Do Jihoon wasn’t in the apartment.
Thank God for that. If he’d been here, my frontal lobe probably would’ve refused to function from overwork.
“Ah, right….”
With a hollow feeling, I looked at Ki Tae-young’s coat hanging neatly in the closet.
It was the coat he had draped over me after the department orientation after-party last Friday.
I need to return that.
“……”
There were too many things to think about.
I sat quietly on the edge of the wide bed and organized my thoughts.
First, Ki Tae-young—the most immediate problem.
Ki Tae-young had shown that he liked me. And I hadn’t pushed him away.
No—more accurately, I hadn’t felt the need to push him away.
But I very clearly had a fiancé, and maintaining a relationship with Ki Tae-young would be cheating. With that judgment, I ultimately cut him off.
But now we ended up doing a team project together. Every week I would have to sit across from Ki Tae-young, run experiments together, and discuss the results.
And the coat. I had to return the coat to Ki Tae-young.
Ki Tae-young was a good person. When I thought about the genuine kindness he’d shown me, I couldn’t help but feel like I owed him something.
But Do Jihoon was the most important.
Maintaining any kind of relationship with Ki Tae-young without making Do Jihoon uncomfortable would be difficult.
“Ah, and the block.”
I needed to undo the block on Ki Tae-young too. We had to write lab reports together—blocking my teammate would be an absolute disaster.
“Let’s organize this.”
First, I’d wash the coat before next Monday.
Then after lab class, I’d meet Ki Tae-young and give it back.
Meeting once a week couldn’t be helped. Let’s just accept it.
It would be a waste to drop a freshman lab class that was relatively easy to get good grades in. Instead, I resolved to keep communication strictly limited to what was necessary.
Ki Tae-young had promised he wouldn’t push things either.
“Ki Tae-young—done.”
Next was Do Jihoon.
Do Jihoon…
Damn it.
The moment I thought of him, I remembered the pheromones he had deliberately unleashed a few days ago.
Get a grip.
I slapped my cheeks with both hands.
How should I deal with him? That was the problem.
First, I reflected on my own feelings.
Do Jihoon was a friend.
Anything beyond that…
Probably not. Maybe. Wasn’t the way he affected me just because of his pheromones? But pheromones were also part of Do Jihoon in a way…
I didn’t know.
Next, I thought about Do Jihoon’s feelings.
Do Jihoon seemed to see me as an Omega. While also recognizing that we were technically in an engagement. But his behavior was too aggressive to say he saw me as his omega.
If I had to define it, it felt like Do Jihoon saw me as something like an “entangled omega.”
He hadn’t decisively declared me as his omega, but since we were tangled up somehow, maybe instinctive possessiveness had kicked in.
Normally he just bickered with me casually, but the moment Ki Tae-young showed up he started growling.
“If he meets Ha Min-young, he’ll probably dump me right away.”
The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.
An engagement meant a relationship premised on marriage, yet it was difficult to demand affection within that relationship.
But having a lover while already having a fiancé would destroy the other person’s trust.
At that point, my behavior toward Ki Tae-young resurfaced in my mind.
The bitterness vanished instantly.
With what face did I have the right to feel bitter?
Maybe I’d been too fixated on the idea that Do Jihoon was a character inside a book. Because of that, I’d confidently assumed that there would never be any emotional entanglement between us.
“That needs to change from now on.”
I could anticipate certain events by remembering the novel’s plot, but I shouldn’t blindly believe it.
“Alright.”
After organizing everything, my head felt clearer. It felt like sorting scattered documents neatly into labeled folders.
***
I stretched out on the bed.
The mattress wrapped softly around my back. From the mattress, I could faintly smell Do Jihoon’s pheromones. It was like the crisp scent blankets get after being dried in the sun.
“Ah, I’m so sleepy….”
I should shower, but I couldn’t be bothered. His pheromones usually felt fairly strong. Maybe that was why this faint scent felt strangely lingering, like the afternote of perfume.
I was right on the verge of drifting into sleep.
Ding—
At the same time the sound rang out, footsteps approached. The sleep that had been creeping up on me vanished instantly, as if it had heard an alarm.
I rolled around on the bed, debating whether to get up. Before I could decide, Do Jihoon entered the room. The moment he saw me rolling around on the bed, his face twisted into a scowl.
