“Fascinating. It’s certain you’ve manifested as an omega, but your pheromone levels are far too low. Is there really no smell? Sniff sniff. Wow, there really isn’t. It’s almost like a beta’s…… Eek. P-patient Gu Jongyeol!”
It wasn’t because of the money. Absolutely not.
Gu Jongyeol had saved up quite a bit from looking after Kang Hojun’s child, and his finances weren’t particularly strained.
But having someone sniff at him like this was unpleasant.
In an instant, Gu Jongyeol pulled a small dagger from inside his jacket and shoved it toward Kim Juwon.
“Eek!”
Kim Juwon’s face went pale at the sight of the sharp blade. Gu Jongyeol gave him a pleasant smile.
“Doctor. Stick that nose in my face one more time and I’ll actually kill you.”
“Ha, haha. Patient Gu Jongyeol. As I mentioned, I was just running a test——”
“Was that just now also a test?”
“Um…… haha, o-of course. I, I understand. Hahaha. Patient Gu Jongyeol is really as sharp as a blade. Hahaha.”
This doctor called Kim Juwon was apparently an alpha, but for some reason he never seemed to know what to do with himself whenever Gu Jongyeol was around. He was quite obviously intimidated by him. Oddly timid too. Is he just a run-of-the-mill alpha? Having spent years dealing with dominant alphas and grown thoroughly used to handling them, Gu Jongyeol stared at Kim Juwon, who had stumbled back at his threat and was now waving his hands frantically.
“Doctor.”
“Oh, yes! Did you have a question, patient Gu Jongyeol?”
Kim Juwon, who had been watching Gu Jongyeol as he moved to stand by the window, lit up and looked at him expectantly. Gu Jongyeol narrowed his brow at him, hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“If it’s true that I’ve actually manifested as an omega……”
“It’s true! I’ve confirmed it multiple times! I’ve confirmed it, and yet something still nags at me. Something — something else is going on here. Should I run more tests? His pheromone output seems low too. Should I look into ACP18018 cases. Hmm.”
What the hell is this guy going on about?
Gu Jongyeol ground his teeth as Kim Juwon, who had started to explain something to him, abruptly trailed off and began muttering to himself.
“Mm.”
Whether he noticed Gu Jongyeol’s expression going cold, Kim Juwon clapped a hand over his own mouth and anxiously watched for Gu Jongyeol’s reaction. Gu Jongyeol glared at Kim Juwon, trembling like a mouse before a cat, then let out a sigh.
“Is there anything I should be careful about?”
Kim Juwon’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Patient Gu Jongyeol, have you had a change of heart?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, I mean — just a few days ago you were very firm about not accepting it, said you wouldn’t take suppressants and wouldn’t undergo any further examinations. B-but then you picked up my call today and came to the hospital, and now you’re asking about precautions — it seems like something changed!”
Gu Jongyeol stared at Kim Juwon as the words poured out of him like water, and grimaced. A reason for the change of heart……
[Hyung…… you’re really sure you’re not an omega?]
If he had to pin it down, was it because of that?
Gu Jongyeol hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“Hey, Doctor. Is it true that I really don’t give off any smell?”
“Excuse me?”
“Some guy said he caught a scent.”
Kim Juwon let out a laugh at that.
“He was lying, I’m sure!”
“Lying?”
“Yes!”
Kim Juwon declared with full confidence.
“I’m certain — both in terms of pheromone levels and the degree of manifestation, you’ve only just recently crossed over from beta to omega, patient Gu Jongyeol. On top of that, your omega reproductive organs are only just now beginning to form, so I can say with confidence that you’ll at least appear to be a beta on the outside.”
“……Is that so?”
“You can slit my throat if I’m wrong!”
Gu Jongyeol stared at Kim Juwon, who was willing to stake his very life on it, and gave a slow nod.
So that guy was bluffing.
Relieved that he’d apparently been worried for nothing, Gu Jongyeol let Kim Juwon’s recitation of “precautions for a beta who has manifested as an omega” go in one ear and out the other.
“Jongyeol hyung.”
A few hours later.
Gu Jongyeol looked up at the dark-eyed man who had cornered him against the wall in an instant.
“Hyung…… you’re not actually a beta, are you?”
Ah, fuck.
“You’re an omega, aren’t you? Right?”
What the hell is wrong with you.
“I really do hope you’re an omega, hyung. If you were an omega, I could help you with all sorts of things.”
“……”
“Hyung.”
Gu Jongyeol met the eyes of the Young Master’s friend, who was smiling gently at him. This goddamn guy fixed his half-crazed gaze on Gu Jongyeol and moved his tongue.
“Can’t you just start being an omega from today?”
What is this bastard’s deal, seriously.
The four-year-old Gu Jongyeol had raised with the utmost care, under Kang Hojun’s orders, had grown up to be an absolutely magnificent piece of trash.
[Jongyeol hyung! I had Yundo!]
Kang Yeonkyu, the heir to the Ganghopa boss, had been different from others since childhood. He was someone who operated under the conviction that morality could go fuck itself — and thanks to that, he grew up as the absolute darling of Ganghopa’s members.
Having had no decent role models around him, Kang Yeonkyu swung his third leg around just as freely as the Ganghopa members did. He used his handsome face, sharp mind, and exceptional body to devour every omega in his vicinity.
From the tutor who taught him his studies, to the learning center teacher who came once or twice a week, the housekeeper, the delivery driver, and even the chauffeur who took him to school — an alpha among alphas with a magnetic pull that had claimed them all.
So why hadn’t he touched Gu Jongyeol, who was right there beside him all along, cleaning up after him and looking after him?
[Sigh, hyung. The premise doesn’t even hold. I don’t mess around with betas. So don’t worry. As long as you’re a beta, you’re not on my radar.]
Gu Jongyeol had been so grateful for the Young Master that day — the one who insisted that even someone like Kang Yeonkyu had that rule, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Gu Jongyeol felt like he could have kissed Kang Yeonkyu, grinning ear to ear and giving him a thumbs up. No — a kiss was a bit much. More accurately, a friendly headbutt, perhaps.
“Hyung. Jongyeol hyung……”
Then why is this strange guy in front of me right now, breathing hot breath in my face.
Gu Jongyeol stared at the man before him.
Birds of a feather, as they say — the dark-haired man in front of him, Kang Yeonkyu’s closest friend, was deeply connected to Ganghopa.
Before the “Trash Sorting” policy had been implemented, Seoul’s criminal underworld was divided into north and south. While the north was controlled by Ganghopa, the south was under the influence of Jinjupa — an organization whose boss was this young man’s father.
Unlike Ganghopa, which reached for weapons the moment things went sideways, Jinjupa fulfilled its role as an alpha collective in a different way — they were a group that relied primarily on brains rather than brawn.
A great number of their members also held professional occupations — lawyers, doctors, and the like — so much so that word had spread around that “Jinjupa is an organization some unnamed chaebol created as a hobby.”
