“…I don’t think I disliked it.”
At that answer, Gyeonwoo’s fierce expression changed to surprise. He never imagined words saying he didn’t dislike an Alpha would come from Hyowoo’s mouth.
“He was kind, and a good person. So… well, I didn’t dislike it.”
When he honestly opened up and smiled sheepishly, Gyeonwoo finally completely relaxed his stiff expression.
“If you didn’t dislike it, that’s good enough.”
He was nervous about what would happen if he asked more about him, but fortunately Gyeonwoo just got up from the bed.
“Why didn’t you at least get an autograph? He’s Noona’s devoted favorite for 10 years.”
“Asking for an autograph at a blind date is crazy too, you know?”
“So what? For your beloved sister, you could just steel your face and ask for one.”
“…Do you think that’s possible with my personality?”
Seeing his exasperated hyung, Gyeonwoo chuckled and walked toward the door, saying they should leave now. Hyowoo also tried to follow him out of the room, but grabbed his younger brother’s arm at a sudden thought.
“Gyeonwoo-ya, do I smell?”
Alphas just didn’t react to the pheromones of blood-related Omegas, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t smell the scent at all. Gyeonwoo, who had a cleanliness obsession, had a particularly sensitive personality about smells. If even a small amount of pheromones were being secreted, he would notice right away.
At his hyung’s random question, Gyeonwoo scrunched up his face.
“…If you’re worried about smell, go wash. Don’t be so filthy.”
“I showered before my nap earlier, you know? Not that smell, I mean pheromones.”
“I don’t know. You don’t smell.”
At the half-hearted answer, when he pulled his arm telling him to smell properly, Gyeonwoo grimaced in a different way than before.
“Are you crazy? Why, for what reason should I disgustingly smell my twin’s pheromones? Hey, look at this. I got goosebumps!”
“Stop fooling around and just smell when I tell you to.”
“Ah, I said no!”
“Want to get hit by hyung and smell, or just smell?”
“I won’t get hit, and I won’t smell. You’re the one who should let go of this hand while I’m being nice.”
As if they’d never been serious, the two had instantly returned to bickering twin brothers.
Smell it, no. As they engaged in a tense argument, Hyowoo pulled out his hidden trump card.
“There’s 50,000 won in the second desk drawer.”
“So what?”
“If you smell, I’ll give it to you.”
It was a proposal thrown out knowing that his younger brother was short on money since it was the end of the month. As expected, Gyeonwoo brought his nose close before he even finished speaking and sniff sniff, smelled.
“I don’t smell anything?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I only smell soap. Is that it now?”
Gyeonwoo quickly opened the drawer, took out the yellow 50,000 won bill, and left the room first.
‘So, that means there’s no smell at all…?’
With this, Hyowoo was certain that his body was currently not emitting pheromones, he wasn’t in heat, and his constitution hadn’t changed.
‘How did that person smell my pheromones that no one else can detect…?’
His head began to throb at the puzzle that absolutely wouldn’t be solved. After letting out another deep sigh, Hyowoo walked toward the living room with heavy steps.
* * *
He thought the blind date would be the first and last, but unexpectedly, Hyowoo continued to exchange messages with him through the messenger app.
The one who always contacted first was Lee Seohee. Messages arrived without fail once a week, on Friday nights at 11 PM.
Friday evening was Hyowoo’s only rest time. It showed his own consideration to not interfere with exam preparation.
It wasn’t even late for him who went to bed past 2 AM anyway, and it was also good timing since Lee Seohee was coming out after team training.
The first few weeks were just short conversations ending with greetings. But as the number of exchanges increased, the length of conversations also gradually grew longer. Gradually, Hyowoo came to know things about Lee Seohee one by one.
First of all, he was someone very thorough with self-management.
From waking up at 5:30 AM until going to bed at 10 PM, he maintained a regular life without wasting even a single minute. Unless there was a special schedule, he said he hadn’t broken this routine in the past 15 years since starting his professional player career.
He became independent from his parents early and lived in London with two cats and one dog. His hobbies were gaming, watching movies, and cooking.
Cooking is a hobby?
That’s unexpected
Lee Seohee
When I make various things myself, it relieves stress
Kind of like therapy
Do you have time to cook?
Lee Seohee
Sadly, not much
Hyowoo-ssi, have you ever cooked?
