By Zephyria Outbreak 1
“How about this?”
“Oh, come on. Hae-jin is so handsome that looks too plain.”
“Then this?”
“Just stay still.”
At his mother’s firm words, his father quickly put down what he was holding. He grumbled noticeably and got a hard smack on the back.
Hae-jin, watching his parents affectionately bickering, turned his gaze to the corsages for the graduation party. He didn’t have anyone to give them to yet, so he didn’t know what to buy. He could only awkwardly scratch his cheek.
The same went for clothes. He didn’t really need to buy a new suit; he could just wear one he already had.
“Hey. Do you have a date to go to the graduation party with?”
Just then, his Hyung, who had gone to buy something else, returned. As soon as he arrived, he wrapped his arm roughly around Hae-jin’s neck, just like any other sibling.
“…Not yet.”
Even with his waist half-bent, Hae-jin answered obediently. He knew well enough that resisting would only lead to more torment from his Hyung, acting like a proper younger brother. At least he didn’t want to cause a commotion outside the house. It was embarrassing.
“You still don’t have a girlfriend? What about that Marissa back then?”
Hae-jin thought of Marissa, who had long blonde hair that reached her waist. She was a friend that his Hyung had half-forcedly introduced to him, claiming she was a younger acquaintance. They had hung out several times, but Hae-jin, being quick-witted, soon realized how she saw him. A good friend, but not someone she was attracted to.
“Marissa is a good friend.”
From the start, Marissa had said that her ideal type was a taller man. It was only natural that she, being tall, wouldn’t feel any sexual attraction to Hae-jin, who had a mediocre build.
“What is it? Is there anyone interested in you? I mean, I understand men and other traits too.”
“There’s no one like that. I told you, I’m not popular.”
He had many friends who treated him like a younger brother, just like his Hyung. He wasn’t exactly weak, but strangely, Hae-jin’s physique had the disadvantage of appearing small among others. And this was a disadvantage when trying to appeal as a boyfriend as a Beta.
He often got asked if he liked the same sex. He always denied it, but honestly, Hae-jin didn’t really know what his preferences were. This unique sense of alienation hadn’t easily disappeared even after several years.
Maybe he should work out. Hae-jin preferred games to exercise, but he started to worry because his Hyung kept teasing him.
“Hae-jin. Try this on.”
“Yes.”
Hae-jin answered obediently at his mother’s call. To be honest, clothes shopping was too tiring, but he knew they were going out of their way to care for him, so he decided to cooperate for now.
However, the moment he saw more than five tuxedos draped over his arm, he felt a little unsure.
“Hurry up and come out, son.”
“Yes.”
In just a few days, the year would end, and Hae-jin would officially become an adult. But that fact didn’t really sink in. When he was with his family, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still just a child. And he wondered if he really needed to get rid of this feeling so quickly.
So, he preferred to be in the embrace of his family rather than with strangers who made him feel alienated. He would have to go to the dormitory to attend the university he had been accepted to in the spring, and he already felt sad about it.
“The contractor of the mansion has given notice of termination of the contract.”
“So?”
The Secretary hurried to keep up with Ryle’s large strides. Normally, he would immediately say that he would look for a new contractor, but the nuance at the end of his words was strange.
“They said they want to meet you in person to negotiate…”
The moment he heard those words, Ryle stopped walking abruptly.
“Do I still have to give instructions for every little thing?”
“I’m sorry. I will take immediate eviction measures.”
The Secretary quickly lowered his head and decided on his next action. If left alone, they would find an Omega who was blinded by money.
Even though he just had to wait, Ryle irritably swept back his hair. It was because the rut was near.
“Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
It was clear that the Omega in the mansion knew about it and was doing this. They must have thought that Ryle was in an urgent situation and were acting like this.
His irritated pheromone spread out on the street. He had just left the headquarters building and was about to get into the car. Because of the pheromones that had lost control, more attention was drawn. Ryle’s already flamboyant appearance attracted people’s attention, and now it was combined with pheromones that stimulated instincts.
Ryle, who got into the car that the driver opened for him, sighed and leaned deeply into the seat. Normally, he would have been able to control his pheromones better, but his patience easily disappeared because the rut was near. This phenomenon only accelerated as the years passed.
His doctor easily diagnosed that it was because he didn’t properly release his pheromones in the first place. In other words, this discomfort would only get worse in the future.
