Chapter 17
He kept thinking, I wonder if he’ll continue with taekwondo? Fortunately, he was still doing taekwondo. Not only that, he was emerging as a promising taekwondo talent just like himself, and was aiming to become a junior national representative. I’ll meet him someday, right? We could spar together, and fight the monster together. So Han Taekyung watched Seo Igeon’s videos every day. He made sure to check even the small news segments featuring him. He memorized all the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of Igeon’s taekwondo style. And conversely, he practiced and turned his weak points into his own specialties. That way, they could fill in each other’s shortcomings and defeat the monster inside him more quickly.
But unfortunately, there was no opportunity to meet and spar with Seo Igeon. Although both became junior national representatives, the still small Han Taekyung and Seo Igeon were in different weight classes, and when their weight classes became similar, Han Taekyung was mainly assigned to competitions abroad while Seo Igeon competed domestically, so they never met. In the end, he thought the only way to meet would be at the National Sports University selection match, and Han Taekyung diligently trained his body and mind. Not to defeat Seo Igeon, but to fight the monster together with equal skill. The monster is still sleeping now.
At some point, he felt that he had become stronger. It seemed the same was true for the monster. After that, the monster hid deep inside and didn’t come out. He thought it might emerge when he met Seo Igeon. But even then, the monster didn’t appear. That was fortunate.
He met Seo Igeon again during the written test for National Sports University. When their eyes met, he thought it was a dream. He had watched so many videos that he almost mistook the moment for watching another video. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. He existed. Definitely.
“Wow, hyung, did you really meet the hero?”
After seeing Seo Igeon at the café and going to the police station together… after a dramatic day, as soon as he arrived home, he told his siblings about meeting Seo Igeon. His siblings knew about Seo Igeon’s existence because Han Taekyung had talked about him since they were young.
When he said, “I finally met him. Now we can fight together,” his siblings were as happy as if it were their own experience.
“But did that hero recognize you?”
Han Taekyung’s shoulders slumped. Seeing this, his siblings quickly shut their mouths.
“No.”
It was a bit disappointing, but… he thought it was natural that Seo Igeon didn’t recognize him. They had only briefly crossed paths, and at that time, he was really, really small. Now, all traces of that appearance were gone, and the only things that remained the same were his hair color and eye color.
“It’s enough that I recognized him.”
Taekyung smiled. He could recognize Seo Igeon even from afar. Because he had watched his videos every single day without fail. He knew what he looked like at different ages. After eating something delicious with his siblings and lying down on his bed in his room, he recalled the image of Seo Igeon running from afar and calling his name loudly that day.
That’s right. He knew my name. Feeling slightly regretful that he hadn’t mentioned this to his siblings, he closed his eyes. He fell asleep with the expectation that he would now be able to see Seo Igeon frequently, whom he had thought he would only meet at the selection match.
â—†
“Haah…”
Han Taekyung sighed deeply, holding a glass of non-alcoholic champagne. A few days after spending the night at Seo Igeon’s place and appeasing his upset big father by promising to do whatever he wanted, he was summoned here.
They had hung a banner celebrating “Han Taekyung’s Top Admission to National Sports University” and held a congratulatory banquet in the NI headquarters building’s hall. He had expected his fathers to throw a celebration party, but he never thought it would be this grand… Seeing not only members of the National Assembly and executives from Korea’s top companies, but also famous celebrities attending what was just a celebration of his university admission, Taekyung could only sigh.
“Hyung, why are you sighing on this happy day?”
“It drives away good fortune.”
Han Jae-woo and Han Tae-eun, Han Taekyung’s twin siblings, appeared with glasses of non-alcoholic champagne like Taekyung’s, laughing as they clinked their glasses with his.
“Don’t you think this is a bit over the top, though?”
“You’re the one who told our fathers to do whatever they wanted, oppa.”
“That’s right. How could you say something like that to our fathers in the first place? As soon as I heard that, I wondered how they would contain themselves. How could someone who has experienced our fathers more than we have be so careless?”
Listening to his siblings’ scolding, Han Taekyung thought he had made a mistake. His fathers loved him so much that they would try to pluck not just stars from the sky but entire galaxies for him if he asked. Telling such people to do as they pleased was like throwing fish in front of a cat.
