The moment he rose to his full height, an imposing shadow stretched over their heads. Kyung-wook’s gaze collided with the man’s in midair, creating a vicious, tense atmosphere.
Caught off guard, Kang-woo stood trapped between the two men facing off, holding his breath.
The taut tension lingered for a while, and the one who backed down first was Kyung-wook.
“Kim Kang-woo. Follow me.”
Kyung-wook spat the words in a sharp tone before turning his back.
Kang-woo was honestly a little surprised. It was a rare sight. Kyung-wook backing down first? Given his personality, Kang-woo had assumed it was only natural that he would clash head-on with the man, but contrary to expectations, Kyung-wook held himself back.
Instinctively, he knew. The man wasn’t someone he could deal with carelessly. The balance of power was completely tilted in the man’s favor. And besides, the threat of calling the police couldn’t simply be ignored.
One thing was unexpected: judging by the aura he gave off, the man was clearly an Alpha, yet Kang-woo hadn’t sensed even the faintest trace of pheromones from him.
The man appeared to be an ordinary person—a Beta. But he was undeniably superior to Kyung-wook in every way. The ease that radiated from him made that fact unmistakably clear.
Lost in thought, Kang-woo stared at the man. Then those pitch-black eyes landed on him.
“Kim Kang-woo, aren’t you coming?”
Hearing the urging voice, Kang-woo tore his gaze away from him and hurried after Kyung-wook.
“Oof.”
As Kyung-wook opened the door and stepped out, he nearly collided with someone entering from the other side.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Kang-woo bowed his head quickly in apology in place of Kyung-wook, who brushed past without a word. Then he hurried up the stairs. There was no time to check who the person beyond the door was.
He had to catch up to Kyung-wook, who had already gone ahead.
Not only was there a difference in height, but Kyung-wook also walked much faster. Yet despite that, Kyung-wook hated it when Kang-woo lagged behind him. Gritting his teeth, Kang-woo sped up and chased after him.
***
“Hey, you fucking asshole. You said your brother knows the place well and that you’d talk to them, so why the hell are they kicking us out? This is fucking bullshit!”
The voice on the other end of the phone could be faintly heard whining. Kyung-wook hurled curses at the person for quite some time before irritably hanging up.
The man walking ahead suddenly stopped. Kang-woo, who had been hurrying behind him, halted as well.
“Kang-woo.”
Kyung-wook called his name in a gentle voice, the mood shifting in an instant.
But Kang-woo didn’t relax. He knew that every bit of it was carefully crafted acting.
Kyung-wook was a person whose exterior and interior were completely different. No matter how soft and affectionate he might seem right now, there was no way to predict when he might suddenly turn cruel.
Kyung-wook slowly turned around. The curve of his smiling lips came into view.
“While I was gone, did you and that guy talk about anything?”
Kyung-wook was not in a very good mood right now. It was obvious at a glance. Unlike the corners of his lips, which were lifted upward, his eyes weren’t smiling at all. A cold, chilling aura flickered across his dark brown eyes.
“Did the two of you exchange anything… intimate?”
The interrogating gaze burned against him. Kyung-wook was suspicious of Kang-woo. While he had stepped away briefly to take the call, he clearly believed that something must have happened between the two of them.
And it wasn’t entirely unreasonable. Before Kyung-wook had left his seat, the man had only been watching them with an observant gaze; he hadn’t openly shown hostility.
Kang-woo swallowed dryly before barely managing to speak.
“No. We didn’t talk about anything.”
It was the truth. He hadn’t said anything. The man had lifted his clothes on his own, guessed their relationship, and eventually thrown the two of them out of the shop.
“Then why the hell did that bastard suddenly change his attitude? And the way he was looking at me.”
Kyung-wook strode right up to Kang-woo with frightening momentum and growled. Kang-woo shrank his shoulders, his eyes darting around nervously.
“I don’t know either. I didn’t say anything, but then that hyu—”
Smack!
A sharp crack rang out.
Kang-woo couldn’t finish his sentence and clutched his cheek. The skin beneath his palm burned.
“Don’t fucking lie. You pulled some kind of stunt with that guy, didn’t you?”
Kyung-wook warned coldly. Breathing heavily, he pressed Kang-woo further.
“What did you say? Did you tell him I bully you or something? Like, ‘I didn’t come here because I wanted to, so please screw that bastard over for me’? Did you beg him like that? Saying you’d give him whatever he wanted in return?”
Avoiding Kyung-wook’s relentless gaze, Kang-woo lowered his head and bit down hard on his lip.
Kyung-wook grabbed the back of Kang-woo’s neck. Thick fingers tightened around it with force and yanked him forward. Ugh—Kang-woo stiffened and let out a low groan.
“Kang-woo, I’ve told you over and over—we’re friends.”
“……”
“I’m not bullying you. We’re just hanging out together. Is there anyone who treats you as well as I do? When I lay a hand on you sometimes, it’s just because you can be so frustrating. You know that, right?”
