Hae-yul typed into the search bar: ‘Alpha and Omega sleeping together’, ‘Alpha and Omega pregnancy rate’, ‘dominant Omega pregnancy rate’, ‘heat pregnancy rate’ — and when he found an article that looked helpful, he clicked on it. He was vaguely aware of how absurd he must look, standing alone in a neighborhood lined with luxury homes doing this, but all he wanted was to calm his anxious mind even a little faster.
…When an Omega is in heat and an Alpha is in rut, the probability of pregnancy is known to approach approximately 90%. However, if the Alpha is not in rut, the probability of pregnancy decreases significantly — roughly 20 to 30%. For dominant Omegas, this figure can rise as high as 50%, so if an unwanted encounter occurred ‘without protection’ during a heat cycle, it is recommended to take an Omega-specific emergency contraceptive from a pharmacy within 24 hours.
Hae-yul read the post — written by someone who seemed quite knowledgeable on the subject — several times over, and fixated on the phrase ‘without protection.’
Right. Someone like Kwon Gyo-eon would have used protection.
It wasn’t as though he’d never encountered an Omega’s heat cycle before, and more than anything — someone like Kwon Gyo-eon would have been thorough about contraception. He was clearly a member of a family of no ordinary standing, so he’d certainly be razor-sharp about something like that. No — he had to be. A family where you never knew what might happen if you carelessly scattered your seed around — he would have taken care of it himself.
Thinking about it that way, he felt relieved in an instant. Hae-yul straightened up and walked at a slightly quicker pace out of the quiet, unfamiliar neighborhood.
* * *
Though he had unexpectedly come face to face with the original novel, it didn’t have much of an impact on Hae-yul’s daily life. Contrary to his worries, his days flowed along smoothly. And not only that — aside from having to take on the loading and unloading part-time job on weekdays because living expenses were running a little tight, there was nothing that could really be called an issue.
Of course, his lingering anxiety over having slept with Kwon Gyo-eon had eventually led him to take the emergency contraceptive late — only after two days had passed……
He’d been so eaten up with worry that he’d even had nightmares about Kwon Gyo-eon barging in and dragging him into the original story. Still, aside from that, such an utterly ordinary daily life continued that he was actually starting to feel uneasy about it.
And that was understandable — the original novel, Faint Fragments, was a BL with a dark and heavy atmosphere. Which was exactly why he regretted the days when he’d picked up that book expecting lyrical literary fiction.
Even if the name ‘Ju Hae-yul’ had only appeared in a few lines of the original novel, the unease was unavoidable. Because in the original, ‘Ju Hae-yul’ was the biological father of the man known as the ‘obsessive love interest’ — and a kind of cause behind that man’s emotional deficiency.
Regardless of how little page time he had, he was still a character of some weight, which meant there was no telling what hardships and trials might come his way. Just thinking about it was enough to give him a headache.
Hae-yul had gone to the back room of the convenience store to fetch snacks and instant noodles to restock the shelves, then returned to the counter and swept his bangs back with a tired face. Perhaps because he’d been tense all week, even the smallest movement left him exhausted quickly. And that wasn’t all. As if trying to escape reality, he’d been sleeping far too much as well.
Maybe the loading and unloading job really had been too much for his pitiful stamina after all. Hae-yul gave a small yawn and checked the time. 6 AM. If he could hold out for just one more hour, the person coming to relieve him would arrive. Forcing his increasingly heavy eyelids open, he pulled a workbook out of his bag.
He’d been planning to get at least a little studying done for his certification exam before the semester started. Given the nature of social welfare as a major — with its future packed full of volunteer work and internships — and for the sake of escaping poverty and the prejudice that came with it, Hae-yul needed to live more diligently than others. It somehow felt like he was living an even busier life than before he’d transmigrated here, but Hae-yul was enjoying this life in his own way.
If you can’t avoid it, you might as well enjoy it. That way, at least it stings a little less.
Hae-yul rubbed his strained eyes and soon buried himself in the workbook.
After about twenty minutes of staring down the workbook in a hard-fought battle, Hae-yul set his pen down. After moving continuously for seven hours and then, just a moment ago, pushing his brain to its limits too, hunger was creeping in. He’d brought along some kimbap that had been pulled from sale the previous evening, and now ate it cold, taking big, mechanical bites.
His gaze remained fixed on the workbook as he chewed.
Ding. Hae-yul, who had been scanning a problem with his eyes, reflexively greeted the sound of a customer coming in.
“Welcome.”
Hae-yul had just been tidying up the workbook and pens he’d spread out on the side of the counter and was about to look up. A familiar scent brushed the tip of his nose.
“…Huh.”
A scent he had clearly encountered a week ago. A cool, dry pheromone scent — as though it carried the chill of a winter wind — drifted into his nostrils. Hae-yul looked up with startled eyes to find Kwon Gyo-eon’s face, smiling at him.
“Good to see you, Ju Hae-yul. We meet again.”
