By Zephyria 
Jeong-min came to the hospital for his annual check-up. Young-min had already finished all his tests and left, but in Jeong-min’s case, he had to stay for special tests.
“Sigh….”
Looking at the arm where blood had been drawn, Jeong-min sighed. Maybe it was time to give up. He was almost 21, and the fact that he hadn’t manifested by now meant he was a Beta. And now, it didn’t matter if he was a Beta. The reason he wanted to become an Omega was because of one person, and since that person now belonged to someone else, becoming an Omega would only be a nuisance. The same went for being an Alpha. He just wanted to live an ordinary life with an ordinary trait.
“Mr. Shin Jeong-min!”
Seeing his name appear on the waiting list, Jeong-min stood up and entered the consultation room. After greeting Jeong-min, the doctor looked at the monitor to check the test results.
“Hmm, there are still no signs of manifestation.”
“I’m sorry, Doctor. Could I be a Beta? To not have manifested by this point… I think I’m likely a Beta.”
“I’ve been continuing several additional tests based on that possibility, but Jeong-min, you are not a Beta. You have sufficient factors with the potential to develop into an Omega or an Alpha.”
“But wouldn’t it be a problem whether I’m an Omega or an Alpha? If I’m an Omega, it’s too late an age for the womb to settle, and if I’m an Alpha, there’s a very high chance I’ll be recessive. In that case, I think it would be better to just be a Beta.”
The doctor couldn’t say anything more to Jeong-min’s words. There was no room for rebuttal. The later the manifestation, the higher the probability of being recessive. If it were any other patient, he would have coldly stated that such a possibility existed, but as the primary physician who knew Jeong-min’s family well, he couldn’t bring himself to say it easily.
“Still, Jeong-min, let’s not give up.”
He shouldn’t make the doctor uncomfortable anymore. Jeong-min nodded. After greeting the doctor and leaving the consultation room, Jeong-min felt a suffocating sensation and took a deep breath in and out.
“What. Are you not done yet?”
A voice he hated hearing even in his dreams echoed. It was a voice he had forgotten after not hearing it for several months. He thought he would never meet him again. Jeong-min clicked his tongue.
“You really are the type who can’t hide your dislike, Sunbae.”
With a voice laced with amusement, Kim Ju-hwan, who had approached with long strides, stood before Jeong-min. Had he grown taller? Jeong-min had also grown after entering college, exceeding 183 centimeters, but Ju-hwan looked a head taller than him. What an arrogant bastard.
“You’re not even greeting me.”
“…It’s been a while.”
“I can really feel what it’s like to have to force a greeting today, Sunbae.”
He seemed to have become even more arrogant since they last met. Why is this guy’s attitude like this?
“What are you doing here?”
Since he had nothing else to say, he had to say something like this.
“I came with my father. Since I’m nearing graduation, he told me to make an appearance for the sake of networking.”
He’s already pushing his son who hasn’t even graduated high school. Suddenly feeling people’s gazes, he glanced around. People in the lobby were looking this way as they passed. Specifically, at Kim Ju-hwan.
At a glance, he was a superior Alpha. He hated to admit it, but it wasn’t a fact he could ignore. He was even a Dominant Alpha with infinite potential for growth.
“By the way, Sunbae, it seems you still haven’t manifested.”
“What?”
“I can’t feel any pheromones.”
“What business is it of yours…!”
Taking another step closer, Kim Ju-hwan leaned down, pressed his nose against the nape of Jeong-min’s neck, and took a deep breath.
Startled, Jeong-min pushed Kim Ju-hwan away.
“What are you doing?”
As Jeong-min glared, Kim Ju-hwan shrugged his shoulders.
“Surely you aren’t a Beta?”
“Whether I’m a Beta, Alpha, or Omega, it has nothing to do with you, so I’d appreciate it if you’d mind your own business.”
He didn’t want to be in the same place as Kim Ju-hwan any longer. Jeong-min ignored him and walked toward the elevator.
“I heard you’re getting engaged? Shin-woo Sunbae and Young-min Sunbae.”
He had decided not to pay attention to that bastard no matter what he said, but he stopped dead in his tracks at a single sentence.
“I was invited. To the engagement ceremony. Cruelly, it’s on your birthdays. Someone will be getting engaged and blessed on that day, while someone else will be standing alone. Shall I be your partner?”
“I told you. Mind your own business.”
