47
“Ah… Sung-won.”
Yeon Ji-ho pretended to recognize him, but his memory was actually quite vague. It was impossible to expect him to remember someone who was briefly in the same class in 2nd grade of elementary school, now that he was in his mid-20s.
Moreover, Yeon Ji-ho didn’t have good memories of school or friends. He seemed to have been quite bright and sociable in elementary school, but everything fell apart when he presented as an omega at a young age.
“That’s right, I’m Sung-won! You used to cry saying you didn’t want to be my desk mate.”
“…Did I?”
“Yes. When I asked why you didn’t want to be with me, you opened your big eyes and said, ‘I just prefer being alone!'”
You were insensitive back then too.
Yeon Ji-ho thought to himself while listening to Seo Sung-won with an awkward smile. Then Seo Sung-won’s eyes moved past Yeon Ji-ho’s shoulder.
He couldn’t ignore the heavy presence standing behind him. Seo Sung-won asked with a friendly smile who it was.
“Ah, well, this is…”
“We live together.”
The answer came abruptly from Set, not Yeon Ji-ho. Set, who had been watching the situation with a very displeased look while standing a step back, moved close to Yeon Ji-ho’s side and looked down at Seo Sung-won with his towering height.
Seo Sung-won’s eyes widened. A welcoming smile spread across his face.
“Ah! Are you roommates? Wow, living in the countryside with a friend must be really fun, Ji-ho!”
“…Friend?”
Set muttered with a dissatisfied voice, catching something in Seo Sung-won’s words, but Seo Sung-won didn’t seem to hear. Yeon Ji-ho awkwardly smiled and pressed his forehead.
He decided he needed to send Seo Sung-won away first. Shango would be coming with the luggage soon, and there were many reasons why he couldn’t show the two who still felt out of place in this world.
“Well, it’s nice to see you too, but now…”
“Oh right, my mother told me to bring this to you, Ji-ho.”
From Seo Sung-won’s feet, which Yeon Ji-ho hadn’t noticed before, appeared a string-tied melon. Yeon Ji-ho, who often bought fruit from his mother’s fruit shop, knew exactly what kind of melon this was.
It was an Earth melon, said to be even sweeter and more delicious than regular melons. The auntie often sent free fruit because she was fond of Yeon Ji-ho, but this time it was even more expensive than usual.
Sending such a fruit with Seo Sung-won meant that, as expected…
“Please tell her thank you, and that I’ll visit the shop soon. And also that she really doesn’t need to next time…”
“No, no. You know my mother is very generous. She’s just giving away extras. Here, take this first.”
Seo Sung-won’s words came rushing out without pause. Yeon Ji-ho was about to receive the melon that Seo Sung-won suddenly thrust into his arms. Or rather, he would have, if Set hadn’t stepped between them and taken the melon instead.
Seo Sung-won didn’t find it strange that Set took the melon instead of Yeon Ji-ho and handed it over anyway. Yeon Ji-ho could clearly feel Set’s discomfort. It seemed he didn’t like the idea of Yeon Ji-ho touching anyone else.
“I’m really sorry, but I’m busy tod-”
“Oh right. And my mother also asked if you still have the kimchi container she gave out last time. She says she got some delicious green onion kimchi, and if you return it, she’ll fill it up for you.”
“…”
Smile, smile.
Seo Sung-won’s face was beaming as he looked at Yeon Ji-ho. It was hard to tell if he was doing this knowingly or unknowingly.
But it was true that Yeon Ji-ho had a kimchi container left from the kimchi the auntie had shared last time. To be precise, Uncle Seon-rok had received one container, taken half, and given the rest to Yeon Ji-ho.
How could he have completely forgotten about that kimchi container…
Yeon Ji-ho now tightly closed his eyes. With the conversation having flowed this far, there was no way to avoid it anymore.
“Alright… Since you came all this way, would you like to share the melon…?”
What exactly is Korean jeong?
In the weather that was gradually becoming full summer, he couldn’t coldly turn away the son of a close auntie who had come carrying a heavy melon and even to retrieve a kimchi container. Yeon Ji-ho suggested with a defeated look, and Seo Sung-won cheerfully replied.
“Sure! Thanks, I’d love to!”
***
The place where they had been talking with Seo Sung-won was, so to speak, the outermost gate of the large pension grounds, so Seo Sung-won slowly followed Yeon Ji-ho and Set inside. As he looked around various parts of the pension with curious eyes, he said,
“Do you manage all this spacious place by yourself, Ji-ho?”
“When my parents were here, we did it together, and now…”
Yeon Ji-ho was about to say he did it alone, but suddenly his eyes met Set’s beside him. As Set tilted his head, Yeon Ji-ho added with a proud tone,
“I do it with Mr. Set.”
“…Mr. Set?”
“Here, this person. Sorry for the late introduction. His name is Set Gorgon, and although he’s a foreigner, he speaks Korean well.”
To be precise, that foreign country was in another world, but he was a foreigner nonetheless. At Yeon Ji-ho’s brief explanation, Seo Sung-won smiled brightly and extended his hand.
