The results of the test I took in middle school said I was a Beta, and I’d never experienced anything resembling a rut or heat cycle since.
I was clearly a Beta, one of the majority in this world, so much so that I never felt the need for a retest. A common existence in the world, comparable to water, air, or dust. Just one of them.
Yuni noona and Juhan hyung, both Betas, naturally accepted me as one without any further verification. And as far as I knew, the Director and Inwoo hyung were Alphas. Inwoo hyung thought I was an Alpha, and the Golden Alpha Director was convinced I was an Omega.
And now, the way he was drinking wine with a look of utter dismay on his face suggested he still couldn’t accept that I wasn’t an Omega.
“But aside from me, you were wrong? What’s going on, Golden Alpha? Huh? Losing your touch? Isn’t pheromone circulation necessary for proper function? So, release some pheromones, get a whiff of some Omega pheromones. Or are you trying to become a Beta altogether?”
He jabbed Inwoo hyung with his elbow, teasing him, and the Director twisted his lips to the side, expressing his displeasure.
“I’ve never lacked for partners, even without pheromones.”
“Hmm… Whether you relied on pheromones or not, only those who’ve been your partner would know.”
“Don’t lump me in with other Alpha bastards who indiscriminately leak pheromones.”
He tensed his eyelids as if genuinely offended.
Juhan hyung’s explanation that Golden Alphas could control the release of their pheromones came to mind.
“You know, that’s a kind of fastidiousness? This situation is happening because you’re controlling your pheromones too much. This isn’t just a monkey falling from a tree. Who is Liu উইকুন? Isn’t he a better Omega discriminator than genetic analysis? Ah… Golden Alpha’s reputation is in tatters.”
He tried to shut Inwoo hyung up, saying not to overreact to something trivial, but he wore the most visibly shaken expression I’d ever seen on him.
Why was the fact that I was a Beta, that I wasn’t an Omega, that he had mistaken a Beta for an Omega, such a shock to him?
Just because, as Inwoo hyung said, it tarnished his record of accurately identifying Omegas, a record more reliable than genetic analysis?
I didn’t know the reason, but it seemed that revealing the clear fact that I was a Beta would be more effective in embarrassing him than making the absurd false declaration that I was gay. Perhaps his reluctance to have me move into Ms. Han’s house was also due to his misunderstanding that I was an Omega.
In any case, I was the reason he was frowning and rapidly emptying his wine glass.
Perhaps because of all the wine I’d drunk, I felt like I was floating on waves. I needed more wine to hide the unquenchable heat.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
As the vigilance I had been maintaining faltered, I accidentally brushed someone’s leg under the table, and I immediately pulled my foot back under my chair, apologizing to the Director of Phantom.
His face, still fierce, turned to look at me, and then Inwoo hyung tapped the end of the table from across the way.
“Yeehyeon-ssi, that was… my foot.”
Looking at me with a steady gaze, Inwoo hyung brought his wine glass to his lips. And he took in me and the Director in turn. Very slowly.
“I’m sorry.”
I offered another apology to Inwoo hyung, unsure whether it was for stepping on his foot or for mistaking the target of my apology.
I was thirsty, because Inwoo hyung probably realized who I was concerned about just from my previous reaction. There was nothing to do but drink more wine.
The drinking session continued past 2 AM. The five of us emptied six or seven bottles of wine, and I drank a little over one bottle myself. Everyone was tipsy, and Inwoo hyung, Yuni noona, and Juhan hyung were more excited than usual.
“Director-niiiiim, I love you.”
“I don’t. Why are you clinging so much? Get off me.”
The Director of Phantom was smiling even as he pushed away Juhan hyung’s face, who was embracing him and puckering up his lips. His face didn’t turn red, nor did he become more talkative, but I could tell that he, too, was pleasantly relaxed.
I, too, was feeling lightheaded from the wine I was drinking for the first time. I was blinking slowly, looking down at my toes as my body floated hazily and my focus blurred, when I felt a hand lightly shaking my wrist and looked up.
“Yeehyeon-ssi, where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
It was Inwoo hyung.
“No no, Teacher should take us home. The Director will take Yeehyeon home.”
“Hmm… Why can’t it be the other way around?”
