By Zephyria Mutation. Ryu Jeong remembered the word clearly. Ryu Jeong, who thought of himself as ignorant due to his lack of education, couldn’t easily erase that word from his mind.
It is known that traits are 100% genetic. Therefore, it was safe to say that most Alphas and Omegas were determined to be trait-bearers even before they were born. However, there were mutations in every group. Those who become Alphas or Omegas overnight, even without a family history. People called them mutations before calling them Alphas or Omegas.
The doctor, who didn’t know how to mince words, delivered a direct hit to Ryu Jeong, who had just manifested and was out of his mind. He emphasized the importance of the environment, saying that he had been doused in a large amount of pheromones or, even if it was a small amount, he had been exposed for a long time and his constitution had gradually changed. The social worker who went with him as his guardian at the time, being the person who knew Ryu Jeong’s family environment best, immediately realized what the problem was.
His father frequented illegal gambling dens and brothels more than his own home whenever he drank. Especially when he was in the Philippines, he started running errands for Ryu Jeong when he was old enough to understand. Since there was no one to take care of him, Ryu Jeong often ate and slept in the accommodations managed by the pimp. It was safe to say that he thought the brothel, full of sex workers, was his home at that age. Anyway, the social worker and Ryu Jeong guessed that it might have been the influence of that place. There were many Alphas and Omegas among those who stayed there. There was no better place to think about it without complicating things.
It didn’t threaten his life, but his pheromone glands were smaller than those of a typical recessive. As a result, Ryu Jeong had weaker pheromones than a typical recessive, and he had almost no Heat cycle, which everyone else had regularly. Occasionally, the symptoms appeared when he was tired, but he only suffered for half a day as if he had a mild cold, and there were no such symptoms, so he usually didn’t get caught as an Omega.
It was a godsend for Ryu Jeong, who was short on every minute and second. If he hadn’t been so lacking, he might have wasted a day or a week on a Heat cycle. If he was unlucky and the cycle was short, it would have been a headache, and above all, the loan sharks wouldn’t have stood still. There were rumors that if you couldn’t pay back the debt, they would sell your organs or turn you into a prostitute. He didn’t even want to imagine such an ending.
‘Jeong, do you know what scent you have?’
This was the first time he regretted being an extreme heat Omega. Alphas and Omegas each exude a unique scent of pheromones, but he was too busy worrying about how to make a living every day to wonder what scent he had. Also, there was no trait-bearer close enough to tell him. And he didn’t produce enough pheromones to need to be suppressed.
‘Has no one ever told you? Not even once?’
But he was bothered by the fact that he couldn’t readily answer Lee Do-hyeon’s question. First of all, he was ashamed that his lack of knowledge about what could be called the identity of a trait-bearer was revealed, and he became timid because it seemed like his narrow human relationships had been exposed.
‘No… It’s the first time.’
‘…I see.’
He readily admitted the truth rather than making excuses. But Lee Do-hyeon only nodded and didn’t say anything about Ryu Jeong’s pheromones, which he had brought up. He wondered if he had forgotten, but he couldn’t ask again because his eyes were stinging.
‘Then I’ll go. You must be tired, take it easy at work.’
Ryu Jeong quietly recalled the back of the car as it drove away. His gaze was blank as he looked at the air while changing his clothes. Before he knew it, it was time to leave work, expecting Lee Do-hyeon to come, but today, knowing that he wouldn’t come, time seemed to pass more slowly.
Had it been two hours? Today and on Sunday, when he was with Lee Do-hyeon, he didn’t feel like time was wasted, but rather he felt regret. Two hours was short, but he could sleep, and that short rest helped him endure the 9-hour convenience store job. It was not a productive time, as he couldn’t rest or earn money, but Ryu Jeong didn’t regret that time at all. Rather…….
I wish he would come every day.
“……”
Ryu Jeong shook his head violently, startled by the thought that suddenly popped into his head. It was ridiculous. How much money could he make if he worked during that time? Besides, there were convenience stores everywhere on the street, so there was no reason for him to come all the way to the convenience store where he worked.
After all, it was a meeting that could be ended with a word of thanks once he finished looking around the neighborhood. Ryu Jeong closed his eyes tightly and let out a long sigh. This was why receiving help from someone might be good in the short term, but it was difficult later on.
Knock knock. Noh Hee-cheol, who had just come to work a little while ago, knocked on the warehouse door, saying that he had left his charger behind. He didn’t know what was so urgent. Ryu Jeong hung up his convenience store vest on the hanger and opened the door. It was time to change shifts.
“Hey, come here.”
Hello. Ryu Jeong, who came out on time for work, bowed his head to the Shop Owner after discovering him as he pushed through the glass door. Before he could finish his greeting, the Shop Owner, who cut him off, beckoned him to come closer.