Kwon Gyo-eon said this and leaned his upper body toward Hae-yul. Startled, Hae-yul stumbled backward and caught his foot on the chair, dropping heavily down onto it.
“I regretted letting Ju Hae-yul go like that that day.”
Hae-yul stared at Kwon Gyo-eon with trembling pupils.
“We still have a lot left to talk about, don’t we.”
Having finished speaking, Kwon Gyo-eon broke into a smile the moment his eyes met Hae-yul’s, the corners of his cool eyes curving upward. Hae-yul couldn’t shake the impression that the man looked exactly like a loan shark who had come to collect money he’d lent out.
“…How did you find out I was here?”
Hae-yul asked with a blank expression. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening to him right now. How on earth had Kwon Gyo-eon known to come here? In the early morning just before 7 AM, why would he come all the way to this convenience store……
Right when his shift change was right around the corner — what in the world was this. He’d already suffered embarrassment once because of his own mistake, and even as he’d resolved never to get entangled with him again, he’d spent the week trembling with anxiety.
“Was I not supposed to come?”
Kwon Gyo-eon tilted his head and asked with an air of innocence. It wasn’t the sort of look you’d expect from someone with a presence that seemed like it could give off a chill at any moment. Hae-yul carefully chose his words, stole a glance at the clock, and replied quietly.
“I told you back then that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again.”
“Ah.”
At Hae-yul’s cool reply, the corners of Kwon Gyo-eon’s mouth lifted slightly.
“I don’t recall agreeing to that.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said I don’t recall agreeing to that. Ju Hae-yul can do as Ju Hae-yul pleases. I’ll do things my own way.”
“No, wait a moment——”
Hae-yul furrowed his brow in disbelief and called out to Kwon Gyo-eon with a plain “hey.” At this, Kwon Gyo-eon, just like last time, said nothing and simply stared steadily at Hae-yul. Unable to miss what that gaze implied, Hae-yul watched his expression for a moment before quietly correcting himself.
“Um… Kwon Gyo-eon.”
“Yes, Ju Hae-yul.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“What have I done to Ju Hae-yul?”
Kwon Gyo-eon asked back instead of answering. His pitch-black eyes shone softly, proclaiming his innocence. Of course, he hadn’t done anything yet — but wasn’t he planning to do something in the future?
But there was no way he could explain in detail what he knew from having read the original novel. Hae-yul let out a short sigh, snapped his head to the side, and squeezed his eyes shut out of habit.
This was an unforeseen emergency. At this rate, the situation would inevitably unfold exactly as Kwon Gyo-eon intended. Hae-yul, who had been desperately running from the tragic end that awaited the character ‘Ju Hae-yul’ in the original story, had no intention of crumbling now. He had plans to walk an entirely different path from the ‘Ju Hae-yul’ of the original.
Hae-yul faced Kwon Gyo-eon, who was standing right in front of him.
“It was one night.”
Hae-yul said in a small but clear voice.
“It happens all the time around me too. It was a one-night stand. They say that sort of thing is even more natural for Omegas and Alphas — so let’s just leave it at that. The fact that I was the one who initiated it is absolutely, one hundred percent my fault, but that doesn’t mean I have any intention of holding you responsible either. I told you that back then too. So you don’t need to do this.”
If he’d said this much, even a Kwon Gyo-eon who acted like a wall of stone would have understood. Hae-yul glanced over to gauge Kwon Gyo-eon’s expression. When his gaze met Kwon Gyo-eon’s, who was staring straight at him, he held the eye contact steadily.
Kwon Gyo-eon stared quietly at Hae-yul without opening his mouth to say anything.
Has he understood to some extent? Hae-yul waited for Kwon Gyo-eon’s response with the thinnest thread of hope. After a long silence, Kwon Gyo-eon’s mouth opened.
“Ju Hae-yul may or may not remember this, but I said clearly that I don’t do things I can’t take responsibility for. Because I refuse to be someone without integrity.”
Hae-yul rolled his eyes and reached back through his memory. Thinking about it calmly, it did seem like Kwon Gyo-eon had said something like that.
“But then Ju Hae-yul came at me and kissed me out of nowhere.”
“That was——”
“It seems you do remember. Good, then this will go quickly.”
Dread crept in over what words might come out of Kwon Gyo-eon’s mouth next. Hae-yul’s hand, which had been resting limply at his side, clenched a fistful of his trouser leg. So much tension went into the grip that the fabric crumpled and bunched.
“Do you remember what Ju Hae-yul said to me after the kiss — right before we… were together?”
The moment the word ‘together’ came out of Kwon Gyo-eon’s mouth, Hae-yul instinctively scanned the surrounding area, even knowing there were no other customers besides Kwon Gyo-eon. In an instant, the tips of Hae-yul’s ears flushed red.
“H-, how can you say something like that so casually in such a public place?”
Only Hae-yul was embarrassed listening to it — the one actually saying it, Kwon Gyo-eon himself, seemed entirely unbothered.
