Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 32

I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous. It wasn’t like I was seeing his face for the first time, and he was sitting right next to me just a few hours ago. No matter that I had left with Kim Dohyun right in front of him, it made no sense to be this nervous.

“……”

Choi Taegyeom didn’t answer. Blink, blink, his eyelids fluttered as they closed and opened. Just like when he was looking at his phone, there was no emotion in his gaze.

One second, two seconds, and three seconds.

“……Lee Yoonwoo?”

In a fleeting moment, color surged. His pupils trembled, and an expression appeared.

Choi Taegyeom walked towards me with wide eyes. My heart thumped as he strode forward.

“Why are you alone?”

He came closer and grabbed my shoulder. He examined my face and even put his hand on my forehead. I don’t know how long he had been waiting, but his hand was cold despite the April weather.

“You smell like cigarettes…”

It was similar to when I realized I liked Choi Taegyeom five years ago. The small emotion that had blossomed sprouted in the blink of an eye, and grew in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even have time to do anything. The already swollen emotion bore fruit, round and full, and then plummeted to the ground.

“Kim Dohyun, that bastard didn’t even take you home…”

Like rotten fruit cultivating another sprout. If you cut off one emotion, two branches grow, and if you cut off both, another branch grows.

“What did the hospital say? You went to the hospital, right?”

“……Hey, Taegyeom.”

Choi Taegyeom met my eyes as if telling me to speak. My emotions swelled at his unwavering gaze.

It felt like a dam had broken. The accumulated emotions overflowed, and everything I had painstakingly built up collapsed. The tiny crack that had been there shattered the moment he lightly touched it.

“I…”

The only way to kill growing emotions is to cut off the overflowing parts. To cut off the protruding emotions, I had to hand sharp scissors to someone else. Even if I tried to pick up the spilled emotions, their weight would make me drop them again quickly.

“I have something to tell you.”

Kim Dohyun’s words made me think a lot. His words about revealing I was an omega if I wasn’t going to confess, and to give up on my feelings if I was going to hide being an omega. And the question of whether I was being selfish.

I knew I was acting selfishly. For Choi Taegyeom, so he wouldn’t dislike me, so he could rely on me. The grand excuses were, in fact, all for myself.

I liked that he relied on me. I didn’t want him to dislike me, and I wanted a relieved Choi Taegyeom to stay by my side. Small thoughts gathered to form the excuse, ‘for Choi Taegyeom.’

Is there anything more humiliating than having your emotions exposed so nakedly? Would it be strange if I felt stripped bare by Kim Dohyun’s presumptuous remark? Regardless of the meaning, his words acted as a trigger, so was this a good thing or a bad thing?

“Come in.”

Choi Taegyeom followed me into the house with a slightly hardened expression. He still looked worried, but he seemed to have read something serious in my expression. As he took off his shoes and entered the house, his closed lips showed no sign of opening.

I placed the received medicine in the kitchen and sat on the bed. The not-so-spacious studio apartment didn’t have much space for conversation. I patted the bed, signaling him to sit next to me, but Choi Taegyeom instead ruffled his hair.

“What I wanted to say… no, let’s talk about this first. What did the hospital say?”

A laugh that didn’t fit the mood burst out. “Don’t change the subject, you idiot,” I almost said, but instead, I just answered casually.

“That’s what I was going to say.”

Choi Taegyeom’s face hardened. He looked at me with a stiff expression, then slightly furrowed one eyebrow. As if taking a deep breath, his chest slowly rose and fell.

“……Is it a serious illness?”

The question that popped out was heavy. I knew what his small head was worrying about. My expression was serious and the atmosphere was dark, so naturally, his imagination went in that direction.

“No.”

I wish it were an illness instead. A foolish thought crossed my mind. If it were an illness, I could just take medicine and get treatment. The fact that I was an omega was, in a way, no different from an incurable disease, so wouldn’t that be better?

“It’s not an illness.”

“……Really?”

Choi Taegyeom looked confused. He had clearly seen me sick, so he seemed bewildered that it wasn’t an illness. Where should I start, and how? Thoughts swirled in my head.

“It’s not an illness, but…”

“I’m an omega,” this one sentence wouldn’t come out. Just one sentence, no more, no less, was enough, but I couldn’t even begin to utter it. My stomach was tense, and my throat was churning wildly.

“……First.”

It was Choi Taegyeom who spoke first. Choi Taegyeom opened his mouth, looking at me, who was utterly tense. His gaze towards me was full of concern.

“There’s nothing wrong with your body, right?”

After a brief hesitation, I slowly nodded. To be precise, there wasn’t nothing wrong, but it wouldn’t be the kind he was talking about. Anyway, this would naturally heal with time.

“That’s a relief.”

Choi Taegyeom sighed, “Hoo,” and approached me. Thud, he sat on the bed and ran both hands over his face. His large hands paused for a moment, covering his handsome face.

“I worried a lot.”

Thump, my chest sank. His trembling voice sharply pierced my solar plexus.

“You always got really sick whenever you were ill before.”

“……”

“In high school too, you even collapsed once because of it.”

Emotions were contagious. Splash, the overflowing emotions rippled as if they would spill. His worry, his gentle voice, and his relieved eyes. All of them became a single burden of guilt pressing down on me.

“But since it’s not an illness…”

“Taegyeom.”

I had to admit it. Now, it was the limit.

“I’m an omega.”

Every moment stopped. His gentle gaze, worried expression, and short breaths.

“It wasn’t an illness, it was a heat cycle.”