PAO 29

Don’t help him, he says.

At first, I wondered what kind of bullshit that was. And the second time, I wondered if he knew what he was talking about… and finally, when I realized he meant I should pretend not to know whatever happens to him, I got angry.

Before long, the candle on the cake had created a small tomb of wax on top of the cake and gone out, but Seowon hadn’t been able to take a single bite. Right now, Seowon’s interest wasn’t the cake, but the heartless words Junghoo had uttered.

“Why would you say something like that?”

“You met my father. It’s obvious what he would have to say to you.”

“Is that why you’re doing this?”

As Junghoo nodded with composure, Seowon felt like he was about to explode with frustration.

“Ignore everything my father or Taeha hyung said.”

“If you were me, would you be able to ignore it?”

“That’s why I’m asking you.”

Even with Junghoo’s reply, which suggested it was not difficult at all, Seowon did not back down easily.

“Whether your nosebleed stops or not, if something similar happens, I can’t ignore it.”

“No, that help was enough for one time. From now on, if I collapse, just step over me and walk away.”

“Do you really think I can do that?”

“It’s just a matter of closing your eyes tightly and walking past. If you turn a blind eye just once, the second time will be easier.”

“Easy, you say…”

Seowon couldn’t hide his disappointment. It’s human nature not to be able to just pass by if you see someone collapse on the street. But if that someone was Yoo Junghoo, it would be even harder to turn away…

“Look at me straight.”

Junghoo made Seowon look at him. Wondering what on earth he was about to say, I stared intently into his eyes. Just for that, Junghoo wore a satisfied smile, and Seowon was on the verge of exploding.

“Seowon, even though we live in the same house, we don’t know each other well.”

Junghoo was right.

“Even if I collapse, you don’t know the reason why. So what are you going to do if you act rashly trying to help me and a bigger problem arises.”

At a glance, it sounded very plausible, but it contained the biggest blind spot.

“Then you should just take care of it yourself so that Taeha hyung and the Mister can’t ask me for favors. Whether you go on a blind date or meet an omega, before I even have a chance to step in.”

“Right. I’ll take care of everything, so you can stop worrying about it now.”

“Wow, this bastard…”

Seowon showed a dumbfounded reaction.

“You don’t even know what I was thinking…”

“Were you going to have sex with me if you became an omega?”

“…”

It wasn’t ‘if I became an omega’ but rather ‘if I revealed I was an omega,’ but he was more or less right. It was true that I had wavered, feeling so pathetic for hiding my secondary gender just because I was upset while Junghoo was sick.

But Junghoo’s words were truly heartless.

“Isn’t it that everyone is telling me to help, but you’re the only one stopping me? I don’t think a bigger problem will arise even if I act rashly trying to help you.”

“That’s why I even mentioned a wish. Grant my wish.”

Junghoo was acting like a child begging for chocolate.

‘Please don’t let Seowon get angry.’

I shouldn’t have taken it as a joke when Junghoo said that earlier. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here now with my mouth shut, unable to say a single word.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

Seowon looked at the cake, which had become a mess even though he hadn’t touched it. No one had tried to ruin it, but it had ruined itself by generating its own heat, just like him right now.

“What am I to you. A childhood friend? 3 billion won? Or prey?”

Whichever one he chose from this list, it didn’t seem like I would feel very good. If he said childhood friend, I felt like I would get angry asking why he doesn’t tell me anything, and if it was 3 billion won, I felt I would treat him as just that. If he said he was drooling and waiting for me to present as an omega, I was even thinking of telling him outright that I was an omega.

Come to think of it, it was something that was bound to blow up at some point. I was so flustered by Junghoo’s sudden appearance that I missed the chance to push him away, and after that, I couldn’t find an opportunity.

It was just that there was no opportunity, I had kept it in my heart all along, so it was right that it exploded when the time came. Disappearing without a word and then showing up as he pleases to hover around me is definitely not normal.

“To me, you are…”

Junghoo’s lips curved up gently.

“Let’s see. What would be good.”

Seowon, who felt a surge of emotion because he didn’t answer right away, glared at him.

“Is this funny?”

His churning stomach just wouldn’t calm down.

“Funny…”

Junghoo rolled the same word around in his mouth several times before chuckling.

“Seowon, I have always been sincere with you.”

“That is sincere, you say…”

Seowon, rolling the word in his mouth as Junghoo did, nodded his head.

“Well, you were always selfish from the beginning.”

Making a fuss about liking me—your choice.
Disappearing without a word—your choice.
Suddenly showing up after no contact and acting frivolously, saying you like me again—your choice.

Everything was only Junghoo’s choice, not one of mine was there.

That’s why I was angry. Yoo Junghoo didn’t tell me why he disappeared, yet I felt like I was losing by meekly telling him I had presented.

“Forget it. What do I expect from you.”

As the long-suppressed disappointment surfaced, it became difficult to deal with Junghoo anymore. Seowon got up from his seat and turned his body away from Junghoo.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t grant your request.”

“Sigh… Seowon, I told you it’s a wish.”

“My promise with the Chairman comes before you.”

But to Junghoo’s whining about why he wouldn’t grant it, Seowon lashed out strongly enough to be considered cruel. Unfortunately, at the firm answer that his wish could not be granted first, no further words were heard from Junghoo.

“It’s just once. If I help you just once, I’ll be keeping my promise with the Chairman, so after that, I’ll grant your wish.”

Since Junghoo wants it, it wouldn’t be bad to be Santa Claus for once. Even if no dreams or hopes are given.

“You eat the cake. I can’t eat it since it’s not a special day for me.”

Not wanting to converse anymore, I spat out the words quickly and went into my room. The moment I closed the door and recognized that I was in a different space from Junghoo, a sigh rose from within me.

“Sigh.”

The conversation I just had was like a leech that drained Seowon of his energy. Confirming that Junghoo’s body was not well, and the disappointment towards him that I had barely suppressed rising up… anyway, all of it mercilessly sucked at Seowon’s body, causing his strength to wane. Feeling like he would collapse on the floor and stay there for a while, he forced himself to crawl to the bed.

As he fell face down on the bed, a groaning sound escaped him from the fatigue he had accumulated all day.

“So much really happened today…”

Thinking about it now, everything had blurred into one. Just as clay of various colors, when gathered and kneaded together, becomes a single lump, Seowon’s memories were combined here and there and smudged together at once, leaving only one thing.

Yoo Junghoo.

Only the color that was Yoo Junghoo remained for me.

Seowon blinked a few times and then slowly lowered his eyelids.

I was sitting on the bed in a daze. Thanks to the curtains that couldn’t completely block the sunlight, I knew the day had broken, but I couldn’t quite tell the time.

My phone was silent as if it were dead, and no sound came from outside either. As it became perfectly quiet, Seowon’s dazed mind showed no signs of waking up.

Why didn’t the alarm go off.

“The weekend.”

Belatedly realizing that today was the weekend, Seowon turned his head. The day was bright, and he didn’t have to go to school.

“What should I do.”

It felt like I had slept a lot so I wasn’t sleepy, but I hesitated because I thought there would be a face I didn’t want to see if I went out.

But it wasn’t as if he could stay in his room forever, so Seowon shook his head to wake himself up. It’s best to just go out quickly. As Seowon raised his body from the bed, he glanced at his vibrating phone.

I’m curious who contacted me, but I just turned away. I could check it after I wash up, I thought, and when I opened the door, my eyes met with Junghoo, who was holding his phone to his ear.