Chapter 3

Despite being decidedly not close anymore, Yi-seon and Yeon Mugyeol crossed paths again that weekend. Mugyeol had tagged along after Ham Su-ah and shown up at the volunteer site. Since he hadn’t registered in advance, he wouldn’t even earn volunteer-service credit… He really did seem hopelessly lovesick over Ham Su-ah. Unfortunately, the love-struck lunatic was currently unable to stay by Su-ah’s side.

“Heard you’re an Alpha.”

“Yes.”

“Honestly, I could tell the second I saw you. I’ve got a sharp eye.”

“Congratulations.”

“Do alphas get to date a lot of pretty people?”

“I suppose.”

“Man, I’m so jealous… I heard some people manifest even after turning twenty. Sure wish that happens to me.”

“Best of luck with that.”

Mugyeol was spouting whatever dismissive replies came to mind while clearing the yard with some male college student. The sheer boredom plastered across Mugyeol’s face was so comical that Yi-seon could barely stifle his laughter. He had come solely to see Ham Su-ah, yet he was stuck with an annoying weirdo clinging to him, clearly irked by the situation.

Considering Mugyeol’s usual temper, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had snapped long ago, but he seemed to be holding back because Su-ah was present—likely because he had volunteered of his own accord.

“This is my first time seeing an Extreme Dominant Alpha in person. Are you releasing pheromones or something right now and I just can’t tell?”

“Hyung, do you walk around drooling all day?”

“No?”

“Secondary gender people don’t leak pheromones 24/7 either. We’re not dogs.”

“Ah…! That kind of thing?!”

Clinging to Mugyeol’s side, the college student fired off question after question. Even though Mugyeol was openly radiating annoyance, the guy was either completely oblivious or feigning ignorance, refusing to peel himself away.

Ignoring the college student’s chatter, Mugyeol glanced around. His eyes locked onto Yi-seon, who was arranging earthenware jars beneath the stone wall.

Mugyeol simply glared at Yi-seon in silence, one hand shoved into his pocket as if issuing an unprovoked challenge. Yi-seon mouthed back with exaggerated politeness.

Why.

Why, you bastard? What now? I was just looking.

Ha… Mugyeol let out a scoff of pure disbelief. Then he mouthed back in return:

What.

…What do you mean, ‘what’? You’re the one who glared first.

After that, Mugyeol stomped off with a sulky scowl to find Ham Su-ah. He proceeded to haul all the paint cans for her.

“Ah, noona, why are you lifting this heavy stuff? Just keep your hands tucked in your pockets.”

Mugyeol trailed after her wherever she went, chattering without restraint. He complained that Ryu Yi-seon was only doing the easy chores over there, that he was slacking off in the corner all day—it was non-stop slander aimed at Yi-seon from start to finish.

Bent over weeding and tidying all day, Yi-seon felt his blood simmer, but he pretended not to hear and ripped out a hearty clump of weeds with a fierce yank. Sweat trickled down his brow.

Watching Mugyeol’s behavior, the male college student asked, “Hey. Do you like Su-ah? Why are you following her around like that?”

“Yes. I like her.”

Mugyeol’s answer was crisp and direct. “Oooooh!” Heads snapped toward them from all around, and comments praising him for being bold—a real man—erupted across the yard.

“Man, kids these days are bold! Back in my day—!”

“That’s what an Alpha looks like! A real Alpha!”

Despite the chorus of commentary, Mugyeol shook his head with an indifferent expression. “It’s just an unrequited crush.”

The person in question, Ham Su-ah, merely shrugged. It was the reaction of someone who had grown completely desensitized from hearing it too many times.

“Yeon Mugyeol is just joking around anyway.”

Neatly stacking the paint cans, Su-ah told Mugyeol to help patch the wall, then walked over to Yi-seon. She said she felt much more at ease working alongside someone quiet like him.

Yi-seon shifted over so Su-ah could settle comfortably and pulled out weeds. “He really must like you, noona.”

“Maybe.”

“How do you feel about it? Want me to tell him to stop bothering you?”

Su-ah’s weeding hands slowed down. “It’s fine. It doesn’t really bother me.”

“Alright, then.”

“To be honest… I kind of liked it at first too.”

“Huh?”

“When someone like Yeon Mugyeol openly announced that he liked me, it went to my head. Felt like I was the main character in a drama. Everyone was jealous, so I got a bit of an ego boost.” Tossing aside a handful of weeds, Su-ah let out a long sigh. “Anyway, Yeon Mugyeol is all talk.”

“Why? He seems pretty devoted. He even followed you all the way here today.”

