Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 5

At the casual question, Choi Taegyeom, who was drinking, subtly furrowed his brows. Then he stared at me.

“What about you?”

For a moment, I couldn’t grasp the context of the conversation. By words alone, it was a question, but the flat tone made it clear to anyone that it wasn’t a question.

Thud, Choi Taegyeom put down his glass and narrowed his eyes as if urging an answer. Ah, it seemed it was a question after all.

“Me? Of course not.”

I had never even liked anyone other than Choi Taegyeom, let alone dated anyone. In school, it was to protect Choi Taegyeom, and after growing up, it was because I liked Choi Taegyeom. I had never even thought about dating someone.

Choi Taegyeom made a subtle expression at my answer, then turned his head and cleared his throat. Ahem, ahem, the cough that came out was incredibly awkward. Along with it was a pleasant, overflowing pheromone. Why is he acting like that? That question lingered for a moment, then a small, almost inaudible answer came back.

“I’m not seeing anyone either.”

“…Ah.”

A gasp escaped me without my knowing. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since I decided to give up on him, but such a small detail made me happy. My suppressed pheromones even started to leak out without my permission.

“Really…?”

I fiddled with my hat and replied awkwardly. All sorts of cheers erupted inside me, but I couldn’t show how happy I was. The fact that he didn’t have a girlfriend, that he wasn’t seeing anyone else at least for now, kept tickling the corners of my mouth.

“Senior, can I ask you something?”

But the hazy feeling didn’t last long. Kim Dohyun, who had been looking at me with a smile, asked Choi Taegyeom, still smiling. Choi Taegyeom, who had been turned towards me, turned to Kim Dohyun with a look of displeasure.

“What is it?”

“You said you hate Omegas, but is Senior Yoonwoo okay?”

It was a question whose intention I couldn’t grasp. A subtle silence, along with an unknown sense of unease, filled the air. Choi Taegyeom also frowned as if to say, ‘What kind of nonsense is that?’

“Why Yoonwoo?”

Choi Taegyeom’s hand went up to the back of the chair. As he leaned in, I could almost feel his breath on my face. Reflexively, I widened the distance, and at the same time, Kim Dohyun glanced at me and replied.

“Senior Yoonwoo is an Omega, you know.”

Thud, a stone dropped. My surroundings turned white, and I felt a ringing in my ears. My tongue felt numb as if someone had hit me on the back of the head.

“That’s why I asked why you went to the military earlier…”

“…”

“Omegas are exempt from military service, right?”

Kim Dohyun looked at me with a bright smile. He even subtly sought my agreement, as if asking, ‘Isn’t that right?’ I had to say no, that he had misunderstood, but my throat felt completely blocked, and no words came out.

Omegas don’t go to the military. It was because it was difficult to suppress heat cycles and various complex problems were at play. Well, most of the complex problems were about crime prevention, though.

But I had hoped to enlist even after being diagnosed as an Omega. I even overcame the difficulties I faced during the physical examination with the title of ‘extreme recessive Omega.’ Fortunately, no one in the unit knew I was an Omega during my service, and I was able to complete my military service safely and be discharged.

“Yoonwoo is an Omega?”

I had lived like that for five years. Even my family, who had seen me since birth, found it puzzling. My classmates who went to school with me, and even Choi Taegyeom, whom I met after several years, didn’t notice. Unless a heat cycle came, there was no way they would feel my pheromones.

“Yes, aren’t you?”

But how on earth did Kim Dohyun know I was an Omega?

“Senior Yoonwoo’s pheromones…”

Kim Dohyun nodded and slowly turned to me. Then, seeing my pale face, he widened his eyes in surprise.

“…Senior?”

I never thought I could hide it forever. I had to tell them someday, and I intended to reveal it myself.

But at least, I wished it wasn’t now. After I was a little more prepared, when Choi Taegyeom disliked Omegas a little less, it wouldn’t be too late to reveal it then.

“Senior, are you okay?”

Kim Dohyun’s hand reached towards my hat. He also lowered his head and furrowed his brows as if to check my face. But Kim Dohyun’s hand didn’t reach my hat. Thud, Choi Taegyeom slapped his hand away and wrapped his arm around my neck, speaking in a gruff voice.

“What are you talking about?”

Snap, I came to my senses. My churning stomach slowly settled. Overflowing, overflowing, Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones enveloped me as if comforting me. Choi Taegyeom stroked my head over my hat and let out an incredulous snort.

“He’s a Beta.”

My molars ached. ‘I am an Omega.’ The words that couldn’t come out tore at my stomach.

“He’s not an Omega.”

Choi Taegyeom’s voice was firm. I never thought he would, but it seemed he really hadn’t noticed that I was an Omega. Even though it should have been a relief, I felt strangely stifled.

“…A Beta?”

Kim Dohyun looked at me with a subtly stiff face. He touched the hand that Choi Taegyeom had slapped away and closed his mouth as if he couldn’t understand. I pressed down on the brim of my hat and forced a smile.

“Why, do I look like an Omega?”

There was no way I looked like an Omega. I had heard people say I looked like an Alpha, but never an Omega. Even the Alpha doctor who did my blood test couldn’t believe I was an Omega.

“You must have mistaken it for the cigarette.”

