* * *

The lights on the top floor of the hotel were dazzling.

The glass ceiling, designed to view the moon, was ironically too bright due to the large central chandelier and the various lights around it, defeating its purpose.

The quiet classical music playing in the background went unnoticed by everyone.

Only the adults were excited in the hall where my third brother’s engagement party was in full swing. Watching them laugh and talk with drinks in hand made me yawn.

Why did they bring me here? I fiddled with my navy suit and red tie, pouting.

Despite it being an important event like my brother’s engagement party, my mom warned me not to touch anything with even 1% alcohol in it.

Even though I had just graduated high school and was legally old enough to buy soju at a convenience store, champagne and beer were still out of reach for me in the family.

I could have drunk secretly, but the fear of my mom’s wrath kept me in check.

The elegant middle-aged woman over there, who raised five sons, knew exactly how to deal with disobedient boys.

She ruled not only her sons but also her husband with an iron fist, making her particularly dangerous.

As I cast a longing glance at the bar full of drinks, I felt eyes on me. My mom’s eyes, with a gentle smile, were threatening me not to even think about drinking.

Her intense gaze conveyed a clear message: “Drink, and you die.”

Can’t I even look? I turned away with a pout, and her glare disappeared.

Darn it.

I was trying to endure the boredom by thinking about going home to play games later when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Sunwoo.”

“Oh, Taeshin. You’re here?”

“Sorry. I came a bit late because I had to come with dad at the end.”

“You’re not late. Thanks for coming. I was bored to death.”

“Are there no other kids here?”

Taeshin, who had just arrived and was looking around the hall for familiar faces, shook his head.

“They’re all abroad. It’s just the old folks here. Mom told me not to go near alcohol today.”

“What did you do now?”

“What do you mean, ‘did’? Why do you say it like that?”

Feeling hurt by his matter-of-fact question, Taeshin gently smiled. His soft smile and curved lips made him look very kind.

Taeshin, dressed in a dark gray suit with a navy tie, looked incredibly sharp. His stylishly tousled hair highlighted his handsome face under the lights.

I pursed my lips and looked away from his clearly defined features.

“Damn it.”

Whack-!

“What?”

Unlike me, who looked awkward in a suit that seemed borrowed from my brother, Taeshin looked so neat that it annoyed me.

I punched him in the side, and Taeshin laughed. I looked up at him, fuming.

“I don’t like it.”

“Why? I like you a lot.”

Grumbling, Taeshin’s expression softened as he spoke seriously.

“You just became a college student.”

About to start university, I muttered as if I was already tired of it.

Anyone listening might think I had been there for four years. Taeshin gently tousled my hair with his hand.

“You’re finally free from high school and about to start college. What’s with the gloomy attitude? Do you already want to graduate from college? After graduation, you’ll face job hunting and marriage pressure. Do you want to get married that soon?”

“Are you not going to do it?”

“I don’t want to, but I probably will. So before I get married, I want to experience all kinds of relationships. I’ll start with college and work life, and spend five or six years just dating.”

Alphas and Omegas, who were fewer in number compared to the 70% of humanity that were Betas, tended to marry relatively early.

However, I had no intention of marrying early. My family might push for it, but I intended to experience everything like everyone else. After all, I had never been in a relationship before.

“In high school, there wasn’t anyone I liked, and I was too focused on studying to get involved in a relationship. But in college, I’ll be more open-minded. Hopefully, I won’t encounter immature guys like those in high school who played games to get phone numbers, or confessed just to turn it into a joke. College students should be different, right? Even if there’s no romantic feeling at first, they say you can develop it over time, so if someone decent comes along…”

I wasn’t particularly against relationships, but I had no luck in that department. Whenever someone from another school was introduced to me, it always fell through.

I only had blind dates during my first and second years of high school, but by my senior year, I was a dedicated exam student.

I’ve heard that some people are destined to live and die alone. Could that be me?

I brushed off Lee Taeshin’s hand that was still on my head, thinking silly thoughts.

Lee Taeshin. He was a childhood friend I knew since elementary school, the grandson of the president and the second son of the vice president of the Taesan Group.

He was an extremely dominant Alpha among Alphas. Alphas generally had good physicality, but Taeshin was exceptionally outstanding. I, on the other hand, was an extremely dominant Omega.

In other words, compared to Taeshin, I was very weak.

Even though I’m also an extremely dominant type…

I looked up at Taeshin, who was half a head taller than me.

Even among the same dominant types, Alphas and Omegas were very different.

I, an Omega, had a weaker physique compared to the typically strong and sturdy Alphas, and I was always dissatisfied with my soft body and thin frame instead of solid muscles.

Alphas were said to be always on edge unless they were with Omegas, but how would I know?

I just wished I were an extremely dominant Alpha instead of an Omega.

I wanted to have the kind of stamina that wouldn’t get tired after three days of gaming, and the endurance to cram for exams all night without getting exhausted.

Until middle school, Taeshin and I were similar in height and build, but now the difference was clear. Our physiques were as different as a Doberman and a Pomeranian.

…Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get into a relationship?

I think I look decent, but maybe being compared to Taeshin all the time was the problem.

Taeshin had a sharp mind, excellent athletic ability, meticulous self-discipline, and a flawless personality. On top of that, he had a sculpted appearance. You could say he was perfect.

With his flawless white and transparent skin, eyes that looked sharp and cold but were more rational and sexy, a prominent nose, and well-defined cheekbones that captured attention.

His not-too-thick, not-too-thin red lips softened into a gentle smile.

The contours of his face, which housed his impeccable features, were as graceful as could be. Plus, his ears and the nape of his neck, along with his prominent Adam’s apple, completed his look perfectly.

On top of that, he was over 180 cm tall, half a head taller than me, with a well-built body even without much effort.

I had once touched his back and thighs, and they were perfectly balanced with muscles. Unlike my soft body…

In many ways, Taeshin was like a cheat character. His genetics seemed to have used a cheat code, making Betas, Omegas, and even Alphas envious.

So it wasn’t strange that I, who was always with him, appeared inferior in comparison.

That was it!

Anyway, it’s fine now. Even if Taeshin was the reason, once we become college students, we won’t always be together like before.

I planned to focus on my love life for about five years, as a working adult.

With these thoughts, I nodded my head and looked up to find Taeshin gazing down at me.

“Why?”

“Sunwoo.”

As I blinked up at him, Taeshin gently smiled.

As I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head at his troubled smile, Taeshin leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“Let’s go to the bathroom.”

His soft whisper made my shoulders twitch. I couldn’t respond, so Taeshin grabbed my wrist. As his fingers stroked the soft inside of my wrist, my waist stiffened.

Unable to say anything, I was led into the bathroom.

The bathroom, softly lit, was clean and spacious. Even though it was a men’s bathroom, there was a powder room and a relaxation area.

Taeshin pushed me into the last stall, came in himself, and locked the door.

“Hey, why all of a sudden… Ugh!”

Taeshin, having locked the door, pushed me against the wall and pressed his body against mine. He hugged me tightly, burying his face in my neck.

The pressure was so strong that I groaned, then raised my hand to pat Taeshin’s back.

Having experienced it since childhood, I was familiar with Taeshin’s pheromones, which I could feel surging up.

* * *