

She didn’t need to turn around to know it was Minjoo. 

 

(Although according to her, Minjoo was a five-course meal on her own.)

 

“Yes, Minjoo?”

 

Minjoo paused on her steps, she could tell. She was freshly showered and still dripping with water. Had yet to properly dry herself.

 

“The closet is locked.”

 

Oh, it was. Hitomi remembered locking it after she noticed her ex had broken in to use the guest bedroom to bed a e and gave away her expensive clothes for ‘charity’ to the said e.

 

Hitomi didn’t care about the whole breaking in and giving away, it helped her in burning away her money. 

 

But Hitomi didn’t appreciate any short of thievery. Plus, the breaking and entering was kind of worrying, if she thought of it again.

 

“Give me a second,” Hitomi muttered, tipping the pan to the side and the sausages easily rolled off to the plate. Once she made sure she wouldn’t burn her house down, she turned to Minjoo. “The key is upstairs so I’m… going to…”

 

Bewildered by Hitomi’s sudden silence, Minjoo raised her eyebrows, blinking her eyes as she regarded Hitomi with a confused gaze.

 

Hitomi, slack-jawed and seemingly in trance, moved closer to her. Eyes clouded and cheeks tinted in rosy red.

 

Her gaze was fixated to the glistening surface of Minjoo’s skin, the drips of water from her hair that trailed down and down, past her collarbone and poorly covered cleavage.

 

She quickly noticed that Minjoo had yet to wear any scent-blocker since she was still drenched, and that made her unrestrained pheromones mercilessly attacking Hitomi’s senses.

 

It messed with her mind. Dangerously so. 

 

It didn’t help that she was getting nearer to her first heat of the year.

 

“Hitomi?”

 

Hitomi forcefully snapped back to reality, flinching away from Minjoo and hastily removed her hands from clenching Minjoo’s bathrobe.

 

She was this close to ravishing Minjoo’s lips.

 

And she wasn’t sure she would settle on just making out.

 

Not with how Minjoo’s scent had been making her libido going overdrive.

 

“Are you okay?” the worried Alpha inquired, eyebrows knitting together. She tilted her head down, meeting her gaze with Hitomi. “You look out of it all of sudden. Are you okay?”

 

“I’m--I’m okay.” lied Hitomi, moving her gaze away. Did Minjoo not notice how her pheromones were wilding around and filled the room? “I’ll get the key. You… you can stay in the guestroom. The hair dryer is in the box under the bed.”

 

Still confused at what happened, Minjoo nodded obediently and went over to the guest room again, after stuffing with a sausage she stole.

 

--

 

The clothes fit perfectly. They hugged her body just right and Minjoo would be lying if she didn’t start appreciating those expensive materials covering her skin.

 

Though, she had to admit the boxer she randomly took from the drawer was a bit tight.

 

(There was something foreign emotion clawing at her chest when she felt her member was a little bit tortured by the tightness. Almost like a pride, but darker than that.)

 

She exited the room and went over quickly to the kitchen area, the faint smell of breakfast leading her in.

 

Hitomi was strangely absent, and her usual plate was already put neatly inside the see-through cupboard. Clean and dry.

 

Minjoo thought nothing of it, thinking Hitomi was out to emergency shopping or do some last-minute checking. 

 

Though yes, it bummed her out a little. She was looking forward to eating breakfast with the Omega.

 

She ate in silence, occasionally pausing on her meal to check her phone only to drop it every time because she couldn’t see any text without her glasses that once again, were not on her nose.

 

She didn’t remember putting it on throughout the morning, actually; but everything wasn’t as blurry as before. The glasses supposedly would be sitting on top of the coffee table, if Hitomi didn’t move it when she was showering.

 

About her improved sight, Minjoo theorized it had something to do with her body recuperating itself now that she dropped the use for that special Alpha drug. She made a mental note to consult Dr Eunbi if she discovered something else.

 

She spent a lot of time mulling about it with nothing to do to entertain herself while eating. At least until Hitomi finally returned from her emergency shopping, wearing a mask and holding a medium-sized bag.

 

“Why are you wearing a mask?” Minjoo asked her.

 

Hitomi didn’t answer right away. She put the bag on the counter, and after a brief rummaging she pulled out something like an ointment and tossed it to Minjoo.

 

“Scent blocker?” Minjoo frowned, barely able to read out the big lettering on its body. “I don’t usually wear blockers.”

 

Hitomi rolled her eyes. “It’s because of your Suppressant. You’re not taking any today until afternoon, right?” At Minjoo’s nod, Hitomi huffed. “Great. Now use it.”

 

“I don’t wear Blockers,” Minjoo explained, looking away shamefully. “I don’t know how.”

 

“...Really?”

 

“I’m a Low, remember?” Minjoo sighed, bitterly reminding Hitomi of her unusual rank. “My scent was never strong enough to affect anything, anyone. Unless I’m rutting.” She popped off the lid, grimacing at the neutral scent the ointment exuded. “Am I supposed to rub it everywhere?”

 

“I guess it changed now that you dropped the Suppressant use,” consoled Hitomi, pulling down her mask. But when she noticed that Minjoo’s scent was still thick in the air, she hurriedly pulled it up. “And no, just rub it along your neck area. Just to be safe, use Blocker from now on. I almost jumped on you, you know?”

