07 – 17 Years Old (2)

Meanwhile, Hwang Hae-kyung, who had received Lee Yoon-san’s fighting video, couldn’t control the corners of his mouth from rising, so he covered his lower face with one hand.

He had turned off or set most app notifications to silent or vibrate, but the only notification he had turned on was the DM notification from Lee Yoon-san.

Since there were a lot of unnecessary DMs coming in since his social media account became known, Hwang Hae-kyung had turned off all DMs and only set notifications for Lee Yoon-san’s individual DMs. Therefore, he could usually check the DMs coming from Lee Yoon-san right away.

Of course, there were more than half the cases where he couldn’t because of training and training schedules.

Today was a lucky day. It was because Lee Yoon-san sent me a DM right when I was taking a break during training. He even seemed to have sent the wrong video. It was obvious in the video that he was conscious of the camera, setting his phone up somewhere, opening the refrigerator, and taking out a cola. He probably filmed the whole thing and was planning to edit out only the parts he needed to send.

Hwang Hae-kyung could guess the editing point at the ‘Fighting’ part at the end of the video Lee Yoon-san sent.

Based on Lee Yoon-san’s personality, which he had figured out through exchanging DMs for the past year, there was no way he would have sent such a video on purpose. Whatever happened, the kid who had won against him in arm wrestling at the campsite when they were young and arrogantly told him not to mess around was now a shy and passive boy. Of course, he still saw the Lee Yoon-san from his childhood in the last attitude he had shown when they briefly ran into each other in the bushes a year ago.

Anyway, Hwang Hae-kyung could bet his entire fortune that the video Lee Yoon-san sent was not intentional. The unedited, clumsy length of the video, the way he kept glancing at the camera with a flushed face, none of that was the image he wanted to show. Of course, even that looked cute to Hwang Hae-kyung.

From the moment he played and saved Lee Yoon-san’s video, Hwang Hae-kyung couldn’t manage his expression at all. In the video, Lee Yoon-san might have been glancing at the camera, but the angle made it look like he was glancing at him, and Hwang Hae-kyung couldn’t possibly not recognize the hoodie Lee Yoon-san was wearing. It was the hoodie he had personally put on Lee Yoon-san.

It wasn’t just similar; it wasn’t Lee Yoon-san’s size, and it looked too awkward to be an oversized fit. Anyone could tell he was wearing someone else’s clothes. The moment he realized that, he felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck.

The two of them had never exchanged photos before. But suddenly, Lee Yoon-san in the video he sent looked a little taller than last year, yet he was still the same face he knew. His cautious behavior was cute, and his clothes seemed to swallow Lee Yoon-san’s body. It made Hwang Hae-kyung feel very unfamiliar.

He felt a little nauseous, and he felt absurdly excited. It was a sense of elation that he couldn’t control his expression. It was similar to lying down after enduring growing pains and then exhausting all the trapped energy through exercise for the first time. He felt like he had been pierced somewhere, but his heart was beating fast enough to feel good, which was new and overwhelming.

Therefore, Hwang Hae-kyung thought that he really did find Lee Yoon-san very cute.

“What are you doing?”

“Phone.”

“Are you on Insta again? That Dongsaeng?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Seok-jae, who had finished taking pictures on the other side, came over and sat down with a thud. Hwang Hae-kyung responded with a short reply to his interest. At the same time, he sent his number to Lee Yoon-san and begged him to tell him Lee Yoon-san’s number as well. It was an impulsive act.

The reason they hadn’t exchanged photos or numbers was simple. They weren’t that close. They had only run into each other once during a field trip, and even though they had a connection from when they were young, they weren’t very close, so they weren’t in a relationship where they would pretend to be overly friendly.

When he was young, Lee Yoon-san was a bothersome and hateful brat who was taller and bigger than him and even stole his parents’ love. He even won against him and his friends in arm wrestling one vacation day and threatened them not to mess around. It was the day Hwang Hae-kyung’s pride was crushed for the first time in his life.

Lee Yoon-san, whom he met again after several years, had become a boy from that hateful brat, but Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t think he was much different from when he was young.

The way he stumbled easily and his gestures were somehow clumsy, the way he didn’t call him Hyung, the way he monopolized the adults’ cuteness with his droopy eyes, the way his expression seemed to touch people’s conscience just by looking at him, and even his temper that flared up when he said, ‘You better watch out for Omegas.’

However, it was just that he, who was too young to take care of or find his Dongsaeng cute, had changed. Hwang Hae-kyung had thought Lee Yoon-san was cute from the moment he first found him at that amusement park.

So he thought he didn’t need his number or pictures. Hwang Hae-kyung wasn’t the type to approach people first in relationships, and he got along well enough with the friends who approached him, so it was true that he had never even thought of asking Lee Yoon-san for something personal first.

But the moment he saw the video Lee Yoon-san sent, Hwang Hae-kyung wanted to have more of these things.

It was a thought close to impulse, but once he felt that impulse strongly, it didn’t disappear. Lee Yoon-san’s face, which he had seen once a year ago, kept lingering in his mind, and when he saw his face in the video, which seemed a little taller than then, he regretted his indifference in not wanting pictures.

If they had been exchanging pictures earlier, he could have seen how Lee Yoon-san had been growing over the past year. Hwang Hae-kyung had such regrets, and he wanted to stop those regrets now.

Although Lee Yoon-san on the other side of the screen was still not answering, perhaps because he was embarrassed by his request. But as a Hyung, he can ask for this much, right? It was the first time he had given someone his number and asked for theirs, but this wasn’t like hitting on someone, right? To Lee Yoon-san, he was a safe Hyung who had known his family for quite some time, right?

Hwang Hae-kyung waited for Lee Yoon-san’s delayed reply, repeating those thoughts in his mind.

“Don’t do things you don’t usually do. If the coach or coaches find out, we’ll all be in trouble.”

And Lee Seok-jae, who had been watching Hwang Hae-kyung from the side, sighed and slumped against the back of the bench. Lee Seok-jae was obsessed with SNS, but surprisingly, he had never caused any problems with women. He knew very well that in a group of Alphas made up of minors, problems with women would soon become a cause for joint responsibility.

And that was the same for Hwang Hae-kyung. He had been a child model, so he was well-trained in separating himself from the people’s interest in him and his actual self. He, too, had never bothered to respond to external interest. Hwang Hae-kyung had just let go of the words that subtly came in, saying that they would introduce him to an Omega, or that an Omega or family member he knew was a fan, so why not contact them at least once.

It wasn’t really because he wasn’t interested in Omegas, but rather because he was being managed so tightly that he didn’t have time for it. And he didn’t want to be the cause of joint responsibility for the volleyball team due to problems with women.

“You’ve been cutting off Omegas just fine until now.”

“Are you crazy? Why are you talking about someone else’s Dongsaeng like that?”

Lee Seok-jae muttered one more word at Hwang Hae-kyung’s unfamiliar appearance, who was only looking at his phone screen without even replying to his words, and Hwang Hae-kyung’s sharp voice returned. He was frowning as if he had heard something very bizarre and was looking at Lee Seok-jae. It wasn’t so much that he was angry, but rather that he was reacting as if he had heard something absurd. So Lee Seok-jae also had a puzzled look on his face.

“Isn’t he an Omega? Bunny.”

“Yeah, that’s his gender. But can I call your Noona a ‘woman’?”

“No, you crazy bastard, our mom’s daughter is my real Noona, and he’s not! You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

“He’s my Dongsaeng.”

Hwang Hae-kyung answered Lee Seok-jae’s words sharply and fixed his gaze back on his phone. His expression even looked impatient. But soon, the sound of the end of the break was heard. At that, Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Seok-jae left their phones and got up from their seats without lingering and headed towards the court. It was close to a chronic behavior.

The indoor gymnasium for the volleyball team, which was said to have been built separately by a wealthy Alpha family for their child who was a member of the volleyball team, was actually close to a small stadium. As befitting the reputation of being a volleyball powerhouse, it was the main place where the volleyball team members trained all day long, and it was a space that the players were more familiar with than the classroom because it was a space that did not have to be shared with other sports teams in the school.

The players warmed up while circling this auditorium, and they also practiced and trained according to a set program on the court drawn to international standards.

Training usually started in the afternoon, and they often mixed or divided the grades to conduct mock games. And today was the day for that mock game. Due to the nature of the sports team, which was mainly composed of Alphas, the number of third-year students was the smallest, so they divided the teams around a few of the main third-year students and practiced the game.

Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Seok-jae were often grouped into the same team because they were in charge of the setter and left, respectively, but the situation was a little different starting this year. Hwang Hae-kyung had been a player in the offensive zone since middle school, and Lee Seok-jae had been assisting the Libero from the left until last year, but this year he changed his position to Libero altogether.

A player in the offensive position had switched to a complete defensive position. Due to the nature of volleyball, where the roles that the players in each position had to play were standardized, it was not easy to change positions, but it was also inevitable. The Libero players, who were mainly in the third grade, had all graduated this year.