My fingertips trembled. Even as I casually took a cigarette out of my pocket, my throat felt parched. It was fortunate that I had my back to Choi Taegyeom. Otherwise, he would have instantly noticed my strange expression.

“Cigarette?”

“Yeah. I smoke pheromone cigarettes.”

A white cigarette pack caught on my fingertips. Cigarettes that emitted a slight pheromone scent for Betas. Something I had consistently smoked without forgetting since I was twenty.

Choi Taegyeom pressed down on my head and muttered irritably.

“You don’t even know…”

His grumbling voice was full of displeasure. As I awkwardly turned my gaze, Kim Dohyun took the cigarette and looked bewildered. A hollow voice flowed from his stupidly parted lips.

“Ah, pheromone cigarettes…”

He seemed to believe it. After all, it would be stranger to insist I was an Omega when two people said I wasn’t. It was good that I smoked. I sighed in relief and leaned against Choi Taegyeom.

“…Oh.”

But the moment I leaned against him, a warm sensation suddenly enveloped me. His breath on my ear also felt a little hot.

“Are you getting a fever again?”

Startled, I straightened up, and Choi Taegyeom moved away from me, shaking his head. His finger was pointing at the glass filled with alcohol.

“It’s because I drank.”

He must have drunk more than he thought, sitting and having a drink or two. Are you in a position to scold me for smoking? As I muttered that and clicked my tongue, Choi Taegyeom awkwardly turned his gaze away. Then he gulped down another drink.

He had no one to drink with, no one to pour for him, so why was he drinking all the alcohol by himself? I nagged him to go drink with his department, but he didn’t listen to a word I said. The funny thing was that none of his department mates pointed out Choi Taegyeom’s behavior.

“Stop drinking, you idiot. What if you get drunk?”

“I won’t get drunk with this much.”

“Nonsense, you’re already getting hot.”

His face was red, but he talked well. I didn’t know Choi Taegyeom’s drinking capacity, but from the looks of it, he didn’t seem to be a strong drinker. Sure enough, when I put the back of my hand to his cheek, I felt his warm body temperature.

“See, it’s hot.”

“This isn’t being drunk…”

Choi Taegyeom opened his mouth in frustration, then sighed and turned his head. ‘That’s enough, that’s enough…’ he also mumbled.

Come to think of it, there have been a few situations like this before. Choi Taegyeom was naturally prone to getting hot, and I was keenly aware of his changes. I took him to the infirmary countless times when he got hot out of nowhere, but he rarely took fever reducers.

“Your stubbornness hasn’t changed at all.”

As I muttered softly, Kim Dohyun looked at us with a subtle gaze. He held the cigarette I had offered in his hand, his eyes slightly furrowed. And then, he offered the cigarette and let out a hollow laugh.

“…I must have misunderstood.”

His amiable smiling face looked back and forth between me and Choi Taegyeom. A quiet apology came with it.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine if you know.”

Choi Taegyeom replied gruffly and then yanked my chair closer. It was an implicit gesture telling him not to talk to us anymore. Even I felt embarrassed by his actions, but surprisingly, Kim Dohyun seemed unfazed. He just stood up from his seat with an apologetic expression.

“I’ll just go to the restroom.”

Seeing him leave in a hurry, he must have been very flustered. Or perhaps he was embarrassed about his misunderstanding.

As soon as Kim Dohyun moved away, Choi Taegyeom pointed at him with his finger. His heavily furrowed face seemed to show how annoyed he was.

“Are you close with him?”

“Close? We just met today.”

“Then why is he like that?”

“How would I know?”

Didn’t I just say? Far from taking good care of him, I’d only known his name for a few minutes.

“It seemed like Taegyeom was interested in you.”

When I mentioned the most plausible reason, Choi Taegyeom made a dumbfounded expression. A voice of absurdity came out of his wide-open lips.

“…Me?”

“Yes, you.”

The subject of the question was Choi Taegyeom, and the person being addressed was also Choi Taegyeom. No matter how I thought about it, Kim Dohyun was clearly one of the ‘Alphas interested in Choi Taegyeom.’ He must have taken a liking to his smooth face as soon as he saw him today.

“He seems to be another Alpha who likes you.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than fierce pheromones flowed out. Along with it was an inexplicably sharp gaze. Why is he suddenly like this? As I looked at him with that thought, a question even fiercer than the pheromones came out.

“He’s an Alpha?”

I nodded reflexively. I hadn’t felt his pheromones, but since he said so, he must be an Alpha. That’s why he must have felt Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones from me.

“That bastard…”

Choi Taegyeom muttered ominously and glared in the direction Kim Dohyun had disappeared. Then he examined my face with a serious gaze. Everywhere his eyes touched, dense pheromones poured out. The scent was so strong that the freshman across from us blushed.

“What?”

If I had my way, I’d tell him to pull back his pheromones, but to do that, I’d have to tell him I could feel pheromones. Helplessly, I could only hold my breath and lean my head back.

“Nothing.”

Choi Taegyeom still looked at me with a serious gaze, then finally pulled back his pheromones. The pheromones enveloping the surroundings were slowly fading.

In the meantime, he parted his lips once, then twice, choosing his words before speaking.

“Because I’m relieved.”

“About what?”

His expression was strange. He said he was relieved, but the way he looked at me was incredibly awkward. He shook his head for a moment and then scooped up some soup with my spoon.

“That you’re not an Omega.”

“…”