Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 28

Having nothing to refute, I let out a faint groan. As Choi Taegyeom said, I wasn’t the type to go to the hospital or buy medicine when I was sick. The only medicine I needed to take consistently was my suppressants, which was enough.

—Even if I tell you to go home and rest, you won’t rest.

Although the afternoon lecture was canceled, I didn’t explicitly mention that fact. From my long experience, I knew what Choi Taegyeom would say next. Choi Taegyeom, who was always endlessly kind, would probably say this next:

—I’ll buy you medicine. Which club is it?

“English Classics Reading.”

Park Sungjae’s eyes sparkled. No, it wasn’t just Park Sungjae. Minjeong, Kim Dohyun, and the other club members. Everyone in the club room was looking solely at Choi Taegyeom, who was sitting on the cot.

“That’s our club name.”

Choi Taegyeom looked at me, sitting beside him. The meaning of his gaze was clear: What’s wrong with him again?

“Our club is just missing one member.”

Park Sungjae was incredibly earnest. You could tell just by seeing his mountain-like frame hunched over, his eyes sparkling. Perhaps because his hair was neatly styled, or because he was dressed cleanly. He almost looked like he was selling an insurance product.

“I’m truly telling you this after careful consideration.”

The reason Park Sungjae was speaking so earnestly was one: to recruit Choi Taegyeom into the club.

“You know how important sensibility is in this generation, right?”

A moment ago, returning to the club room, I waited for Choi Taegyeom with my mask tightly on. While I was out smoking, Kim Dohyun had been in the club room, and even the smell of the delivered food couldn’t erase Kim Dohyun’s alpha pheromones.

‘Choi Taegyeom’s coming. Is that okay?’

I spoke lightly, looking at the club members gathered in a circle around the table. Of course, I hadn’t expected them to be startled and stop moving.

“It’s a time when even managing a company requires stimulating consumers’ emotions to survive.”

Someone stopped tearing chopsticks, someone stopped scooping rice, and someone else stopped pouring water into a cup. When their reactions were so extreme that I was rather flustered, Park Sungjae asked with great anticipation.

‘…Is he joining our club?’

“So, Senior, do you like Shakespeare?”

I clearly said no. That he was just stopping by to drop off medicine, and if not, I’d go out to meet him. I even added that Choi Taegyeom didn’t like Shakespeare and hated liberal arts subjects in school, but Park Sungjae didn’t give up until the end.

“While others are doing volunteer clubs, Senior, you’ll be pushing forward with sensibility, in line with the trend.”

What kind of nonsense was this? Pushing forward with sensibility, my foot. Choi Taegyeom was more likely to push the club room door open and leave.

“This suddenly…”

Choi Taegyeom had a bewildered expression. No, he seemed a little flustered. He probably hadn’t seen anyone as shameless as Park Sungjae in his life, so I fully understood his feelings.

“Meetings always start by chance, don’t they?”

Had he been lured and taken to that drinking party in the same way? Ignoring all of Choi Taegyeom’s bewildered expressions, appealing solely with ‘kind eyes.’

“From the day we drank together, I felt it was destiny.”

It was a confession-like statement. Just then, Minjeong, who was picking at rabokki, mumbled, ‘He’s such a nuisance, really.’

“Senior, you are an essential talent for our club.”

Choi Taegyeom looked at me sideways, as if he couldn’t take it anymore. He was usually someone who knew how to be firm, but it seemed he couldn’t overcome Park Sungjae’s earnest gaze. That sight was both amusing and cute.

“Stop it and eat.”

But everything has its limits. A club for someone who doesn’t like group activities was no different from throwing a penguin into a desert. I could assert that quietly eating was more beneficial than trying to persuade Choi Taegyeom.

“You don’t have to participate, Senior. Please, just make up the numbers.”

Finally, Park Sungjae threw away all his flowery words and revealed his true intentions. Please, just join. He wouldn’t bother him, and he’d do most things for him. It was the same method he used to persuade me.

“Hmm.”

Choi Taegyeom let out a light groan and leaned his head on me. His lips, curled up in a slight smile, resembled a lazy cat.

“Did you lure Lee Yoonwoo like this too?”

His large frame twitched. Haha, Park Sungjae let out an awkward laugh and sent me a pleading look for help. No way. Choi Taegyeom said no, so why would I help you?

“If it were a somewhat interesting club, I might have considered it.”

“…”

“What would management use English classics reading for?”

A look of despair crossed Park Sungjae’s face. The club members, who had been watching them with a ‘no way’ expression, also deflated and focused on their food. From afar, I heard someone clicking their tongue, saying, ‘I knew it.’

“Senior.”

Yes, there’s no way Choi Taegyeom would join the club. As I was thinking that, someone plopped down beside me. When I turned my head, I saw Kim Dohyun, who was pointing at his mouth with his index finger.

“Did you catch a cold?”

I was about to say yes. That I wore it because I thought I might catch a cold, and it wasn’t that serious. Just as I was about to give the same answer for the fourth time, Choi Taegyeom’s voice pierced my ears.

“But I’ll join.”

“…What?”

It was a jaw-dropping statement. It was more surprising than Choi Taegyeom following me to the drinking party. Is he crazy? That thought lasted only a moment. He spoke with a somewhat crooked smile.

“I like Shakespeare.”

Like Shakespeare, my foot. He looked like he was about to murder Shakespeare.

“Are you crazy?”

