Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 50

Suddenly, I felt a fresh wave of emotion. When I returned home, Choi Taegyeom would be next door. It was the reason I felt quite nervous, despite it being the place I had lived my entire life.

When I arrived in front of the house, a firmly closed gate greeted me. The doorbell yielded no response, and the familiar door lock only beeped, indicating a wrong password. Come to think of it, they changed the number periodically. It seemed both of them had forgotten to tell me.

—The customer you are calling is not answering…

A familiar automated voice flowed from my phone. It was unfortunate news that the other party was unavailable. I should have contacted them beforehand. I had momentarily forgotten that they rarely answered calls while working.

“What do I do…”

It was an awkward situation, to say the least. I couldn’t just go back after coming all this way. If I waited until they arrived, I might have to stand for hours. I had left a message asking for the house password, but when they would check it was also unknown.

‘Did the password change again?’

Actually, this wasn’t the first time. My parents were far from meticulous and often unintentionally neglected me. It was partly due to their busy work, and partly due to their naturally indifferent personalities. It wasn’t that I felt lonely now, but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

‘Come here, Lee Yoonwoo. Let’s go to my room.’

Still, back then, at least I had Choi Taegyeom.

Whenever that happened, Choi Taegyeom would shake his head and open his own door. He’d say my parents were really too much, how could they forget every time? He’d even add that it was obvious I took after my parents, being so uninterested in my surroundings.

Thinking about it now, perhaps Choi Taegyeom also played a part in my parents’ indifference. Since I had somewhere to go even if the gate was locked, they probably worried less and less. And during the frequent repetitions of such incidents, I didn’t really perceive it as a problem either.

“Haa…”

A stifled sigh escaped me. The firmly closed door was incredibly frustrating. Should I climb the wall? I looked at the gate with that thought, and there was a security sticker plastered right on it. Even if I managed to climb the gate, getting into the house itself would be the problem.

In the end, I squatted by the flower bed next to the gate and tapped on my phone. I had left a message for Mom, so now it was Dad’s turn. I planned to wait a little longer, and if there was no reply, I would go back to my apartment. It wouldn’t be bad to visit again around the weekend instead.

“…Yoonwoo?”

Someone called my name about five minutes later. I hadn’t slept well last night, and the weather was warm, making me drowsy. Just as my eyelids were subtly closing due to the encroaching sleepiness, tap-tap, footsteps woke me up.

“Goodness, Yoonwoo, why are you like that?”

The person who rushed over was Choi Taegyeom’s mother. Dressed sharply in a suit with short hair, she looked every bit the career woman. I widened my eyes at the face so similar to Choi Taegyeom’s, then slowly got up.

“Ah, Auntie… Hello.”

“Don’t tell me, your parents changed the password again?”

Auntie understood the whole situation without many words. When I gave an awkward laugh, she lightly clicked her tongue and furrowed her brow. Her slightly furrowed face looked so youthful, it was hard to believe she was in her 50s.

“Honestly, what are these people doing, not letting their son, who’s visiting after a long time, into the house?”

Auntie patted my pants. From Auntie, who had come close, I could feel a faint Alpha pheromone. It was gentle and refreshing, different in atmosphere from Choi Taegyeom’s.

“The child has become half his size. Are you eating properly while living alone?”

“Yes, I take good care of myself.”

Auntie examined me with a worried gaze. She turned my face this way and that, and hesitantly stroked my shoulder and arm. “Taegyeom, I told him to take care of Yoonwoo…” I unconsciously flinched at her murmuring words.

“Let’s go to Auntie’s house. Your parents said they’d be late today.”

Grab, my hand was caught. Before I could say anything, Auntie naturally led me. While I was still flustered, the next-door gate swung wide open.

“J-Just a moment, Auntie.”

I hooked one foot on the gate and pulled my hand back. Auntie turned her head and gave me a puzzled look.

“Why?”

“No, I…”

I couldn’t pull my hand away. My grip was clearly stronger, but I couldn’t just rudely shake her off. Auntie softened her expression slightly, seeing my fidgeting.

