He missed the timing to respond because he followed into the lounge that arrived quickly. But Muyoung couldn’t release his tightly closed lips in embarrassment and confusion even until he received the staff’s guidance and sat down.
The lounge was as Dowon had mentioned—the distance between tables was far, and the window where the surrounding scenery came in had a wonderful night view. It was an environment that couldn’t be better for the two to comfortably have a conversation. No particular words were exchanged except for confirming preferences while ordering simple food and wine. It seemed they could have a proper conversation only after the work where staff inevitably approached close to the table was over.
It was an unexpected meeting he couldn’t tell anyone about, but the person named Han Dowon was unique. He possessed a strong and high-pressure atmosphere emanating from the position of a company CEO, while also having an unexpected side of casually delivering unexpected jokes. Although Muyoung was still dazed about how he had come to be in this place now.
“Since we won’t drink to the point of getting drunk, wine will be better.”
“Yes, it’s fine. But what kind of talk did you want to have……”
He didn’t think he had fallen that deeply asleep. Considering that it had become evening from the scenery outside that had darkened, he could tell the road from the trait agency that had been on the outskirts of the city to this hotel was quite far. It seemed it might have been because fatigue had accumulated knowingly or unknowingly, so Muyoung wanted to finish the conversation to the extent of not being rude and go home.
“I have a bit of an eccentric personality.”
“……Yes?”
“If you want to run away like that, I become more mischievous.”
“……”
Muyoung, who was about to bring the glass with wine and take a sip, hesitated. At Dowon’s unexpected response, he unnecessarily read the mood. It also seemed like himself becoming like this and answering anything when looking at the man across from him was as if he was possessed by something. He also wondered if everyone became like this when someone holding very great power in the industry was right in front of their nose.
Muyoung brought over the wine glass in front of him and wet his lips in needless anxiety.
“Isn’t it uncomfortable living as an actor?”
The words tossed out didn’t hide any other intention besides curiosity. Muyoung recalled the time when he first started acting and the memory of first seeing his face at a movie theater. After checking with his eyes the scene that appeared for a few minutes on screen, he diligently continued the life of receiving roles, acting, and filming as if attending school. And acting was doing work he could do.
“……Well, I don’t think it was particularly uncomfortable.”
“Well, you had no scandals and no controversies about the past particularly. You’ve been consistently doing works in your own way, haven’t you? Even so, you should be greedy for a lead role now.”
“Just not having work cut off is something to be grateful for.”
At Muyoung’s calm tone as he answered while shaking his head, Dowon couldn’t erase his entirely puzzled expression.
“But why did you deliberately even hide the fact that you’re an omega?”
Now that he heard it, that was right. Although he had never thought deeply about it until now, Muyoung realized Dowon’s question was a doubt that would naturally arise in general. Since there wasn’t a particularly great reason to the extent of having to make up an answer, it seemed better to just say the facts as they were.
“I didn’t think at all that there was a need to reveal it. There was no inconvenience normally either. The office didn’t intentionally hide my trait. I didn’t insist either. Because they don’t know at all.”
“Even the agency doesn’t know that Lee Muyoung-ssi is an omega.”
“……Yes.”
“It’s definitely different from expectations.”
“What……”
Dowon gazed at Muyoung while holding a sip of wine from the glass placed in front of him. Muyoung looked back at such Dowon with an emotionless expression, then turned his gaze outside the window because it became difficult to endure the silence created by the interrupted conversation.
Muyoung’s appearance with clean skin creating clear lines following the dimly settling light was not lacking to draw people’s gazes. When he only saw Muyoung on screen, he didn’t know, but rather he had beautiful lines to the extent that it was puzzling he was only consistently doing supporting roles.
“Usually, people would think it’s because of disadvantages. Because most people who hide their traits were like that.”
“Disadvantages?”
“Whether alpha or omega, they’re minorities, and especially omegas still face severe discrimination. Most celebrities who reveal it and are active are either being protected quite well or are properly using their traits—it’ll be one of the two. Anyway, those who hid it were all omegas.”
Muyoung also knew because he had heard the stories. In the case of alphas, in fact, rather they might receive envy or jealousy but there wasn’t significant damage that appeared. But in the case of omegas, there were rumors with content that they often received demands for threats, stalkers, sexual entertainment, and so on.
The case of an idol who debuted young having to independently separate alone when a live broadcast was canceled because they suddenly manifested as an omega in the waiting room was mild, and the story that they were knowingly or unknowingly used for entertainment in the shadows was always circulated with initials regardless of whether it was true or not.
