It was evening rush hour, so the road was a bit congested, but Hyowoo arrived without being late for the appointment.
When he entered the cafe, he spotted Taeseo sitting at a table in the back.
As Hyowoo approached her, he was suddenly enveloped in a strange nervousness.
When he had just entered university, he had been endlessly withdrawn. Due to panic disorder and anthropophobia caused by trauma, he had been busy avoiding people.
During that period when he was barely enduring daily life. The friend who had first approached such a Hyowoo and stayed by his side until he became comfortable was none other than Taeseo.
He felt sorry to his childhood friend Woosung, but if asked ‘who’s the most comfortable friend outside of family,’ she came to mind first.
She was that precious friend. But now he was afraid to face that best friend.
‘I can’t even remember what happened that day… but Taeseo must know how badly injured that person was.’
The fact that he hadn’t returned to the field for over two months meant Lee Seohee’s arm injury was truly serious.
Would it be okay for the person who caused such a serious injury to someone who was like a real older brother to greet her as if nothing had happened?
‘She might resent me inside. If there was someone who hurt Gyeonwoo, even if they were a friend… I’d find it hard to forgive them.’
He was at a loss for what face to show her. He wanted to turn around and leave the cafe right away, but Hyowoo steeled his resolve.
‘If I avoid this moment now, I’ll lose my friend forever.’
Even if she resented and cursed him, he decided he would gladly accept that criticism.
“You came early?”
Taeseo, who had been looking at her phone, raised her head. Her pupils shook slightly when she saw Hyowoo’s face.
“Long time no see. Have you been well?”
Even as he greeted her first and sat in the seat across from her, Taeseo couldn’t say anything.
She seemed shocked by her friend’s too-gaunt appearance after seeing him for the first time in a while.
“Did you see a ghost or something? Why that expression?”
He spoke playfully, wanting to change the atmosphere.
“…I’ve been well.”
Only then did Taeseo’s stiff face relax a little.
“At times like this, I should greet you with ‘Have you been well?’… but seeing your face, I absolutely can’t do it.”
“Still, I’m a bit better now than before.”
It was better than right after discharge, but his current physical condition was at a level where he absolutely couldn’t say it was ‘good.’ No, rather it was getting gradually worse.
He forced a smile to hide the truth, but she still frowned as if unconvinced.
“Mina contacted me. She said you were acting strange and that if she just left you alone, something terrible would happen. She told me I absolutely had to meet you.”
As expected, it was a reaction befitting Mina, who was famous for being nosy.
“Anyway, that Mina is such a fussbudget.”
“She said you cried.”
“Cried, what. Just shed a few tears because something got in my eye.”
“Can’t you tell the difference between Mina tearing up because something got in her eye and actually crying?”
“Haha, why are you like this too. Really, nothing happened.”
He smiled saying it was true, but she became even more serious.
That answer ended the conversation abruptly. Heavy silence filled the table.
After about ten minutes had passed like that, Hyowoo, unable to endure the awkward silence, stood up from his seat.
“You haven’t ordered anything yet, right? What do you want to drink?”
“I’ll buy it. I’m worried you’ll collapse on the way to order.”
“It’s not that serious……”
Before he could even finish speaking, Taeseo stood up and pressed down on Hyowoo’s shoulder. She had only applied a little force, but he collapsed back into his seat helplessly.
“And you say it’s not serious? You, you look like you’ll fly away if the wind blows just a bit harder.”
“Hey, that’s because you suddenly did that……”
“That’s enough, so stop fooling around and sit still. I’m buying the coffee today.”
Without giving him a chance to retort, Taeseo headed to the counter.
The cafe was quite crowded, but since most people already had drinks in their hands, the order came out quickly. She came back holding two iced coffees in both hands and set one down in front of Hyowoo.
“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Just as he was holding his coffee cup and contemplating what to say, Taeseo suddenly apologized.
“For what?”
“About oppa. You, you almost had a terrible accident then.”
The one who had been in real danger wasn’t himself but Lee Seohee.
Hyowoo unnecessarily lowered his gaze.
