“Tae-yi…?”
Rubbing his lips raw with the back of his hand, Da Haram called Kang Tae-yi’s name in a hushed voice. Only then did Tae-yi respond, gently stroking his silver hair.
“I’m not busy. Let’s stay together.”
“Aah… okay. Thanks.”
Lowering the hand that had been ruffling his hair, Tae-yi gave a light squeeze to Haram’s slumped shoulder before letting go. Their eyes met, and Tae-yi asked,
“Do you want to go in for a retest?”
A retest… If he heard the same result again after going through that, Haram felt like he wouldn’t be able to take it. And then there was his bank account balance to think about. Tae-yi might say it was fine, but this was his issue. He had no intention of turning a blind eye and letting Tae-yi pay for it all. They’d already gone to several university hospitals, and the bills surely weren’t small.
“…I think I’ll just get discharged for now.”
Tae-yi looked down at him in silence, then gave a small nod at the unexpected answer.
“Alright. Let’s go home, eat something, and get some rest.”
With one arm wrapped around Haram’s shoulders, Tae-yi led him out of the hospital room while taking out his phone to call Chief Yoon.
***
“Eat and then rest.”
“I’m not hungry…”
After bawling his eyes out from the crack of dawn, Haram didn’t have much of an appetite. But Tae-yi gently steered him toward the kitchen just as he was about to head upstairs.
“What’s all this?”
The long dining table was covered with food that must have been prepared sometime without his noticing. The main dish was samgyetang.
“Health food.”
Tae-yi seated Haram in a chair and even placed the spoon and chopsticks into his hands before sitting across from him.
“…Thanks. I’ll eat.”
“Eat a lot.”
As Haram glanced at Tae-yi’s smiling face, he looked down at the milky-white broth of the samgyetang, then popped a date cooked with the soup into his mouth. Tae-yi chuckled.
“You’re the first person I’ve seen who eats the date first.”
Haram blinked his big eyes, cheeks stuffed with the plump jujube. Do other people not eat the date first? Do they start with the chicken?
To Haram, meat was just one of many protein sources for nutrition—something he only ate occasionally.
Noticing his hesitation, Tae-yi used his spoon to fish out a floating date from his own bowl and set it on Haram’s side plate. Surprised, Haram asked in a delighted tone,
“You don’t like dates?”
With his eyes rounded, Haram looked up at him, and Tae-yi gave a small laugh.
“You eat it.”
He gave him the only date in his bowl… Even back in the day, when he followed the village elders to the town samgyetang shop on Korea’s hottest days, he never once shared his date with anyone. Tae-yi really was someone to learn from.
“Thanks…”
With eyebrows forming an upside-down ‘八’, Haram thanked him sincerely. Tae-yi burst into open laughter at the sight. Then, reaching into the soy-braised short ribs, he plucked out a chestnut and placed it on Haram’s plate.
“Ch-chestnuts too? You don’t like them?”
Haram, stunned by the chestnut soaked in galbi sauce now resting on his plate, stammered.
“Eat up.”
This squirrel was killing him. He didn’t even have a chance to stop laughing. Anyone watching would’ve thought Haram had just been handed a chestnut-sized diamond.
“Thank you so much…”
Haram spooned the precious chestnut Tae-yi had given him and tasted it with sincere gratitude. The galbi sauce wasn’t too sweet, but the chestnut was so naturally sweet, and the texture—absolutely perfect.
Tae-yi watched the squirrel savor the chestnut like it was the most touching experience of his life, then carefully sorted out more chestnuts from the galbi and stacked them on Haram’s plate.
“Eat a lot.”
He’d half-expected Haram to come home distraught from his Omega manifestation, refusing to eat and just crying nonstop. But seeing him eat so heartily—it was a relief.
As Haram stared at his plate full of chestnuts like it was treasure, he threw a few sideways glances at Tae-yi, who was watching him fondly, and thought to himself,
Does Tae-yi… like me?
After Haram had neatly polished off his rice—soaked in the samgyetang broth and paired with chestnuts from the galbi—Tae-yi brought out dessert: almond cake.
Almond cake, of all things… It was perfectly tailored to his taste, and that only made Haram’s suspicions grow stronger.
Feeling oddly conscious of Tae-yi, Haram poked at the cake with a fork, tapping at the thick almond cream.
“You don’t like that?”
Tae-yi had expected him to eat it like the galbi chestnuts—with joy and awe—but Haram was hesitating, just eyeing the cake.
