While they waited for the food after ordering a mojito, it seemed Seo Kyo-Shin had gone into a private room with his omega companion.
“By the way, where’s your phone?”
At Seol Yi-Jun’s question, Shin-Yeon patted around in his pockets, then realized he had left both his phone and wallet in his padded coat.
“I think it’s in my coat.”
“Really? Then we can check later. For now, focus on eating—and don’t force yourself to finish the drink. If it gets hard to handle, stop.”
“Okay.”
A little later, the food arrived along with the mojito.
Shin-Yeon took a long gulp. It barely smelled like alcohol, so it went down easily.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t taste like alcohol at all. This is really good.”
That’s weird…?
Watching Shin-Yeon drink the cocktail like it was soda, Yi-Jun and Won-Min both turned with slightly tense expressions toward a staff member hovering nearby.
“I think I’m actually pretty good at drinking. I’m not even tipsy.”
Even after finishing the entire cocktail, Shin-Yeon looked perfectly fine and kept eating. Seeing that, Yi-Jun made an excuse about going to the restroom and got up from the table.
Once he reached a spot where their table was out of sight, he quietly beckoned one of the staff.
The employee glanced around and approached. Yi-Jun got straight to the point.
“That cocktail he’s drinking is non-alcoholic, right?”
“Um… yes. A guest dining with a guardian had it reordered as a non-alcoholic cocktail. When they reordered it, they mentioned that the guest who originally ordered the cocktail had a low alcohol tolerance.”
“…Ah. I see. Where is that person? I know him, so I’d like to go say hello.”
After getting the room number from the employee, Yi-Jun pretended to head to the restroom and moved near the private room instead.
Then, with the keen hearing of a dominant alpha, he secretly listened in on the conversation inside.
“If getting married right away feels like too much, how about starting as cycle partners and seeing if we’re physically compatible first? Dating or getting engaged wouldn’t be terrible, but… I don’t want to waste time.”
I really would like to make things work with you, Mr. Seo.
The moment he heard Seo Kyo-Shin’s name, Yi-Jun froze—then let out a quiet, incredulous laugh.
The omega’s voice was soft and composed. Kyo-Shin, who had been silent until then, finally replied.
“I think seeing the exhibition together and having a meal today is more than enough.”
“Ah… then should we just set a date right away?”
What the hell? So he’s already got someone things are going well with?
Eyes widening, Yi-Jun immediately stepped away from the room and returned to the table without a sound.
By then, Shin-Yeon had eaten enough to look much better and was talking with Won-Min.
“I’m going to go get my phone, so give me the car key.”
“Wait a little. Let’s finish up and just go somewhere else.”
While Yi-Jun and Won-Min quickly finished eating and headed to pay, Shin-Yeon said he was going to wash his hands and went to the restroom.
He had just rinsed his mouth and was gargling at the sink when the restroom door opened, and the omega who had come with Kyo-Shin walked in.
His face was stiff. After using the restroom, he washed his hands and let out a sigh.
Looking at the elegant omega in an expensive suit—beautiful, with an aura really similar to Kim Shin-Hee’s—Shin-Yeon felt himself shrinking.
Ever since childhood, all the praise had gone to his brother for being so pretty, and he had always been compared.
'The younger one is pretty too… it’s just that the older brother is so beautiful.'
'The younger one’s a little lacking.'
'Isn’t the younger one kind of unfortunate-looking? It’s like all the looks went to the firstborn.'
He had been compared to his brother for so long that, back in school, he used to wear his bangs down and big thick-rimmed glasses that were supposedly for eye protection.
When he was even younger than that, being mocked to his face had been scary. Hard to endure.
Later, he had grown up comforting himself with the thought that it was just that his brother was exceptionally pretty, while he himself was only a little below average.
Well, Seo Kyo-Shin has eyes too, so of course he’d want someone exceptionally beautiful like Kim Shin-Hee.
“Ugh… if I want an advantage in the succession fight, I have to lock Seo Kyo-Shin down.”
The omega beside him muttered that under his breath, dried his hands, sighed, and left first.
For a moment, Shin-Yeon’s heart gave a heavy jolt. He stared blankly down at the sink.
He’s a real adult.
A beautiful, mature omega who could seriously discuss business wanted Seo Kyo-Shin.
“Ah…”
Lifting his head to the mirror, Shin-Yeon finally felt like he understood why Kyo-Shin had never directly accepted or rejected his proposal.
In the mirror stood a shabby, unimpressive Kim Shin-Yeon.
“Seo Kyo-Shin has eyes. Of course he’d prefer someone pretty.”
He gave an awkward little laugh, then lowered his head and scrubbed his face with both hands.
Should I really keep clinging to him like this, proposing over and over…?
Maybe I should just cut off contact so Seo Kyo-Shin doesn’t have to be so bothered, and I don’t have to keep humiliating myself.
Looking conflicted, Shin-Yeon spat out the mouthwash, cleaned up, and opened the restroom door.
“Baby’s acting very strange today.”
“……!”
Seo Kyo-Shin was leaning at an angle against the wall beside the restroom, looking down at him.
One hand in his pocket, he bent his head slightly and studied Shin-Yeon’s face.
“You ignored every message I sent, and when you saw me, you pretended not to know me.”
“……”
“And it’s irritating enough seeing you dressed in whatever rags you picked up somewhere, but then you let yourself get dragged around by two alphas.”
His voice was soft, but his gaze was cold enough to make Shin-Yeon’s skin crawl. Shin-Yeon was so startled he froze, and Kyo-Shin leaned in even closer.
“Are you still sulking enough to pretend not to know me?”
