Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 1 Manifestation

Every memorable moment was filled with Choi Taegyeom. From the moment he was born,no, even before he was born, until now, he and I were bound by a tenacious fate. Our parents were high school classmates, and we even lived next door. It would have been stranger if we weren’t friends.

Choi Taegyeom was a uniquely small and pretty child, a head shorter than me, with round eyes and fair skin. He was so adorable that, despite being the same age, I felt an urge to protect him.

Naturally, my way of cherishing Choi Taegyeom became quite peculiar. We went to and from school together every day, and I accompanied him in every single action. He complained a few times about my overprotective behavior, but he didn’t seem to dislike it. Proof of this was how he’d come wake me up in the mornings, despite my being a heavy sleeper, or how he’d openly show jealousy if I was with other friends.

The problem was that, from the point of his Alpha manifestation, he started avoiding me. At first, he’d go to school without me knowing, and then he’d openly run away from me. I grew distant from him without knowing why, and that’s how we became second-year middle school students.

How did I feel back then? Rather than anger, I think I felt a sense of loss. My stomach ached at the thought that the boy who used to trail behind me no longer needed me, and I couldn’t enjoy myself with anyone. I even had the absurd thought that he wasn’t associating with me because I was a Beta.

Why couldn’t I manifest? The small sense of injustice that arose quickly swelled. It was clear that he was avoiding me because I wasn’t an Alpha, but an unmanifested Beta. That’s why my affection and obsession must have become bothersome to him. Every night, I cried under my blanket, and the emptiness slowly faded.

However, those days ended more easily than I expected.

It was the day I went to school a little early for my class monitor duties. I felt an inexplicable tension in the restroom when I went to clean the mop. With a subtle unease, I opened every stall in the restroom, and in the last firmly closed stall, I encountered someone I never imagined.

‘Choi Taegyeom?’

Choi Taegyeom was a mess. His hair was disheveled, and his school uniform was half-off. Has my small and precious friend ever felt so unfamiliar? I can’t forget the moment he slumped on the toilet, looking at me with hazy eyes.

‘…Lee Yoonwoo.’

My gaze reached his half-swollen crotch. He knew I was looking at his private parts, but he didn’t stop me. No, it was more accurate to say he didn’t have the energy to stop me.

The mop I was holding fell weakly. I could also hear the restroom door close with a creak. Instead of asking anything, I helped Choi Taegyeom put on his clothes. After buttoning his shirt and fastening his pants, I carefully embraced his small body.

‘It’s okay.’

I think I just instinctively knew. What had happened to him, why he couldn’t resist, and why he was just sitting there, sprawled out, without even thinking of asking for help.

They said it was something early-manifested Alphas often experienced. Unable to hide their pheromones, they expose them and unintentionally cause Omegas to go into heat. Choi Taegyeom was a dominant Alpha, and his pheromones were so intense that they could intoxicate even Omegas not in heat. That day, the Omega he had put into heat was a third-year senior who had just recently manifested.

‘I hate Omegas.’

My shoulder became damp. I could feel the small body in my arms heaving as he let out his sorrow. I understood what he had been through while avoiding me.

‘…I really, really hate them.’

His anger-filled resentment was pitiful. The helplessness of not being able to escape, the resentment towards his swollen lower body, and a touch of shame. It seemed he felt more wronged by the fact that he had gone into heat for an Omega than by the fact that he had been harassed. It was an unavoidable physiological phenomenon, just as Omegas react to Alpha pheromones, Alphas also react to Omega pheromones.

Choi Taegyeom cried silently for a long time. Until other children came into the restroom a few times, and until the bell for class rang.

How much time had passed? He spoke in a voice barely audible.

‘It’s a relief you’re a Beta.’

After that day, Choi Taegyeom and I returned to normal. No, it was a little different from before. I became even more overprotective of him, and he relied on me more.

I was the only one he could reveal his shame to, a Beta who couldn’t feel pheromones. At that time, I was growing faster than my peers, making me a very good support for Choi Taegyeom.

I thought it was fortunate. I felt sorry for him, but I liked the fact that I was his only refuge. I was also satisfied that Choi Taegyeom didn’t have to try to control his pheromones when he was with me. Calming him down and protecting him. These were things only I could do, making me mistakenly believe that Choi Taegyeom would always need my protection.

‘…Did you grow taller again?’

But it wasn’t long before I realized this overconfidence was wrong. As the years passed, Choi Taegyeom grew taller and taller.

At first, he was similar to me, then taller than me. He grew in height, and his shoulders broadened. His hands and feet grew larger, and he even learned how to control his pheromones. His once pretty features now had a much stronger, deeper impression.

‘Oh, I keep growing every time I measure.’

