JADE 10

‘Did he go out to buy condoms? Ah, my Mr. Joowan is so cute. Could it be he thought he was going to be the one on top?’

Since he started seeing Kwon Joowan, Jin Sejun had been carrying condoms at all times from a certain point on. Isn’t it an alpha’s virtue to take care of such things?

Ring, ring—.

He tried calling, but there was no response from the person who should have answered in his usual gentle tone.

Me: Where are you, Mr. Joowan? The convenience store?

Right, since he’s a beta, he won’t judge Jin Sejun based on his pheromones. Something urgent must have come up.

Or… since he’s so sensitive about his appearance, maybe he suddenly got scared at the thought of sleeping together completely naked.

Betas who grew up in conservative families often find it strange for a male to date another male, so maybe he needed time to prepare himself mentally…

He tried to understand Kwon Joowan’s disappearance in any way possible, but the read receipt didn’t even appear, and even Kwon Joowan’s profile picture had been changed to the default one.

Did he go back in his own car? A designated driver since he had been drinking? After giving me a ride? He also thought he should have memorized the license plate number, but it was nighttime and no one would have expected something like this to happen.

It’s not like they had just met today.

He also considered asking the concierge if the car registered at check-in was still in the parking lot. But the thought alone was so miserable that he just waited.

Eventually, the city’s night view turned into the dim light of dawn. Since it hadn’t been long since the winter solstice, the night was long, so he had spent a very long time just sitting there.

Yes, this was a year-end date. Jin Sejun, who had only been able to watch people who had someone to spend the end of the year with and lick his lips, had cleared his schedule for Kwon Joowan. He had even turned down Jin Youngjun’s invitation.

But Kwon Joowan…

‘If you don’t like it, you could have at least told me.’

When he finally caught a taxi that wouldn’t stop and came back, his whole body was exhausted. He didn’t want to spend his day off feeling so gloomy, so he thought about going out after staying up all night. Or maybe he could contact the sales associate at his favorite brand.

He had bought so many pieces of jewelry and watches for gifts and for his collection that the sales associate would often visit his workplace to show him items and give him gifts. But since he was an alpha, he hadn’t thought of getting close, but the store also had omega employees…

As he thought about it, it felt futile again. The thought of clinging to the sales mindset of a service worker to soothe his loneliness.

Why do people buy relationships with money when it’s so empty? If they could share genuine affection, they wouldn’t even think of such a thing.

‘To think that I’m lonely…’

Jin Sejun was on the verge of becoming a hack philosopher due to a shock he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

✶⋆.˚

—Happy New Year~!

‘Screw you, it’s an unhappy new year.’

A few days passed, half filled with hope and the other half with anger towards Kwon Joowan, and the year changed.

How can you dump someone in a situation like that, right after hitting the one-month mark of dating? Is he a psychopath? If he hadn’t had any expectations, he wouldn’t have been this disappointed.

Jin Sejun was in a state of openly falling apart, to the point where everyone who knew him was worried. Just a few days ago, everyone had been chiding Jin Sejun, asking if dating was that great, but now that they saw him shriveled up, they couldn’t say anything.

Even though it was his job, he was in a tight spot himself, so other people’s worries just sounded like whining, and counseling work wasn’t easy.

“Sejun, are you okay? How about taking a break? Want to go on a trip? Hyung will book the hotel and tickets for you.”

“Forget it…”

“I think it would be good to rest in the sun.”

“I said forget it.”

Taking a leave of absence gave him more time to think, which was like a highway to mental illness.

Day by day, he killed time by blankly looking down at the night view, a scene similar to the one he had watched when he was left behind in the hotel room that day.

‘It wasn’t the pheromones that were the problem.’

Until now, Jin Sejun had been confident in every aspect except for his pheromone problem. He had lived with the conviction that he would be a first-class, top-grade catch wherever he went.

But after being rejected even by a beta, he began to wonder if, aside from the sub-gender issue, Jin Sejun as a person was a defective product.

The house he had liked suddenly felt empty and he didn’t feel a sense of stability. His range of activity was only the bedroom and the kitchen.

