Afterward, Suhwan continued to chat with Hwalyeon about various topics before finishing his remaining iced tea and getting up from his seat.
***
“Seunghyun!”
“Hyung.”
Seunghyun, who had been waiting outside the hotel, turned around. Although Suhwan had told him he didn’t need to come pick him up, he had just declined Hwalyeon’s offer to drive him after receiving a message that Seunghyun was waiting in front of the hotel.
“Did you wait long?”
“I just got here.”
“Really?”
Seunghyun approached and examined Suhwan’s face. Fortunately, Suhwan was smiling brightly without any signs of distress. Given Hwalyeon’s image as an extremely meticulous and cold businesswoman, Seunghyun had worried that Suhwan might feel intimidated after meeting her, but it seemed otherwise.
“Did the conversation with the CEO go well?”
“Yes, she was a nice person.”
“Really?”
“Yes! She was very kind.”
“Kind…”
Though he had never met her, she didn’t seem like that type of person. Seunghyun looked at Suhwan with doubtful eyes. But Seunghyun knew better than anyone that Suhwan wasn’t someone who could lie with such a clear face.
Perhaps Suhwan had melted that cold-hearted person. With this reasonable suspicion, he took Suhwan’s hand.
“I’m glad you look happy.”
“And the hotel food was delicious too.”
“That must have been nice.”
Like a child telling their parents every little detail about their day at school, Suhwan chatted away about the hotel food for quite some time.
“Next time, let’s eat there together.”
“Alright.”
“Hehe.”
Just as they started walking hand in hand—
“Suhwan-ssi?”
“…?”
Suhwan turned his head with a puzzled expression at the voice calling him. There stood a pretty-faced man with wide, round eyes looking at Suhwan.
“…Park Hamin-ssi?”
“Ah, it really is you!”
It was Hamin, whom he had gone on a blind date with before. While Suhwan froze in surprise, Hamin approached him with a delighted expression.
“I stopped by here today for some business. I thought it might be you, and I was right.”
“Ah, yes.”
“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“Well…”
Suhwan was thoroughly flustered by Hamin’s unexpectedly enthusiastic greeting. Then he remembered that Hamin had requested to see him again after their blind date.
Could it be that he really is interested in me? As Suhwan stood there, not knowing what to do, someone stepped in front of him.
“What do you want?”
“Who are you to ask that?”
Seunghyun looked down at Hamin with a cold face. Hamin, who had almost been intimidated again, glared back at Seunghyun with annoyance.
“I have business with Suhwan-ssi.”
“He doesn’t have any business with you.”
“How would you know?”
Hamin asked confrontationally with a deeply furrowed brow. Once again, that ominous energy kept stabbing at him.
Seriously, does he think he’s everything just because he’s dominant? How irritating, really.
Like a mongoose puffing up its fur in front of a snake, Hamin glared at Seunghyun.
And caught between these two omegas, Suhwan looked back and forth between Seunghyun and Hamin with a bewildered expression.
“Why don’t you back off a bit?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on.”
Hamin anxiously glanced behind Seunghyun, who was blocking his way. He could barely see a face peeking out above the light brown hair.
Even upon second glance, he was very much Hamin’s type. Seeing him today confirmed it further. This alpha was definitely his ideal type.
When Suhwan was dragged away by Seunghyun during their previous blind date, Hamin had actually felt more attracted to Suhwan watching that scene. Though he thought he might be out of his mind, before he knew it, he had already sent a follow-up request to Hwamyeong.
But there had been no response since then, making him anxious, and now to meet like this. It was fortunate that he had deliberately scheduled all his meetings at the Hwamyeong Hotel. Such chance encounters were rare.
And now he was about to lose this golden opportunity because of the dominant omega in front of him. Hamin frowned. It wasn’t easy to find an alpha of his taste.
Hamin absolutely couldn’t miss this chance. He glared at the dominant omega in front of him with intense eyes. The beautiful but cold face, as if containing winter frost, was looking sharply at Hamin.
Don’t be intimidated, Hamin told himself.
And frankly speaking, apart from their status, there was nothing about himself that was inferior to this dominant omega. Hamin snorted and muttered:
“Hmph, after all, you’re just an omega who’s about to get your engagement broken off.”
“…!”
Hamin was quite confident. He was certain that Chairman Jin would push for him rather than this penniless HS omega. And Seunghyun, who knew this all too well, darkened his face.
“Hamin-ssi, I think your words are a bit harsh.”
