Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 106. Side Story 8. Guardian (8)

Just as he said, Dohyun had put Wooyeon to sleep and just came out to the living room. He’d washed him thoroughly and even dried his hair, so Wooyeon would surely sleep soundly for at least two or three hours. He might toss and turn a bit at night, but that was always the case anyway.

“I put him to sleep and came out.”

“Good job.”

Daniel replied lightly, humming a tune. It was the same song Dohyun had heard him singing that morning while making kimchi stew. Dohyun sat on a nearby chair and subtly spoke to him.

“You seem to like that song.”

“Huh?”

Since Dohyun spoke in Korean, Daniel tilted his head as if asking what he meant. He still had a bright smile on his face as he asked again, “What did you say?”

The humid breeze tickled his cheeks. The air, typical of summer, was heavy with the heat that had built up during the day. He’d been drinking all afternoon, and the sun hadn’t even set yet. Dohyun gazed at the fading sky and calmly said, “You can speak Korean, can’t you?”

Daniel’s gaze shifted downwards. He was still smiling, but Dohyun realized he was flustered. So, seeing his eyebrows slightly raised, Dohyun slowly added, “I’m quick on the uptake.”

From the first time they met, there had been more than one strange thing. He only asked who Dohyun was after Dohyun offered to let him stay the night, and then he immediately clammed up when told there was a reporter. If he truly couldn’t speak Korean, he would occasionally show a frustrated expression, but Daniel had consistently acted as if nothing was wrong.

“You never even asked what I was saying when I was talking to Wooyeon.”

“…”

“But when I speak to you, you ask what I mean like a ghost.”

If Daniel had denied it, Dohyun would have pretended not to know. The reason he brought this up in the first place was because Daniel had been acting a bit strange earlier. More precisely, it bothered him that Daniel kept making a bitter expression after the drinking session ended.

“The song you just sang, that’s a Korean pop song too.”

“…Hmm.”

Daniel rolled his eyes and pulled his chin back. His lips, which had been pleasantly turned up, were now drooping. He blinked his eyes with a bored expression, and after a long pause, he finally answered softly, “I’m not good at it.”

His pronunciation was clumsy. Just as he said “I’m not good at it,” his intonation was also erratic. Before Dohyun could react, a deep sigh was heard.

“I learned it to get close to Wooyeon.”

“…”

“But Wooyeon doesn’t know.”

Of course, he wouldn’t know. Probably no one they met today would have noticed that fact. Dohyun was just sensitive to such things, so he realized it; if he hadn’t been Wooyeon’s friend in the first place, he wouldn’t have observed him so closely.

“Why did you pretend you couldn’t?”

This time, it was genuine curiosity. There was no particular reason to do so, so he wondered what the purpose was of deceiving him for two days. Surely, he wasn’t trying to secretly listen to what Wooyeon was saying.

“It wasn’t on purpose, but…”

His drawn-out words carried a complex mix of emotions. A vague sense of lingering attachment and regret that Dohyun couldn’t quite guess. Daniel hesitated for a moment, then very slowly parted his lips.

“I just wanted to.”

It wasn’t an answer at all, but Dohyun didn’t press him. He could tell just by looking that there was no bad intention, and no matter what, it was clear that Daniel quite liked the human Seon Wooyeon.

“Hey.”

Daniel spoke softly. He turned his body to look at Dohyun. His expression wasn’t clear because he was standing with his back to the sun.

“Are you curious? The American Seon Wooyeon.”

“…”

Of course, he was curious. He hadn’t even imagined those words would come from Daniel’s mouth first.

“Shall I tell you?”

Dohyun didn’t refuse the unexpected windfall. He simply looked back at Daniel, full of affirmation. And what came out was something Dohyun hadn’t expected at all.

“I was his bodyguard.”

Daniel continued Wooyeon’s story for quite a long time. How he met Wooyeon, how they became close, and how he managed to open Wooyeon’s heart. It was largely what Dohyun had expected, and the only surprising thing was that they were roommates in the same dormitory.

“He was so small at first. About this tall.”

Dohyun listened to Daniel talk about Seon Wooyeon and recalled the middle schooler he knew. That young Seon Wooyeon, who barely reached his chest, with tiny hands and feet.

“It was really hard to get close to him. Caution? He was incredibly cautious.”

He said Wooyeon was the most difficult person he had ever met. Wrapped up in caution, he would remain silent no matter what was said, making it difficult to even start a conversation. Despite that, he added that he tried until the end simply because of money.

“Money… You know, Wooyeon’s family is super rich. I was originally from Ghana, Ghana-ha-da?”

“Poor.”

“Yeah, I was poor.”

He wanted to ask how he knew Soohyang, but he couldn’t ask that far. In the meantime, Daniel asked Dohyun for a word or two, and then, as if realizing it wouldn’t work, switched to English.

“I even studied to pretend I was interested in Korea. I looked up Korean culture, listened to songs… and practiced ‘Annyeong’ and ‘Gomawo’. Oh, I really like Korea now. It’s a very charming country.”

