The conversation came up about a month ago, in November when the wind was starting to turn cold.
After finishing class, Hyowoo headed straight to the convenience store in the basement of the music building. There was a cafe in his major’s building too, but the music building convenience store had quite a lot of seating both inside and outside. Especially at a late afternoon time like now, there would be even more empty seats. It was a suitable place to spend time until his next class.
As soon as he entered the convenience store, he went straight to the refrigerator and picked out a coffee and a triangular rice ball. After quickly finishing the payment, Hyowoo searched for a suitable seat.
As expected, most tables were empty except for one or two. He took a seat at an inconspicuous corner table and rummaged through his bag to pull out a certified public accountant practice exam book.
‘Where did I get to yesterday……’
Hyowoo’s goal was to pass the certified public accountant exam before graduation. That’s why, since last year, he’d been staring at books like this except for sleeping hours.
‘I have to pass before graduation no matter what. Only then can Mom and Father feel a little at ease……’
It was difficult studying with so much to memorize. Sometimes it was hard enough to make him want to scream, but whenever that happened, Hyowoo encouraged himself to hang in there just a bit longer.
Hyowoo carefully checked the problems he’d gotten wrong last night and organized his error notebook. These days most people used laptops or tablets, but he liked writing by hand on paper. The scratching sound of the pen circled pleasantly in his ears.
Before he knew it, he’d forgotten he was hungry and was absorbed in solving problems. Smoothly, someone pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.
‘There are so many empty seats, why here of all places?’
When he lifted his head with an annoyed feeling, he saw a familiar face.
“Are you busy on the 20th of next month?”
The person who threw out a question before even greeting was Lee Taeseo, one of the few friends Hyowoo could talk comfortably with at school.
A beauty with a model-like slim body at 182cm, long straight hair, and distinct features who received the admiration of many, but due to her cold atmosphere and tendency toward harsh words, she didn’t have many close friends.
“Even if we’re close, let’s at least greet each other. Hello, have you been well?”
Unlike Hyowoo who majored in accounting, she majored in anthropology. Since becoming third-years, their major class schedules were different so they couldn’t meet often at school. Moreover, since Hyowoo hadn’t been able to come to school last week because he was sick, it had been almost ten days since the two had met.
“What would I have to not be doing well about? More importantly, your answer? Do you have plans that day?”
“Plans, what plans. What else would I have to do besides this?”
When Taeseo urged him, Hyowoo pointed with his hand at the problem book he was working on. During vacation, he had no particular plans besides studying.
“Then, can you spare just two or three hours that day?”
“Why do you suddenly need time?”
“Want to go on a blind date?”
For a moment, Hyowoo’s face stiffened.
Hyowoo’s secondary gender was ‘omega.’ For her to make such a proposal to Hyowoo naturally meant she was going to introduce him to an alpha.
The problem was that Hyowoo disliked alphas.
That’s not to say he unconditionally hated alphas. His father, noona, and younger brother were also alphas, and Taeseo was an alpha too. He could get along fine with family and old friends. However, alphas he was meeting for the first time, especially male alphas, made him uncomfortable. He wanted to avoid them if possible and didn’t want to face them. But a blind date with such an alpha—it was terrible just to imagine.
As if his feelings were showing on the outside, Taeseo quickly explained.
“I know you’re uncomfortable with both alphas and blind dates. But it’s someone who’s a bit hard to refuse……”
Her tone asking if he wouldn’t just meet briefly and have one meal was very careful.
‘What kind of person could it be for her to ask even knowing I’m uncomfortable?’
It wasn’t just anyone, but Taeseo’s request, so he decided to at least hear the story.
“……Who is it?”
“My cousin oppa. He’s thirty-two in international age.”
“Thirty-two?”
Hyowoo had entered university two years late, so he was older than his classmates, but even so, thirty-two was a nine-year age difference. He couldn’t say unconditionally that liking someone younger was bad, but if it was someone recklessly seeking young partners, he didn’t want to meet them.
Unable to hide his lukewarm expression, she waved her hand saying not to misunderstand.
“I know too. That there’s a big age gap with you. But he’s not the type who only goes for young partners.”
If age wasn’t the purpose, was he looking for someone with good conditions at the prestigious university his cousin attended?
Whatever the reason, there didn’t seem to be any need for Hyowoo to go on this blind date.
“There are lots of pretty girls in your department. There are cute and handsome male omegas too.”
“He asked me to introduce you.”
