Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 7

At my softly spoken words, Choi Taegyeom glared at me fiercely. His slightly parted lips twisted in disbelief.

“You live alone when your commute is only 30 minutes…?”

“Haha…”

It was an unavoidable choice for me. If I lived next door, the chances of running into him would increase, and it would be a disaster if Choi Taegyeom’s parents visited on a day I had a heat cycle. Of course, I couldn’t explain these circumstances to him.

“It just kind of happened.”

“Lee Yoonwoo, you really…”

Choi Taegyeom trailed off, sounding very disappointed. After avoiding him for so long, and now even living alone, it wasn’t surprising that he was dumbfounded. Hoo, he let out a deep sigh and pressed down on my head.

“Never mind. What’s the point of talking about it?”

A faint smell of alcohol lingered in his close breath. I grabbed the brim of my cap, pushed it back, and examined his exposed face. He was still frowning, quietly staring at me.

“So where’s your place?”

“Near school.”

“Where near school?”

“Why, if you go down there, there’s a studio apartment complex at the bottom of the hill.”

“Ah, there.”

Choi Taegyeom nodded, as if he knew where it was. Then he grabbed my arm and started walking in that direction.

“Let’s go, I’ll take you.”

“…You, me?”

It was an utterly incomprehensible statement. If anyone was taking anyone, it should be me taking Choi Taegyeom. Even as children, didn’t I always walk him home, worrying that something might happen to the pretty boy? Although the concept of “taking him home” was vague since we lived next door, if we had lived far apart, I would have taken him home.

But Choi Taegyeom asked back with a very bewildered expression.

“You don’t seriously still think you need to protect me, do you?”

Flinc, my shoulder twitched. Realizing my true thoughts had been exposed, I unconsciously averted my gaze. No matter how tall and strong he had become, he still overlapped with that frail image of him from back then. Of course, the current Choi Taegyeom was by no means a child who needed protecting.

“No, it’s not like that…”

My clumsy excuse was useless. He wouldn’t let go of my arm, determined not to leave until he had taken me home. Helplessly, I let out a deep sigh and pulled my arm away.

“…Just go. The taxi stand is right there.”

“I can take a taxi home, but you can’t.”

“What kind of logic is that?”

The struggle that lasted for a few minutes finally ended with Choi Taegyeom’s victory. It was a conclusion I reached, knowing that Choi Taegyeom, once stubborn, would never back down. If I kept arguing like this, I’d be spending the night here with him.

No, to be honest, the desire not to part with him also played a part. It had been five years since I last saw Choi Taegyeom. The feelings that had grown within me kept holding me back from letting him go without regret.

During the walk to my studio apartment, neither of us said a word. Choi Taegyeom slowly followed me about half a step behind, and I walked diligently without looking back. Only the faint scent of his pheromones told me he was still following.

One step, then another. As I got closer to home, my steps grew slower and slower.

I didn’t want to part with Choi Taegyeom. Was it because it had been so long since we last met? My regret grew even stronger. I wished we had just taken a taxi together. The thought of seeing him turn around at my doorstep filled me with so much lingering regret that it reached my chin.

What was it like back then? Was parting sad?

Even when we were young, he and I walked like this, one in front, one behind. Even if I tried to walk side by side, the chick-like boy would quickly fall behind. Back then, there was quite a height difference, so he, who couldn’t match my pace and toddled along, was incredibly cute.

‘Want to hold hands?’

Then once, I asked him that. I thought it would be better to hold hands since he’d fall behind if I relaxed even a little. At least if he was next to me, it would be a bit easier to match his walking speed.

‘…What?’

He widened his eyes in surprise and looked at my outstretched hand with a bewildered expression. Then he frowned and sharply turned his head away.

‘Why suddenly?’

My mood then… I think I was a little disappointed. He didn’t need to show his dislike so openly, and I felt a bit hurt inside. So I awkwardly withdrew my hand and put it in my pocket.

‘No, because you walk slowly.’

