Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 47

I felt awkward. The fact that I had been anxious all alone felt foolish. He was just taking an exam, but I had imagined all sorts of things. I should have used that time to prepare myself to confess my feelings.

“Thank you for taking me.”

I greeted Choi Taegyeom’s friends and stepped back. I planned to wait downstairs until Choi Taegyeom came out. Standing in front of the lecture hall would be too conspicuous, and he would contact me first when the exam was over.

“No, it’s nothing difficult…”

The three of them said that and followed me closely. At first, I thought our directions simply overlapped, but the back of my head felt hot as I walked. I had a feeling that if I turned my head now, I would make eye contact with all three of them.

And was it just my imagination? I heard voices trying to pass on a task. You tell him, no, you tell him, no, you, you…

“Okay, let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors.”

“One round and done.”

“Hey, we should do three rounds.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. There’s only so much pretending not to notice. It was hard to ignore the sound of “Rock-paper-scissors!” especially if the result didn’t come out about four times.

“……Do you have something to say?”

As soon as he turned his head, the man with glasses quickly hid his fist. The other two were showing rock and paper. It was the fifth round, and there was no result yet.

“Ah, well, that…”

The one who spoke was the man who had played scissors. He looked between the other two, seemingly a little embarrassed, and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His eyes darted around awkwardly.

“I’m not asking with bad intentions.”

Was he going to ask about the rumors? If he was Choi Taegyeom’s friend, he must have heard the rumors. Stating that he wasn’t asking with bad intentions meant it was a question that would upset me.

“I’m just genuinely curious…”

I was prepared not to be flustered by any question. Even if he asked if I had slept with Choi Taegyeom, I could answer. However, rendering my preparation meaningless, the man asked a completely unexpected question.

“Does Taegyeom treat you well?”

“…Pardon?”

My words caught in my throat. Treat me well? That was a question you’d ask someone in a relationship. He probably wasn’t asking literally whether he treated me well or badly.

“What do you mean by that…?”

I asked back in a bewildered voice. Far from grasping his intention, I didn’t even understand the meaning. Naturally, I couldn’t find a suitable answer.

“Oh, well…”

The man awkwardly scratched his cheek with the hand that had played scissors. Perhaps because he was shorter than the others, his eye level was slightly lower than mine. He subtly averted his gaze, then suddenly adopted a resolute expression.

“I’m Jeon Raehyun.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m Jeon Raehyun, this is Kang Minseo, and this is Lee Jihun.”

The man pointed to the dyed-haired man and the man with glasses in turn. The names that passed by so quickly just as quickly slipped out of my mind. I blinked without even thinking of memorizing them, when he pointed his thumb towards the classroom.

“This is our first time seeing Taegyeom with a girlfriend.”

“…”

“We were curious how he acts with his girlfriend.”

Nod, nod, the other two bobbed their heads. Their curious gazes showed that what he was saying wasn’t a lie. At the same time, my words again caught in my throat.

“…We’re not dating.”

I couldn’t even say “I like him.” I had heard his confession and slept with him, but we hadn’t specifically agreed to date. Choi Taegyeom didn’t know I liked him, and I didn’t know if Choi Taegyeom still liked me. It was a relationship that couldn’t easily be named.

“Pardon?”

This time, it wasn’t me who asked back. The three of them stared at me with bewildered expressions. From curiosity to bewilderment, from bewilderment to shock. The changes unfolding before my eyes were quite dramatic.

“You’re not dating?”

The man with glasses asked again, his brows furrowed. Seeing his dumbfounded face, he clearly hadn’t accepted my words. When I nodded without answering, this time the dyed-haired man frowned.

“You’re not dating, but you slept together?”

“Hey!”

That was a truly blunt expression. Reflexively, I touched my neck and averted my gaze. Although it was covered by my turtleneck, there were numerous red marks inside my T-shirt. It seemed that Choi Taegyeom and I had slept together. It was already considered a given.

“…Why did you think we were dating?”

I asked the question in as natural a tone as possible. Was it because of rumors, or had Choi Taegyeom hinted at it? If it was the former, I needed to correct them, and if it was the latter, it was worth listening carefully.

“The way Choi Taegyeom acts…”

The man with glasses, among the three, slowly began. His gaze was directed upwards, as if recalling something. The dyed-haired man finished his sentence.

“Anyone can see, he’s like a kid dealing with someone he likes.”

My face flushed at the word “likes.” My earlobes turned red, and my cheeks felt warm.

I knew that Choi Taegyeom’s attitude towards me was unusual. Just as he was precious to me, I must have been precious to him. The affection that had been familiar since childhood was so natural that it couldn’t be given any other meaning.

“How can they not be dating?”

