“Damn it, what’s with this rain falling every other day.”
Clouds resembling fish scales surged toward the coastline. The weather looked like a typhoon was coming, so the captain had called off the entire scheduled departure.
With the boat unable to go out, he might as well have rested — but the captain decided to use the opportunity to inspect the vessel’s interior, which had been causing frequent problems lately.
The circumstances of those born with special traits like omega or alpha were none of his concern. Betas who had nothing to their name, at least, ought to be hardworking.
“This heap of scrap metal. Should just sell it off already.”
Beneath the captain’s grumbling, the engine’s rhythmic clanking — thunk. thunk-thunk. thunk — played on like background noise.
He was deep in the middle of repairing the ship when it happened. Clank — BANG! The sound of someone hammering on a rusted iron door rang out. Shifting his gaze toward the commotion, the silhouette of a slight figure flickered beyond the hazy window.
Who on earth was making such a fuss. He wondered for a moment if it might be one of the crew members who hadn’t gotten word of the cancelled departure.
“Who’s there — Bak? Jeong?”
“Um…… are you by any chance the captain of this ship?”
A soft, youthful voice drifted through the gap in the rusted door. Judging by the way they fumbled through the question, it wasn’t one of his sailors.
The captain hesitated briefly — debating whether to open the door or not — then turned the handle anyway with a skeptical look. The creaking of the old hinges grated against his eardrums.
“That’s me, and who are you?”
“Well…… I saw your hiring notice and came.”
He gave the person a quick once-over. His eye was drawn to the delicate lower half of a face peeking out beneath a deeply pulled-down cap. Had he really posted a notice for someone this frail-looking? The captain slowly searched his memory.
He hadn’t even been deliberating that long, but the young man seemed unable to bear the wait — he thrust forward a phone with a bright screen.
“This…… is recruitment already closed?”
The captain read the text on the captured screenshot, and it came back to him.
A few months back, with the help of a crew member who knew his way around computers, he’d posted a standing job listing on a recruitment site.
※ Seungri-ho Salted Shrimp Fishing Crew Recruitment Notice ※
▷ High income guaranteed!!
▷ No experience required, negotiable for experienced workers.
▷ Room and board (dormitory available) provided.
▷ Seeking physically able-bodied male (Beta).
Contact: 010-XXX-XXXX
They say that if the dead-end of the land is a coal mine, then the dead-end of the sea is salted shrimp fishing.
It’s the kind of work that’s always short on hands — never turning away those who come, never letting go of those who leave — but even in this world, there were unspoken rules.
Specifically regarding trait-bearers. And above all, omegas — said to be especially rare among them — were never to be brought aboard.
“We’re hiring, but…… are you by any chance an omega?”
“No……. I’m a beta!”
“Come on, one look at you and it’s obvious you’re an omega. It should be written right there in the notice. Beta males only.”
The reasons for not hiring omegas were more than he could count. But the single most decisive incident behind it all was a major accident known as the “cruise murder.”
A large vessel owned by wealthy alphas had an omega crew member aboard. And on that very day, out in the middle of the open sea, that omega’s first heat broke out — and disaster followed.
People talk about suppressants and new drugs now, but things were different a decade ago. Back then there weren’t even proper precautionary protocols, let alone suppressants — so when a heat erupted, there was simply no way to endure it.
The moment the pheromones spread through the air, no one needed to go first. The alphas, eyes rolled back, drew blades against each other to claim the omega, and the cabin turned into chaos in an instant.
That day, the smell of blood smothered the salt of the sea. In the end, not only the frenzied trait-bearers but even the beta crew members got swept up in it — and so it became an ironclad rule among sailors that no omega was ever to be brought aboard.
“Even if my trait is omega — my core is beta. Could you please at least give me an interview?”
“What would an omega know about working a boat. You’d just be in the way of the men working, so get going. Don’t cause trouble by letting some heat or whatever go off.”
“I…… I’m also a man…….”
“A man, sure. You’re an omega, that’s what you are.”
