I wanted to thank her, but the female employee left without looking back.
Meanwhile, the woman who had taken care of Yeonwoo muttered with a clearly angry face.
“That disrespectful bastard with no sense of hierarchy. His brain must be stuck in his lower parts with the way he talks. Just wait. When I’m organizing the shipments and he passes underneath, I’ll ‘accidentally’ drop a box on him. Guys like that need their heads smashed and reassembled before they’ll come to their senses.”
She wasn’t usually this harsh with her words. Knowing she was just trying to comfort him, Yeonwoo whispered, “Someone might hear you,” and the woman patted his back reassuringly.
“Our Yeonwoo is just too pretty, so bugs like him keep getting attracted to you. Even though there’s no difference in pay between full-time employees and part-timers here, and the benefits aren’t bad either, you should think about finding another job for your future. That guy isn’t likely to get fired anytime soon. I’m too worried about you to just tell you to endure it.”
“…Yes, I’ll think about it.”
Everyone who needed to know was aware that Director Park had been harassing Yeonwoo. He worried they might all be gossiping about his manifestation behind his back, even if they wouldn’t say it to his face.
Male omegas were rare enough to be objects of curiosity. If a man had a slender build and pretty features, he was almost always mistaken for an omega.
Especially since Yeonwoo possessed distinctly manifested characteristics, many people had bothered him for no particular reason when he first started working at the mart. His transfer from the second-floor store to the logistics department happened for this very reason. Being asked for his contact information was common, and if he counted all the people who suddenly asked him on dates and waited until he got off work, he’d need more than two hands.
When he started working in logistics, his body was tired but his mind was at peace. That ended when Director Park showed up.
“I’m hungry. Let’s go get in line.”
Yeonwoo followed the woman who had linked arms with him.
Today’s menu was bibimbap. The cafeteria here was known for not skimping on ingredients, so whatever they served was at least decent. Yeonwoo’s mouth watered, having been bedridden and unable to eat properly over the weekend. He quickly mixed his bibimbap and took a bite as soon as he sat down.
“Drink this after you finish eating. A friend gave it to me.”
The woman who took such good care of Yeonwoo was named Kim Miyoung.
Miyoung had worked at the mart for a long time and knew many people because of her wide connections. That’s why she often provided snacks or drinks like this, and each time, all Yeonwoo could do was express his gratitude.
Although they sat at the same table, they didn’t really converse continuously. Miyoung was deeply engaged in chatting with coworkers her age sitting nearby. Yeonwoo considered it as white noise while diligently using his spoon.
Just then, he heard someone exclaim, “Oh my!”
“Ho Group’s alpha has another scandal.”
“…”
Yeonwoo’s head lifted involuntarily.
A familiar face appeared on the TV located in one side of the cafeteria. The alpha had perfect features that could make anyone exclaim how handsome he was, even more perfect than most celebrities. Dressed impeccably from head to toe, he was entering a building with people who appeared much older than him.
The camera was focused on the Ho Moon Building. At the bottom of the screen showing the nearly 50-story building located in prime Seoul real estate, there was text reading: “Romance blooming between Preyon Construction’s second son Do Wonkyung and Ho Munbeom.”
“I heard he goes on arranged dates almost every week, but that must’ve just been a show while he was actually seeing someone else.”
“How can anyone go on arranged dates every week? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
“It’s not nonsense—they say these two enjoyed their secret meetings at the place where that alpha has his weekly dates. You know, that restaurant on the 23rd floor of the hotel that has 5 Michelin stars. For ordinary people like us, even if we make a reservation now, we can only use it after 6 months, but he has weekly dates there during prime hours.”
“Is that really true and not just a rumor?”
“I’m telling you it is. I have a friend who loves to eat, and she really hates him because if he wasn’t having those stupid dates, the restaurant’s waiting list would be cut by at least a month.”
The cafeteria was noisy, perhaps because people finally had something to gossip about. Yeonwoo pretended not to care while occasionally glancing at the TV, letting most of the chatter go in one ear and out the other.
The story was that Ho Group’s Executive Director Ho Munbeom had enjoyed a late-night rendezvous on Friday night, and his partner was Do Wonkyung from the Preyon Construction family. Pictures of the two, with a five-year age difference and both at marriageable age, were displayed side by side, with an explanation that their families had been close for a long time.