“What’s bothering you again, grumpy Jihoon?”
“What did you say, debtor Yuri?”
“I asked if something was bothering you.”
Still half-slumped, I answered him in an overly sweet tone.
“Today’s my turn to sleep on the bed.”
“I know, you bastard. Does that mean I can’t even lie down on it?”
Seriously, what a sensitive asshole.
When I slowly pushed myself up from the bed, Do Jihoon was staring at me with that expression again—the one that looked like he had a lot to say.
I’d seen that expression before. But this time, I had absolutely no idea what I’d done wrong.
Lamenting my noodle-brained stupidity, I walked past him.
“Ugh….”
A strong Omega scent suddenly wafted from Do Jihoon.
It was a fairly intense scent.
The smell clung only to Do Jihoon, but it was so strong that it was hard to tell what kind of scent it actually was.
My body wobbled for a moment, and I grabbed the wall for support.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
Do Jihoon asked with concern. Startled, he stepped closer to me. I quickly raised my hand to stop him.
“An Omega smell is coming from you.”
Even when I pinched my nose, the pheromones hit me directly from their source. It was extremely unpleasant. My face twisted more and more.
“It’s really strong. You don’t notice it?”
“Not at all.”
“Then that means someone put pheromones inside your skin…”
What the hell did you do?
I couldn’t bring myself to say the words out loud. Nausea rose in my throat.
“Hey. Just stay right there. I’m going to the sofa, so let’s talk from a distance. I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“…Alright.”
Once I stepped about a pace away from him, the scent disappeared completely. Since the smell didn’t spread far, it probably wasn’t from a dominant or normal trait. Most likely a recessive omega.
“What did you do today?”
“I had dinner with my classmates.”
Do Jihoon actually looked confused.
Like he genuinely had no idea that an omega had marked him.
In this world of manifesters who followed their instincts, there were things called pheromone showers and marking.
A pheromone shower meant pouring pheromones onto someone’s outer skin.
Marking meant inserting pheromones into the skin while physically touching them.
Unlike pheromone showers, which required a massive amount of pheromones, marking could be done with a very small amount. Because of that, if someone’s attention was elsewhere, they might not even notice someone marking them. It seemed like some omega had slipped pheromones into Do Jihoon without him realizing.
Marking someone without mutual consent was extremely rude.
“You probably already noticed, but there’s a ridiculously strong omega scent on you.”
“…I didn’t know.”
“Really. Looks like someone marked you. The scent is this strong and you still didn’t notice.”
“Which bastard…”
Do Jihoon muttered a quiet curse.
I crossed my arms and looked at him with pity.
“Poor guy.”
“Ah, your nonsense has finally started.”
“Either you’ve got a lot of karma or the omegas around you do. Either way, that’s rough.”
Clicking my tongue, I continued.
“Has this happened often?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t even meet omegas that often in the first place.”
“True. Gye-myeong High School kept alphas and omegas strictly separated.”
Still, this was a problem.
Considering how strong the scent was when I passed by him earlier, the marking spot was probably his right ear or his neck.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—the scent didn’t appear at all unless you were right next to him.
It would probably fade in about two days. But Do Jihoon still had to go to school tomorrow.
Of all times, why would that omega pull this crap on a Monday evening?
“Probably a recessive omega. They sprayed a ridiculous amount, but unless someone gets right next to you, the smell doesn’t come out.”
“……”
“You’ve got school tomorrow, so good luck.”
I snickered as I looked at him.
Sensitive-boss Do Jihoon looked extremely displeased. His fangs flashed between his lips for a moment before disappearing.
Wait, I’ve seen that expression somewhere before…
Wasn’t it in one of those shows where rhinos charge around and leopards chew on their prey?
“When a carnivorous animal shows its fangs, it implies great danger. It means they’re ready to leap out and tear apart their prey at any moment.”
Shit. That bastard definitely hadn’t finished evolving yet.
Do Jihoon suddenly lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled brightly. That fake smile again.
He took a step toward the sofa.
“Fuck—don’t come over here. Don’t get close!”
I jumped up from the sofa in panic and ran away. In an instant, Do Jihoon and I ended up facing each other with the sofa between us.