Hwang Hae-kyung is also training to move between positions at the same time as his Sunbae’s graduation. It was a decision made by the coach, who was a good ambidextrous player with good power and preferred unconventional lineups. So, when they had mock games like this, he often alternated between the left and right attackers.

Depending on the situation of the formed team, Hwang Hae-kyung would go in as a setter, right, or left, aiming for a pass feint. It was a change of position that took place within the category of the same offensive zone, but it was clearly a process of being raised as an all-around attacker. Therefore, the coach was convinced that Hwang Hae-kyung would complain about the burden of this position training.

As with most Alpha families, Hwang Hae-kyung’s family had heard that they had everything they needed, so he said that he would hear words about excessive training of players and fixing positions from the parents. So, he had even prepared a statement of appeal in his heart to persuade the parents.

However, Hwang Hae-kyung was growing into a player who could change positions without any noise, going back and forth between both attacks as the coach intended, and even supporting left and right. It was not something that could be done with ordinary effort. Because of this, the coach secretly expected that Hwang Hae-kyung might have decided to become a professional player, but unfortunately, neither Hwang Hae-kyung nor his parents gave a definite answer to that. He didn’t know if he would become a professional volleyball player in the future, but he was gritting his teeth and digesting the given task.

“Hwang Hae-kyung, focus!”

Hwang Hae-kyung was in charge of the attack in the front row in this mock game, so he was slowly rotating his shoulders when he heard a playful voice from across the net. The owner of the voice was a player in the same grade and was divided into the opposing team in this mock game, and he must have seen Hwang Hae-kyung glancing at the bench where his phone was while slowly rotating his shoulders. Hwang Hae-kyung snapped his neck without reacting to such provocation and scanned the opposing team. And the game started right away.

The ensuing game was precariously in favor of Hwang Hae-kyung’s team. Hwang Hae-kyung’s play was smooth, and Lee Seok-jae did his job well. The opposing team’s receive was shaken, resulting in a score, and Hwang Hae-kyung’s team succeeded in a service ace.

In the ensuing flow, Hwang Hae-kyung attempted a quick open. He sent the ball from the back to the front, and the center in front jumped a fake jump as if trying to float the ball, and then immediately jumped up and hit a C quick (quick attack), leading to a score without fail.

Then, an open attack came from the opposing side, but it was blocked and did not lead to a score. After the successive time difference attacks were cut off in the middle, the opposing side seemed to be getting annoyed. Even though they were on the same team, Hwang Hae-kyung’s team always had a high probability of winning when there was a mock game like this.

First of all, he was more effective at blocking because he had better physicals than the players on the same team, and above all, Hwang Hae-kyung read the opposing team’s fakes well. It meant that he read the movements of the players, including the setter, well, and that was possible because Hwang Hae-kyung did a lot of research on the play. On the other hand, it was also natural. Hwang Hae-kyung was in a position to receive a little more harsh training than other players so that he could handle both left and right attacks.

So, when they were on the same team, it was an inevitable condition that was as reliable as that, but it wasn’t when they were on the opposing team. The fakes were all seen through, the high-flying balls were blocked by Hwang Hae-kyung’s blocking, and the low and fast balls were blocked by other players or resulted in mistakes that were caught in the net because they were too conscious of Hwang Hae-kyung.

Above all, what was annoying about Hwang Hae-kyung was that he made the opposing team’s mentality anxious as the game went on. No matter how many attack opportunities they got, if their attacks were continuously cut off by blocking that was physically received, the opponent would become resentful, and that feeling would lead to mistakes.

As expected, this game also ended with the victory of Hwang Hae-kyung’s team. What was really annoying was that Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t seem to be struggling much even after the game was over, as if he had paced his stamina. Of course, most of the students in the Semyeong High School volleyball team were Alphas, so most of them were like that, but still, Hwang Hae-kyung seemed to be used to his usual amount of training, and his breathing quickly stabilized even after taking a few breaths.

That was why. Another classmate player who played in the opposing team made a provocation that wasn’t a provocation.

“Ah, shit. I was going to ask you to introduce me to Lee Seok-jae’s Noona if we won this game!”

Of course, it wasn’t a provocation towards Hwang Hae-kyung. It was just a joke towards Lee Seok-jae, who played on the same team as Hwang Hae-kyung. Lee Seok-jae was famous for being an SNS addict but also for not getting angry due to his unique flexible personality. So, he was famous for being close friends with Ham Se-jin, who was the ace of the women’s volleyball team, as well as Hwang Hae-kyung.

“Fuck off. You’re not even a mouthful for our Noona.”

Lee Seok-jae lifted his top and wiped his face, tossing the conversation with his unique flexible attitude. In a way that no one was uncomfortable with and that matched the atmosphere well. But the problem was the classmate’s question that followed, not satisfied with that.

“Then what about Hwang Hae-kyung? I heard you have a Dongsaeng, earlier.”

“What?”

Hwang Hae-kyung raised his head at the carelessly thrown words in a nonchalant tone. Even in the midst of that, he was glancing at the phone that was placed far away.

“I overheard you talking to Lee Seok-jae earlier. I heard you have an Omega Dongsaeng. Is he pretty? Or handsome…?”

But the words that followed were not finished. Hwang Hae-kyung, who had been walking towards the classmate player who was asking questions in an excited expression as if he was looking forward to it, suddenly threw a punch.

“Hey, you crazy bastard!”

At that, other players, including Lee Seok-jae, rushed to stick to his limbs to stop Hwang Hae-kyung, and the opposing team players also flocked to protect their team players. It only took 5 seconds for it to become a scene reminiscent of a bench clearing. And even in the midst of that, Hwang Hae-kyung threw a few more punches with a face that had frighteningly disappeared.

It was a very rare occurrence in Hwang Hae-kyung’s life. He had only used his fists once or twice in middle school, when his emotions were particularly turbulent due to hormones as he developed into an Alpha. Even at that time, Alpha children of that age were originally greatly affected by hormones, regardless of their personality, so Hwang Hae-kyung was even praised for being in good condition.

But when it came to Lee Yoon-san, he felt a sudden surge of anger to the top of his head. To compare it to a car, it was like zero to 100 in less than 1 second. It was a situation where his fist went out like a reflex without the time to think and judge.

He didn’t even feel like ending it with one or two punches. He was just annoyed that Lee Yoon-san was used in a casual joke, and he took it as if his family had been insulted. While punching, he wondered how far that bastard had imagined Lee Yoon-san in his head, and that soon led to another anger.

It was an irrational judgment and a delusion. Even Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t have a single picture of Lee Yoon-san, so there was no way that a classmate player who wasn’t even in the same class last year would know Lee Yoon-san’s face. But even so, he was angry. His anger was so severe that he couldn’t control it, and his anger was expressed with force.

“Hey, you bastards! What are you doing now!”

Even after the coach, who had gone to the bathroom for a while after the game, and the coaching staff, who had returned after having a cigarette time, rushed in with shouts and separated the children, Hwang Hae-kyung’s icy expression did not ease.

That expression alone proved that what Hwang Hae-kyung had just done was not just impulsive.

And in the end, a disciplinary committee was convened for Hwang Hae-kyung the very next day.

✧✧✧

“Hae-kyung.”

Knocking on the door of his son who had shut himself in his room, Hwang Jun-won, Hwang Hae-kyung’s father, called his son’s name. Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t answer, and even when Hwang Jun-won eventually opened the door and entered, Hwang Hae-kyung remained seated with his back against the headboard, showing no reaction.

Only when his father sat on the edge of the bed did he lift his head and briefly meet his gaze. Then he immediately lowered his head again to stare at his phone screen.

Displayed on Hwang Hae-kyung’s phone screen was his DM chat with Lee Yoon-san. The screen showed the eleven digits of Lee Yoon-san’s phone number that Lee Yoon-san had sent yesterday when the bench-clearing brawl-like chaos had erupted.

“Stop looking at your phone and talk with me for a bit, son.”

Hwang Hae-kyung quietly stared at Lee Yoon-san’s message on the screen before locking his phone.

The message Lee Yoon-san had sent wasn’t very long. As if reflecting Lee Yoon-san’s shyness from beyond the screen, it contained only his eleven-digit phone number and the question, ‘Want to call?’ Since Hwang Hae-kyung had checked his phone late after yesterday’s turmoil, he had belatedly replied with ‘When I have time.’

“It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

Surprisingly, Hwang Jun-won said that while looking at his son who appeared rather composed. And it was true.

In groups gathering Alpha kids, such issues frequently arose. Whether in school classrooms or especially in sports teams that gathered Alphas in packs, violence problems erupted every other day depending on the members’ tendencies.

And to explain the spontaneity and cause of the violence in such cases, they usually went directly to the Secondary Gender Medicine department for blood hormone tests and obtained a diagnosis certificate. This was to prove that the violence was due to hormonal instability and resolve the situation. Of course, this consideration only applied when Alphas of the same gender exchanged blows.

Hwang Hae-kyung, too, had been taken to the hospital by his parents yesterday for a hormone test and received a diagnosis certificate. As expected, there were traces of explosively high hormone levels, which were fully reflected in the certificate and submitted to the coach and school.

