Click—
As soon as the search results loaded, Haram clicked on the very first link. His eyes widened as he stared at the monitor.
[Heat Cycle: A recurring rut experienced by Omegas, in which their sexual desire increases. Instinct overrides reason as they emit stronger pheromones to seduce Alphas…]
Click—! Click—! Click—!
He couldn’t bring himself to read any further. Frantically, Haram moved the mouse and closed the window.
Omega. Rut. Libido. Pheromones. Seduction…?
He never imagined that after living 21 years as a Beta, he’d ever find himself tangled up with words like these.
His breathing grew ragged. As tears threatened to spill again, he pressed both palms firmly against his eyelids. Then suddenly, he shouted sharply—
“No…!”
I’m not an Omega. I can’t be. I’ve never gone through a heat cycle. I don’t even have pheromones. This has nothing to do with me.
He repeated the denial in his head hundreds of times before his breathing finally calmed. He’d come to Seoul to clear his head, but he’d only ended up piling on more anxiety. At this rate, he’d be dragging himself back to the countryside.
With tightly pressed lips, Haram stared blankly at the air in front of him, then let out a deep sigh and stood up. Even then, he patted the chair with his palm, brushing off any fur that might’ve fallen before leaving the study.
“Figure anything out?”
Lost in thought, Haram was aimlessly walking down the hallway when Tae-yi suddenly appeared in front of him and spoke.
“…No.”
Tae-yi’s brows furrowed at the sight of Haram, drooping all over again after having finally lifted his spirits with a good meal.
“That quack professor wants you back.”
“Why? To scold me…?”
Shoulders somehow sinking even lower, Haram looked up at him with anxious eyes. Tae-yi chuckled lightly and said,
“He says he wants to look into the relationship between Beastfolk and Omegas. Begged me to bring you in. Not to scold you.”
The person Tae-yi had just been on the phone with was Professor Yoon. The man had been so persistent about investigating it himself that Tae-yi’s ear still rang from the call.
Of course, it didn’t help that Haram had bruised that stuck-up professor’s ego. A scratch like that on his pride meant he’d chase down an answer no matter what. And really, what better thesis material could there be? To Professor Yoon, Da Haram was a golden catch.
“…Oh. Got it.”
Haram slowly nodded at Tae-yi’s explanation. He weighed the options: the so-called quack professor or an endless spiral of questionable Google searches. After a long pause, he looked up at Tae-yi and replied,
“I’ll go to Professor Yoon. Not the quack. Professor Yoon.”
***
“A little rat’s an Omega?”
Inside the car heading to the office, the air was icy cold.
Glancing at the rearview mirror, Manager Kim looked hesitantly at the man in the back seat—Kang Tae-jin—before answering.
“The Beastfolk in the photo… He’s one of the landowners from that countryside property.”
Clearly nervous, Manager Kim kept watching Kang Tae-jin’s reaction through the mirror, even while driving. Tae-jin’s eyes were fixed on the photo in his hand, glaring holes into it.
“They said he was an old man.”
“Yes, one of them is. The other one… is that Beastfolk.”
“Pull over.”
Tae-jin growled, annoyed at the way Manager Kim kept sneaking glances through the mirror while barely watching the road. He stared at the photo again—at Haram, tail and all—and scowled even deeper when his gaze landed on the expression beside him: Kang Tae-yi.
What the hell’s he smiling about, that crazy bastard.
The corners of Tae-yi’s mouth rarely lifted, unless he was mocking someone or gloating. Yet in the photo, his expression was utterly serene and content. The more he looked at it, the more it pissed him off. Tae-jin tossed the photo onto the seat beside him and asked,
“So why’s this bumpkin brat suddenly in Seoul holding hands with Kang Tae-yi?”
“…The village where the Beastfolk lives is near the place Manager Kim said Kang Tae-yi was ambushed.”
The shakier Manager Kim’s voice became, the harder Tae-jin ground his teeth. He’d pieced together the rough sequence of events and now let out a long, bitter sigh.
“So you were right next to Kang Tae-yi and still came back empty-handed?”
He remembered clearly—just last week, Manager Kim had gone to that backwater town. Even if Tae-yi had ended up there by coincidence, the fact that Manager Kim had been so close and still missed him infuriated him.
“…I apologize.”
Manager Kim bowed his head and muttered apologies nonstop, sensing that if he didn’t, things would escalate past words. Still, it felt unfair.
The place where Kang Tae-yi had been attacked and the Beastfolk’s village—sure, they were “close” on paper, but they were still 8 kilometers apart.
That day, in the middle of a violent downpour, Kang Tae-yi had survived a deliberate car crash and a physical assault by Manager Kim. And not only had he survived—he’d managed to puncture Manager Kim’s abdomen and then walk all the way to that village? Even for a Dominant Alpha, that wasn’t something a human should be capable of.