The captain refused without a second thought. Even if the young man outside the iron door hadn’t been an omega, he still didn’t seem suited for this kind of work.
Regardless of trait, it was plain as day that someone who looked like he hadn’t eaten a proper meal in ages would collapse before even a single day was out.
“The heat can be handled with medication. I came stocked up on suppressants.”
“I said no. Do you think working a boat is some kind of game?”
“I can really do well. Can’t you give me just one chance? I may not look it, but I’m strong, I cook well, I’m good with my hands…….”
Even after repeated rejections, the young man clung on, unwilling to back down easily. Annoyed by his absolute refusal to give up, the captain snapped at him.
“That’s exactly my point. Why would an omega with such outstanding abilities insist on getting on a shrimp fishing boat?!”
“Captain! Captain…… just a moment!”
“Stop wasting my time and get lost. Don’t go causing trouble reeking of omega all over the place.”
The captain shot him a cold glare, slammed the iron door shut with a bang, and retreated into the cabin. The young man knocked a couple more times out of lingering hope, but there was no response.
Turned away before he could even get a foot in the door for an interview, the young man finally gave up and trudged away. He’d been rejected from every legal job within the area, so it seemed he’d have to move on to another region.
“Yeah, fuck this. I’m out of this shithole, I’m gone!”
Kicked off the Seungri-ho, the young man muttered curses under his breath — belated as they were.
What a goddamn world.
Born with a dick and still not treated like a man — wasn’t that a bit much? No, it wasn’t even about being treated like a man — he wasn’t being treated like a human being.
“What’s so damn special about being an omega that everyone acts like this?”
No boat work. No manual labor either.
Applying to some desk job at a company where he’d use his head was out of the question — his identity as ‘omega Hong Siyeon’ would be exposed. And if that happened, that shameless couple who had their sights set on him would come find him.
“Maybe I should just head to the mountains.”
Right. If the sea won’t have me, I might as well go live in some remote mountain village for a few years and come back out. Lie low long enough and they’ll forget about me.
The young man made up his mind in an instant. No — Hong Siyeon drew in a breath of the salty harbor air and moved his feet quickly.
***
Even as he made his way out of the port and toward the late-night terminal, Siyeon kept a careful eye on his surroundings. He had already turned off his phone data to guard against being tracked, but not knowing when or where that insane couple might pop up kept his anxiety running high.
“What sin did I commit in a past life to deserve this…….”
He was short of breath, struggling to keep up his pace. Carrying his heavy bag of belongings, he didn’t even have the luxury of wiping the sweat dripping down his forehead.
All he could think was that now that he’d run this far, he had to get as far away as possible. But despite Siyeon’s dogged efforts, a familiar luxury sedan flashed its headlights and cut him off.
It seemed, unfortunately, that the heavens were not on his side.
“Shi — those tenacious bastards already…….”
Sensing that his escape had failed, Siyeon ran a rough hand through his hair and cursed. Sure enough, the car door slowly opened, revealing the faces of people he despised.
“Mr. Hong Siyeon. I believe I told you to refrain from going out without a word?”
One in an all-black suit.
“Honey, if you wanted a late-night date, you should’ve said so sooner. I just got a new convertible.”
One dressed up as extravagantly as a peacock.
As if to prove they were a couple, both of them had shown up just to catch him.
Siyeon glared at the couple standing before him with an expression of utter disgust. If you asked him why an ordinary person like him had ended up a fugitive — well, who knew?
Even he would have to answer that he had no idea.
Hong Siyeon, raised in an orphanage.
Hong Siyeon, a middle school dropout whose dream was to get a high school diploma.
Hong Siyeon, twenty-four years old, who had landed a job at a small print shop and was being worked like a pack animal — that was who he had been in his original world.
As utterly ordinary as a pebble you’d kick by the side of the road — if there was one wish he had held onto — it was that someday he’d build a warm, comfortable home with someone he loved.
“Let’s go home, Mr. Hong Siyeon.”
“Honey, shall we all sleep together tonight, just the three of us, for the first time in a while?”
Of course, he had never once wished to be entangled with that shameless couple.