He leaned in until their noses were nearly touching. Kang-woo instinctively stepped back.
Seeing that, Kyung-wook burst into laughter.
“Why, why, why are you stepping back, Kang-woo? Are you avoiding me right now?”
The large hand gripping the back of his neck dug upward into his scalp as if about to seize his hair. Tension filled Kang-woo’s neck and shoulders. The persistent gaze pressed down on his throat like it was choking the life out of him.
His hands hung limply at his sides, trembling.
There was nothing that conditioned a person as effectively as fear.
Kang-woo quickly shook his head.
“No. It’s not like that.”
Lowering his head and staring at the floor, he added quietly,
“…I’m sorry.”
His throat tightened, but he managed to force the words out. At times like this, he knew no excuse would work on Kyung-wook. When Kyung-wook was this angry, Kang-woo had to apologize no matter what—even if he had done nothing wrong.
“I must’ve made that guy feel uncomfortable. I’m sorry. I did something wrong, Kyung-wook.”
“Ah.”
Kang-woo continued mumbling.
If Kyung-wook demanded a more detailed explanation, what should he do? Should he confess everything that had happened there exactly as it was?
Should he tell him honestly that the man had lifted his clothes and asked if Kyung-wook had hit him?
If he did, how would Kyung-wook react? Would he go back to the shop and cause a scene?
Anxiety made Kang-woo’s lips twitch.
Kyung-wook stared down at him for a long moment, breathing roughly. Then suddenly he moved his hand.
At the motion, Kang-woo reflexively hunched his shoulders. He expected another blunt flash of pain to explode across his vision—
But instead, Kyung-wook merely cupped Kang-woo’s swollen cheek with his large hand.
“That’s why I told you—just don’t do anything. Stay still like you’re dead. With that vulgar trait of yours, even the smallest thing you do makes you stand out.”
His fingers brushed over the skin still throbbing with heat.
“There are plenty of tattoo shops besides this one. I’ll find another place.”
The touch that had suddenly turned gentle filled Kang-woo with fear. It felt like insects crawling across his skin—something deeply unsettling.
“That place pissed me off, so let’s never go back there again.”
Kyung-wook muttered the curse under his breath.
“Got it?”
Like someone demanding a promise, he waited for Kang-woo’s answer. His inscrutable gaze crawled slowly over Kang-woo’s face.
“…Yeah.”
Kang-woo obediently nodded.
***
A sharp, musty smell stung his nose. Pale dust floated through the air, and old equipment lay scattered across the floor.
Everything around him was dark. Only a single small window allowed a faint beam of light to slip into the warehouse.
“Open it! Please open this!”
Standing there, Kang-woo desperately pounded on the iron door.
“I was wrong! I said I was wrong, so stop messing around now. Please open this door!”
He shouted and shouted until his voice grew hoarse. He had repeated the same cries for so long that he could now taste blood in his mouth. Both hands were covered in blood from the repeated impacts.
But no matter how loudly he yelled, no response came.
The other side of the door was terrifyingly silent.
“Pleeeease!!”
Kang-woo collapsed to the floor and screamed. The air around him was cold, and dampness lingered everywhere.
Then, without warning, the scene changed.
Before he knew it, Kang-woo was surrounded by countless people.
“That bastard was an Omega?”
The faceless figures pointed at him and whispered among themselves.
“So he’s been lying to us all this time?”
“What a piece of trash. An Omega daring to deceive other people?”
“Ugh, that’s disgusting. What’s the point of living as an Omega? If it were me, I’d rather just die.”
Everywhere he turned, there were only people condemning him.
“Stop… please stop……”
Kang-woo clamped his hands over his ears.
But the voices—like crawling insects—slithered between his fingers and burrowed into his ears. Cold sweat ran down his back, and his head spun.
At some point, a spotlight suddenly shone on one spot.
Kang-woo jerked his head up.
A familiar face appeared.
Baek Kyung-wook stood in the center of the crowd surrounding Kang-woo.
“An Omega? That’s disgusting.”
When Kyung-wook said it with a mocking laugh, the lips of the people pointing at Kang-woo split wide sideways all at once.
The grotesque sight sent a chill down his spine.
Then several pitch-black fingers suddenly shot out of the air and clamped around Kang-woo’s throat.
“Ugh!”
The overwhelming pressure choking his airway made Kang-woo struggle desperately.
But it was useless.
Everyone was watching him, yet not a single person reached out to help.
Gradually, the oxygen in his lungs ran out. Gk—gk—like a dying animal, Kang-woo made a strange choking sound as his eyes rolled back.
“…Hah!”
The moment he felt he had reached death, Kang-woo’s eyes snapped open.
Clutching his throat, he gasped for breath again and again. His heart pounded violently.
The quiet room filled with the sound of his trembling breaths.
After a long time spent calming himself down, his breathing finally steadied. Kang-woo slowly sat up on the bed and covered his face with both hands.
“…A dream.”
Again, it was a dream.
A terribly horrifying dream.
A dream where fear of reality and the future were chaotically tangled together.
