Woosung Alpha’s Sour Grapes

Chapter 4

Hyeon-woo felt all the tension drain from his body. With a deep sigh of relief, he answered, “Yeah.” He felt foolish for having been so tense – Tae-geon had been deceived far too easily.

 Not only did Tae-geon not suspect him of being an Omega, he seemed to think Hyeon-woo was an Alpha like the others did. The only difference was that Tae-geon had deduced that Hyeon-woo’s partner had been an Omega, not a Beta.

“Wait in the classroom when you’re done. I’ll come get you.”

“…Okay.”

“Don’t think about running off again. We need to finish your college applications today.”

“Ah, I said okay.”

Just then, the bell rang signaling morning assembly. Everyone scattered hurriedly as the homeroom teacher entered.

Hyeon-woo’s eyes were gloomy as he stared at the spot where Tae-geon had been standing. Even though he had successfully deceived Tae-geon, he didn’t feel happy at all. Rather, he felt strangely deflated and bitter at Tae-geon’s indifferent reaction.

He knew Tae-geon wasn’t interested in that sort of thing and even disliked it, but he hadn’t expected such a bland reaction even towards himself. He had thought Tae-geon would at least be curious about who his partner had been. He felt unreasonably hurt. He felt somewhat foolish for having lived all this time without dating even once.

And whose fault was that anyway?

Hyeon-woo pouted.

There was one more thing Tae-geon despised as much as Omegas, and that was SEX.

Although he had a habit of burying his nose in Hyeon-woo’s nape, there had never been any sexual intent in that contact. It was like a ritual – nothing more or less than a way to cleanse his sense of smell that had been polluted by Omegas.

Tae-geon hadn’t experienced a tertiary sex characteristic phase. This was because he was an extremely dominant Alpha whose type had been determined from birth. Although Hyeon-woo didn’t know all the details of Tae-geon’s trauma-filled childhood, it wasn’t hard to infer that there was a strong correlation between his hatred of Omegas and his castrated sex drive.

Unlike Tae-geon, Hyeon-woo was an utterly ordinary human with a normal range of sexual desire. He didn’t have any unusual fetishes or sexual perversions, and like other peers his age, he sometimes took care of his needs alone when necessary.

The problem was that every time he faced Tae-geon afterwards, he suffered from a strange sense of guilt. He felt tormented, as if he were a shameless person who had gorged on meat dishes in front of an ascetic monk.

So he stopped. When he stopped paying attention to sexual stimuli, he naturally became indifferent to dating as well. Perhaps the reason he didn’t feel much desire for the romance that others seemed so desperate for was that he already had a life companion by his side with whom he had decided to spend his entire life.

He hadn’t expected his existence to hold the same meaning for Tae-geon, but still, he had thought Tae-geon would at least be curious about what had happened last night and who his partner had been…

But instead, what? “Behave yourself so you don’t get into trouble later”?

He was freshly reminded of how insignificant Tae-geon considered Omegas to be.

‘A half-baked Omega with pathetic pheromones.’

That was exactly what he was.

He felt inexplicably depressed, as if he had been sentenced to having only half the value of existence. It was ridiculous. Just yesterday, hadn’t he thought it was fortunate that he wasn’t a proper Omega? Yet now he felt this way just because Tae-geon had said such things.

Because of this, he had to admit it once more. He could no longer deny that his feelings for Tae-geon were not simple friendship. He didn’t know when these feelings had started to sprout, but the moment his body opened up to the Alpha, he became intensely aware of them.

He deeply resented why he had to realize the true nature of feelings he himself hadn’t been aware of at that moment, in that way.

He wished it were just an impulsive emotion. A feeling that would pour down briefly like a sudden shower and then disappear. Was his heart perhaps making a strange misunderstanding towards the Alpha he had been with for so long, influenced by his manifestation as an Omega? Hyeon-woo desperately tried to deny his own feelings.

It’s just temporary confusion.

Just like wet ground dries when the rain clouds clear, I’ll be able to get along well with Tae-geon again soon as if nothing had happened.

When that time comes, this pain tearing at my chest will all disappear too. It had to be that way.

Comforting himself, Hyeon-woo firmly rubbed his aching chest with his hand.

*

The harsh winter wind was shaking the dry tree branches. Tae-geon’s eyes, fixed on the window with his chin propped on one arm in a slanted posture, trembled finely following the swaying branches.

