Suhwan woke up with a disheveled appearance and looked around. Naturally, there was no one in the bedroom. He vaguely remembered Seunghyun lingering around before leaving. Seunghyun’s citrus-scented pheromones remained faintly in the bedroom.
“Haah…”
Suhwan sighed, cradling his still-throbbing head. Despite having slept, he still had a slight fever. The aftershock of the impact still weighed on his body.
He was conscious that he had done something wrong to Seunghyun. To reject his confession so cruelly. But he couldn’t help it. He was too insignificant and weak to accept Seunghyun. He didn’t have the courage to go against the original storyline and claim Seunghyun.
Sitting on the bed with a gloomy face, Suhwan turned off the alarm he hadn’t managed to stop earlier and got up. With his current physical condition, it would be better to just rest at home, but his diligent personality wouldn’t allow him to miss school.
He washed his sweat-soaked body and changed clothes. As he passed through the living room, he noticed something on the dining table.
“…?”
Upon approaching, he saw a bowl of porridge wrapped in plastic wrap. It was still a bit warm, suggesting that Seunghyun had prepared it this morning before leaving.
His chest felt sharp and painful. He could clearly feel Seunghyun’s concern for him. Unable to ignore it, he ate the porridge and did the dishes. Before he knew it, it was almost time to go to school, so Suhwan hurriedly left the house.
“Huff, huff.”
It was fortunate that school was close to home. He even ran to avoid being late, and thankfully, he was able to arrive before class started.
But as he headed to the lecture hall, Suhwan encountered an unexpected person.
“Hyung.”
“…”
“Suhwan hyung.”
“…?”
While deliberately trying to ignore the glances of people still looking at him, someone called Suhwan from behind. At first, he kept walking, not realizing he was being called, but the owner of the voice continued calling Suhwan’s name. Suhwan finally turned around, puzzled.
“It’s been a while.”
Who is this? Suhwan, unable to recognize him, narrowed his brow. Perhaps taking it as a frown of displeasure, the man gazed at Suhwan with a smirk.
Neatly cut, tidy hair and white skin. Thick eyebrows and bold facial features made him quite an attractive man. The thick musk scent emanating from him indicated he was an alpha.
And it was quite a strong pheromone scent. Though he seemed to be good at restraining it and it didn’t feel unpleasant, Jin Suhwan’s recessive alpha body naturally stiffened with tension. At minimum, he was a regular alpha, or possibly… a dominant alpha.
Suhwan knew only one dominant alpha. Looking at the man before him with tense eyes, Suhwan asked in a stiff voice.
“…Ju Geonyul?”
“Yes, hyung.”
“…!”
It really was Ju Geonyul. Suhwan’s eyes trembled at meeting this unexpected person. The main character of the original story, Ju Geonyul, was staring at Suhwan with a gentle smile.
“It’s hard to see your face these days, hyung.”
“Ah…”
“You don’t come to the gatherings either.”
The gathering Geonyul mentioned was a private meeting exclusively for alphas. Most attendees were the children of major corporations or young people from families in socially important positions.
Jin Suhwan and Ju Geonyul first met there. Jin Suhwan was the son of Hwamyeong, and Ju Geonyul was the precious only son of Hansung, a conglomerate no less significant than Hwamyeong.
The two, similar in age, were constantly compared. Despite the trait difference between dominant and recessive, they were both alphas and from prestigious families. And naturally, Jin Suhwan, a recessive alpha, could never beat Ju Geonyul. In anything, it was a fight with a predetermined outcome from the start.
Meeting Geonyul directly, Suhwan could feel this fact acutely. He could never beat someone this superior, no matter what.
“Hmm, I’ve been a bit busy.”
Feeling his throat dry, Suhwan cleared it and barely managed to answer. He didn’t want to show that he was nervous, but his body kept stiffening like a herbivore in front of a predator.
Not noticing Suhwan’s state, Geonyul approached closer. He raised the corner of his mouth as he sensed the omega pheromones wafting from Suhwan.
“Right. You seem busy enjoying yourself these days too.”
He must have misunderstood due to Seunghyun’s pheromones emanating from Suhwan’s body. Chairman Jin had also scolded Suhwan as soon as he saw him, asking if he’d been rolling around with another omega. Even though a few days had passed, and he thought the scent would have weakened. Either Seunghyun’s pheromones were stronger than expected, or Geonyul had a keen sense.