The three of them exchanged glances for a long time, with me in front of them. Unable to bear the embarrassment, I covered my eyes with one hand. Why did this make me feel so shy? After knowing Choi Taegyeom’s feelings, even the smallest details made me blush.

“…Hey, isn’t this unrequited love, damn it?”

“…Oh no. I think we did something unnecessary.”

“See, I told you not to ask.”

Whispers were heard. Didn’t they know that whispering at this distance was meaningless? Through the gaps in my fingers, I saw the three of them huddled together.

“Did he confess?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? He probably couldn’t.”

“No, he might have confessed and been rejected.”

These guys are a bit like Park Sungjae’s type too. Clueless, yet without malice, a little dense, and also shameless. I could see how they became friends with Choi Taegyeom.

“How do we fix this?”

“I don’t know, what do we do?”

“In times like these, you have to be brazen.”

Having finished their strategy meeting, the three of them raised their heads with confident expressions. They looked somewhat like meerkats on alert. A bespectacled meerkat, a different-colored meerkat, and a particularly short meerkat.

“Ah, I’m sorry. We seem to have misunderstood something.”

The bespectacled meerkat smiled kindly. It was a rather natural response.

“Since you said it was a heat cycle, naturally…”

“…”

“…”

For a very brief moment, there was silence. The three meerkats exchanged serious glances again. Soon, they turned their backs and huddled together as before.

“…But she might not be an Omega.”

“What are you talking about? She said she was in heat yesterday.”

“Do you smell Omega pheromones?”

When the man with glasses spoke, the dyed-haired man looked at me. Given the mention of pheromones, he must have been an Alpha. The dyed-haired man stared at me, then crumpled his face like a piece of tissue paper.

“Bullshit, she must be a Beta.”

“It was a false rumor then.”

“This is why rumors are…”

“I am an Omega.”

I had intended to pretend not to know, but strangely, I couldn’t ignore it. It was like watching them play rock-paper-scissors earlier, I suppose. If I left them alone, they would chatter all night about a topic with no answer.

“It’s just that I’m recessive, so I hardly have any pheromones.”

Whisk, the three who had been looking at me turned their heads again. They didn’t seem surprised that I was listening.

“But doesn’t Choi Taegyeom dislike Omegas?”

“He does. Last time he was confessed to by an Omega, he was in a bad mood all day.”

“Huh, who? That senior from our department?”

“No, the guy from Japanese Lit.”

“That’s because he was spraying pheromones.”

“Was he?”

“Yeah, Choi Taegyeom’s clothes were reeking of pheromones.”

They went on about how he disliked anyone who confessed to him, and then how some freshman liked Choi Taegyeom, and even how the school lunch they ate was tasteless, completely unrelated. Then, with a look of realization, they stared at me.

“Ah, I’m sorry. You are an Omega?”

“…Let’s go downstairs and talk.”

I subtly led them towards the stairs. It was clear that staying in the hallway would disturb the exam.

“Anyway, the professor is really crazy, isn’t he?”

“My thoughts exactly. How can he make that a question?”

“And it’s an elective, not even a major subject.”

The conversation, which had started again, didn’t stop until we reached the stairs at the end of the hallway. The topic of this conversation was about ‘the professor who made terrible exam questions.’ The three naturally went down the stairs, and I pretended to follow, subtly slipping away. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to notice that I wasn’t following.

“…What a mess.”

Now, the hallway was quiet. They were so loud it felt like there were about two drunk Park Sungjaes. How did Choi Taegyeom hang out with such chaotic people? I could clearly picture him frowning when the chatter started.

I leaned against the wall at the end of the hallway and looked at the classroom. It was 3:30. An hour and a half had passed since the exam began. He should be coming out around now. As I thought that, the classroom door opened.

“…”

Choi Taegyeom walked out. He was wearing different clothes from yesterday, and carrying a bag in one hand. He expressionlessly adjusted his bag and pulled out his phone. Even from a distance, I could see his fingers moving. Slowly, as he moved, a slight delay later, a vibration was felt in my pocket.

Choi Taegyeom: [Sorry, exam just finished] 03:31pm

The lump in my chest softened. Truly, my worries had just been a misunderstanding. He must not have seen the message I sent earlier, and our timing must have just been off. Just as I felt completely relieved. My phone vibrated again.

Choi Taegyeom: [Don’t wait, go first. I’ll be late] 03:31pm

My surroundings turned white. The thoughts that had been swirling around dissipated at some point. Only one thing, only the message from Choi Taegyeom, was seared into my mind.

“…”

Almost instinctively, I pressed the call button. Choi Taegyeom was in front of me, but I needed one last confirmation. Was he really avoiding me, or was it just my imagination? Ring, ring, the dry ringing tone tightened my stomach.

“…”