MW 13

Perhaps because he had woken up early in the morning and tensed his body in nervousness all day, his entire body ached like he had muscle soreness. Just a moment ago, Dohae had grabbed his hair, causing a little blood to seep from his scalp. However, Yijae, who had taken a bath and was now lying on his futon, recalled the day’s events and smiled pleasantly.

“……Friend.”

Yijae had never dreamed his first friend would be someone as wonderful as Jaeha. He thought of Jaeha, who had treated him with such a gentle voice, and sat up.

Yijae pulled out a box he had hidden secretly between his desk and the wall. From inside, he took out money that had been rolled up and secured with a rubber band. Yijae looked back and forth between the thousand-won bills and the ten-thousand-won bills. After a moment of thought, he made a big decision and picked up two of the green bills.

“I promised I’d buy next time.”

His heart was already pounding at the thought of meeting Jaeha. Pressing a hand over his chest at the unusual heartbeat, Yijae’s cheeks turned red as he opened his diary for the first time in a long while.

He hadn’t written in it since Dohae found it before, but today was a special day, so he wanted to record his feelings in a diary entry.

Yijae’s hand moved busily as he slowly wrote, filling an entire page. Closing the diary, he hid it at the very bottom of the box and pushed it behind the desk.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

Thump thump thump thump.

Jaeha narrowed his eyes at the flashing lights and the music with its fast BPM. He had agreed to attend his friend Lee Haeshin’s birthday party on the condition that they get Yoo Chaekyung out of the building.

He disliked spaces where all sorts of pheromones were mixed, so he usually avoided parties and gatherings, but he had no choice.

Clicking his tongue, Jaeha entered the club and already felt a deep sense of fatigue from the persistent stares that poured over him as soon as he opened the door.

“Yo, Kang Jaeha, you made it?”

Haeshin, the star of tonight’s party, greeted Jaeha and raised his glass high.

“This is ostentatious. And loud.”

“Prickly bastard. So, earlier, was it an omega? A girl?”

Lee Haeshin, who patted Jaeha’s shoulder with a wide grin, was no different from Yoo Chaekyung. He pestered him to talk, his eyes narrowed.

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean, not like that? Then why didn’t you let Yoo Chaekyung into the club room? If not a girl, then an omega. What were you doing in there?”

Having known him for a long time, his intuition was frighteningly sharp. Jaeha, having lost the will to argue, walked past Haeshin.

As he headed towards the crowd, people he had seen at least once before acknowledged him. Among them, Oh Seokmin of Hanjoo Group, famous for his promiscuous private life, raised a hand in greeting.

“Oh, Kang Jaeha is here? To think the precious young master of Kangmyung Group would grace a party. What a sight to see.”

Seokmin’s eyes, as he drank and sneered, gleamed with jealousy. In a situation where it was obvious things would get annoying if he engaged, Jaeha was about to turn his head and ignore him.

“Dohae is here too, how can you not even say hello? He’s going to be your fiancé, you should take care of him.”

Only then did he shift his gaze and meet the eyes of Dohae, who was sitting next to Seokmin. Seeing him reminded him of someone. For a moment, Jaeha’s face softened as he was reminded of Yijae in the silent Dohae.

“It’s been a while, Jaeha hyung.”

However, seeing Yijae in Dohae was only for a moment. Unlike Yijae, from his well-cared-for face to his neatly styled hair and the clothes he wore, everything from head to toe was expensive.

Though their faces were as similar as twins, the two were completely different, and Jaeha let out a faint smile. At the sudden smile, Dohae’s earlobes colored prettily. His heart began to pound in an instant.

“Jaeha hyung?”

“Ah. Right. It’s been a while. I was just passing by. Well then, have fun.”

I’ve shown my face, so this should be enough. The condition Haeshin had given him was to attend the party, so having kept his promise, Jaeha gave a look to Haeshin standing behind him and turned to leave.

“Hey, Kang Jaeha!”

But just then, Yoo Chaekyung, who was entering the club, spotted Jaeha and ran over, panting as if it was a good thing she’d found him.

“Shit, you were with an omega earlier, weren’t you!”

She was dressed to the nines from head to toe, a complete contrast to how she looked at school earlier. Chaekyung, with a very excited face, grinned from ear to ear, wrapped an arm around Jaeha’s neck, and continued.

“I heard everything. You went into the club room with a super pretty freshman. Hey, Lee Haeshin, you knew all about it, didn’t you?”

Chaekyung, who was throwing a fit about being the only one not in the know, looked at Jaeha as if she knew everything. Under that persistent gaze, he answered firmly with a scowl.

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean, not like that, you bastard. Looks like you’re finally in the mood to date, huh?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere around them turned icy. The loud music was still painfully audible, but everyone held their breath, listening intently to Chaekyung and Jaeha’s conversation.

