* * *

The first thing I did when I attended school for the first time was to gauge the atmosphere among my classmates—how they treated me.

Who was hostile, who was friendly, and how many were just neutral observers?

“Surprisingly, this isn’t as bad as I thought.”

From what I saw in the group chat, there were a few who openly cursed or showed their dislike, so I had kept an eye on them.

I needed to have a plan on how to deal with them if we clashed in real life.

But contrary to my expectations, no one picked a fight or even threw me dirty looks.

Instead, most people seemed indifferent—like they didn’t care whether I was here or not.

“Well, anyway, I heard you were sick, so I was worried. You look fine now, so that’s a relief. You know how busy I am, right? I couldn’t even visit you in the hospital.”

The boy who introduced himself as the class president kept talking beside me, but I only half-listened.

To be honest, I was never that sociable before.

And I had no intention of being any different now.

So as long as people kept their distance like this, I was fine with it.

“Got it. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Huh? Oh, um…”

Why does he look so surprised?

His eyes went wide as if he hadn’t expected my response.

I stared at him, puzzled, and the class president averted his gaze.

“…You were sick, but now you look even… uh, delicate…”

He mumbled something under his breath, but his voice was too soft to make out.

“Hm?”

Sick? Pretty? Was he talking about a plant or something?

I tilted my head in confusion, but the class president just waved his hand dismissively and scurried back to his seat without a proper response.

‘Guess that means he’s done talking.’

Well, we weren’t exactly close, so maybe he felt his role ended there.

Then, my eyes landed on a boy sitting at a desk near the classroom door.

He had messy hair, thick black-rimmed glasses, and a vacant stare fixed on the blackboard.

His uniform was wrinkled, and his frail frame looked like it could snap like a twig.

His lips were slightly parted.

His weak and defenseless appearance made it clear—at a school where male students dominated, he was at a serious disadvantage.

“Hmm…”

And I was right.

Whenever he came back from somewhere, his hair would be messier, and his clothes would look even more disheveled.

Sometimes, I even saw kids playing pranks on him, crossing the line.

“Ugh, I knew this would happen.”

I sighed and unzipped my bag.

Pulling out the handkerchief and water bottle that my omega dad had packed for me, I held them out.

The boy, who had been sitting blankly, turned to look at me.

“Here. Drink and clean yourself up.”

I glanced down at him, quickly scanning his face—cheeks, chin, and jaw.

Thankfully, aside from a small cut on his lip, there weren’t any obvious wounds.

Either he had covered himself well, or his bullies were careful not to leave visible marks.

“He’s not even crying.”

His expression was dry, and his dull, coffee-colored eyes were unfocused.

It was clear that he had grown numb to this kind of treatment.

Now that I was up close, he looked even smaller and thinner.

His tanned skin made his delicate features seem even tinier.

‘His features, his skin tone, even his eyes… Is he mixed-race?’

Sensing my gaze, he glanced up at me while drinking his water.

I waved a hand, signaling him not to mind it, then adjusted my bag.

“Hey.”

I was about to leave, but I turned my head back.

“Just sitting still won’t solve anything. It’ll only get worse. So react—at least a little.”

That was enough advice.

Just because we were classmates, or because I happened to notice and report it, didn’t mean I felt responsible for him.

To me, that boy and the rest of our classmates were all the same.

Pfft.

I would have walked away right then if I hadn’t heard the soft sound of air escaping—almost like a quiet laugh.

I whipped around.

But the boy still had that same vacant look in his eyes.

‘Did I mishear?’

Probably.

With that thought, I headed to Gil Woohyun’s school.

I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere there, map out the route home, and start planning how to approach both the protagonist and the love interest.

The biggest gain of the day?

I ran into the protagonist at the school gate.

While waiting for Gil Woohyun, who had texted that he was coming out soon, I scanned the crowd of similar-looking boys in identical uniforms.

That’s when I heard a loud voice.

“Hey, Min Kyowon!”

My head turned automatically.

And then, my vision was filled with a near-perfect man.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation.

His presence was overwhelming.

