By Zephyria 
This was the ‘Omega’s World.’ A place where, unlike the superior Alphas or the majority Betas, the human rights of Omegas—the smallest in number—were treated as worthless.
A world where an Alpha’s status determined an Omega’s position, and where Omegas had no choice but marriage. Even that marriage was not voluntary. The moment they manifested, their families decided their fate arbitrarily as a means for economic or political gain.
“You always said that.”
“What?”
Seo Yi-kyung stared blankly as the other continued.
“I believed those words.”
Like a fool.
He was a man who had never once spoken a warm word to ‘Seo Yi-kyung.’ Yet, Yi-kyung had believed his father implicitly, thinking that it was only on the surface and that he was actually different inside, just unable to express it. How foolish.
“Why don’t you go yourself and try begging on your knees? Who knows? Maybe he’ll give you money out of pity for those frail knees of yours.”
Having finished his sentence, Seo Yi-kyung walked away. He no longer wanted to be in the same space as him. Despite being told they were brothers sharing the same blood, he felt no compassion.
“Ha— fuck.”
The smile vanished from Seo Dong-hu’s face. He reached out and gripped Seo Yi-kyung’s bandaged wrist tightly.
“Agh!” Seo Yi-kyung let out a short scream and collapsed. Butler Do rushed forward with arms outstretched.
* * *
“……Currently, we own 80 vessels, transporting grain, fertilizer, and steel products.”
Han Seung-jae, sitting in the seat of honor on the sofa, looked through the financial report. The CEO of Gawon Shipping explained, timing his words to Han Seung-jae’s gestures.
However, Han Seung-jae’s fingers, which had been flipping through the report, stopped moving entirely. At this, the CEO of Gawon Shipping trailed off.
“Um, Director Han?”
Are you listening to me? He didn’t dare say the words aloud.
“…….”
As if in response, Han Seung-jae turned the page he was looking at. On the side table to his right sat an orchid he had received as a gift.
“I’m listening, please continue.”
As Han Seung-jae’s bored gaze shifted toward the blooming orchid, the CEO of Gawon Shipping looked in the same direction.
“I heard that you recently got married.”
“And?”
Han Seung-jae’s gaze shifted. The CEO of Gawon Shipping stood up, as if trying to firmly maintain the eye contact he had managed to capture with difficulty.
“Would you like to see the gift I’ve prepared first?”
At the CEO’s words, Secretary Park opened the door. Two people waiting outside entered. They carefully removed the paper wrapping.
Revealed was a large frame containing an abstract painting done in ink.
“I’ve heard rumors that you have a deep appreciation for art. This is an abstract piece by the artist Shin Eui-jin; the precise expression of light and shadow is depicted realistically, making the meaning within the lines very clear.”
Unlike his previously bored expression, Han Seung-jae watched the frame as it approached. The CEO of Gawon Shipping delivered what he thought was a decisive blow.
“’Meeting Again.’”
It was then. Buzz— Secretary Park reached into his inner pocket. He looked at his phone. After checking the screen, he put the phone to his ear and turned toward the door. Then, he suddenly turned back.
“There is only one piece of this in the country. Do you like my gift?”
Secretary Park lowered the phone and whispered into Han Seung-jae’s ear. Because he covered his mouth with his hand, the CEO of Gawon Shipping could not hear.
* * *
An open panoramic view; outside the window, the dim light of the evening sunset filled the sky.
The spacious office was deathly silent. Documents drafted throughout the morning and afternoon lay on the desk. On the small protruding corner at the bottom, the seal of the CEO of Gawon Shipping was clearly stamped.
Knock, knock—
A knock sounded, breaking the silence. The door opened, and Secretary Park entered.
“Vice President Seo has arrived.”
As Secretary Park opened the door wide, Seo Dong-hu, dressed in a gray suit, appeared behind him.
“You must be busy, why did you bother calling me here? You could have just told me over the phone. You’re coming to this gathering, right? Everyone’s been asking me if you’re coming. Ah! This is a gift. We can’t have me coming empty-handed between us.”
