It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the nearest rest area. The place wasn’t too crowded, just had enough people to assure Hitomi that the place was far from being deserted. Minjoo quickly secured a spot near the building, not forgetting to do a little dance as she did so when she parked the car.

Hitomi could only smile at her antics. “You look happy,” she pointed out playfully once the car was fully parked. “You do realize what matters the most is for us to sit on the best spot, right?”

“I do realize,” Minjoo replied almost instantaneously, grinning wide enough for Hitomi to see a flash of her slightly elongated fangs. The Alpha leaned forward, pointed her fingers in a direction, and cockily nudged her chin at Hitomi to follow her finger. “Look there. What do you see?”

Aside from several rows of empty seats placed right in front of a rather big stall, there was nothing special there. “Empty seats?” Hitomi hazarded, one of her eyebrows arching up, her eyes full of queries.

“Actually the best seats,” Minjoo corrected, laughing. “Though empty isn’t factually incorrect either. You go sit there. I’ll order something from the nearest stall.”

“Is there any reason why it’s the best seat?” Hitomi prodded again, frowning when she got out of the car and saw that people seemed to crowd in places far from the direction they were heading. “I’m not saying that I doubt your judgment, Minmin, but I’m fairly new with this whole thing.”

Minjoo halted for a moment in her steps. “Fair,” she muttered, pursing her lips. “All I can say is that the food is good there and I remember that that stall gives discounts to single…travelers...” Minjoo’s voice trailed off in the end, her expression quickly turned to that of realization before turning to embarrassment. “Oh God I have you.”

“Min,” Hitomi laughed. She squeezed Minjoo’s hand, smiling wide when Minjoo started to sputter some insults to herself. A glimpse of the older woman’s reddish ear made her laugh even harder. “You’re really cute, you know that?”

Her laugh only grew louder when an incoherent grumble was the only reply coming out Minjoo’s mouth.

–

Sitting down at the spot Minjoo guided her to, Hitomi had a theory as to why the Alpha decided to sit on the basically deserted area instead of the more crowded one. It took Hitomi several deep breaths for her to finally notice a high density of pheromones swirling about in the more crowded area.

They sat in a place that was dominated by the scent of nature due to the snow outside, so the human pheromones weren’t that harmful, but it still tickled Hitomi’s heightened senses just slightly. She couldn’t imagine how suffocating it was sitting in the middle of thick cloud of pheromones/

Furthermore. Minjoo was still unstable. Last night proved that. If she caught even a small whiff of Omega’s pheromones, surely it could trigger her rut. Hitomi, too, even if she was still under the effect of the suppressant, the peak period of her heat will come soon. Strong unfamiliar pheromones could give unwanted effects to her.

The area was colder as it was placed near the large doors and windows leading to outside and the heater placed near them didn’t seem like it was working, but it was still manageable for Hitomi’s standards. She could conclude that, like herself, Minjoo wouldn’t want to lose control when it was still very bright outside and them being in a public place. Being a little cold was a small sacrifice.

“It’s a bit too cold here,” Minjoo muttered with pursed lips. She fixed her jacket before she gripped the backrest of her seat instead of sitting down like Hitomi was doing. “I didn’t expect this.”

Hitomi shrugged. “It’s cold, but it’s okay.” She nudged the seat across her with her foot. “Do you want to move deeper?”

“No,” to her surprise, Minjoo didn’t put a lot of thought before she answered her. Minjoo gave her a grin. “Being a little cold is so much better than potentially being at risk. Wouldn’t want to lose ourselves because of others’ pheromones, would we?”

Bingo. Hitomi hid her victorious smile behind her hand. “Yes, you’re right. Are you going to order now, Minmin?”

She didn’t immediately answer. Minjoo squinted at the menu written above the nearest stall, taking a moment in scanning the contents. “Yeah. Do you have anything specific in mind?”

Hitomi shook her head before beaming the Alpha a smile. “As I said, I’ll put my whole trust in you. You haven’t really failed on bringing me delicious food, after all.”

“You sure you won’t regret this?”

“Please, I would regret nothing.”

–

“I do regret something,” Hitomi sharply sighed. She turned her head sideways, eyes squinting at the Alpha that had just brought her order. “Is this a way of your revenge?”

“It’s a token of my affection,” Minjoo denied, pushing the steaming pot of cheese bibimbap closer to Hitomi. “I know how much you like cheese.”

Hitomi pushed the pot to Minjoo while scrunching her face. Minjoo got a point, but still.

“This is too much,” she said through gritted teeth and tightly clenched jaws. She couldn’t deny the smell was amazing and especially appetizing, but she had hormones and weight to control. Being both a woman and an Omega was a deadly combo of fat accumulation on certain unflattering areas. “I could get fat eating this.”