“Taekyung, you’ve grown so much!”
A member of the National Assembly approached with a bright smile, and Han Jae-woo and Han Tae-eun fled as soon as they heard his voice. While silently cursing his escaping siblings, Han Taekyung naturally smiled and greeted the assemblyman.
“So, is an Olympic gold medal your goal now?”
“I will work hard for it.”
“Yes, yes. Your parents must be very proud of you.”
Han Taekyung glanced at his fathers. The corners of their mouths, smiling as they greeted guests, showed no signs of dropping. They were probably boasting about their eldest son to everyone like doting parents. Seeing them made his heart warm. If they were happy, he could attend three such banquets a day. Yes, since these people had come to see his fathers’ faces, he should also entertain the guests well. With this thought, Han Taekyung nodded.
“I will work hard not to disappoint my parents.”
“Disappoint? You’ve grown up so splendidly! And you’re a dominant alpha as well!”
“Thank you.”
“I heard you don’t have a fiancé yet. Is that true?”
“Ah, yes.”
Usually, if someone was a dominant alpha or from a major conglomerate family, they would have a pre-arranged fiancé from childhood or a strategic marriage partner. Taekyung knew that his parents had also had a strategic marriage. Although the two of them were now a couple whose harmony anyone would envy, he vaguely sensed that there had been quite some friction at the time of their arranged marriage. That’s why both of them would tell Han Taekyung and the twins, “You should love freely as you wish. We won’t force anything on you, and we trust your choices.”
“Well then, how about my son? He just presented as a dominant omega.”
Hmm, this was already the third time today. There had always been people subtly offering their sons since he was young, but recently it had become more blatant. The fact that they were coming directly to him suggested they had probably been pestering his fathers for a long time. His fathers probably built a wall to prevent them from approaching him.
“Congratulations on his dominant omega presentation. I’m sure he must be a very beautiful person, taking after your character, Assemblyman.”
“Indeed, indeed! He’s really a fine child. How about meeting him once?”
“It would be an honor for me… but I need to prepare for the national team selection from now on, so it seems difficult at the moment. I’m sorry.”
He firmly rejected with a reason. Since he was entering National Sports University and focusing on the national team selection for the Olympics, the assemblyman couldn’t oppose that and push his son forward without losing face, so he cleared his throat and took a step back.
“Then I’ll arrange a family gathering later, so be sure to meet him.”
“Yes, thank you.”
He would absolutely not attend that gathering. He greeted the assemblyman with a kind smile. After the assemblyman left, feeling the glances of several others and sensing they were about to swarm toward him, Han Taekyung quickly escaped to the bathroom.
After presenting as a dominant alpha, his friends at school envied Han Taekyung. Although alphas were common, presenting as dominant was rare.
‘You’re lucky. You just have to pick any omega you want.’
‘You could sleep with ten omegas if you wanted to.’
‘There must be tons of people spreading their legs and begging you to put it in.’
Han Taekyung felt sick hearing such vulgar words. Despite being from prestigious families, how could they speak such crude words so casually? Han Taekyung had no interest in omegas or anything else. Above all, just “living” was a burdensome life for him. He had unintentionally presented as a dominant alpha at a young age and had since struggled to survive in this world. Therefore, he had neither the time nor the interest to look at omegas. Of course, thanks to the rut-suppressing medication he had been taking, he had never had his eyes rolled back with desire or masturbated while imagining someone. His fathers seemed a bit worried that their son, who was about to reach adulthood, had no sexual desire, but they believed in him and understood it as Taekyung’s will.
“I’m tired.”
Brushing back his hair, Taekyung looked in the mirror. He wanted to graduate from high school and enter university quickly. Then he could continue sparring with Seo Igeon. Dreaming of that time coming soon, he suddenly wondered what Seo Igeon was doing now and sent him a text.
– Seo Igeon, where are you?
– At work
– Work? Where do you work?
He hadn’t mentioned working when they talked on the phone yesterday.
РThat caf̩ from before.
By “that café from before,” he clearly meant the café across from the NI headquarters. Suddenly, Han Taekyung felt anxious. He wanted to abandon the banquet right now and go straight to that café. What excuse should he make?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
