Two days had passed since the night Kwon Haeil had shown up drunk.
Today again, Baek Kanghyeon was quietly absorbed in work, documents spread across the living room. Only after he saw the sunset drape past the window did he set the papers down.
Already Friday evening, huh.
He tossed the bitter canned coffee into his mouth and stood. Next to the can he’d set down, there were already five identical empties.
He’d been staying home all this time, but today he had to go out. Baek Heeu had said, “If you want the real club experience, you’ve got to aim for Friday night,” so he’d waited for today rather than scouting ahead.
When it came to clubs, he had only theoretical knowledge. He’d watched a few videos introducing club WAVE, but that wasn’t enough. He needed to see the interior with his own eyes and read the overall atmosphere and layout.
Baek Heeu had offered to pay out of his own pocket and reserve a table for him, but he declined. He intended to look around as unobtrusively as possible and leave.
He just hoped nothing unnecessary would happen in the process.
Still, maybe the problem started with expecting peace in a place as noisy as a club.
As with everything in the world, nothing ever goes exactly the way you want.
***
“Ah, come on! Stop playing hard to get, you fucking asshole!”
As in: an Omega who’d come on strong threw a tantrum after getting good and mad.
Noisy.
Leaning against the wall in the standing section, Kanghyeon ignored the Omega youth yelling at the top of his lungs. As always, he kept his eyes only on the crowded dance floor.
Enraged to his roots by being blatantly ignored, the youth bit his lip. The pretty face—credible even as an idol’s—twisted without mercy.
Until now, no Alpha inside this club had been able to ignore him.
He had outstanding looks and a great body, and on top of that, he possessed a rare fruit note that supposedly drove Alphas wild even among Omegas. Even without deliberately releasing pheromones, Alphas had come to him on their own and knelt in front of him more times than he could count.
On top of that, he was a VIP here. That alone flaunted considerable wealth, and everyone looked at him with envy.
And yet the unfamiliar Alpha in front of him stayed indifferent even after seeing him.
Openly dismissive, at that.
It was his first time tasting a humiliation like this.
While the Omega youth fumed, two men who seemed to be with him approached the table.
“Hey, hey, we could see you making a scene from across the room.”
“Your temper, honestly.”
One was a Beta, the other an Omega like the youth.
“That bastard keeps ignoring me! He looked like it was his first time at a club, so I even went out of my way to talk to him!”
Only then did his two companions give Kanghyeon a proper once-over. Beta or Omega, both of their eyes lit—apparently they liked what they saw.
Kanghyeon still wasn’t interested. He was taking in the overall layout including the dance floor, so they were just a visual distraction.
Still, something the Omega youth said stuck with him.
How did he know it was my first time at a club? Did I move strangely? Or maybe there’s some rule I don’t know about.
He’d done his homework on clubs, but maybe there was still something off. He had no idea what.
Even in the noise and confusion, he calmly examined himself more than anyone.
As he was briefly lost in thought, the other Omega in the group took his arm, almost like hugging it to his chest.
“If you don’t like him, how about me?”
He smiled with a sly, luring tilt to his eyes. But without even glancing at him, Kanghyeon smoothly freed his arm.
“Sorry, I’m not interested.”
“Hey, don’t play hard to get—!”
The arm he’d freed was grabbed again.
Eyes lifted, the Omega flooded pheromones.
His pheromones were a fragrant floral. Definitely different from a fruit note so stimulating you wanted a bite right away. Still, it was unmistakably a pheromonal lure, the kind that would make most Alphas’ eyes shine. The Omega was certain Kanghyeon would be the same.
Contrary to expectation, Kanghyeon didn’t so much as blink. Before or after the release, he was just as cold and rigid.
Watching, the Beta also grabbed Kanghyeon’s other arm.
“What about me? Even if I’m a Beta, I can treat you better than most Omegas, man.”
Even with an Omega and a Beta hanging off an arm each, Kanghyeon’s expression barely changed. He was skimming basic information about the club in his head; he truly had no interest in them.
The Omega youth who’d first approached kept glaring at the stone-still Kanghyeon.
“If you come with me, you won’t have to stand around like a loser! I said I’d buy all your drinks! I’m a VIP here, okay?! Are you listening?!”
Worked up enough to spew insults at everyone in the standing section, he didn’t hesitate. Fortunately, thanks to the pounding beat and blaring music, it seemed the others didn’t hear.
Angry at Kanghyeon’s continued nonreaction, the youth released a nose-stinging surge of pheromones.
This time, even Kanghyeon had to twitch.
The youth’s pheromones went beyond subtle seduction. They were at the level of “Please take me right now.” Even in this moment, several Alphas in nearby standing were staring at him with eyes gone wide.
Reckless.
As a Dominant Alpha, Kanghyeon wasn’t easily swayed by most Omegas’ pheromones, not just the youth’s. To rattle the reason of a Dominant Alpha with that kind of pheromonal control, it took at least a Dominant Omega’s pheromones.
Other Alphas were different. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Kept under a barrage like this, any one of them could flip at any moment. With the loud music and the crush of bodies as cover, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone did something vile.
Do I just go along with it.
He’d meant to ignore the Omega youth and his friends from start to finish, but now he was genuinely weighing it.
The youth was a stubborn leech. Despite repeated refusals and being ignored, he kept pushing to take Kanghyeon along—going so far as to release dangerous pheromones more suited to a bed.
Normally, he would have ignored him and left after a curt “watch yourself,” pheromones or not.
But that would waste an hour spent in line.
He’d only been inside long enough to take in maybe ten minutes of the interior. Even that had been disrupted by this bothersome Omega youth. If he ignored the pest and tried to keep looking around, the kid would probably keep hassling him.
As he hesitated—
Kanghyeon felt a prickling Alpha pheromone needle him. He wasn’t the only one: both Omegas, not the Beta, sucked in a breath in unison.
The Alpha pheromone that arrived out of nowhere wasn’t meant to seduce the Omegas present.
It felt like a quiet announcement of presence—or pressure to shut up because it was loud. Either way, one thing was certain: this Alpha pheromone had a power no one could ignore.
This pheromone…
From the Alpha pheromone that cut into the group, Kanghyeon felt an inescapable familiarity. The swiveling laser lights sketched the figure in sharp relief as they passed.
Didn’t expect to run into you here.
That conspicuously tall height even from a distance, a face more flamboyant than the neon, the chain piercing that seemed to shine even in the dark.
He was genuinely surprised to run into this uninvited guest as familiar as the pheromones.
While he was, an arm slipped around the Omega youth’s shoulders—Kwon Haeil’s.
“Why’s our Jaeyoung so mad tonight?”
The racket of music and cheers went on. Even so, Kwon Haeil’s voice was oddly clear.
The youth—Jaeyoung—turned to him with a delighted face.
“Haeil!”
Jaeyoung shyly clasped the hand around his shoulder and smiled with his eyes.
“When did you get here? You should’ve texted first! I would’ve lined up the expensive bottles!”
“Sorry. I must’ve deleted your number by accident.”
“Tch, you always say the same thing! So mean!”
He pouted; his pheromones made it plain he was faking.
The Omega and the Beta clinging to Kanghyeon also greeted Haeil like an old friend. They looked plenty familiar—clearly not their first time.
Exchanging light greetings with Jaeyoung, Haeil slid a look toward Kanghyeon. Across the red-and-green lasers, their eyes met without a flicker.