By Zephyria It wasn’t until the spring of his 12th year that Lee Yoon-san learned the reason why he couldn’t see Hwang Hae-kyung anymore. It was because Lee Yoon-san, who had become a fifth grader, had also entered his Heat cycle.
“Teacher, my stomach…”
“Oh my, Yoon-san!”
Lee Yoon-san, who had been taking the class well, suddenly collapsed, complaining of abdominal pain. Lee Yoon-san, who was now in the fifth grade, had a physique that was beyond chubby, and his height reached 170cm.
Adults would sometimes ask if Lee Yoon-san had manifested as an Alpha when they saw his height, but they would quickly stop talking when they saw Lee Yoon-san’s physique.
The child, who had grown so quickly, was more like an ugly duckling with feathers that hadn’t settled in than cute like before. His weight, which had become severely obese beyond childhood obesity, also played a significant role. In short, it meant that even if his development was good, he couldn’t be an Alpha because he wasn’t handsome like a typical Alpha.
Such Lee Yoon-san suddenly collapsed during school. There was no warning or foreshadowing. And the reason why a child of this age collapses with such symptoms was mostly one thing. Lee Yoon-san lost consciousness while clutching his stomach, and the homeroom teacher, who was a normal Beta female, called an ambulance first in the face of the bewildering situation.
From the time they enter the fourth grade of elementary school, transfers become frequent in most schools across the country. This is because the period when the second genders of Alpha and Omega begin to manifest is usually around that time.
Alphas and Omegas, whose bodies, including reproductive organs, settle and whose sex hormone secretion is rapidly promoted, are usually separated for management and education during the immature period.
Since the majority of the population is Beta, they transfer to the corresponding school according to their second gender at the same time as manifestation. If they manifest as Omega, they go to a school that only accepts Betas and Omegas, and if they manifest as Alpha, they go to a school that only accepts Betas and Alphas.
It was unavoidable. The second genders of Alpha and Omega have something called Pheromones, and due to the Heat cycle caused by them, it was unavoidable. If the two genders were mixed during the Heat cycle, which is no different from the start of puberty, when judgment is immature, indiscriminate accidents were likely to occur. Since the degree of hormone secretion was on a different level from that of the general Beta population, it was necessary to separate them in advance.
Lee Yoon-san had also seen classmates transferring schools in such an environment. It was all last year, and all of them suddenly transferred schools due to the manifestation of their second gender. Of course, they weren’t Lee Yoon-san’s friends.
Lee Yoon-san, who had become increasingly less confident as the years passed, no longer had any friends. Rather, this year, there were even children who openly avoided or made fun of Lee Yoon-san. That was very upsetting for Lee Yoon-san.
Anyway, because Lee Yoon-san had spent the last year like that, Lee Yoon-san and Lee Yoon-san’s parents had expected him to pass through his Heat cycle without any problems. They also hoped that he would remain an ordinary, happy child who didn’t have to go through a harsh Heat cycle due to hormones, and didn’t have to take Suppressants for the rest of his life to suppress some hormones and control Pheromones and Heat cycles without any manifestation.
As if to mock their hopes, Lee Yoon-san’s Heat cycle began. Lee Yoon-san, who collapsed complaining of abdominal pain, was immediately taken to the emergency room by the homeroom teacher and paramedics, and after undergoing examinations by the endocrinology department and the secondary gender medicine department that deals with second genders, he was notified that he had entered his Heat cycle.
Lee Yoon-san had manifested as an Omega.
“Mom…”
“Yes, baby. Mom’s here.”
Lee Yoon-san’s parents, who had rushed to the hospital after receiving a call from the homeroom teacher, couldn’t hide their pale faces. It was rare, but it did happen that a boy manifested as an Omega. However, in such cases, the Heat cycle was known to be particularly severe.
It is a period when the reproductive organs (uterus) that had been hidden as if degenerated between the organs grow rapidly and settle down through secondary sexual characteristics and Heat cycle.
