“ Is Geonho still not coming out of his room?”
“ Yeah. He keeps saying he’s sleepy….”
Through the door, I heard my adoptive parents whispering.
“ I guess the shock was big. He’s a smart kid, so he understands exactly what this means.”
“ What if he gets anxious? Maybe we should have waited a bit longer to tell him… was that too rash of us.”
“ It’s something we’ll work through together.”
Their voices were heavy with gloom.
But—
“ Mother, Father.”
“ Oh my goodness, you scared me!”
If they thought I’d be sulking from feeling left out, they were badly mistaken.
I flung the door open and thrust a sheet of paper at them.
“ I worked really hard on a name for the baby.”
“ …!”
“ There are still six days left, but it’s your birthday present, Mother.”
“ G-Geonho….”
“ Happy birthday!”
To be honest, the sudden news of a pregnancy had shocked me.
When the two of them were in the master bedroom upstairs I never went near the stairs… but I didn’t think they were really doing it right above my head.
They said they’d struggled with infertility for years—so the timing is a work of art.
It really was just after I came to live here that they conceived.
I’ve seen plenty of shows about adoptive families struggling with the gap and alienation between an adopted child and a biological one, even leading to the child being returned. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid something like that might happen in this life.
But the shock was only temporary. I shook it off fast.
As long as I’m not returned, that’s enough, right?
Knowing these two, they won’t easily cast off the child of their benefactor. And it’s not like I’m greedy enough about money or love to fight their biological kid for a bowl of rice.
I’m just a small citizen who wants to latch quietly onto a chaebol family and enjoy a long, steady, comfortable life. So—
“ I was startled, sure, hearing there’ll be a new member of the family… but I’m also really, really excited.”
Beaming, I told the couple.
As angelically as possible. Like a good, gentle child everyone loves.
“ I’ll definitely cherish my younger sibling. Just as you cherish me, Mother and Father.”
So I will play the calmest, most well-behaved adoptee ever.
“ Congratulations on the pregnancy! Mother, Father!”
“ …O-ohhh! I’m crying!”
“ M-me too… Geonhooo, ooooh!”
These two… judging by all the time we’ve spent together, the liters of tears they’ve shed must be serious.
Aren’t chaebol families supposed to be cold and ruthless? For chaebol, these two are so soft and squishy it’s like they’re made of slime.
Besides, if I truly meant nothing to them, they wouldn’t entrust me with naming their precious biological child.
Their tears warmed the chill in my chest.
I’ve got this. In this life, I’ll live sweet.
So I’ll make the most of the environment I’ve been given.
Including these two’s soft hearts.
“ Honey, you’ll crumple the paper.”
“ R-right. Our Geonho gave us his sibling’s name as a present, that’s right.”
They quickly wiped their tears and unfolded the paper.
On it, in neat script, were three syllables.
“ Seolheon Baek…?”
“ Yes. It’s snowing outside. The terrace is piled high with snow. A child like a gift that came down to a house blanketed in snow.”
To be honest, it didn’t take long to choose the name.
The moment I looked out the window, it popped straight to my lips.
“ So, Seolheon Baek.”
Don’t worry, future little brother, Seolheon.
I’ll leave the corporate heir wars and other wild stories to you.
Meanwhile, I’ll be living it up on hotel vacations in Dubai or the Maldives.
“ Oh my. He can already read the characters!”
“ …I remember a lot of pretty characters in the dictionary I saw at the orphanage.”
That was a lie. I did study hard for exams once, so I know a bit of characters. Then my father died and left a mountain of debt, and I gave up on the exams… but it’s time to let go of that unhappy past.
“ How truly brilliant! Oh, Jiyeong, are you watching from heaven? Our Geonho might be a prodigy!”
Thankfully, my adoptive parents didn’t question my knowledge.
“ Goodness, it’s a little late for lunch, but I ordered those sandwiches you liked so much!”
“ Don’t overdo it, I’ll carry it.”
At some point my adoptive father had come back from the door, both hands full of bags.
My adoptive mother hurried over and snatched the bags from him.
“ You’re not on your own anymore.”
“ …?”
Not on his own?
Something was off. Isn’t that what a husband says to a wife?
I kept staring, full of doubt, and my adoptive mother let out an ah and led my adoptive father over.
“ Right. Geonho, come here.”