'Why are you out meeting another omega while not giving my proposal even a thought?!'
“…I seem to have developed a condition where I freeze up whenever a man who’s too handsome suddenly appears.”
Damn it. My mouth. My stupid mouth.
Even though that wasn’t what he really wanted to say, the flirting came out by pure habit. Avoiding Kyo-Shin’s gaze, Shin-Yeon started inching sideways.
“You said you froze, but you’re moving pretty well.”
“I’m not looking at you right now, Executive Director Seo.”
Trying desperately not to meet Kyo-Shin’s eyes, Shin-Yeon kept turning his head away as he sidestepped—then bumped his forehead right into the arm blocking his path.
Thunk.
“Ow.”
“I’m pretty sure I warned you not to drink outside. How many days has it been, and you’re drinking again? And with two alphas, no less?”
Kyo-Shin found Shin-Yeon’s reaction—face turned into the wall, acting like he refused to even look at him—ridiculously cute.
And at the same time, deeply displeasing.
“They’re my friends! And I’m twenty now, so I’m allowed to drink.”
“You need to be scolded.”
Looping one arm around Shin-Yeon’s waist, Kyo-Shin turned him around. Then he grabbed his face when Shin-Yeon tried to avoid his gaze again and tilted his chin up.
“Didn’t you say I shone like the sun?”
“That’s why I can’t look. You’re too dazzling…”
Shin-Yeon squeezed his eyes shut completely. The flirting was cute enough to be laughable—and at the same time, irritating enough to make a vein stand out along Kyo-Shin’s jaw.
If he was going to act like this, then why had he ignored all his messages and pretended not to know him when they ran into each other?
“The pretty partner who looks like my brother is probably waiting for you, Executive Director Seo. You should go back to your blind date. My friends are waiting for me too.”
Shin-Yeon slowly opened his eyes and looked at him with a half-resigned expression, then grabbed the hand holding his chin and pushed it away.
It was the first time Kyo-Shin had actually been pushed off.
He looked at Shin-Yeon, who still refused to meet his eyes, and asked,
“Were you upset because I was with another omega?”
“I’m nothing to you, Executive Director Seo, so why would I have any right to be upset? I’ll be going now.”
After giving him a quick greeting, Shin-Yeon immediately turned around and hurried off toward the restaurant entrance.
Yi-Jun and Won-Min, who had been waiting there, closed in around him as they headed toward the parking lot.
At the entrance, Shin-Yeon caught sight of the beautiful omega standing there in his coat.
In the end, he looked away.
“I want to change out of these clothes first in the car. They’re heavy.”
“Go ahead.”
After opening the car door for him so he could change, Yi-Jun and Won-Min waited outside for a moment.
Just then, the tall man who had come out of the restaurant said to the omega approaching him,
“I’d rather not repeat myself. I have no intention of marrying you or becoming cycle partners.”
“Am I not your type? Someone who looks like me?”
“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding. People kept pestering me to produce offspring, so I grabbed the first one who stood out and got engaged. Since then, they keep sending me omegas who look like you, Mr. Park Se-Hwa, and honestly, I’m sick of it.”
At the man’s thoroughly twisted words, humiliation flashed across Park Se-Hwa’s face.
His eyes shook in shock, and the man smiled coldly at him.
“They’re all so fucking unpleasant I can’t even stand the idea of touching them.”
Face turning bright red, the omega glared at him, then spun around and stormed off first.
After decisively driving off Park Se-Hwa, who clearly couldn’t take no for an answer, Kyo-Shin moved immediately.
Yi-Jun and Won-Min saw him heading straight toward the parking lot.
At that exact moment, Shin-Yeon—having finished changing in the car—opened the door and held out the shopping bag.
“Thanks for lending me your clothes.”
Just as Yi-Jun reached out to take it, a large hand got there first and grabbed Shin-Yeon’s wrist.
“…E-Executive Director Seo?”
“Who are you?! Let go of his hand!”
Ji Won-Min immediately stepped in front of Kyo-Shin, and Yi-Jun—who knew exactly who he was—also moved to stop the man holding Shin-Yeon’s wrist.
“Baby’s friends do a good job protecting him.”
“W-wait…! Executive Director Seo, just a second. You two, move.”
The flustered Shin-Yeon got out of the car, but Yi-Jun and Won-Min grabbed him at the same time and shoved him right back inside.
“You seem to have someone things are going well with already, so stop playing around with some naive kid.”
At Yi-Jun’s sharp words, Won-Min instantly understood who the man was.
“You’re an adult. Do you really want to act like this toward someone who only just turned twenty?”
At the sight of two young dominant alphas baring their teeth at him, Seo Kyo-Shin’s gaze changed instantly.
He let go of Shin-Yeon’s wrist.
In the long run, it would probably be easier to break the necks of the young males cluttering his view first and remove them.
Smack!
“Executive Director Seo! You two, get back!”
At that moment, Shin-Yeon grabbed Kyo-Shin’s veined hand with both of his soft ones and tugged, barely managing to scramble out of the car.
The problem was that something was clearly very wrong with Shin-Yeon once he got out.
His entire body was flushed bright red, and his face was twisted in pain as he muttered hoarsely,
“…Damn it… alpha pheromones…”
Even out in the cold wind, Shin-Yeon—being a recessive omega—felt like he was dying under the pheromones pouring off the extremely dominant and dominant alphas around him.
“You crazy bastards! Put your p-pheromones away…!”
Caught directly in the clash of furious alpha pheromones, Shin-Yeon’s legs buckled.
Kyo-Shin immediately shoved the other two away and caught Shin-Yeon in his arms.