Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 76

The pub’s opening preparations went smoothly. The club members divided roles among themselves, serving and kitchen, and moved as if they had worked together for a long time. It was typical of them, having run the club for years, with Minjeong overseeing the kitchen and Park Sungjae the serving.

Choi Taegyeom and I changed clothes and helped the club members carry things. Most things were already prepared, and when they said they wanted more tables and chairs, Choi Taegyeom confidently went to the student council.

And as expected, the result was Choi Taegyeom’s overwhelming victory. The student council executives gave Choi Taegyeom extra tables and chairs without any restrictions. Park Sungjae, while expressing his injustice, said, “They ignored me when I went!”, happily arranged the tables.

“Go around once?”

Minjeong pushed Choi Taegyeom and me out of the tent just before the pub opened. She said we should show our handsome faces to promote the pub, and even handed us a picket that read something like “Romantic Pub with the God of Business.”

“At first, I thought about handing out flyers, but putting Taegyeom senior’s face on them is a bit much, isn’t it? And if we stick them on the ground, people will just step on them.”

“That’s true.”

“So, for promotion, Oppa and Taegyeom senior, wear our uniforms and walk around. It would be even better if you bring about five groups of customers when you come back.”

Minjeong, with a slight smirk, pushed me and Choi Taegyeom. Choi Taegyeom couldn’t push Minjeong away and awkwardly held the picket.

“We’ve put footprint stickers almost everywhere. I won’t ask you to actively promote, just wander around the areas where the stickers are. And be back by 6 PM at the latest.”

“…Can I get rid of ‘God of Business’?”

“What can I do, Senior, you’re handsome.”

Minjeong replied in a very unenthusiastic tone. She didn’t seem to think he was handsome in the slightest, but it probably wasn’t an empty compliment. It just didn’t show on her face.

“Originally, I was going to make Park Sungjae do it… but if he walked around wearing that hat, people wouldn’t fall for ‘God of Men,’ would they?”

“Right, right.”

Park Sungjae nodded seriously, with his arms crossed. He didn’t seem to mind at all that Minjeong was dissing him.

“Consider it a date too, by the way. Got it?”

Minjeong, having left us in the parking lot, gave us a word of encouragement and then went inside without a second thought. We stood alone in the parking lot, looking at each other. It was ridiculous that one wore a “Leader” hat and the other a “Handsome Man” hat, both wearing T-shirts that said “Romantic Pub.” Of course, it was also amusing that the picket Choi Taegyeom held had the “God of Business” written on it, which he so avoided.

“Should I hold the picket?”

“…No, it’s okay.”

Choi Taegyeom let out a hollow laugh and shook his head. I don’t know how many times this picky guy has bent his personality today. Normally, it would be impossible, but it seems he’s mellowed a bit with age.

“What’s gotten into you, agreeing to something like this?”

I opened my mouth as Choi Taegyeom and I headed towards the main gate. Choi Taegyeom, awkwardly fiddling with his hat, replied as if I was asking the obvious.

“They’re your friends.”

Beneath the brim of his hat, his straight nose bridge was smooth. Because he was tall, his face was visible even with the hat pulled low. His shadowed eyes formed a gentle arc.

“And I like everything I do with you.”

“…”

In his simple words, various emotions swelled like a snowball. Choi Taegyeom seemed unfazed, but my heart pounded so much that pheromones began to leak out. My face felt hot, and it was even embarrassing to meet his gaze properly.

“Kim Minjeong, was it? As she said, let’s take this opportunity to have a date.”

He slung the picket over his shoulder and put his other arm around my shoulder. As our distance closed, I could feel his warm pheromones. When I needlessly pulled down my hat, he stroked the crown of my head over the hat.

“You’re surprisingly shy about things like this.”

“…No, I’m not.”

“You are, your pheromones are coming out.”

Ahem, I cleared my throat. In the past, I wouldn’t have even noticed this much pheromone. Had my pheromones really become stronger? I recalled the day a few days ago when I went to the hospital with Choi Taegyeom.

‘Your condition has stabilized a lot.’

As he claimed my pheromones had intensified, I revisited the hospital I had gone to during my heat cycle. After explaining my symptoms and undergoing several tests, I spoke again with the doctor who had told me I would die young.

‘However, your pheromone levels have increased a bit, patient. It seems to have been influenced by the dominant alpha you mentioned being around. The more you are directly exposed to alpha pheromones, the more your recessive traits will change.’

The doctor explained the test results in a businesslike voice. The graph showing pheromone levels indicated an overall increase, and the table showing reactions to alpha pheromones showed no significant changes.

‘Well, even so, it’s just an increase in pheromone volume and more severe heat cycles. If you stay away from alpha pheromones later, your pheromone volume will decrease again. It won’t be very noticeable in daily life.’

