***
Time flew by, and before long, Monday — the day he’d made plans with Gyo-eon — had arrived. In the meantime, Hae-yul had not only changed the times he came and went from the goshiwon to avoid Myeong-gyu, but had even gone to the inefficient and uneconomical lengths of eating his meals outside.
It cost a little money and time, but you don’t avoid filth because it scares you — you avoid it because it’s disgusting. His life was already exhausting enough as it was; he couldn’t afford to get the likes of Kim Myeong-gyu’s filth on him too.
Having put in all that not-quite-effort to avoid Myeong-gyu, Hae-yul got out of bed with eyes a little more tired than usual. Whether a cold was coming on or not, his head felt strangely heavy, and he pressed his fingers into his temples in a massaging motion.
The time he’d arranged to meet Gyo-eon was 1 in the afternoon. Gyo-eon had suggested grabbing a quick lunch and then catching a movie, and Hae-yul had agreed.
Somehow having left the goshiwon earlier than the appointed time, Hae-yul checked his reflection in the glass door at the entrance. He ran cold easily, so he had on a white turtleneck, a thick light-brown knit sweater, and warm-lined slacks, with a long padded coat thrown over it all.
He would almost certainly be traveling by car the whole time, but he couldn’t give up the long padded coat. Hae-yul squinted against the sudden cold gust of wind and sniffled as he set off.
He’d only taken a few steps when he heard someone calling his name and running up behind him. Surely Gyo-eon hadn’t found out where his goshiwon was and come looking for him.
Hae-yul turned around to see who had been chasing after him — and his brow furrowed slightly.
“Hah— huff…… Ha. Hey, Ju Hae-yul. What do you think you’re doing just walking off when your hyung is calling you?”
Hae-yul swallowed a sigh at the sight of Myeong-gyu huffing and puffing and blaming him for it.
“I stopped, didn’t I? What is it?”
“Your tone with me today is……. Never mind. Where are you going? It’s not your part-time work hours. You’re always sleeping at this time.”
“I have plans.”
“……Plans? Weren’t you the type who skips things like that and just goes to work? No wonder I’ve been having a hard time seeing your face lately. You……”
Myeong-gyu stared at Hae-yul with a blank look on his face. He wore an expression like he’d been betrayed — which, if anything, was what Hae-yul found absurd.
“Who are your plans with? I’ve never seen you make plans with a friend? I thought you didn’t have any friends? Don’t tell me… a partner? Are you seeing someone? Wait, if that’s true… have you been lying to me this whole time, saying you were going to work, when you were actually meeting someone?”
“What?”
Myeong-gyu continued with an expression of disbelief.
“That can’t be right. You… are you dating an alpha?”
“What are you talking about?”
How on earth did he arrive at the conclusion that I’m dating an alpha? Hae-yul furrowed his brow at Myeong-gyu’s ridiculous misunderstanding.
“Wasn’t it because you liked me that you wanted to be treated like a beta? How could you, Ju Hae-yul — how could you do this to your hyung……? You… lied to me?”
“What?”
What? I like who? Hae-yul truly had no idea that Myeong-gyu had been under that delusion on his own. He’d only ever thought the man was feeding his ego in multiple ways by looking at him. It seemed what he’d seen was only a small fraction of the complex tangle of feelings Myeong-gyu was carrying.
“I thought you were different from other omegas……. A lie. You’re just trying to make me jealous or something, aren’t you? Your hyung knows everything, Hae-yul. Sweet little Hae-yul wouldn’t do something like that.”
Before he knew it, Myeong-gyu had started muttering to himself and rationalizing the situation on his own terms.
“Your hyung can understand all of it. You don’t have someone you’re seeing. I never smelled any alpha scent on you. Of course it’s a lie.”
Hae-yul swallowed dryly at the sight of Myeong-gyu breathing heavily, face flushed red.
“Your hyung has always let you get away with being rude. Sure, that’s something you’ll need to relearn — but it’s fine, because your hyung can teach you. There’s no one out there who’ll teach you the way your hyung does, you know. You’ve really met someone precious. From now on, your hyung will teach you more kindly.”
“No. I don’t particularly need that.”
“Are you worried about bothering your hyung? Don’t worry about that. You know as well as I do that omegas without a college degree get looked down on all the time. I’m worried you’ll get disrespected out there.”
“I’m in college, actually. And you’re the only one doing the disrespecting.”
Myeong-gyu paid no attention to Hae-yul’s words and kept rambling on.
“Listen to your hyung, Hae-yul. Dating can wait until later. And I’ll take responsibility for you, so……”
The cheeks of Myeong-gyu, who had the nerve to say the word responsibility, were flushed red.
This crazy bastard……
Swallowing his irritation, Hae-yul left Myeong-gyu to his self-indulgent babbling and checked the time on his phone. He’d left with plenty of time to spare, and yet it was already nearly 1 o’clock.
