By Zephyria Koi stared blankly at the other person’s face for a moment. Seeing his expression, the man distorted his beautiful brow, crossed his arms, and leaned back in his chair.
“What’s with that look? Do you think I’m trying to scam you or something?”
“Ah, no, I don’t mean that, but…….”
*Me, an Extreme Omega, what on earth is this?*
He couldn’t understand at all. Not just an Omega, but an Extreme Omega, does such a thing really exist in the world? And that’s me?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. He thought that the man in front of him might be to some extent. The man’s appearance was so unrealistic, and he understood that he was a very rare species that he had learned about in passing in the curriculum.
*But that’s me?*
Seeing Koi still unable to speak, the man suddenly raised his hand. He immediately ordered a cold Beer from the employee who approached. After drinking the Beer in the glass all at once, the man slammed the glass roughly on the table and opened his mouth.
“Didn’t you feel anything when you smelled Pheromones from yourself? Don’t tell me you’ve never had sex before? If you slept with someone, you would have definitely had your heat, and your Omega scent would have been overflowing everywhere, right? But if you still believed you were a Beta, then you’re either crazy or stupid. Am I wrong?”The man, who had been relentlessly spewing harsh words, stared at Koi with a menacing gaze, as if demanding an immediate rebuttal. Koi couldn’t understand why this man was so angry. Was there some reason he absolutely had to be an extreme Omega?
When Koi simply looked at him without a word, the man who had been glaring at him for a while suddenly sighed. Startled by the abrupt change, Koi saw him soften his tone as he spoke.
“If you don’t trust me, fine. I can understand that.”
The man then rose from his seat. As Koi looked up in surprise, the man looked down at him and continued.
“Take care. We probably won’t meet again. Anyway, it was nice meeting you.”
He turned away without a trace of regret. Suddenly, Koi’s heart sank. He felt like he couldn’t let him go just like that. The strange sense of familiarity he had felt at first suddenly turned into a feeling of emptiness. As the silver-haired man in the long coat walked away, Koi grew restless. Without realizing it, Koi stood up and hurriedly chased after him. His mind was filled with nothing but the thought that he had to stop him.
“Hey!”
Koi shouted desperately, reaching out his hand. Almost simultaneously, he grabbed the man’s arm, looked at his face as he turned around, and said urgently.
“I, I can’t smell.”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise. Koi continued to speak.
“I injured my head when I was young, and after that, I couldn’t smell very well. So I didn’t smell your scent at all. I’ve never felt any scent from me either…”
Koi, who had blurted out everything, gasped for breath. The man stood there for a while, looking at Koi’s face.
*
The two sat facing each other in silence, just looking at each other. Koi fidgeted and looked around nervously, while Angel observed him with his arms crossed and a serious expression.
Finally, it was the other man who broke the silence. He put five sugar cubes into his still-hot coffee and brought it to his lips. Koi had seen him order an espresso quadruple, so he wasn’t too surprised this time.
“So,”
The man said, putting down his teacup.
“You’ve never smelled any Pheromone scent before? Not yours, not anyone else’s?”
“Yes.”
When Koi nodded, the man stroked his chin as if lost in thought again, and then said, “Okay.” He immediately got up, and when Koi hurriedly tried to stand up, he raised a hand to stop him.
“You wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Koi had no choice but to obey the firm command. Even though they had just met, he somehow had faith that the man wouldn’t lie to Koi and run away.
Awkwardly sitting back down, Koi waited for him anxiously. Contrary to the word ‘soon,’ the man didn’t appear for quite a while.
Could it be that he’d been tricked?
Just as his suspicion was solidifying into certainty, the man returned. The moment Koi saw the tall, slender man confidently walking towards him, fluttering his thin coat, he unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.
“Did you think I’d run away or something?”
Koi blushed with embarrassment at the man’s words as soon as he sat down. But the man, as if not interested, put the thing he had brought on the table and said.
“It’s hard to find a place that sells this. I barely managed to buy it.”
What the man had brought was a can. Koi looked at the label of the can, which he had never seen before, with a puzzled expression. The man took out a can opener from his pocket and pushed it towards Koi along with the can. Koi, who had taken the two items in his hands in a daze, was ordered with a nod.
“Open it. Don’t worry, it’s just food.”
Koi hesitated, but soon did as he was told and opened the can. There was fish inside the can. When he looked up, the man, with his face contorted, leaned back in his chair and moved as far away as possible before opening his mouth.
“Smell it. Get close.”
Koi, tilting his head, followed his instructions again and brought the can to his nose. It seemed to have a slightly unpleasant smell, but it wasn’t unbearable. Koi, as if to show off, flared his nostrils and smelled it repeatedly. When he raised his face, the man asked.
“How is it?”
Koi looked at his contorted face and answered honestly.
“It smells a little bad, but I’m not sure. What is this?”
“Herring.”
As soon as he answered, the man raised his hand. When the employee who had approached readily hesitated for a moment, the man pointed to the can Koi was holding while holding his nose.
“Please throw this away. Thank you.”
The employee took the can without a word, but his pace quickened as if he were doing a speed walk. The man, still looking at Koi with a puzzled expression, stealthily took his hand off his nose. After checking the smell that still lingered around him, he frowned and muttered a small curse.
“Let’s talk outside.”
The man, who had gotten up first, grabbed Koi’s arm and pulled him up. Koi, who got up in a hurry, felt a sense of relief for some reason and followed him out of the building. The man stopped at a distance and took a deep breath, then finally relaxed his face and turned to look at Koi.
“There are so many guys trying to trick me.”
The aggressiveness from before had completely disappeared from him. Before Koi could say anything, he opened his mouth.
“Sorry, I was too harsh earlier.”
Koi was surprised to see him apologize so readily. There was still no kindness or gentleness in the man’s tone, but there was also no feeling of blaming and cornering the other person like before. In a calm voice, he continued.
“With that kind of reason, it’s natural to be mistaken. For us, well… it’s not easy to figure out the species.”
The last words flowed out softly, as if to himself. Koi silently looked at him, then mustered up the courage to speak cautiously.
“Um, what you said earlier… is it true? Am I, well…”
“The same kind as me? That’s right.”
He said it with so much conviction. How could he be so confident when it doesn’t even show up on tests? As if reading Koi’s mind, he continued.
“I told you, we can recognize each other. Don’t you? Don’t you feel anything when you look at me?”
He asked more carefully than ever before. After confirming that Koi had a disability, his attitude had changed noticeably. Koi felt relieved and answered honestly.
“I, I felt it too… When you looked at me earlier, I felt a sense of comfort and familiarity…”
Then the man’s lips relaxed and a smile slowly spread across his face. Koi was mesmerized by his jewel-like sparkling green eyes and softly curving lips. He was so beautiful that he even felt a sense of holiness.
The man, seeing Koi standing there blankly, reached out his hand first. After hesitating, Koi took it, and the man shook Koi’s hand lightly and held it tightly.
“Nice to meet you.”
“…Me too.”
Even though they knew almost nothing about each other, a strong bond lingered between them. Koi felt overwhelmed and opened his mouth.
“I’m Corner Niles, Koi. What’s your name… Can I ask?”
At the cautious question, he opened his mouth. A low, whispering voice flowed out.
“Everyone calls me Angel.”
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