Choi Taegyeom looked dumbfounded at my added excuse. He mumbled, ‘I thought…’ and pressed his lips together as if deep in thought. And before long, he extended his palm just as I had. His ears, barely visible, were slightly red.

‘You’re the one who walks fast.’

After that, we often held hands. The other kids teased us when they saw us, but neither Choi Taegyeom nor I cared. Perhaps that’s when we stopped caring about what others thought. The warmth I felt from our clasped hands was small and comforting.

“…You were cute back then.”

“What?”

Choi Taegyeom asked back at my unconsciously muttered words. I slowly walked, putting my hands in my pockets. My empty hands felt strangely hollow.

“No, I mean, back then. We always held hands, didn’t we?”

“Ah… that time.”

I wondered if he’d remember, but it seemed he hadn’t forgotten either. He smiled pleasantly, his eyes curving gently. Indeed, it wasn’t just for a day or two; we always did that until he presented as an Alpha. It would be stranger if he had forgotten.

“You were cute back then.”

“And now?”

“That’s gross.”

Hehehe, I heard laughter. A sweet pheromone drifted on the wind. Had the pheromone put strange ideas into my head? I took my hands out of my pockets and stopped. Choi Taegyeom stopped with me.

“Want to hold hands?”

It was an impulsive question. Whether I was drunk on the night air or Choi Taegyeom’s pheromones, I was definitely drunk on one of them. I held out my hand and turned to him, and he looked at me with calm eyes. The hand I offered him felt strangely embarrassing.

“Just, thinking about the old days.”

“…”

“Don’t give me that serious look, you punk. I’m just kidding…”

Before I could finish my sentence, our hands met. As I widened my eyes in surprise, Choi Taegyeom interlaced his fingers with mine, gripping my hand. Squeeze, a warm sensation spread from our clasped hands.

“I wasn’t slow back then either.”

Choi Taegyeom’s hand was different from before. His small, soft, fern-like hand was now a full joint larger than mine. Its beautiful shape hadn’t changed, but the visible veins and prominent knuckles clearly belonged to a mature adult.

“I purposely walked behind you.”

My heart pounded rapidly. Contact that felt normal as a child was now incredibly unfamiliar. Whether he knew how I felt or not, Choi Taegyeom looked down at our clasped hands and let out a small laugh.

“Because you always fell, I wanted to catch you.”

A memory flashed through my mind. The memory of constantly looking back because he was always walking a step behind, and falling over countless times. The cause was Choi Taegyeom in the first place, and it hadn’t even happened that many times.

“…When did I always fall?”

His hand tightened its grip. I quickly pulled my hand away to avoid showing my surprise. If I held it any longer, the pheromones I had been suppressing might leak out. I quickly turned my body and walked away, and Choi Taegyeom silently followed me.

“Lee Yoonwoo.”

How many steps had I taken? Before long, Choi Taegyeom called my name. His low voice came from behind me.

“I have so many questions for you.”

I slowly turned around. Choi Taegyeom stood upright with his hands in his pockets. Had he grown taller since graduation? My line of sight was a little higher. He gazed at me intently, tilting his head slightly.

“How you’ve been, what you’ve been doing, or at least if you thought of me.”

“…”

“Why you avoided me, why do you live alone. Where you served in the military, and what you did on leave that I didn’t see a single hair of you.”

These were all the things I wanted to ask. How Choi Taegyeom had been, what he had been doing, if he had thought of me, why he hadn’t looked for me while I was avoiding him.

There were so many things I wanted to ask. So many things I wanted to know. For over five years, not seeing him had only accumulated regret instead of giving up. Did they say presence comes from absence? His absence had slowly grown the size of my feelings within me.

“Why?”

But this was a different kind of curiosity from his. I sometimes forgot Choi Taegyeom, but he must have sometimes thought of me. The feelings we had for each other were as different in shape as they were in size.

“Why were you curious about that?”