“Has he gotten shy with age? It’s okay, come on in. My house is your house, you know.”

“It’s not that…”

“Hm?”

I had no good excuse. I couldn’t say that Choi Taegyeom had said he’d give up on me, or that it would be awkward to see his face. No, in fact, it was I who didn’t have the confidence to face Choi Taegyeom.

“Perhaps you two…”

Auntie narrowed her eyes, quick to catch on. Our gazes met in the air, sparkling as if piercing through my thoughts. Both Choi Taegyeom and Auntie, when our eyes met, I often felt like spilling my innermost feelings.

“You two aren’t fighting like little kids, are you?”

“…Why would we fight?”

A hollow laugh escaped me. If we were fighting, at least we could reconcile. This was too ambiguous to even call a fight. It was just that the direction of our feelings was different.

“Taegyeom has been so down lately, I thought you two had a fight.”

He was down. Even after declaring he would give up on me, it seemed he wasn’t feeling good himself. That fact both relieved and worried me.

“I thought, well, they never fought as kids, so maybe they’re just having a late puberty…”

“…”

“Anyway, there’s no way he’d fight with you, Yoonwoo.”

Auntie smiled brightly and patted my back. “Taegyeom is quite childish with you, isn’t he?” Her voice, tinged with laughter, also held affection for me. Even after meeting for the first time in years, there was no awkwardness whatsoever.

When I entered the house, I could feel the pheromones of several people. Choi Taegyeom’s parents, and Choi Taegyeom. As expected of a family, the faintly lingering pheromones had a calming effect.

“Auntie just came to get something, so I have to go out again. Take out everything in the fridge and eat it. If you’re sleepy, you can sleep in Taegyeom’s room.”

Saying that, Auntie really just took some documents and left. I wondered why she was home at this hour. As far as I knew, his parents also worked, so they were busy. It seemed I had coincidentally timed it perfectly.

I stood in the empty living room, idly looking around the house. The spacious living room and neatly organized interior were no different from what I remembered from childhood. The TV where Choi Taegyeom and I watched movies was still there, and the sofa where we lay side by side eating snacks was also unchanged. The family photo hanging above the TV remained exactly as it was.

“Cute.”

Choi Taegyeom in the photo looked much younger than now. His hair was a bit shorter, and he wore a loose-fitting school uniform. His eyes resembled his Alpha mother’s, and his nose bridge and lips resembled his Omega father’s. This was probably when he had just entered middle school.

‘Uncle, is Taegyeom here?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry… Taegyeom already left today.’

Around that time, Choi Taegyeom, who had presented as an Alpha, inexplicably avoided me. If I spoke to him, he would mumble and ignore me, and he would secretly leave for school or go home without me. Every morning, I came looking for Choi Taegyeom, but the one who greeted me was Choi Taegyeom’s father, who had a late start to work back then.

‘Uncle will tell Taegyeom to wait for you tomorrow.’

Uncle said that, but Choi Taegyeom didn’t wait for me. One month, two months. Until winter break began and we became second-year students. His escape, lasting almost half a year, ended on a day I went to school early for homeroom duty.

Even now, I still didn’t know why he avoided me back then. Was he flustered by the sudden presentation, or did he not want to show me his appearance being harassed by Omegas? I wanted to ask him the reason, but I couldn’t, thinking he wouldn’t answer.

When would Choi Taegyeom come home…?

For a moment, I hesitated. Should I go back like this, or should I wait for him in Choi Taegyeom’s room? Since we hadn’t met since the day he said he would give up on me, it would definitely be awkward to face each other like this.

Despite all sorts of worries surfacing, my steps led to Choi Taegyeom’s room. Entering a space so familiar and full of memories, my body wouldn’t listen to me.

Since I came all this way, I should at least see his face before leaving. Him saying he would give up on me didn’t mean he wouldn’t meet me. If I went back now, Auntie would be disappointed, and there was nowhere else for me to go anyway. Besides, I had no reason to avoid him.

“…”

Of course, no matter how many excuses I made, there was only one reason. I simply missed Choi Taegyeom. I was curious how the space full of our memories had changed now.

