LM 45

Up to that point, it might have seemed like just a regular couple’s quarrel, but some people were frowning deeply and covering their noses in disgust.

“So tell me what you did that night! Do you think I wouldn’t know you were in rut that day?”

Eventually, the woman stood up abruptly and shouted. The faces of those covering their noses crumpled completely just like crushed paper.

Unable to bear it any longer, one person stood up and walked up to the chaotic table. Still pinching their nose, they called out to the flustered man with an irritated voice, “Excuse me.”

“This place isn’t for your private use. Do something about your pheromones. Either take this somewhere else or calm down.”

It seemed the man was more of a problem than the woman. Noticing even the staff had stopped to watch, the woman huffed and stormed out. The man also left quickly after letting out a heavy sigh.

It was usually highly entertaining to watch other people’s drama unfold before your eyes, but this ended disappointingly. Woo Taeju shrugged his shoulders and turned to face Kwon Siyul.

“The woman seemed like a Beta, right? And the man is an Alpha. I think I heard something about Beta earlier.”

He had sharp ears. Kwon Siyul hadn’t managed to get that much. He simply nodded his head while taking a sip of his sweet drink.

“Couples where only one side has a trait must be really tough. Have you seen any?”

“No.”

Kwon Yuwon was an Omega but despised Alphas and had been single until now, and while Woo Hyunse was an Alpha, Kwon Siyul didn’t know if he had ever dated a Beta in the past. Those two were the entirety of Alphas and Omegas Kwon Siyul knew.

“I’ve seen it. My friend is an Omega and their new partner was a Beta, but as you know, both Alphas and Omegas have their periods. It’s hard for Betas to understand…They ended up breaking up because of it.”

In the past, Kwon Siyul would have listened to this story indifferently. Now he couldn’t. He suddenly remembered Woo Hyunse casually mentioning being busy due to his rut. Judging from Kwon Yuwon, heat cycles would come every now and then. Woo Hyunse’s rut might not be far off either.

“Couldn’t it be controlled with suppressants?”

“Ah, that varies from person to person, but I heard dominants don’t control it well.”

“Dominants?”

Kwon Siyul’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. He knew it was a lie when Woo Hyunse insisted he was recessive. Kwon Siyul leaned toward Woo Taeju. Pleased by the sudden interest, Woo Taeju tried to suppress his smile by covering his mouth with his fist.

“I heard it from my cousin hyung who’s a dominant Alpha. He says suppressants don’t work for him, so he doesn’t take them anymore. Says there’s no difference whether he takes them or not.”

“Didn’t the dominant and recessive thing get abolished?”

“Well, they say that, but it still exists. Looking at my cousin hyung, dominants are clearly different from recessives or regulars.”

“How…different are they?”

“Extremely. It makes you personally realize how unfair the world is.”

Woo Taeju slowly stirred his drink with the straw. The smile on his lips looked to be somewhat bitter.

“I was compared to him a lot since childhood. My hyung was good at everything. Good at studies, good with his hands, learns ten things from one lesson, handsome, fit, tall too. Ah, he wasn’t originally born into that family, he was adopted later…Anyway, it’s because he’s a dominant Alpha. The only one in our family.”

“My close friend is an Omega. They’re really smart too. I guess it’s something innate…But they curse every day, saying being an Omega is the shittiest thing in the world.”

Woo Taeju agreed, laughing, that it was true the world was harder for Omegas than Alphas.

“When I was young, I used to hate that hyung. Because I was always compared to him. But now I like him. …He’s also the one who gave me an allowance to go on a date with you, hyung.”

He whispered the last part playfully, leaning closer toward Kwon Siyul. Although the word “date” felt awkward, Kwon Siyul pretended not to hear it.

“I think it’s more comfortable for Betas to date other Betas. Don’t you think so too, hyung?”

Kwon Siyul couldn’t easily answer. The person next to him now was an Alpha. And with the word “dominant” attached as well, which would be considered discriminatory if mentioned now.

Suddenly, it became evident to Kwon Siyul that there was a world that he, as a Beta, could never know. Suddenly, he felt as if Woo Hyunse was very far away. Beyond a solid wall, out of his reach.

Even after the arguing couple left, the café was still noisy. Woo Taeju, sitting across from him, chattered incessantly. Despite being surrounded by this noise, somehow it felt no different from being alone in that big house. A sense of loneliness settled on his shoulders as if he were left alone in an empty space with no one to keep him company.

“Ah, it’s snowing.”

Kwon Siyul followed Woo Taeju’s gaze. White snowflakes were gently falling from the cloudy sky.

