* * *
For a moment, something stirred violently near Wookyung’s heart.
“You like me, and my secondary gender doesn’t matter?”
Not just anyone, but an Alpha—one of the most dominant and superior among them?
That couldn’t be. Absolutely not.
Noticing his hesitation, Director Choi spoke again, his gaze more earnest than before.
“So, Wookyung… if it’s okay with you, please go out with me.”
He should reject him. There were too many reasons not to, as always.
“Huh?”
Just as he was about to speak, a crisp yet slightly bitter scent brushed past the tip of his nose.
He hesitated, then turned his gaze toward the intense stare fixed on him.
The moment he met those eyes—sincere, devoid of any playfulness—Wookyung opened his mouth.
“…Alright.”
Wait. What did I just say?
Even though the words had come from his own mouth, he couldn’t quite grasp them.
But judging from the Alpha’s slowly brightening expression, it didn’t seem like he had misspoken.
“But we can’t date just yet.”
Wookyung quickly added a condition.
This time, the brightness in the Alpha’s face dimmed slightly.
Since knowing him, Wookyung had never seen such an expressive range of emotions from him—certainly not at the office.
If he told Director Choi that this made him feel oddly satisfied, what kind of expression would he make next?
“Then… when?”
“For now, let’s just see where things go.”
“…See where things go?”
“I mean, let’s just… have a fling first.”
Director Choi blinked wordlessly.
His lips parted slightly, and in the faintest voice, he repeated, “A fling…”
It sounded kind of cute.
Wookyung suddenly felt a strange ticklish sensation on his lips and bit them lightly.
“Shall we head back?”
With their conversation finished, Director Choi held out his hand.
Wookyung stared at it blankly.
Maybe this was just a temporary fondness because Director Choi had shown up at a dangerous moment and helped him.
‘Yeah, that makes sense.’
Isn’t this what they call the “suspension bridge effect”?
An unexpected reaction triggered by heightened emotions in extraordinary circumstances.
Convincing himself it was just that, Wookyung reached out and took the offered hand.
He was immediately pulled up.
“…Oh.”
Maybe Director Choi had used too much force.
Wookyung felt his body lurch forward helplessly.
Luckily, he didn’t fall flat on his face.
Because Director Choi caught him first.
To be precise, his cheek ended up pressing against Director Choi’s chest, leaving him practically in his arms.
“Wookyung, are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you need help walking?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Just imagine running into coworkers in this position, being caught in Director Choi’s arms like this.
Who knows what kind of misunderstandings that would cause?
And if it ended up on the anonymous company bulletin board…
“You look pale, Wookyung.”
Completely oblivious to his internal turmoil, Director Choi kept insisting.
“No, really. Let’s just go.”
Wookyung cut him off firmly and stepped forward, but his elbow was caught.
When he turned back, Director Choi had an expression that said he had something to say.
“…What is it?”
Was he still not giving up?
Wookyung sighed, but Director Choi only kept staring at him.
Then, after a brief sigh, he finally spoke.
“Wookyung.”
“…Yes?”
“Call my name.”
What’s with him now?
“…Director Choi.”
“Again.”
“Director Choi, what do you want?”
“Not that.”
“Chief—”
“Hm.”
By the fourth repetition, Director Choi let out a vague sigh and cut him off.
‘What now?’
Wookyung frowned, noticing the other man’s eyebrows, bent like seagull wings, as if displeased.
When he glared at him, Director Choi sighed as if he had no choice.
“We need to settle on how we address each other.”
“Oh…”
That alone made Wookyung instantly understand the attitude Director Choi had been displaying all this time.
“We agreed to get to know each other, right? But calling me that makes it feel too distant.”
“…I guess so.”
“Exactly.”
Wookyung scratched his chin with his index finger.
“So…”
Saying it out loud felt embarrassingly awkward.
Maybe because, ever since they met, Director Choi had only ever been ‘Director Choi’ to him.
“…Choi Sa—”
“Drop the last name, too.”
He barely got two syllables out before Director Choi immediately demanded more.
Wookyung shot him a glare, but when he saw the expectant look in his eyes, he bit his lip.
His lower lip tingled, so he licked it briefly. His fingers fidgeted for no reason.
Then, after slowly averting his gaze, he gave in.
“…Saheon.”
“Yes.”
“There. Happy?”
“Sounds good, Wookyung.”
‘What’s so good about it?’
Still feeling awkward, Wookyung glanced at Saheon.
His lips had curved up into a soft smile.
Somehow, Wookyung found himself feeling a little better too.
But they couldn’t stand around like this forever.
