JADE 31

If only Jin Yiseo had been here, I wouldn’t have had much time for other thoughts, busy as I’d be picking fights, teasing, and taking care of him.

Meanwhile, I was worried about Jin Yiseo staying and eating at someone else’s house for too long, and I also felt bad for his guardian on that side, so I had contacted him through my nephew. But I was told that since both kids were only children, they got along well, and the family over there was more than happy to have him.

Come to think of it, Jin Yiseo was very polite in front of other adults… Having been told he could stay longer, Jin Sejun shamelessly asked for their understanding to let him stay just one more day. The gift I was planning to send to their house had already been delivered.

Of course, I was a bit disappointed, as I had my own plans for ‘exciting days with Uncle’. So I had asked, “It’s not that you don’t like your uncle, right?” Jin Yiseo’s reply was, “It’s not that I don’t like you, but from the perspective of having set a specific goal, I think it would be better to spend time with a friend I do cheerleading with.”

Jin Sejun ended the call by saying, “What are you, some kind of cheerleading-programmed cyborg…? Are you even an elementary schooler?”

It seemed he was a friend he met at the academy; to think they’d gotten that close when he hadn’t even been attending for long. It seemed cheerleading was the kind of sport that just had a way of bringing people together.

‘Well, I guess that’s how people meet, fall for each other, and even get engaged while doing a sport.’

It felt like no matter what I thought about, my thoughts circled back to Kwon Joowan and his former fiancé, but I couldn’t resist it.

To think he’d even tell him about his father when their engagement was broken… I knew it wasn’t just a simple dating relationship from the weight of the word ‘fiancé’, but I had never imagined they would still have contact with each other’s families.

What on earth was a relationship that was both a ‘fiancé’ and a ‘comrade-in-arms’? For someone with no lover or friends, it was hard to fathom, as they seemed to be the final evolutionary forms of each respective relationship.

One was a beta who made preferences and such irrelevant, and the other was an omega who, if he were the old Jin Sejun with his pheromones intact, he would have fought Kwon Joowan to win over (Jin Sejun’s views on relationships were a little trashy too).

Their own world was solid; there was no way they’d let an outsider make a crack in it, no matter how much I poked at it from the outside. Especially if that person was someone like Jin Sejun, for whom a superficial relationship would be the most fitting.

Maybe Jin Sejun’s true calling really was just hair loss consultations, and any human relationships beyond that might be too difficult…

‘Should I get a dog…?’

You know, they say dogs love people unconditionally. But what sin did the dog commit to have to love a person like this?

Jin Sejun curled up, making the spacious bed seem even more vast. It was a night from which he simply could not escape his gloom.

‘He didn’t say he wasn’t going jogging, did he…? Are they spending a hot night together to celebrate getting back together and still enjoying themselves in the morning?’

Isn’t it because I think things like this that I don’t have any friends? Jin Sejun tried to clear his mind and, this morning too, dragged himself to the park where he always met Kwon Joowan.

“Ah, Mr. Sejun.”

“You came…”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

Seeing Kwon Joowan standing alone, I felt strangely relieved. Kwon Joowan’s gaze lingered on the area under Jin Sejun’s eyes for a long time.

“Exercising when you’re sleep-deprived puts a huge strain on your heart.”

“I just tossed and turned a bit. It’s not like I was up all night.”

Jin Sejun rubbed his dry face awkwardly and then started running ahead. By now, his stamina had improved to the point where he could hold a simple conversation while running at a slow pace. Though he purposely didn’t, not wanting to speak with an unsightly, panting voice.

On the way to the riverside, several shops that handled wedding dresses and tuxedos caught his eye in a new way. He was able to keep his mouth shut until then, but on the way back, it was utterly impossible.

“That person from yesterday.”

“Ahn Saeha?”

Kwon Joowan said the full name and then made a look of dismay. Jin Sejun tried his best not to interpret Kwon Joowan’s feelings or intentions on his own and asked.

