“Back then, you were out for nearly half a day. I don’t know what you needed to go get that would take that long.”
His voice was gentle, as if mindful of how easily Kang-woo shrank back, yet the tone clearly carried an interrogation. Caught off guard by the sharp question, Kang-woo couldn’t help but grow flustered again.
So he’d known all along that Kang-woo had been gone for a long time that day. Well, when Kang-woo had left the house, Seok-ho had still been asleep, so it would’ve been stranger if he hadn’t noticed.
Since Seok-ho hadn’t asked anything at the time, Kang-woo had assumed he didn’t want to involve himself deeply in his affairs. That was why Kang-woo had never once brought up that day.
But he never expected Seok-ho to suddenly start digging into it like this. After hesitating, Kang-woo carefully asked,
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
He expected an answer right away. Instead, Seok-ho hesitated uncharacteristically.
As if even he couldn’t quite understand why he felt the urge to dig into Kang-woo’s past, he fell into thought for a moment. But, as always, Seok-ho quickly regained his composure.
“Because I’m your guardian.”
The answer that left his mouth seemed to give him clarity as well. Still frowning slightly as he looked at Kang-woo, he spoke again, his voice noticeably more relaxed.
“To be honest, back then I was still wondering what I should do with you. But now I think I should make it clear.”
“Make what clear?”
“Kim Kang-woo.”
Seok-ho suddenly called his name in a low voice. Kang-woo unconsciously swallowed before answering.
“Yes.”
“Don’t think about going anywhere. Just keep living here.”
Kang-woo blinked.
What had he just heard?
Seok-ho’s impassive gaze was fixed on him. Kang-woo’s heart began pounding—faster and faster.
“…So… you’re telling me to just settle here?”
“Yeah.”
“…Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why.’”
“Why are you being this good to me?”
Of course, questioning it like this was almost shameless.
His situation was undeniably bad. He should be extremely grateful to Seok-ho for extending kindness without expecting anything in return. And yet, at the same time, he couldn’t understand it at all.
What could Seok-ho possibly gain from taking care of him?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Kang-woo thought.
“If I told you to leave right now, do you have somewhere to go?”
“…No.”
“Then you should just say thank you instead of arguing.”
Seok-ho lightly tapped Kang-woo’s cheek with his finger.
Kang-woo reflexively covered his face. Watching Kang-woo, whose cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol, Seok-ho took a swig of beer and twisted the corner of his mouth upward.
“I even gave a kid alcohol. As an adult, I’ve got to take responsibility to the end.”
Kang-woo wondered why the conversation had suddenly jumped there.
Seok-ho’s attitude clearly treated him like a kid. While Kang-woo kept flinching at every small action, Seok-ho lounged with ease. Watching him quietly, Kang-woo lowered his eyes.
“I’m not a kid.”
“You are.”
His reply came out sullen, but Seok-ho’s response was even more decisive.
“I don’t want to be a kid.”
“Then be my little brother.”
“Isn’t that basically the same thing?”
“Not really. A kid is just some kid from some house. But my little brother is someone I have to take care of.”
It was a subtle distinction.
Kang-woo couldn’t tell whether he should like that or not, leaving him in a strange mood. Then Seok-ho added in a coaxing tone,
“So between us, isn’t it okay for me to ask about something like this?”
The look in his eyes was soft.
Whenever Kang-woo looked at Seok-ho, it felt like a sturdy fence had formed around him. A fence that could shield him from attacks from the outside.
And the things Seok-ho said reflected that.
Right now, Seok-ho wasn’t just offering him a place to stay—he was saying he’d step one step closer into his life.
Even if it wasn’t the direction Kang-woo wanted.
Kang-woo pulled both legs up onto the sofa and wrapped his arms around them.
“That day… I ran into some kids from my high school by chance.”
His voice came out calmer than he expected.
“At school… I was being bullied. Something like that. When we first met, remember? You asked me if I got beaten up.”
Kang-woo recalled the first time he met Seok-ho.
Back then, when Seok-ho suddenly lifted his clothes without warning, Kang-woo had thought he was extremely rude. But looking back now, it had actually helped him immensely.
Thanks to that, he hadn’t ended up with a tattoo he didn’t want.
And that encounter had become the starting point that led to them living side by side under the same roof like this.
Thinking about it, it felt like a dream—like incredible luck. Meeting Seok-ho.
After pausing briefly, Kang-woo admitted it plainly.
“Yeah. The guy who came with me that day… he kept hitting me. That’s why I stopped going to school.”
The words came out as if he were talking about something trivial.
In truth, it really didn’t feel like anything. He didn’t feel particularly sad or ashamed. It was simply… nothing.
But he couldn’t explain anything beyond that in more detail. To do that, he would have to reveal too many things to Seok-ho. His relationship with Baek Kyung-wook, his family, even his trait—all of it.
A detailed explanation would make it unavoidable, but it would also be unnecessary. So instead of specifics, Kang-woo decided to explain the situation broadly.
“Anyway, I ran into their group while passing near the school. I even wore a hat on purpose in case something like that happened, but they recognized me right away. They grabbed me, and while I was struggling with them, I found a moment when they let their guard down and ran away. I ran like hell and barely managed to hide in an alley… but I couldn’t bring myself to leave.”