“Actually, I couldn’t contact you because of that. It seemed like you were sick from the aftermath. Oppa said he was too sorry to contact you too.”
Hyowoo had roughly guessed it was for such a reason.
Moreover, he was in a situation where he had been told directly by his father not to contact him. He wasn’t the type to shamelessly contact him first.
‘From Taeseo’s tone… it seems Seohee-ssi didn’t say anything……’
Hyowoo fiddled with the coffee cup in front of him with his fingertips, then quietly opened his mouth.
“Why is that Seohee-ssi’s fault……”
“Oppa said it was all his fault.”
“…Why?”
“Just contact with an alpha can trigger heat. So someone with strong traits like a Dominant Alpha should be more careful, but he was really suffering, saying he hurt you because he was arrogant. That if he had just taken suppressants, that wouldn’t have happened……”
It didn’t make sense.
Alphas didn’t take suppressants unless they had jobs like soldiers, police, or medical professionals that involved group living or directly dealing with citizens.
To prevent innocent alphas from becoming ‘sex offenders,’ it was a social consensus that omegas should thoroughly manage their pheromones.
So why did Lee Seohee say such a thing?
“To speak in oppa’s defense… because he’s a Dominant Alpha, he probably thought that even if you went into heat, he wouldn’t lay a finger on you and could safely send you home.”
“……”
“Of course, I know it’s rude to say this to you, the victim, but… oppa never had even the slightest intention of hurting you or doing you harm. Please believe that one thing.”
It was as Taeseo said.
Unlike regular alphas, Dominant Alphas had immunity to pheromones.
Since he could sufficiently overcome the temptation even when exposed, there was no need for him to bother taking suppressants that even regular alphas didn’t take.
The fact that he almost lost his reason that day was purely due to his own pheromones.
He must have clearly felt that they were pheromones strong enough to be far beyond common sense. Nevertheless, he hadn’t mentioned that story to his cousin at all, and took all the blame entirely upon himself alone.
“And… we had emergency alpha suppressants at our house. If I had just told him where they were, that wouldn’t have happened… my fault isn’t small either. I’m really sorry.”
Not blaming the omega but rather apologizing. No less than Lee Seohee, she too was an uncommon alpha.
“…I’ve never once thought it was Seohee-ssi’s fault.”
With a calm voice that didn’t contain a speck of resentment, he told her not to feel sorry.
“Of course it’s not your fault either, Taeseo. So you don’t have to apologize.”
Having said that much, Hyowoo hesitated for a moment, then soon hardened his resolve and opened his mouth.
“Actually, I have a Peculiar Constitution.”
“What does that mean?”
“My body… is different from other regular omegas. So my pheromones are a bit different too. My heat cycle is also unstable.”
He couldn’t bring himself to reveal details about his constitution. However, to relieve his friend’s misunderstanding and guilt, he wanted to convey at least the truth.
“There’s such a constitution?”
“Yeah… in that situation, it would have been hard for anyone to endure. Even a Dominant Alpha like Seohee-ssi.”
To his friend who was tilting her head, Hyowoo calmly continued his explanation.
“What happened that day was just… an unfortunate accident. It’s just that heat happened to start at a bad timing. If we must assign fault, it’s because of my constitution. It’s absolutely not Seohee-ssi’s fault, so… tell him not to feel sorry or blame himself anymore.”
At his sincere confession, Taeseo felt relieved but soon made a complicated expression.
“That… couldn’t you tell oppa directly yourself?”
To her who hesitantly suggested he contact him, Hyowoo shook his head slightly.
The greater the love, the heavier the guilt.
“I can’t bring myself to contact Seohee-ssi.”
Hyowoo still loved him. He wanted to apologize properly too.
But he couldn’t go against his opposing father’s words.
‘If I hear Seohee-ssi’s voice now… everything I’ve been holding back until now will crumble……’
Let him go like this—that decision lasted only briefly.
At the next words that came from Taeseo’s mouth, Hyowoo’s heart sank.
“Oppa is going to have an arranged meeting soon……”
