Ah. I felt a little embarrassed and rolled my eyes. Only then did the situation make sense.
It was something that had never been an issue before. Mom, the only omega in the household, had bonded with Dad — and since I was a beta, I hadn’t been affected by my hyungs’ rut cycles. Now that I had presented, he was worried I might be affected, so he was planning to leave the house for a while. In the end it was his way of looking out for me… but did he really have to say it in such an obnoxious way?
“Would it kill him to just tell me nicely?”
I muttered under my breath and drained my glass of water in one go, and my older hyung and Dad laughed.
“When a cycle is approaching, pheromones change, so people usually pick up on it naturally. Our youngest probably just isn’t used to it yet.”
It’s different from usual?
I tried to search for the lingering trace of Shin Haechan’s scent in the air, but no matter how hard I focused my nose, I couldn’t detect anything at all. My fastidious younger hyung was in the habit of spraying deodorizer constantly, so he barely let off any scent even on normal days.
“Why can’t I tell?”
“That’s normal in the early stages of presenting. You’re essentially still in your early presentation phase. It’ll gradually change.”
My older hyung told me not to worry about it and refilled my empty glass with water.
At the previous hospital visit, I’d stopped by the trait medicine department for a check-up. The attending doctor had said that “hormone changes aren’t pronounced and there are no particular abnormalities, but precautions should be taken just in case,” and that “it would be best to avoid exposure to the pheromones of alphas in rut in particular.”
Since Shin Haechan left, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Which also meant there was no one around to torment me for a while.
The moment that realization hit, my appetite came back — and I didn’t leave a single grain of rice behind.
“Mom, since Haechan’s gone, I’ll come home early to be with Haehyeon. Don’t skip out on your lunch gathering — go ahead.”
“Hyung, it’s fine. You’re busy with work, why come home? I can be alone.”
It was no use trying to stop him. My older hyung ruffled my head, told me he’d see me later, and put on his shoes.
I stood beside Mom and saw off Dad and my older hyung as they left for work. The two of them, dressed in similar suits, waved at us in the exact same way — and I watched until the father and son disappeared in the car.
“Mom. Seeing them like that, Haejun hyung really does look just like Dad.”
“Right? I keep saying he’s the spitting image of your father when he was young.”
My older hyung was a carbon copy of Dad, and I took entirely after Mom. My younger hyung was the odd one out — he looked like our maternal uncle.
Mom and I headed to the supermarket together, arms linked. With three sons at home and neither of the older two being particularly warm and affectionate by nature, it had naturally fallen to me, the youngest, to be the affectionate one. Mom would be so delighted whenever I acted cute that I’d simply accepted it as my destiny.
“Our little rice pup, anything you want to eat?”
“Hmm, let me think…… japchae? With lots of glass noodles!”
“Japchae sounds great. We probably don’t have glass noodles at home — let’s get that first.”
Before long, the big cart was filled not just with glass noodles but also vegetables and all sorts of other ingredients in a cheerful jumble.
I couldn’t walk past the snack aisle without stopping and loaded up on chocolates and butter crackers within arm’s reach. Things I used to rarely let myself have because I was managing my weight.
“Oh, sorry.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I exchanged a quick apology with someone who had bumped into me slightly while reaching for something. The man who scurried off with a strawberry snack in hand was a pregnant omega — he whispered “I wanted this” to his husband who had come grocery shopping with him, and smiled. They looked like a young couple, still appearing to be in their twenties. They seem happy. I watched the two of them walk away before turning to ask Mom.
“Mom. Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Does an omega have to be with an alpha?”
For me, someone who’d dated beta girls or omega girls who didn’t mind that I was a beta, it was quite an important question. Male omegas did sometimes date people of other traits, but the most common pairing was still with a male alpha. It was a topic I’d never had to think about before.
Mom skimmed through dozens of types of cheese at the dairy display and spoke.
“Well. It’s not that you have to.”
“Really? You don’t mind, Mom?”
“Mom just needs her son to be happy. Your thoughts might change after you date more people.”
“……Should I date more, then?”
“Dating is fine, but this time try to stay with someone a little longer. Don’t swap people out so quickly before a month is even up. I still get their names mixed up. Hyeseo? Hyunseo?”
“Hyeseo was the fine arts student from the next class, and Hyunseo is just my friend.”
I answered bluntly and Mom picked out three types of cheese to put in the cart and shook her head.
“Either way, accepting every girl who asks you out — honestly.”
“……Mom always said never to make a girl cry.”
“Oh my. So that’s why you dated them?”
“What else was I supposed to do. They looked like they’d cry if I said no.”
