For a while, words wouldn’t come out, as if a fish bone was stuck in my throat. After letting several seconds pass while just opening and closing my mouth, Baek Sahyun looked down at me as if I was pathetic.
“I’m asking what those texts mean, Heejae.”
An extremely arrogant tone and expression. The haughtiness unique to those in a superior position. My toes curled involuntarily, but to avoid showing that I was scared, I hardened my face as much as possible.
Then Baek Sahyun responded with a gaze so cold it gave me chills.
“…This is driving me crazy. He’s scary even when he’s not saying anything.”
Perhaps because he’s a character in a novel, he lacks humanity, lacks humanity.
I was certain that Baek Sahyun was finding my attitude amusing. Yes. It must be funny. There must be a certain pleasure in holding all the cards and slowly tightening the noose around your opponent’s neck.
Baek Sahyun was originally a fox-like bastard, so even when educating Chae Eunwoo, he would instill fear in this way.
“I don’t like asking things multiple times, Nam Heejae.”
At Baek Sahyun’s words, I bit down hard on my lips.
“Childish bastard.”
Despite just being a fictional character! Unlike him, I was a person who lived in reality. Being placed on Baek Sahyun’s palm and rolled around like this… it was too humiliating and miserable for me, a real human.
Still, I should acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged.
“Well, what happened was…”
Haah. I drew a sigh from deep inside. The Baek Sahyun I knew was like a devil. I honestly didn’t want to make an enemy of someone who wouldn’t hesitate to commit all sorts of evil acts to get what he wanted.
To think I’ve been backed into a corner despite knowing the plot’s development. It was a moment when my situation felt truly pathetic. It seemed like I was just an inadequate guy, whether in reality or in a novel.
“Is this why Haesu would laugh and say she’d never seen anyone as stupid as me?”
As I was silent, sinking into self-loathing, Baek Sahyun suddenly bent at the waist. It seems like he was trying to make eye contact with me, but when I slightly avoided his gaze, he firmly grabbed my chin.
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t stop a groan from escaping. What should I do? Though I don’t know the circumstances of those texts, my life was too precious to give up on making excuses.
Moreover, since this wasn’t even my body, I felt guilty about damaging such a tall and handsome body. A feeling of uneasiness and discomfort.
“I, I really don’t know anything about this.”
There’s no choice. Let me deny it for now. A determination washed over me to insist that these were just one-sided texts from Chae Eunwoo, and that I knew nothing about them.
Even if it was true that Nam Heejae had arranged to meet with Chae Eunwoo, it would be difficult for Baek Sahyun to distinguish truth from falsehood. Since there were only two parties involved, Nam Heejae and Chae Eunwoo, wouldn’t he need testimony from both sides?
But since Chae Eunwoo seems to be in a place beyond Baek Sahyun’s reach… It was while I was spinning my blockhead, as acknowledged by Jang Haesu.
“Go ahead.”
Baek Sahyun suddenly dropped his hand that had been gripping my chin. My sharply released chin stung painfully.
I froze, unable to believe Baek Sahyun’s generous treatment. Thinking I might have misheard, I even dug into my ear. At that, Baek Sahyun firmly pinched my earlobe.
“What are you doing, it’s disgusting.”
The pain wasn’t small due to his nails digging in.
“Ah!”
After letting out a short groan, I hastily shook my head. Fortunately, Baek Sahyun willingly withdrew his hand. He soon delivered the finishing blow.
“I said go ahead.”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t go deaf just because you got a little wet, did you? I said go ahead, Heejae. To Eunwoo.”
My body and mind were too tired to react readily. I was only amazed by Baek Sahyun’s character, dismissing a moment of horrible pain as just “getting a little wet.”
But I couldn’t tell if this was truly permission to leave, so I found myself hesitating endlessly. I also don’t know. He might laugh like a devil, seeing me quickly accept his offer, thinking this is his chance.
And then, as in the novel, he would say something like this:
“You fell for it again? Oh, how pitiful.”
This is what Chae Eunwoo would hear whenever he fell for Baek Sahyun’s tricks. Baek Sahyun seems to have teased Chae Eunwoo with such low-level lines at least ten times.
“Take it.”
I came to my senses at the voice while reminiscing about the original content. Baek Sahyun, who had checked the text history in reverse order, held out the phone to me as if there was nothing more to see.
“You should keep your appointment time. Don’t make the person you like wait.”
As someone who doesn’t know the content of the texts exchanged between the real Nam Heejae and Chae Eunwoo, I felt repeatedly frustrated.
Like? Does Chae Eunwoo like Nam Heejae?
…Ah.
Come to think of it, even in the original work, Chae Eunwoo launched quite an aggressive love offensive towards Nam Heejae. Following him around like a puppy and wagging his tail, until Nam Heejae eventually felt affection too.
