Talking with my family had quietly dissolved the worry that had been occupying a corner of my heart.
I now felt ready to proudly bring up the subject of the manifestation. I reached into my bag and pulled out the test results I’d carefully tucked inside.
Everyone’s attention turned to me.
I let out a long breath and set the results down on the table.
“I manifested as an omega.”
Now that it was out, my heart felt so light I couldn’t even imagine why I’d been agonizing over it. There was even a small flicker of amusement when everyone’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“Our youngest did what…?”
“Did you just say manifested?”
“Is that true?”
My father, hyung, and then even Secretary Park — I met each of their gazes one by one and gave a firm nod.
“Are you feeling all right?”
“When did this even happen? Did you get properly seen by a doctor?”
“Where did you have the examination done? Should I schedule another appointment?”
A barrage of questions came tumbling down all at once, like a press conference I’d only ever seen on TV, and I answered each one faithfully.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I didn’t have any particular manifestation symptoms either — this morning, I suddenly sensed a pheromone, so Hyunwoo arranged for me to be seen by Dr. Kim. I had the examination done and took my medication afterward.”
Sure enough, the moment I mentioned Dr. Kim — renowned in the field of trait medicine — everyone seemed to settle somewhat.
…Or not quite.
Despite what I’d said, my father looked as though he couldn’t quite believe it, and he took the test results to read through carefully himself.
After a good while, hyung snatched the results from where Father was holding them in a daze and read through them too, and it wasn’t until Secretary Park had verified them last that everyone finally calmed down even a little.
In the quiet that followed, my father’s low murmur drifted through the room like something said to himself.
“She took so much after her mother in looks — and now her trait follows her mother too.”
There was a faint undercurrent of wistfulness in his tone, but a smile rested softly on his face. Hyung’s voice followed, equally moved.
“When did my little sibling grow up like this…?”
“Congratulations, Yiyeon.”
Once I’d received Secretary Park’s congratulations too, my spirits soared without limit. Seeing everyone so happy made me feel proud, and at the same time a little regretful that I hadn’t been able to show them something to be proud of sooner.
I have to become an even better person going forward. With that in mind….
I’m going for the top of my department this semester.
Of course, I was forced to abandon that thought almost immediately.
Right, Cha Hyunwoo’s in my department….
How was it that Cha Hyunwoo, who had done nothing but train athletically until just before serious exam prep, somehow excelled at academics too? It was deeply unfair.
Still — if it means I get to see my family this happy again, I should give it a try.
“Thank you, everyone.”
Honestly, even after hearing the test results, I’d still been walking around in a daze — but receiving my family’s congratulations like this made it feel truly real.
I really did manifest as an omega…!
I should tell Cha Hyunwoo’s parents too, later. They’ll be happy for me, I’m sure. I was still lost in that warm feeling when my father asked out of nowhere:
“So — is there perhaps an alpha you’re seeing right now?”
Lim Suha, whom I had been trying hard to forget, suddenly rose to the surface of my thoughts. He was an alpha too. But we’d broken up now, so….
I couldn’t very well say that there had been an alpha but now there wasn’t. I hesitated without saying a word, and my father added to the question.
“Are you seeing Hyunwoo?”
My eyes flew open in an instant. It was the last thing I’d expected to hear.
Why is Cha Hyunwoo suddenly being brought up…?
I hadn’t even given an answer yet, but hyung was already nodding to himself in a murmur.
“Right, Hyunwoo was an alpha too.”
Cha Hyunwoo isn’t just some alpha. Cha Hyunwoo is just — Cha Hyunwoo. My childhood friend, Cha Hyunwoo. So Cha Hyunwoo is more like a… “friend who happens to be an alpha” or something.
The vivid memory of Cha Hyunwoo’s intense pheromone from that morning briefly surfaced — and I shoved it away quickly.
“You two are incredibly close, aren’t you?”
“And you’re already living together….”
…Living together?! Cha Hyunwoo and I are just childhood friends and roommates. The way he said it made it sound like the two of us had set up house together. I hadn’t known my father had such an open-minded way of thinking.
“What are you—”
“Why do you look so flustered?”
“Wh, when did I ever look flustered….”
The gaze of both of them bearing down on me was becoming unbearable, so I raised my voice.
“Cha Hyunwoo is my childhood friend!”
In that moment, a look crossed my father’s face — something like disappointment — but I pretended not to notice. What could he possibly be disappointed about? I wanted to demand an answer out of sheer bafflement, but I forced myself to deny what I’d seen. I must have imagined it.
…I had to have.
Jeong Jinhyeok quietly gazed at Jeong Yiyeon’s sleeping face for a moment, then pulled the door closed and stepped out.
He came out to the terrace for some fresh night air and stood looking out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, letting his thoughts drift.
Both sons had moved out on their own long ago, but their rooms remained exactly as they were. Kept in ready condition so they could be used any time either of them came home, and they did occasionally spend the night.
Truth be told, he hadn’t wanted to let his youngest move out — but when Yiyeon said he wanted to live on his own when he started university, he hadn’t been able to simply brush that aside. He’d always wanted to let him do whatever he wanted to do.
Even so, when Yiyeon was still young, youth had been reason enough to keep close watch with security in place.
