Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 24

Choi Taegyeom listened to my words, his lips pressed tightly together. The hand that had been holding my arm slowly slipped away. I lowered my gaze to Choi Taegyeom’s hand and pulled at the corners of my mouth playfully.

“Isn’t that really funny? What could possibly happen?”

I felt like I was rambling. I hadn’t intended to say even this much, but once the words came out, they didn’t stop easily. I couldn’t even check what expression Choi Taegyeom was making. So, without realizing it, I blurted out something I shouldn’t have.

“Well, if I were an omega, that would be different.”

Pheromones. Choi Taegyeom, whom I looked at, had a stiff expression. I felt crushed by the suffocatingly heavy pheromones.

“Don’t say that.”

His cold voice pierced my chest. His clear eyes were filled with sharpness. Choi Taegyeom spoke in a harsh tone.

“You can’t be an omega.”

This was already the destined outcome. Choi Taegyeom’s omega aversion was too deeply rooted to be pulled out. What would he react like if he found out I was an omega, when he reacted like this just at the mention of the word?

“Right, I can’t be an omega.”

I replied calmly, trying my best, and then got up. I knew I would be hurt, so why did I say something unnecessary? If I had just held back my pique a little, I would have had a better day.

“If you, Lee Yoonwoo, were an omega.”

What Choi Taegyeom would say was obvious. He would say we couldn’t even be friends. Or that he wouldn’t be able to see me anymore. Or even that he might start to dislike me. I didn’t want to hear any more words, and I had no intention of digging into an already open wound.

“I get it, so…”

I hardened my expression, meaning for him to stop talking. I get it, that’s enough. If I uttered that short phrase, it would be over. But Choi Taegyeom didn’t stop talking, and added in a slightly annoyed tone.

“That bastard would hit on you even more.”

“…Huh?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand his words. My mind was dazed, as if I had been hit in the back of the head. That bast… what?

“He’s an alpha.”

Choi Taegyeom crossed his legs and ran a hand through his hair. His slightly twisted lips were full of dissatisfaction. Tap, tap, he tapped the edge of the bed with a long index finger, grinding his teeth faintly.

“He’s like that even though you’re a beta, he’d be even worse if you were an omega.”

Discomfiture washed over me. The unexpected words brought both bewilderment and a sense of futility. So, the reason I couldn’t be an omega was ‘because Kim Dohyun might hit on me’?

“You don’t care…”

…do you?

The rest of the words were swallowed down my throat. I barely managed to pull down the corners of my lips that wanted to curl up.

‘Kim Dohyun’ was not on the list of reasons why I couldn’t be an omega. Because Choi Taegyeom hated it, because I couldn’t be friends with Choi Taegyeom, because I might go into heat from a dominant alpha’s pheromones.

Choi Taegyeom, Choi Taegyeom. And again, Choi Taegyeom.

At least for me, every reason was Choi Taegyeom. The fundamental reason I pretended to be a beta was all Choi Taegyeom. Naturally, I hadn’t expected him to mention someone else’s secondary gender.

“It’s a good thing you’re not an omega…”

It was a remark that should have been disappointing, but this time my mood didn’t plummet. I just waited for his next words with a slightly wry feeling. Choi Taegyeom sighed and ran a hand over his face, his eyelashes fluttering.

“Who knows what an alpha’s pheromones might do.”

It was then that all the strength drained from my body. That expression. That voice. And his gaze staring into space. A subtle sense of déjà vu seeped into my fingertips. No way? No, it was true. A sudden thought struck me like a hammer.

“Choi Taegyeom.”

“Why?”

I approached Choi Taegyeom without hesitation and stroked the back of his head. He raised an eyebrow and lifted his head, blinking slowly. The deep shadows under his eyes and his slightly twisted lips revealed his true feelings.

“…”

Why hadn’t I noticed until now? Why did I think it had dulled with time? Suppressed memories were bound to surface someday. To think I believed they had disappeared just because he didn’t show them.

“Come here.”

Choi Taegyeom reached out his hand without a word. Like a child, he wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face near my sternum. The way he nestled in felt strangely small.

“I’m sorry.”

It was an apology out of the blue. But Choi Taegyeom seemed to understand perfectly. A sigh that had reached his chin broke inside his mouth. His pheromones filled the surroundings in waves.

“I didn’t think.”

I knew about Choi Taegyeom’s trauma. I knew, but I still didn’t realize. What he felt when he told me to stay away from Kim Dohyun, what he felt when he said he wouldn’t care.

“I won’t say ‘omega’ anymore.”

Choi Taegyeom probably recalled the omegas who used to hit on him in the past. Kim Dohyun had marked me with his pheromones, confessed his liking, and didn’t give up even after being rejected. If you add the assumption of ‘what if I were an omega,’ it would only be a matter of time before he connected me to his past self.

“I’m sorry.”

The words I had spoken until now came to mind. The harsh words I had blurted out after endlessly hoping and being disappointed by those hopes. The slips of the tongue that must have made Choi Taegyeom, who was sensitive to the act of marking with pheromones, suffer alone.

‘…There’s no need to do that.’

‘Anyway, I can’t feel it, so why bother?’

‘Then just tell him to mark with pheromones forever.’

I was childish. When trying to control my desires, I recalled Choi Taegyeom’s trauma, but when he spoke, I covered it up with other reasons. Hope, disappointment, jealousy, they were emotions of a different category from the start, yet I tied them down to cheap affection.

“You don’t need to apologize.”

Choi Taegyeom mumbled in a small voice. A deep breath was mixed with alpha pheromones. He seemed to feel a bit better, judging by how quietly he was nestled.

“Just don’t meet Kim Dohyun.”