“Hello, I’m Seo Sung-won!”
“…Right.”
“Wow, you really do speak Korean well!”
Seo Sung-won didn’t find it strange that Set spoke informally at the mention of being a foreigner. Instead, he addressed Set with the same friendly attitude as he had with Yeon Ji-ho.
Set lightly ignored Seo Sung-won. As they arrived at the central house where the two lived, they saw someone standing in front of it.
It was Shango.
“Oh, Mr. Shango! Did you come in first?”
“…Through the back door…”
“Ah, right. I taught you how to open the back door. We could have moved the luggage together later, you know.”
“…I could carry it alone…”
At Shango’s feet were piled the shopping bags from their trip. Yeon Ji-ho patted his shoulder, saying he had worked hard.
Then Shango also noticed Seo Sung-won, who was trailing behind the group. When Shango’s indifferent eyes fell on Seo Sung-won, he suddenly flinched.
“Oh… This person is also a foreigner.”
“That’s right. His name is Shango. Mr. Shango, this is Mr. Seo Sung-won… He’s the son of someone I know.”
It was awkward to introduce him as an elementary school friend since they hadn’t been in contact even once since then. As Yeon Ji-ho vaguely explained, Seo Sung-won pouted with a strangely disappointed face.
“If we’re friends, just say we’re friends. What’s with ‘son of someone I know’? Just treat me comfortably, Ji-ho.”
“Ah… okay.”
“I wanted to stay here all the time when I was young too. But when my parents divorced and my father moved to Seoul, I had no choice. Did you know I cried a lot when I had to part with you then?”
Yeon Ji-ho nodded with lifeless eyes at this unsolicited TMI. If he had really been that sorry, he would have at least contacted once after moving to Seoul. Yeon Ji-ho, who had spent his middle and high school years as an outcast without a single friend, had no such experience.
“Well, it’s hot, so shall we go inside?”
At Yeon Ji-ho’s words, all four of them moved. As soon as they entered and Yeon Ji-ho turned on the air conditioner, Shango disappeared into his room, leaving only the three of them in the living room.
It was normal for Shango to spend time alone rather than mingling with others, except during meals. Yeon Ji-ho brought glasses of water to Seo Sung-won and Set, who were seated on the living room sofa.
Seo Sung-won seemed quite thirsty and drank all the water at once. Then, carefully placing the glass on the table, he opened his mouth with a strange attitude, different from before.
“I heard your mother wants to set us up on a blind date.”
The topic of the ‘blind date’ that had barely been avoided last time came up again. As Yeon Ji-ho’s lips quivered, Seo Sung-won let out a low sigh.
“She shouldn’t have said that. It’s just, my mother is like that because I don’t date omegas.”
“…Omegas?”
“Ah, haven’t I mentioned it before?”
Seo Sung-won put on a gentle smile. He caressed the rim of the glass with his thumb and said kindly,
“I presented as an alpha in high school.”
Yeon Ji-ho’s breath caught. Right, he seemed to have heard something like that from Seon-rok. That the auntie had a son who presented as an alpha.
Only then did Yeon Ji-ho detect the subtle alpha pheromones that had started to permeate the house. He hadn’t noticed them earlier while they were talking outside.
“Somehow I ended up presenting as a dominant… alpha. My mother has quite high expectations.”
Dominant alpha.
Just like with dominant omegas, when someone presented as a dominant alpha, everyone around them had high expectations. Most dominant alphas tended to have superior intellect and physique compared to ordinary people.
Learning that the seemingly naive Seo Sung-won was actually a dominant alpha made Yeon Ji-ho feel somewhat distant from him.
“Of course, she worries a lot too.”
“…Worries?”
“You know, dominant traits have quite… serious cycles.”
He did know. He had heard that dominant traits, being genetically more instinct-driven, experienced more intense instinctual urges during their cycles compared to recessive or ordinary types. Problems arising from this were not uncommon.
That’s why most dominants tended to marry early or imprint. Most dominants Yeon Ji-ho knew were like that.
“She seems to be worried because I’m still single at this age. So don’t worry too much about what she said, it was just casual talk.”
Ah, I see.
It was oddly uncomfortable to just let it go at that. The way he spoke with a somewhat pitiful smile, and the fact that he brought up this topic in front of Yeon Ji-ho made it hard to take his words at face value, that he truly didn’t want Yeon Ji-ho to worry about it.
If he really didn’t want Yeon Ji-ho to worry, it would have been wiser not to say anything at all.
However, for the sake of social etiquette, Yeon Ji-ho kept his uncomfortable feelings to himself and remained silent. An awkward silence fell between the three of them.
And at that moment, Set spoke up.
“So, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“…P-pardon?”
“Are you telling him not to worry, or are you asking if he’s not going to worry even though you’ve said all this?”
“No, I just meant that I hope Ji-ho wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable with me…”
Set cut off Seo Sung-won’s stammering words sharply. He looked at Seo Sung-won with an expressionless face and asked,
“Then, knowing it would make him uncomfortable, yet still bringing up the topic, isn’t that a pathetic way of conversation?”