The reason Baek Sahyun became interested in Chae Eunwoo was also because of Nam Heejae’s remarks.
“Recently, there’s someone I’m getting curious about.”
Despite being set up as best friends, there weren’t as many scenes of Baek Sahyun and Nam Heejae together as I expected, but when they did appear together occasionally, they would share their love situations like any close friends.
“Baek Sahyun, what would you do if you were me?”
Nam Heejae subtly sought advice, and Baek Sahyun felt doubtful. He felt subtle omega pheromones from Nam Heejae and wondered, but was surprised when his guess was right.
“You’ve even met an omega?”
At that time, Baek Sahyun was genuinely curious, without any ulterior motives.
In other words, he was puzzled. Nam Heejae persistently interacted only with betas or alphas, saying that omegas were disgusting. But hearing his words, Nam Heejae scrunched up his face and snapped.
“What are you saying? An omega? Why would I meet an omega? Just hearing about it makes me feel bad.”
That was the beginning. Baek Sahyun laughed at Nam Heejae’s fierce outburst.
“How can you say that when you’re covered in omega pheromones?”
“There are plenty of omegas trying desperately to throw themselves at me. It must have rubbed off from some kid who was hanging around.”
But Baek Sahyun knew that for such strong pheromones to be detected, they must have had very close proximity and quite intimate physical contact. They must have at least been sitting right next to each other, looking at one another.
“Eunwoo is different from those low-class omegas. He’s not the pathetic type trying to impress alphas to get ahead. That kid… he’s not even interested in things like alphas or omegas.”
“Really?”
“He was the first person to look at me so transparently. It felt liberating.”
But Nam Heejae steadfastly defended Chae Eunwoo.
From the beginning, he was a fake alpha, so he couldn’t even feel pheromones. It’s the way of the world that speaking carelessly about areas you don’t understand leads to trouble.
“By the way, Baek Sahyun, I guess you’re past your prime too. Even mistaking a beta for an omega.”
Nam Heejae, emphasizing how pure and innocent Chae Eunwoo was, eventually touched Baek Sahyun’s fiery competitive spirit.
Thus, Baek Sahyun became curious about the omega who had Nam Heejae’s trust.
“Nngh…!”
“Seeing how crazy you are for alpha pheromones, you’re definitely an omega.”
He sought out Chae Eunwoo, who had struggled to enter Korea University from an unfortunate family background.
“I wonder why Nam Heejae thinks you’re a beta.”
“You bastard, handling pheromones like this…?”
Chae Eunwoo’s tragedy began from such a trivial starting point.
In fact, at first, Baek Sahyun didn’t have much romantic interest in Chae Eunwoo either. He just wanted to know what kind of tricks this shameless omega who had bewitched Nam Heejae was playing.
So the two started off in a relationship close to hating and being annoyed with each other. It could be seen as a battle of wills or a psychological warfare between two men with strong temperaments.
After that, well… it was nothing more or less than a parade of Baek Sahyun’s bizarre obsession after falling in love with Chae Eunwoo.
“I need to meet Chae Eunwoo first.”
After numerous thoughts, I made my decision. I desperately needed him even to find out what damned point in time I had been possessed into.
After all, it would be much safer and more convenient to get information through Chae Eunwoo than through Baek Sahyun. Only by knowing which part of the beginning, development, climax, and conclusion I had reached could I establish a proper strategy.
“Can I really go?”
But I couldn’t help but ask stupidly. Baek Sahyun’s expressionless face was gleaming with fierce light in his eyes, like someone about to strangle my neck.
Unlike his eyes that weren’t smiling, he slightly twisted the corners of his lips upward and answered in a gentle tone.
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“Uh… okay. Th-thank you?”
“No matter how urgent you feel, change your clothes first. You’ll catch a cold if you go out all wet.”
Baek Sahyun looked me up and down completely and then strode out of the shower room. Just as I was feeling a sense of deflation at the anticlimactic ending, he casually turned back to me and asked.
“Are you going to stay there?”
There was forceful power in his voice. I quickly moved my feet, saying “of course not.” As I stood beside Baek Sahyun, he finally curved his eyes like crescent moons.
“Be quick about it. I told you I don’t like drunk people.”
Goosebumps rose at the quietly added warning. Baek Sahyun grabbed the nape of my neck, which had stiffened up, and headed to the bedroom. After being painfully thrown onto the floor, I chewed on a small curse.
Never in my life had I met someone with such bad hand manners.
As I stood up irritably, Baek Sahyun passed by me and approached the bed. Sitting on the mattress, he leisurely placed one arm over the bed’s headboard and commanded.
“Now change your clothes.”