The disciplinary meeting regarding Hwang Hae-kyung held today involved educators and leaders from both the school and the volleyball team, as well as parents from both sides. Since it wasn’t a formal disciplinary committee, it proceeded simply. Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents politely bowed and apologized to the victimized student’s side, and the school seemed hopeful the matter wouldn’t escalate. The volleyball team’s coach and coach felt the same.

With the upcoming National Sports Festival, they didn’t want to suspend their ace, Hwang Hae-kyung, and above all, neither the school nor the team seemed to take the assault between Alphas too seriously. Unless it was severe enough to cause broken bones or hinder athletic performance, fights between underage Alphas due to hormonal temper explosions were considered all too common. Knowing this well, they imposed rather strict education and management during this unstable period.

“I talked well with the other parents. Fortunately, since he was hit mainly on the jaw, nothing was broken.”

Although the student hit by Hwang Hae-kyung expressed his grievance until the end, the parents exchanged polite apologies and forgiveness. Understandably so, since the student only suffered bruises without any broken jawbone or nasal bone. Given that a punch from a well-built Alpha is no different from a weapon, it usually results in at least fractures or worse.

So, in this incident, it meant Hwang Hae-kyung had subconsciously controlled his strength to some extent. He had used just enough force not to hinder the other student’s athletic career. Judging by Hwang Hae-kyung’s current expression, it probably wasn’t a conscious control of strength, but rather the result of the ongoing control management and near-brainwashing education. Of course, the testimonies of surrounding players at the time, including Lee Seok-jae, had also been somewhat effective.

The student didn’t really deny the testimony that he had provoked Hwang Hae-kyung by mentioning an Omega. However, he insisted he had no ‘dirty’ intentions and felt wronged by Hwang Hae-kyung’s excessive response. Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents apologized repeatedly, easing the tension. Moreover, the student and Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t originally have a bad relationship. So, it was concluded to be a spontaneous overreaction to the provocation in that moment.

Although it was an assault issue, it was fundamentally different in background and scope of understanding from issues involving Betas. Hormonal problems were significant, matters related to the opposite sex were very sensitive keywords for Second gendered beings, and Alphas were sturdy.

Therefore, the matter was resolved well without escalating. Hwang Hae-kyung was excluded from training until his hormones stabilized completely, and the other student was also recommended to rest for two or three days. Of course, after that period, both would likely face separate, harsh additional training.

The somewhat fortunate aspect was that this issue didn’t spread into collective responsibility. This was thanks to the judgment that Hwang Hae-kyung wasn’t actually seeing an Omega, and the other student’s provocation also lacked significant meaning or base intentions.

“Why did you do it? Did you meet someone you like?”

“It’s not like that.”

“I heard he just asked if they were pretty, and you charged at him right away?”

“Who is he to wonder about that?”

“……”

“Why is he curious about that, of all things.”

Seeing no sign of the conversation progressing, Hwang Jun-won first brought up what he’d heard at today’s disciplinary meeting. Then Hwang Hae-kyung reacted sharply all at once. He had denied the suggestion of having a crush, but his abruptly changed attitude naturally left Hwang Jun-won speechless.

Hwang Jun-won smiled awkwardly at his son’s reaction and ruffled his hair. Even though his son still wore a sullen, displeased expression.

“You’ve grown up. You even have someone you like now.”

“I told you it’s not like that!”

Conventionally, an underage Alpha meeting an Omega is an unstable matter. Normally, they might be able to meet like Betas. But because Pheromones and Heat cycles exist, it’s a different issue from underage Beta kids dating.

The unstable elements requiring social management during minority can, in the worst cases, easily lead to problems like forcibly taking the other using Pheromones or irresponsible pregnancies.

So, for Hwang Jun-won, his son’s pure affection was just bittersweet. If he were just a Beta kid, he could have offered relaxed advice and congratulations to his son starting his first love, but for Hwang Hae-kyung, an Alpha, it wasn’t an issue that could be taken so lightly.

On the other hand, Hwang Hae-kyung found his father a bit frustrating. No, rather, he was frustrated with his own situation of not being able to speak the truth. Since his father had adored Lee Yoon-san terribly since childhood, if he revealed that the ‘Omega’ in their conversation was Lee Yoon-san, his father would undoubtedly be even angrier than him. And he would immediately understand why he had hit his teammate.

But if he said that, he’d have to reveal that he was in contact with Lee Yoon-san. Hwang Hae-kyung clearly remembered the warnings his parents had given him early in his manifestation. That early dawn at the campsite when his manifestation period began, the second reason his parents had to flee the campsite with him was precisely because of Lee Yoon-san.

Of course, the primary reason was Hwang Hae-kyung’s pain from the onset of his manifestation period, followed by concern that his irregular hormonal surges might harm another child. If there was even the slightest chance that Lee Yoon-san at the time might manifest as an Alpha or Omega, it was a problem where Hwang Hae-kyung’s Pheromones, overflowing like a burst dam, could stimulate Lee Yoon-san as well.

After being diagnosed at the hospital as beginning to manifest as an Alpha, Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents first warned him about matters related to the opposite sex.

The gist was: ‘You are currently in an unstable state and cannot control your own Pheromones, mood, or impulses. If an Omega is nearby, it could be a stimulus for you and potentially harm that child.’

It was a very textbook attitude, and also the basics of nationally recommended home education. And as time passed and they confirmed Hwang Hae-kyung’s hormone index hitting high levels, they sometimes imposed stricter discipline.

It mainly involved regulating Hwang Hae-kyung himself, not others including the opposite sex. They explained that because Hwang Hae-kyung’s hormone index was high, his Pheromone concentration was dense, so an Omega exposed to those Pheromones could become stimulated. They also added that fellow Alphas could also react violently to Hwang Hae-kyung’s Pheromones if he wielded them intentionally.

So, it also included that he shouldn’t meet an Omega until he could properly control himself and reach the stable period of adulthood. The reason was to prevent potential accidents that might occur from facing an Omega, who isn’t physically equal like an Alpha, during an unstable period he couldn’t personally guarantee.

Although Hwang Hae-kyung was just a kid who couldn’t quite grasp the exact scope of what constituted such ‘accidents,’ he tried to accept it since his parents said so. And from the year after Hwang Hae-kyung’s manifestation period began, his parents themselves stopped participating in camping.

Even a bit later, the frequency of mentioning Lee Yoon-san in front of Hwang Hae-kyung also decreased. Hwang Hae-kyung assumed that Lee Yoon-san, whom he’d seen as a child and who was older than him, must have grown up as an Alpha or Beta, and asked once or twice, but even those answers were evasive.

Now, in hindsight, he guessed it was probably because they had heard the news that Lee Yoon-san had manifested as an Omega.

It seemed to be a precautionary measure, worried that the immature Alpha Hwang Hae-kyung might become curious about the immature Omega Lee Yoon-san.

Instead, his parents often said strange things. They said that when he became an adult, they would let him meet a wonderful Omega, so they hoped he would grow up properly.

Hwang Hae-kyung had thought those words were odd, but on the other hand, he just accepted it. It was similar in context to saying he’d get a girlfriend in college, so he should focus on studying now, and it’s a common thing parents say, right? Especially for Hwang Hae-kyung, who had frequent entanglements with other kids during his child model days, it was a sufficiently valid concern.

Given such parents, he couldn’t readily confess that he was in contact with Lee Yoon-san. He knew his parents liked Lee Yoon-san, but he also knew that didn’t mean he was allowed to contact Lee Yoon-san.

If contact were permitted, they would have told him news about Lee Yoon-san or spoken about him long ago. But Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents, while meticulously remembering Lee Yoon-san’s birthday or Christmas, didn’t talk about Lee Yoon-san in front of him. As if it were some clumsy taboo.

So, if he made an imprudent choice now, there was a possibility his parents might interfere and try to cut off contact between Hwang Hae-kyung and Lee Yoon-san. Whether for his sake or for the sake of the Omega Lee Yoon-san who might be stimulated because of him. After all, hadn’t he already committed the precedent of resorting to violence while thinking of Lee Yoon-san?

“I told you it’s not about liking someone or anything.”

“Just liking someone is fine. But if the other person is an Omega, you still shouldn’t meet or date them.”

“I said it’s not like that!”

“Son, Hae-kyung-ah.”

“……”

“You didn’t plan to hit your teammate yesterday, did you?”

“…That was just my fist moving first in the moment.”

“Right. Your body moved first.”

“……”

“Are you confident your body won’t move first with that Omega kid too?”

“Dad, I’m really not like that.”

“Mom and I aren’t angry about yesterday’s incident. The parents of the kid you hit didn’t take it seriously either and generously forgave you. But that’s only possible because you’re an Alpha and the other kid is an Alpha too. Understand? It’s an issue that ended with a few punches because you’re an Alpha and the other kid is an Alpha. So it didn’t escalate further.”

“……”

“You’re at an age where you can’t personally guarantee or take responsibility. Let’s just endure a little until you grow up and reach the stable period. You don’t want to hurt the person you like either, right?”

