Taking that book had been a mistake from the start.
When I stepped into the room to find the hoodie my sister had borrowed, I noticed a pitch-black novel sitting on the desk, still sealed in its plastic packaging. The title written on the cover was “Excessively Brilliant.”
“Jang Haesu is actually reading books?”
Since Haesu typically despised books, my curiosity getting the better of me was my mistake, if you could call it that. What kind of book would be sitting on Jang Haesu’s desk? I couldn’t help being curious.
“Hmm…”
Fearlessly, I tore open the packaging and examined the book. The cover featured a dark red flower with a withered, twisted stem that gave off a rather ominous impression.
“This looks really unlucky.”
That was my first assessment of “Excessively Brilliant.”
Still, since I’d already opened it, I figured I might as well flip through it, so I slowly turned to the first page. Immediately, a warning message appeared in bold, large letters:
※This work contains numerous instances of sexual and psychological abuse and violence.※
“…What is this?”
I put the book down with a start. I thought it was an ordinary novel, but… was it an adult fiction?
As far as I knew, Haesu didn’t like romance stories. Whenever a popular romance drama came on TV, she would scrunch up her face and change the channel.
She didn’t like the male lead, didn’t like the female lead, thought the supporting characters were trash, and the plot went nowhere. She would criticize them endlessly until my ears were ready to fall off.
“Jang Haesu reading a romance novel…”
But my curiosity has always been my problem in life. Like most siblings in Korea, I felt mischievous about finding a new way to tease my younger sister.
I planned to skim the beginning, pick out the most memorable lines, and recite them in front of Haesu. She would surely throw a fit about me touching her book.
Just thinking about it made me happy, so I quickly sat down in the chair.
“Wow… the first chapter is titled ‘Fall.'”
No matter how I looked at it, this book was no ordinary item. The warning message from earlier, the chapter title—it all had this strange power to evoke an ominous feeling. Of course, I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing.
Well, I didn’t think much of it and flipped through the pages. The white paper rustled against my fingertips, and the addictive scent unique to paper wafted into my nose. I whistled sharply.
– Uh, wait, wait a minute! Wait, I, I can’t do this.
– Huh… What do you mean ‘wait’? You can do it well.
The dialogue set off alarm bells. This was definitely an adult novel. Starting off so intensely from the first page, I felt my face burning hot just from reading the text.
But there was something strange in the middle.
– I’m, I’m coming!
“…Coming? Where to?”
The sentences bursting from the characters’ mouths were far from what I had expected. Then, in the second paragraph, I suddenly realized an unbelievable word was being used.
That, that thing? The thing I know? The one I have too?
Moreover, that word was being used for someone who was supposedly writhing under the weight of a firm male body. Chills ran down my spine, and I immediately closed the book.
“That crazy Jang Haesu, what the hell is she reading!”
My heart pounded violently. Damn it. This wasn’t the adult novel I knew. It was just a bizarre novel about men with the same equipment pressing flesh against each other.
For a moment, I just stared blankly at the cover.
“Excessively Brilliant”
I now noticed there wasn’t even an author’s name written on it.
After sighing and rubbing my face, an intense impulse spread through me. …Should I read a bit more? The fact that Haesu would actually read this made me curious. What kind of book was this? Was there some tremendous secret hidden inside?
The eerie gay novel occupying the center of Haesu’s desk kept catching my eye strangely.
“I don’t read books. I read too many filling out my student record, so I’m sick of them.”
Haesu always said that. True to her word, after getting accepted to university, she hadn’t read a single book.
If this was a book that Jang Haesu had chosen, I had a feeling it must have some special qualities that set it apart from other books. But at the same time, a sense of revulsion was slowly creeping in.
“Even so, men with men… ugh.”
Imagining men embracing each other, kissing, and causing all sorts of commotion made me feel nauseous from deep inside my chest. Finally giving up on reading, I pushed the chair back and stood up.
But I just couldn’t leave the book behind.
“I’ve already opened the packaging, what should I do?”
If it was for teasing Haesu as planned, it wouldn’t matter, but thinking about it carefully, I didn’t think I’d get the reaction I expected even if I teased Haesu with this novel.