As the organs that had been useless as if they had degenerated grow rapidly and occupy a place and mature, sex hormone secretion becomes rapidly active and physical changes also become prominent. Since the reproductive organs that can have children take their place, it is also a time when hormones generated from those organs create the Omega’s unique external characteristics.
The hormone helps the ‘appropriate’ skeletal structure and bone maturation of Omegas, which are different from Alphas, and creates smooth skin and appearance. In the case of a girl manifesting as an Omega, the results of female hormone action may not feel very different, but it was also a change that felt a bit unfair to a boy.
Unlike Alpha children, whose skeletons, noses, and jawbones mature and develop what is commonly referred to as a ‘manly’ appearance, they have a smooth and soft appearance.
However, it was not a problem that could be defined as a ‘feminine’ appearance, as it is commonly expressed. It is only affected by the hormone due to the development of the reproductive organs (uterus).
Just because a boy manifests as an Omega does not mean that his speech suddenly becomes gentle, his personality becomes docile, or his breasts grow and his pelvis widens.
However, they only have a softer appearance due to the difference in internal reproductive organs and hormones. Even that cannot be definitively defined because hormone levels and the degree of influence vary from person to person, but on average, that was the case. Therefore, boys who manifest as Omegas tend to be dissatisfied from this period.
Because the probability that their skeletons will be less developed than Beta A or Alpha B in the same class who were equally large increases. They will be pushed back in stamina if they play soccer, and they will also be pushed back in strength. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to revive and settle the reproductive organs that were not functioning in the body, and the energy metabolic rate due to that also increases. It means that all the physical strength to be used externally is consumed in reviving the internal reproductive organs.
All of these things are valid until the child who started the Heat cycle becomes an adult. Moreover, the abdominal pain that comes with the process will be enormous, so Lee Yoon-san’s parents could only feel sorry for their son’s Omega manifestation.
After all the IV fluid that had been placed in Lee Yoon-san was administered, Lee Yoon-san’s parents took the child home. The first thing they did after returning home was to hug Lee Yoon-san, who was still asleep, tightly and to find out about Lee Yoon-san’s transfer procedures.
“Mom…”
“Yes, son.”
“Was Hae-kyung like this too…?”
After a long time, Lee Yoon-san, who had woken up from his sleep, mumbled without even opening his eyes properly, which were swollen from crying. It was as if he was reminded of Hwang Hae-kyung, whom he had last seen two years ago.
Hwang Hae-kyung had not participated in camping since the summer vacation two years ago. Even when Lee Yoon-san tentatively asked ‘What about Hae-kyung?’ at the camping trip that started that winter, Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents would only answer ‘Hae-kyung doesn’t come to camping anymore.’ Perhaps they thought that Lee Yoon-san was too young to explain their son’s situation.
“That’s right. Hae-kyung has also been going through his Heat cycle since the summer of his 11th year.”
“Does Hae-kyung hurt this much too…?”
“Probably?”
Hwang Hae-kyung, who had entered his Heat cycle two years earlier, seemed to be having a difficult time as well. So much so that even Lee Yoon-san’s parents, who only heard about it indirectly, felt sorry for him.
Alphas also have to live with pain different from Omegas due to rapid growth.—Of course, these people also suffer more severe pain in the case of female Alphas with mismatched primary and secondary genders.— The pain they experience is close to growing pains. This is because both the reproductive organs and the overall skeletal structure of the body grow more rapidly than those of ordinary Betas. Because bones grow and muscles grow every day, pain is accompanied by it.
It is said that the pain they experience throughout the Heat cycle is about 100 times that of the growing pains that Betas usually experience, so it was at a level that could not be said to be small compared to Omegas. As a result, they have to take prescribed painkillers with Suppressants from time to time, and they enter education about the body and hormone and Pheromone management. Hwang Hae-kyung was also going through such a process.
All the news was what Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents had told them indirectly, but Hwang Hae-kyung had been living with growing pains so severe that he couldn’t even walk properly for a while after the summer vacation camping trip two years ago.
At that time, the camping trip had to be stopped due to the rapidly bursting Heat cycle fever, and he had not been able to attend school for several days even after the vacation ended. Lee Yoon-san’s parents could not tell Lee Yoon-san about the child’s situation either, and their camping group slowly became loose.