His grumbling voice was cute. As I gently stroked the top of his head, his fine hair intertwined between my fingers. I wanted to kiss him there, but I stopped myself, not trusting myself not to mix in my personal feelings.

“I wasn’t planning on meeting him anyway.”

Everything I said to Kim Dohyun was sincere. I liked Choi Taegyeom, and I didn’t know how to casually date. I had no intention of getting to know him slowly, nor of seriously considering his confession. Besides, Kim Dohyun was too young to be a romantic partner, wasn’t he?

“Keep that promise.”

Pheromones gradually seeped in. He hugged me a little tighter and rubbed his face into my embrace. Warm, his breath was ticklish.

“Don’t make me worry.”

Choi Taegyeom spoke in a voice barely audible. Worry about what? Who was the one clinging to me so pitifully right now? I snorted and replied nonchalantly.

“Why would I worry?”

Honestly, it would be a lie to say I didn’t have expectations. I thought that even if he disliked omegas, it would be okay if it was me. A sense of arrogance grew, believing that even if he knew I was an omega, he would never cast me aside. That small thought even gave me the urge to confess that I was an omega.

“I’m a beta, after all.”

But it was a good thing I didn’t. If Choi Taegyeom knew I was an omega, he wouldn’t cling to me like this. He wouldn’t be able to comfortably release pheromones in front of me, nor would he be able to lean on me freely. He might even gradually distance himself, saying an omega is an omega.

“Anyway, I can’t feel pheromones.”

So, for me, this was the best comfort. The best empathy, the best solace, and the best answer. As long as he leaned on me and worried about me, this was the final shackle I could never push away.

My mouth tasted bitter. My chest burned as if my insides were on fire. Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones filled the surroundings, but I couldn’t even fully enjoy them. All I could do was hide my feelings of liking him, along with the pheromones.

Well, it wasn’t bad. I could just take out my hidden feelings occasionally when I was alone. If Choi Taegyeom wanted me to, I was okay with remaining a beta.

Choi Taegyeom ate brunch and left immediately. He had received calls from friends he hadn’t met yesterday. He showed annoyance once while eating breakfast and again while changing clothes, but eventually, he took a call and left the house.

The house he left was filled with pheromones. From the bed to the bathroom, clothes, and the entire room. It wasn’t usually this much, but it seemed he had comfortably released his pheromones, thinking it was his home.

Ventilation, I don’t need to, right?

I lay on the bed and picked up the clothes lying next to me. He had taken them off and neatly folded them. I buried my face in the fabric, inhaled, and pheromones mixed with my breath.

‘Whose clothes are these?’

‘Park Sungjae’s. Why?’

‘No, the size… I thought it would be too big for you.’

My whole body melted languidly. My head throbbed with every breath. My lower abdomen tensed, and I felt like my body would react any moment.

‘…He must have been here, then?’

My thighs twisted. Why did I feel then that he was displeased? Was he bothered by the fact that I wore someone else’s clothes, or that I wore them without permission? Would it be strange if I felt good just at the fact that he cared, no matter which it was?

‘He just stopped by for a bit. I had washed them to return them, but he told me to just wear them, so I lent them to you.’

‘You don’t like people coming to your house.’

I also liked that Choi Taegyeom had a wry expression when he said that. It wasn’t something he, who had asked to stay for just one night, should have said, but it was cute how he awkwardly turned his head, knowing that himself.

‘It depends on the person, I guess.’

As Choi Taegyeom said, I didn’t like anyone invading my space. My own private space, my sanctuary. The only person who could cross that line was Choi Taegyeom.

There was an unavoidable reason for bringing Park Sungjae. I had spilled a drink on his clothes, so I brought him to lend him some clothes. Of course, it was only for a very brief moment.

‘You’re the first one to sleep over.’

You’re different from the other kids. I don’t know if that message was properly conveyed. Well, judging by his unchanging expression, he probably didn’t notice. No, even if he did, he probably wouldn’t have cared much.

“Hoo.”

My thoughts broke off intermittently. Not feeling pheromones, my foot. I never dreamed I’d do something crazy like go into heat from someone else’s discarded clothes. Just as I wasn’t an ordinary recessive, Choi Taegyeom wasn’t an ordinary dominant. I had overlooked that fact too much.

My lower abdomen tingled. My already swollen lower body helplessly asserted its presence. It was similar to the last time he had showered me with pheromones. Then, I at least tried to control myself, but now, I didn’t even feel like trying.

I had endured for one night. For over 12 hours, I had felt pheromones and endured purely with reason. It would have been impossible if I weren’t recessive.

Why should I hold back?

My hand moved the moment the thought struck me. The clothes Choi Taegyeom had worn were his pheromones themselves, so as I hugged the clothes, the remnants of pheromones seeped into me through my breath and skin.

“Heut…”

It felt like I was in heat. Every single cell in my body was running wild, and my heart pounded in response. My already erect penis was now wetting the area around my underwear, and my backside, which I had never touched, was also becoming damp.

They say the first time is always the hardest.

The moment I grasped my shaft, my mind went blank. Guilt, self-loathing, everything just became a springboard to recall Choi Taegyeom.

It felt like I was being held in Choi Taegyeom’s arms. Lost in his hazy pheromones, it felt as if he was touching my erect penis. His long fingers wrapped around my shaft, gently rubbing the glans. His hand, a knuckle larger than mine, would feel different holding my penis.

I wasn’t this lustful before… The ill-timed question quickly disappeared. The pheromones, deeply seeped into my territory, held me tight and wouldn’t let go. I moved my hand a little quickly, and before long, the sensation of ejaculation surged. A cozy feeling filled my stomach.