After getting out of the bath, Gi-hyeon immediately ordered room service.
While deciding what to eat, he vaguely remembered hearing that this hotel was known for its spicy seafood jjamppong, so he ordered it without much thought. Normally, if he had no appetite, he simply skipped meals regardless of the hour. But once he actually started eating, he tended to eat a lot. Tonight, he was hungry — and more than anything, he wanted to eat without having to watch someone else’s mood.
Unlike Gi-hyeon, who strongly preferred meat, Jo Yeon-oh surprisingly leaned toward lighter food. Whenever they ate together, the Alpha constantly piled vegetables onto Gi-hyeon’s plate and lectured him about maintaining a balanced diet. Feeling like a teenager secretly eating junk food behind a parent’s back, Gi-hyeon added a large plate of yuringi to the order out of sheer spite.
While waiting for the food to arrive, he picked up his phone.
Normally, unless he was expecting a call, he barely paid attention to where the device even was. But being alone in a hotel room left too much room for unnecessary thoughts.
—You’re upset because yesterday felt like two Betas dating, aren’t you?
Jo Yeon-oh’s words still lingered unpleasantly in his mind.
Gi-hyeon had no real point of comparison beyond dating Betas. To begin with, his understanding of dating itself was fairly shallow.
Jo Yeon-oh was his first Alpha partner, and everything before this had amounted to clumsy, short-lived relationships. Which meant he had absolutely no idea what a “normal” Alpha-Omega relationship was supposed to look like.
Uncomfortably aware of that lack of experience, Gi-hyeon felt a petty streak of stubbornness rise up in him.
Knowing perfectly well how pathetic it was, he typed “dating an Alpha” into the search bar.
He skimmed through the flood of results without really reading them. One advertisement in particular caught his attention — perfume marketed as carrying an “Omega scent.” Gi-hyeon personally had no curiosity whatsoever about what Alphas or Omegas were supposedly meant to smell like, but clearly the rest of society cared an awful lot.
The realization left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Almost immediately after searching it, a wave of self-disgust washed over him. Gi-hyeon locked the screen and tossed the phone onto the bed before letting out a low groan.
Seriously. What the hell was he even doing?
Just then, the doorbell rang to announce the arrival of room service.
After asking the staff to leave the cart outside, Gi-hyeon waited a moment before opening the door and bringing everything in. He grabbed a cold beer from the minibar and finally sat down to eat.
He had only managed a few bites of jjamppong while absentmindedly watching TV when his phone began vibrating.
“…”
Gi-hyeon stared blankly at the device lying beside him.
A painfully familiar name flashed across the screen.
Turning away, he took another sip of beer. Then, after a brief pause, he reached over and picked up the phone.
Without hesitation, he declined the call.
Afterward, he carefully switched the phone to silent mode. He knew from experience that turning it off completely would only make Jo Yeon-oh lose his mind even faster.
Having dealt with the interruption, Gi-hyeon finished the rest of his food and beer in peace. Once he placed the empty dishes outside the room, he cracked open the window to air the place out and brushed his teeth.
Not having to constantly check whether his bathrobe had fallen open felt strangely liberating.
While checking the time on his phone, he froze at the sheer number of notifications waiting for him.
Another incoming call appeared on the screen.
Beside Jo Yeon-oh’s name sat a small red number: 16.
Sixteen missed calls.
“…Is he insane?”
The curse slipped out before he could stop it.
Too exhausted to care anymore, Gi-hyeon powered the phone off entirely, tossed it onto the hotel charging dock, shut the window, and drew the blackout curtains closed.
Finally.
Now he could sleep in peace.