More than half of the classroom was empty. Those who had been accepted through early admissions had long since started their self-declared vacation, and as students began skipping school one by one as soon as the regular admissions applications were finished, the classroom was overflowing with empty seats. At that time, when only a few remaining students were enduring boredom while waiting for their turn to consult with the homeroom teacher, Tae-geon’s mind was filled entirely with thoughts of Hyeon-woo.

Hyeon-woo, whom he had thought was a Beta, had manifested as an Alpha upon becoming an adult. Originally, this should have happened before graduating middle school.

There had been times when he had hoped Hyeon-woo would manifest as the same type as himself. He believed that as they would share many things, his relationship with Hyeon-woo would become even closer.

However, this morning, encountering Hyeon-woo’s manifestation, Tae-geon received an unexpected shock. Perhaps it was not so much the manifestation itself as the fact that Hyeon-woo had shown up after rolling around with an Omega that was shocking.

Rage welled up so intensely that he felt dizzy at the sight of the kiss marks lined up on the white nape. In fact, his throat still felt hot even now. Even though he knew well that Hyeon-woo, unlike himself, had no trauma and had no reason to refuse an Omega in heat cycle, he couldn’t understand why he had been engulfed by such intense anger. In fact, Tae-geon didn’t even know what name to give to that emotion.

Betrayal? For what reason?

What Hyeon-woo had promised Tae-geon was to spend his life together by his side without starting a family, not that he wouldn’t date or have physical relationships with Omegas.

Still, it would have been nice if he had at least hinted that he had manifested as an Alpha.

Ahhh.

Tae-geon raised his upper body that had been lying down.

It hurts my feelings.

Tae-geon was certain that the spark of that intense emotion that had overwhelmed him originated from hurt feelings. This was a reasonable emotion that could be felt in a close friendship. When he thought that the hurt feelings had gone beyond measure and led to a sense of betrayal, this part also became quite understandable.

Unlike an Omega’s manifestation which is accompanied by heat cycles, an Alpha’s manifestation has no noticeable signs. The moment when Omega pheromones that were previously undetectable suddenly become powerful stimulants shaking the entire pituitary gland – that is the starting point of an Alpha’s manifestation. Unless Hyeon-woo told him separately, Tae-geon was in a position where he couldn’t even know whether Hyeon-woo had manifested or not.

Unlike himself who had been an Alpha from birth, Hyeon-woo had just manifested as an Alpha. With no immunity to Omega pheromones, he would have been defenseless against the stimulation he was experiencing for the first time. An Omega in heat must have seduced Hyeon-woo in that state. He probably didn’t even think about his promise with Tae-geon.

Not knowing this, Tae-geon had spent the whole night worrying about Hyeon-woo who was out of contact. Then, as if on cue, Hyeon-woo’s parents had sent over two chickens as a late-night snack. After a moment of confusion, a suspicion crossed his mind. Under the pretext of thanking them, he contacted Hyeon-woo’s parents and, sure enough, found out about Hyeon-woo’s clever lie.

While you were lying about being with me, at that time you were…

Anger welled up, but no matter how he thought about it, he had no right to urge Hyeon-woo not to meet Omegas. However, he also didn’t want to be pushed aside again because of an Omega.

Tae-geon’s eyes narrowed. His well-shaped fingers began tapping on the desk at regular intervals. It was a habit that emerged when he was deeply contemplating something.

 Tae-geon’s gaze, measuring Hyeon-woo in his mind, shone sharply like that of a fierce beast.

Although Hyeon-woo had given his body to an Omega, Tae-geon consoled himself that it had never been his territory to begin with, and swallowed down the rising indignation. He would simply take everything else from Hyeon-woo if he did something so reckless.

The future time and space that would constitute Hyeon-woo’s life, the daily bread that would enter Hyeon-woo’s mouth to become his blood and flesh, the thoughts and ideas that would fill Hyeon-woo’s mind, even the tiniest speck of emotion that would sprout in his heart – he intended to grasp it all in the palm of his hand without missing anything.

He would pickle Hyeon-woo in the finest comfort within the fence he had set up, then slowly undo the locks one by one. Even after all the locks surrounding Hyeon-woo were removed, he planned to carefully instill bad habits so that Hyeon-woo wouldn’t even attempt to leave his side.

As my complete possession.

Thinking of Hyeon-woo gradually being dyed in his color like this made him feel much better.

You said it yourself. That you wouldn’t pair with any Omega and would stay by my side for life. So I don’t care who you roll around with. It’s just a meaningless relationship without substance anyway.

The person you promised to spend your life with is me.

Recalling the childhood promise that was like a vow, Tae-geon barely managed to compose his mind that was on the verge of explosion.