This was one of the issues I had to come up with a solution for at some point anyway. At the end of the trip, Baek Sahyun had covered me with his pheromones so I could act as an alpha now, but it was unclear how I’d navigate difficulties in the future.
Think about it. What if my relationship with Baek Sahyun went completely wrong? Then wouldn’t it become impossible to act as an alpha through Baek Sahyun?
Moreover, I couldn’t cling to Baek Sahyun like crazy the way Nam Heejae had. Honestly, it was better to somehow settle such an abnormal relationship and find a new method.
Wouldn’t it be appropriate to discuss it with Nam Hyungman-ssi? But while I was already struggling to focus on my studies, I didn’t want to deal with personal issues too. Nam Hyungman-ssi was also quite formidable. What if the situation just became more of a mess? He even disliked Baek Sahyun noticeably.
“Come to think of it.”
That’s when it happened. Chae Eunwoo picked up two chopsticks and put them down aggressively. Only then could I escape from my thoughts. I’d been distracted elsewhere the whole time with a person in front of me. Unintentionally, sorry feelings welled up.
“I haven’t seen Sahyun hyung at all lately? Is it because he’s a graduating senior?”
Chae Eunwoo asked casually while briefly gauging my reaction.
“Mm, probably.”
I nodded reluctantly. I only learned now that he was a graduating senior. No wonder. He’d been staying holed up at home the whole time—was it because graduation was right around the corner?
…Then he is busy, right?
I suddenly remembered the helpers at the mansion knocking on Baek Sahyun’s door. They anxiously kept telling him to show his face to the chairman.
The image of Baek Sahyun occasionally scrolling through documents of unknown nature on his tablet also troubled my mind. It was just speculation, but it seemed like he was currently preparing to inherit the family business.
Even four bodies wouldn’t be enough while worrying about both company work and studies. Then why did he bother bringing me into his house despite all that? To refresh his boring daily life?
With my shabby deductive abilities, this kind of explanation was possible.
According to the setting of <Excessively Brilliant>, Baek Sahyun regards family issues as ‘annoying and bothersome things.’ In the midst of that, since he had to stay cooped up in his room just flipping through documents, he might have called me, someone easy to deal with, to have his fun. But even so, wasn’t this too helpful for me?
To be frank, it was kindness that could absolutely never be given unless you were close friends.
Confused, I swallowed my embarrassment and sought advice from Chae Eunwoo.
“Eunwoo-ya. What if, hypothetically.”
“Yes?”
“How would you feel if you saw someone spending time on you without compensation?”
Chae Eunwoo, who had been about to scrape up rice and bring it to his mouth, stopped his actions.
Eunwoo, who had been staring intently at my suddenly serious face, soon nodded as if telling me to say more. The rice gathered roundly in the spoon slipped smoothly into his small mouth. I continued speaking.
“First, that person…”
“Mm, yes.”
“…is just, you know, not exactly ordinary in personality. Very moody and all.”
Naturally, just being very moody couldn’t fully describe that destructive personality. However, if I added more explanations, it seemed like it would only shock Chae Eunwoo, so I stopped there and closed my mouth.
Chae Eunwoo chewed his rice deliciously while also chewing over my question, then after swallowing it all, answered indifferently.
“What’s there to nitpick about?”
“……”
“This bastard must really fucking like me—I’d think that first.”
Uh…, my brain momentarily stopped at the answer that dug into the essence. Normally that thought should come first, but perhaps due to the suspicion that developed after possession, I’d been busy looking for hidden intentions first.
But the sentence ‘Baek Sahyun likes me’ gave me goosebumps somewhere. The words ‘Baek Sahyun’ and ‘likes’ just didn’t fit together at all. Regardless of who the target was, the idea of him falling into pure emotion only felt like an enormous contradiction.
Just as I was seriously pondering repeatedly, Chae Eunwoo stroked his chin and muttered.
“That’s funny. I didn’t know Sahyun hyung was the pure love type.”
I almost spat out the water I was drinking. How did he know it was Baek Sahyun? Was it obvious? Seeing my dumbfounded face, Chae Eunwoo smiled with coolly folded eyes.
The guy who had been eating peacefully just moments ago changed the atmosphere, so my tension increased too. Chae Eunwoo’s hand crossed the table and approached me. Then it completely covered the back of my hand that was on the table.
“Don’t give in easily like a pushover. That’s not your original type anyway.”
“……”
“You didn’t easily open your heart to me either.”
His voice sounded extremely prickly compared to usual. He was using formal speech, but perhaps because his momentum was fierce, it didn’t even feel respectful. The unwelcome relationship advice opened the floodgates.