Seo Dong-hu, his face tight with tension, reprimanded the chauffeur who followed him in.
“Put it down and get out, quickly! How can you be so slow?”
“I’m sorry.”
The chauffeur placed the wine on the table.
“I sent the fruits Yi-kyung likes and the wedding gift to the house.”
In the silent office, Seo Dong-hu’s monologue continued incessantly.
“I guess our father is getting old. If I don’t take care of things like this, no one does.”
Han Seung-jae, who had been admiring the abstract painting on the wall until then, turned his head. Shadows formed on his dark vest. Han Seung-jae spoke apathetically.
“Sit.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
Seo Dong-hu’s Adam’s apple bobbed sharply. Out of habit, he took in the suit Han Seung-jae was wearing, the classic cufflinks in his sleeves, and the platinum blue-dial pattern watch embedded with diamonds.
He had met Han Seung-jae many times since childhood while following his father around, but he could never tell what the hell the man was thinking.
—It’s dazzling. What is this?
Having entered the exotic mansion following his father, Seo Dong-hu couldn’t sit still for a moment in the center of the living room. Butler Choi gave him a fleeting glance as he passed by, but Dong-hu didn’t care. Seo Dong-hu fiddled with the objects placed everywhere as if they were his own. His father, Seo Young-hwan, had gone upstairs to meet President Han Yechan.
—How did it come to this?
At Butler Choi’s sighing voice, Seo Dong-hu’s gaze shifted. There was Han Seung-jae coming down the stairs. Although he was wearing a school uniform, his superiority was not hidden in the slightest. A completely different aura surrounded him.
When Butler Choi left to get a first-aid kit, Seo Dong-hu’s eyes lingered on Han Seung-jae’s hand. Red blood was flowing from a torn palm. It trailed from the top of the stairs all the way down.
—Are you hurt? You’re bleeding a lot.
Tossing aside the ornament he had been touching, Seo Dong-hu stepped closer.
—I heard you’re an only child. Just think of me as your Hyung. If you have any troubles, tell me.
Red stains had also appeared on the sleeves of Han Seung-jae’s uniform. Seeing the blood continuously dripping to the floor, Seo Dong-hu frowned deeply, but Han Seung-jae looked at him with a cold, heartless face.
—Why would I tell a stranger about my troubles?
—People encounter hardships in life; maybe you don’t know because you’re still young. School life is just fucking awful, you know! And we’re not strangers. We’re going to be family…
—If you’re looking for my weakness, try a bit harder.
—…….
Seo Dong-hu couldn’t say a word, like a mute who had eaten honey. In the meantime, Butler Choi returned with the first-aid kit. He looked into Han Seung-jae’s palm. Shards of broken glass were embedded in it.
—I think you should go to the hospital. Have the car ready.
—Don’t make a fuss…
Han Seung-jae shook off the hand holding him. Because of that, droplets of blood splattered onto Seo Dong-hu’s expensive sweater. Anyone else would have been furious immediately, but he couldn’t open his mouth. The hierarchy between Alphas was decided in an instant. He instinctively felt that this person was difficult to deal with.
Han Seung-jae walked past Seo Dong-hu with an expressionless face. Blood droplets continued to drip from his fingertips.
Seo Dong-hu twisted his body slightly. He belatedly pulled at his sweater and spat out a low curse. Seo Dong-hu had tried to treat Han Seung-jae like a younger brother, just as he treated Seo Yi-kyung. But his intentions were thwarted every time.
However, once Yi-kyung married, they would be family. It meant he could get his hands on the Myeongjun Financial Group as a backer for Woorim Construction.
They met after that as well, but unlike Seo Dong-hu, who revealed his inner thoughts without filter, Han Seung-jae became increasingly cold. He never initiated a conversation.
Even at social gatherings where only Alphas could attend, Han Seung-jae consistently ignored Seo Dong-hu, who had no choice but to swallow his pride and acknowledge him. Despite this, Seo Dong-hu tried not to let it bother him.
