JADE 32

“Hello.”

A little earlier than the day before, Ahn Saeha came to the academy again.

Is it another family errand today? If not, is he asking for a date? Jin Sejun greeted him with a complicated heart.

“Ah, hello. The vice director isn’t here right now, but I think he’ll be here soon.”

For some reason, I felt like I shouldn’t call him Teacher Jun or Mr. Joowan, so a title I rarely used just popped out.

Perhaps sensing my fluster, Ahn Saeha’s eyes curved into a pleasant arc.

“I’ll wait here.”

“Yes…”

Should I make him a cup of coffee or something? If I don’t treat the guest properly, this time I might get scolded as the lobby manager…

As I brewed tea instead of coffee in the simply furnished break room, useless thoughts wouldn’t stop for those few minutes.

In what ways is Ahn Saeha different from Jin Sejun? What kind of person can Kwon Joowan date? Honestly, they were so different at a single glance that there wasn’t much to think about.

No matter how much you talk about how the inside is what’s important, the preliminary round is always based on appearance. Even for Jin Sejun, whose external appearance was outstanding, Kwon Joowan hated alphas so much in the first place, so there was no hope for me…

‘Then why did we go to the hotel in the first place.’

Back to square one. If Kwon Joowan himself doesn’t know why he’s acting like that, what chance does a stranger have? It’s better to just stop thinking about it.

“It’s the afternoon, so I chose a caffeine-free one.”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about me. Thank you.”

Hmm. Seeing his gentle and beautiful smile, it felt like the foolish thoughts I just had completely vanished. Besides, wasn’t the pheromone Ahn Saeha had left on Kwon Joowan before a peach scent? Could there be another person in this world who possessed so many omega-like virtues?

Yes, alphas are biologically bound to be attracted to omegas. So, I should set aside the impending storm that Kwon Joowan, who was so protective as to tell me to lay off Ahn Saeha, would bring and just enjoy this moment…

“Saeha.”

Well, that secret conversation ended quickly… As I raised my head awkwardly, still in the posture of trying to sit next to Ahn Saeha, I was met with Kwon Joowan’s ice-cold expression. It was as expected, but since I didn’t feel particularly great about it, Jin Sejun plopped down in his seat instead of leaving.

‘I don’t know why I’m being like this either.’

Just like you, Kwon Joowan. Jin Sejun smiled and looked back at Ahn Saeha.

“I heard you two were classmates and started at the same time, but Mr. Saeha, you look incredibly young.”

“Young-looking… But did you hear that directly from Joowan?”

“Classmates? Yes.”

“That’s strange… Joowan doesn’t usually say things like that to other people.”

At the lightly added words, Jin Sejun’s gaze was fixed on Kwon Joowan. Kwon Joowan still had his damn expressionless face, but in that moment, Jin Sejun’s mood rose from the mire to about the level of a dirt floor.

“Um… Teacher.”

“Ah, I’m Jin Sejun. I’m not a teacher, though.”

“Mr. Sejun, what is your relationship with Joowan?”

What is my relationship? Suddenly?

“Me? I’m Mr. Joowan’s office wife.”

“Pardon?”

It was a joke meant to be funny, but the atmosphere just turned strange. I even saw Kwon Joowan’s jaw clench, and just as I was about to try and fix the situation, Ahn Saeha asked with an innocent face.

“Then… are you an omega?”

“An omega? Me?”

It was the first time someone who hadn’t even been exposed to Jin Sejun’s pheromones had asked if he was an omega, so my voice even cracked. To be treated as an omega by someone who looked like the quintessential omega…

“I-it’s obvious I’m an alpha when you look at me.”

“But with Joowan…”

“Office wife? Of course it was a joke!”

‘Is he a bit of a ditz?’

But that aspect was also charming in its own way. Regardless of whether Kwon Joowan was glaring or not, I was about to let my attention be stolen by Ahn Saeha’s full eyelashes.

Kwon Joowan pushed Jin Sejun aside and moved Ahn Saeha to the sofa across from him. It was obvious he thought I was going to harass or sexually assault the omega, Ahn Saeha.

“Just let what that thing says go in one ear and out the other. You’ll have a headache if you get tangled up with him.”

“Aha…”

“‘That thing’? Mr. Saeha, could you please not just accept that either…?”

Right, there’s no way Kwon Joowan likes Jin Sejun. He did say some nice things on the stairwell, but most of it was slander, wasn’t it? As Jin Sejun was pouting, Ahn Saeha asked with a gentle face.

“Mr. Sejun, do you have plans this evening? If not, how about we have dinner together?”

“Dinner?”

Perhaps because the suggestion was so sudden, Kwon Joowan and Jin Sejun shouted at the same time.

‘Suddenly? On our first meeting? If he liked me, he would have asked when Kwon Joowan wasn’t around, so this is ambiguous.’

Honestly, Jin Sejun had been suffering from a feeling like he had indigestion all day, on top of a strange confusion. Come to think of it, this condition hadn’t been for just a day or two; it had been a while, so even if it was an omega of his type asking, it was hard to accept with pleasure.

“Sounds good.”

However, since Kwon Joowan was showing his disapproval, I gave a cool “okay”.

A few dozen minutes later, the three of them were sitting together in a restaurant. It was something I only realized properly later, but Ahn Saeha had only asked Jin Sejun to have dinner. Kwon Joowan, as if he knew this, had even pawned off driving the academy van to the director to tag along.

‘I wasn’t thinking anything lecherous…’

My plan while eating with Ahn Saeha was just to hear stories about his college days with Kwon Joowan. His appearance was my type, but my constitution was such that I couldn’t date omegas anyway, and I’d been rejected by Kwon Joowan twice already. On top of that, after being turned down by all the other betas, Jin Sejun himself didn’t even think about trying to make a move.

