Woosung Alpha’s Sour Grapes

Chapter 7

“Is it your lover?”

“……”

“The one you mentioned before.”

Hyeon-woo’s hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, but Tae-geon, focused on his sense of smell, didn’t notice.

He was frustrated by the scent that popped like a soap bubble, leaving no trace each time. Though he’d never properly smelled it, he thought it resembled a fruit scent. Its fresh and crisp nature made him think it suited an Omega like that.

Amidst the sweet pheromones like fruit, there was a mix of lewd and dense scents. Judging by the marks left on Hyeon-woo’s body, the other person must have a strong sense of possession. They had left numerous markings all over, typically done by Alphas to Omegas.

There was a red bruise on the back of Hyeon-woo’s neck that he hadn’t covered with a band-aid, probably because he couldn’t see it in the mirror. Tae-geon’s eyes turned fierce as he looked at that mark.

They must have sucked quite hard. Does he prefer aggressive Omegas?

That must be it. That’s why he’s still meeting them even after coming here.

Judging by the intervals between outings, the meetings seemed to occur around the Omega’s heat cycle. Tae-geon thought it was like Hyeon-woo to stick to a relationship with just one person, rather than pursuing pleasure with multiple partners like other Alphas.

And for some reason, Tae-geon found himself gritting his teeth, overcome by an unpleasant feeling incomparable to before.

…It’s just once a month at most.

Except for those periodic outings, everything about Hyeon-woo was in his hands. All the elements that made up and constituted Hyeon-woo originated from him.

The composition of Hyeon-woo’s daily meals and snack preferences, his preferred scents for shampoo and bath products, his surrounding environment including human relationships, how he enjoyed his leisure time, his taste in books and movies, even the music he liked to listen to. There wasn’t a single like or dislike, not even a trivial preference, that wasn’t under his control.

He had infiltrated deep into Hyeon-woo’s subconscious, exerting influence everywhere. He had been patiently taming him over a long time, ensuring he enjoyed the utmost comfort within the boundaries he had set. So that eventually, Hyeon-woo wouldn’t be able to live outside this fence.

He had done well so far. He didn’t want to ruin his plan by choking Hyeon-woo over something not worth getting angry about. He didn’t want Hyeon-woo to realize that his side, which should be Hyeon-woo’s only sanctuary, was actually a noose binding him.

Tae-geon soothed his rising anger by imagining a future where Hyeon-woo would perfectly belong to him.

Although this wasn’t the first time he had discovered kiss marks on Hyeon-woo’s body, he couldn’t help feeling unpleasant every time.

He felt twisted at the thought of someone else taking what had been exclusively his domain, but he was in no position to handle Hyeon-woo’s needs himself. So Tae-geon reluctantly suppressed his childish jealousy.

As Tae-geon tried to tear his gaze away from the red mark on Hyeon-woo’s white neck, he suddenly realized he had never seen Hyeon-woo regularly contacting or meeting anyone else.

A relationship too ambiguous to be called dating. Normal couples wouldn’t only have business during heat cycles.

An Omega who openly expresses possessiveness towards an Alpha without being clingy.

As Tae-geon pondered the relationship between Hyeon-woo and the Omega, he became genuinely curious about this unknown person.

“Introduce me to your Omega sometime.”

“Cough! Cough!”

Tae-geon handed a glass of water to Hyeon-woo, who was coughing repeatedly with tears in his eyes from suddenly choking. Beads of cold sweat appeared on Hyeon-woo’s forehead as he hastily gulped down the water.

*

Throughout the meal, Hyeon-woo couldn’t tell if the food was going into his nose or mouth.

Back in his room, sitting on the bed, Hyeon-woo recalled what Tae-geon had said earlier.

He had asked if he was still meeting that Omega.

He was referring to a specific person. It meant that Tae-geon had been remembering the Omega pheromones he smelled on Hyeon-woo each time.

Goosebumps rose all over his body.

Until now, Hyeon-woo had vaguely considered pheromones as just a standard for distinguishing traits. He thought Alphas had Alpha pheromones, Omegas had Omega pheromones, and that these strictly dichotomized pheromones only had qualitative differences based on dominance and recessiveness.

