While drinking beer at a bar with a few colleagues after meeting a deadline, an Alpha who had visited the shop earlier in the day insisted on joining their table.
There were only two Beta women, one man, and himself at the table, so he immediately refused, but the Alpha was persistent. He briefly left the table when he got a call from an older man, and when he returned, the Alpha had already gone back to his own table.
Feeling it was time to leave, he decided to finish his remaining beer, but as he picked up his glass, a handkerchief sank into it.
Surprised by this strange situation, he looked up to see him standing there.
Then the man who had put his handkerchief in his cup immediately spoke.
It would be better not to drink that, he said.
When asked why, he explained that someone at the table had drugged the drink, and if proof was needed, he should take the handkerchief with him. Even if the alcohol spilled, the substance would remain on the handkerchief.
Hearing this, he looked at the man sitting at a distant table, who avoided his gaze and was leaving.
After confirming this, he immediately left his glass with another employee and followed the guy out, with the man’s group trailing behind.
Seeing this, he had a hunch.
These guys had probably done this more than once.
There had already been rumors in the area about date rape drugs being used to incapacitate women and Omegas, who were then sexually assaulted and filmed for blackmail purposes, so he immediately started beating them up.
Thanks to someone who had left a board and paddle next to the shop, he beat them so badly that both items were destroyed, though he also took quite a few hits himself.
While fighting, he confirmed they were indeed Alphas.
This made him even more furious, and just as he was about to hit them with a chair, sirens began to wail. At that sound, they hesitated for a moment, then fled like the wind when they spotted the police car, leaving him alone by the time the police arrived.
He remembers that it was the man who had called the police, and who came out with an ice pack, handing it to him with an amused smile.
He said he had wanted to help but didn’t need to intervene since he was beating them up so effectively. He added that after leaving your seat at a bar like this, it’s best to carefully check anything that goes into your body.
Especially if you’re an Omega.
While cooling his bruised cheek with the ice pack the man had given him, he finished giving his statement to the police and handed over the beer glass as evidence, but for some reason, he never heard news of the culprits being caught.
That was his third encounter with him.
And the fourth meeting was at Pipeline in Hawaii.
Near graduation, he and his friends decided to go on an overseas trip together, and around that time, he heard from Yoonho hyung that this person was going to Hawaii.
Since it was obvious that Jeonghoo would follow along, he set Hawaii as their graduation trip destination, and there he ran into him.
In the afternoon of their arrival day, while looking for a place to eat at Malasada, he spotted him walking from the opposite direction and even made eye contact, but Jaehyuk passed by without recognizing him.
So he seriously wondered if this person had face blindness.
Three years had passed, but their meetings had been memorable enough that he should have recognized him, yet he didn’t remember him at all.
At first, he found it absurd, but then immediately understood.
To him, he was just that insignificant.
Just a passing extra, not even character #1 or #2, but more like an NPC.
And right after that, he realized why Jeonghoo was so desperate.
The reason he had no room to pay attention to others was because of Seo Yeonwoo who was waiting for him.
After passing by him, he approached Yeonwoo, gazed at him affectionately, took his hand, and headed to the restaurant.
Seeing that scene, he realized that he was an even better person than he had thought.
Someone who knew how to cherish, respect, and love his partner, and who knew the proper etiquette toward someone he loved.
In his eyes, he probably only saw Seo Yeonwoo, with someone like Jeonghoo not even registering.
That’s why Jeonghoo was so desperate.
Because he knew he could never have him.
With Jeonghoo’s greedy and selfish personality, twisted to the point of going crazy wanting to possess things he couldn’t have, there was no way he wouldn’t have desired that man.
Finding the situation amusing, for the first time he felt sorry for Jeonghoo, and simultaneously, for the first time, he wanted to experience what it was like to be in a relationship.
Though he had defined romance as a kind of mental illness caused by hormonal imbalance, at that moment he genuinely wanted to love and be loved like that person.
So, he thinks he impulsively proposed dating to Seojun.