Suppressing the urge to punch him, Jeong-min left the hospital. He thought he had been calmly sorting everything out until just now, but it seemed he was wrong. Feeling as if tears were about to fall and his heart was about to rip apart, Jeong-min gritted his teeth and thought of Kim Ju-hwan. It was better to curse a hated person than to dwell on the pain.
✽✽✽
Cruelly, Yu Shin-woo and Shin Young-min’s engagement ceremony was on the twins’ birthday. He had heard it would be a modest and simple ceremony, but as expected, the great Shin Young-min would never do that.
Loving to show off and wanting things to look impressive, he had pestered his parents to rent the banquet hall of the best hotel in the country to hold the ceremony. With 200 invited guests, it was by no means a small event.
“How do I look?”
In the waiting room, Young-min, dressed in pure white, hummed a tune and bragged about how the clothes fit him. Even setting aside personal bias, Young-min was a truly beautiful Omega. And he knew that better than anyone.
“You’re pretty.”
“Right? Shin-woo hyung picked it out. I think he has a good eye. When I praised him, he said he’d pick out all the clothes I wear from now on. Ugh~ so cheesy!”
Still, seeing him speak with a beaming smile, it seemed he didn’t actually hate it.
“But what’s with your clothes?”
“Why?”
Jeong-min looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing clothes his mother had bought from a fairly well-known brand, but Young-min looked dissatisfied.
“I mean, the clothes, and look at your hair. You should have dressed up a bit!”
“Forget it. I’m not the protagonist today. You just take all the spotlight.”
“That’s obvious, but still, I want you to meet a good partner too, Jeong-min~ You haven’t manifested yet, but you’re quite handsome enough that it’s not a flaw, so why do you dress so plainly!”
Young-min poured out his complaints, but nothing reached Jeong-min’s ears. His throat had been dry for a while, so he just drank a glass of the prepared wine.
Knock, knock—
With the sound of a knock, Yu Shin-woo entered the waiting room. Looking so stunning that it made one’s eyes widen.
“Amazing! Shin-woo hyung! You look so cool!!”
Young-min scampered over and threw himself into Shin-woo’s arms. Shin-woo didn’t take his eyes off Young-min. He looked truly happy, like a man who possessed the entire world.
Jeong-min emptied another glass of wine and then had a glass of champagne. While he drank those three glasses, Shin-woo didn’t even glance at him. He looked only at his Omega. Of course. It was an inevitable situation. Jeong-min’s chest throbbed. He knew it would hurt, but it hurt more than he had imagined.
“Young-min, you are truly… so beautiful.”
“Right? Hyung is great at getting engaged.”
“Of course.”
The same conversation repeated several times. The two had completely entered a world of their own. Feeling a slight buzz from the alcohol, Jeong-min stood up and left the waiting room. Even then, the two paid him no attention.
Couldn’t they at least say goodbye? He probably no longer existed in their world. No, he didn’t care about Young-min’s world. He didn’t want to leave Shin-woo’s world, yet he felt lonely and sad, as if he had been kicked out long ago. Jeong-min walked unsteadily, moving far away from the hall where the engagement ceremony was to be held. Since no one would look for him. He sat on a velvet chair on a corner terrace and stared silently out the window. Damn it. Even the sky was clear.
“Jeong-min sunbae?”
Ha, and now a voice he hated to hear. Jeong-min tried his best to ignore it. But he soon regretted it. The owner of that voice was the type of person who grew more amused and approached closer the more he was ignored.
“Why are you here?”
The man stood looking at Jeong-min with his bowtie loosened and both hands in his trouser pockets.
“Get lost.”
“You’ve already had a few drinks.”
“I said get lost.”
He told him to please get lost because he wanted to be alone, but Kim Ju-hwan only stepped closer. Just then, an announcement played, stating that the engagement ceremony would soon begin.
“Aren’t you going?”
I should. I should go, but I think it’ll be fine even if I’m not there. However, there was no need to tell Kim Ju-hwan that. He just wanted to be alone.
The sound of applause echoing from afar gradually tightened around his heart. This won’t do. He couldn’t stay here any longer. Jeong-min rose from the chair and strode toward another area. But before he could take more than a couple of steps, something grabbed him. Looking at Kim Ju-hwan holding his arm, Jeong-min tried to shake him off with all his might, but perhaps because of the alcohol, he couldn’t muster enough strength to easily break free.