What’s the point of buying an expensive house and an expensive car when there’s no one to invite and no one to go see?

His former classmates and peers with whom he had lost personal contact looked so happy on social media. Many were married, many had their first child, and even those who were single were abroad or engrossed in their hobbies, so they didn’t seem to have time to feel this kind of loneliness.

Most of those who looked happy were the type of people Jin Sejun had thought were pathetic when he was young. People who were influenced by others’ actions and struggled to please others. Jin Sejun had sneered at such people until his late twenties. Even though he himself had several traumas because of people.

‘Is this why I should be careful with my words and thoughts?’

Since he had nothing to do, he started watching sex accounts again. But now, every time he saw such things, the memory of that failed night would resurface and he would burst with anger.

Everyone else meets up so coolly and has cool sex, so what sin did he commit in his past life to go through something like that?

He barely stopped just before evolving into a malicious commenter. However, he continued to watch ‘Beta,’ and looking at the videos, it seemed this person was also not in good condition.

His rut had come earlier than his usual cycle. He had seen him knotting in the early days of watching his account, so it seemed to have come at least three times in less than half a year.

As he was calculating someone else’s cycle, Jin Sejun naturally thought of his own rut. Since it was about once a quarter, his was also not far off.

He could just take some medicine and endure it as always.

Although Jin Sejun’s pheromones acted like an omega’s, his sub-gender was not omega, so it was a problem to bring in an omega, and a problem to bring in an alpha.

‘No, I don’t have any intention of sleeping with an alpha, though.’

✶⋆.˚

It was around the time when he couldn’t tell if it had been weeks or only a few days since he had been holed up. Jin Sejun, who had been lurking in his cave, was dragged out like a fish caught by a fisherman.

Thanks to his second older brother who couldn’t leave his youngest sibling as a recluse in his room, his beard was completely shaved and his overgrown hair was all cut. Had he grown attached to his hair? Even with his neat appearance, Jin Sejun wore a gloomy expression.

“Go pick up Yiseo from her academy. Yoonmi and I are both busy these days.”

“She’s all grown up, tell her to take a taxi… No, doesn’t the academy have a van?”

Someone said he drove a van to teach kids at an academy. Then, one day, as a surprising twist, he drove an expensive sedan and totally screwed me over.

Mmm~. I drank so much water that day, I’m still full!

“The shuttle bus goes around in circles, so our house is the last stop, and it takes too long. Can’t you just go for me?”

“Sigh, fine.”

Well, it was also the first time he hadn’t seen his niece in such a long time. In reality, their relationship was one where the uncle sought out the niece rather than the other way around, so Jin Sejun had no choice but to accept.

It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, either.

While he was in contact with Kwon Joowan, he had been getting ahead of himself so much that now, just sitting in the driver’s seat brought back memories of the man who had been in the passenger seat, and all the imagined progress in their relationship came flooding back.

I’m so embarrassed and I hate him…

He seemed so gentle, but as they say, you can know the depths of ten fathoms of water, but not the heart of a single man. The Kwon Joowan he had known until now became unfamiliar, and he began to think that even his predictions of his personality were all wrong.

‘Oh.’

The cheerleading academy that Jin Yiseo attended was bigger than he had thought. The location was also quite good, so as a jaded member of society, his first thought was that they must be making quite a bit of money.

‘There are this many kids who want to be cheerleaders…? No, seeing them do the splits, it’s probably like how they send omegas to ballet.’

Jin Sejun was the type of person who wanted to play in the game rather than cheer for someone. To him, his niece wanting to do cheerleading felt similar to a child wanting to be a police car instead of a police officer.

So at first, he thought it was a bit funny, but now he was envious that she had something she was so passionate about. Jin Sejun couldn’t live like a loser forever, so he needed to have a passion for something, but for now, he had no motivation at all.

“How may I help you?”

The academy even had a separate director at the counter. Jin Sejun took his hands out of his pockets and smiled.