Reading the mood, Haeshin wiped his face as if he were tired and pulled Chaekyung’s clothes, separating him from Jaeha.

“Hey, get a clue.”

Haeshin, who gritted his teeth and whispered in his ear, winced his eyes at Jaeha as if to say sorry.

“What! Ah, what, because of Gu Dohae?”

Chaekyung, who was being dragged away by Haeshin, struggled and then spoke as she caught sight of Dohae.

“It’s not like Kang Jaeha and Gu Dohae like each other anyway. This isn’t the fucking dark ages, what’s with the engagement.”

“Pfft!”

At those words, someone burst out the laughter they had been holding back. Haeshin, who let out a long sigh, seemed to decide he couldn’t take it anymore and used his strength to drag Chaekyung into an inner room. As Jaeha followed them, his expression hardened and he disappeared from view, a silence fell, punctuated by occasional chuckles.

“Oh my, Gu Dohae, are you okay?”

The first person to break the silence was Jeongyeon, who was sitting across from Dohae. The two, who had not gotten along since childhood, had their hierarchy divided when Dohae presented as a dominant omega and, on top of that, his engagement to Jaeha was announced.

Jeongyeon, whose pride had been deeply wounded, took the opportunity that had come her way and spoke in a worried voice, her lips curling into a detestable smile.

“Jaeha oppa is being too much, really.”

“What is?”

“I mean, you’re not even engaged yet, I was just saying I’m worried it might get called off.”

“Right. If he’s seeing someone… even if there was a promise between the families, isn’t it a bit much?”

Starting with Jeongyeon, the omegas sitting next to her began to add their own comments one by one.

Their words and gazes were filled with ridicule for Dohae. Watching them whisper among themselves and snicker, he dug his well-manicured nails into his palm.

‘Who the hell is it.’

He thought that now that he was an adult, the engagement with Kang Jaeha would proceed. According to Madam Lee, the families were supposed to proceed with an engagement ceremony soon by mutual agreement. He had thought everything would be perfect if they got married around the time Kang Jaeha graduated after the engagement ceremony, but now to hear he has someone else.

He had lived his whole life to become Kang Jaeha’s omega. Because of that, he had endured the misery of receiving blood transfusions of the nauseating Seo Yijae’s omega essence.

For whom did he make that choice. Dohae, who clenched his jaw so hard it ached, stared intently at the spot where Jaeha had disappeared. A cold fury settled in his veiny eyes. Dohae immediately took out his phone.

Secretary Oh, find me a good person. Don’t tell my father.

It seemed he had been too complacent all this time. He regretted letting go, thinking it would be his anyway.

Dohae thought it would be better to prepare thoroughly, even if it was now, and bit his lip.

After sending the text, he carelessly tossed his phone aside and downed a strong whiskey in one go. The hot alcohol flowed down his esophagus, and Dohae’s eyes glinted savagely.

‘I don’t know who the bastard is, but I just need to get them away from Jaeha hyung now.’

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“Um, ah, ma’am. Please tell the madam that I… am going to, school.”

“Yes, alright.”

Before going to school, Yijae stopped by the main house to tell the maid. The original condition for his admission was to commute with Dohae, but in reality, their majors and schedules were different, making it impossible.

At first, Madam Lee had shown a displeased attitude about Yijae going to school alone, but after Dohae threw a huge tantrum, she gave up.

He also found it difficult to be in the same space as Dohae, so even if it was physically tiring, he preferred to take the bus to school alone.

Yijae, who finished preparing early in the morning and left the house, walked the now familiar streets and got on the bus.

“Ah, hello.”

Yijae bowed before tapping his card after getting on the bus, and his cheeks turned red at the driver’s voice returning his greeting as he sat down.

At home, Dohae disliked it when he spoke, and there wasn’t really anyone else to talk to. As a result, he was embarrassed about his constant stuttering, so these days he had decided to speak while avoiding Dohae’s eyes.

Today, he succeeded in greeting without stuttering, and Yijae was so proud of himself that the corners of his mouth kept curving up.

Rrrrr…

<Hangang University Business Administration Department Notice>

Opening General Assembly: March 15, 20xx, 6:30 p.m. at Yanggang Jumak

Participation Fee: 20,000 won

“Ah.”

Yijae’s eyes widened as he checked the notice posted in the department group chat.

Opening General Assembly.

It seemed the ‘gaechong’ Seoyoung had mentioned on his first day of school meant the opening general assembly.

But why was it at a place called a jumak instead of the school? Yijae tilted his head with a puzzled expression and slowly scrolled down, reading the replies that followed one after another below the notice.

After checking from top to bottom, he didn’t see a single person who said they weren’t attending.

6:30. At that time, he should already be home. Yijae, who hesitated and thought hard, felt frustrated that he couldn’t decide on his own and quietly turned off his phone screen.

‘I want to go… too.’