This was the same Gyo-eon who had threatened 5 billion won in compensation if he missed a call — if he showed up even a second late to their appointment, there was no telling how much he’d be asked to pay…… The closer it got to the meeting time, the more anxious Hae-yul grew.
At some point Myeong-gyu had inched closer, fidgeting with his fingers, ears going red.
“Anyway, Hae-yul, you don’t have to worry. Your hyung will handle everything, so just——”
“I’m in a hurry. Are you going to keep talking? This doesn’t sound like anything important.”
“……What?”
“And I go to Korea University. I’m just focusing on part-time work right now because it’s break. I also had plenty of good people at the orphanage who taught me what I needed to know, and I made good friends there. I’ve never once been told I was lacking in anything that I’d need to learn from you.”
“Ko— Korea University? How could someone like you get into a prestigious school like that? Now that your hyung can’t verify it, you’re just making things up……. Do you think I’m that easy to fool?”
“Why would I bother lying about something like that?”
Myeong-gyu’s face twisted at Hae-yul’s words. He glared at him, his whole body trembling slightly.
“Your hyung is trying to be understanding, so why do you keep……. Were you always like this? Were you acting sweet all along, and now that your hyung won’t fall for your lies, you’re finally showing your true colors? Do you know how many years older than you your hyung is? Six years, six years. What kind of disrespectful attitude is that to show someone six years older than you?”
“It wasn’t four years, it was six? ……How ridiculous.”
“Ha, Hae-yul. That’s not what matters right now……. Right, I lied for your sake. A four-year age gap doesn’t get a compatibility reading, you know. I was just going along with it because you were making it obvious you liked your hyung. They say omegas are into that destiny stuff. Haa, do you finally understand how much your hyung has been thinking of you? You really……. You always make me have to say it out loud myself……”
His head, which had been aching since the morning, felt like it was ringing. Hae-yul was at a loss for words watching Myeong-gyu, who had been throwing a fit just moments ago, now switching attitudes entirely and heaving a long, dramatic sigh.
The phone in Hae-yul’s hand vibrated. It was almost certainly a call from Gyo-eon. It seemed 1 o’clock had already passed. After a brief moment of deliberation, Hae-yul decided to answer while Myeong-gyu was busy muttering to himself and shaking his head.
“Yes.”
— Ju Hae-yul, are you not feeling well? If that’s the case, we can just meet another time.
“Ah, that’s not it——”
“Hae-yul, what are you doing? You, you really……. What kind of manners are those, picking up a call in the middle of talking with your hyung? Your hyung is working so hard right now trying to understand your lies……!”
— ……Ju Hae-yul? What’s going on right now? Is something wrong?
“Ah, no. It’s nothing, really.”
“How is what we’re talking about nothing? Hae-yul, who is that? Let your hyung talk to them.”
Hae-yul stepped back from Myeong-gyu, who was advancing as if to snatch his phone away. Then Gyo-eon’s voice came through the phone.
— Wait.
……Wait for what, exactly? Surely he wasn’t coming all the way here?
Hae-yul looked down at his phone in bewilderment, but the call with Gyo-eon had already ended at some point.
Almost immediately, Myeong-gyu’s rough hand snatched the phone from Hae-yul’s grasp. He looked at the ended call and scowled.
“Ju Hae-yul, did you hang up on purpose? Why?”
“What does it matter to you whether I hung up or not?”
“What did you say?”
“Give me my phone back.”
“Hey, Ju Hae-yul.”
Myeong-gyu’s grip tightened around the phone. Looking like he might hurl it to the ground in a fit of rage, Hae-yul gave him a warning.
“If that breaks, I’m calling the police.”
“Ha, Hae-yul……. Reporting something like this won’t do anything. Who’s going to care about something this trivial. Stop making your hyung angrier and answer me. Why did you hang up?”
“I think I understand why you’re on your third attempt at the entrance exams.”
Hae-yul was furious at the way Myeong-gyu was treating him like something to be handled. So even knowing that Myeong-gyu’s face was turning an ugly shade of red, he opened his mouth and said exactly what he thought.
“You lack common sense.”
“What? What did you just say?”
“Want me to put it more simply? You’re inconsiderate.”
“……Hey, Ju Hae-yul!”
Myeong-gyu let out a shout and slammed the phone he’d been holding to the ground. His rough hand grabbed Hae-yul by the collar. Then Myeong-gyu raised his other hand to strike Hae-yul across the face. Hae-yul had anticipated being grabbed by the collar — but not violence — and his body instinctively flinched back.
Just as Myeong-gyu swung his hand forward, a much larger and firmer hand seized his wrist with force.
It was Gyo-eon. Hae-yul’s eyes went wide at the familiar broad back that had stepped in front of him, blocking the blow.