Hwang Hae-kyung’s family did not participate in the vacation camping trip after that winter, and Lee Yoon-san’s parents also lost enthusiasm for the camping group without Hwang Hae-kyung’s family. In particular, they were planning to formally ask for understanding and not participate in the camping group from this year, but Lee Yoon-san’s Heat cycle came at this time.
Lee Yoon-san’s mother hugged Lee Yoon-san with all her strength and slowly stroked his back. She felt sorry for the child who was in pain from growing, and she was impressed by the child’s heart, which was worried about Hwang Hae-kyung, whom he had seen two years ago, even in the midst of this.
“I still hurt a little…”
“It’s because you’re growing. What should Mom do because our son is in pain? Should Mom rub your tummy?”
“No… Mom, but then am I going to be an Omega?”
“That’s right. You’re going to be an Omega like Mom.”
“Can I be…?”
The mother, who had been holding the child lying in bed and patting him, raised her head. Lee Yoon-san’s Omega mother reacted as if she was wondering, looking at Lee Yoon-san’s sullen face. That was because it was already strange to say that the second gender, which had already been determined and had already entered the Heat cycle, was something.
“I’m fat and ugly.”
“Yoon-san.”
“The kids will make fun of me…”
Lee Yoon-san’s Alpha mother, who had stopped walking after finding out all the transfer procedures and bringing porridge, stopped walking at her son’s words, which were conveyed in a sullen voice. Lee Yoon-san’s Omega mother’s expression also hardened as she stroked Lee Yoon-san’s body. They sighed inwardly as they looked at their son’s sullen face.
Half of the reason why they had become negligent in the camping group was also because the two people had become busy with work since last year. Lee Yoon-san’s parents were people who ran a venture capital firm, and their work was always busy.
Nevertheless, the reason they could enjoy camping every vacation and work flexibly from there was because they were the owners and managers of the company. It had been quite some time since their entrepreneurial investment skills had shone, but since last year, the scale of the money they were managing had become much larger. The couple was away from home more often, and even before that, they didn’t have time to participate in the parent community.
It was a slightly different issue from their affection for Lee Yoon-san. They needed to build a solid career and economic foundation, even for Lee Yoon-san’s sake. Moreover, since his secondary gender had manifested, he would have to manage his hormones and Pheromone for the rest of his life.
Of course, there would be costs associated with that, and those costs were unnecessary for a typical Beta. One of the realities they had learned in life was that money could never be ignored when raising a child.
For that reason, they provided their son with everything he wanted, including the foods he wanted to eat. Even if he gained weight, they thought that he was a growing child and would eventually grow taller, and since there were no signs of high blood pressure, pediatric diabetes, or fatty liver in his health checkups, they didn’t feel the need to restrict him, no matter how much weight he gained.
To prevent their child, who had to be home alone until late at night after school, from feeling lonely, they provided ample support for toys, games, academies, and recreational activities, and gave him whatever he wanted to eat.
They didn’t think there would be any problem even if there was no exercise or outdoor activity in there. After all, they also went on long-term camping trips during vacations, and they were worried that their child might get hurt while doing outdoor activities alone when his parents couldn’t take care of him. Of course, it was also a result of the parents’ feelings of not being able to take proper care of him except during the camping season.
But whether that acted as a poison, the child’s self-esteem had become very low without them noticing. Until just two years ago, he had never talked about his appearance.
He was a child who would smile lovingly when told that his arms were chubby and cute. Why was he suddenly saying this? Lee Yoon-san’s parents didn’t know what to do with their only son’s upsetting remarks and rubbed their faces dry.
“Yoon-san, you’re still pretty. You’re our very handsome son.”
“No… I’m not as pretty or handsome as the other moms… But why Omega…”
The kids will make fun of me. Lee Yoon-san muttered those words and buried his face in his mother’s shoulder. Since he hadn’t talked about his appearance lately, it seemed that the frustration that had been festering inside him since the point when he manifested as an Omega had finally burst out.
