By Zephyria After staring blankly at the abruptly disconnected phone for a while, Ryu Jeong sighed and turned around. Contrary to what he had said about a customer arriving, the store was empty.
“……”
He had lied. Without even realizing it.
To be honest, he had hesitated dozens of times about whether to contact him or not. But since Lee Do-hyeon had helped him through his heat cycle, he thought it was only right to tell him that there had been no issues with the Shop Owner, so he spent the entire night agonizing over it before finally writing a text message. He thought that ending the message with a thank you would be enough, but he didn’t expect Lee Do-hyeon to call right away. The thought of absentmindedly answering the phone while still typing the message made his heart race.
Ryu Jeong placed his palm over his pounding chest and pressed down gently. The unusual throbbing suddenly reminded him that he had taken the emergency contraceptive pill. Surely this wasn’t a side effect. He had been told to report any strange symptoms immediately, but he didn’t know if this counted as one of those side effects.
He felt uneasy. He must be worried that I might become a burden, that’s probably why……. Judging by how many times he emphasized it, he might also be worried that the emergency contraceptive pill might not work. Ryu Jeong drooped his shoulders, feeling dejected.
Just then, the glass door burst open as if it would break. The bell attached to the door shook noisily. Startled, Ryu Jeong widened his eyes and looked towards the entrance. Noh Hee-cheol, his hair a mess as if he had been running from afar, was panting heavily.
Ryu Jeong couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Noh Hee-cheol’s sudden appearance. He quickly checked the time and realized it wasn’t yet his scheduled time to come to work. Noh Hee-cheol, who almost never arrived on time, was here a whole hour early, as if making up for all the times he had been late.
“It’s not time yet…”
“Hyung.”
Ryu Jeong was about to tell him that he might have mistaken the time, but Noh Hee-cheol abruptly cut him off. Ryu Jeong stared at Noh Hee-cheol, frozen in place. Noh Hee-cheol, who had been slightly bent over to catch his breath, straightened up, tilted his head, and strode inside.
Feeling inexplicably uneasy, Ryu Jeong clasped his hands together under the counter. His ominous premonition was right.
“Hyung, are you really an Omega?”
At Noh Hee-cheol’s words, Ryu Jeong belatedly remembered the blood relation between Noh Hee-cheol and the Shop Owner. The color drained from his already pale face. He had reluctantly revealed the truth to avoid getting fired from his part-time job, but he never imagined it would reach Noh Hee-cheol’s ears.
Having already shown him the diagnosis, denying it would only make things worse. Ryu Jeong took a few deep breaths and slowly nodded. He cautiously observed Noh Hee-cheol’s reaction. The space between his eyebrows, which had been narrow since he entered the convenience store, narrowed even further. Ryu Jeong avoided his gaze and bit his lower lip. Noh Hee-cheol had a strong aversion to Alphas and Omegas.
“Wow, you totally stabbed me in the back, Hyung?”
Noh Hee-cheol said mockingly, laughing. Since it was true that he had intentionally not told him, Ryu Jeong simply listened in silence. Noh Hee-cheol continued to chuckle in disbelief.
“Your heat, anyway, you ran off because you were in heat?”
“…Yeah.”
“Wow……”
He had heard everything already, yet he insisted on getting confirmation from Ryu Jeong’s own mouth. He couldn’t deny it, and there was nothing else he could say but to agree. When he nodded, Noh Hee-cheol exclaimed in admiration. It wasn’t a sound of approval.
“Ah, shit. So, even though you don’t have to go to the army, you listened to me talking about the army all that time?”
“……”
“Hyung must have been laughing your ass off. You were probably laughing at me in your head because you don’t have to go, but I said I didn’t want to go, right?”
“No… I never thought of it that way.”
“That’s what everyone says, right?”
Noh Hee-cheol, looking dissatisfied, tilted his chin and scanned Ryu Jeong up and down, then chuckled again as if he still couldn’t believe it. Then, he suddenly leaned his forearms on the counter and lowered his upper body. Ryu Jeong, who had been looking down because he couldn’t bear to meet his eyes, was forced to make eye contact and received a silent warning not to look away.
“I have something I’m curious about, will you answer if I ask?”
It didn’t sound like a harmless question. But even if Ryu Jeong shook his head to refuse, Noh Hee-cheol wouldn’t back down. As soon as Ryu Jeong gave his permission, Noh Hee-cheol’s face lit up with a smile that bordered on mockery, as if he was finding it incredibly amusing.
“I know an Omega, you know? Ah, she’s a woman. Anyway, according to her, once she gets turned on, she has to have sex with an Alpha, no matter what.”
“……”
“So sometimes she disappears for about… a week? And she says she just has sex during that time? So I thought about trying to get with her too, but she said it’s no good because I’m not an Alpha. That bitch. Seems like bullshit.”