At his father’s persuasive words, Hwang Hae-kyung closed his mouth. He wanted to keep insisting that he hadn’t caused yesterday’s accident because he liked Lee Yoon-san, but he now fully understood what his father meant.

Because it was between Alpha and Alpha, the accident ended with a few punches. Even though his body had reacted first, beyond his thoughts.

If the other person had been Lee Yoon-san, an Omega, a different kind of accident might have occurred. Because his body’s Pheromones might react first, beyond his thoughts. Merely because their genders differed, Pheromones to attract the other might be released, and regardless of whether one side or both didn’t want it, a Heat cycle could be triggered, leading to another accident.

Because that’s what Pheromones, possessed by Second gendered beings, are originally like.

They are mechanisms to induce Heat cycles or attract mates, and Hwang Hae-kyung is still a minor whose hormones, the cause of those Pheromones, aren’t fully stabilized.

Once he becomes an adult and stabilizes, he might be able to naturally utilize and control Pheromones for expressing emotions or communication, but for Hwang Hae-kyung, who still can’t handle his own Pheromones at will, Pheromones are like untamed wild animals. Forget delicate control or handling; the focus must be on managing them so they don’t suddenly jump out and recklessly harm others.

And the same would likely be true for Lee Yoon-san, who is also still just a minor.

“I just.”

Hwang Hae-kyung, who had been silently listening to his father, furrowed his brow as if faced with a difficult problem. He scratched his eyebrow with his index finger, rolled his eyes as if troubled, and sighed. Seeming to organize his thoughts, he finally looked straight at his father and continued.

“I wanted to protect him.”

Yes, that’s right. Not because he liked him, but because he wanted to protect him. Hadn’t he heard it drilled into his ears since childhood? To take good care of and protect his younger sibling. That statement, which he hadn’t wanted to understand or couldn’t understand back then, only resonated with him now.

So, he had gotten furious at the sight of someone even daring to mention Lee Yoon-san in terms of being an Omega or whatever, and his fist had flown out first.

“…Alright, son.”

Seeing his son, whose confused and frustrated mind seemed somewhat straightened out, meeting his gaze directly, Hwang Jun-wan smiled affectionately. He ruffled his now 190cm tall son’s hair once more and got up from his seat.

“Then keep protecting him.”

At his father’s following words, Hwang Hae-kyung lifted his head. Because he understood the meaning of what his father had said. Just as Hwang Hae-kyung had reacted sensitively yesterday to protect ‘that kid’ from ridicule, he was now being told to protect ‘that kid’ from Hwang Hae-kyung’s own unstable Pheromones.

In other words, it meant he shouldn’t approach ‘that kid.’ If Hwang Hae-kyung truly cared for ‘that kid.’

“Good night.”

“You too, Dad.”

After exchanging goodnights and Hwang Jun-won leaving the room, Hwang Hae-kyung lit up his phone screen again. Just before his father entered, Hwang Hae-kyung had been hesitating whether to call Lee Yoon-san while looking at his number. Partly due to the disciplinary situation, but since he had free time for the first time in a while, he thought he’d like to at least hear his voice. But after talking with his father, even making a single phone call felt like something he shouldn’t do.

I’m Lee Yoon-san’s Hyung. Before being an Alpha, I’m the Hyung our families set up for us to get along. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Just because I’m an Alpha and Lee Yoon-san is an Omega, am I not even allowed to hear a bit of his voice as I wish? For a moment, such rebellion arose, but ultimately, Hwang Hae-kyung did not call Lee Yoon-san.

Because his father’s words, ‘Then keep protecting him,’ kept applying brakes in his mind. Instead, Hwang Hae-kyung brought Lee Yoon-san’s rabbit ear headband and plopped down on his bed. Annoyed at not being able to make a simple phone call as he wished, with a sullen expression, he bit the fluffy black rabbit ear part and took a selfie.

There was no process of checking if it turned out well. He just needed a pretext to at least send a DM since he wasn’t even allowed to call, and he thought that since Lee Yoon-san had sent a video, it would only be fair(?) to send at least a photo in return.

Hwang Hae-kyung sent his photo directly to Lee Yoon-san. The image of himself, biting the rabbit ear with a sullen expression, was transmitted to the DM chat with Lee Yoon-san. Lee Yoon-san seemed to check the photo immediately. The ‘Read’ mark appeared right below the photo.

Why are you biting the ear?

And at Lee Yoon-san’s subsequent reply, laughter finally burst from Hwang Hae-kyung’s mouth.

ㅋㅋㅋ

So, reflecting reality, he replied,

Why are you laughing? ㅠ

The returning Lee Yoon-san’s answer was so cute that Hwang Hae-kyung couldn’t stop laughing easily.

Because it was funny.

So Hwang Hae-kyung continued the conversation with another trivial answer,

If you took it, you shouldn’t bully me…

Lee Yoon-san’s ping-ponging answer was cute again. At the same time, he seemed to see a sulky expression beyond the DM. He couldn’t imagine it well with his current appearance, but he remembered very well the sulky and resentful expression Lee Yoon-san had on his face at the campsite when he was young.

So the two exchanged a very relaxed and long DM for the first time. It was all thanks to the time caused by Hwang Hae-kyung’s disciplinary action.

✧✧✧

After that, Hwang Hae-kyung returned to the team as if nothing had happened. It was about three days after the fight. Hwang Hae-kyung approached the player he had punched and tapped him on the shoulder, saying that he didn’t have any personal feelings for him, and the player also briefly mentioned that he seemed to have said something sensitive and moved on. Neither of them used the expression “sorry,” but they exchanged apologies.

In fact, with the National Sports Festival just around the corner, they didn’t have the luxury to growl at each other any longer. As soon as Hwang Hae-kyung returned to the team, he went back to intense training, and disciplinary training was also added. As a result, by the time he finished school and training and returned home, it was close to midnight. It was also the time when Lee Yoon-san was asleep.

On ‘that night’ when they had a long DM conversation, Lee Yoon-san said that he mostly slept when Hwang Hae-kyung asked him what he usually did when he rested.

When he was an elementary school student in the early stages of his presentation, painkillers often didn’t work well, so he often slept only one or two hours a day. But as time went by, the time he could sleep comfortably increased, and now he said he could sleep for about the same amount of time as others.

Lee Yoon-san probably explained in detail because he was worried that Hwang Hae-kyung would see him as lazy for saying that sleeping was his hobby, but in fact, Hwang Hae-kyung also had a time when he couldn’t sleep properly on days when he didn’t exercise, no matter how much medicine he took, so he didn’t think much of Lee Yoon-san’s words. He just thought that he was finally catching up on his sleep. He couldn’t disturb his sleep, so he became a little more careful about contacting him late at night.

Thanks to this, their schedules were out of sync, and they hardly contacted each other recently. It was a pipe dream to even call, let alone receive his phone number. Every time he lay in bed and looked at the bunny ear headband hanging on the head of the bed, he wondered how Lee Yoon-san was doing, but his father’s words, “Then keep watching over him,” put a brake on even his curiosity.

“Hey, I’m going to do WhatTube if I win the final game this time.”

“Do it.”

“Dad said he’ll buy me a camera. I’m going to film a vlog. Then you have to hold a Ruddy’s Donut or something and hang around on the screen.”

“Get lost.”

Lee Seok-jae, who was very excited while sitting on the bus to the stadium, said, and Hwang Hae-kyung, who was sitting indifferently and looking out the window, answered casually without even looking at him. Still, Lee Seok-jae didn’t give in to Hwang Hae-kyung’s attitude and preached about why Hwang Hae-kyung should hold a fancy donut in his vlog.

These days, they’re so delicious and popular, and you’re half-and-half, but the reaction isn’t great and your expression is indifferent, so you need to hold a cute donut with lots of sprinkles, or a mint chocolate or other toppings to neutralize it, etc. In conclusion, he wanted to eat a donut, and it was because it looked bright on the screen.

Hwang Hae-kyung let Lee Seok-jae’s words flow away and leaned deeply against the back of the seat. It seemed that his parents had set a condition to give him a camera if he won to inspire Lee Seok-jae’s motivation, but Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t care.

There were already many people who had crossed over from Lee Seok-jae’s SNS account to his account, followed him, and sent him DMs, and Hwang Hae-kyung found them sometimes annoying and mostly indifferent.

After enduring a tough training schedule and days of DMs with Lee Yoon-san being out of sync, the day of the National Sports Festival soon arrived. The players who gathered at school from dawn were on their way to the regional stadium where the competition was held on the volleyball team’s exclusive bus, and the atmosphere inside the bus was relatively calm.

Sae Myung High School was a team that was known as a volleyball powerhouse and won the National Sports Festival every year. From the second year, they were often used as national representatives in international competitions such as the Olympics, so if they didn’t win the National Sports Festival this time, they would not be able to avoid criticism.

They were always a good team, so if they did well, it was break-even, and if they didn’t, they would be reprimanded. In fact, last year, there was even a rumor that if they didn’t win, the volleyball team’s funding might be cut from next year.