“Lee Yoon-san.”
Eventually, the Alpha mother, who had been watching the scene with pity, stepped forward. She made her son, who was trying not to leave her spouse’s arms, sit up straight and made eye contact. Lee Yoon-san’s head drooped like a mimosa.
Whenever the Alpha mother hardened her expression as if she was angry, he would feel an unknown sense of intimidation. This was largely due to the Alpha’s unique large and well-built frame and clearly developed features. Even though he knew very well that she had never once yelled at him or said harsh words, he was intimidated by just one stern expression.
As a matter of fact, she was the tallest in the family. The average height of Alpha women was usually over 170cm, but she was 180cm tall. She was 10cm taller than Lee Yoon-san, who had grown quickly and was now 170cm tall. Furthermore, she was also the tallest among the women around Lee Yoon-san.
“Look at Mom, Lee Yoon-san.”
“Hngh… Mom’s scary.”
“How can you say such ugly things when your moms gave birth to you so beautifully?”
“Mom…”
“Tsk, no.”
When Lee Yoon-san, frightened by his mother’s stern words and expression, tried to hug his other mother, the Alpha mother Lee Jung-won stopped him and gave him another stern look.
The Omega mother Lee Ga-eun’s expression was complicated as she looked at her and her only son. She was upset that her child was making self-deprecating remarks about his appearance, and she was also worried that her spouse was being too strict with him. It seemed even more so because this kind of atmosphere had never existed in this family before.
The family had always been harmonious, the couple’s relationship was good, and they never raised their voices. The two were a couple who got along well in terms of conversation and values, and their only child, Lee Yoon-san, was always a gentle and kind child. Even if he sometimes whined or stubbornly insisted on something, he had never said such heavy and dark words.
“Son, did your friends at school say something upsetting?”
“……”
“Is someone bullying Yoon-san? The kids in your class?”
“…No.”
As Lee Yoon-san gave a slow answer, looking very nervous in the stiff atmosphere, Lee Jung-won’s brow furrowed. It was a regret for not being able to pay attention to her child because of her busy schedule. But Lee Yoon-san, watching her, became frightened again and began to look around. It was a rare sight.
It was very rare for Lee Yoon-san to do something that would get him scolded by his parents, and it was even more unfamiliar for him to be so cautious. The child would sulk about things he didn’t like, but he wasn’t the type to be so timid and cautious. That is, the original Lee Yoon-san. The Lee Yoon-san from 1-2 years ago, before the couple got busy.
“Mom, my stomach hurts…”
“Darling, stop for now. Let’s give him medicine and put him to sleep. We’ll talk about it.”
“…Okay.”
In the end, no further conversation was possible. Lee Yoon-san, who had just entered puberty, suffered from abdominal pain all night, and Lee Ga-eun anxiously took care of him by his side. Lee Jung-won watched her son and wife, fretting, and then looked into child psychology counseling and prepared the documents needed for the transfer procedure.
One day passed like that, and the next day and the day after that, Lee Yoon-san continued to suffer from abdominal pain. Each time, his parents gave him painkillers, feeling uneasy, but the child couldn’t sleep or eat properly and had to suffer for another week.
In the process, the conversation about his lowered self-esteem that they had with Lee Yoon-san was pushed to the back burner. Time passed as the couple took turns taking care of their sick child, going through the transfer procedure, and replacing the days he was absent with experiential learning.
Even after the child, who had been sick for several more days, regained some energy, it didn’t mean that puberty was over. He had difficulty with daily life without taking painkillers, and eventually, he came to resent the fact that he was a boy who had manifested as an Omega. It was the beginning of a difficult problem that had suddenly struck the smooth-sailing family.
“Is Hae-kyung okay?”
-He’s a little better since he’s been exercising. But he still has severe growing pains.
“Oh dear… Our child is in big trouble because he’s in pain every day.”
As soon as Lee Ga-eun came home from school, she gave Lee Yoon-san, who had collapsed in bed, medicine, checked his temperature, put a cool towel on his forehead, and then went out to the living room to start a phone call. The other person was Ahn Sun-mi, Hwang Hae-kyung’s mother.