And why that village, of all places? Thanks to that, Manager Kim—who had failed to find him when he was right under his nose—was now going to be tortured by Kang Tae-jin for a good while.
Watching him grovel, Tae-jin cursed under his breath and picked the photo back up.
“Find out what kind of relationship Kang Tae-yi has with that rat.”
The same rat who’d sworn up and down he wouldn’t sell the land was now clinging to Tae-yi in Seoul. Had Tae-yi lied about who he was?
No matter how many times he looked at it, the picture screamed intimate relationship. It was as if Kang Tae-yi saw something more in that lowly little rat.
“Is he a recessive?”
“He hasn’t taken the test yet.”
***
“Why are we holding hands?”
As soon as Haram asked the question, Tae-yi tightened his grip and answered casually,
“So you don’t get lost.”
In his own house? Was that supposed to be a joke or directed at Haram?
Haram didn’t quite understand the ambiguous reply, but he didn’t let go either. He had thought they were heading straight to see Professor Yoon, but instead, Tae-yi was giving him a late tour of the house, holding his hand and explaining things along the way.
“That a room too?”
“Yeah, an unused one.”
Haram had already passed several “unused” rooms.
Letting go of Tae-yi’s hand naturally, he pointed at an abstract painting hanging in the middle of the first-floor hallway.
“Is that a baboon?”
“It’s a self-portrait.”
“…Ah.”
It must’ve been the artist’s self-portrait—not Tae-yi’s, since there was no resemblance whatsoever. Maybe the artist was a monkey Beastfolk?
Watching Haram let out a little ohh of wonder, Tae-yi chuckled and asked,
“You like paintings? Want me to buy it for you?”
“No, I don’t really get art.”
Haram shook his head at the offer and wandered ahead down the hall. That’s when he suddenly noticed a random staircase leading downward tucked into a corner. But just as he turned toward it—
He was swiftly spun around.
Looking up in surprise at Tae-yi, who had gripped both his shoulders tightly, Haram opened his mouth as if to ask something but said nothing. Tae-yi, despite the sudden gesture, smiled calmly and said,
“That’s the basement. Covered in dust bunnies the size of squirrels. Don’t go down there.”
Dust bunnies the size of squirrels…?
Haram blinked his large eyes a few times. Then it hit him—and his thin shoulders trembled slightly.
To Haram, “squirrel” meant Sky Squirrel. Sure, he hadn’t said Haram was a dust bunny, but… The implication still stung.
Unable to find the words, Haram just stared up at him, shoulders trembling in protest. Tae-yi, of course, burst out laughing.
“You think that counts as a fierce glare? It’s gotta go like this.”
“S-stop that…!”
Tae-yi tugged playfully at the corners of Haram’s eyes with his fingers, then let go when Haram weakly protested. Pressing a small palm to his eyelid and rubbing it, Haram muttered quietly,
“You’re such a weirdo…”
Tae-yi was kind, sweet, always smiling, and stupidly handsome—but sometimes, he was just really weird.
Unbothered by the comment, Tae-yi asked without missing a beat,
“Wanna go hang out with this weirdo?”
“Hang out…?”
Caught off guard by the random question, Haram echoed him in confusion.
“You’ve been cooped up in the hospital ever since we got to Seoul. That’s not what we came here for.”
“…I don’t really feel like going out.”
“If we go see Professor Yoon tomorrow, you’ll be stuck in the hospital again. Let’s have a little fun today.”
He almost gave in to Tae-yi’s persistent coaxing, but after shaking his head firmly, Haram replied with careful but resolute finality.
“I’m just… not in the mood right now. Let’s just stay in.”
He had just gone from Beta to Omega—something so absurd it defied belief—and he was supposed to go out right now? No way. He didn’t want to go anywhere.
That rare flash of decisiveness from the squirrel left Tae-yi with a sigh stuck in his throat.
“Try to clear your head a little.”
He almost added, And start accepting that you’re an Omega already, but bit his tongue just in time. Instead, he grabbed Haram by the wrist and started leading him toward the front door.
“W-where are we going?”
Half-dragged along, Haram clung to Tae-yi’s arm and asked in panic.
“You ever been to a movie theater? Wanna go watch something?”
At the mention of a theater, Haram’s eyes practically popped out of his head as he shouted,
“No! I hate movie theaters!”
Tae-yi let out a soft sigh. First restaurants, now theaters—what kind of trauma did this guy have with public places?
He gently pried Haram off the front door, where he’d latched on like his life depended on it, and offered another idea.
“Then let’s go out in squirrel form.”
