By repeating the word, Inwoo-hyung emphasized that there wasn’t the slightest possibility.
While transmitted via the olfactory sense, pheromones don’t actually work through the sense of smell itself. In fact, a Beta’s sense of smell can’t even detect the scent of pheromones. —Most of the information on the internet said so as well.
But dissenting opinions were also easy to find. And in the comment sections of those opinions, heated debates were invariably raging. Most of the criticism was aimed at those who distorted verified facts with sentimental conjecture.
“There’s actually a study where they observed male mice after disabling their Jacobson’s organs, and the mice showed sexual behavior toward both females and males. It’s proof that the Jacobson’s organ responds to female pheromones to induce courtship only toward females. It also means that pheromones have a huge influence on sexual activity.”
Our conversation was briefly interrupted when a waiter approached to refill hyung’s empty glass.
Casting a meaningless gaze at the richly colored, dark red liquid filling the transparent glass, I recalled a few anecdotes I had seen on the internet. Most were stories of similar experiences. Or rather, stories that claimed to be.
The ‘experiences’ of Betas on the internet who claimed that there was an Alpha or Omega at their workplace, and that a sweet scent so strong it made their legs give out had suddenly enveloped their sense of smell, causing them to cling to the other person without realizing it, which could only be explained as a deliberate release of pheromones for seduction—whether these stories were novels based on lies or exaggerations, I didn’t know, but feeling his scent suddenly grow stronger and being swept up in an extreme pleasure that was beyond the ordinary was, without a doubt, my own experience.
Or was my experience, too, just the delusional story of a Beta, colored by sentimental interpretation?
As soon as the glass was refilled and the waiter had left, hyung immediately tilted it back, downing it coolly as if it were beer. Then he looked at me and smiled.
“If a Beta feels a sexual impulse toward a certain Alpha or Omega… it’s probably just because they’re drawn to that person. Not because of pheromones.”
Whether Inwoo-hyung was saying this with a full grasp of my feelings, or simply teasing me playfully based on some inkling, or whether he had no intention at all and I was just being needlessly paranoid, I couldn’t tell. But since I couldn’t sort out or be sure of my own feelings either, I feigned ignorance and let the wine slide down my throat.
「You have a habit of drinking whatever’s in front of you when you get nervous.」 —I marveled at his accurate observation.
“Whether they’re an Alpha, Omega, or Beta, they’re all human before their gender. When you spend time with people, you can be drawn to them regardless of their primary or secondary gender. Even among Betas, people can be mesmerized by looks and have sex without emotion, without the effect of pheromones… That’s just how the world works. You don’t necessarily have to go through pheromones. Alphas and Betas, Omegas and Betas, Alphas and Omegas… if they hit it off, they date, they have one-night stands… you know. Before gender, we’re all the same humans.”
He wasn’t speaking as if to reprimand me, but I could sense a kind of sarcasm in his tone toward the view that treats Alphas and Omegas like animals. Picking up the shelled nut he had cracked open a moment ago and tossing it into his mouth, hyung continued.
“If they only feel sexual desire through pheromonal activity… isn’t that a little too barbaric? No different from a mouse that goes after both females and males once its Jacobson’s organ is broken. Alphas and Omegas can be attracted to someone regardless of pheromones, too.”
If I, who couldn’t detect pheromones, could be attracted to an Alpha, then the reverse must also be true for them. But perhaps… in terms of sexual appeal, a Beta could never surpass an Omega’s pheromones.
Suddenly, I thought of Shu shu.
Even though I couldn’t sense the artist’s pheromones, he was a charming person in his own right. Compared to an Omega who was already plenty attractive without the help of pheromones, wouldn’t a Beta, no matter how strong their personal charm, seem like a flat, black-and-white movie to an Alpha?
I was surprised at myself for absurdly comparing myself to Shu shu. Not because it was a competition I couldn’t win (though that was also true), but because… what was the point of the comparison? It was a completely unnecessary exercise.
“Ah, there’s a prime example right near you, Yeehyeon-ssi. An Alpha who maintains a sex life without pheromones.”
Swallowing the wine he was drinking in a hurry, Inwoo-hyung tapped the table lightly. Then he added,
“The CEO of Phantom.”
“……”
“He says he never opens up his pheromones to his sexual partners. I wouldn’t know, since I’ve never slept with him. Well, with Liu Weikun’s looks, influence, and wealth, he probably doesn’t need pheromones anyway. In any case, he’s a bit fastidious about that kind of thing.”
The day we first drank wine at the Spanish-style tavern, I had even less knowledge about Alphas and Omegas than I did now, but I vaguely remembered Inwoo-hyung teasing him, saying that pheromones needed to circulate to function properly, and that he should release some and get a whiff of an Omega’s pheromones, too.
“He probably wants to be different from a lab mouse.”
