The Alpha in His Corner

Chapter 8

The shower was blissfully calm after the chaos of waking up in Jaekyung's bed. It loosened Dan's sore muscles and washed away the hectic thoughts crowding in his mind. The most uncomfortable part was...cleaning himself out.

"How many times did we do it?" Dan muttered to himself, marveling at how much one man could ejaculate over the course of a single night.

Then again, Jaekyung was not just any man.

After toweling himself down, he applied some of the cream Jaekyung had given him and reached for the clothes. The pants were slightly large, but the sweater's collar covered his neck beautifully, hiding any traces of the night's activities.

Holding the bed sheet folded in one arm, Dan opened the bathroom door tentatively and peered out. He was half afraid that Jaekyung would pop inside again and pounce on him.

The air outside smelled like frying eggs and a delicious sizzling sound was coming from the direction of the kitchen. Jaekyung stood in front of the stove, a protein shake in one hand and a spatula in the other as he nudged several eggs around in a skillet.

He turned his head as Dan shuffled into the kitchen. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Ah...no, I'm fine." Maybe Dan was hungry, but his stomach was such a jumble of queasiness and nerves that he honestly couldn't tell.

Jaekyung eyed him as if he could see the thoughts running through his mind. Turning back to the stove, he shoveled a pile of eggs onto a plate and flicked the burner off, then grabbed a fork out of a drawer. He carried the plate to the small kitchen table and set it down, placing the fork next to it. He pointed at one of the chairs. "Eat that. I'm getting in the shower."

"No, really," Dan protested. "I don't want to impose on—"

"Dan." Jaekyung's voice was exasperated. "Are you really gonna fight me on everything? Just eat the damn eggs. I'm not hungry for eggs, so if you don't eat 'em they're going in the trash."

Dan's polite upbringing compelled him to refuse again, but the near-nuclear intensity in Jaekyung's stare convinced him otherwise. "Well, in that case... Thank you, Mr. Joo."

Jaekyung blinked at him. "Do I look like your fucking homeroom teacher?" He took a gulp from his protein shake and wiped his mouth. "Just call me Jaekyung like you did last night."

No matter how hard he fought it, the words "like you did last night" stoked Dan's cheeks into a blush once again. He nodded. "Sure... Thank you, Jaekyung."

Jaekyung looked incredibly annoyed and Dan was having a difficult time figuring out why. On the one hand, Dan was imposing on him in his home so his irritation was understandable, but on the other hand, every time Dan tried not to impose on him, he got even more annoyed. What did Jaekyung want him to do, exactly?

Jaekyung chugged the rest of the protein shake and tossed the empty bottle into a trash can in the corner, then stalked toward the bathroom.

Dan stepped aside to let him pass, lowering his gaze to avoid eye contact. He waited for the bathroom door to shut behind the tall fighter, but Jaekyung hesitated in the doorway, the fingers of one hand drumming against the door frame for a few beats. He pivoted around to glare at Dan. "There's milk in the fridge. And water. And beer." Then he ducked into the bathroom and flung the door shut. The shower started up moments later.

Dan stood by himself in the kitchen and blinked at the closed bathroom door. "What in the world...?" Whatever was going on in Joo Jaekyung's head was an enigma that he wasn't going to solve anytime soon.

He stepped toward the kitchen table, then remembered the sheet he was holding and turned toward the bed instead. That was when he saw his bag lying on the floor next to the foot of the bed, and he remembered his phone was in the inside pocket. And then he remembered Yoongu.