“Goodness… that was meant to be advice about not bullying girls. I really have raised quite the gentleman. Haejun should take notes from you. At this rate he’d bring home ten marriage candidates without breaking a sweat.”
“What, Mom, stop teasing me.”
While Mom burst out laughing, I quickly grabbed the blue cheese I’d had my eye on for a while.
“Alright. From now on, you can’t just go along with every confession that comes your way. If you accept without real feelings, the person who came to you sincerely might get hurt.”
“I suppose……?”
“Next time, it would be even better if you found someone you fall for first, Haehyeon.”
Mom took the blue cheese out of my hands and set it on top of the already overflowing cart.
“Do you remember when you were little and you were horrified by this blue cheese? But then you tasted one bite and loved it, ate it happily. Even started buying it yourself.”
That was absolutely true. The strong smell and the sight of the blue mold had seemed gross to me. If Shin Haechan hadn’t shoved it into my mouth as a prank, I never would have touched it.
“Someday, there’ll be a moment when someone who truly captivates your heart appears. Maybe, like this cheese, it’ll feel like they’re completely wrong for you at first — and then you’ll suddenly find yourself completely drawn in. When that happens, you’ll feel something entirely different.”
Someone who captivates my heart?
It was a simple thing to say, yet a complicated one too.
I’d genuinely liked all my ex-girlfriends in my own way. Each of them had their own charm and was lovely.
Could I like someone even more than that?
I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
Mom left for the social gathering she had plans for. With nothing to do, I opened my GED prep book in my room — then checked my phone belatedly. The battery had died during the late-night phone call, so I’d left it charging — and in the meantime, something had happened, because my notification bar was completely full.
Choi Seonho: everyone’s going crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ
There was that one message from Choi Seonho — and beyond that, the messenger app had basically caught fire from all the new messages flooding in.
Kim Minji: Shin Haehyeon!!!!!
Kim Minji: is it real???
Kim Minji: ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ
Lee Dokyeong: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Lee Dokyeong: I’m literally crying ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Those kinds of personal messages were pouring in — and then I was added to a group chat with old classmates.
The group chat immediately got plastered with crying emojis. Rabbits bounding over, characters hugging and jumping for joy, cats setting off fireworks — combined with everyone tripping over each other to ask how I was doing, the chat was scrolling so fast I could barely keep up.
There were several missed calls too, but I couldn’t bring myself to call each one back, so I typed out a text instead.
Me: heyy
Me: im back
Me: lol
The messages I pecked out carefully and sent were swept up in the rapid current and disappeared from view almost immediately.
Heh. This undying popularity of mine.
I smirked to myself. With my phone buzzing non-stop, the words in the open textbook weren’t registering at all. I’d thought it would be okay even if everyone had forgotten me. But they welcomed me back so warmly that honestly — it made me really happy.
Choi Seonho: i met shin haehyeon first ^0^
Lee Dokyeong: show us your face!!!!!!!11111
Kim Daehee: 222222
Kim Daehee: come out!
Kim Daehee: get together!
Kim Daehee: let’s meet!
Im Yujin: i missed you
Im Yujin: ㅠㅠ
People wanting to meet up soon came pouring in too. I wanted to see all their familiar faces as soon as possible too. I typed ‘yy’ and deleted it.
Me: hehe
Me: my face is expensive
Me: pay up the back-owed friendship fees
Me: >.<
Park Seryeong: lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Park Seryeong: channeling his inner money-obsessed goblinㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Lee Dokyeong: bestieㅋㅋㅋ scammerㅋㅋㅋ
Kim Minji: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋhow much do you want
Kim Minji: HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT!!!!!!
Kim Minji: noona’s got money
Kim Daehee: lol
Kim Minji: send/me/your/account/number
Kim Daehee: tears completely gone thanks to you
Kim Daehee: massive respect^^^^
While everyone who’d taken the bait was making a fuss, I leisurely looked through the newly added friends’ profile pictures one by one. Girls and guys alike, everyone seemed to have gotten seriously into their appearance — they all looked different from the faces I remembered.
Me: btw who are all of you lol
Me: your faces lol
Park Seryeong: excuse me?
Park Seryeong: haehyeon watch your mouth^^?
Me: seryeongnim
Me: you’re as beautiful as ever hehe
Park Seryeong: right? hehehe
Kim Minji: what about me????????????
Kim Minji: me too!!!!!!!!1111111111
Me: calm down
Me: princess minji
Kim Minji: 🥰
……Everyone’s personality was exactly the same — recognizing them was going to be no problem at all.