‘It’ll be a great look if I hit on both former fiancés and get shot down by each of them.’

Thus, Jin Sejun himself had no thoughts on the matter, but it didn’t feel good that Kwon Joowan was pointlessly overreacting and fabricating ulterior motives that didn’t even exist.

“Then, Mr. Sejun, are you younger than us? Wow, I thought you were the same age.”

“Just say I look old.”

At this age, with a one or two-year difference, you usually can’t tell who’s older or younger by appearance. Perhaps because Ahn Saeha had a face that could pass for being in his twenties, I felt even stranger.

“In that case, is it okay if I speak casually…?”

For someone who had asked for dinner first, he seemed shy, but he was also endearing. Jin Sejun shook his head and spouted whatever came to mind.

“No. Then you’ll only see me as a younger brother.”

“Ah.”

If only Kwon Joowan hadn’t been so annoying, we would have finished the meal in a plain and simple atmosphere! Blaming others, I turned my gaze and saw Kwon Joowan with a sour look on his face. He had been bringing down the mood with that face the whole time, so if I couldn’t kick him out, I just wanted to piss him off even more.

The restaurant menu, which was supposedly Ahn Saeha’s preference, had a lot of leafy greens, and Jin Sejun wasn’t childish enough to be picky about vegetables. The problem was that his stomach had been on the verge of going on strike since a while ago.

Just keeping up with the conversation was draining all my energy, so I just wished Kwon Joowan would stop being a dick and just shovel some food into his mouth.

If he’s going to be so wary, shouldn’t he at least make an effort to look good for Ahn Saeha?

“Saeha, you used to hate it when there was fruit in your lunch box. When did your tastes change like this?”

“You’re talking about so long ago. We’ve eaten together many times since then.”

“Mr. Saeha, were you a meat person? You don’t seem like it.”

“No, brea―.”

“You were a regular at the bakery in front of the studio we lived in together.”

Before Ahn Saeha could finish his sentence, Kwon Joowan suddenly brought up another memory that only the two of them shared. I was curious about their school days, but this wasn’t how I wanted to hear about it, like a third-party audience member.

‘Ah… I feel bloated.’

If he was going to be this annoying, he shouldn’t have played along with my jokes or suggested we exercise together in the first place. I was tired of myself for paying attention to Kwon Joowan’s every word and action.

Still, Ahn Saeha, as the one who suggested the meal, at least treated Jin Sejun like a person.

“So, because his texts were too short, I told him to at least attach pictures regularly.”

“Aha… So you picked up that habit thanks to Mr. Saeha.”

So that’s what happened… He was pruned by the hands of an omega and became at least somewhat of a decent person. Of course, his natural looks are attractive, but with that bastardly personality and avoidant tendency…

If it hadn’t been for Ahn Saeha, Jin Sejun would never have been turned on by Kwon Joowan!

“Does Joowan also attach pictures when he texts you, Mr. Sejun?”

When I lifted my head, Ahn Saeha’s smile had a peculiar tinge to it. I had certainly received a lot of pictures from Kwon Joowan, and recently he had even demanded pictures of my meals, so we had exchanged quite a few photos.

However, if I were to agree here, for some reason, I felt like it would make both Kwon Joowan and Ahn Saeha uncomfortable.

“Ah ah, no. We don’t really have a reason to text separately. We have an academy group chat.”

“I see. Well, since we met like this, it must be fate. Can I have your number?”

Kwon Joowan pushed Ahn Saeha’s phone, which was being held out, with his hand, as if telling him to put it away.

“What for? It’s not like you’ll see him again.”

Well, look at the spokesman. Jin Sejun wanted to slap himself for looking to Kwon Joowan for a reaction first. The Jin Sejun from just a moment ago wouldn’t have known that the guy who seemed like a nobody would glare so murderously.

He really does hate me.

“Sure, I’ll give you my number.”

It’s not like his number was that big of a deal. It was just exchanging contact information, so it would be strange to refuse outright. Of course, if Kwon Joowan hadn’t been so obstructive, I might have refused in a more sophisticated way.

It doesn’t seem good that I keep acting in a way that just rebels against Kwon Joowan.

‘…Is he interested in me?’

Well, Jin Sejun had a slick exterior, so any omega would often feel an initial attraction upon first meeting him. But I truly had no intention of trying anything with Ahn Saeha. Even if things worked out, it would make things a hundred times more awkward with Kwon Joowan, and I didn’t have the confidence to endure that.

‘Ah, the jinx…’

The jinx where the person his crush likes falls for Jin Sejun. I had forgotten about it for a long time, only mentioning it at a drinking party long, long ago, right before I got stood up by Kwon Joowan, but it suddenly came to mind.

‘Nah, it’s not like I love Kwon Joowan enough to die for him, and I have my pride. My feelings for him died at the hotel in the first place. If I still liked him after that, I’d be beyond a pushover, just an idiot, really.’

If I had written this on an internet forum, I would have typed a whole page of ‘k’s.

It was the moment when the self-deprecating Jin Sejun was answering the confirmation call for the number Ahn Saeha had given him.

“Ugh.”

My head felt like it was being squeezed tight. Except for his pheromones, he had a very normal and healthy constitution, so he didn’t know the symptoms of being sick well, but it felt like indigestion.

But he also had an acute headache, and the sudden onset of symptoms was too intense. For a moment, his breath caught, and his vision blurred for a second.

Smack.

He came to his senses a little when Ahn Saeha slapped the back of Kwon Joowan’s hand hard. Wondering what was going on, Jin Sejun lifted his head, and Ahn Saeha gave his usual benevolent smile and mumbled an excuse.

“Ah, sometimes Joowan has trouble reading the room…”