Inwoo hyung stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes at Yuni noona, who was wagging her index finger back and forth. I chuckled at his playful expression.
“If you put your hand on your heart and think about it yourself, you’ll quickly find the answer. Now, let’s go. The designated driver is here!”
Juhan hyung, who seemed to be overflowing with energy as if he’d drunk an energy drink, snatched Inwoo hyung’s wrist and started running towards the car parked on the side of the road.
“Director-nim, please take good care of Yeehyeon!”
As they waved their hands wildly and disappeared in Inwoo hyung’s car, the once-bustling street instantly became quiet. Only then did I notice that most of the surrounding stores had already closed, and there wasn’t a single person walking on the street.
The Director, who had also called a designated driver like Inwoo hyung, checked his wristwatch and said.
“I should take you to Han Assistant Manager’s house, right?”
“I’m not that drunk… I can take a taxi.”
He looked down at me without a word. His gaze, as he stood with his hands in his pants pockets and his head tilted slightly, was overwhelming, so I looked down instead.
I looked down at his firm wrists revealed beneath his rolled-up shirt sleeves, his naturally wrinkled, finely colored pants, and his high-quality leather loafers.
I wasn’t drunk to the point of not being able to stand. I had only swayed momentarily, losing my balance for a moment as I rocked my upper body back and forth. But he seemed to have judged that I was in a state where I couldn’t gauge my own level of intoxication.
His hand quickly reached out and grabbed my swaying arm, pulling me in with a faint sigh.
“Let’s go.”
There was no particular conversation on the way home, as we sat side by side in the back seat after he let the designated driver take the wheel. The only conversation was when he asked for permission to smoke and I answered.
The breeze blowing in through the open window to help me sober up felt good. I giggled as the strands of hair that were flying around and brushing against my face tickled me, and he turned to look at me, and I kept laughing even as I looked at him. I just laughed. I laughed again because I felt so silly. He probably thought I was ridiculous.
I wondered why he didn’t drop me off at the entrance of the apartment complex and instead went down to the underground parking lot, but he got out of the car after me and sent the driver away.
“Is it okay if I go up for a bit?”
“…….”
“I also need to pick up some things I need to take from Han Assistant Manager’s house.”
Since that’s what he said, there was no reason to stop him. It wasn’t my house, even though I was living there.
I gripped the strap of my bag tightly in the elevator to hold onto my loosening mind.
He got out of the elevator before me, entered the password as if it were his own house, and went straight to the kitchen, humming a low tune as he took out an ion drink and drank it.
He raised his eyebrows as if asking if I wanted a drink, shaking the bottle of the drink he was drinking towards me, who was standing blankly in front of the dining table. Even though he was drinking it straight from the bottle. I thought he would be particular about such personal hygiene, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
I wanted to drink some cool water rather than an ion drink, so I filled a glass with water from the water purifier. Because he was sitting at the dining table with the ion drink in front of him, I had to sit across from him instead of going into my room to change clothes and take a shower.
“Han Assistant Manager will probably come home quite drunk today. There’s a group of people who get along well among the people who gathered today. Please take good care of him in the morning.”
“Yes, I will.”
Ms. Han was also a smoker, and ashtrays were always prepared on the coffee table in the living room and on the dining table. He asked if he could smoke, and I nodded, then got up and opened the kitchen window.
“How tall is Seo Yeehyeon-ssi?”
He asked, watching me as I returned to my seat, while dusting off the ashes. A lot of people were asking about my height today.
“About 181.”
“Taller than I thought.”
It was the complete opposite of what Yuni noona and Juhan hyung had said. But even though he was the one who brought up the topic, he didn’t seem very interested.
The long, vertical dining area where the dining table was placed was located between the living room and the kitchen. Because he had entered the house before me and only turned on the light on the dining table, the light in the large room was concentrated only on the dining table.
It was a space that seemed to be decorated for enjoying drinks and conversations with close friends rather than for eating meals, and Ms. Han had chosen a light bulb with a subtle and cozy orange glow for the dining room lighting.
Because of the long, dangling lights that seemed like you might bump your head if you suddenly stood up, deep shadows were cast on his face. He looked at me askance, sucking on his cigarette with a slightly anxious movement.
“Can I see the painting you said you drew before?”
He seemed more interested in this than in things like my height.
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