“You can’t trust alphas’ hearts. They act like they’ll pluck down the stars and moon for you, but when they get bored, they throw people away as if asking ‘when did that happen?’ It’s exactly like treating someone as a toy they played with for just one season.”
Chae Eunwoo was an omega. From what he said next, I could easily speculate what kind of alphas he’d met so far.
“Do you think I’ve only experienced that once or twice?”
“……”
“I don’t want to admit it, but I’ve denied it too. There must be a decent alpha. I’ll meet one if I keep living. Not an alpha who treats me like a doll being drawn to pheromones or whatever, not those fucking unlucky alphas.”
It seemed he’d only met trash. I felt sorry for him. All alphas might be total garbage, but beyond all that, it was regrettable that a guy who worked hard like Chae Eunwoo received such treatment.
To meet an alpha who cherishes, embraces, and accepts you. To meet a real gem. Then suddenly this doubt arose.
‘Weren’t Chae Eunwoo and Nam Heejae in that kind of relationship too? They were in a pre-dating relationship, just without saying the words “let’s date.”‘
Then I wondered if Nam Heejae was also included among the ‘unlucky alphas’ Chae Eunwoo was talking about. After all, Eunwoo must be mistaking Nam Heejae’s trait for alpha.
But it wasn’t appropriate timing for me to ask here ‘were we also in a similar relationship?’ And the question itself felt impolite. Chae Eunwoo sighed as if for me to hear.
“Baek Sahyun won’t be any different either.”
The way he addressed Baek Sahyun had changed from ‘Sahyun hyung’ to ‘Baek Sahyun’ at some point. Chae Eunwoo seemed to want to warn me about the danger of alphas. But I’m an alpha too.
“Those alphas who can freeze to death, their thought structure is different from people like me from the start. They consider themselves born excellent and superior. So they look down on and disregard other people.”
Chae Eunwoo spat out cynically.
“Especially if you’re an omega, they think everyone will crawl between their legs.”
“…Excuse me, Eunwoo-ya.”
I asked after deliberating.
“Am I not an alpha?”
I didn’t ask because I was curious about the answer, but to remind him. Then Chae Eunwoo fell silent with his lips, which had been spouting passionate words, opened slightly. I wanted to put a piece of bulgogi in there, but there was no meat to put in since he and I had emptied it all in an instant. Should I order one more serving?
Since Chae Eunwoo’s silence lasted quite long, I slowly explained.
“I’m not saying this because I don’t want to hear alpha insults. Just, I was wondering if I’m also included in those kinds of alphas you mentioned.”
“……”
“Did I also…, hurt you like that?”
You never know. Like the relationship between Baek Sahyun and Nam Heejae, there might be a story hidden that wasn’t described in the book. But Chae Eunwoo strongly denied it.
“No!”
He poured out in an urgent tone.
“Hyung wasn’t like that. If you were, I wouldn’t have… had the mistaken idea that an alpha like hyung would be okay.”
Mistaken idea. That word lingered in my ears. Chae Eunwoo stretched going “ahhh,” then said in a pleasant tone:
“I thought you liked me, but you pulled away as if you didn’t want to get involved, and treated me exactly like a materialistic omega.”
It was a penetrating remark. And it was mostly true. Feeling that I’d hurt him, sorry feelings came. I opened my mouth wanting to apologize, but Chae Eunwoo blocked me.
“Chae Eun…”
“If it’s an apology, it’s fine. Honestly, I am materialistic.”
He muttered somewhat self-deprecatingly.
“It’s true that I tried to catch a decent alpha and improve my situation. It’s true that I didn’t want to miss a good alpha like hyung.”
Then he advised me, who looked apologetic.
“But, hyung. No matter how materialistic I seem, please keep this in mind. Baek Sahyun really isn’t it. I’m two hundred percent better than him.”
I couldn’t voice anything to comfort him saying ‘how are you materialistic,’ since I had doubts when I first met Chae Eunwoo too. But now my thoughts were very different.
Sticking close together with Chae Eunwoo for nearly two weeks, I learned.
“It looks like we’ve finished eating, shall we get up now?”
Chae Eunwoo is a pretty decent guy.
So even the next day after parting with Chae Eunwoo, while taking public transportation to Baek Sahyun’s house, I couldn’t stop thinking about Chae Eunwoo the whole time. What ending would he get as this novel became twisted?
I hoped it would be a not-bad ending. As I said, he is a decent guy. Later when Chae Eunwoo meets a good person and has a wedding, I wanted to be able to go give a generous congratulatory gift.
If I remained attached to this body until then, I should ask Nam Hyungman-ssi to buy him a refrigerator too.
