Omega Complex Novel (Completed) - Chapter 89

Well, what did it matter? It had been a long time since I’d seen these guys, and Choi Taegyeom wasn’t someone who would scold me for getting a little drunk. Even if I couldn’t drink until my nose was crooked as Minjeong said, I could at least match the atmosphere to some extent.

“Cheers, cheers!”

Before I could even put down my empty glass, transparent liquid filled it again. The clear soju glasses clinked with a cheerful sound.

Choi Taegyeom arrived about 40 minutes later. It was around the time Park Sungjae was completely wasted and Minjeong’s face was just starting to change color. I had drunk quite a lot by then, so I was also feeling tipsy.

“Took me a while to find you.”

Along with a familiar pheromone, a large hand stroked my hair. Thump, a faint scent of rain wafted from the guy who slumped down next to me. He placed the umbrella he was holding under the table, loosened his tie, and gently rubbed my cheek.

“Did you drink a lot?”

“Hmm…”

His hands, usually warm, felt cool now. When I blinked without answering, Choi Taegyeom let out a helpless chuckle. The complaints came from the two people opposite us.

“Wow, it’s like we’re invisible.”

“How unfair, how unfair.”

“Unfair, my foot.”

Choi Taegyeom casually retorted and took the water glass in front of me. He carefully gave me water and even wiped my lips with his thumb. Only after resting my head on his shoulder did his gaze return to the two of them.

“You two haven’t changed at all.”

“He lost 10kg, though.”

“…Really?”

Even in my drunken state, I could feel the damp, heavy pheromone. There was also a slight chill mixed in, as if he had the air conditioning on in the car. When I raised my hand and placed it on his firm thigh, his broad shoulders twitched.

“Hyung, you look even more handsome than last time!”

Park Sungjae blinked and stared intently at Choi Taegyeom. His usual sparkling eyes were blurry yet clear. Choi Taegyeom gave a bland smile and brushed off Park Sungjae’s words.

“You’re drunker than last time.”

“I’m not drunk at all!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, then.”

It was an insincere answer by anyone’s standards. Park Sungjae, quite drunk, said “really” about five times in frustration. Finally, Minjeong, who was relatively sober, shoved a perilla leaf into Park Sungjae’s mouth.

“Anyone can see you’re drunk, so be quiet.”

“You always pick on me.”

His grumbling appearance hadn’t changed at all since college. He was still as big as a bear, just a little thinner. No, his face was leaner, which made him look a bit more pathetic.

“He’s going to cry.”

I suppressed a giggle, and Choi Taegyeom clasped my hand under the table. It was the same hand that had been resting on Choi Taegyeom’s thigh. He intertwined our fingers and rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, then took the bill from the table.

“Let’s go if you’re done drinking.”

I mostly ignored his mumbled remark about how much we had drunk. Choi Taegyeom half-rose from his seat and added,

“I brought the car, so I’ll drop you off.”

He had brought one umbrella he was using, and another new, completely dry one. If he had only come to pick me up, he wouldn’t have brought two umbrellas, so he must have intended to drop off Park Sungjae and Minjeong from the start.

“Where do you two live?”

“We’re fine.”

Minjeong waved her hand coherently at Choi Taegyeom, who was half-standing. She pointed at the half-empty soju bottle with her thumb and winked.

“There’s still alcohol left.”

“Right! We should drink more!”

A look of disbelief appeared on Choi Taegyeom’s face. I, who had also risen with Choi Taegyeom, felt the same way. No matter that Park Sungjae had lost 10kg, Minjeong was only half his size.

“…Can you carry him?”

“No way, why would I carry him?”

Minjeong made a disgusted face and reassured us, saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll abandon him appropriately.’ No, that sounded like something to worry about in a different sense.

“Ah, if it’s okay, could you lend us one umbrella?”

A straight finger pointed to the umbrella at his feet. And then moved to the bill Choi Taegyeom was holding.

“It would be great if you could pay the bill too.”

Her innocent smile left me speechless. Helplessly, I sympathized with the swaying Park Sungjae and said, if you’re going to abandon him, at least leave him somewhere where he won’t get wet.

Choi Taegyeom’s car was parked not far away. The sleek sedan was a gift from his parents when he got his job. He mostly used it for commuting, but I occasionally borrowed it.