Noh Hee-cheol grumbled in a surly manner, as if things weren’t going his way. Ryu Jeong frowned slightly at his inconsiderate and harsh words about another person. He had no idea what he was getting at by asking all this.
After going on and on about the Omega he knew, Noh Hee-cheol shook his head dismissively, saying, “Ah, never mind.” It seemed like it was just an unnecessary introduction. He stared intently at Ryu Jeong as if telling him to answer now. Ryu Jeong swallowed nervously.
“So, Hyung, did you go and have sex this time too?”
“What…?”
“She’s a woman, so I can kind of imagine it, but you’re a man.”
“……”
“I don’t really know how male Omegas have sex.”
He knew perfectly well. It was written all over his face.
Ryu Jeong was not only taken aback, but also so ashamed that he couldn’t bear it any longer, his toes curling with the effort. But if he showed his emotions outwardly, it was obvious that he would become Noh Hee-cheol’s prey. For now, Noh Hee-cheol was pretending not to know anything, but he knew something about trait people. Fortunately, he didn’t know everything. That was the limitation of a Beta.
His eyes were quickly wavering, and he couldn’t keep his hands still, but Ryu Jeong tried his best to suppress his embarrassment and shook his head. He tensed his neck to keep his voice from trembling and opened his mouth.
“I didn’t meet anyone, I went to the hospital.”
“Ah, bullshit. I saw the CCTV with my dad, too, you know?”
He must have seen Lee Do-hyeon. But he only saw him carrying him out, and only he and Lee Do-hyeon knew what happened after that.
“That person took me to the hospital.”
“Ah, is that so? So you got better after getting an Alpha Shot? That person is an Alpha, right?”
Ryu Jeong paused, not understanding what Noh Hee-cheol meant by Alpha Shot. It didn’t sound like a good thing. Sure enough, Noh Hee-cheol grinned at Ryu Jeong’s blank expression. It wasn’t long before Ryu Jeong understood the meaning and scowled. He felt less embarrassed and more offended.
“The person I know takes a week. If I had done the same, would I have come to work today? I went to the hospital that night to get a suppressant, and the doctor said it would be good to rest a little, so I rested for just one day and came to work.”
When he retorted clearly without panicking, the smile gradually disappeared from Noh Hee-cheol’s face. He must have heard from the Shop Owner that he had gone to the hospital, but it seemed like he had been determined not to believe it from the start.
“I have something I’m curious about too.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“Do you know that asking those kinds of questions is sexual harassment?”
Noh Hee-cheol’s expression went blank for a moment. And his face started to turn redder and redder. He was probably embarrassed because he didn’t get the reaction he wanted. Noh Hee-cheol, whose face, ears, and neck were flushed red, straightened up from leaning on the counter.
“No, I didn’t mean to ask it that way…”
“Even if you didn’t mean it that way, if I feel bad when I hear it, it’s sexual harassment.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, okay? No, why would I sexually harass a man, ha, shit, this is ridiculous.”
Noh Hee-cheol’s voice grew louder and louder. He would rather die than swallow his pride and apologize. Even if I were a woman, you shouldn’t sexually harass me. Noh Hee-cheol didn’t even realize that his words were contradictory and continued to stubbornly insist.
“Still, I feel bad… Apologize to me.”
His voice trembled slightly at the end, after doing so well the whole time. But Noh Hee-cheol, who was already furious, wouldn’t hear it. As if the word “apologize” had made the anger reach the top of his head, he messed up his already disheveled hair even more and muttered unpleasant curses.
“Apologize…”
“Ah, shit! I got it. I’m sorry. Okay?”
He finally apologized after being persistently asked, but it didn’t seem like the attitude of someone who was apologizing. If I said I wanted a sincere apology from the heart… would he punch me instead of cursing?
“Okay. I’ll accept your apology.”
“Accep… Ah… Shit, this sucks. Okay.”
Noh Hee-cheol, glaring fiercely, turned around, saying he wouldn’t say anything more. Ryu Jeong, flustered by his attitude as if he was about to leave right away instead of starting his shift, hurriedly grabbed him.
“Wh-where are you going? Aren’t you taking over?”
“Home. It’s not time yet, is it?”
Noh Hee-cheol snapped back curtly and turned away. The bell shook noisily once again, though not as much as when he had entered.
Ryu Jeong immediately raised the counter and peeked his head out the glass door, following Noh Hee-cheol, who had left a moment ago. Noh Hee-cheol was already far away, walking faster than usual, probably because he was so angry. After confirming that there was no one in the alleyway, a wave of tension washed over him. Ryu Jeong barely managed to stand on the trembling legs and let out a long sigh.
“I want to get off work soon……”
He wanted to get out of the convenience store right away. But as Noh Hee-cheol had said, it wasn’t time yet. Ryu Jeong listlessly returned to his place.