However, most players, including Hwang Hae-kyung, didn’t have a great sense of tension or a tremendous desire to win. They just thought that it was a game they had to play, that winning was natural, and that if they stood out here, they might have a chance to go to international competitions as national representatives.

Of course, the freshmen who had just entered school and were still admiring their Sunbae seemed a little different. The coach and coaching staff looked back at the freshmen, who were sitting on the bus with sparkling eyes and a sense of determination, compared to the second and third graders who were moving with soulless eyes, and just smiled.

Among this year’s freshmen, there seemed to be a slightly larger number of Betas than in previous years, which seemed to add to their admiration. The current second graders, including Hwang Hae-kyung, were also a year with a particularly large number of Alphas. But those expressions will probably fade after just one year. Like the other grades who have chronically adapted to the grueling training.

“We’re here! Let’s get off!”

While thinking that, he smiled bitterly, and he felt the bus entering the stadium parking lot. The coach stopped thinking and shouted at the players, turning around. The eyes that had been listless and tired as if they had lost their strength and soul were now firmly fixed on the coach.

And they immediately got off the bus and headed to the stadium.

Meanwhile, Lee Yoon-san, who was allowed to sit on one side of the gym during PE class under the pretext that painkillers didn’t work well, took off his PE uniform top and secretly wrapped his cell phone in it. Then, after sitting cross-legged, he placed the cell phone wrapped in his clothes on his legs as naturally as possible. He only wore one earphone to keep an eye on the badminton serve practice of the classmates and the PE teacher over there.

‘It’s starting, it’s starting!’

All this effort and excuse was to watch the National Sports Festival volleyball game being broadcast live on WhatTube.

It started a few days ago when he accidentally sent the wrong video while trying to cheer on Hwang Hae-kyung, who was participating in this game. Thanks to that, he exchanged phone numbers without realizing it, and the next night, he stayed up late chatting with Hwang Hae-kyung on DM for quite a long time, and after that, he didn’t contact him much thanks to Hwang Hae-kyung, who was busy preparing for this game. The culprit of all those events was this National Sports Festival, and it was also the purpose of doing well in this game.

[This is Sangju Indoor Gymnasium in Sangju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, where the first game of the 101st National Sports Festival Men’s Volleyball High School Division is being held. From the first day, it’s a game between Sae Myung High School in Seoul and Shinheung High School in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. Sae Myung High School is a school that is expected to be a strong winning team. It’s the first game of the National Sports Festival, so it’s probably a somewhat burdensome opponent for Shinheung High School, which has no experience in winning yet.]

[Yes, Shinheung High School is also a school with a relatively short history of volleyball. However, they showed good results in the game last spring and even reached the runner-up position. So you can say that the flow they have this year is good.]

The voice of the announcer was heard in his ears, but Lee Yoon-san’s eyes were busy looking for Hwang Hae-kyung in the screen. He missed the part where they entered and warmed up due to the time, but Lee Yoon-san didn’t even think that Hwang Hae-kyung wouldn’t be selected.

Lee Yoon-san now knows how popular Hwang Hae-kyung is as a player. Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t have a single photo of himself on his public SNS feed, but the number of followers increased every time he went in.

Sometimes it increased by a few people, and sometimes it increased by more than 10,000 followers. The number of followers that increased in that way now exceeded 100,000. It was an amazing figure for a high school player who didn’t do any fan service on his feed.

Considering that Lee Seok-jae, who rolls his Instagram to death and acts like a semi-influencer, has 240,000 followers, Hwang Hae-kyung’s number of followers, whose feed is extremely poor, was unfair.

And there were many shorts or highlight scenes edited from Hwang Hae-kyung’s game videos on WhatTube.

There were also sports videos edited mainly on play, and the shorts that focused on close-ups of Hwang Hae-kyung playing the game itself had particularly high views. And people praised Hwang Hae-kyung’s performance in the comments section. The main comments were that he had good speed, power, and judgment.

Among them, seeing that the number of recommendations for the comment ‘He’s the face that would be more criticized than anyone else if his play was bad’ exceeded 3,000, Lee Yoon-san was relieved that Hwang Hae-kyung was a good player. The way people consumed Hwang Hae-kyung was considered similar to the way they consumed a successful idol.

Even if he did something trivial, if only his face was clearly visible, it was often re-grammed as an ‘entrance video,’ and not only his affiliation and height but even his past as a child model was dragged out and used by people. And just looking at that phenomenon itself, someone criticized him, saying, ‘Is he a celebrity or an athlete?’ and laid the groundwork in advance, saying, ‘What if he only emphasizes his appearance and ruins his grades?’

In other words, people were enthusiastic about Hwang Hae-kyung’s trivial things, but on the other hand, they seemed to be waiting for the day when he stumbled and didn’t perform well. It was proof that the only shield that protected all the speculation and criticism towards Hwang Hae-kyung was ‘grades.’

It was a really suffocating reality even for Lee Yoon-san, who was a third party. He was doing well now, so it was useless to find other faults, but it was obvious that if his grades dropped even once, all kinds of criticisms would pour in.

Groundless speculative words such as he has a lover, he’s an Omega, he’s trying to become a celebrity, he’s obsessed with money and advertising and neglecting his exercise would be directed at Hwang Hae-kyung. Just like when he was a child model in the past. So Lee Yoon-san was even more careful about contacting Hwang Hae-kyung.

[Hwang Hae-kyung made a blockout!]

[Yes, the score gap is widening even more like this. Shinheung High School players, you must not be shaken by this and keep your mentality in check. The game is not over yet!]

The sound of the commentators was stuck in Lee Yoon-san’s ears, who was diligently rolling his eyes and chasing Hwang Hae-kyung in the court. It was because Hwang Hae-kyung’s name was called.

Volleyball was a sport that he became interested in because of Hwang Hae-kyung, so there were times when it was confusing to guess whether it was our score or the opponent’s score just by looking at the quickly moving ball. So he thought that Hwang Hae-kyung’s attack was blocked and failed just now, but seeing that Sae Myung High School’s score went up, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Lee Yoon-san gave strength to his twitching lips for no reason. He was so proud of Hwang Hae-kyung’s score, and he was proud for no reason. It was natural because he had confirmed with his own eyes that the Hyung he knew was playing the ace role in the game.

“Hey, are you watching your boyfriend’s game?”

“It’s… not like that.”

“Do something about your face turning red. It’s almost the color of kimchi dumplings.”

“Ah, shit…”

Kim Ji-hoo, who was casually serving badminton nearby, approached Lee Yoon-san and teased him. Then he glanced at the game screen where Hwang Hae-kyung was playing. Kim Ji-hoo wasn’t surprised to see that Sae Myung High School’s score was dominant.

Kim Ji-hoo had also become interested in Hwang Hae-kyung and Sae Myung High School because of Lee Yoon-san, but he couldn’t help but be indifferent because he knew that Sae Myung High School was a team that won the National Sports Festival every year anyway. They’ll probably win this time too.

“Hey, if you’re doing this here, PE will be suspicious.”

“Then what should I do? I’m nervous that I’ll get caught for saying that my stomach hurts because I missed my medicine…”

“Ah, you coward, really.”

Lee Yoon-san answered Kim Ji-hoo’s words, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his cell phone.

The person himself may not know, but it was obvious that Lee Yoon-san was doing something else with his cell phone, even from afar. He didn’t notice it now because it hadn’t been long since PE started and the teacher was looking at the other kids, but soon, if he just glanced at Lee Yoon-san, he would know that his pain complaint was a pretense.

So Kim Ji-hoo raised his hand and called the teacher loudly.

“Teacher, Lee Yoon-san said he needs to take more painkillers!”

“What?! Is Yoon-san in a lot of pain?”

“Should I tell him to go to the infirmary?”

“Should I? Is it too hard for Yoon-san to even sit down?”

“…Yes, yes!”

It was a kindness, not a kindness, to go to the infirmary and watch the game comfortably. Lee Yoon-san was not good at lying, but he still forced himself to frown as much as possible, matching Kim Ji-hoo’s words. When he slightly curled up his body as if he was in pain, the teacher’s permission was granted.

So that day, Lee Yoon-san was able to sit in the infirmary and watch Hwang Hae-kyung’s game, and that day, Sae Myung High School won the game with a big score difference. And later, in the highlight video that came out separately, Lee Yoon-san was able to see Hwang Hae-kyung’s very short ceremony after the final score in the second half of the game.

The ‘Bunny ear ceremony’ of holding a V over his head and slightly bending and straightening his fingers.

Of course, that day, WhatTube shorts with repeated videos of Hwang Hae-kyung’s ‘Bunny ear ceremony’ were uploaded in competition. Next to Hwang Hae-kyung’s face in the shorts, there was always a bunny emoji attached, so Lee Yoon-san felt a strange sense of embarrassment. Perhaps because of that influence, the heartbeat that had quickened from the moment he first witnessed Hwang Hae-kyung’s ceremony showed no signs of calming down easily.

✧✧✧

The final winning team in the National Sports Festival volleyball event, which lasted for a week, was naturally Sae Myung High School.

