Han-gyeom’s expression as he watched the two of them wasn’t good. The veins on the back of his pale white hand gripping the mop handle were raised just slightly. Won-hyeok definitely hadn’t said he was coming today, so why had he shown up without even contacting him once? And if he had come, he could’ve just come inside, so why was he parked like that, talking with only Hae-jun?
“……”
And a little while later, he saw Won-hyeok’s car leave from in front of the café. He really had just talked to Hae-jun and then left.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
He was blankly staring at the place Won-hyeok had left from when In-seok came up behind him and called his name.
“Ah, I called you, but you didn’t answer. After that, could you refill the beans?”
Han-gyeom nodded weakly and said okay. In-seok scratched the back of his head for no reason and stared at the slumped shoulders as Han-gyeom headed inside.
Han-gyeom tore open the coffee bean bag and poured it into the container that was nearly showing the bottom. The sound of the beans filling the bin rang chaotically in his ears. As he watched the space fill up, Han-gyeom felt that, in contrast, some corner of his heart was emptying out.
Why had Won-hyeok come earlier? And even though he came, why hadn’t he come inside and only talked with Hae-jun alone? Well, there must’ve been a reason for it. Normally, he would’ve thought that and let it pass easily. But lately, it had been hard to think that way.
Why, exactly? Nothing between us has changed at all, so what’s the problem?
“……Gyeom-ah, Han-gyeom!”
Just then, a hand suddenly shot in from the side and grabbed Han-gyeom by the wrist. In-seok had rushed over, looking slightly flustered, and when he darted his gaze around, Han-gyeom’s eyes followed too.
“I-I’m sorry…….”
He hadn’t even realized the beans had filled up and were spilling out over the edge. Thankfully, In-seok had stopped it, preventing an even worse disaster. While Han-gyeom floundered in a panic, In-seok brought over a broom and swept up the beans that had spilled onto the floor.
“Han-gyeom.”
Dusting off his hands, In-seok looked back at Han-gyeom, who had grown dispirited.
“Do you have time after your part-time job tonight?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll buy you dinner. Want to go eat?”
All of a sudden? Han-gyeom naturally thought of Won-hyeok.
“……Yes, sounds good.”
He missed Won-hyeok, but at the same time, he didn’t want to see him. It wasn’t Won-hyeok’s problem. This was an issue with his own mindset. He didn’t want to face him in this state.
And so, after work ended, In-seok also got off at the same time as Han-gyeom. Hae-jun didn’t say much about it and saw the two of them off as usual.
The place In-seok led him to was a chicken restaurant near the café. The moment they stepped inside, the smell of oil and the appetizing scent of fried food invaded his nose. Under the somewhat dim lighting, he could see people here and there filling the seats.
After settling into a suitable spot, In-seok immediately placed their order.
“And one draft beer as well, please.”
“Ah, hyung. I want a glass too.”
At that, In-seok widened his eyes a little in surprise and asked back, “You too?” Then, even though he looked a bit uneasy, he added one more beer.
“H-Han-gyeom. Still, just in case, don’t drink too much.”
“Okay.”
Had he ever told In-seok that he was bad at drinking? Watching In-seok fidget anxiously as if worried he might get drunk, Han-gyeom timidly sipped at his beer. At the cool sensation sliding down his throat and the fizzy sting, Han-gyeom unconsciously furrowed his brow. He had never really understood why people turned to alcohol when they were stressed or having a hard time, but today, he felt like he understood a little.
Using the tongs, In-seok picked up a thick chicken drumstick and placed it on Han-gyeom’s plate. He had such a light personality that he seemed like he could float away at any moment, the complete opposite of Han-gyeom, but being with him like this wasn’t uncomfortable at all.
Rather, contrary to his first impression, In-seok had approached him in an easy, unburdensome way, looked out for him while they worked, and sometimes joked around with him, treating him comfortably. It was enough to make Han-gyeom think that, if he had an older biological brother, maybe he’d want him to be someone like this.
“Um, hyung. By any chance…… would it be okay if I asked for a bit of advice?”
That was why Han-gyeom had come out to eat with In-seok today. He wanted somehow to break through this situation, overcome it, and go back to how things were before, but he just couldn’t see any solution at all. At first, he’d thought about meeting Han-ul and opening up to him, but Han-ul was overseas on a trip right now and wasn’t in Korea.
“Hm? Then that works out well.”
In-seok gulped down his beer, then said brightly,
“To be honest, I wanted to ask too. You’ve been kind of strange lately.”
“I…… was really strange, wasn’t I?”
“You were. Zoning out a lot, making a lot of mistakes too. So what’s going on? I’m not talented at giving advice, but I’m good at listening.”