Saying so with an expression that made it unclear whether he was mocking or admiring his fastidiousness or stubbornness, Hyung’s lips twisted into a smile.
“He’s been a bit peculiar in that regard since school. He went to a school that was unofficially pretty much exclusively for Alphas and Omegas, so ironically, he spent his school days in an environment where Betas were the rare ones. There, a sense of Alpha privilege was the default, and most guys tried to use it to get by easily. But that bastard acted as if being an Alpha was a complex. So a lot of guys looked down on him. For acting all high and mighty by himself.”
It was a story I had heard in the article about Shu shu. A special school in Hong Kong for Alphas and Omegas. Judging from everything I’d heard so far, it seemed he, Inwoo-hyung, and Shu shu were all alumni of that school. As if reminiscing about the tumultuous years of their youth spent together, hyung briefly looked down at a spot on the table, then lifted his head and grinned.
“But funnily enough, because he hated being played by pheromones, he trained his control abilities so diligently that he ended up becoming a top-tier Golden Alpha. Not that he wasn’t already well-equipped with strong Alpha genes, but control isn’t something you can perfect with genetics alone. Ah, is this getting too difficult?”
“No. I’ve heard… most of it.”
“From Kwon Juhan, by any chance?”
When I nodded, hyung chuckled as if he knew it. He added the advice that if I wanted accurate knowledge about Alphas and Omegas, I should take what Kwon Juhan says with a grain of salt.
“How was I? Was I good? As an intellectual.”
A laugh escaped me at his question, asked with his chin lifted in a slightly boastful way.
“Yes, you were much more helpful than Wikipedia. Thank you.”
“I’m not usually the type to explain things so diligently, but I made a special effort to act kind for you, Yeehyeon-ssi.”
To hyung’s words, which could have been sincere or a joke, I expressed my thanks once more. Whether he was ‘acting kind’ only for me or not, the fact was that I had received his kindness.
“Anything else you’re curious about?”
The suspicions about that night no longer had reason to be doubted, but there was still another question lingering. At his question, I gnawed on my lower lip for a moment, hesitating, then opened my mouth. I felt that if I didn’t ask now, I wouldn’t get another chance.
“Before… why did you think I was an Alpha?”
“……”
Hyung’s gaze and expression subtly hardened. But in the next moment, a knowing smile was directed at me.
“Can I be honest?”
I nodded.
“Because I found you alluring.”
I had told him to be honest, but the unfamiliar expression made my face grow hot. Alluring… I had never once described myself that way.
“It’s not easy to be that drawn to someone you have no information about… and since I couldn’t sense any pheromones, I figured you weren’t an Omega. So I just thought, you must be an Alpha. Something like that. Even without deliberately releasing pheromones, there’s a basic sort of attraction between Alphas and Omegas.”
Though hyung had shown a startling level of interest and curiosity from our very first meeting, it had felt more like a joke because it was so direct. Even now, he was using the word ‘alluring,’ but I couldn’t tell if it was a serious expression of affection or just the statement that he had felt allured. From our first meeting until now, hyung had never closed the distance from that ambiguous spot.
“But that’s my side of it. I don’t know why Kun felt you were an Omega. That guy’s a top-tier Golden Alpha, so he almost never makes a mistake when it comes to distinguishing between Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. You’re probably his first.”
Hyung’s words sounded sweet at first, but being the first didn’t mean everything held a precious meaning. Because I was a Beta, I would be remembered by him as his first mistake.
He was my first sexual experience. Come to think of it, we had each left a ‘first’ with the other. A laugh escaped me at the bland thought.
That night, on the verge of climax, what had plunged me into a fearfully extreme pleasure had not felt like a simple scent.
But Inwoo-hyung’s explanation and the verified data were telling me this: even if he had deliberately opened up his pheromones, you, a Beta, would not only be unable to feel sexual arousal in response, but you wouldn’t even be able to detect the scent.
That was only possible between an Alpha and an Omega. A Beta cannot understand their language, which comes from another solar system. No, before that, a Beta cannot even hear what language they are communicating in.
Juhan-hyung’s words, that someone like the CEO could probably induce a pheromonal reaction even in a Beta if he put his mind to it, were just one of the baseless rumors that floated around the internet.
Moreover, if never opening up his pheromones to a sexual partner was his rule, his obsession even, then the reaction I had shown that night was highly likely to have been my own pure passion. No, at this point, I should probably stop talking about probabilities and just admit it cleanly.
I had wondered if the sensations I felt during our night together, the ones that made me lose myself in the act so fearfully and injected me with pleasure, were the influence of pheromones, but in truth, even if it had been the fault of pheromones, nothing would have changed.
As I had admitted to myself, even if surrendering myself to extreme pleasure while whispering obscenities in his ear that night was an unexpected side of me, not rejecting him when he climbed onto the bed had been entirely my choice.
But now, even such hypotheses were unnecessary. There were no pheromones.
His scent was just a scent.
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