Or perhaps both. They were both dominant, after all.
Suhwan’s face darkened as he managed to speak.
“It’s not like that.”
“It’s not?”
Geonyul burst into laughter as if he’d heard something amusing. Then he looked down at Suhwan, who was at a slightly lower eye level than himself, with a slanted gaze.
Walking around reeking of omega scent like this. Whoever this omega is, they’ve done a proper marking job. Even an alpha wouldn’t mark this persistently. The scent was so intense that it seemed to numb his nostrils.
Did Jin Suhwan not know the omega had marked him so persistently? Or could he not feel it at all? Well, he’s recessive. He might have just stupidly moved his hips, not knowing anything while the omega was frantically injecting pheromones.
After briefly scanning Suhwan’s face with somewhat dismissive eyes, Geonyul put on a warm, affectionate smile that contradicted his thoughts. It was his specialty. Thinking of destroying the other person inside while showing no sign of it externally. A smile and tone that made the other person mistakenly think he was an ally. Jin Suhwan had always been deceived by him.
“Hmm, well, okay. Have you been well? Why is it so hard to see you these days?”
“That’s because you don’t come to school much.”
Suhwan, who was about to graduate, hadn’t registered for many courses this semester. Especially since he had already earned all his major course credits, he had even fewer chances to run into Geonyul, a freshman. Except for coincidental meetings like this while coming to take liberal arts classes.
“But hyung, your vibe seems different somehow?”
Geonyul, who had been examining Suhwan with sharp eyes, asked. Suhwan, whom he hadn’t seen in a while, was subtly different in some way. With his bangs down instead of neatly swept back, and wearing casual clothes he wouldn’t normally wear, Suhwan looked much younger than before. No, his current appearance could be said to be closer to his actual age.
“Me?”
Feeling inexplicably guilty, Suhwan unconsciously gulped. No one had noticed until now, but somehow it seemed like the perceptive Geonyul might figure it out.
Suhwan’s fingertips stiffened. He recalled what had been causing him pain all weekend.
[That’s what you get for coveting what you shouldn’t.]
The cold voice overlapped with the Geonyul standing before him. Unlike the voice in his memory, Geonyul’s voice addressing Suhwan was friendly, but his body kept trembling.
No. Get a grip. I can’t act suspicious in front of Geonyul.
Suhwan, who was chanting inwardly, clenched his fists. Geonyul looked at Suhwan, whose face had turned pale, with puzzlement.
“Hyung?”
“Yes.”
Suhwan, who had barely collected himself, looked up. His body still trembled like a herbivore in front of a predator. But somehow, he managed to look directly at Geonyul.
“Are you sick?”
“Ah, actually I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh dear.”
Geonyul clicked his tongue as if sympathetic and narrowed his eyes. Though his appearance had changed a bit, Jin Suhwan was still Jin Suhwan. Like something to be used and discarded, it didn’t matter if he looked a little strange. What was more important was something else. Having organized his thoughts, Geonyul asked in a subtle voice.
“Hyung, so when are you going to return it?”
“Return what?”
Suhwan’s eyes widened at Geonyul’s words. Return what, out of nowhere? As he tilted his head in confusion, Geonyul continued, speaking softly as if whispering.
“Aren’t you getting tired of it by now?”
“What?”
What is this? Did Jin Suhwan borrow a game console or something from Geonyul?
Coincidentally, since such trivial daily conversations weren’t in the novel, nothing came to Suhwan’s mind.
But feeling that saying he didn’t know would look suspicious, Suhwan had no choice but to stammer and mutter ambiguously.
“Uh, um… I’ll return it. Soon.”
“When?”
“Soon?”
It was a vague and terrible answer that would make the listener doubt his credibility, but Geonyul smiled with a satisfied face.
“Okay. I’ll wait.”
“Uh, sure.”
What should I do? Should I ask what I borrowed even now? Seeing Geonyul, who was born into a wealthy family and grew up wanting for nothing, waiting so eagerly, it must be a considerably important item.
However, Suhwan could no longer have a conversation with Geonyul in his right mind. Feeling like he might pass out from tension, Suhwan unconsciously dragged his feet backward.
“I have a lecture… I’ll be going now.”
“Okay. See you, hyung.”
“Uh…”
Suhwan managed to nod to Geonyul, who was waving casually, and turned away.
