“Hyung, you’re here?”
Lee Haram greeted me warmly.
Even though it was the same “you’re here,” the warmth was worlds apart from anyone at my house.
‘No, no. I decided to stop thinking about it.’
But the moment you’re told not to think about an elephant, that’s when you think of an elephant.
Lately, my head has been full of Baek Seolheon.
“Whoa!”
Just then, I nearly tripped over something and Baek Seolheon was momentarily pushed out of my mind.
“Haram-ah, why is your studio apartment like this…”
“Ah, sorry! Just carefully step around and come in. I was trying to organize everything before you came, hyung, but things got out of hand.”
“Why do you have so many clothes?”
Lee Haram’s place was packed full of boxes and plastic packaging.
It looked like he was about to move somewhere.
“I brought them from my part-time job.”
“What kind of part-time job?”
“A fitting part-time job.”
“Fitting?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? Did I not mention it? Wait a sec.”
Haram handed me his phone.
“Ta-da!”
On the screen was a street fashion photoshoot of Haram.
Seeing Haram standing in front of the camera with professional styling, I was struck anew by what an incredible beauty he was.
“I got an offer through SNS and did it. These are leftover stock they gave me and sponsored items.”
“You even got sponsorships?”
“Yeah. Hyung, if there’s anything you want, feel free to take it. Try on the shoes for size. You’re one or two sizes smaller than me, right?”
When I looked at the site where the photos were posted, it was a fairly well-known street fashion shopping platform.
Among the thousands of reviews, a whole community had formed about the model with comments like “That alpha model deceived me. Pants length alterations absolutely necessary ffs,” “So who is that blonde model?”, and “Found his SNS ID lololol.”
He really was an influencer with followers in the thousands.
His SNS account that had been private among friends was switched to public this year, and his follower count had been rising at an incredible speed—it seemed like he’d easily surpass 10K soon.
“So. Hyung.”
After hastily making a spot to sit in the living room, Haram suddenly spoke with a solemn expression.
“What was up with that weird guy back then?”
He was talking about Baek Jeongwoo.
“He talked really strangely. Honestly, that person really rubbed me the wrong way.”
“You’re still going on about something from a few days ago? I already told you that day. He’s just an acquaintance.”
“That’s exactly it! What kind of ‘just an acquaintance’! Why did he come all the way to your school to pick a fight?”
“It’s nothing serious. It’s been handled, so don’t worry.”
In truth, nothing had been handled at all.
But I didn’t want to inform a pure soul like Haram about the messy affairs of a chaebol family.
“If you’re saying that much… I won’t ask anymore, but if you get involved with weird people again, tell me. I’ll kick them out.”
At those words, I suddenly recalled our middle school days.
Back then, Haram (in his first year of middle school) who had returned to Korea after manifesting as a dominant alpha, confidently proclaimed that he’d protect me or whatever. That sight had been both cute and cool.
“Okay, thanks.”
When I placed my hand on his golden hair and ruffled it, Haram smiled brightly like a happy large dog.
“So then, Haram-ah. How will today’s pheromone lesson proceed…”
“No! The lesson is secondary!”
“…But I came here for a lesson, so how can you make that secondary?”
Haram, as if he’d never relaxed his expression, returned to a solemn face and shouted at me.
“What are you going to do about an omega, seriously!”
“An omega? Oh right, a partner? I’d forgotten about that.”
“How could you forget that?! Are you crazy?”
If he asked whether I was crazy, well, with all the crazy incidents happening one after another lately, I did feel like I was going crazy.
Haram hunched his shoulders and asked me cautiously.
“Are there any signs of rut?”
When I showed a question mark on my face, Haram said with a reddening face.
“Like, you know, feeling itchy, and constantly wanting to… to do it! Stop making me say these things with my own mouth! It’s embarrassing!”
Toward Haram who was covering his flushed face with his sweaty palms, I said.
“Not really, not yet? I’m normal.”
“So that’s why you had no sense of crisis. Haah, you haven’t experienced rut before so that’s why… We need to somehow do something quickly while you’re still normal.”
At his concern, which was greater than the person actually involved, I too began to feel anxious.
Then Haram muttered to himself, “It’s fortunate I was there when you got examined, hyung.”