Choi Taegyeom was no longer within my fence. The uninvited emptiness transformed into anxiety without fail. I was still a Beta, still in the same place, but I felt as if Choi Taegyeom, who had grown into a respectable Alpha, was drifting further away.

‘It’s okay now.’

When I showed my anxiety, Choi Taegyeom would smile nonchalantly and press down on my head. He’d cover the crown of my head with his large palm, then gently mess up the back of my head. It was clearly his way of comforting me, but the effect was minimal. His gentle caress only provided a fleeting sense of relief, not a fundamental solution.

To make matters worse, Choi Taegyeom became popular. I didn’t mean that perverted Omegas were flocking to him like before. More and more children blushed when they saw him, and in high school, there was a high probability that a letter envelope would be on his desk every morning.

‘You have another letter.’

I both liked and disliked it. I was glad he was safe, but I was afraid he’d avoid me like before. I felt he would leave me without hesitation, thinking a useless Beta wasn’t needed.

‘So annoying, really….’

However, Choi Taegyeom neither avoided me nor made other friends. He simply crumpled up every love letter he saw on his desk.

‘Hey, why are you crumpling that?’

I was the one who was rather flustered by his rough actions. Choi Taegyeom threw the crumpled envelope into the trash can, and I stared at the recently emptied trash can with a bewildered expression. The single envelope in the blue trash can felt somewhat out of place.

‘The sender must be upset.’

When I mumbled softly, he chuckled as if it were absurd. Then he sat down next to me and grumbled softly.

‘The letter was full of Omega pheromones. It’s disgusting.’

We were nineteen, but Choi Taegyeom hadn’t escaped his trauma. He would frown whenever an Omega passed by, and if pheromones accidentally got on him, he would wash his hands like crazy. His rejection of most confessions was also due to his Omega aversion.

‘…Ah, pheromones.’

At times like that, I felt strange. I was dissatisfied with being a Beta, but sometimes I felt relieved that I wasn’t an Omega. Before, I could protect him because I was a Beta, and now, I could be by his side because I wasn’t an Omega.

‘Lee Yoonwoo, you wouldn’t know, but….’

Choi Taegyeom awkwardly avoided my gaze. Perhaps embarrassed by his blatant displeasure, he lowered his eyes slightly.

‘Pheromones are like that. They stick to things, they get on you when you pass by. You can’t avoid smelling them just by not breathing.’

‘…Hmm.’

It was hard to understand 100%. I was a Beta, and I had never even felt his pheromones, which others found attractive. But I knew that if it was like this, daily life would be difficult.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to fix that? That, hating pheromones.’

‘Why?’

To my meaningless remark, Choi Taegyeom asked back as if I had said something absurd. And he blinked, staring at me quietly. His deep eyes looked at me without wavering.

‘Why bother fixing it?’

His voice was quite calm. No, it seemed a little angry too.

‘It’s a problem of not meeting Omegas. I don’t need to fix anything.’

Saying that, Choi Taegyeom closed his eyes and slumped onto his desk. It was an implicit sign that he wouldn’t say anything more. I quietly watched the back of his head and sighed softly.

‘You know I didn’t mean it that way.’

When I gently stroked his slightly ruffled hair, his slumped shoulders twitched. I carefully, gently caressed the back of his head. It was the exact same action he did when he comforted me.

‘I’m just worried. You’ll keep encountering Omegas in life, and you can’t just keep avoiding them every time.’

‘…I’ve gotten much better.’

Judging by his mumbled reply, his anger seemed to have subsided. In fact, Choi Taegyeom’s words weren’t wrong. Unlike in middle school, when he would have a fit just seeing an Omega, Choi Taegyeom was much better now. His expression still hardened, but he didn’t just run away or get scared. Rather, it was closer to feeling disgust.

I silently nodded, fearing I might make a mistake if I said more. My hand, which had been stroking his head, slowly patted his back. Choi Taegyeom buried his face in his arm without a word. His slightly exposed earlobe seemed a little red.

‘You’re getting a fever again, Taegyeom.’

The small Choi Taegyeom of my childhood would occasionally get a fever like this. Now he was bigger and stronger than me, but at times like this, he overlapped with the small, weak Choi Taegyeom of the past. Of course, it was a secret only I knew.

‘Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when the homeroom teacher comes.’

Choi Taegyeom didn’t answer and turned his head away from me. You cruel brat, I grumbled inwardly, stroking his round head. He was already asleep, his soft breathing circling my ears.

It was a peaceful moment. Choi Taegyeom was no longer a target for Omegas, and even though I didn’t need to protect him, we remained friends. Our daily life, which seemed like it would never break, was quiet.

‘…It’s a relief I’m not an Omega.’

The words I uttered meaninglessly didn’t reach Choi Taegyeom. In fact, they were words without emotion. His dislike of Omegas, and his subsequent aversion to them, had nothing to do with me.

And that winter, I manifested as an Omega.