Kwon Siyul listlessly rubbed his forearm. Somehow, he felt the chill reaching him from beyond the window glass.

* * *

Although he originally thought they were just going to see the sea briefly, he didn’t expect a camper van to be prepared in advance. Even after seeing the vehicle, he couldn’t believe it and hesitated for a while before getting in. Only when Woo Hyunse pushed his back did he climb aboard. It was equipped with a table, a comfortable sofa, a small but cozy bed, a shower, and even a kitchenette for cooking.

“If we’re going to go, we might as well enjoy it properly.”

He had worked hard, even doing overtime, to get these two days off. The reason he had been coming home at dawn lately was for this holiday. It seemed like too much good fortune to gain from a casual comment that had been thrown out randomly.

Unlike the day he went to see the sea with Kwon Yuwon, the weather was good today. The sky was azure and the sun was warm. Stretching his hand out the window, the cold wind pleasantly brushed through his spread fingers like webbed feet. On the distant mountains, patches of unmelted white snow remained, and being a weekday, there was no traffic and the roads were clear.

After a long drive, they pretty soon arrived at the sea. The sea was as blue as the sky, with some parts showing a green hue that resembled a summer forest. Rounded pebbles rolled with each wave that rushed in. White foam swept over these smooth stones.

In Kwon Siyul’s life, travel experiences could be counted on one hand. Excluding elementary school field trips, there were only middle and high school trips and the day trip with Kwon Yuwon. This trip was now added to that list.

Maybe because it had been a long time, or perhaps because he was with Woo Hyunse, his heart was beating heavier and faster than usual. Though the thumping sound was unfamiliar, a smile never left Kwon Siyul’s face.

It was a place without people. When asked how he found such a place, Woo Hyunse said he just came where his feet led him. It was a spot surrounded by forest, with only open space, the sea, and the sky, with no sign of anyone for miles.

Being winter, the days were definitely short. By the time they finished enthusiastically grilling meat, the sun was already setting. Kwon Siyul gazed endlessly at the horizon, turning the color of pomegranate seeds. The sea color, having swallowed the sun, gradually darkened, and the sky above it turned a deep navy blue.

The air warmed by sunlight cooled in the night air. The campfire chased away the chill. Kwon Siyul sat in a portable chair Woo Hyunse had brought out, watching the crackling firewood. His body was wrapped in a blanket. Seeing Kwon Siyul saying he was cold and putting his hands near the fire, Woo Hyunse had brought a thick blanket from somewhere and draped it over him.

“Have you been on trips like this often?”

“Sometimes.”

“With whom?”

“With friends. How about you, Kwon Siyul-ssi?”

While telling Kwon Siyul to call him hyung, Woo Hyunse still often called him “Kwon Siyul-ssi.” Thinking about it, it seemed he used “Kwon Siyul-ssi” more often than “Siyul-ah.”

However, Kwon Siyul couldn’t urge the other to address him more casually. Whenever Woo Hyunse called him by his name without the surname, it made him feel ticklish and shy inside for no reason. Though it was clearly his name, it didn’t feel like his name at all.

“This is my first time camping. Ah, I did pitch a tent in the military though.”

They say men talk about their military service even in nursing homes, and he was just like that. Before he could go on about his past military exploits in the cold weather, Kwon Siyul wisely shut his mouth.

“Do you like it?”

“Very much. I didn’t know it would be this good. The meat was delicious too…Next time when Yuwon returns, I’d like to come with him. He’d like it too.”

“What about me?”

Woo Hyunse, sitting next to him and listening to Kwon Siyul’s chatter, suddenly asked. Kwon Siyul scratched his head, saying “Ah.” He did want to introduce Woo Hyunse to Kwon Yuwon someday, but it was still left in the air whether they wouldn’t end up in a knife fight.

Wasn’t Kwon Yuwon the one who shuddered at the mere mention of Alphas? Furthermore, if he found out that Kwon Siyul had lived with Woo Hyunse even for a short time and spent nights together with him, it was horrifying just to imagine how Kwon Yuwon would react. That day would be the day Kwon Yuwon went berserk.

“Of course, we’d have to go separately. You and Yuwon shouldn’t meet. Absolutely not.”

“Because one’s an Omega and the other an Alpha? Or is there another reason?”

“Well, first of all, Yuwon really hates Alphas…”

The memory of Kwon Yuwon grabbing his shoulders with wide eyes and cursing Alphas as creatures without chastity was still vivid in his mind. Mentioning chastity naturally brought to mind rut. Kwon Siyul fiddled with his warm cup and glanced at Woo Hyunse. He took in his profile, as the other man leaned back in his chair and stared at the campfire, appearing to be more relaxed than usual.