If You Want Me - Episode 57
<Episode 57>
It happened impulsively, without a moment to think.
As soon as the soft sensation touched his lips, Do-gyeom hastily sat up, but the situation was already irreversible.
Under him, Seo-won’s face was flushed bright red. His face was already heated and reddened from crying, but now it was burning fiercely, truly fitting the expression “burning sweet potato.”
Do-gyeom should have said it was a mistake, that he was sorry…
“…It’s because you were sniffling so much.”
“…”
Too flustered, Do-gyeom blamed Seo-won for the kiss and got up from his spot.
Do-gyeom dashed out of the servants’ quarters as if running away. As he climbed the stairs, servants and his mother tried to talk to him, but he headed straight to his room without even thinking of replying.
As soon as he opened the door to his room, Do-gyeom dove onto his bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
…What did I just do?
He usually found Seo-won cute, enjoyed teasing him, and liked being with him. However, not once had he thought of Seo-won in that way.
If Do-gyeom had ever thought that he might like Seo-won, he could have understood, but he couldn’t comprehend why he had kissed him.
More importantly, how would he face Seo-won now?
Even after doing such a thing, Do-gyeom was still thinking about facing Seo-won, which was absurd.
He thought he should quickly go back and apologize before things became awkward, but he couldn’t muster the courage to face him right now.
He couldn’t forgive himself for doing such a despicable thing to someone five years younger than him, a mere middle school student.
Do-gyeom pounded on the innocent bed and collapsed on it.
It was his birthday… He wanted to die.
* * *
The birthday party ended late in the evening.
After doing such a thing with Seo-won during the day, Do-gyeom was half out of his mind, but he managed to finish the party without any major mistakes. Being busy actually allowed him to forget about what happened with Seo-won for a while.
However, when he lay alone in his room to sleep, his mind was too clear, and he couldn’t fall asleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, the soft sensation that had touched his lips came to mind, making him want to die of shame.
‘…Let’s have a glass of water before going to bed.’
Recalling that drinking warm water before bed helps with deep sleep, Do-gyeom sluggishly got up from his bed and went downstairs.
As he headed to the kitchen, he saw a figure in a dark and quiet corner. It was Seo-won’s mother. She was sitting motionless, without even turning on the lights.
Do-gyeom could have pretended not to see her and passed by, but the gloomy atmosphere was as if someone had died. Why is she like that? Do-gyeom carefully spoke to her.
“Auntie.”
“Ah… Young master.”
Just from being spoken to, she seemed greatly startled, widening her eyes and then clutching her surprised chest. It wasn’t as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t, so why was she so shocked?
“Why are you sitting here at this hour instead of sleeping?”
“Ah… I couldn’t sleep, so I was just sitting here for a bit. I’ll go in soon.”
Auntie smiled faintly as if telling him not to worry.
However, her face didn’t look like someone who was just sitting there because she couldn’t sleep. Even in the darkness, worry and concern were visibly plastered all over her face.
Normally, Do-gyeom wouldn’t have cared whether something had happened to Auntie or not, but after what happened with Seo-won today, he couldn’t help but be concerned.
Could it be… that Seo-won told Auntie about what happened between them? Seo-won had been fretting about possibly getting kicked out, so it seemed unlikely that he would have told her.
Then, is he sick? Did he go to the hospital after the party preparations were done? Did he receive a bad diagnosis at the hospital?
Earlier, his mind had been muddled because of the kiss, but now, thinking that Seo-won might be seriously ill, his heart sank again.
Before Do-gyeom had entered the servants’ quarters, Seo-won had been crying without making a sound. Do-gyeom wondered if he had started crying again after being left alone. Even though he seemed to have gotten better, had he fallen ill again? Do-gyeom was curious and worried about that.
He wanted to go to the servants’ quarters right away to check on Seo-won’s condition, but at this hour, and after doing such a thing, it felt a bit awkward to go there recklessly. So, Do-gyeom subtly asked her.
“Come to think of it, your son… He seemed a bit sick.”
“Ah… You saw him?”
Her face turned into a worried expression, indicating that it was indeed her concern.
What on earth had happened? Does he have an incurable disease? Or a disease that requires a lot of money? If that’s the case, perhaps our family could provide support.
Do-gyeom thought of numerous methods in a brief moment and decided to find out the name of the disease first.
“Is he very sick?”
“He’s not sick, but… They said he manifested as a recessive omega…”
“…A recessive omega?”
“Originally, he had a high probability of presenting as a beta, but it seems he had regular contact with an alpha. I don’t know where such a thing could have happened… Sigh…”
Auntie, who usually didn’t share personal stories, poured out her frustration to Do-gyeom as if she was suffocating.
But… Regular contact with an alpha? Having been close friends with Seo-won for a long time, Do-gyeom was familiar with his friend relationships. Most of Seo-won’s friends had not manifested yet, and although there were a few alphas among them, there was no one he met frequently enough to change his type.