Could it be that the reason the doctor told me to bring Haram wasn’t to check if I was learning pheromone control well… but to attach a monitor to me? Suddenly I had reasonable suspicions.
“Gunho hyung, I’ve been thinking about it continuously since then… I think the best thing would be to hurry and get introduced to an omega.”
I think so too, but the problem is where and from whom to get that introduction.
Who on earth would set up such a bothersome relationship for a random alpha man?
“Actually, I do have a trustworthy omega friend nearby…”
As expected of a super extrovert. Had he already looked into candidates?
But I felt reluctant inside. For two main reasons—first, I felt guilty about meeting someone in their early twenties.
And second, of course, was the gender issue.
All this time, I too had received attention from omegas.
But even at 24 years old (+a), I couldn’t help the resistance rising from my core…
“She’s a girl.”
“…!”
…A, a girl?!
“I heard from Jaewook hyung. That your type is beta women.”
“……”
“She’s the only omega girl among my close friends, but she’s a good person.”
…Damn it, why didn’t I think of that existence?
In my life, when it came to omegas, they were naturally men.
First of all, my adoptive father was a male omega, and after that, every omega I had any connection with was male. Plus, I was so conscious of this being the world of a 19+ gay novel that I hadn’t thought of that existence at all.
Female omega.
There’s no difference in appearance from ordinary women as I know them in common sense. Except for the presence of pheromones and heat cycles.
“We’ve been close since elementary school, so she’s trustworthy. Her personality is good, she keeps her mouth shut, she handles pheromones well. And… she’s dated a lot of alphas. Oh, she’s single now though.”
If she’s Haram’s friend, she’d be two or three years different from my physical age.
And if it’s Haram’s guarantee, I can trust her more than anyone.
“It’s hard, isn’t it? If you can’t do it, hyung…”
“Okay. Contact her for me.”
“I’ll find another way… What?!”
There was no reason to refuse.
‘If I collapse in that disgraceful state again, I really won’t have the face to see Seolheon.’
I couldn’t keep putting it off with excuses about mental age or whatever and risk a real disaster.
I felt sorry toward the woman for essentially deceiving her about my age, but there’s no way she’d believe the unrealistic phenomenon of possession.
I could only meet her with gratitude and apology in my heart.
“A-are you really okay with this? She’s an omega, you know?”
“It’s fine. Even if I don’t know about omegas, I’m not completely inexperienced with women.”
“What?”
Oops. I thoughtlessly mentioned my previous life.
“H-hyung, you, you, you had a girlfriend? Wh-wh-when…?”
My previous life came to mind after a long time.
It was a girl my age I’d met while working part-time at a wedding hall or restaurant, somewhere like that.
We met a few times and broke up quickly, so I could barely remember her face or name.
“I dated her for about three months, I guess. She dumped me.”
“Y-you, Gunho hyung, got dumped?! Wh-who is she, that incredible person…?”
“I don’t really remember. Anyway, that’s done with, so please connect us well. Haram-ah.”
Haram clearly wanted to ask more, but after a long silence, he finally nodded with difficulty.
“F-for now… I’ll send… a message…”
As if he was reluctant about something, his fingers typing the message kept stopping, stuttering repeatedly.
I was curious what content he sent, but I didn’t bother asking.
“She’s a bit slow to reply. I’ll let you know when she contacts me later…”
Just then, a notification sound rang from his phone immediately.
“It came right away? That’s unusual?”
Haram, who checked the content, looked at me.
“She’s asking me to send a photo of you, hyung?”
“Send it.”
At my answer, for some reason with a disgruntled face, he rummaged through his phone gallery.
Since he liked taking photos, there were many photos with me accidentally included.
About 5 seconds after selecting and sending one.
“Huh? A call?”
The screen flashed and the ringtone rang out.
Haram connected the call with a dubious expression.
“Yeah, Park Narin. Why…”
– Fuck! Totally possible!!!
Haram reflexively pulled his ear away from the phone.
Even though it wasn’t on speaker mode, the voice was incredibly loud.
– Call him right now! Where should we meet? I’ll accommodate everything for him! Everything!
“……”
– Crazy Lee Haram! I love you, my friend!
“…Is she really a decent friend?”
At my question, Haram looked at me with an uncertain expression.
* * *
“Hello. I’m Narin!”
The very next day.
I met with Haram’s friend.