Because once Seo Yi-kyung married, it was obvious that Han Seung-jae’s money would become his, like a spring that never ran dry. The physically and mentally weak Seo Yi-kyung would give up his paintings or tools—anything he cherished—just by Seo Dong-hu shaking him down.
For a long time, Seo Dong-hu had forced Yi-kyung to give him things he didn’t even need, then used the pretext of returning them to easily manipulate Yi-kyung according to his will.
“……Should I sit here?”
Seo Dong-hu shifted his gaze from Han Seung-jae’s refined features and glanced at the seat of honor on the sofa. However, his fingertips pointed toward the long sofa.
When they were young, he could at least boast about his age to Han Seung-jae, but now, the man had eyes that were colder and more inscrutable than before. Thus, as he had learned from his father, he did not act rashly in front of Han Seung-jae.
Click. Secretary Park closed the door and stood before him. The call he had received in the morning was from the driver. The driver was supposed to report every time he moved, and he mentioned that he was taking Seo Yi-kyung to the hospital. After that, Butler Do’s urgent voice was mixed in; the situation seemed serious.
Step, Han Seung-jae took a step forward. The steady sound of footsteps echoed on the floor. This was followed by the sound of a watch being unfastened.
“My father said he sent a construction subcontract agreement, or a memorandum, but the payment isn’t going through? If you give the money to me, I’ll pass it to my father.”
Han Seung-jae placed the watch he had been holding on the desk. Turning around, he picked up the orchid on the side table next to the sofa and struck Seo Dong-hu over the head with it.
“Why should busy people have to go back and forth so hard—”
Thwack—
Seo Dong-hu’s eyes widened. Fragments of porcelain and a green orchid crumbled over his head.
“Uh…”
Seo Dong-hu, who had been talking to himself the whole time, stopped abruptly.
As Seo Dong-hu lifted his head, soil that had scattered over his head and suit shoulders fell in clumps. He raised his hand to feel his forehead. Something had been flowing down for a while now.
Seo Dong-hu looked down at his hand. Bright red blood was clearly smeared on it. Only after confirming his condition with his own eyes did Seo Dong-hu finally scream.
“Fuck, Director Han! What the hell is this!”
Han Seung-jae reached out his large hand and crushed the crown of Seo Dong-hu’s head, where soil and blood were entwined. Seo Dong-hu, who tried to stand up, was pushed back by the force, his knees buckling.
“First—put this down, and then talk.”
Sitting in an awkward posture on the sofa, he frowned and struggled desperately to grab and pull away Han Seung-jae’s wrist. Seo Dong-hu’s face, with blood flowing down, distorted fiercely. The more he did, the deeper Han Seung-jae’s fingers dug into his head, only increasing the pain. It felt as if his scalp was being crushed.
“I get it! I said I get it!”
Was it the effect of his father’s discipline, which had provided for everything? Seo Dong-hu reached out his other hand toward Han Seung-jae, telling him to calm down, as if he were about to confess everything.
“I understand why you’re doing this, what it’s because of! Fuck, seriously, just listen to me first. Whatever it is, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“Which hand did it?”
Contrasting voices overlapped and mixed. The cold voice was low and chilling. For a moment, his heart went cold. Only then did Seo Dong-hu realize the severity of the situation and swallow hard. Blood from the gash on his forehead covered one eye and flowed downward, but Han Seung-jae’s face as he watched this was detached.
“This hand?”
Han Seung-jae grabbed the wrist that was waving in the air. As strength gradually filled his grip, Seo Dong-hu’s fingertips trembled.
“No. Fuck, no! I can explain everything.”
Seo Dong-hu shook his head wildly. Due to the splattered blood, stains appeared on the collar of Han Seung-jae’s dress shirt and vest. As the situation became desperate, Seo Dong-hu blurted out anything.
“Seung-jae, everything Yi-kyung said is nonsense! What would a mere Omega know! Fuck, just listen to me first.”
Han Seung-jae’s eyes narrowed. His pupils were piercing. As if his patience had reached its limit, Seo Dong-hu’s fingers were snapped backward with a crack. The sound of bone breaking was buried under Seo Dong-hu’s grotesque scream.