The longer they lingered, the more the ticklish sensation spread—from his fingertips to his toes.
“Let’s go.”
Fidgeting with his hidden toes inside his shoes, Wookyung took the first step.
At some point, a faint smile had crept onto his lips as well.
“Alright.”
Saheon moved to his side.
His hand was still resting against Wookyung’s back.
Without realizing the oddness of their posture, Wookyung stepped into the hallway.
Then, suddenly recalling the commotion from earlier, he glanced around.
“…Looks like nothing happened.”
Barely any time had passed, yet there was no trace of the previous commotion.
Well, nothing had been broken, and it hadn’t been a full-on brawl, so it made sense.
“This place prioritizes customer service, so they’re quick to clean up.”
“Come to think of it, Director— No. Saheon, what were you doing here?”
Saheon had said he couldn’t attend the company dinner because he had prior plans.
Running into him at a place like this was unexpected.
And the fact that he had been alone after meeting someone else… now that was intriguing.
“Someone kept insisting on meeting, so I dropped by. But after calling me out, they suddenly got busy and left.”
“Who?”
‘Who the hell does something so ridiculous?’
Wookyung narrowed his eyes as if demanding an explanation.
Saheon smirked.
“My uncle’s eldest son.”
“…Oh.”
‘The family with fathers who don’t get along.’
‘Why bother meeting someone so unpleasant?’
“I had to meet him at least once. I keep skipping family events, so I’ve been getting an earful. Now that I’ve seen him, things should be quiet for a while.”
“…Being a chaebol isn’t easy, huh.”
“Haha…”
Wookyung thought family could be ignored if you didn’t want to deal with them.
But maybe he was oversimplifying it since he’d never been in that position.
“But I’m glad I ran into you, Wookyung.”
“…Oh.”
Wookyung, who had been walking down the hall, abruptly stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I left my bag and jacket in the hall. And the card you gave me to pay with.”
How did he completely forget?
He had only meant to step out to the restroom, bringing nothing but his phone.
“Guess we’ll have to go back.”
“Chief— No, Saheon. You wait here.”
Still adjusting to the name, Wookyung hesitated slightly before speaking.
“…Let’s go together.”
“What do you think?”
“I just ran into him by chance.”
After a brief moment of contemplation, Wookyung nodded.
Since they were planning to pay with his card anyway, he figured it wouldn’t be an issue for him to go.
And so, when Wookyung and Saheon arrived at the dinner gathering, they were met with an unexpected scene.
“Manager? Oh? And the department head too…?”
Manager Shin and Director Min were at the TF team’s dinner.
But something about the atmosphere was off.
“Assistant Manager Gil, where have you been? We’ve been looking for you!”
Assistant Manager Oh, who normally didn’t act particularly close to him, brightened up as if he had just found a savior and stood up from his seat.
The other employees were nowhere to be seen, seemingly having fled.
“Ah… Well, I happened to run into the director and had a brief conversation.”
Wookyung gestured with his eyes toward Saheon standing beside him.
“The director is here too.”
“You’ve had a rough time, Assistant Manager Oh. I’ll take care of those two, so you can go.”
With that, Saheon walked past Assistant Manager Oh and toward the main couple of this situation, who were glaring at each other.
Only then did Assistant Manager Oh sigh in relief, looking as if he had finally survived something.
“What exactly happened here? How did those two even run into each other? And where did everyone else go?”
As Wookyung watched Saheon approach Manager Shin and Director Min to talk, he quietly asked Assistant Manager Oh in a low voice.
“Not long after you left, Manager Shin walked in with some Alpha. Then, a few minutes later, Director Min showed up, completely furious.”
“Ah…”
Wookyung could already guess how things had played out.
And sure enough, Assistant Manager Oh whispered the details.
Director Min had arrived in a rage, yelling at the top of his lungs.
The Alpha who had come with Manager Shin reacted aggressively, and the whole situation became tense.
Then, the Alpha started releasing pheromones wildly, making it impossible for Senior Associate Sun and Senior Associate Lee to stay.
They ran away. Assistant Manager Pyeon also left, and even Associate Choi quietly disappeared.
Fortunately, no major fight broke out, but as luck would have it, those two ended up sitting right next to Assistant Manager Oh afterward.
“You had a rough time.”
“Well, the pheromones have mostly dissipated now, and things have calmed down, so it’s fine. But what were you doing with the director, Assistant Manager Gil?”
“Huh?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Wookyung frowned in confusion as Assistant Manager Oh sniffed at him and said,
“You reek of some really strong Alpha pheromones.”
* * *
Living in the Omegaverse sounds beyond inconvenient.