We ordered some food and got to know each other better. Nari warmed up little by little and started to talk about her favorite cartoons when she was a child, dating stories throughout high school, how her make-up routine changed over time. Any and everything, small or big we would throw around the table. Geonsu was contributing now and then with short sentences, but he didn’t seem to be bored or bothered. He seemed rather laid back and enjoying the moment.

Nari explained how she decided to become a nurse and how Geonsu assured her since she was a little girl that she was the smartest girl there was. I never had any siblings, but they were the perfect examples of a healthy brotherly relationship.

“And if it were not for my brother, I would not have been able to study and become a nurse.”

The three of us were now staring at him. He slumps back into the chair with crossed arms.

“What are you doing? It’s your birthday, stop. And you would have studied anyhow; dad would have made it work… are you crying?”

Nari was indeed holding back her tears. Or at least, she tried to. She didn’t weep like a baby, she cried very softly, few tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Ugh, stop it. You’re embarrassing me. I told you, I’m not taking you anywhere cool with me if you keep on doing this.”

As he was saying these rather dismissive words, he was patting her head and looked at his little sister with concerned eyes, looking, searching for confirmation that she was going to feel better soon. She started laughing softly, slapped his hand off her hair, saying he was messing up her curls and apologized.

“You don’t have to apologize, unless it was something we had no right to know, I don’t mind listening to you or comforting you.” I reassured her.

She shook her head smiling, but her brother spoke up.

“I think she feels bad for being the only one who went to uni. But I didn’t have the capacity to get into or finish uni anyway, so I don’t know why she keeps on bothering me with this.”

“What did you do after high school?” I asked.

“I finished high school at 20 I think, then I got an apprenticeship with Toscana and have been with them ever since. I work as a Sauté Chef.”

“What do you do? I’m not familiar with that.”

“I'm basically the cook who spends most of the shift at the stove. I prepare and cook a lot of hot dishes, make sauces, sauté vegetables, and make sure everything is ready at the same time so the plates can go out together. I give the go when the meats are to be cooked so if a table ordered meat and fish, they go out at the same time.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“I became a sauté chef at 26.”

“And how old are you now?” I asked, as if on instinct. I knew he was older than us, he looked older as well. It must be the stress.

“I’m 32.”

Without missing a beat, Romina says: “Oh, you look older though.” And sips her drink casually, even reaches for her fries.

Nari gasped and called out her name, I choked on my drink, but Geonsu started laughing.

“Yeah, I do look older. It’s a very demanding job. Of course, you look pretty and all, you work in an office.”

 “I didn’t mean to offend you; I also didn’t say that to be mean. I’m sorry.” Romina must not know Geonsu very intimately or for long, because she always apologizes to people who do not know her personality and sarcastic humor. But she did insult him. He took it like a champ, but I didn’t agree. He didn’t look old. If I could be cheesy and speak into kitchen terms, he was looking rather… more seasoned.

“It’s the truth. I don’t mind it.” He shrugged it off.

After 12 am and the cake, the girls started to talk among themselves. They seemed to have made other plans only for the two of them, because they explained so much shortly. Nari thanked me for being there and exchanged phone numbers and social media. They departed, but before they disappeared completely Nari said:

“Thank you for picking up the tab, brother! And thank you for your credit card!”

The first sentence came first. As he sighed and took out his card from the wallet, Nari snatched it out of his hands. Then, the second sentence followed.

“Oh, that’s a nice birthday present.” I said to him.

“I didn’t tell her I’d pay though… or gave her permission to take my card” he said, as he was taking out cash and laughing.

“I can pay for me and Romina.” I said, smiling. Our tab must cost around $170.

“No, I didn’t say that to complain or anything. Don’t feel indebted. But if you have time you can pay for beers next time.” He said that casually, while standing up and walking towards the bar to pay.

I stood up, thanked him for the great time and headed for the restroom. I felt the need to wash my hands; I hate it when they feel like they have touched something sticky and then dry. They feel sticky-dry and it drives me crazy.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

I heard someone enter the bathroom and seconds later, the same person bumps into me lightly. I nodded my head signaling that all is good and wanted to dry my hands, but he didn’t show any intent to move out of the way.

“Hey, did I hurt you too bad? Can I buy you a drink as an apology?”

“No, I don’t drink. I’m fine.”

