“Why would a third-generation chaebol come to an ordinary school like Sanok Middle? There’s an international middle school right next door.”
“No way! To goose his grades?”
“Like a chaebol family would bother with something that petty. There must be a reason.”
Even if I’d forced the teachers and Im Heechan to keep their mouths shut, I couldn’t stop it from circulating among the staff.
The rumor spun out of control, and before long the name “Geonho Baek” had basically become a fanfic prompt—mutating into multiple versions that spread all over Sanok Middle.
“You know that one? He lost a successor fight and went to hide among commoners.”
“No, no. If it’s Geonho, the more plausible version is he left on purpose because he didn’t want to be tied to a chaebol family.”
Amazingly, one of them came fairly close to the truth.
‘If the fact I’m adopted gets out on top of this, it’ll be an even bigger headache.’
I’d just brushed off a string of awkward apologies from classmates—“Sorry we dared act like we were close.” I let out a long sigh.
After the blowup, the only one who stayed around me was Kim Jaewook.
“Just leave it. Give it a few days and they’ll get used to it and come talk to you like nothing happened.”
“Kim Jaewook. How did you clock my family right away? Back in elementary school, no less.”
“Your aunt pops up on the news now and then—Baekil Pharmaceuticals CEO, direct line of the Group. So when I went to your place, I recognized it on the spot.”
For all he acts like a thoughtless slacker, the guy’s got scary-fast instincts.
“Seeing the class only just figured it out now, I guess kids really don’t watch the news anymore. The future of the Republic is bleak, bleak.”
A dude who lives for games and football somehow having all this trivia—infuriating in a weird way.
‘With a character this outlandish, you’d expect him to show up in a novel. …Huh?’
Something felt familiar.
Did he actually show up in a novel? With a name kind of like “Jaewook.”
[■uk…! I’m sorry—because of me…!]
Maybe it existed. Maybe not.
Ten years on, the story’s fuzzy; all I can do is guess.
It was just about time to go home. I ignored chatterbox Kim Jaewook and stepped out the school gate when—
“Hyuuung!”
Something barreled in and slammed into my waist.
“Guh.”
The hit knocked the wind out of me for a second.
More than the impact itself, it felt like a heavy weight suddenly crushed my whole body.
A different kind of pain than an Omega’s stench.
Like I’d climbed some high mountain peak, or sunk to the bottom of the deep sea—my breath started to hitch as if I was short on oxygen.
‘…Alpha?!’
Classic Alpha Pheromones. And extremely strong.
If I hadn’t taken my meds in advance, I would’ve gone down in respiratory distress.
“I missed you, hyung!”
For a second I thought I was under attack by some Alpha beast. I jerked my head up—golden fur flashed. Hair, to be exact.
“You…”
A friendly voice calling me “hyung.” And that blond.
What floored me wasn’t some giant Alpha beast.
“Long time no see!”
“…”
“I ran straight here from the airport the moment I landed today! Because I missed you!”
“…”
“Hyung?”
“…Who are you?”
“What do you mean, who! Obviously me!”
A pretty boy with a vaguely familiar face waved at me, delighted.
It’s just… he looked about twice the size I remembered.
“Tada! Haram the Man—back from Spain as a dominant Alpha!”
“No, seriously—who are you?”
Who is Haram.
Honest, lively, and bright at first—then he goes through horrific events without end, grows more and more depressed, ends up carrying a child he never wanted and losing it, and finally even loses his own life— a man with a storm-tossed fate… No. He was a “dominant Omega.”
Blond hair and green eyes, a delicate look, short, androgynous build—the cute-herbivore, baby-hamster type of pretty boy… I’m pretty sure that’s how the novel described him.
“Ahaha! I got super tall, right? I’m almost the same as you now, Hyung!”
This wasn’t a giant golden retriever anymore—
He was closer to a male lion.
A first-year middle schooler is that tall? He might actually be bigger than I was then.
Haram plopped into the chair in my room and spread his arms to show off his body.
“My shoulders got wide too! My face looks more like Dad’s!”
By Dad, he obviously meant the stylish one who runs an IT company in Spain—not the pretty dad.
I’ve never met him, but in photos he was a stunning blond Westerner who could outshine a Hollywood actor eighteen times over. Maybe two meters tall.
“I think I’m even growing a beard these days! And leg hair….”
“No, nope. Hold it. Haram.”
“Yeah?”
Anyway, I started with the gripe I’d been itching to say.
“Why aren’t you an Omega?”
“Whaaat?”
Haram’s lips jutted in open displeasure.
“Even you look at me like that? You pervy Alpha!”