Unable to stand by, Suhwan stepped forward and spoke. He didn’t care what people said about him, but he couldn’t tolerate anyone speaking that way to Seunghyun. Suhwan squeezed Seunghyun’s hand and said:
“Seunghyun is my only fiancé. I have no intention of breaking off our engagement.”
“Then why did you go on a blind date?”
“That’s, um, there were circumstances…”
Since he couldn’t explain in detail to Hamin why he had initially planned to break off the engagement, Suhwan mumbled and lowered his head.
“Anyway, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
In the end, he realized that casually going on a blind date had been disrespectful to Hamin, who had developed feelings for him, and felt apologetic. But that didn’t mean he had even the slightest intention of leaving Seunghyun, so he looked up at Seunghyun and smiled reassuringly.
“Huh.”
Until recently, they had appeared to be on shaky ground during the blind date, but now looking at the two of them dripping with honey, Hamin let out a laugh of disbelief.
If they act like that, there’s no room for me to wedge in. Hamin clicked his tongue and then addressed Suhwan:
“So is the blind date this week also something Chairman Jin forced on you?”
“How did Hamin-ssi know about that…?”
“Come on, don’t underestimate Samyoung’s intelligence network.”
After briefly looking around, Hamin moved a bit closer to Suhwan. Seunghyun’s eyes immediately grew intense, but Hamin ignored him.
“But do you know who your match is?”
“No, not that much.”
“Ha, I figured.”
“…?”
Watching Hamin shake his head from side to side, Suhwan felt puzzled. It seemed too suspicious to just let it pass.
“Why? Who is it?”
“Oh, it’s Roh Yujin. Roh Yujin! That trash omega from Hongyoung!”
“Trash… omega?”
“You don’t know?”
There was no way Suhwan would know about a character who didn’t appear in the novel. And he wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the situations of other wealthy families. But the nuance seemed similar to Jin Suhwan’s image. Trash omega?
“You, Suhwan-ssi, were just rumored to be bad but turned out different when I met you, but Roh Yujin is not like that. He’s the real deal.”
Hamin even shuddered as he expressed his disgust.
Just as the alpha heirs of wealthy families had social gatherings, the omegas had their own private meetings. From Hamin’s perspective, it wasn’t a particularly productive gathering, but he had attended a few times due to family pressure.
Roh Yujin, whom he met there, was literally trash. He was an omega with a hobby of collecting alphas and betas to his taste. Most of the time, he would buy his targets with money and play with them until he was satisfied, but if the person was too proud for that approach, he would use drugs or threats to render them helpless.
“What is the Chairman thinking? Making you go on a blind date with someone like that.”
“Ah.”
“Wouldn’t I be much better in every way? Right?”
Suhwan slowly closed and opened his eyes as he looked down at Hamin, who was cutely poking his own cheek with a finger.
Listening to Hamin’s words, he was reminded of someone. This Roh Yujin person seemed exactly like the omega version of Jin Suhwan. He even became a little curious about what would happen if the real Jin Suhwan went on a date with such a person.
“Back off now.”
“Eek.”
Seunghyun crumpled his face as he pushed away Hamin, who had gotten too close. He absolutely disliked the sight of someone flirting with his fiancé.
And Hamin, too, deeply disliked Seunghyun for repeatedly getting in his way.
I wonder what gives him such confidence. Is it because he’s dominant? Or is it his face? Yes, must be his face. Does he think he can keep his place beside Suhwan because of that pretty face?
You can’t live off a pretty face forever. Hamin snorted again.
“Suhwan-ssi, do you really like such a poor omega? Huh?”
“…!”
Hamin’s words, spoken out of anger, caused unexpectedly significant repercussions, especially for Seunghyun. It was a particularly painful jab, considering that was exactly why Chairman Jin wouldn’t accept him.
However, upon hearing those words, Suhwan merely tilted his head in confusion.
“Hmm, but I have plenty of money…?”
“…”
“…”
That wasn’t the point, but his response was quite one-dimensional. Seunghyun and Hamin, who had been growling and glaring at each other, momentarily lost their words and stared at Suhwan. In response to their gazes, Suhwan just blinked blankly.
‘Cute.’
‘He’s cute.’
“…!”
“…!”
Seunghyun and Hamin realized they had both thought the exact same thing simultaneously. Upon making eye contact, they bared their teeth at each other again. This person was truly irritating.
“Uh, well, ahem, anyway, thank you for your advice, Hamin-ssi.”
“If you’re that grateful, maybe we could have a meal together sometime…”
“No.”
“Oh, come on.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