 

Minjoo immediately paused on her thing. “I thought it was a daily occurrence?” She wondered, looking thoughtful as she gave Hitomi a faux innocent look.

 

She barely dodged the tissue roll flying her way.

 

--

 

The ride was silent as both of them immediately fell asleep as soon as they entered the car, right after the car rolled off to leave Minjoo’s apartment complex.

 

Driver Shon made a note to himself to drive smoothly throughout the long journey, smiling as he saw how his wonderful employer looked so at peace sleeping while leaning on Minjoo’s shoulder like that from the rear view mirror.

 

Neither of them were smiling in their sleep, and even looked quite unflattering with their mouth slightly open and eyelids that refused to close completely--but Driver Shon could care less about that.

 

Every time he peeked on the rear view mirror, his gaze always fell to their joined hands, the way their hands clasped against each other in a tight hold was a sight to behold.

 

--

 

They were woken up as they reached Minjoo’s hometown, just as Minjoo requested.

 

She claimed that the Maps was a bit wonky around her home and it was best if she was the one driving so they wouldn’t get lost.

 

Driver Shon readily agreed, already feeling the strain from driving for more than three hours without stopping.

 

“Do you think they will like me?” Hitomi suddenly asked, her eyes were still fixated on the scenery that lacked tall skyscrapers. It wasn’t a new scenery, but it was unusual.

 

“Eh, my parents are polite to everyone so it’s hard to tell. But as long as you’re not… a boy called Taejun, you’re not getting killed on the spot.”

 

Driver Shon raised an eyebrow. “My son is called Taejun.”

 

“Is your son a twenty-five years old Alpha?”

 

The man released a knowing ‘Ah’ and let out a chuckle. “No, he’s six last December.”

 

Hitomi pouted at that. Curiosity started to fill her mind. “What about him?” She asked.

 

“My ex,” Minjoo answered in a strange clipped tone. Her grip around Hitomi's hand she was holding, significantly tightened. “My whole family never liked him. Just leave it at that.”

 

And Hitomi did just that. Closing the discussion with a reluctant nod, Hitomi pushed her curiosity away, sealing it close on the back of her mind.

 

--

 

They arrived soon after, with Minjoo stopping the car in front of a modernized traditional Korean house that looked more like a castle rather than a house.

 

I thought Minjoo’s family was poor?

 

“It’s not our house actually,” Minjoo explained in a low voice, promptly after noticing Hitomi couldn’t take her eyes off from the house as she parked the car. “It’s my clan’s family house. But since I’ll supposedly inherit the clan leader position and with the current leader isn’t living in this town, my family moved here years ago. You know, just to maintain this place so we won’t disappoint the Clan Leader--Chaewon unnie’s father.”

 

The Omega only nodded, wordless. She didn’t know what to say. Clans were common to find in Asia, especially Japan and Korea. Since Hitomi’s parents didn’t come from any clan, she was quite blind to clan customs, even though she had read a little about her.

 

Hitomi wasn’t someone who talked about issues she only had little clue about, and decided it was best to just keep her silence for now until she actually had sufficient knowledge about it.

 

Her silence was appreciated by Minjoo. She flashed her a smile before exiting, beckoning the other two car occupants to follow her after Driver Shon unloaded their luggages. Which wasn't much. Just a small suitcase for Hitomi and a big bag containing gifts for Minjoo.

 

Minjoo led them inside the house, past the massive and well-maintained garden where they were immediately greeted by a pair of middle-aged couple Hitomi could immediately recognize as Minjoo’s parents.

 

They dressed rather comfortably and looked a little surprised by their second child’s arrival.

 

“Minjoo!” the woman exclaimed before enveloping Minjoo in a tight and comfortable hug. She quickly noticed Hitomi shifting her feet awkwardly behind Minjoo and immediately gushed. “You must be Hitomi!”

 

Hitomi bowed politely. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kim, Mr. Kim.”

 

Minjoo’s father laughed, grinning ear to ear. “Oh, you can call us Uncle and Auntie,” he glanced at her daughter. “In fact, we won’t mind if you call us Mom and Dad straightaway!”

 

“Daadd!” Minjoo huffed, abruptly stopped her whining as she turned to Driver Shon that had been inching closer and closer to the exit. “And this is Driver Shon. He’s the one who drove us here.”

 

Driver Shon greeted them politely. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr and Mrs Kim,” he said. “But I must go back as per Miss Honda requested. I will return here by Monday, just as requested.” He glanced at Hitomi, blinking.  “Or not.”

 

“Ah, you are not staying?” 

 

Driver Shon shook his head. “Unfortunately, I’m not Miss Honda’s exclusive driver.”

 

“Can’t you stay for awhile, sir?”

 

The driver shook his head again. “Miss Kim Chaewon has urgent business matters to attend,” he said firmly, but politely.

 

Minjoo’s father continued to try coaxing the driver to stay and Hitomi decided to tune out the conversation, choosing to focus on Minjoo’s mother who beckoned her to follow her further inside, to the living room.

 

Minjoo immediately took her place beside Hitomi, interlocking their fingers as she led Hitomi inside.