I have tried
My family called it an atrocity against ingredients that will go down in history because it failed so badly
Lee Seohee
ㅋㅋㅋ How serious was it
To a desperate level
After that I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the kitchen
Who would have thought he’d have such long and comfortable conversations with someone he’d only met once, about small and trivial stories he’d never shared even with school friends. Even he himself felt unfamiliar. And at some point, a desire to know more about him arose.
‘All exercise must be hard, but soccer requires constant running so the stamina drain must be even worse.’
That’s how he started watching soccer, which he’d had no interest in.
Because of the time difference, watching games in real-time wasn’t easy. Still, he made sure to watch highlight videos. He marked the dates of games Lee Seohee played in separately and checked the results too.
He didn’t know much yet so they couldn’t have detailed conversations, but he was very happy just that Hyowoo showed interest in soccer.
While continuing contact with Lee Seohee, time quickly passed and it became late February, and Hyowoo finally took the first stage of the CPA exam.
It was a long exam lasting over five hours.
When he submitted his answer sheet and came out, he was exhausted, but most of the questions were familiar ones. He felt confident that he at least wouldn’t fail.
Right after the exam ended, messages from friends and acquaintances arrived one by one. Among them was one Lee Seohee sent.
Lee Seohee
By now you must have finished the exam well
Congratulations
Just for today, rest well without thinking about anything
The word “congratulations” instead of “good job” or “you worked hard” felt unfamiliar yet strangely pleasant. However, at the same time, doubt bloomed again.
‘Why would such a perfect person…?’
If you were a third-generation chaebol Dominant Alpha, there would be no shortage of partners. He couldn’t understand at all why he was showing interest in him.
‘In the eyes of a rich young master who only dealt with glamorous people, does an ordinary person like me look more interesting instead?’
Favor and goodwill without reason were uncomfortable. But what was more uncomfortable than that was that Hyowoo himself didn’t dislike the favor he was sending.
After that past incident, it was hard to trust others. When someone showed favor, he was immediately on guard, and when he received a confession, he had a rejection reaction first.
Someone he’d only met once. Moreover, if an Alpha approached this freely, no matter if they were his best friend’s cousin, he would have blocked them in the past. But why was it that…
‘I don’t dislike… this person doing this…’
Hyowoo, who had been mulling over the message Lee Seohee sent several times, sent back a short reply saying “Have a good day” and moved his steps to find his parents waiting outside the exam hall.
* * *
Perhaps because the tension was released after the exam ended, Hyowoo fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a while.
He opened his eyes leisurely around 11 o’clock and was sitting blankly when he heard a knock knock.
“Are you up?”
His mother came into the room with a bright smile.
“Happy birthday, my son.”
Only then did Hyowoo realize today was his birthday.
“Ah, right. Today is March 1st, isn’t it?”
“Look at you… did you forget your birthday again?”
His mother lightly pinched the cheek of her son who didn’t pay much attention to his own birthday. Originally, she considered family birthdays and anniversaries more important than anything, but after that incident, Hyowoo’s birthday became an even more precious day to his mother.
“Hurry and come to your senses and eat. Mom made seaweed soup.”
“I’m not hungry yet…”
“You went to sleep without eating dinner yesterday. And you’re still not hungry?”
“No, I’m not hungry.”
When he rubbed the pinched cheek and replied that he’d eat later, his mother carefully gauged her son’s mood.
“But Hyowoo, I’m so sorry, what should I do? Mom has to go out for a bit because of urgent business…”
When she said it would easily take two or three hours, Hyowoo nodded saying he understood.
“I’ll watch the house, so take your time.”
“It’s not about watching the house, but still, it’s your birthday, you’d be upset being home alone…”
“It’s fine. It’s Gyeonwoo’s birthday too, we should celebrate together. That guy won’t come until evening anyway. I’ll play games to my heart’s content to celebrate finishing the exam, so don’t worry and go.”
He said he’d take care of lunch himself, but his mother hesitated for a long while. In the end, only after being pushed out by her son did she reluctantly leave the house.
Left alone in the spacious house, Hyowoo blankly stared at the wall.
Last year on his birthday, he only had memories of studying until his nose bled, but today, thanks to finishing the first exam, he could afford a little leisure.
‘I still have the second stage left, but for one week I should rest without doing anything…’
As soon as he stretched and went out to the living room, he sprawled on the sofa. Since there wouldn’t be any broadcasts worth watching at this time anyway, he picked one of the movies that appeared on the OTT recommendation screen and played it.
It was then, as he left the movie playing and blankly pondered whether to sleep a bit more. A message arrival notification sounded from his phone.
Taeseo
Are you home?