Even though it had only been two months ago, the story coming out of his mouth strangely felt distant—like he was talking about something that had happened a very long time ago.
No.
It felt more like he was telling the story of some faceless stranger he’d seen online.
Seok-ho didn’t interrupt. He simply listened quietly with a calm expression. Thanks to that, Kang-woo was able to keep talking more comfortably.
“So I stayed hidden there for a long time. Squatting down. I didn’t even know how much time had passed… or that my legs hurt.”
His shoulders hunched. His gaze dropped to his feet.
The memory from that time surfaced vividly—especially the helplessness and fear he’d felt.
Hours passed, and the sun began to set, but he hadn’t even noticed. All he’d been able to do was hug his knees tightly with both arms and stare at the ground.
Because he felt like if he looked up, Baek Kyung-wook might be standing right in front of him.
“Pretty stupid, right? Being so scared I couldn’t even move from that spot.”
With an awkward smile, he looked toward the edge of the table.
If Seok-ho thought he was pathetic, there was nothing he could do about it.
Enduring had always been the best option for Kang-woo. Endure and endure again—and the one time he tried to rebel, all he managed to do was run away.
“No. It’s not stupid.”
That was when Seok-ho, who had been silent the whole time, cut in.
His flat voice slipped into Kang-woo’s ears. Kang-woo’s fingertips trembled. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked at Seok-ho. A clear, unwavering gaze met his.
“Don’t blame yourself. Just enduring this long means you did your best. Just curse those bastards instead. The one being bullied isn’t the foolish one. The fools are the ones who torment others without hesitation. You didn’t do anything wrong. And you’re not stupid.”
“…Do you really think so?”
Kang-woo had always blamed himself.
For Kyung-wook’s bullying. For the other kids who stood by and watched. For his father’s scolding.
All of it.
At some point, he had begun to believe it was entirely his fault, accepting everything as punishment for some wrongdoing.
“Yeah.”
But Seok-ho’s voice was full of certainty.
He declared firmly that Kang-woo had not a single fault.
“You read a lot of books, too.”
Seok-ho added casually.
It was a rather random comment, but what he meant was probably: since you read a lot of books, you can’t be stupid.
The unexpectedly cute reasoning made Kang-woo finally let out a small laugh.
“Is that supposed to comfort me?”
“No. It’s not comfort. It’s a fact.”
At the most unexpected moments, Seok-ho would give Kang-woo warmth like this.
That was why it was so hard for him to let go of his feelings. Because Seok-ho kept knocking on his heart like this, out of nowhere.
Kang-woo gazed at Seok-ho’s dark eyes, which shone with a blunt yet gentle warmth.
Impulsively, he asked a question.
“What do you think about Omegas?”
Despite his calm voice, his heart was pounding wildly.
When it was just the two of them in this house, Kang-woo sometimes felt like a completely ordinary person.
The complicated relationships and worries involving his father, Baek Kyung-wook, and Assemblyman Baek all seemed to disappear far away.
So maybe… if it were Seok-ho…
Even if he found out about his trait—found out he was an Omega—maybe he would treat him the same.
The vague hope took root in his heart.
The experience of being burned by the friend he trusted most had been brutal. But even knowing how brutal that was, he couldn’t stop his feelings for Seok-ho.
He was different from Baek Kyung-wook. That belief had settled firmly in Kang-woo’s heart. But hopes held carelessly had a way of being extinguished even more cruelly.
“Omega?”
Seok-ho’s expression immediately twisted into a frown.
Kang-woo’s heart plunged downward. Rubbing his sweaty palms against his thighs, Kang-woo barely managed to speak.
“Yes. People all think differently, right? About Omegas and Alphas.”
“Omegas, Alphas… I’m sick of all that.”
The moment Kang-woo heard that answer, another familiar voice overlapped in his mind.
“Fuck. I let a disgusting Omega bastard stay my friend even after I found out, and he still thinks he’s equal to me.”
Why did that voice have to come back to him now?
Kang-woo clenched his trembling hands tightly.
“So why did you have to get caught by me, Kang-woo? Bad luck, huh.”
That sneering voice mocked him.
To calm the burning feeling inside him, Kang-woo lifted the can of beer and drank it down in one gulp. The sharp taste of alcohol flowed through his body.
“…Why? What are you sick of?”
Steadying his turbulent emotions, Kang-woo forced himself to ask.
“I hate everything about them.”
His heart plunged to the very bottom once more. As if delivering the final blow to himself, Kang-woo asked again.
“Then… Why? Why do you hate them so much?”
“Because they’re people who obsess over pheromones and let themselves be controlled by them.”
His voice was extremely dry and cold.
Hostility seeped through both his tone and his gaze. But something was strange.
Wasn’t Jung-yeon—Seok-ho’s own family—an Alpha?
Seok-ho couldn’t possibly be unaware of that fact, yet he answered sharply, as if it had nothing to do with him. As if drawing a clear line.
“Jung-yeon noona is an Alpha. Your own family has a special trait—so how can you say something like that?”