As a result, my intensified pheromones were purely due to Choi Taegyeom. He wasn’t just any alpha, but a dominant alpha, one in a hundred. Since I had been receiving his pheromones morning and night, even a recessive omega would inevitably show a reaction.

Choi Taegyeom made a serious face as soon as he heard this, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to dislike my pheromones. And I didn’t really care about the amount of pheromones if he didn’t feel any aversion.

“Sometimes, I find it strange that I didn’t know about these pheromones until now.”

He openly sniffed in my direction. People passing by glanced at us at his behavior. No, to be precise, it wasn’t because we were close, but because of our clothes and the picket.

“Come and try the cocktails made by the Chemistry Department!”

“This is the Japanese Language and Literature cosplay pub!”

“Come and have some patbingsu (shaved ice with red beans)!”

A huge crowd had gathered in front of the main gate. There were people promoting departmental pubs, people from clubs, and even sightseers. If about half were our school students, the other half seemed to be outsiders.

“Should we shout something too?”

I muttered, looking around awkwardly. In my three years at school, this was the first time I had experienced such an enthusiastic atmosphere. In my first year, I was only at the pub, led by Park Sungjae, and after that, I went straight home, festival or not. In the first place, it was rare to come to school on Friday, the day the pub opened, among the three days of the festival.

“I don’t have the confidence to shout ‘Romantic Pub with Business…’.”

Choi Taegyeom frowned, showing the picket. We needed something to shout to attract people, but looking at the picket, whatever we were about to say just vanished. Of course, neither of us had the nerve to promote the pub in this crowd.

“Park Sungjae would be good at this…”

Fortunately, Choi Taegyeom was someone who attracted attention even when he did nothing. We stood there doing nothing, but the onlookers’ gazes slowly gathered. There were many gazes from young students in particular, and they were all busy whispering as they read the words on the picket.

“This is really embarrassing.”

Choi Taegyeom had been looking around for a while, adjusting his hat and whispering, when someone tapped his shoulder with dense pheromones that I could feel too.

“Excuse me…”

Choi Taegyeom’s face instantly hardened. I lightly clicked my tongue and looked behind Choi Taegyeom. There, a group of clearly omega individuals stood with excited expressions.

“Where do we go for the Romantic Pub?”

I hadn’t thought of such a situation. Choi Taegyeom was an alpha, and he would inevitably attract the attention of omegas, but I hadn’t considered the possibility of him meeting omegas. Especially meeting three omegas at once like this.

“You’re promoting the pub, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I reflexively stepped between Choi Taegyeom and them. Their gaze, which had been focused on him, naturally turned towards me. Their faces, still with a hint of student youth, sparkled with shyness.

“If you follow the footprints on the ground towards the parking lot, you’ll find our pub. But it opens at six, so it probably won’t be open for business right now.”

It was a line Minjeong had kindly given us because we were shy. She said that since we would surely just stand there doing nothing, if anyone talked to us, we should just say that. I hadn’t expected anyone to actually talk to us, but it was fortunate that I had memorized it.

“So, look around elsewhere and come visit after six.”

“Oh, I see…”

The other person mumbled softly, trailing off regretfully. Their whispering and exchanging opinions were distinctly different from Choi Taegyeom’s friends. Talking in low voices about where to spend time, what to do now, they eventually hesitated and raised their heads.

“Wh-what time do you two start working?”

Our gazes met directly. A slight blush spread across their youthful faces. For some reason, Choi Taegyeom seemed to be emitting slightly more unpleasant pheromones.

“We also start working at six.”

I wanted to get out of this situation as quickly as possible. His pheromones were getting stronger, and I wanted him to feel the omega pheromones as little as possible. If we kept this up, Choi Taegyeom’s mood would plummet endlessly.

So I turned my body and snatched the picket Choi Taegyeom was holding. As I grabbed his arm with my other hand, his hardened expression softened gently. I smiled as kindly as possible at the omegas still standing in place.

“See you at the pub.”

“…”

We turned our backs as if fleeing, but the omegas didn’t seem upset. They even waved, saying they would definitely come, so I awkwardly waved the picket back. Until then, Choi Taegyeom didn’t say a word and obediently followed me.

How long did we walk? We reached a promenade far from the main gate. Under the cherry trees lining the path, there were booths selling various odds and ends. The hand that had been holding his arm was now intertwined with his.

“Are you okay?”

I asked, seating Choi Taegyeom on a nearby bench. The picket I had been holding was neatly placed beside him. Choi Taegyeom, who had kept his mouth shut with an unreadable expression, pulled my hand after a slight pause.

“…I don’t think I’m okay.”

His listless voice reminded me of him when he was younger. Even the sensation of him rubbing his face like a cat made me feel sorry for him. Choi Taegyeom, who had been resting his face on the back of my hand for a long time, whined,

“Hug me.”