The two glanced back at the same time. The tallest among the group, Mugyeol was currently adjusting a clothesline that stretched across the yard and sweeping away cobwebs under the eaves.

“That’s just it. There’s nothing beyond that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it feels like he has no desire to take things to the next step with me. Like dating, for instance? You know, the stage after a confession.”

“Mmm…”

“It might sound weird, but his crush on me feels more like… sheer inertia? I’ve never mentioned it to anyone because they’d say I don’t know how lucky I am, but that’s just how it feels. Call it my keen intuition.”

“You had intuition? When we watched movies in the club room, every single ‘plot twist’ you predicted was completely wrong.”

“Shut it.”

Su-ah jabbed Yi-seon in the ribs three times. Exaggerating his pain with a wince, Yi-seon patted her shoulder to pacify her. “Alright, alright. You have great intuition.”

“Forget it. Besides, Yeon Mugyeol has impossibly strict standards.”

“Standards for what?”

“His family foundation ran a global camp a while back, right? One of the kids who went with him was someone I went to cram school with in middle school.”

“Uh-huh.”

Yi-seon listened closely.

“Anyway, after getting close at the camp, they all hung out in the dorms. When they started talking about their ideal types… while everyone else gave vague answers, Yeon Mugyeol was dead set.”

“What did he say?”

“Pretty, tall, gentle yet feisty, and a dominant female Omega with a compatibility rate of ninety percent or higher with him.”

“Mmm… That sounds pretty impossible to find.”

Dominant omegas were rare to begin with, and he had heard that even highly compatible Alpha-Omega pairs rarely exceeded eighty percent. Furthermore, gentle yet feisty? That sounded like asking for a piping-hot iced Americano. In any case, Yeon Mugyeol’s tastes were outrageously picky.

“In short, I’m out of the running. I’m not an Omega, which means our compatibility can’t possibly hit ninety percent, and I’m short, right?”

What is she talking about? Yi-seon shook his head. “You’re not short, noona. Honestly, you’re average height. Your proportions make you look taller, actually.”

“…Is… that so?”

“Yeah. Small face, long legs. You’ve got an advantage that makes you look about four centimeters taller.”

“Hmm…”

The tips of Su-ah’s ears flushed slightly pink.

“Anyway, yeah. Maybe his feelings for me are genuine in their own way. But that’s as far as he goes. As long as I’m not an Omega, he’ll never take it seriously.”

“…”

“Following me around will probably end once we graduate. Once he hits college, he’ll probably get engaged to some female Omega arranged by his family.”

Yi-seon recalled Mugyeol’s grandfather, whom he had seen often in his childhood. A man who constantly preached that ‘a harmonious home fosters prosperity in all things,’ insisting that a man’s duty was to marry early, have many children, and faithfully provide for his wife and family. If his views hadn’t changed, he would desire Mugyeol’s early marriage more than anyone.

In addition, alphas tended to marry earlier than betas due to pheromone regulation issues. For an extreme dominant like Mugyeol, taking a partner early was highly probable, if only for the sake of his own health.

“In the first place, I don’t even know why Mugyeol likes me. If anything, you were the one who liked me first, Yi-seon-ah.”

“…Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

Flustered, Yi-seon opened and closed his mouth.

In their childhood, Yi-seon had waged petty squabbles with Mugyeol over Ham Su-ah. On the surface, Mugyeol and Yi-seon had been childhood rivals in love.

Back then, Mugyeol had proposed a truce: since they both liked Ham Su-ah, they should maintain harmony under a pact.

But that had been a massive misunderstanding on Yeon Mugyeol’s part.

The one Yi-seon had actually liked was not Ham Su-ah, but Yeon Mugyeol.

How Mugyeol had arrived at such a misconception remained a mystery.

Was it because Yi-seon had stared enviously whenever Mugyeol and Su-ah clung to each other? Or because, resenting Mugyeol for whispering secrets to Su-ah, Yi-seon had handed Mugyeol one cookie while giving Su-ah two?

Once he realized Mugyeol’s mistake, Yi-seon simply played along. Being misunderstood as having a crush on Ham Su-ah was vastly preferable to having his feelings for Mugyeol exposed. Reality demanded as much.

Outside of special secondary genders like Alpha and Omega, heterosexual romance was the societal norm. While same-sex pairings were common among those with special genders, marriages between opposite sexes still formed the majority.

Even if he had known he would manifest as an Omega, nothing would have changed. Perhaps with another male Alpha it might have been different, but Mugyeol had never favored male omegas as partners.

Ever since manifesting as an Alpha in elementary school, Yeon Mugyeol had stubbornly declared, “I hate male omegas. I’m never marrying one.”

“Why?”