“You’re perfect just the way you are,” Minjoo nonchalantly replied, beaming a victorious smile at Hitomi. She took a spoonful of her own steaming gukbap dish, grinning wide once more when she saw how Hitomi’s eyes narrowed. She pushed the bowl back. “Bon appetit. This is what you get from trusting me too much.”

“When I said I want you to take advantage of me, I didn’t mean for you to take advantage of my credit card to stuff me with this food!” Hitomi sighed louder. “A small portion of tteokbokki is already enough. Or skewers.”

Minjoo sighed. She put her spoon down to the bowl and clicked her tongue. Hitomi was still glaring at her with her arms folded on her chest. “Tomi,” Minjoo began slowly, “you almost didn’t eat anything for breakfast.”

Hitomi shot her a disapproving glare, pettily pushed the bowl of steaming cheese bibimbap away. “I had chicken soup and that was enough for breakfast and lunch.”

This Omega sure as hell stubborn, Minjoo thought. Her hand flew up to the bridge of her nose, groaning as her thumb and index fingers slipped behind her glasses to massage the spot. “Seriously, Tomi, how do you expect to last a night on your peak period if you don’t eat enough?”

Hearing the muttering, the frown on Hitomi’s face immediately eased up. She pulled back her folded arms, moving them to rest on top of the table, her gaze was full of suspicion and curiosity. “...What did you say?” She inquired with narrowed eyes.

Aha. Minjoo bit back a grin. So I can do it that way. “Heat.” Minjoo pointed at herself, then to Hitomi. The Omega’s gaze intensified. Minjoo almost laughed out loud before she could say anything else. “Me and you. Don’t tell me you forgot all about it?”

Realization quickly washed over the Omega’s face the moment a smile started to creep up Minjoo’s lips. “Oh. OH!” Hitomi exclaimed, straightening up on her seat, “No! I didn’t!” she half yelled with wide eyes.

“Ha.” Minjoo couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing when Hitomi stammered that she would eat it. The Alpha brought her hand to Hitomi’s head, affectionately caressing her hair when the latter started mixing what was inside her bowl. “That’s my good girl.”

—

Minjoo prided herself as a quick-eater when she was starving, but it seemed that she had to humbly give the quick-eater title to Hitomi after today.

“You really are starving,” Minjoo pointed out, in awe over the empty bowl in front of Hitomi. She quickly tuned down her awe, though. Because the next thing, she had her lips pursed forward mockingly and she started talking in a higher pitch, much similar to how Hitomi talks daily. “A small portion of tteokbokki is already enough. Or skewers. Yeah right, Miss Honda.”

“Wow.” Hitomi twitched. “Where has the submissive and breedable Minjoo gone to? Who is this sassy monster I raised?”

“Submissive and breedable… Is that how you see me this whole time?”

The Omega waved her hands dismissively. “Not now, not now,” she said jovially while biting her lips suggestively. She leaned forward with her hands propping under her chin. “Mhm. Yes. You’re far from that.” Her eyes started to sparkle in mischief. “Come to think of it, you really can be a proper daddy material. Daddy Minjoo. Sounds y. Can I call you that, Minmin?”

“Oh God, no. That was disgusting.” Minjoo shivered, hugging herself tight and not at all even hiding the disgust in both her expression and tone.

If Songje, her Guardian, was still here; Minjoo was sure as hell that old man would either sputter profanities that would be enough to put the most potty-mouthed sailor to shame or just die of heart attack hearing such obscenity coming out from Hitomi’s mouth.

“Disgusting? It’s not.” Hitomi raised an eyebrow up. “You don’t want to be called a Daddy by your future children?”

Oh! Minjoo didn’t expect that. She thought it was another episode of Hitomi being a needy ert as usual. “Truthfully, being called ‘Mama’ or ‘Mom’ sounds better to me,” Minjoo replied, grimacing. “But daddy… I don’t really like it but my future children can call me their dad or father to avoid confusion if they want to.”

Hitomi nodded her head. “I’ll be sure to condition you well so you can be more receptive to that title.”

“I don't need it.”

“Sure you don't.”

“I really don't.”

She didn’t say anything as she shrugged her shoulders at the final reply, but that smile on Hitomi’s lips was worrying.

The sigh escaping Minjoo’s lips sounded tired and that was justified. The Alpha rose to her feet with an annoyed expression. Nevertheless, she offered her hand for Hitomi to hold. Her hold was as gentle as usual when Hitomi grasped her hand, and it didn't fail to make her heart flutter.

Seeing the docile look on Hitomi's expression, Minjoo dropped her frown. Replacing it was a gentle smile that Minjoo realized she always put whenever Hitomi was around. “Come on, Tomi, let’s go back.”

Hitomi beamed her a shy smile. She leaned against Minjoo's shoulder, smiling widely when Minjoo squeezed her hand gently and rubbed the lines of her slender hand with her thumb.

“Of course, daddy.”

“...Damn it, Tomi.”