Even after manifestation, unable to smell pheromones, he still understood them from a Beta’s perspective. He had completely overlooked the possibility that pheromones with different ‘scents’ could serve as a criterion for distinguishing individuals.

I see. So that’s why he told me to go to the hospital.

Because his Alpha pheromones would have had a different scent each time.

He hadn’t expected to completely hide his pheromones from Tae-geon, an extremely dominant Alpha, from the start. That’s why he couldn’t carelessly wash his body after rolling around with Alphas. He was afraid that only the Alpha’s pheromones might wash away, leaving his own.

Hyeon-woo had thought that the reason Tae-geon had been turning a blind eye to the traces of his affairs was because he didn’t want to sully his mouth and ears with such a disgusting topic.

‘Omega’ and ‘Sex’.

The two things Tae-geon considered the most filthy in the world. Hyeon-woo had been prepared to humbly accept any criticism Tae-geon might unleash for betraying his trust with both of these.

But far from questioning him, Tae-geon had accepted him as he was. Moreover, Tae-geon’s face showed no disgust or hatred towards Omegas when he asked to be introduced. This fact weighed heavily on Hyeon-woo’s heart.

He clearly said ‘your Omega’.

That’s why you made that face, even while mentioning the Omega you find so repulsive.

It felt like the dam built up in his heart had suddenly collapsed. Guilt rushed in like a tidal wave through the gap. Hyeon-woo buried his face in his hands.

What am I doing to Tae-geon?

He had been rationalizing to himself that hiding his Omega manifestation was the best way to maintain this relationship.

Every time that calamitous day came and he opened his body to Alphas, Hyeon-woo felt like a living sacrifice. It felt like he was using his body as an offering to ward off misfortune between Tae-geon and himself.

Meanwhile, Tae-geon, who had brought this calamity upon him, knew nothing and had nothing to lose. Hyeon-woo even felt victimized.

Every time he reached climax in another Alpha’s arms with his Omega body that Tae-geon so despised, he thought of Tae-geon. It seemed like he should at least enjoy this much to balance the scales. Gradually, the sense of sin disappeared, replaced by defiance.

His thorny defiance towards Tae-geon, who consistently ignored the smell of sex emanating from his body, was growing increasingly bloated.

Why don’t you say anything?

Am I dirty for carelessly rolling my body around?

Is that why you pretend not to know?

While he was thinking these thoughts alone, perhaps Tae-geon had been preparing. Preparing his heart to accept him, who shared pleasure by mixing bodies with the Omega he found so repulsive, just as before.

His chest felt tight. It felt like something was blocking his throat.

He was scared and afraid to confess the truth now, saying that he was that Omega, that he had been deceiving Tae-geon all this time, when Tae-geon was trying to accept him.

It was no longer just a matter of truth. He didn’t know how to be forgiven for the sin of pursuing pleasure while thinking of Tae-geon under another Alpha’s touch. It was even more impossible because it was after he had become aware of his feelings for Tae-geon.

He felt he absolutely couldn’t bear to see Tae-geon’s eyes fill with disgust when looking at him. Just imagining it felt like his heart was being torn apart.

Tae-geon must not know.

He must not let him know that I’m an Omega.

Absolutely not. Never, ever.

Hyeon-woo bit his lip, his face turning pale.

*

Tae-geon had prepared dinner and was waiting for Hyeon-woo to return. The stir-fried sausages that Hyeon-woo liked were left on the table, cooling and hardening.

Hyeon-woo, who had said he would be back by 8 PM for a group project, didn’t return until after 9 PM. Tae-geon, who had been sitting askew on the sofa, got up at the sound of the front door opening to greet Hyeon-woo.

“You’re back?”

“……”

“You’re late.”

Dinner for two was set on the table, untouched. Hyeon-woo’s gaze wavered when he saw this. Even though he knew Tae-geon had been waiting for him on an empty stomach until this hour, Hyeon-woo said in a nonchalant voice:

“You should have eaten first, why did you wait? I said I’d be late.”