Just comfortably embrace an Omega. The Alphas around him easily spouted advice. But even if Ryle didn’t hate Omegas, he thought that pheromone release would be an obstacle. After all, his life prioritized work, but his body was adopting such an irrational way of survival. He couldn’t imagine a relationship where he had to intimately touch someone on a regular basis.
He would have to live with this pain for the rest of his life anyway.
Ryle, who briefly recalled the past, frowned and turned his gaze out the window. The car, which started running at the same time as he got in, was heading to the penthouse. The gloomy scenery of Heavy Rain, which was gradually starting to light up, passed before his eyes like the traces of a smudged oil painting.
He thought he vaguely saw black hair in his sight.
“This is Vermouth headquarters!”
“Vermouth? That Vermouth?”
“Yeah.”
At his Hyung’s words, Hae-jin widened his eyes and tilted his head back. It was only when he was completely looking at the sky that he could see the tall building that filled his eyes. Sure enough, there was an emblem symbolizing the Vermouth Family at the top of the building.
Hae-jin lived with his family in a residential area far from the city center. Thanks to that, such a tall building that filled the sky always gave him a strange feeling. Just like the others surrounding him.
His Hyung, who had his arm around his side like an armrest, rattled off everything he knew about Vermouth. It was amazing to see the emblem, which he often saw on the news, so big.
“So, when you graduate from college, you have to get a job…”
“Of course. You’ll both do well.”
His parents occasionally responded to his Hyung’s words and went ahead. They decided to walk because they found out that the restaurant they were going to eat at was not far away. Today was a rare day when it wasn’t raining, so it was a natural decision.
In the end, Hae-jin decided not to buy new clothes. Strangely, all the clothes he tried on didn’t seem to fit him. His mother seemed to think that Hae-jin was being self-conscious again and looked at him with a worried face. But this time, Hae-jin had a good excuse.
“So, have you thought about a friend to go to the party with?”
“Yeah. I’m going to ask tomorrow.”
It was an important reason that he hadn’t decided on a friend to give the corsage to yet. Since he couldn’t decide right now anyway, he thought he would come out to play today and buy it all at once later.
Sure enough, his mother nodded, thinking it wasn’t a bad decision.
“We have to turn around that corner and go inside.”
His father said, looking at the sign on the street. His father, who knew the way so well without looking at the map on his phone, was a native of Heavy Rain. At that time, Hae-jin, who was following his parents, stopped walking abruptly.
A strange scent brushed past his nose.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you smell something?”
“Smell? I don’t smell anything? Does it smell like rain?”
“No, not that…”
It was a strange scent that resembled a forest. But the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt. It wasn’t so much a scent he inhaled through his nose, but something ticklish.
“Let’s go quickly.”
“Okay.”
Hae-jin, who had been lost in thought, quickly moved forward at his Hyung’s urging.
* * *
“Oh, dear, what should we do? Was it cold?”
“It’s okay.”
From the car ride home after dinner, Hae-jin felt a strange heat in his body. At first, he thought it was because he was wearing too many clothes, but when his Hyung touched his forehead, he said that he did have a fever. He thought it was just a mild fever or a cold, but it only got worse before he went to bed, so it was a big problem.
“You can’t be sick, my son.”
“I’ll get better soon.”
His mother said worriedly as she put a cold towel on his head. At that warm touch, Hae-jin boasted that he would get rid of this cold after sleeping.
“Okay. You have to. I’ll make you star soup tomorrow.”
For some reason, he was also very tired, so Hae-jin fell into a deep sleep. He was definitely feeling strangely sick, but he was even excited to be able to eat his favorite star soup in the morning.
But that dawn, his parents, who were taking turns looking into his room to see if Hae-jin was okay, had to call an ambulance. The fever, which was like a fire, did not subside easily.
Strange things continued to happen. From the ambulance that came to pick up Hae-jin, the paramedics asked if it was a side effect of the suppressant. The Bright Family, who were all Betas, had no way of knowing that pheromones were coming from Hae-jin. When they entered the hospital, they covered him with a pheromone-blocking blanket from head to toe, which caused his parents great confusion.
Hae-jin, who had been unconscious all along, heard about all this later. Even after returning home after being discharged from the hospital, his consciousness only returned vaguely, and he could not get out of bed for a long time. The fever continued until the graduation party was over.
Hae-jin only realized after waking up that the fever was a belated trait manifestation.