That’s what Do-gyeom knew, so what kind of influence could have…
‘Could it be because of me?’
Do-gyeom had been told before, when he manifested as a dominant alpha, to be careful because close contact with someone who hadn’t manifested could cause them to present as an omega. However, such mishaps didn’t occur when he was with them as usual. It only happened when he released pheromones.
Do-gyeom had been told he had good control over his pheromones… Could he have been unconsciously releasing pheromones to Seo-won?
He didn’t particularly remember doing so, but he hadn’t often seen Seo-won carrying the pheromones of other alphas. On the very rare occasions when Seo-won had a hint of his alpha friend’s pheromones on him, Do-gyeom found it quite unpleasant and covered it with his own. Seo-won didn’t know this because his type hadn’t been revealed yet.
He had only done it a little bit… Could such a thing really have happened because of him?
While feeling confused, a part of Do-gyeom thought that perhaps he had kissed Seo-won because Seo-won had released pheromones when he manifested as a recessive omega.
‘No wonder I wanted to kiss Seo-won even though I don’t like him.’
Do-gyeom rationalized it that way, but after that day, it became awkward to see Seo-won’s face.
Whenever he saw Seo-won’s face from afar, he would recall the soft sensation that had touched his lips and the pheromones that had enveloped his body that day, making him feel strange.
Unable to fully understand it, an opportunity to study abroad in the United States arose. Until then, Do-gyeom couldn’t understand why he had to go study abroad, but for some reason, he suddenly wanted to leave at that time.
So, he left Korea without saying goodbye.
* * *
“David.”
At the age of twenty, someone lightly tapped Do-gyeom’s shoulder and called his English name.
Do-gyeom, who had been sitting alone on a bench in the center of the campus, glanced up at him. A dominant alpha with blond hair, blue eyes, and a physique good enough to be believed as a quarterback was smiling brightly.
“Jay.”
“What are you doing here alone?”
Jay was someone Do-gyeom had encountered a few times before coming to study abroad when he accompanied his parents to parties. He had also heard that Jay was a dominant alpha with an extraordinary mind and was scheduled to receive successor training after graduation.
Perhaps that’s why Jay often approached Do-gyeom like this, feeling a sense of kinship and familiarity with him. Do-gyeom looked at Jay and then shifted his gaze back to the distant void.
“Well… Nothing interesting is happening.”
“You sound like an old man who has lived through everything. Do you want to drink this?”
Jay casually offered something. Looking down, Do-gyeom saw a canned coffee in Jay’s hand, which seemed to have been bought from a vending machine.
Canned coffee was too sweet and had a cheap taste, so Do-gyeom had never touched it since trying it once in high school.
“…You drink it.”
“Come on. It’s surprisingly tasty.”
As soon as Do-gyeom refused, Jay opened the canned coffee and chugged it down in one go, as if to show that it suited his taste.
They were sitting there uneventfully, watching the students walking around, when Jay suddenly scooted closer.
Then, with an interested look, he stared at something and threw the empty can in his hand.
Clang!
The can hit a man’s head with a loud noise. The small-framed man flinched. Surprised by the sudden action, Do-gyeom grabbed Jay’s forearm and frowned.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“What? Oh, do you not know him? That bastard is a recessive omega, and he confessed to a dominant alpha classmate last time.”
Do-gyeom made an even more puzzled expression at Jay’s explanation. What does that have to do with hitting his head with an empty can?
Not knowing how to react, Do-gyeom couldn’t say anything, and in the meantime, Jay picked up the can and muttered, looking at the recessive omega who was staring this way.
“Isn’t it disgusting? The nerve of him to have expectations with that kind of background. Is he dreaming or something? Did his expectations grow just from watching dramas in his room?”
Jay snickered.
However, Do-gyeom’s facial muscles only grew stiffer. He couldn’t understand what the omega had done wrong since earlier.
Do-gyeom could kind of guess in what aspect Jay disliked that recessive omega. There was a perception that dominants should only associate with other dominants, and it was known that they weren’t attracted to each other.
Moreover, among the children of wealthy families, the relationship between dominants and recessives was even more taboo. From a young age, it was a mandatory course to receive early education that it was abnormal and that one should unconditionally date a dominant omega.
So, Do-gyeom knew there were many who viewed it negatively, but even so, expressing hatred to the extent of hitting someone’s head with an empty can was going too far.
At any other time, Do-gyeom might have turned a blind eye to whoever Jay was bullying, but for some reason, he couldn’t just let it go this time.
“Still, there’s no need to go this far.”
“What are you saying? We need to make him know his place. Besides, do you know what’s even funnier? Those two decided to date.”
“…What? If they decided to date, isn’t that fine?”
“You’ve been saying weird things since earlier. That guy is abnormal too. I heard they’ll both drop out soon. Good riddance.”
“Drop out? I don’t think there’s a need to go that far.”
“Are you serious? What if that spreads? Don’t tell me you like recessives too?”
Jay asked as if liking recessives was like catching an infectious disease.