As Hyeon-woo was about to go straight upstairs, Tae-geon blocked his way and nodded towards the dining table.

“Sit down for now. I’ll reheat this.”

“Tae-geon, I ate dinner outside.”

“……”

“I’m tired, so I’ll go up first.”

Tae-geon watched Hyeon-woo’s back as he headed upstairs, rubbing his temples. He was tired. It wasn’t the first time. This situation where Hyeon-woo avoided spending time with him like this.

Usually, after finishing classes and returning home, they would sit side by side at the living room table doing major assignments or spend time together watching movies, but all of that everyday life now felt distant.

Recently, even on weekends, Hyeon-woo rarely came out of his room, doing who knows what, so Tae-geon couldn’t remember the last time they had a proper conversation. Hyeon-woo often went out alone, using external schedules Tae-geon didn’t know about as an excuse, and frequently skipped meals saying he had eaten outside.

As the food Hyeon-woo didn’t touch kept being left out to spoil and get thrown away repeatedly, Tae-geon felt his patience reaching its limit. Hyeon-woo was clearly avoiding him.

A few days ago, when he went into Hyeon-woo’s room to take out the trash, he remembered finding a large amount of instant food packaging like triangle kimbap and cup noodles. It was right after he had thrown away a pot of curry that Hyeon-woo liked, which he had left on the gas range to reheat and eat, but it had spoiled untouched. This made him even more upset.

Does he not want to touch anything I make?

Why?

Tae-geon transferred the cooled stir-fried sausages into an airtight container. He could clearly imagine Hyeon-woo satisfying his hunger with some shabby convenience store food right now.

Is he acting like this because I asked him to introduce me to his Omega?

It was ridiculous and pathetic to see him, an Alpha, being wary of Tae-geon like this.

While he was worried about Hyeon-woo, who had been eating instant foods full of preservatives and artificial flavors for over ten days now, he was also irritated by Hyeon-woo’s attitude of being hostile towards him because of an Omega.

Tae-geon decided to dismiss Hyeon-woo’s silent protest. He’ll stop when he gets tired of it. Nevertheless, the refrigerator was filled daily with newly made food neatly packed in airtight containers, placed where it was easiest to reach, as if waiting for someone’s touch.

Another two weeks passed like this.

As the cold war unexpectedly prolonged, they started attending school separately. Although their schedules were the same, some major courses had different professors and thus different classrooms. Today’s first period was one such class.

Tae-geon, putting on his sneakers at the entrance, frowned at the sound of the morning alarm going off in Hyeon-woo’s room, probably for the tenth time.

What on earth did he do last night that he can’t wake up even with the alarm ringing like that?

With the intention of letting Hyeon-woo properly experience being late for once, Tae-geon headed to school alone, leaving Hyeon-woo behind.

He didn’t know how many times he had peeked into Hyeon-woo’s classroom under the pretext of going to the bathroom. He thought Hyeon-woo would show up in the middle even if he was late, as it was a three-hour mandatory major course, but Hyeon-woo’s assigned seat remained empty even after the lecture ended.

As soon as the professor left the classroom, Tae-geon jumped up from his seat and ran like mad all the way home. When he arrived home, breathing heavily, the front door opened and Hyeon-woo burst out.

“……!”

Hyeon-woo, startled to find Tae-geon standing at the door, looked like a mess. The loose-necked t-shirt he wore at home was damp with cold sweat, and his hair was all disheveled as if he had just woken up, looking completely out of it.

Tae-geon raised one eyebrow and slowly looked Hyeon-woo up and down. Intimidated by this gaze, Hyeon-woo shrank his shoulders and stepped back. Even in this situation, seeing Hyeon-woo trying to avoid him filled Tae-geon with intense anger.

He reached out and grabbed Hyeon-woo’s arm, pulling him close. As Hyeon-woo was dragged into his arms, Tae-geon detected a scent he shouldn’t have smelled at this moment.

Omega.

The vulgar Omega pheromones that were enticing Hyeon-woo were enveloping his entire body.