She, a Beta, said that there was no one with a secondary gender among her family or acquaintances. Then she met Hwang Jun-won, the first Alpha in her life and her current husband, and they got married and had Hwang Hae-kyung, an Alpha.
Her belated study of secondary genders was deepening day by day as she experienced her Alpha son Hwang Hae-kyung’s puberty. It was literally a bolt from the blue in her life, but there was nothing she could do about it. Her son Hwang Hae-kyung’s secondary gender hormone levels were so high that they were in the top 5%. To borrow a slang term from the past, it was a figure that ranked at the top even among the superior ones.
Today, people don’t openly divide superiority or inferiority based on secondary gender hormone levels, but before the system and awareness were improved in the past, the terms “superior” and “inferior” were often attached to secondary genders.
This was because if the secondary gender hormone level, which is different from the sex hormones of general Betas or primary genders, was high, it was recognized as superior, and if it was low, it was recognized as inferior.
In fact, even now, in online communities or private settings, people still attach optional words such as “superior” or “inferior” to secondary genders to engage in power struggles. This is because the higher the secondary gender hormone level, the denser the Pheromone concentration, and the more advantages and superior traits of Alphas or Omegas are exhibited.
However, due to the improved awareness that people should not be labeled with superiority or inferiority, it is not an officially used expression these days.
Anyway, Ahn Sun-mi’s son Hwang Hae-kyung was growing up as an Alpha with very high and excellent hormone levels. It was to the point where the words “Omega” that were mentioned during Hwang Hae-kyung’s child model days were now meaningless. And Ahn Sun-mi, who had such a son, was also a pretty reliable friend to Lee Ga-eun. This was because Lee Ga-eun’s son, Lee Yoon-san, had also been going through Omega puberty for some time.
-Is Yoon-san very upset?
“Yeah, well. But I think he’s developed a bit of an appearance complex now that he’s in puberty.”
-Yoon-san? He wasn’t like that before, was he?
“He’s not a baby anymore, he’s a teenager going through puberty, you know.”
A burst of laughter was heard over the phone at Lee Ga-eun’s bitter reply. Ahn Sun-mi’s voice also sounded quite tired. Just like Lee Yoon-san, who was growing up as an Omega, was constantly groaning with abdominal pain, Hwang Hae-kyung, who was growing up as an Alpha, was so anxious without painkillers due to growing pains that his daily life was unstable.
The Lee Ga-eun family, who were running a company together, were in a better situation. Lee Ga-eun and Lee Jung-won could take turns going to work and taking care of their sick child.
On the other hand, Hwang Jun-won, the owner of a security company, and Ahn Sun-mi, who worked as an accountant at a fairly large accounting firm, did not have such an option.
Hwang Hae-kyung, an Alpha, did not collapse with abdominal pain all the time, but he would get a fever if he did not expend energy. And from the evening when he returned home to the night and until the morning, he had to suffer from severe growing pains. He had to wake up in the middle of the night to take painkillers, or he would not be able to sleep properly due to the pain.
They needed someone to give the child painkillers or feed him and take care of him on time throughout the night. So, in the end, Ahn Sun-mi had to take a leave of absence.
The couple had Hwang Hae-kyung spend his time at school and exercising during the day, and that was the only time Ahn Sun-mi could rest. Thanks to this, Ahn Sun-mi was living a life that was turned upside down, which was not in her nature.
“…I should have made the child look prettier. I should have made him exercise too.”
-What are you talking about? Yoon-san is so cute, like a little baby potato. You said there’s nothing wrong with his health, right? Then it’s okay to just let him do what he wants and raise him. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with the child. The weight he’s gained at that age will all go to his height, you know?
“He’s already taller than me, how much taller are you telling him to get?”
-Oh, really? How tall is Yoon-san? If he’s taller than you, that means he’s over 168cm, right?
“He’s 170cm. He’s only in the 5th grade of elementary school.”