He usually only gave instructions on what to do and didn’t use nicknames like “hey” or “you,” but when the Shop Owner used both of those to call him, Ryu Jeong immediately sensed that something was wrong. The Shop Owner’s angry expression also contributed to Ryu Jeong’s prediction.
“Explain to me exactly what’s going on here.”
During the few seconds it took to get to the counter, Ryu Jeong tried to remember if he had made any mistakes, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. As he hesitated and stood in front of the Shop Owner, he huffed and handed him something. His face didn’t show any signs of his anger subsiding as Ryu Jeong looked away and examined what was in his hand. It was a cell phone.
The case was old and starting to crumble, and the screen was scratched from being tapped with long fingernails that had missed the timing to be trimmed. Ryu Jeong, with a look of not knowing what was going on, only looked back and forth between the Shop Owner’s face and the cell phone. This time, he placed it on the counter as if telling him to look at it properly. Ryu Jeong carefully picked up the cell phone. He wondered what it was, and when he looked at the screen, a video was playing, as if the button had been pressed when he put it down a little while ago.
The familiar video was set in a convenience store. The Shop Owner was usually this angry only when sales were significantly affected. He wondered if someone had stolen something without him knowing, but the CCTV was only showing the counter, not the shelves. And two people stood across from each other with that one counter in between. He and Lee Do-hyeon were on the screen.
The CCTV, which was saved every 10 minutes, contained the day when Ryu Jeong was sexually harassed by a drunk. He realized it when he saw Lee Do-hyeon holding the soy milk. He had taken the soy milk out of the warmer and forced it into his hand, telling him to calm down. But he immediately paid properly, and above all, he remembered that the bottles of alcohol that the drunk, who ran away as fast as he could, had brought to pay for were definitely not damaged. There was not a single element that would make the Shop Owner, who only cared about sales, angry, regardless of whether the part-timer was sexually harassed or not.
“……”
Ryu Jeong, with a look of not knowing what was going on, took a deep breath as he looked at the video. The Shop Owner, who didn’t miss it, snorted in disbelief.
“Got you, you bastard.”
Lee Do-hyeon handing over the soy milk, and a bright yellow bill coming out of his wallet. Lee Do-hyeon left without receiving the change, and in the video, he was looking in the direction he had disappeared, then opening the soy milk and drinking it.
“This is……”
“Don’t even think about playing tricks, and tell me straight. I saw it.”
The Shop Owner didn’t give Ryu Jeong a chance to explain. He was upset, but he didn’t completely fail to understand. Looking at the video alone, he was a thief who stole and ate a drink without paying, and stole the change that the customer had left behind. The scene of him stuffing the remaining money into the pocket of his convenience store vest was captured on camera, so he couldn’t deny that it was a suspicious situation.
“I trusted you and left you in charge, and you stab me in the back like this?”
“No, CEO.”
“No? What do you mean, no?”
“The situation is a bit complicated, but I definitely didn’t steal it.”
In this kind of situation, the Shop Owner would obviously make an unreasonable demand, telling him to bring evidence that he didn’t do something he didn’t do. But Ryu Jeong was innocent. He was confident that he could clear up the misunderstanding.
“I didn’t steal the money.”
Ryu Jeong was very nervous, but he looked straight into the Shop Owner’s eyes. He had to be confident in order to beat the Shop Owner, who would point out every little thing, such as blinking quickly or stuttering, and create a fault where there was none. When he clearly and distinctly asserted his innocence, the Shop Owner frowned even more, as if he was getting angrier.
“Look if you have eyes. It’s all caught on CCTV that you put it in your pocket, who’s going to believe you if you say you didn’t steal it?”
“It’s true. It’s my fault that I forgot to give it to you… but the customer didn’t know and just left. But he came back the very next day and took care of it.”
“…He came back?”
Ryu Jeong nodded quickly when he saw the Shop Owner flinching. Judging from his reaction, it seemed like he had come with the intention of catching Ryu Jeong like a rat, using just one scene without looking at the context.
“The customer said he was too lazy to carry around coins, so he decided to deduct the remaining change from whatever he buys here in the future. The soy milk I drank was also bought by the customer, and he bought two Black tea drinks the next day when he came. I wrote down the date and time on a piece of paper. If you look at my uniform….”
“No, no. It’s okay.”
He was afraid that he would make a mistake in the calculation if he did it in his head with his ignorant brain, so he even used a calculator to write it down separately. It was to avoid making a mistake in giving money to Lee Do-hyeon, but in fact, it was also to avoid being caught for any possible fault. He had been watching the Shop Owner closely as he picked on trivial things to fire part-timers he didn’t like. He guessed that he wouldn’t always be safe, but he didn’t know it would be today.