He said the hardest thing he tried was to pronounce Wooyeon’s name correctly. It took exactly a month, and by then, Wooyeon had also opened up to Daniel. To be precise, it seemed like they just vaguely spent time together since Wooyeon had no one else to hang out with.

“Wooyeon is really… the more I got to know him, the more difficult he became. He’s also a very picky eater. If it doesn’t taste good, he won’t eat it. No, he can’t eat it. It was hard for me to find food that suited his taste.”

He spoke like a lament, but his expression was actually one of longing. Dohyun noticed the affection underlying his words and narrowed his eyes. No matter how cautious Wooyeon was, he couldn’t have failed to be affected by such gentle kindness.

“Then, was it half a year later? Wooyeon is presented as an Omega.”

Wooyeon, who presented overnight, reportedly experienced his first heat cycle for a whole week. Daniel, who initially thought it was just a cold, said he had no choice but to realize it as the symptoms worsened. Daniel immediately contacted Soohyang, who had her personal doctor prescribe suppressants.

“Honestly, I still don’t understand. Why did she tell me to hide that I was an employee, and why was she so interested in his every move but never contacted Wooyeon directly?”

Even if he was curious, he wasn’t in a position to ask. Daniel simply protected and observed Wooyeon as Soohyang instructed, with no authority beyond that.

“Wooyeon is dominant, right? A super dominant one.”

What were the chances that a newly presented super dominant Omega could skillfully control their overflowing pheromones? Dohyun frowned, recalling his memories from the orphanage. Daniel’s face was similarly contorted.

“How dangerous he was.”

The scattered puzzle pieces gradually fell into place. The reason Soohyang specifically assigned Daniel to him. The reason she, who usually hired Alphas, sought out a ‘Beta bodyguard.’

Soohyang had probably fully expected it. That Wooyeon would surely present, whether as an Alpha or an Omega. Unique traits were only inherited among unique traits, and Wooyeon was a precious result of an Alpha and an Omega.

“Alphas attacked him several times. They already looked down on him for being Asian, and then he presented, so he must have seemed easy.”

“…Did that happen often?”

It was a question Dohyun had once asked Wooyeon. When Garam lost control in the club room, Wooyeon had replied in a nonchalant voice, “It doesn’t happen often.”

“Countless times.”

His hair stood on end. Was it anger, or something else? A creeping emotion spread and covered his vision.

Dohyun knew that what Wooyeon had said then was a lie. Wooyeon’s expression, actions, and subsequent reactions—every gesture showed that he was ‘used to it.’ However, Dohyun hadn’t pressed for details because it wasn’t a memory that needed to be brought up.

“I told him to be careful because he’s dominant… Oh, don’t look at me like that. I know it’s not something he can control. I was just worried.”

Dohyun sighed, pressing a hand to his eyelids. His mood was strangely upset, and his stomach felt heavy even though he hadn’t been drinking. While he forced his pheromones to calm down, Daniel slowly continued.

“I thought it wouldn’t work, so I taught him how to exercise. He had to be able to protect himself somehow, right? You haven’t seen it, have you? Wooyeon is really good at sports. He’s good at fighting too.”

There was no way Dohyun would have seen it. He occasionally felt that Wooyeon was strong, but even that was only for a moment. No wonder he fearlessly confronted that bear-like Kim Jin-sang. It was because he had something to rely on.

“At that time, he grew almost a foot taller, but when he lost weight at the same time, the problem was…”

He didn’t need to hear the rest. If he looked pretty in Dohyun’s eyes, how pretty must he have looked in others’? It was obvious what would happen if a younger, softer Wooyeon, who was even more so then, emitted pheromones.

“So, do you know what I taught him?”

Daniel pulled the corners of his mouth, his face more confident than ever. Then he showed his teeth broadly and wrinkled his nose.

“Swearing.”

A hollow laugh escaped Dohyun. Not out of surprise, but because he had expected it.

“I taught him every swear word there was. Because in these situations, it’s important to assert dominance.”

Of course, Wooyeon didn’t follow suit. He said he was worried it would become a habit. Watching Daniel click his tongue in disappointment, Dohyun recalled the last MT. They say rote learning is scary, but hadn’t Wooyeon learned it more perfectly than anyone?

“I admit it. At first, it was out of obligation, but later it wasn’t. Wooyeon is my friend, and in some ways, he’s like my child.”

Emotions have many branches. Just as Dohyun had been drawn to Wooyeon and eventually felt romantic affection, Daniel must have grown fond of him over four years. Moreover, he had watched him grow up, so acting like a guardian wasn’t strange.

“I naturally thought Wooyeon would think the same. Because he continued to be my friend even after knowing I was hired by Soohyang.”

Dohyun vaguely realized the nature of the bitterness Daniel had shown. The reason for the emotion that flickered across his face when Wooyeon acted childishly towards him, or leaned on him, pretending to be weak.

“But he didn’t.”

It was similar to a parent being spiteful towards their child’s lover. Not romantic love, but friendship, or even family love. Daniel’s actions of scrutinizing Dohyun from head to toe also stemmed from that.