“Oh, or maybe… you are an Omega, right? If it hurts too bad, I can release some pheromones and calm you down?”

He smirked and winked at me, holding the door one fourth open, as if opening it for me out of curtesy, but still not moving his arm fully and not stepping away. He basically trapped me there.

“I’m not an Omega and I don’t need your fragrance. You smell like alcohol, so not appealing to me. Please move away.”

He tried to shut the door, so I quickly put my boot between the door and door frame. I was not budging. I looked up at him and didn’t say anything, but I watched him with a distasteful look, nonetheless.

“Don’t go… and don’t lie… you smell like a dried citrus.” He said, lightly tugging at the ends of my hair laying on my shoulder and pulling it toward his nose, sniffing.

At that point, I started to feel it. He was releasing pheromones in waves. Like pulsating, he gave more and less in spans of seconds, without any pattern, making it hard to get used to the feeling. Because of this release tactic, I felt dizzy, and could not prepare my senses for the next intensity. It smelled pungent and sweet, like rotten grapefruit. I slapped his hand and gathered my hair with my right hand, tucking it inside my jacket as best and as fast as I could.

“Oh, now you kind of smell like burned matches and sour lemon. Let me make a sweet orange out of you.”

He leaned in and at that point, I scratched his right check. I wanted to slap him, but this worked as well. He was taken aback and maybe because he thought his pheromones incapacitated me enough, he let the door go. I pushed it open so hard, it slammed on the tiles and chipped them lightly. The sound made some tables that were sitting closer to the restrooms look my way. That’s when I saw Geonsu propping himself on the wall leading to the restrooms. Why is he still here? The bang caught his attention, as well as my stressed state and he started walking towards me with questioning eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

As I took a step forward, I felt my buttock shift inside my pants and get a little sticky. It was uncomfortable. My pheromones ran acrid and my slick was thick and uncomfortable. I always hated this feeling ever since it started to happen. The issue was that ever since Johan, my body reacted like this to all Alphas, not only this one restroom bastard. Before I could respond, my answer being delayed by my own body, the harasser stepped out of the bathroom. His cheek was throbbing and bleeding slightly. I turned back to look at him and returned my gaze at Geonsu, not saying anything. Geonsu stepped up between me and the man.

“Who do you think you are, putting your hands on me? Bitch! You liked the attention at first and now you act better than?! And for that you scratch me?!”

“Who the fuck do you think you are, releasing your disgusting sweat around here? Don’t come closer.” Geonsu said, standing grounded.

Through the agitation, the manager stepped up to me and told me they were going to call the cops. I didn’t want to deal with this. I really wanted to go home. Waiting for the cops, I thought maybe I should let them pick him up and then refuse to file a complaint, not willing to deal with this issue on top of my busy schedule. But then, I thought that maybe he was going to do this again. He seemed very skilled at releasing stressing and coercive pheromone signals, so it must not be his first time. I decided to file a complaint if possible. The man was still shouting and flailing his arms around. Geonsu was lightly pushing him back when he came to close and maybe he was afraid of him, but the man was only mouthing insults and avoiding looking at Geonsu.

After the police came and picked the guy up, they asked me some questions, took my info and let me know they were going to investigate this and maybe contact me in the future. I thanked them and they left. We were standing outside the bar, on the side, after the police recommended we go out in the fresh air and calm down. They figured out I was shaken because of his pheromones but didn’t offer any medication or help. Now left alone, Geonsu spoke up.

“Are you feeling better? Need any medication or go sit down somewhere?”

“I cannot sit… I want to go home actually. I want to…”

He looked very worried and anxious, waiting for me to finish my sentence. He stood still, even took some steps back and waited for me to respond fully.

“I want to shower. Clean myself up… My pants are sticky. I don’t think you understand what I’m saying…”

He nodded and pulled out his phone.

“I’ll call you a taxi if you want. Do you want me to accompany you, or do you have a friend that can take you home? I don’t want you going alone.”

“I live in Washington Heights. It’s pretty far.”

“Would you feel comfortable coming over at my place? I live in East Village, it’s closer. Would you feel comfortable going to my place to shower?” He smiled, trying to put me at ease. I didn’t feel warry of him; I just didn’t want to impose too much. I knew I was within my rights to accept though, given the state I was in. I needed to clean myself up as soon as possible.

“Yes, I’ll go to your place with you.”