“Was that… your former fiancé, by any chance?”

It was a simple question, but the silence was long. Just as he was starting to think he was being ignored, Kwon Joowan answered in a stiff tone.

“Afraid I’d say you’re not living up to your alpha status, you sure can sniff out an omega like a ghost…”

“What?”

“…I was just surprised you guessed it in one go.”

It was true that Jin Sejun was being a pretentious ass, but it was so obvious that Kwon Joowan’s mood had soured that it was absurd. Was this something to be so defensive about? It was a defense that felt like the best offense.

He knows how to calmly discipline kids he doesn’t even know, so why…

Then again, it’s strange to put an adult alpha male on the same level as pre-manifestation kids.

‘No, is he acting like this because he thinks I’m hitting on his ex?’

Even if that were true, isn’t it ridiculous for him to be so wary now that they’ve gone back to being friends? Or is it because they’re not just friends?

The café where Kwon Joowan always bought coffee after their workout began to come into view. Jin Sejun thought that if he reassured Kwon Joowan here, they might be able to start the day refreshed, gulping down cool drinks and chatting like usual.

He could have said things like, “She looked agile, too; she must have been an amazing flyer,” or “You two seemed to have great chemistry; I’m curious to see you perform a routine together,” or “I’m jealous you have a friend for life. I should have done cheerleading when I was a student (this was something he thought of because of Jin Yiseo).”

But he had been fed up with trying to please Kwon Joowan for a long time now, so he threw away all peaceful options.

“Nooo~. I was just wondering what you did to make such a beautiful person fall for you so hard that they’d date a beta. Was it the suspension bridge effect? If I had done cheerleading, I would have been married three times by now, hahahaha.”

“…What?”

Seeing Kwon Joowan’s hardened expression grow even colder, a chill ran down his spine again.

‘What is this, really?’

Kwon Joowan didn’t lash out in anger or offer any rebuttal. He just glared at Jin Sejun’s collarbone area for a long while, as if trying to control his temper, then turned away as though he had heard something worthless and just zipped past the café.

He even started running like crazy, leaving Jin Sejun behind.

‘Petty bastard.’

Jin Sejun wanted to throw a dart at the broad back that was getting further and further away. He ran until he was out of breath, but he couldn’t catch up even by the time he reached the academy.

What was this sense of disappointment? Was it because he lost to a beta in a physical activity?

“Hey, you narrow-minded jerk! Are you pissed?”

It was a futile cry that wouldn’t be heard, as he had already disappeared into the academy building.

It’s one thing to abandon someone once or twice, but why was he being such a crank only to Jin Sejun?

Of course, Jin Sejun was an alpha, whom Kwon Joowan disliked, and he had gotten on his nerves a lot… Even though he wasn’t particularly high in empathy, it was strange and felt crappy to be swayed every time Kwon Joowan’s mood dropped.

Why did he have to be so mindful of a beta getting a little angry?

Kwon Joowan’s childish foul mood continued throughout the day. At this point, Jin Sejun had no intention of being the first to lighten the mood, so he just let him be.

Since Kwon Joowan was a guy who knew how to act sociable anyway, he didn’t show it to others at all, and he was only a pain in the ass to a degree that only Jin Sejun would notice, so paying it any mind just made himself feel worse.

As he was spending the day in such a shitty mood, he was suddenly hit with a craving for a smoke. As it happened, he had shoved the leftover cigarettes from a long, long-ago company dinner, which he had smoked after a long time to hide his nervousness, into his locker.

‘Let’s just have one.’

He already kept all sorts of deodorizers in his car’s glove box. He held the cigarette in his hand as if to hide it and was about to head to the parking lot. The moment he pressed the elevator button, he heard the director’s voice through the slightly ajar emergency stairwell door.

“Do you want to be nice to Teacher Jun, or do you want to kick him out? Which is it?”

When people talk about someone who isn’t there, it’s very difficult to walk away without listening if that someone is you. Jin Sejun listened, drawn in by an irresistible force.