“I… manifested late and I’m very recessive, so if I took care of suppressants, there was no inconvenience. There have been no difficult things until now either.”
“It’s not that the agency made you hide being an omega, but just that Lee Muyoung-ssi didn’t feel the need to reveal it. Rather, an excuse that it was anticipating problems would arise if revealed seems more believable.”
Muyoung was flustered at Dowon’s speculation he couldn’t respond to. He knew too that it was a flimsy excuse. But there was also no reason to lay out his story in detail to deliberately resolve another’s doubt. The company not knowing was right. The only people who knew he was an omega were CEO Choi and that person he had already broken up with.
“……That’s.”
“Of course, I want to know the reason for hiding it.”
“Why… do you want to know?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me.”
Dowon’s gaze, which had plainly shrugged his shoulders and put down the glass, piercingly turned toward him. Even in the added words ‘You don’t have to worry about that since there won’t be anything to tell the agency,’ he felt even arrogance that there was nothing to be concerned about in the tone that didn’t change and the expression that truly seemed unconcerned. It was rather surprising to the extent that such a person was allocating this much time to him.
He was automatically reassured at the words saying he wouldn’t force him to tell circumstances he couldn’t speak of or reveal that he was an omega. Although Muyoung himself was more surprised at what he believed in a person he met for the first time to be like this.
“Because it seems Muyoung-ssi will have to continue being conscious of me that way.”
“You know, but I, so… I’m not thinking of accepting this matching……”
“If you really want to attach a reason, let’s say I fell for you. Because this is true.”
Was what he just heard proper language?
Muyoung was dumbfounded at the conclusion of the story that he had no idea where it would bounce. Because the thought he had inadvertently was revealed in his expression as it was, rather the one who burst into laughter was Dowon. Of course, Muyoung, who was only looking without being able to sympathize with such Dowon at all, was gradually at his limit physically too.
Just a person he should meet and part with briefly for one day. Why on earth was the man in front of his eyes having a wasteful argument with him?
“……Does it make you laugh?”
“Then what, should I cry? Since I’m in a situation of clinging to someone who’s going to reject me, crying wouldn’t be bad either, but I don’t have much talent for acting.”
“No, CEO Han-nim.”
“Yes, is there a wrong part?”
“Haa……”
At the same time as the sigh that burst out automatically, his head throbbed. He had never thought they wouldn’t communicate this much. He regretted half-heartedly once more that the headache-inducing person was today’s meeting partner. He felt foolish for not finding out sooner whether there was really a way to refuse by revealing to the agency that he had no intention to meet.
“It’ll be better to think nicely. For both Muyoung-ssi and for me.”
“……Why on earth are you doing this to me?”
Muyoung’s voice, which lost strength to the extent of being close to whispering, was pitiful at a glance. Even though it was not a bad place for a drinking session for two alone at a first meeting, Muyoung didn’t have the leisure to drink comfortably. The wine in the glass as Muyoung’s portion had also disappeared only very slightly as if protesting this situation.
Dowon filled wine in his own glass again by himself, then lightly held it in his mouth and slowly swallowed it down his throat. Feeling the scent of fruit that was perfectly ripe after an appropriate amount of time passed since opening the bottle spreading in his mouth, he said nonchalantly.
“I told you. That I liked you enough not to want to end it in just one day today.”
Due to unprecedented fatigue, he wondered if he had misheard something, but as expected, it was only Muyoung’s hope alone. At the feeling of heat rising even to the nape of his neck, he gulped down the wine in front of his eyes in one go. He knew it wasn’t alcohol to the extent of getting drunk. It was just a feeling hoping it would at least be a small excuse for his face that had clearly turned red.
* * *
For some reason, his shoulders were heavy like the day after getting completely drunk. Muyoung roughly rotated his joints and got up to sit from the bed. Even though he was moving his body as slowly as possible, his eyelids that didn’t wake from sleep were heavy. After picking up the phone plugged into the charger to check the time and stretching greatly once more, he could finally escape from the bed.
Come to think of it, he didn’t remember when was the last day he could sleep this soundly. Especially after experiencing the breakup with Jinho, even more so. Was the previous day that tiring to that extent? His body was feeling its limit even because of the schedule.
It was yesterday when he had to be tense all day, different from the expectation that he would just convey his intention and return home. Perhaps as soon as he came home after escaping that situation, he immediately fled into sleep. No matter what he speculated, since he confirmed he was no longer in the same physical state as before, Muyoung stopped thinking deeply.