As Yiyeon became an adult, Jinhyeok had steeled himself with the thought of respecting his privacy. Because his wife, Lee Soeun, would surely have done the same.
The sleeping face of Jeong Yiyeon, the very image of her, drifted back to him. After so long without seeing him, and now this boy had come bearing good news too.
He felt proud — and at the same time, a quiet ache.
It felt as though Yiyeon had truly left his hands now. As though the tiny child he once was had grown up all at once….
Yes. Jeong Yiyeon had been a fragile child.
Lee Soeun’s body had not been well, and he had lost her during childbirth. The child had been so weak that he had nearly suffered the grief of losing a child on top of the grief of losing his wife.
Yet that small thing had held on with everything it had, and lived. Such a precious child. Jeong Yiyeon had been.
So even if he’d thrown tantrums or acted spoiled, the way other children did, he would have indulged all of it. But Jeong Yiyeon had grown up far too quickly.
He had never once properly said anything he didn’t want to say, and had always been visibly trying hard at everything. It was plain to see that he was forever pushing himself to do better, as if he owed some great debt.
It was probably because of what happened with his wife. It had never been Yiyeon’s fault — it was not something that could be blamed on anyone. But the young child had seemed to blame himself.
That was why he had willingly accepted the help of Han Chaewon, Cha Hyunwoo’s mother. He had hoped that if Yiyeon spent time around a peer, the child might be able to breathe a little more easily.
He had first come to know Han Chaewon as a friend of his wife’s from their school days, and later they had gotten together as couples and grown close as families.
Growing up in that environment, Jeong Yiyeon and Cha Hyunwoo had naturally grown close as well. Thanks to that, Yiyeon had grown up a little brighter, a little more like a child.
Jeong Jinhyeok felt a redness creeping to the corners of his eyes and covered his face with one hand.
That child, who had been born so small and was nothing but frailty — had even manifested now.
He was simply glad.
The swell of pride filled him past what he could hold, and just as his eyes began to sting—
A ringtone came from his pocket. He cleared his throat for no real reason and checked the screen.
[Director Cha Haejun]
Cha Hyunwoo’s father. That man had never quite had the makings of a gentleman. He had only been briefly thinking about Yiyeon’s childhood, and now here was a call arriving with impeccable timing. Given that he was currently living abroad, the coincidence was even more striking.
Jeong Jinhyeok answered without hesitation.
“Director Cha, calling at this hour — what’s the occasion?”
His tone came out higher than usual without his intending it, a reflection of the emotion still brimming inside him.
— What occasion? I just felt like reaching out. But you sound good. Something happen?
“Well — Yiyeon manifested as an omega.”
He had always assumed that even as a parent he’d remain thoroughly stoic. But bragging about one’s child, it seemed, was simply unavoidable — given that it was the very first thing that came tumbling out of his mouth without the slightest restraint.
— Yiyeon manifested? Isn’t he in university right now? He and Hyunwoo are the same age, aren’t they.
“I was surprised too. He’s always been delicate and slow to develop since childhood — seems the manifestation came late for the same reason.”
— Well, this calls for a celebration. I’ll have to come back to Korea and see everyone soon.
They had just finished a lavish dinner as a family with a cake prepared in honor of the occasion. Not that there was any reason to turn down another gathering. Congratulations were a joy to receive no matter when they came. He accepted cheerfully and let out a small laugh.
— President Jeong, doesn’t this mean we need to keep the promise we made before?
“What promise?”
— Didn’t our families agree to have the children marry if they manifested as alpha and omega?
Right — so they had. Jeong Jinhyeok nodded slowly, retracing the memory. Back when neither of them had children yet, the two couples had tossed that idea around playfully. A verbal agreement was still an agreement, of course.
“For my part, I’d be perfectly fine with it as long as the children are on board. Tell Hyunwoo to treat Yiyeon well. From what I heard, he arranged for Yiyeon to be seen by Dr. Kim today because of the manifestation. I did end up calling Dr. Kim separately afterward and making my own appointment, but still….”
— Hyunwoo only did what was natural.
“Natural, you say — we’re always in Hyunwoo’s debt, I tell you. Looking at things today, it seems like Hyunwoo was the one who drove Yiyeon to the family gathering too.”
The familiar license plate number from the garage system notification came back to him.
— If anything, we’re the ones grateful to Yiyeon. Hyunwoo can be a bit blunt, can’t he? But Yiyeon has always been warm and attentive to us. And on top of that, he kept Hyunwoo from going off the rails in high school. Saying it out loud like this — aren’t those two just made for each other?
Made for each other. Yes — thinking back on the times the two of them used to come by the house together, that phrase did seem to fit them rather well. Jeong Jinhyeok found himself nodding without realizing it.
— While we’re on the subject, shouldn’t we at least set a date for the families to meet formally? That gives us a reason to see each other’s faces and celebrate all at once — how wonderful would that be.
At the jovial laughter in his voice, Jeong Jinhyeok answered readily.
“That’s not a bad idea at all. I’ll have Secretary Park look into some suitable dates.”
— Well, I’m all for it. If things go well, there could be a great family occasion this year.
“That would be a fine thing.”
— Should I start calling you father-in-law instead of President Jeong?
“Ha — that wouldn’t be so bad either.”
And so, the call between the two prospective in-laws stretched on well into the night.