“Did you have fun?”

Choi Taegyeom, who had fastened my seatbelt, gently brushed my hair back. Usually, he would touch my eyes or forehead more, but today he quickly withdrew his hand. I felt a little disappointed by the receding warmth.

“Yeah, it was good to see them after a long time.”

He started the engine right away, and the conversation ended there. Splish-splash, the rain hitting the car window sounded like holes had been punched in the sky.

“Minjeong’s preparing to change jobs.”

“Why? Doesn’t she like her company?”

“She said she doesn’t like the current CEO, and she also got an offer from somewhere else.”

“She’s been there a long time, though.”

I leaned my head against the window and looked at Choi Taegyeom’s profile. This straight-on gaze was hard to see unless he was driving. The light shattering in his faint eyes sparkled as if wet with rain.

“Come to think of it, time really flies.”

He was a guy who lacked nothing in his eyes, nose, or mouth, but from the side, his straight facial lines were particularly noticeable. His nose bridge, extending without a curve, and his slightly closed lips below it, were so tempting I wanted to touch them. Perhaps because the corners of his mouth were turned up, just looking at him made me feel good.

“Why?”

Choi Taegyeom asked softly without looking at me. He knew better than anyone why I was looking at him like this. He clearly wanted me to confirm it with my own words. Of course, telling him the reason wasn’t difficult at all.

“Because you’re handsome.”

He gave a languid smile and tapped the steering wheel. Even though it was a compliment he always heard, it seemed to make him happy when it came from me. That look was both cute and a little strange.

“You’re not working tomorrow, are you?”

“No, it’s Saturday.”

The radio wasn’t on, so a pleasant silence filled the car. The ticking sound of the wipers, the sound of rain hitting the car window, and Choi Taegyeom’s murmuring to himself.

“It’s raining a lot…”

As he said, the rain showed no signs of letting up. The rainy season had just begun in earnest, so it would probably rain heavily for several days. At least for two days, it was a relief that Choi Taegyeom didn’t have to go to work.

“Yoonwoo, did you close the windows at home?”

“Yeah, I closed them when they said it would rain.”

“You closed the windows, but didn’t bring an umbrella?”

Choi Taegyeom chuckled faintly and entered the apartment complex. Fortunately, there was an empty parking spot right near the entrance. He half-lowered the window, put the car in reverse, and skillfully turned the steering wheel.

“Well, you were going to pick me up anyway.”

“That’s true.”

Even his parking lot looked cool. The slight wrinkle between his brows, due to the ambiguous visibility from the rain, was even sexy. While I slightly lowered my gaze to admire his prominent nape, he perfectly finished reverse parking.

“Stay in the car.”

Before I could answer, Choi Taegyeom got out of the car with the umbrella. He walked around the car to the passenger side, opened the car door, and held up the umbrella.

“Watch your head.”

Even after several years of dating, Choi Taegyeom’s consideration hadn’t changed at all. He himself was drenched to the shoulder, yet he tried not to let a single drop of water splash on me. This is why I could never think of it as a rut.

‘Oppa, aren’t you getting married?’

Suddenly, Minjeong’s words came to mind. I hadn’t thought much of the question when I heard it, but now, looking back, I wanted to get married. If we were bound by the name of husband and wife, not just lovers, if the two of us entered the fence of family, I felt like I could talk about what happiness was.

“Yoonwoo.”

So, it was the moment I was about to casually ask Choi Taegyeom’s opinion. Just as I was about to ask a casual question like, ‘Taegyeom, shall we get married?’ he spoke softly.

“I’m going to sleep in a different room for a while.”

“…What?”

It felt like the surroundings had become quiet. I could still hear the fierce rain, but my ears were replaying the voice I had just heard. My mind cleared as if I were sobering up.

For a while… what?

“Just for a few days, or just for the weekend, I’m going to sleep separately.”

He answered calmly and pressed the entrance password. As expected, only after I entered first did he shake off the rainwater from his umbrella. I stared blankly at Choi Taegyeom, then suddenly snapped back to reality.

“Do I snore?”

This was the only reason I could guess. It had been five years. We had slept in the same bed for five whole years, so suddenly sleeping somewhere else made no sense. Unless I snored or ground my teeth, and he couldn’t sleep because of me.