“Male alphas are supposed to be with female omegas. My father said that’s how it should be.”

The divorce of his parents—who were both male Alpha and male Omega—seemed to have cemented that mindset. Having witnessed that trauma from the closest vantage point, Yi-seon could understand Mugyeol’s feelings to some degree.

In any case, pairing with an opposite-sex partner was standard practice even in general. Before questions of secondary gender, it came down to orientation, and the majority naturally leaned toward the opposite sex rather than the same sex.

While male alphas preferred omegas over betas for pheromone management, they typically sought out female omegas rather than male omegas. Likewise, female alphas frequently partnered with male omegas.

Though male omegas sometimes partnered with male alphas and conceived children, they were not the majority. Compared to alphas who suffered severe rut aftermaths, omegas could manage their pheromonal impulses relatively easily with injections or pills.

Strictly speaking, aren’t omegas actually superior to alphas?

An Alpha could do nothing more than pass on his genes, whereas a male Omega could both get pregnant and impregnate someone else. Surely possessing both functions was superior to having only one.

Technically, that makes me biologically and physically superior to Yeon Mugyeol… Reaching that point in his thoughts, Yi-seon let out an incredulous laugh. Now I’m resorting to mental gymnastics to this degree.

He found himself utterly ridiculous.

As Yi-seon chuckled softly at how ridiculous he was being, Yeon Mugyeol shouted from behind, “Noona! The college team leader is calling for you inside!”

“Huh? Coming!”

Ham Su-ah rose from beside Yi-seon and went into the house. The moment she vacated her spot, Mugyeol claimed it and picked a fight with Yi-seon for no apparent reason. “Having fun?”

“About what?”

“You’re grinning like an idiot.”

Taking off his gloves, Yi-seon turned toward Mugyeol. Mugyeol was slouched in a delinquent posture that practically begged for a cigarette in hand. Regrettably, what he held was not a cigarette, but a rainbow-colored feather duster.

“Do you still like noona?”

“Why do you care?”

“We made a pact when we were kids.”

When Yi-seon got to his feet, Mugyeol followed right behind him, brandishing the feather duster. Yi-seon waved an arm to brush him off. “Pact, my foot. You’re the one going around broadcasting your love for her in all directions.”

“So, do you like her or not?”

“I don’t. I mean, I care about her, but not romantically.”

At that, Mugyeol scrutinized Yi-seon from head to toe. His sharp gaze seemed intent on uncovering the truth. Even so, the rainbow duster in his grip ruined any intimidation, making the sight somewhat comical.

“Besides, that was ages ago. You might’ve kept liking her because you stayed by her side, but I’ve only been back in her life for a few months.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

Even after hearing that, Mugyeol looked far from satisfied. “Well, not that it matters if you like her anyway. Why would noona fall for you when I’m right here?” Apparently finding a fresh reason to be irritated, Mugyeol picked another fight with a crooked scowl. “I’m taller than you, better-looking, and have more money.”

What the hell is his problem all of a sudden…?

Yi-seon fought back the urge to snatch the duster from Mugyeol’s hand and smack him with it.

“Her type might be pretty boys.”

“What?”

“Maybe instead of a hulking giant like you, she prefers a reasonably built pretty boy like me.”

Because he was speaking the truth, Yi-seon was unashamed. He might be shorter than Mugyeol, but Yi-seon was still well above average height and had heard compliments about his looks all his life.

Mugyeol stared at him in speechless silence before letting out a scoff. “Now you’re calling yourself a pretty boy? You’re really saying that shit about yourself out loud?”

“You started that bullshit first.”

“Because mine is a fact.”

“Mine is a fact too.”

Yi-seon’s unwavering reply silenced Mugyeol, apparently because he could not find a convincing rebuttal. Then, spotting Ham Su-ah stepping out the front door, he abruptly grabbed the collar of Yi-seon’s shirt from behind and hoisted him upward. “Noona. Him or me?”

“What?”

Su-ah stared at the pair with utter confusion. Dangling by the back of his shirt in Mugyeol’s grip, Yi-seon gave a resigned shrug, looking rather like a rabbit held hostage.

“Is he more handsome, or am I?”

Su-ah looked at Yi-seon dangling helplessly in Mugyeol’s grasp and let out a heavy sigh. Then, leaving behind a single word—“Yi-seon”—she turned and walked back inside the house.

“…”

“…”

Yi-seon could hear Mugyeol’s breathing turn ragged behind him. Slowly, Yi-seon looked back at Mugyeol, who was still clutching his collar. Watching Mugyeol’s face freeze over, Yi-seon offered a serene smile.

“Mugyeol-ah, did you hear that clearly?”

Noona said it’s me…