-Oh my, he’s so tall. Hae-kyung has the Alpha’s pride, he has to grow diligently.
“Hae-kyung is an Alpha and his hormone levels are high too. He’ll keep growing.”
-I’ll raise Hae-kyung well, so you raise Yoon-san well and give him to our Hae-kyung.
“Do you think the kids will like it?”
-What’s more important than the kids’ opinions is that I want to be in-laws with you. Wouldn’t it be easier for you to be in-laws with us too? Let’s get the kids together and go on trips together in our old age.
“That’s a pipe dream, really.”
-So raise Yoon-san well. I’ll raise our Hae-kyung well and send him to Yoon-san.
Lee Ga-eun laughed at Ahn Sun-mi’s playful words. It was exactly what she wanted to say to Lee Yoon-san, who had been feeling insecure lately.
Lee Ga-eun recalled a sentence in Lee Yoon-san’s diary that she had accidentally seen a while ago.
No one will like an Omega like me anyway.
Those words, which seemed to be written with a lot of pressure in his diary, pierced Lee Ga-eun’s heart. He was losing weight because he couldn’t sleep or eat properly due to the pain, but it seemed that even that appearance of himself was displeasing to his son. Because Lee Yoon-san’s diary was still full of words like “I’m fat.”
Since she often went in and out of his room to give Lee Yoon-san painkillers every hour, the child’s diary that she saw was full of bitter words.
The fact that there were expressions that he didn’t have until before puberty, or even until he was 10 years old, was heartbreaking and sad as a mother. It was even more heartbreaking because his diary had been filled with delicious things, exciting things, and things he liked until then.
Because she couldn’t say anything carelessly to her child, whose self-esteem had been lowered because of his appearance, Lee Ga-eun and Lee Jung-won became more careful with their words. Their desire not to stress the child about his weight was still the same, and it was true that their young son was pretty in their eyes.
However, she thought that raising the child with the same attitude as before might be wrong, so she was paying more attention to him these days. She would praise him often for trivial things, say that she loved him often, or say things that could boost his self-esteem from time to time.
Even so, the fact that the child’s mood was not easily improving made her think that it might be a more difficult problem because he was going through puberty.
-Tell Yoon-san to have confidence. Tell him that you’ll at least prepare one Alpha for him.
“Isn’t Hae-kyung’s opinion important?”
-The Baby’s self-esteem is more important. He’s in the middle of puberty.
Ahn Sun-mi’s voice was full of playfulness and worry. Their conversation continued for a long time before it ended. After ending the call, Lee Ga-eun checked the time and went back into the room where Lee Yoon-san was sleeping to check on his condition. He still had a slight fever, but his condition seemed to have improved a lot, probably because the medicine she had given him earlier was working.
She sat on the floor next to the bed where her son was lying and touched his chubby cheeks. His cheeks, tanned by the sun in the summer, were soft. His drooping eyes were a little swollen, as if he had heard something upsetting at school today. Of course, it was just a guess, and even if she asked him, he would probably deny that he had cried.
You must have cried alone again, upsetting Mom. Lee Ga-eun carefully touched her child’s eyes with a bitter expression and kissed him on the cheek. She also did not forget to stroke his stomach, hoping that the state of reduced abdominal pain would last a little longer.
“Mom doesn’t know why she’s worried that our Baby won’t be loved.”
Lee Ga-eun continued, hoping that her gentle voice would be heard even in Lee Yoon-san’s sleep. In a very quiet and affectionate tone.
“When you’re only this lovely.”
Mom’s afraid that some Alpha will come later and ask for our Baby. I want to keep you by my side. Lee Ga-eun whispered to the sleeping Lee Yoon-san and smiled quietly. It was a playful remark that came out because of Hae-kyung’s mother Ahn Sun-mi, but as she said it, it wasn’t entirely a lie. Just imagining that her lovely son would grow up and leave the couple’s arms already made her feel sad and regretful.
She brushed back her son’s sweat-soaked hair and smiled bitterly. It was a day full of worries about how to boost the self-esteem of her child, who had entered puberty at the same time as manifesting as an Omega.