Perhaps because it had been a long time since he had talked to a stranger, or because his self-esteem had hit rock bottom after being dumped by Kwon Joowan, he kept thinking that his smiling face looked awkward.

“I’m Jin Yiseo’s uncle.”

“I’m sorry, but could I see some ID, or… is it possible to speak with Yiseo’s guardian on the phone?”

“Ah, yes.”

There must be a lot of perverts who target kids. If I really don’t want to do anything in the future, I should live off my savings and beat up perverts in front of academies.

Jin Sejun thought quite seriously as he called his sister-in-law and connected her with the director.

‘Wait, did I look like a pervert who targets kids?’

Well, an alpha who targeted a beta is indeed a pervert. He had been living so gloomily lately that the time when he lived as ‘the handsome alpha Jin Sejun full of confidence’ felt distant.

“Yiseo’s uncle has been confirmed. Yiseo is currently practicing in the junior beginner class, would you mind waiting a little?”

“Yes.”

A sparkling cheerleading uniform was hanging in the lobby, and there were a lot of trophies, which he guessed the academy students had received.

‘They have competitions?’

Well, there are even pizza-eating contests, so there’s no reason cheerleading wouldn’t have them. As he listlessly read the densely written profile of the director, this time the words ‘national team’ caught his eye.

‘A national team for cheerleading?’

Right, they say there’s even a Rubik’s Cube national team, so there’s no reason cheerleading wouldn’t have one.

But then, a banner was fluttering, saying they had sent students to major in cheerleading at a physical education college.

‘I just thought it was about dancing cutely while holding some sparkly tinsel-like things.’

Jin Sejun let the new information he had learned flow away and this time approached the practice room. A few other guardians were already peeking in, so he could join them naturally.

With a barre placed in the practice room with a full-length mirror, it also looked like a ballet studio. Children who had not yet presented their sub-genders were holding cheer poms and practicing a group dance in formation. Most people who do cheerleading after presenting are omegas or betas, so he was also curious about how many would remain later.

At the end of the line was his niece, who was a head shorter than the other children.

‘Oh~ Jin Yiseo is good.’

There was a reason she had been practicing like that. The moves they were making the kids do were things like jumping, landing, and then doing the splits, so it seemed a bit more intense than the cheerleading he had imagined.

If they asked Jin Sejun to do it, some tendon or cartilage attached to his hip joint would probably rupture. Of course, since he was born an alpha, he wouldn’t do something like cheerleading.

‘If I do a 180-degree split, I’d become a seedless watermelon right away.’

Though it’s already a watermelon that smells rotten~ hahahaha.

Even in his gloomy state, Jin Sejun felt a sense of curiosity. He thought that if there was a junior class, there might also be a senior class, so he peeked into another practice room, and indeed, there were people who were either adults or close to adults gathered there.

That one was co-ed and they weren’t using cheer poms. Instead, the six people, excluding the teacher, were doing push-ups like crazy. From the atmosphere, it seemed like some kind of punishment.

‘This place is almost like a marine boot camp.’

The man who was supervising the push-ups and occasionally correcting their posture was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. He was tall, and his hair, which was barely long enough to be tied, was pulled back tightly. Just looking at his back, it was clear that he had a really good body.

‘Is he an alpha… Usually, if someone has good physical abilities and a good build, they’re almost always an alpha.’

He was just about to be reminded of being stood up by a beta who looked like an alpha. Just then, as if the class had ended, a small hand grabbed Jin Sejun’s pants.

“Uncle, you came to pick me up?”

“Yeah, Mom and Dad are busy, so Uncle came.”

“Did you see me practicing?”

“A little. I can’t even do a split beyond an A-shape, so it was amazing.”

“You just have to practice.”

“Well, if it were about 15 years ago, I might have had some hope…”

Just as Jin Sejun was about to take his niece’s hand and leave the academy, the door to the practice room he had been peeking into also opened.

The man in the black short-sleeved shirt came out, wiping his sweat with a towel, and came face to face with Jin Sejun in the narrow hallway. His heart pounded fiercely and his pupils dilated.

“…Kwon Joowan?”