“Camera get!!”

Lee Seok-jae, who had been very excited in the dorm every time they continued to win and shouted about getting a camera, let out a final roar that was comparable to a lion’s roar. To that, the players who were packing their bags in the dorm where they had stayed while the game was being played added a word, calling him a crazy bastard, but in fact, the other players who were scolding him couldn’t hide their very excited expressions either.

When they first came to the stadium, they didn’t feel much because they thought, ‘It’s break-even if we do well,’ but once they finally won, they couldn’t hide the feeling of being proud and uplifted. Everyone’s cell phones were already flooded with congratulatory messages, and the coach and coaches were also excited and beaming, talking on the phone here and there.

And that atmosphere continued until the moment they got on the bus. Hwang Hae-kyung was also busy checking the messages in his cell phone that was ringing like crazy, and in the meantime, he was barely able to catch Lee Yoon-san’s congratulatory message. He had given him his cell phone number, so this time he sent a message by text.

Kamto

Congratulations on winning! I watched all the games! You were really cool!

It was only three sentences, but Hwang Hae-kyung’s lips turned up. Hwang Hae-kyung covered his lower jaw with one hand to hide his raised lips and thought about what kind of reply he should send. He hadn’t replied to the congratulatory messages he had received so far, so he was worried about what he should say to this kind of contact. His experience was all that he had replied to the congratulatory messages from his parents, saying that he would see them at home.

“Hey, what’s up? This bastard has something going on, seeing him smiling like that?”

So while he was worrying about the reply and looking at his cell phone for a long time, Lee Seok-jae, who was sitting in the seat next to him on the bus, said excitedly. He liked that the camera he had gotten this time was quite expensive and was equipment that celebrities also used, and Hwang Hae-kyung replied appropriately to cut off the attention coming to him. It was an action he wouldn’t normally do.

“Is the camera that good?”

“The camera is good, but it’s a gift to me, you bastard. A gift for me, who worked my ass off and rolled around until I won today! Compensation!”

“…Gift.”

“Yeah, a gift!”

“Compensation.”

“Yeah, compensation! You’re no fun!”

Lee Seok-jae, who was talking in a very excited tone, shouted as if he didn’t like Hwang Hae-kyung’s calm tone, and started talking to another player sitting in the front seat. It was still about the camera and today’s victory. And Hwang Hae-kyung was deeply troubled while looking at his cell phone, regardless of such noisy conversations. If he just turned on the cell phone hold screen, the text message window with Lee Yoon-san would pop up. Also, his message window where he had only put the cursor up because he didn’t know what to send to Lee Yoon-san.

“…Because I won a big competition.”

He felt like his heart was beating faster for no reason even though he hadn’t done anything yet. Hwang Hae-kyung wondered if it would be okay to put the impulse that surged in his head into action.

The bus had left about 10 minutes ago, and it takes about 3 hours to get from Sangju to Seoul. Lee Yoon-san lives in southern Gyeonggi Province and would have just started his exam period. That day when they were exchanging long DMs, Lee Yoon-san had said that his exam period overlapped with Hwang Hae-kyung’s game schedule, so he wasn’t sure if he could watch all the games.

“I should get him a gift too.”

Hwang Hae-kyung muttered to himself and turned off the message screen with Lee Yoon-san. Then he opened the Instagram app and opened the chat window with Lee Yoon-san. Scrolling up through the DMs, he saw the DMs from the midterm exam period last semester.

Lee Yoon-san said that he was studying in the study room in the apartment complex shopping center in response to Hwang Hae-kyung’s question about what he was doing. That’s why he was late in checking the DMs because he had set all the notifications to mute.

Hwang Hae-kyung hoped that the content of that message would still be valid this semester and tried hard to control his heart rate, which was accelerating as if he were doing something bad. This time, his father’s words, “Then keep watching over him,” didn’t seem to be working. Hwang Hae-kyung thought that perhaps the reward mentality of being elated by the victory had blocked his father’s warning.

Meanwhile, Lee Yoon-san, who was solving problems in the study room for the last exam tomorrow, raised his head, loosening his stiff neck. Then he quietly picked up his phone and checked the message window with Hwang Hae-kyung, but soon made a slightly sullen expression.

It was because he hadn’t received a reply to the message he sent to Hwang Hae-kyung. The game had ended in the afternoon, and he had sent the message in the afternoon. And now it was almost 10 p.m.

There wasn’t much time left until 11 p.m., the curfew for minors set by the apartment complex shopping center study room, and it had been quite a while since he had heard back from Hwang Hae-kyung.

‘Should I have sent it as a DM?’

But he wanted to show that he knew his phone number. Lee Yoon-san hadn’t contacted him except for a single line of DM saying “Fighting!” for each game, fearing that he might be disturbed during the game. But he had sent a text message to commemorate the final victory, and he hadn’t received a reply yet.

He must be busy. How many people other than me must have sent congratulatory messages? Maybe my message was washed away and buried. Then should I send a DM again? No, isn’t the time interval ambiguous? It’s like begging him to notice and reply.

Lee Yoon-san felt his head getting complicated with these thoughts and sighed deeply. Then he heard someone else in the same room clear their throat. He thought he was being quiet, but he must have been making a fuss.

And then, an alert finally appeared on the phone Lee Yoon-san was holding. Not a DM alert, but a text message alert.

(Map)

Are you studying here?

It was a message from Hwang Hae-kyung. The content was somewhat out of the blue. It was a map with the coordinates of the shopping center where the study room he was studying in was marked, and a simple question. It had nothing to do with the congratulatory message Lee Yoon-san had sent during the day.

Still, Lee Yoon-san replied to Hwang Hae-kyung’s message right away. It was the first time they had exchanged text messages, and the fact that his phone number would appear if he pressed the arrow next to Hwang Hae-kyung’s name made him feel strange. The fact that it wasn’t the DM window he had been looking at for the past year also made him feel awkward.

And soon, Hwang Hae-kyung’s reply came back.

Come up to the roof

‘What?!’

As soon as Lee Yoon-san saw Hwang Hae-kyung’s reply, he barely managed to cover his mouth to avoid making a loud noise. Then he immediately got up from his seat and hurriedly left the study room and climbed the stairs to the roof.

The apartment where Lee Yoon-san had lived since he was a kid was quite old, so the shopping center in the complex was also an old-fashioned low-rise shopping center. It wasn’t a modern building with signs packed tightly like the shopping centers these days, but an old-fashioned two-story building. So there was no elevator, and to get to the roof from the study room on the second floor, you had to climb the stairs.

Fortunately, the roof was always open so that students using the study room could have a simple cup of tea or a meal, but even as he hurriedly climbed the stairs, Lee Yoon-san had the unnecessary worry of what if the roof door was locked.

He didn’t fully understand or believe this situation, and he had expectations and doubts about whether Hwang Hae-kyung was really on the roof. It was a sudden situation, so he felt a bit burdened, but still, his expectations were greater than that. Judging by the fact that he hurried up the stairs, stepping two or three steps at a time, at the single word “roof” in Hwang Hae-kyung’s reply.

But.

“…He’s not… here?”

The roof he had run up to was empty. Lee Yoon-san looked around here and there, searching for any sign of anyone on the empty roof. However, even after checking the small platform on the roof, the unmanaged flowerpots, and the benches at the edge of the roof, he couldn’t find Hwang Hae-kyung or even a trace of anyone.

“What the…”

Was he playing a prank? Lee Yoon-san felt annoyed at the thought. It was the moment when his expectations, which had swelled up like a balloon, and the slight burden, and the fingertips that had been running madly due to the sudden situation and had become slightly cold with tension, became embarrassed.

So, just as he was about to leave the roof with a sulky expression, Lee Yoon-san’s phone screen lit up and a call started coming in.

The caller was Hwang Hae-kyung. Lee Yoon-san wasn’t sure if it was okay to answer this call right now. It was a series of surprising events, and it was the first time they had exchanged voices except for when they had briefly met a year ago. Could he endure that awkwardness and shyness? Is my phone voice okay? Is it okay to answer this? Numerous questions ran through Lee Yoon-san’s head, which had already stiffened with awkwardness.

“…Hello?”

But the answer was already decided. The phone kept ringing without stopping after three or four times. As if it wasn’t a mistake, as if it was waiting for Lee Yoon-san to answer. So he finally brought his hand to the call button. Lee Yoon-san pressed the call button and put the phone to his ear. He was bothered by the fact that his voice saying “Hello” sounded a bit awkward. But he couldn’t think of anything when he heard Hwang Hae-kyung’s low voice.

-Hi.

“Oh… oh, uh, hi…?”

-I’m down here.

“What…?”

-Look down.

At those words after the short greeting, Lee Yoon-san headed to the edge of the roof as if possessed. And when he stood by the railing and looked down, he saw Hwang Hae-kyung, who was looking up at him and talking on the phone under the streetlight near the building entrance.