While Ho Munbeom’s face had become quite familiar to Yeonwoo, Do Wonkyung, the scandal partner, was someone he was seeing for the first time. He was an omega with a glamorous atmosphere and distinct double eyelids.
“Just judging by looks, the actor from the previous scandal was better.”
“Right, there were actual photos of them together then, so I thought they might really get married.”
“I thought the singer from the rumors around the middle of last year was better.”
Ho Munbeom’s scandal had nothing to do with anyone here. Nevertheless, everyone discussed who was better, who was a waste, and how well their appearances matched, as if it was their business.
Yeonwoo thought quietly to himself: At that time, he would have been with me.
The alpha who had looked down at him—naked, unwashed and in disarray, barely covered with a sheet—had been perfect. As if he had never been in bed with him, never spread his legs and penetrated him multiple times while uttering rough words that might as well have been curses.
“Still, I think Yeonwoo is the prettiest.”
“…”
Yeonwoo, who had been absentmindedly staring at the TV, jerked his head up, wondering what was being said. The people sitting at the opposite table seemed embarrassed, closed their mouths, and nodded slightly to Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo returned the gesture and picked up his spoon again.
The bibimbap didn’t taste as good as before. His throat felt strangely rough, but he still chewed and swallowed every last bite.
***
What happened on Friday night was an unforgettable incident. On the other hand, it was something he couldn’t tell anyone else about. Since he had carelessly accepted a check from Ho Munbeom, he had planned to keep it a secret for the rest of his life.
That’s why Yeonwoo couldn’t understand the current situation.
“…”
He carefully looked around after staring at the warm tea placed in front of him.
He was in a private cafe located in the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, in a secluded area with barely any buildings around. The darkness outside was truly frightening with absolutely nothing in sight, but the cafe interior was filled with such cute decorations that it seemed almost unbelievable such a place existed here.
Yeonwoo sat in the cafe’s only small private room, glancing outside several times. If he had come here on his own, he would have spent time examining each decoration, but since that wasn’t the case, none of that caught his eye—only his rapidly beating heart betrayed his nervousness.
Thinking he needed to calm down, he touched the teacup. The warmth spreading across his palm did little to ease his tension.
It had been a normal day otherwise.
After finishing his shift at the mart, he had planned to go grocery shopping on his way home. Luckily, he had consecutive days off on the weekend and was planning to take half a chicken home, but that plan was disrupted by a call from an unfamiliar number.
The mobile phone Yeonwoo used was given to him by Lee Jonghoon, so he only received one-sided notifications from that side, communications from his workplace, and occasional calls from the hospital where his father was admitted.
He normally wouldn’t answer unknown numbers, but this time was different. As if drawn by something, Yeonwoo answered the phone in the emergency stairwell. As soon as he said hello, the other person spoke.
‘Hello. I am Kang Suwon, Executive Director Ho Munbeom’s secretary. I apologize for the sudden call, but I would like to pick you up after your work hours today, if that’s alright with you?’
If he hadn’t had that encounter with Ho Munbeom, he would have thought it was a prank call.
But having met Ho Munbeom for an arranged date on Friday evening, gone up to a hotel room for sex, and received a check from him, Yeonwoo’s mind was in turmoil.
Was he trying to get the check back? Perhaps on second thought, thirty million won seemed too large a sum.
Yeonwoo only managed a short “yes” after his name was called several times through the receiver.
‘I understand you must be surprised by this sudden contact, but there’s no need to worry. The Executive Director simply wishes to meet you again and have a conversation.’
The very fact that Ho Munbeom wanted to meet him again was cause for worry. Yeonwoo quietly answered “yes” to the secretary’s statement about picking him up after work. Despite his confusion, Yeonwoo requested to meet at a parking lot near the subway station, not directly at the mart where he worked.
After hastily deciding on the time and place to meet, everything moved quickly. Secretary Kang Suwon, who had been friendly over the phone, didn’t utter a word throughout the drive after they actually met.
Sitting in the back seat of a luxurious foreign car he had never ridden in before, Yeonwoo remained stiff with tension throughout the journey.