I wanted to smoke. It was because of his pheromones carried on the wind. It was the same pheromone I felt after being diagnosed as an Omega before high school graduation and avoiding him. It was also the pheromone he released more loosely than usual when we were alone.

“Because we’re friends.”

Four words were enough for the reason. The words I had uttered with such difficulty, Choi Taegyeom said without the slightest trouble. There wasn’t a hint of wavering in his eyes as he spoke the word ‘friend.’

“Of course I’d be curious, we’re friends.”

“…”

“Otherwise, why would I care?”

Right, if we weren’t friends, there would be no reason to care.

It was practically a predetermined answer. I had fully expected it, and I was prepared. Through countless trials and errors, I had even practiced what to say when I heard those words.

“I don’t think of you as a friend.”

Choi Taegyeom looked at me with cold, hardened eyes. His gaze under the streetlight was as pathetic as a dog caught in the rain. I slowly approached him, a smirk playing on my lips.

“Someone like you isn’t a friend, you’re family.”

I wanted it to be at least half-sincere. Even if it was just empty words, I wanted to tell him directly that he wasn’t a friend. Fortunately, Choi Taegyeom’s expression softened as soon as he heard the word ‘family,’ and he let out a hollow laugh as soon as I nudged his shoulder. The pheromones floating in the air were much milder than before.

After that, we walked slowly, engaging in small talk. As if his curiosity wasn’t a lie, Choi Taegyeom asked many questions, as if he wanted to know every detail of my daily life during that time. Fortunately, there was nothing I couldn’t answer, and by the time we reached my doorstep, Choi Taegyeom also looked refreshed.

“Here?”

My studio apartment was located five minutes from the school. In reality, it was five minutes to the back gate, and another ten minutes to the department building, but it was still quite close.

“Should I get a place too?”

“Don’t. It costs a lot and it’s not great.”

As Choi Taegyeom said earlier, there was no reason to live alone when his house was only 30 minutes from school. It cost money, and it was terribly lonely. The only advantage was the convenience of being alone. It felt like all these things were luxuries.

“Then why do you live alone?”

“…Well, it does have its advantages.”

“Look at you changing your tune.”

Choi Taegyeom clucked his tongue and gestured towards the entrance, as if telling me to go in. He then stood still, seemingly wanting to confirm that I had entered. I wanted to tell him to stay the night, but given who he was, even asking him to come in felt cautious.

“Want some tea?”

“No thanks, not at this hour.”

Choi Taegyeom didn’t seem to have any intention of coming inside. Honestly, when he said he’d take me home, I expected him to ask to stay for a night, but it seemed he really just intended to drop me off.

“You don’t like people coming over to your place, do you?”

Choi Taegyeom added, shrugging his shoulders. It wasn’t wrong, but the difference was that Choi Taegyeom wasn’t included in “people.” The reason I didn’t like people in my space was the feeling of intrusion when someone entered my territory. Naturally, Choi Taegyeom, who was already within my territory, was an exception.

Of course, that didn’t mean I intended to let him inside. I just pressed the entrance password with a slightly apologetic feeling.

Beep-boop, As the door opened, Choi Taegyeom’s kind farewell was heard.

“It’s late. Go on in.”

“You go carefully too.”

Choi Taegyeom didn’t answer. He just stood there, quietly watching me go inside. Once as I pressed the elevator button, and once as the elevator door closed. Our eyes met twice in total, but during that time, he showed no sign of moving.

When I got home, I found a message from Choi Taegyeom, the first in five years. The content was nothing special. He was in a taxi now, and he’d go home, wash up, and sleep. So, Lee Yoonwoo, sleep well and see you tomorrow.

It was a greeting we used to exchange naturally, yet my heart still thumped. I was so happy to exchange even a small word that even sending a short message like ‘You too, sleep well’ made me nervous.

Five years hadn’t managed to kill my feelings for Choi Taegyeom, it seemed. Seeing the long-dormant emotions flare up like a burning fire.

That night, I couldn’t sleep until late.