At that gentle voice telling him to speak comfortably, Han-gyeom fidgeted with the hand he had lowered beneath the table.
“Hyung, you’re an alpha, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then do alphas usually get more drawn to omegas?”
Han-gyeom slowly revealed, one by one, the stone-like worries he had been keeping pressed deep inside lately, the ones that had been weighing heavily on his heart.
“You know how people say that a lot. That alphas and omegas are instinctively drawn to each other.”
“Ah, trait determinism…… or, something like that?”
Han-gyeom nodded. It was a branch of psychology. Since trait-holders made up only a small portion of society, physical and psychological research on them was still actively ongoing.
In the past, psychological research on trait-holders hadn’t received that much attention, but that wasn’t the case anymore. Now, because the physical mechanism itself—alphas and omegas giving off pheromones that only each other can sense—was considered something special, research targeting those with traits was being actively conducted in many different fields.
“Well. I’m not really sure. I’ve never been drawn to anyone like that…… Ah, but there is this. If I smell omega pheromones, I do get a little stirred up?”
At that, Han-gyeom’s hand, which had been timidly picking at the food on his plate, noticeably slowed. He had known it in his head, but hearing such a direct confirmation from someone close to him like this made the shock that hit him feel all the more different.
“But why all of a sudden? Did you get interested in psychology or something?”
“No, it’s just…….”
Han-gyeom paused for a moment.
“Then would sunbae be like that too?”
“Huh?”
“I’m a beta. Even if I get mistaken for an omega a lot, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a beta. But sunbae is an alpha.”
And not just any alpha, but a dominant alpha whose alpha characteristics themselves were exceptionally developed.
“……Wouldn’t he be more drawn to omegas than betas?”
Even when he started dating Won-hyeok, he had been so happy that he never even considered anything about traits. Because no matter whether Won-hyeok was an alpha or not, Han-gyeom liked him for who he was. But whether Won-hyeok felt the same way was unclear.
Actually, lately Han-gyeom had been browsing all kinds of stories online. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of people who considered trait type first when meeting someone, and after learning that there were even people who wouldn’t date someone no matter how perfectly they matched their ideal type if they didn’t have the trait they wanted, he had honestly been shocked. He’d thought traits were just something like blood type, but he hadn’t known they could be such an important factor.
“So what you’re asking is whether Won-hyeok might leave you aside and become drawn to another omega?”
Han-gyeom let out a deep sigh and nodded. Tearing off a piece of chicken, In-seok muttered, “That seems about as likely as the earth splitting in half,” but the words didn’t reach Han-gyeom’s ears.
“So the reason you’ve been down lately was because of that? Because you don’t trust Do Won-hyeok?”
“What? No, that’s not it. I trust sunbae.”
Even in the middle of asking for advice, that absolute trust in Won-hyeok peeking through made In-seok suppress a laugh.
“There’s another, more fundamental reason I’ve had no energy.”
“Tell me.”
“I’ve been really strange lately.”
As if something huge had happened, Han-gyeom abruptly grabbed his own face.
“Before, when I saw sunbae, my heart would race and I’d just feel happy, you know?”
“If this is just bragging about your relationship under the guise of asking for advice, I’d like you to stop.”
“But lately it’s not like that. When I see sunbae, my chest feels tight and uncomfortable.”
Actually, this was the biggest worry of all. The thought of maybe alphas really were more drawn to omegas had been the beginning of that suffocating feeling, but the biggest problem now was that every time he saw Won-hyeok, he felt an ache like someone was gripping and shaking his heart.
It felt unfamiliar, feeling that kind of emotion every time he saw Won-hyeok. Even with Won-hyeok right in front of him, he kept thinking other thoughts and becoming gloomy. He’d go on dates, come home, look back on how he had acted and blame himself, then search up other people’s breakup stories before bed. Living through days like that, lately his insides were a mess.
He didn’t want to feel this stifling emotion because of Won-hyeok. To begin with, it was some unknown feeling he couldn’t even identify.
“You feel like that when you see Do Won-hyeok? Usually when does it happen?”
“Huh? Th-that is, when I see him with the boss…….”
“The boss? Hae-jun hyung?” In-seok murmured almost to himself. Hae-jun was also part of the reason Han-gyeom’s feelings had become even more tangled. He was clearly the angelic boss who had given a part-time job to a total beginner with no experience, so Han-gyeom felt terribly sorry that every time he saw him, he felt that same suffocating tightness. It felt like he was doing something awful.
While Han-gyeom became dead serious, In-seok crossed his arms and stared off into space. Words like Hae-jun hyung is an omega and Do Won-hyeok is an alpha…… spilled from his mouth one after another.
“Ah.”
Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he leaned his upper body forward again.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
“You…… isn’t that just jealousy?”