Naturally disheveled hair, a face smiling leisurely while holding the phone to his ear, a windbreaker zipped up to his neck, and below that, jogger pants and sneakers with a good fit. Hwang Hae-kyung, who had grown even taller than when they had briefly met last year, was standing there looking at him.

Not Hwang Hae-kyung in a uniform that he had seen in videos or news photos, but Hwang Hae-kyung in casual clothes.

“H-how, how…?”

-I won the game.

“Oh right, congratulations! You were so cool!”

-I wanted to do this much for you.

“Huh?”

This much is a distance where Pheromone won’t reach. Hwang Hae-kyung stopped himself from adding those words and looked up at Lee Yoon-san, who was standing inside the roof railing.

Lee Yoon-san, who was leaning on the railing with a fairly high ledge and looking down at him, had an expression that really couldn’t hide his bewilderment. Hwang Hae-kyung smiled at that expression, which he would show when he touched or picked up a rabbit that was digging a hole like crazy.

Lee Yoon-san’s appearance, which was similar to a year ago but also seemed to have grown, was a little welcome and very cute. I know how to think you’re cute now. Hwang Hae-kyung almost said those words unintentionally as he looked at Lee Yoon-san above him.

On the other hand, Lee Yoon-san hoped that Hwang Hae-kyung wouldn’t recognize his flushed face. He was separated by the height of a two-story building, and it was late at night, so he probably wouldn’t recognize it, but he still felt shy and embarrassed for no reason.

There was a streetlight where Hwang Hae-kyung was standing, so he could see him well, but he was glad that there was no streetlight on the roof where he was. Otherwise, it would have been quite embarrassing. He wanted to hear more detailed and definite meaning of Hwang Hae-kyung’s words, “I wanted to do this much for you.”

He called me, and even after running all the way here, he’s talking to me on the phone while looking at my face from down there. And if it’s true that he said that this was an action he wanted to give to Hwang Hae-kyung himself, then that would be a really huge meaning. Lee Yoon-san felt like he was going crazy as those thoughts kept occupying his mind.

Chapter

At the same time, Hwang Hae-kyung’s ceremony throughout the game came to mind. The gesture of making rabbit ears with his index and middle fingers and putting them on his head, ‘Jjonggeut.’ Hwang Hae-kyung always did that ceremony after scoring the last point of the game. Thanks to that, his Instagram and Tweety accounts went wild, calling him cute, and Lee Yoon-san, who had his rabbit ear headband stolen by Hwang Hae-kyung, had many sleepless nights.

“Hey, that, that ceremony…”

So Lee Yoon-san opened his mouth with half impulse and half courage. He wanted to at least confirm if the meaning of the ceremony was really ‘rabbit ears.’

-You saw it?

“Huh? Yeah, yeah.”

-Then it’s okay.

“What is?”

-It’s okay if you saw it.

And with Hwang Hae-kyung’s words that followed, his face turned as red as it could possibly get. It even felt like Pheromone was leaking. He suddenly smelled the familiar scent that he usually only smelled on his blanket or pillow in his room. This Pheromone won’t reach down there, will it? It’s a two-story building?

Lee Yoon-san waved his hands frantically, trying to dissipate the scent while thinking that. Although it was different from a normal scent, he thought he could dissipate it in this way since Pheromone had particles.

-Lee Yoon-san

But he didn’t anticipate what Hwang Hae-kyung would think of that action.

“Uh, uh?”

-Did Pheromone leak?

“…A little. Not much.”

-When did you grow up, you.

To Lee Yoon-san’s confession-like affirmation, Hwang Hae-kyung chuckled quietly and whispered. Because he had the phone to his ear, it was like he was whispering in his ear. So, Pheromone leaked out once again.

“…You’re not all grown up either.”

Lee Yoon-san didn’t like the atmosphere where he seemed to be the only one flustered, so a grumpy voice came out naturally. In fact, he wasn’t feeling bad at all, so it was more of a grumble. He was flustered and embarrassed enough to leak Pheromone at Hwang Hae-kyung’s every word and unwavering gaze, but Hwang Hae-kyung, standing down there, hadn’t changed much since earlier.

He just hadn’t turned his gaze away from him even once, and he was standing there as if nailed to the spot, looking up. Occasionally smiling. Lee Yoon-san found Hwang Hae-kyung’s relaxed smile a little annoying. As if he was the only adult.

The reality was that he was only eighteen himself. Wanting to be treated like a Hyung with only a one-year difference seemed the same as ever.

-That’s right. I’m not all grown up either.

“Then why are you picking on me?”

-Are you upset?

“It’s only a one-year difference.”

Hwang Hae-kyung’s refreshing laughter was heard in response to Lee Yoon-san’s grumpy voice. He seemed to have gotten angry at these words when he was younger, but now that he only heard refreshing and relaxed laughter, he felt strange. It was as if Hwang Hae-kyung was really his Hyung. It was as if he had grown so much that he wouldn’t be affected by these words anymore. It was as if he wasn’t the small, doll-like Hwang Hae-kyung who used to be upset about losing arm wrestling to him when he was younger.

-Go straight home since Pheromone leaked.

“Go?”

-I saw your face, so I have to go. I just wanted to call.

“Still, it must have taken you a long time to come all the way here from where you live, and if you came up from there after the game today…”

-Lee Yoon-san

“Huh?”

The awkwardness disappeared as they talked on the phone. In fact, Lee Yoon-san had been flustered, embarrassed, and flared up in succession after hearing Hwang Hae-kyung’s whispering voice, so he had long forgotten the word awkwardness. So, he felt disappointed when Hwang Hae-kyung said he was leaving. It was because he was now confident in having a natural conversation.

But Hwang Hae-kyung cut off Lee Yoon-san’s words and looked straight up at Lee Yoon-san on the rooftop. Then he grabbed the zipper of his windbreaker and pulled it down.

-I’ll leave this clothes here. Come down and wear it.

“Why the clothes?”

-…It’s chilly at night.

And he also had to cover the Pheromone scent that you leaked. Hwang Hae-kyung swallowed those words and took off his windbreaker, placing it on the small ornamental tree next to him, and playfully added.

-You have to be careful of Alphas?

“You be careful of Omegas…”

Hwang Hae-kyung burst into laughter again at Lee Yoon-san’s words that followed.

He didn’t intentionally put his Pheromone on the windbreaker, but it was clothes that had been in his closet, and he had been wearing it all the way here, so there would be a faint scent on it.

He was briefly worried that Lee Yoon-san’s parents, who were Second gendered beings, might recognize it, but he soon reminded himself that Lee Yoon-san’s parents had never met him after he had manifested.

Since Lee Yoon-san’s parents didn’t know his scent anyway, they would think it was the scent of a Second gendered being who was in the same place, even if they smelled this faint scent. Because it was such a faint scent.

In fact, Hwang Hae-kyung had considered wearing two outer layers in case something like this happened, but he thought it was unnecessary since he was only planning to see him briefly from a distance. He didn’t want to look like he was blatantly preparing with ulterior motives. Although he ended up taking off his clothes for Lee Yoon-san again despite that. But it couldn’t be helped. The Pheromone that leaked from Lee Yoon-san on the rooftop of the two-story building somehow felt like it was reaching him now.

It felt like a refreshing and fluffy scent was falling from above onto the bridge of his nose. He didn’t know if it was because Lee Yoon-san, whom he was seeing, looked refreshing and fluffy, or if Hwang Hae-kyung himself was sensitive to Pheromone enough to feel it even at this distance, or if the amount of Pheromone that leaked from Lee Yoon-san was large.

Anyway, Hwang Hae-kyung finished the call like that, left the windbreaker, and left the place.

Lee Yoon-san stared at his actions and the place he left for a long time even after the call with Hwang Hae-kyung ended, and then belatedly came to his senses and ran downstairs.

There was no way, but he sniffed a few times, wondering if there might be any lingering scent left in the place where Hwang Hae-kyung had left. But of course, he didn’t smell anything. Instead, Lee Yoon-san picked up the windbreaker that Hwang Hae-kyung had folded and smelled the inside.

Then, a faint scent was felt along with the sound of the rustling windbreaker fabric rubbing together. It was the same scent as the one he had smelled on the hoodie that Hwang Hae-kyung had given him a year ago. A refreshing scent like the smell of wind. This time, the scent was so faint that he even felt a moment of regret.

✧✧✧

Returning in front of his house and looking at the garden beyond the fence, Hwang Hae-kyung hesitated for a moment. He had definitely come out through the window when he left the house. He had made an excuse to his parents, saying that he was tired today and would go to bed early.

There was only one reason. If he suddenly said he was going out late at night on the day he returned from the provinces after an important game, they would ask him where he was going. Unfortunately, Hwang Hae-kyung didn’t have a good excuse, so he ended up sneaking out through the window.

At least, he could usually make an excuse about an appointment with Lee Seok-jae or Ham Se-jin, but today, both of them had played games and come up from Sangju on the same day as Hwang Hae-kyung.

His parents knew very well that the volleyball team didn’t even have a get-together on days with big games. They knew how important rest was for the players. Moreover, the children who had been trapped on the bus for a long time while coming from Sangju to Seoul wouldn’t bother to come home, change into other clothes, and make appointments despite their fatigue.