The Choi Taegyeom I knew was someone who loathed ‘literature.’ He was naturally smart, understanding everything he learned in math and English, but he particularly disliked studying literature. Especially when studying novels or poetry, he would openly make an expression of incomprehension.

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

For that guy to be talking about ‘reading English classics.’ And with such a twisted, sour expression on his face, too.

“I’m not crazy.”

Choi Taegyeom replied, his lips still contorted. The wrinkles between his brows and his raised eyebrows seemed to show just how displeased he was. At this point, maybe he was thinking it was less of a hassle to just join once, given how much Park Seongjae was bothering him.

“Really… really?”

Park Seongjae asked back, his eyes wide. It seemed he hadn’t expected the answer to be “yes,” even after he’d been the one to coax him. Heh, the guy, who had been looking around with his mouth agape, swallowed hard.

“You just said you’d join, right? No backing out, really!”

“Fine.”

Choi Taegyeom straightened his body. Then, tilting his head, he alternated glances between me and the person next to me.

“You’ve got a friend, and a junior too.”

The friend is me, and the junior is Kim Dohyun, I guess. Even if I were to agree, mentioning Kim Dohyun was completely out of the blue.

“Just put my name down, whatever.”

Hmph, Kim Dohyun snorted. I could clearly hear him muttering, ‘How childish…’ Was it my imagination, or had this guy stopped pretending to be nice at some point?

First, I pulled on Choi Taegyeom’s collar and spoke in a low voice.

“Think carefully. Even if you’re a ghost member, there are still things you have to do.”

“Then I’ll do them.”

His answer was simple. Choi Taegyeom squinted his eyes as if to say, ‘So what?’ Indeed? For a moment, that thought crossed my mind, and I tried to recall why I needed to think carefully again.

“…Park Seongjae will pester you to drink with him.”

“I just won’t go to drinking parties.”

“You’re shy around strangers.”

“I’m not shy around strangers; I just dislike crowds.”

“…”

“You’re the one who’s shy around strangers, Lee Yoonwoo.”

There was no counter-argument for anything he said. Choi Taegyeom answered so nonchalantly that it was a continuous ‘Indeed?’ This isn’t right… I felt a strange, unpleasant sensation.

“They’re all people I don’t know?”

“You’re here.”

Click, he moved his head. His expression remained indifferent.

“Why don’t you know them all? You know you.”

Somehow, it was a subtle remark. If he said it like that, it sounded as if he had joined the club solely because of me. Even though that could absolutely not be the case.

“Just a moment! I’ll go find the application form right away!”

Park Seongjae, utterly thrilled, went rummaging through a cabinet. I wondered what was in the cabinet tucked away in the corner, and it seemed to be full of club-related documents.

As the bulky figure that had been blocking my view disappeared, the gazes of the club members blatantly converged.

“Are you really going to join?”

It was Kim Dohyun who asked the question. Leaning forward, he looked at Choi Taegyeom and grinned.

“Didn’t you say, ‘What use is English classic reading to a business administration major?'”

His face was clearly smiling, but there was a prickle in his words. Perhaps it was because I’d heard he disliked Choi Taegyeom, or maybe it was because his eyes weren’t smiling. I could tell that Kim Dohyun was forcing a smile.

“Because I like Shakespeare.”

Choi Taegyeom let out a scoff and pulled at the corner of his mouth. To that, Kim Dohyun retorted in a calm voice.

“The club doesn’t only read Shakespeare’s works.”

“What does it matter? I’m not going to participate anyway.”

Sparks seemed to fly between their gazes. It seemed the memory of exchanging drinks at the last drinking party still lingered. Their gazes were so intense that I could feel pheromones, even through my mask.

“What are you two…”

What are you doing? If you’re going to fight, do it without me. I was about to say that, but I couldn’t utter the rest of the words. Suddenly, a wave of heat surged.

“…”

Thump, my heart seemed to skip a beat. My heart pounded, and my vision blurred. Why was this happening? I didn’t even have time to wonder. All the hairs on my body stood on end, and my skin tingled in response.

“If you’re just putting your name down, I’ll bring a friend. You don’t need to bother joining.”

“Then bring two. Lee Yoonwoo also finds these things annoying.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, but I only have one friend.”

Twitch, my fingers moved. I couldn’t hear what the two of them were saying. My body, already reacting, craved the alpha down to my fingertips. If pheromones had a form, I would have wanted to embrace them tightly and roll around.

I quickly bowed my head and let out a cough. Even if I took short, shallow breaths, I couldn’t stop the pheromones from permeating. Thinking I had choked, Choi Taegyeom stopped talking and rubbed my back. At his touch, my lower abdomen tightened even more.

“Are you okay?”

This wasn’t something that should elicit such a strong reaction. It wasn’t a sudden gush, just a slightly denser physiological release of pheromones. Normally, it would have been just a presence, nothing more, nothing less.

“…Senior?”

But my body was so hot that my fingertips trembled. My mind was melting, and my reason was intermittently breaking. My chest, burning hot, felt like it was on fire.

“…”

At some point, I couldn’t hear the sounds around me anymore. Would it be like this if someone grabbed my heart and squeezed it hard? Thud, my breath caught, and my breathing naturally became ragged.

“Lee Yoonwoo.”

Grab, it was at that moment that my shoulder was seized. My nape, my cheek, and my forehead. A cool temperature touched me in sequence. Blink, I opened my eyes and saw Choi Taegyeom’s dark pupils.

“Why is your body so hot?”

Ah.

“Are you okay?”

It was a heat cycle.

“…Ha.”