He had to be over 190 cm tall, with a build rivaling that of an athlete—broad shoulders and a solid frame.

His handsome face went without saying.

But above all, his aura was intense, commanding enough to dominate those around him.

‘Yeah. He’s definitely the protagonist.’

Everything about him screamed ‘I’m a dominant alpha.’

“So his name is Min Kyowon, huh?”

Right. I remember now.

I nodded to myself as I watched him cross the school gate, surrounded not by friends, but by what looked more like followers.

For a brief moment, our eyes seemed to meet before he quickly looked away and walked off.

Well, it’s not like he’d remember some random boy he only saw for a few seconds.

Not long after, Gil Woohyun appeared, and we went to a nearby snack shop.

Since he was a student preparing for college exams, his appetite was massive—he ordered three servings of tteokbokki, soondae, kimbap, tempura, and fish cakes.

“A tall, athletic alpha who looks like a movie star? Then yeah, that’s Min Kyowon.”

“Really? He’s friends with Shin Jaehyun?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

As Wookyung pushed most of the food toward Gil Woohyun, he casually brought up seeing Min Kyowon at the school gate, subtly fishing for more information.

“As impressive as Min Kyowon is, he can’t beat Shin Jaehyun academically.”

“Oh? So Shin Jaehyun is really smart?”

Gil Woohyun studied me for a moment, as if trying to gauge my reaction.

It was as if he was checking if I had any lingering emotions, despite having no memories of that past life.

But my face was neutral, and he soon nodded in understanding.

“He’s been ranked number one nationwide for three years straight. A genius like him probably won’t come around again.”

“That impressive?”

Of course, I already knew about Shin Jaehyun.

Brilliant, beautiful, kind.

Meanwhile, Min Kyowon was a genius in his own right but had no interest in academics.

That’s why his parents had specially requested Shin Jaehyun to tutor him.

“The school even recommended overseas universities for Shin Jaehyun. Honestly, keeping someone like him in Korea would be a waste.”

Gil Woohyun suddenly trailed off.

“…Do you… like him?”

I pretended not to notice his slip and simply shrugged.

“Wow… then I should make Shin Jaehyun my role model.”

Seeing me brush it off, Gil Woohyun quickly changed the subject.

“Yeah, you do that. Anyway, are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“You still don’t smell or sense anything different?”

“Not at all.”

Even though the doctor had explained everything in technical terms, Gil Woohyun still checked on me like this.

“Well… I guess the most fundamental thing did change.”

The body was the same.

But the soul inside had become me.

Honestly, I was relieved to feel no different from a beta.

I had lived my whole life unaffected by secondary genders.

There was no way I’d adjust now.

“Hyung, you’re supposed to walk me home.”

After finishing their meal near school, Gil Woohyun saw Shin Jaehyun off at the front gate, his gaze filled with both reluctance and a hint of concern.

“Do you think I’m ten or something? Don’t worry and just head inside. Didn’t you say you still have a lot to study?”

A student preparing for the college entrance exam with only 100 days left is busy.

That was also the excuse Shin Jaehyun initially used to reject the confession.

Though, of course, it was completely shattered thanks to Min Kyowon’s interference.

“A mere Beta without pheromones isn’t even worthy of handling Shin Jaehyun.”

The overwhelming Alpha had scoffed, crushing his pride.

No young boy could endure that kind of humiliation.

Before he became an adult, Min Kyowon had a fierce personality that didn’t bother suppressing his temper, and his Alpha pheromones were utterly overpowering.

“And then, out of nowhere, Shin Jaehyun collapsed.”

The original story describes the moment when a startled Min Kyowon picked him up and carried him away.

“That kind of personality is why things keep getting tangled up.”

This is exactly why letting clueless kids handle things on their own takes forever.

Situations like this call for an experienced hand.

Though, to be fair, he had never actually dated anyone himself.

“But I know how they get entangled, what they like, and where they misunderstand each other—so who else is more qualified than me?”

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will win every battle.

He spent two weeks carefully gathering information.

Once he decided the time was right, he laid out a plan to bring the two together.

* * *