Therefore, Hwang Hae-kyung secretly committed this unexplainable outing. It was an impulsive thing, and it was dawn when he took a taxi to southern Gyeonggi, had a brief conversation with Lee Yoon-san while looking at his face, and returned near his house, but he didn’t regret it.

His body, which hadn’t rested properly, was tired, but as Lee Seok-jae said, he considered this as a gift to himself for winning today’s game. He deserved to enjoy this much because he did well today. Just for today.

“…They must all be asleep.”

Hwang Hae-kyung scratched his eyebrows as if he was at a loss, looking at the security device display on the front gate. It had been so long since he had gone out like this that he had forgotten about the security device. At least a few years ago, he could just climb over the fence and sneak out like this. So, he had come out without thinking, but the situation was a bit different now. The security device was the problem.

The security device was installed at Hwang Hae-kyung’s detached house about two years ago. There was originally a security device from another company, but it was a CCTV-oriented service, so it didn’t interfere with going out.

But as his father’s security company grew, he acquired two cybersecurity companies and one comprehensive security company two years ago, and the situation changed. Hwang Hae-kyung’s house security company was changed to the company his father acquired, and the system was changed to one where the security mode was unconditionally activated after 12 o’clock.

If he opened the window or climbed over the fence in this state, the sensors would be triggered, and the security company guards would be dispatched unconditionally. And his father would find out about his outing. Hwang Hae-kyung chose to just press the password on the front gate and enter honestly to avoid that disaster. If he entered through the garage, an entry notification would sound in the house, but the sound of the front gate opening wouldn’t be heard loudly inside. Because the garden was large. Even if it was heard, it wouldn’t be enough to wake up a sleeping person. Of course, that was if Hwang Hae-kyung’s parents were asleep.

Anyway, Hwang Hae-kyung passed through the front gate like that. And he naturally headed towards the wall where his room was, not the front door. His room was located on the second floor, and his parents’ bedroom was on the first floor. Moreover, Hwang Hae-kyung was already 190cm tall, so it seemed better to enter through the window. He had opened the room window to ventilate it anyway. There were security sensors on the window, but he would be fine as long as he didn’t touch the open window.

Hwang Hae-kyung thought positively like that and took the garden tea table chair that he had used to come down from the second floor, stepped on it, jumped, and grabbed the edge of the second-floor terrace. It was his room’s terrace, so he just had to use his arm strength to lift his body up and over the railing. After that, he just had to go through the open window. And when Hwang Hae-kyung, who had carried out his plan as he had decided, entered the window of his room on the second floor, he froze.

“I had you exercise, and that’s how you use it.”

His father, who was sitting on his bed and looking out the window, had made eye contact with him.

Hwang Jun-won swept back his hair, laughing as if he was dumbfounded by his son’s wall-climbing. He hadn’t suspected anything when his son, who had played a great game and returned home, said he was tired and would lie down soon, but when he entered the room to leave the watch he was going to give him as a congratulatory gift for winning, he felt a sense of foreboding.

Because his son, whom he had expected to be sleeping quietly, ‘tired,’ was nowhere to be found in the room. Only the open front window and the curtains fluttering in the cold wind coming in were moving in his son’s empty room.

A simple act of rebellion was okay. If he had just gone out for a while because he wanted to hang out with his friends, it was a problem that he could just overlook as a father raising a son. That is, if he really wanted to have a separate after-party with his usual friends late at night. Of course, that wasn’t the case, so he had secretly gone out for a night stroll.

“How long has it been since I said you have to protect the person you like.”

“It’s not like that, and I’m still protecting him.”

“You didn’t really go out to meet an Omega, did you?”

“……”

“Hwang Hae-kyung.”

“It’s not like that, really.”

Hwang Hae-kyung frowned and retorted rebelliously at his father’s tone, as if he was interrogating him. The feeling of excitement he had when he met Lee Yoon-san had subsided rapidly.

Of course, Lee Yoon-san was an Omega. But Lee Yoon-san didn’t send him secret DMs, nor did he try to approach him by connecting with people around him. He didn’t try to appeal to him with his gender, and even today, he didn’t pretend to make a mistake, get hurt, or be sick in front of him to make him come closer.

He didn’t even think about coming down to where he was when he told him to stay on the rooftop, and he just stood there as if nailed to the spot and talked on the phone. Lee Yoon-san’s attitude was always simple, and that was the same with the DMs he usually sent.

He didn’t expect a quick reply or anything more even though he could have asked for more. He didn’t get upset even if Hwang Hae-kyung’s reply was late. He didn’t seem to want to show off his friendship with him, and he didn’t ask for pictures or want to share his daily life one by one.

Even today, he had an expression that he couldn’t even think about approaching him first and flirting with him. Of course, there was no sexual appeal at all. So, he was just a cute younger brother. And Hwang Hae-kyung was a Hyung who had just learned how to find Lee Yoon-san cute.

So, he couldn’t accept being judged like that just because Lee Yoon-san’s gender was Omega.

“I hope nothing happened, son.”

“We’re not like that. I just, I just looked at him from afar. From a distance where Pheromone wouldn’t even reach.”

“Does the other child know that you did that?”

“…Yeah.”

“And even so, that child has no feelings for you?”

“……”

He couldn’t answer rashly. Because he knew that Lee Yoon-san’s Pheromone had leaked. That was evidence that his emotions had fluctuated or wavered. But such wavering could happen even if it wasn’t for the sexual reasons of Alpha and Omega. Wasn’t Lee Yoon-san still a minor whose hormones and Pheromone were unstable?

“Hae-kyung, the very act of showing and reacting to each other’s feelings is dangerous.”

Hwang Jun-won’s voice was bitter. He didn’t want to bring up these words to his son first either. If his son was a Beta, they wouldn’t have had this conversation in the first place. Like any ordinary family, he would have teased his son, who seemed to have a crush on someone, and talked about that child.

He would have asked when he started liking her, how much he liked her, and whether she was a child that his father had heard of. He would have told him to treat her well, loved that freshness, and given him more pocket money to buy something delicious together.

But his son was an Alpha, and his hormone levels were very high. The moment the hormones, which were sloshing at the top, and the Pheromone caused by them affected others, problems were likely to occur. And that problem would somehow leave aftereffects. Whether it was to his son or to someone else.

Hwang Jun-won didn’t know at all how dangerous the Pheromone triggered by hormones was. Of course, it would be nice if he became an adult without understanding it for the rest of his life, but he knew that was just a parent’s wish. There were always people flocking around Hwang Hae-kyung, and there were many Second gendered beings among them.

He wouldn’t have the energy to pay attention to them right now because he was moving within a tightly managed schedule, but it was clear that he would be exposed to numerous temptations of human relationships even if there was only a slight gap. Just like most people who were a little known.

“There’s no child who wouldn’t be shaken if you went to see them in person and looked at them from that far away, son.”

But in the end, Hwang Jun-won chose to ease the atmosphere. His son’s condition didn’t seem any different from usual right now, and if he hadn’t caused any problems right away, there was no need to give him excessive discipline or crackdowns. That could rather cause resentment. Hwang Jun-won and his wife had been gradually learning how to use carrots and sticks while raising Hwang Hae-kyung. It was just a shame that they hadn’t been perfect from the beginning.

“You’ve never not been cool since the moment you were born.”

“…That’s cheesy.”

“I’m serious. You’re my and Sun-mi’s son.”

“I get it, so go to sleep now. Mom must be sleeping alone now.”

“I’m letting it go because nothing seems to be wrong. If you’re going to protect someone you’ve decided to protect, protect them until the end. Remember that your unstable Pheromone can also be dangerous to that child.”

“…I know.”

The conversation between the father and son ended like that. Hwang Jun-won got up from the bed, looking at his son who was answering sullenly, and tapped the rabbit ear headband hanging on the head of the bed with his fingertips before leaving the room. The pitch-black rabbit ears that he had brought from the amusement park last year were the only cute props in his grown-up son’s room.

Hwang Hae-kyung took a simple shower in the bathroom attached to his room after his father left, changed his clothes, and lay down on the bed. He also tapped the rabbit ear headband that his father had touched, and then put it on a pile of blankets next to him. Because the blanket was solid color, it looked like a ghost rabbit.

Hwang Hae-kyung took a picture of that and sent it to Lee Yoon-san. Today was the anniversary of their text conversation, so text messages were the means. And after waiting a little, he soon received a reply. It was a picture of Hwang Hae-kyung’s windbreaker put on Lee Yoon-san’s pillow.

“…What he’s doing is really cute.”

Why didn’t I know this when I was younger? Why did I only think that Lee Yoon-san’s affectionate actions were all actions to be loved by our mom and dad?

Hwang Hae-kyung looked at the picture Lee Yoon-san sent him and pondered for a long time. Then, suddenly, he thought it would have been even better if Lee Yoon-san had taken a picture of himself wearing his windbreaker again. It was the regret created by Lee Yoon-san’s simplicity that Hwang Hae-kyung liked.