I stood in front of Choi Taegyeom’s door and took a breath. A place I used to enter and exit without a thought now felt unfamiliar. My hand fumbled when I tried to grasp the doorknob and turn it.

Click, the sound of the door opening was loud. Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones wafted strongly through the gap in the door. And the scene before my eyes brought with it a terribly deep longing.

“…It’s the same.”

Everything was the same. The bed he used, the wardrobe and desk, the bookshelf in the corner with neatly arranged books. Except for textbooks being replaced by major subject books and school uniforms by department jackets, everything was exactly as I remembered.

“…”

An inexplicable emotion swelled within me. It was a space I had encountered countless times in dreams and memories. I had spent more time here than in my own room, and it was more familiar than my own bed. The only difference was that it was now filled with pheromones I hadn’t felt before.

My brain felt like it was melting. It felt like he was holding me, stroking my back, and gently pouring out his pheromones. Here, there, everywhere were Choi Taegyeom’s things, and pheromones surged like waves.

‘If you’re an Omega, you can’t come into my room.’

‘…’

‘I won’t let you in.’

Choi Taegyeom’s casual remark came to mind. I had thought he just disliked Omegas, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. The pheromones filling the room were so intoxicating that they almost made me lose my reason.

When I came to my senses, I was sitting on Choi Taegyeom’s bed. The space where he spent the most time was, as expected, heavily imbued with his pheromones. I lowered my head and buried my face in the duvet, inhaling as deeply as I could.

“Ha…”

I wasn’t even aware that I was acting like a pervert. The pheromones that permeated deep into my lungs melted every cell in my body. My eyelids twitched, and my breath mingled with my body heat. A warm sensation spread from my lower abdomen.

It was more stable than heat. I felt like I had built a nest and entered it. My body, already intoxicated by the Alpha pheromones, demanded an even cozier sensation, and I pulled the duvet around me, curling into a ball.

“…Mmm.”

Ah, this is good. There was no one to disturb the vague thoughts that came to mind. The occasional lapses in my rationality were also the same. The warm pheromones from the duvet I held tightly in my arms. With each breath, the empty space inside me filled up.

I was freely indulging in pheromones in an ownerless room. Auntie, who told me to take a nap, probably didn’t expect this. Choi Taegyeom, the room’s owner, probably didn’t even know I was here.

The feeling was different from sexual arousal. My head was hazy, and I couldn’t put strength into my fingertips. My judgment was gradually blurring, as if I were drunk.

Pheromones flowed from within me. I didn’t feel the need to contain them or suppress them. As I rubbed my pheromones onto the soft duvet, the sensation of intertwining with Choi Taegyeom that night was replayed.

“…”

Manipulated by pheromones? What nonsense. All I remembered was being consumed by pleasure.

My rising breath scattered into the air. Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones were much stronger than those of a typical Alpha, so no matter how much I released my own, they wouldn’t fade. I liked that fact.

But no desire was comparable to the overwhelming urge to sleep. My eyelids stayed closed for longer and longer, and my mind intermittently blacked out. The soft bedding, and the sense of security provided by his pheromones. It was enough to make me realize the fatigue I had forgotten.

I was more tired than I thought. By the time I realized that, I was already falling into the depths of sleep. Forgetting that this was Choi Taegyeom’s house, forgetting that I was lying on his bed. My consciousness drifted far away.

Someone was stroking my head. The hand, gently raking through my hair, was as careful as if touching thin glass. A pleasant floating sensation enveloped my whole body each time his long fingers tangled in my hair.

Instinctively, I knew I had slept for a long time. My whole body felt languid, but my mind was clear, and I didn’t feel the same fatigue as before. Meanwhile, the hand that had moved away with regret slowly approached again.

“…”

My eyes simply fluttered open. As naturally as I had fallen asleep. Waking up was also instantaneous. Beyond my brightened vision, I saw Choi Taegyeom sitting on the bed.

“You’re awake?”

Choi Taegyeom didn’t stop stroking my head. He met my gaze, his eyes gently crinkling, and softly brushed my bangs aside.

“You slept well.”