“How does your cousin oppa know about me?”
Hyowoo had never even run into Taeseo’s cousin oppa, let alone her family. He couldn’t grasp at all why someone with no connection would ask to be introduced to him.
“Remember when we all went drinking together before summer vacation because Dongho was going to study abroad?”
“Yeah.”
“Oppa saw the photo we took then. He saw it and is asking me to introduce you.”
A photo—so he saw his face and liked it?
Even among omegas who had many beauties, Hyowoo had exceptionally pretty looks. His face was decent and his educational background was good, so on the surface, it would look quite presentable. However, around Taeseo were people overflowing with those prettier and smarter than Hyowoo.
“Mina was there that day too. Are you sure he didn’t mishear and meant to ask you to introduce Mina?”
When he asked if she hadn’t mistaken it for their friend Lee Mina, who was considered the school’s greatest beauty, Taeseo answered firmly that it wasn’t so.
“It’s you. Who else besides you was the boy with glasses sitting next to me that day?”
When there was a beauty of unparalleled grace like Mina, why specifically ask to be introduced to a ‘male omega’? He couldn’t understand the intention of this cousin oppa person at all.
“Your cousin oppa’s tastes are really peculiar……”
“Actually, he’s been pestering me since summer. But it was obvious you’d hate it, so I kept refusing. But that only works once or twice. I felt so sorry I couldn’t say no anymore.”
The longer her explanation went on, the more the mystery fell deeper into a labyrinth.
“It’s the first time oppa has shown interest in someone like this. It’s also the first time he’s asked me for a favor.”
Taeseo carefully asked, saying he’d been close to her since childhood and was practically like a real older brother.
“If it’s not something you terribly hate, could you meet him just once?”
He didn’t want to go on blind dates, and alphas were several times more distasteful than that. She also knew Hyowoo’s personality well, so surely these were words she’d brought up after long deliberation.
“He’s a decent person. And he’s kind.”
When his best friend, who never asked favors of others, let alone made pitiful sounds, asked him this much, Hyowoo’s heart softened.
“……If it’s just meeting briefly and eating a meal……”
After hesitating for a long time, saying that if it was Taeseo’s introduction it wouldn’t be a strange person, Hyowoo finally accepted.
“You will? Thank you!”
Seeing her smile and thank him when it wasn’t even that difficult a request made him feel embarrassed instead.
“What does he do?”
He wasn’t very curious about the other party since he was only planning to have a meal, but since it was his friend’s cousin, he felt he should ask the basics out of courtesy.
“He does sports.”
“An athlete?”
“Yeah.”
“What sport does he do?”
“Soccer.”
While he fanатically loved baseball, Hyowoo didn’t have much interest in soccer. He knew nothing beyond basic knowledge, and even among professional players, it was fair to say he knew almost none unless they were national team members who appeared frequently on TV.
“I don’t really know soccer, will that be okay?”
“It’s fine. And he’s someone even you would know.”
“Is he famous?”
“Yeah, quite a lot.”
Who among famous soccer players would be in their thirties? It was just as Hyowoo was about to fall deep into thought. One tremendous name came out of Taeseo’s mouth casually.
“It’s Lee Seohee.”
“Huh?”
“Lee Seohee. My cousin oppa.”
If it was the soccer player Lee Seohee, there was only one person who existed.
“You don’t mean… the England Premier League FCC striker……?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Seohee wasn’t a simple soccer player.
Currently 3rd in Premier League salary rankings. Affiliated with FCC, the team holding the record for most wins in the past 20 years. The league’s first Asian Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year award recipient, FIFA World Cup winner and Olympic gold medalist—he was a world-class star player boasting a brilliant record.
And he had one more title even more impressive than these.
“L Group Chairman Lee Jinhyuk’s son, that Lee Seohee……?”
“Right.”
L Group, the number one corporation in South Korea’s business rankings. The only son and successor of the L Group chairman, the only Korean company ranked within the top 20 global corporations, was Lee Seohee.
A chaebol heir who was born with a diamond spoon in his mouth that couldn’t even be compared to a gold spoon, someone who became a star in the Premier League solely through his own skills. An incredibly tall man whose face was so handsome it couldn’t be expressed in human language. As if that weren’t enough, a Dominant Alpha born between alphas. A truly existing ‘unicorn.’ He was a person who couldn’t be more perfect than this.
‘He’s going to introduce me to that player Lee Seohee? No wait, that person asked to be introduced to me?’
Why? For what reason?
