“Seriously, Suga, why the heck are you sighing so loudly? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Aaron’s sudden hoarse voice jolted Suga back to reality, making him realize that he had been absentmindedly taking breaths between bites.
Aaron adjusted his glasses and brushed his hair to the back.
Surprisingly, the glasses were unharmed despite him sleeping with his face on the table while wearing them.
Well, it was a good thing they weren’t, otherwise, Aaron might have ended up smashing the table again.
“Sorry for waking you up, but… your glasses. Wouldn’t it be better to put them in the case when you want to sleep?”
“… I forgot.”
“How could you forget?”
“I was sleepy, so I didn’t even think about putting them in the case.”
“You should get into the habit of doing it. Once it becomes routine, even when you forget and doze off, your brain, accustomed to the pattern, will signal that something is missing.”
“Huh, you think you’re some kind of psychologist now?”
Aaron retorted sarcastically, aggressively scratching his head and stretching his body.
Suga snickered in response.
Obviously he wasn’t, and he couldn’t be sure if his words were entirely accurate.
However based from his own experience, when a behavior becomes a habit, it’s not easy to forget to do it.
Anyway, whatever, let’s focus on finishing this abundant meal.
Suga took mouthful after mouthful with a bluish face, Aaron instantly fell silent while squinting, his gaze looking alternately at his plate then at Suga’s face, he then let out a small chuckle.
“… That’s way too much food on your plate.”
“Yeah… I think so too.”
“Can you finish it all?”
Suga weakly shook his head, grimacing as he admitted, “No, I can’t…” There was no way he could finish it all, he was already starting to feel full.
Scratch that.
He felt like vomiting.
Lady Betty was turning him into an egg-phobic at this rate.
“In that case, give it to me.”
“Oh? Ah, sure….” Suga discreetly glanced at Lady Betty, who was engrossed in her phone, and once he felt it was safe enough, he handed his plate to Aaron.
Without hesitation, Aaron took a piece of chicken breast and devoured it in seconds.
No wonder this guy was tall and big….
well of course, he’s tall and big, he’s an alpha.
Just from biology alone, alphas are stronger than betas, having different hormones from omegas and betas, which gives them a physical advantage.
Life’s really not fair, huh.
Watching Aaron finish his food and let out a loud burp, Suga’s lips curved into a slight smile.
This guy was unpredictable and weird, but there were moments when he seemed surprisingly normal, sometimes.
“I don’t know.”
“Hah?”
“Probably just listening to the instructors babbling for a few hours, and I don’t know what they say because I always fall asleep in class.”
It was useless to ask this guy.
To say that he wasn’t nervous would be a lie.
Moreover, upon closer observation, most of the IHPS members were alphas and omegas, he hadn’t seen any betas here.
On every corner he stepped in this building, he always saw alphas, tall and easily identifiable with their distinct traits.
And when fights broke out, their overwhelming bitter pheromones seemed to intensify, making it feel like being surrounded by wild animals.
The beta population was indeed smaller compared to hundreds of years ago, more and more humans were evolving into alphas and omegas, and the beta population was declining each year.
Predictions that betas would go extinct had been issued by so many scientists, and whether that was a good or bad thing, in the end, humans could never go against Mother Nature.
“… Oh, by the way, Aaron, I have something to ask.”
Aaron, who was about to rest his head for a nap, paused and shot an annoyed look at him.
Suga chuckled softly and said, “My bad, sorry about that.” He adjusted his chair, moving closer, and started talking again, “Do you know how many beta guys are here? I hardly … Actually, I almost never see any betas around.”
“Oh, that.” Aaron straightened his posture, appearing to think hard as his eyes narrowed.
He then hummed as he wrinkled his brows, clearly struggling to recall betas being in this place.
Watching that reaction, Suga felt more certain that his prediction of there being no more than 10 beta members in IHPS was probably accurate.
“I don’t know many people here, but there seem to be around two or maybe three on the 4th and 5th floors.”
“Oh…” Suga rested his chin on his palm, blinked, and pondered.
It made sense that betas wouldn’t be eager to join because the training at IHPS is undoubtedly tough, and normal humans probably wouldn’t last long in this environment.
So that means, I’m not normal…
Well, I’ve only been here for a few days anyway, let’s see what the future brings…
Right after he left the cafeteria with a full stomach, Suga’s thoughts immediately turned to Danny.
He also hadn’t had a chance to call his brother, not that he forgot, but he still didn’t know Danny’s new phone number in America.
And in the past few days, it had been difficult to find Yuki, the guy was always busy, and every time he went to Yuki’s room, he was nowhere to be found.
This was the first time Danny was far away from him, the first time Danny lived on his own and he was only 14 years old.
Suga knew his younger brother was smart and a genius, but that didn’t mean his worries for his younger brother would just magically disappear.
Arkan School, the place where Danny was currently attending, was a specialized engineering school owned by Arkan Corp, a top-tier technology and automobile company with a high value in America.
To be honest, before this, although he had heard of Arkan Corp, Suga didn’t know much about the company in detail.
Maybe it was because he was always caught up with work and never had time to read up on articles or news about the company.
What he did know, and almost everyone knew, was that Arkan Corp was the largest and wealthiest automotive manufacturer in America.
They didn’t just excel in automobiles, they dominated production facilities related to electronics, technology, and machinery.
Their company was like an empire, most major companies under the Arkan umbrella were managed by their descendants, so it was no surprise that their wealth never diminished.
Some people are born lucky, huh, he muttered inwardly.
If he had been born into that family, maybe he wouldn’t be struggling like he was now, and with money and power, he could easily hire a skilled detective to find out who was behind his parents’ murder, sit pretty and wait for the results.
Ha, Suga sighed, there’s no use imagining things like that.
It’s better to focus on the present, his goal for today was to talk to Danny.
His heart would surely be at ease hearing Danny’s voice and making sure he’s doing well in California.
By the way, what season is it over there?
Ah, there’s so much I want to ask.
The second-floor area is almost like a mall, very spacious with many resting rooms for IHPS members, a library, a large infirmary, a cafe, and other rooms he hadn’t checked yet.
As he looked at the elevator in front of him, Suga shrugged— he always preferred taking the stairs, after all, he only needed to go down one level to the first floor.
Casually humming a random melody while descending a few steps.
Crash— suddenly, a loud noise of objects falling caught his ears, coming from the storage room next to the stairs he just descended.
Suga’s steps abruptly stopped upon hearing that sound.
He had a bad feeling about this.
Come on, just ignore it.
Don’t follow your curiosity.
Don’t look over there.
It’s probably just a janitor tidying up the storage room and accidentally knocking something over.
“Argh! Let me go!”
“??????”
Huh, did he just hear someone yelling that from inside the room?
Suga stood frozen, reluctantly looking at the tightly close door.
He didn’t want to get involved in another mess, he had promised himself not to meddle with the crazy men in this place.
“You said you would forgive me if I didn’t see you for five years. I’ve been patiently waiting for five years, so let’s go home.”
“… That hurts! Logan! Stop!”
Clearly, from what he heard, two people were arguing in there, and the guy who was half-shouting sounded like he was in pain.
Were they fighting?
Or was it a bullying case?
As the bullying scenario crossed his mind, Suga impulsively approached the room and instinctively pushed the door open forcefully.
“Hey, is someone hurt in there?!”
Without hesitation, Suga shouted loudly, but his body suddenly froze in place after seeing the two individuals inside the room.
bc English isn’t my first lgg I kinda paused a lil when trying to write “curiosity” lol I thought it used “u”, so apparently there’s no “u” Logan/Niel (read cw)