Then she guided my hand and rested it somewhere.
“ Here. Your sibling is here.”
“ Sorry?”
Except… the place was—
my adoptive father’s lower belly.
“ Here, inside Dad’s belly, a baby is being made.”
“ Pardon? But you’re Dad.”
“ Hm? He’s an Omega.”
“ Sorry?”
“ Omega.”
“ Like… the Swiss watch brand?”
“ What watch?”
“ ….”
“ ….”
“ Jaeseo Park! And you still say no to a talk about sex ed?!”
“ B-but Geonho is only six….”
“ How can a smart kid who can read a character dictionary not know what an Omega is?! What did the orphanage even teach you! Geonho! Sit here!”
Then my adoptive mother gave me a quick sex education.
The content was quite a shock.
And—
So that means any Alpha can impregnate, and any Omega can potentially get pregnant?
Regardless of whether they’re a woman or a man?
“ Our Geonho. You must be really surprised. Babies aren’t brought by cranes. They’re born from Beta women and Omegas.”
What nonsense.
I wanted to say that, but right then the TV blasted a dramatic line.
— “ Don’t hold me back, Giyeong! I already belong to someone else’s Omega!”
— “ I don’t care! I’m your Alpha and I always will be!”
Slam.
— “ Your child is my child!”
— “ Giyeong! I love you!”
They’re both men.
Is it okay to let a six-year-old watch this kind of spicy drama?
Then again, if you swap the genders, it isn’t that strange… which confused me even more.
Don’t tell me this second life I thought would be smooth sailing is actually a parallel world with this deranged setting mixed in.
If this is a dream, I want to wake up.
But it’s already been months, so it can’t be a dream. Damn it.
“ Geonho, you’re shocked, right?”
“ Yes… I was a little shocked to learn Father’s belly wasn’t just abdominal fat.”
“ Abdominal fat?! You’ll hurt Dad’s feelings!”
A man really gets pregnant? That spry young man?
The mysteries of the human body. Where does the baby even come out?
“ T-then, Mother…?”
“ Of course I’m an Alpha woman.”
So… that means she has… even though she’s a woman?
You shouldn’t judge by appearances, sure. Still, it had struck me that Mother was much taller and sturdier, while Father had the delicate look of a teenage pretty boy.
“ Then what about my late mother, and my father?”
Silence fell at my question. They clearly hadn’t expected my biological parents to come up now.
Sorry, but I didn’t have the luxury to spare their feelings.
If my birth mother was also an Alpha woman, and I was born from a man’s belly… I’m not ready for that.
For a second, the awful possibility from that drama flashed through my head—my parents being an Alpha dad and an Omega dad, two men—but then I remembered Mother calling my birth mother Jiyeong older sister, and took comfort in that.
“ J-Jiyeong was a Beta. As for your father… sorry. We don’t know yet. But Betas often have children with other Betas, so your biological father is probably a Beta too.”
“ Thank you!”
“ Th-thank you…?”
At my sudden thanks, Mother blinked, then smiled at my next question.
“ Then am I a Beta too?”
“ We’ll know after you start elementary school and eat a few more birthday cakes. The reproductive sex manifests around then.”
Which means there’s a chance I could be an Omega too… Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Then the not-on-his-own one joined in again.
“ Just look at that cute face. He’s a hundred percent Omega.”
What?! No, thanks!
I’m a sturdy adult man who even finished his military service. For the record, I once adored national star Kim Ina, a true 100 percent straight man to the bone.
I do not want to consider being reproductively paired with someone with male parts.
“ No. Our Geonho is not just cute, he’s very handsome. Higher chance he’s an Alpha.”
“ My Omega sense says he’s Omega. It’s the definitive Omega look.”
“ What are you talking about. Look at those big hands and feet. He’ll be much taller than you, Jaeseo.”
“ Hey now? These days there are lots of tall Omegas. That’s such an old-fashioned take, sis.”
Then they noticed my face getting darker and flapped their hands in a panic.
“ O-of course, Geonho! It doesn’t matter if you’re Alpha or Omega! We’ll love you the same, so don’t worry…!”
“ I want to be a Beta.”
“ A Beta?”
“ I like Beta.”
And they traded pleased smiles and shrugged.
“ Hehe. Only God knows whether you’ll be Beta or not.”
Just let me be a Beta man.