“…It’s just, that person is childish. He acts like a creepy, sly old fox and says a lot of weird things.”

The voice that answered was Kwon Joowan’s. Then again, besides him, there was no one else who would hear such a thing from the director.

‘I know I’m childish, you know. Hmph, so there, and eat a rainbow reflection.’

The director replied gently, as if placating an adolescent child.

“It takes two to tango. Why are you being like this when you two have been getting along and playing so well?”

What if he says something even worse? It’s better to not hear gossip and pretend it doesn’t exist. Jin Sejun was used to being the target of jealousy, especially from alphas, due to his fate as a crane among chickens.

That was true, but he didn’t know Kwon Joowan could be as petty as everyone else…

“It’s strange. When I get swept up in it, I feel dazed.”

“Stop blaming others.”

Right, don’t blame others. The first one to get swept up was Jin Sejun. If they were to have a serious discussion about who the victim was, everyone would side with Jin Sejun.

Jin Sejun was pouting and contemplating whether to just go to the parking lot. Kwon Joowan’s even lower voice echoed through the empty stairwell and hallway.

“Sometimes, he seems kind of pure, and he’s a person with a lot of unexpected sides. He’s like a delinquent who hasn’t outgrown his childhood habits, but he’s actually diligent, isn’t he? It’s not boring watching him.”

“…What was that? You don’t dislike him, so why are you acting like this?”

“I don’t know either.”

Jin Sejun unknowingly took a step back and ended up going back into the academy. He didn’t know why, but he felt as if he had heard something terribly frightening.

‘…’

Was it a relief that he didn’t say he wanted to kill me or kick me out? It felt like something I should be happy about, but I couldn’t bring myself to be purely happy. If he doesn’t dislike me, then what the hell is with him throwing a fit so bad that even the director noticed?

Is he not saying he dislikes alphas because the director, an alpha, is there? Or has he opened his heart to the director because he’s an alpha who isn’t alpha-like?

‘He thinks I have a pure side? Where?’

There’s no way he didn’t smell the stench of a degenerate porn enthusiast. Then again, he did say that guy was someone who posted videos of himself masturbating, and maybe because he’s been in America, his ideas are a little different.

‘Wait a minute, isn’t he the delinquent here.’

But besides that, no one had ever liked the Jin Sejun who had developed an inferiority complex. Except for those in the sex app world who couldn’t be exposed to pheromones and liked his witty banter, or the very rare cases where a fellow alpha felt sexual attraction the moment they were exposed to Jin Sejun’s pheromones.

The latter case wasn’t common either, because unless one was exceptionally sensitive, it was rare for anyone to think the omega pheromones wafting from Jin Sejun were his own.

‘I feel dizzy.’

Extremely so. Whether Kwon Joowan wanted to be nice to Jin Sejun or kick him out was a matter Jin Sejun himself was curious about, and he still didn’t know the answer.

Because while they would have fun, they would sometimes get swept up in a strange atmosphere, yet he always acted as if Jin Sejun, and only Jin Sejun, could never cross the line he had drawn around himself.

But… if that’s the case, could it be that he has feelings for Jin Sejun but there’s a decisive reason he can’t take another step forward? What if that reason lies with Jin Sejun? If it was something that could be fixed, he wanted to fix it and try to hold onto Kwon Joowan again.

Or could it be that? That he only accepts omegas, despite not being an alpha himself?

Is what you do in bed that important? Jin Sejun was an alpha’s alpha, but he felt like he could spread his legs if the person he truly loved wanted him to. Wasn’t that the true nature of an alpha, to be generous to his own person?

‘Crazy bastard, I’ve lost my mind.’

From the practice room where the coaches were in the middle of their classes, clear voices and the sound of music flowed out. Jin Sejun stood there, unable to do anything, just fiddling with the cigarette pack in his pocket. His face flushed hot, then a chill ran down his back; his body, like his mind, was going fucking haywire.