With his father, who never gave up despite all the barriers he had put up, starting to pressure him about blind dates, and knowing Jeonghoo’s personality well, he proposed a kind of deal: if you date me, your hyung will take notice.
Though Seojun was initially reluctant, after being repeatedly called to blind dates, he eventually agreed.
Of course, by then he had already become a unicorn, but the strategy was quite effective.
Still, his father was his father—once he told him he had a partner, he no longer brought up blind dates.
Until five weeks ago, before breaking up with Seojun.
* * *
With these memories suddenly resurfacing, Junghyun quietly looked down at the can in his hand.
The can had completely cooled. The sun had already set, and the air had grown cold.
Feeling strange since yesterday, after showering and calmly sorting through his memories with him, it was quite a sight.
In fact, going to that bar a month ago wasn’t a coincidence either.
He knew that on the second Friday of every month, he visited a whiskey bar run by his cousin. More specifically, it was a high school friends’ gathering, if he remembered correctly.
Not all friends always showed up, but out of loyalty to his cousin, he visited that bar every month, and his friends, knowing he would be there at that time, would visit when they had time.
By then, thanks to Jeonghoo and Yoonho hyung, he was already overflowing with unnecessary information, so unintentionally, he knew almost everything about him.
What he liked, what he ate, where he went, what he did and where, who he met, how he lived, and even what type of people he preferred.
By all accounts, he was an excellent stalker.
So he deliberately visited that bar that day. To gain leverage over Jeonghoo.
Actually, the original purpose was to finally make a lasting impression on him.
Meet by chance at a bar, chat about the same hobby, then a month later, coincidentally run into each other at the beach, greet him as “that hyung from before,” and finally properly introduce himself. After that, continue to meet through Yoonho hyung, build a friendship with him, and show off to Jeonghoo.
To be precise, it was a tactic to threaten Jeonghoo, who couldn’t maintain long relationships due to his tendency to get attached to people: I know this person, and I can tell him everything about you.
To properly date Seojun as agreed.
But unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan that day.
Having both suffered from heartbreak, they strangely bonded, and as they drank and talked, he increasingly felt that he was a good person.
So he had decided never to meet him again.
Most of their meetings were coincidental, but those coincidences were clearly intentional on his part. As Yoonho hyung said, it was definitely stalking.
But for that very reason, it was also a relationship that would end if he decided not to meet him.
There were no intersections between their lives. If he didn’t chase his shadow, they wouldn’t even bump into each other by chance.
Their living spaces didn’t overlap at all.
So he had decided never to meet him again.
To minimize the possibility of running into him, he had even planned to give up surfing and climbing, but things got strangely complicated.
No, perhaps this was the result of what he had been doing all along.
After hovering around him so much, it was about time he noticed him.
At the worst possible timing.
“This is karma…”
As his heart began to feel heavy, he sighed deeply, when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
Startled by the touch, he quickly turned around to see him standing there, asking:
“What’s karma?”
“…I’m receiving karma from you for taking advantage of many people until now.”
At his vague explanation, the man smiled with narrowed eyes, as if he liked that answer very much.
“The world’s causality is surprisingly accurate. It’s gotten cold. Let’s go. Do you want to drive or walk?”
Taking his extended hand and standing up, Junghyun gathered his belongings and board, and he also picked up his board and began to walk.
“Let’s just drop off our stuff and walk. I’m hungry.”
“Alright. It’s close by.”
As they quickly walked to drop off their boards, the man, who had pulled his hood up just like Junghyun, suddenly asked:
“Aren’t you going to drink your cocoa?”
“What?”
“In your pocket.”
Looking at his left pocket, he saw the can inside. He must have put it there instinctively.
“I was going to drink it after showering, but it got cold, so I was planning to heat it up later.”
“Should I buy you a new one?”
“No, it’s fine. We’re about to eat anyway…”
As he declined his offer, not wanting any more kindness, a light flashed from the phone in the man’s right pocket.
“Hyung, I think you have a call.”
At that, he quickly took out his phone and frowned. Seeing his troubled expression, Junghyun glanced at the screen and immediately understood.
The name “Seo Yeonwoo” was flashing on the screen.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