Startled by the question, Haram let out an awkward chuckle.
“N-no… I was just saving it.”
“There’s more. Eat as much as you want.”
“…Okay.”
He scooped up a big bite with his fork and took a mouthful. The rich almond cream melted on his tongue, making his slipper-clad feet do a little excited shuffle. Then he peeked again at Tae-yi and tried to collect his thoughts.
Aside from the dates and chestnuts, he could probably manage to prepare other dishes for Tae-yi, too. That much was totally within the realm of what friends would do for each other.
Having reached that conclusion, Haram looked up and asked,
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“You eat more.”
In truth, Tae-yi didn’t really like sweets. This was the first time a dessert like this had even existed in his house. Though from now on, it probably wouldn’t be the last.
Tae-yi quietly watched Haram as he slowly picked up speed with the cake. Or more precisely, he stared at the soft lips being coated in almond cream.
When will I be able to taste that? When Haram finally accepts that he’s an Omega?
Judging by Haram’s current mindset, that day seemed very far away.
“Haaaah…”
Tae-yi let out a long sigh. Startled, Haram gently set down his fork with one piece left and asked,
“What’s wrong…?”
“Nothing. Keep eating.”
He wanted to ask more, but with one slice left, he couldn’t leave it unfinished. Haram picked up his fork again. Even this last bite brought joy to his mouth.
Grandma would love this, too…
Maybe it was because of how drained he’d been from everything since yesterday, but today especially, he missed his grandmother’s embrace. She, too, was a Beta… His parents would’ve been, too…
“…Ah.”
He’d never heard much about his parents. For some reason, from a young age, his grandmother never mentioned them. And since he had no memories of their faces—it had been so long ago—he never brought it up either. His grandmother’s love had never left him wanting.
But of course, his parents would’ve been Betas too. They were Beastfolk, after all.
So he must be a Sky Squirrel Beastfolk and a Beta. That was what made sense.
Tae-yi noticed Haram’s face turn serious mid-cake and asked in a gentle voice,
“Want another slice?”
“No, I’m full. I’ll do the dishes.”
Tae-yi, sipping his coffee, chuckled softly.
“Someone comes by to take care of that. You don’t need to.”
“Oh…”
He has someone for that…
Haram gave a small nod and sipped the citrusy orange juice Tae-yi had served with the cake. Then, suddenly lifting his head, he asked,
“Can I use a phone or computer?”
“What for?”
“I need to look something up… I left my phone behind.”
He’d rushed out with Tae-yi so suddenly that there was no way he’d remembered to bring it. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone he expected a call from.
“Want to use the study computer? My phone’s a little busy these days.”
“Ah, yeah! Thanks.”
“You know where it is, right? Go ahead. I just need to make a quick call.”
Relieved by Tae-yi’s easygoing response, Haram nodded enthusiastically and headed up the stairs to the second floor. Tae-yi watched him go, the squirrel’s tail swaying as he climbed. Then he pulled out his still-vibrating phone.
***
Inside Tae-yi’s study, Haram sniffed the air for no reason.
No smell of alcohol today… What was that smell back then?
Spacing out in front of the door, Haram soon noticed the computer on the desk and headed toward it. He sank into the plush-looking chair, powered it on, and let out a sigh.
He was going to look it all up. Whether Beastfolk could be Omegas. Whether an Omega could become a Beta. Not that he was admitting he was an Omega, of course—not at all. He just wanted to test the idea.
The spotless desk didn’t even have a speck of dust. Feeling like even one fallen hair would be a crime, he tensed his tail and clicked the mouse.
With typing so slow it would make even an eagle Beastfolk cry, he painfully pecked out a word with stiff shoulders and entered it into the search bar.
“O… me… ga… Beast… folk.”
Click—
As the mouse clicked and the monitor loaded, Haram scanned the screen nervously, eyes darting around for any useful sources. But none of them seemed credible. They were all just blog posts and online forum threads starting with “What if…”.
“Can’t trust this…”
Where could he even find real information? The library? Some expert who studies Beastfolk? As if he knew anyone like that…
Slumping onto the desk, he pressed his forehead to the surface and sighed repeatedly at the hopelessness of it all. He didn’t know much about Alphas or Omegas—never cared, really—but he vaguely remembered learning something about traits back in school.
There was one concept that had especially stood out back then… What was it… Something about a cycle…
“Ah…!”
Once he remembered, Haram shot upright and began typing it into the search bar.
“H… e… a… t… cycle…”