Rather, Haesu would probably counter-attack.
“Oppa, you looked at this? This?”
She might even treat me like an idiot who steals peeks at gay novels. Anyway, it seemed best not to get caught secretly reading this book.
“Where should I hide it?”
I was about to tuck the book into a corner of Haesu’s bookshelf but changed my mind at the last moment and hid it inside my jacket.
I figured it would be better to hide it in my room’s drawer, since if I left it here, Haesu would find it and wonder why the packaging was torn.
But when I returned to my room, I couldn’t hide the book right away.
“Should I read a little more?”
Damn it. I was too curious about the content. What kind of story would make Jang Haesu, who doesn’t even bother with romance, prominently display it in her room?
After thoroughly locking the door, I sat on the bed.
I quickly skimmed through the beginning part filled with all kinds of moaning sounds. I wanted to read from the section where the real story began.
But soon I was greatly disappointed and slumped my shoulders.
“How long do they plan to keep doing this?”
Those damn gay guys filled the first half of the book with their intense lovemaking. Hot breaths, dripping sweat, moist skin.
Many of the expressions were repetitive, and as I read, I could practically memorize the entire content. Finally, I gave up my expectations and sighed deeply.
“So Jang Haesu’s taste leans this way.”
Adult novels are what they are—I didn’t think there would be anything special about them.
But then it happened.
– Chae Eunwoo’s eyes were filled with shock as he checked the pregnancy test.
– Two red lines. It was definitely positive.
…Preg, pregnant? Is this insane? How can a man get pregnant?
Aghast, I wondered if the character I’d been reading about was intersex, so I went back to the previous pages. Thanks to that, I encountered a shocking setting that overturned conventional wisdom.
※ This work is based on the Omegaverse. ※
“Alpha, Omega…”
I think that’s when I truly became interested in the book.
I read everything from how an Alpha’s pheromones could melt an Omega, to how an Omega’s pheromones could enchant an Alpha.
Alphas, with their brilliant appearances and exceptional physical abilities, occupied the ruling class of society, while Omegas, unlike them, weren’t treated well socially and had to hide their existence by taking hormone suppressants. This was because the “heat” that regularly visited Omegas could seduce Alphas and cause problems.
And the protagonists of this novel were those Alphas and Omegas.
In other words, it was a vicious story of an Omega named “Chae Eunwoo” being captured by an Alpha named “Baek Sahyun,” having his ankle broken, and bearing a child.
I was so dumbfounded that what started as just checking the ending turned into investing a total of five hours to finish reading the entire book. Afterwards, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
Chae Eunwoo, having failed to escape, reluctantly accepts Baek Sahyun’s obsession and courtship. Behind all this was a hidden reason, an incredibly heartbreaking reason.
It was because Chae Eunwoo was secretly in love with “Nam Heejae,” Baek Sahyun’s close friend and Chae Eunwoo’s college senior.
But Nam Heejae was a severe Omega-phobe, and Chae Eunwoo had been desperately hiding the fact that he was an Omega because he didn’t want to be hated by him.
Baek Sahyun exploited that vulnerability to break Chae Eunwoo.
– How do you think Nam Heejae will react when he finds out you’re even pregnant?
So basically, Baek Sahyun could be described as an unparalleled piece of trash.
The more I read, the more furious I became with Baek Sahyun. After reading the long-awaited final page in one breath, I muttered:
“That son of a bitch Baek Sahyun…”
I hoped he’d get hit by a rock and die while walking down the street.
But I take that back.
“Sa, Sahyun… Hey, Baek Sahyun!”
“Why are you running away?”
“We’re friends. Really close friends!”
“Why are you running? Did you do something wrong to me?”
Baek Sahyun approaching while dragging a baseball bat was so terrifying that my legs went weak! I deeply regretted whether my cursing at Baek Sahyun had led to this predicament.
“Calm down, Baek Sahyun!”
I’ll explain the situation slowly. First, I need to run far away from Baek Sahyun. That’s because I was now possessed by Nam Heejae from “Excessively Brilliant”!