“N-no….”
“So you’re one of those who guess secondary sex by looks? Totally disappointed.”
“T-that’s not it. Your fortune said you’d be an Omega, so….”
“What are you even talking about? You look cool, but sometimes you say weird stuff.”
Haram snorted, triumphant, then asked with a sly look,
“Or what—would you have liked it if I were an Omega?”
“That’s not… it.”
“From the start, you’re the one who made me a dominant Alpha, Hyung.”
…Excuse me? First I’m hearing of this?
I stared, and Haram shrugged.
“Guess we’re doing the nostalgia talk again. Long ago, back when I was still a weakling living on strawberry milk.”
And with that, he dove into an unsolicited flashback….
“Haram.”
“Why, Geonho hyung?”
“You have to get strong.”
“Huh? Okay.”
“You have to live steadfast.”
“Stead… fast? I don’t know what that is, but okay.”
“It means live strong and cool.”
Geonho Baek would grab little Haram every so often and lay this stuff on him.
“You should be strong enough to deck some scummy Alpha punk.”
“Alpha punk…?”
From then on, a strange elation took hold of Haram.
Since he was small, Haram got attention because of his looks, drew notice because of his looks, and suffered prejudice because of his looks.
‘You’re a foreigner, so why do you only speak Korean and not English? Weird.’
‘You’re actually a girl, right? Your leg looks like it’d snap if I flicked it.’
‘If you turn out Omega, wanna pair with me later?’
He was sick to death of all of it, but under the influence of his gentle Omega father, he couldn’t state his will clearly.
People kept treating “You will be an Omega” as a done deal, so he’d unconsciously resigned himself to becoming an Omega like his dad and living the demure house-spouse life….
The only time Haram could state his thoughts clearly was when he stood before the neighbor hyung who looked at him without prejudice and always listened seriously.
And then—
That very neighbor hyung he admired and relied on, Geonho Baek, told him:
Knock an Alpha flat.
“C-can I get strong too, Geonho hyung? Could I beat an Alpha…?”
“There’s nothing you can’t do in this world. Either you do it or you don’t. Those are the only two options.”
With the sunset at his back, Hyung hadn’t even manifested yet—but he was already an Alpha among Alphas.
So that’s a real man.
Haram was deeply moved.
And so Haram came to yearn for the “strong, cool real man” like Hyung!
“Seoul City Children’s Taekwondo—Gold Medal! Haram!”
“National Children’s Hapkido Championship—First Place! Haram!”
“Kendo King of Korea (Children’s Division)—Winner! Haram!”
“National Children’s Triathlon—Gold Medal! Haram!”
“Haram! Haram! Haram! Haram!”
Training without missing a day, Haram overcame his short stature and became unmatched among his peers in physicality.
“Hyung! I won another medal!”
“Y-yeah… good job….”
Every time Haram flaunted a new medal, Geonho Baek made a face—somewhere between happy and sad—but he still sincerely congratulated him and ruffled his hair, which left Haram thoroughly satisfied.
“Aaah! He’s a crazy American!”
“I’m not American! I’m mixed Spanish!”
“Ruuun!”
Thanks to that, even when early-blooming Alpha brats teased and bullied him, he could crush them with overwhelming force and send them packing.
“Hyung! Is Geonho hyung home?”
That day too, Haram came bearing the day’s exploits and knocked on the door next door.
But the one who greeted him wasn’t Geonho—it was the neighbor ajusshi.
“Oh dear, I guess you haven’t heard yet, Haram.”
“Sir?”
“Geonho’s in the hospital.”
Haram raced to visit, and the sight of Geonho Baek lying wan in bed shook him to the core.
That Geonho Baek had manifested as an Alpha was the most natural thing in the world.
But seeing him groaning, laid up—that was anything but natural.
‘I’ve never seen Hyung weak before.’
He didn’t know exactly what the illness was, but according to the neighbor, it seemed to be a chronic condition he’d carry for life.
So Haram was sad, and heartsick… and then, somewhere in his chest, a thump.
‘Hyung can be… weak, too….’
The man he’d thought was healthy and strong—a real man—was actually fragile and weak.
He’d become someone as vulnerable as a child who needed protection…!
What Haram felt then wasn’t dismay or disappointment.
‘I want to protect Geonho hyung!’
What blossomed in little Haram’s heart was a protector’s instinct.
‘I want to be a dominant Alpha—way stronger and cooler than Hyung!’
“I kept repeating that, and wouldn’t you know it—I really did become a dominant Alpha! Ahaha!”
What even is that. Terrifying.