“Snore?”

But instead of affirming, he let out a light laugh. His gently curved eyes held abundant tenderness. He was laughing with his shoulders shaking, so it didn’t seem like he was denying it just for courtesy.

“It’s not because of you.”

Choi Taegyeom’s hand gently ran through my hair. A faint, subtle pheromone was lightly felt on my skin.

“Then why?”

While he hesitated to answer, the elevator stopped with a ding. Choi Taegyeom held the elevator door with his hand and slowly stepped inside.

“I think I’m going into rut.”

It was an unexpected answer. It was also a very sudden remark. Choi Taegyeom took his hand off the door as he watched me get into the elevator.

“I ran out of suppressants and forgot to go to the hospital. The ones sold at pharmacies don’t work.”

Choi Taegyeom, a dominant alpha, also took rut cycle suppressants prescribed by a doctor. He had said that common suppressants could only suppress a limited amount of pheromones. He had always taken them without fail, but it seemed he had missed them recently due to busy work.

“…So?”

But what did that have to do with sleeping separately? I understood that he was in trouble without suppressants, worried about going into rut, and all of that, but I couldn’t understand why he was avoiding me.

“So what if you go into rut?”

Since meeting Choi Taegyeom, I hadn’t worried much about my heat cycle. Anyway, it was negligible compared to other omegas, and if it became unbearable, I would just have sex with Choi Taegyeom. Sometimes once, sometimes up to three times. After that much intimacy, the heat would disappear as if washed away.

“Then just… do it.”

Our gazes met in the air. He would know what my words meant. Perhaps that’s why Choi Taegyeom’s expression gradually changed subtly. He silently examined my face, then finally spoke as we reached the upper floor.

“…How many times do you think I’ll do it?”

A faint, laughing face was imprinted at the edge of my vision. Choi Taegyeom, with his eyebrows lowered in embarrassment, warned me in a very serious voice.

“You’ll regret it.”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer that. I genuinely felt a sense of crisis, sensing the lust that lay deep in his dark eyes.

Choi Taegyeom did not retract his words until I had finished all my preparations for bed. I tried to dissuade him once by saying there was no suitable room, once again by the fact that there were no spare blankets, and yet again with a childish plea that I was scared to sleep alone (which he quickly saw through), but nothing worked.

“I’m really fine.”

“I’m not fine.”

It was typical of Choi Taegyeom, who would never back down once he set his mind on something. When he was this resolute, nothing I said would work.

‘Isn’t it because he’s afraid he won’t be able to stop himself?’

Park Sungjae was right.

This was probably an extension of what he had shown before. That helpless confession that he didn’t want to control me with his pheromones was probably still holding him back.

A sigh of resignation escaped me. To think that my biggest worry these past few days was ultimately due to his rut cycle. We had been intimate for years, and yet the fact that he was still shrinking back stung.

“…”

So, when I slightly lowered my eyes, Choi Taegyeom, who was standing by the door, ran his hand through the back of his hair. He approached the bed with a troubled smile, as if he couldn’t help it.

“Don’t make that face.”

Choi Taegyeom’s hand gently caressed my cheek. He was Choi Taegyeom, but I was also me, easily soothed by his tender touch.

“It’s because I really feel like I won’t be able to stop myself.”

The intermittently felt pheromones told me that he was enduring a lot. He breathed unevenly and fiddled with my earlobe.

“Think about when you had your heat cycle before. I’ll be even worse than that, can you handle it, Lee Yoonwoo?”

‘Before’ must have referred to the day my pheromones went wild. The day I clung to Choi Taegyeom, my sanity was hanging by a thread.

“You already struggle normally, what if I keep you from sleeping?”

“…”

“I don’t have the confidence to be gentle.”

The more he spoke, the deeper Choi Taegyeom’s gaze became. Without me noticing, pheromones had slowly swelled and filled the surroundings. I couldn’t possibly say it didn’t matter. I also knew what he was trying to say, so I couldn’t show such confidence.

“…Then just stay with me until I fall asleep.”

I reached out and tugged at Choi Taegyeom’s clothes. I accepted his words, but I still felt like being childish. As if my emotional trigger point had lowered, I felt sad about not being able to sleep together.

“…Right, I drank.”