Sole Omega in an Alpha Family chapter 24

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Letting out a long sigh that matched his heavy footsteps, Jungin headed toward his classroom.

Rows of desks were lined up for the mock exam.

He found his assigned seat and sat down.

As he reached into his desk to grab his textbook and review some poems before Korean class, a sharp sensation pricked his fingertips, followed by a burning pain.

“Ow…”

He quickly withdrew his hand, finding his finger bleeding.

Drops of red fell onto his school shirt as Jungin gasped in surprise.

Stunned, he checked his desk drawer and found it filled with broken blades, deliberately placed to harm him.

Their harassment had escalated from stealing his belongings and verbal taunts to physical violence.

Slowly turning his head toward Park Hyuntae, who was chewing gum, Jungin saw a nasty smirk spread across his face.

The shock barely lasted a second before his attention shifted back to his bleeding finger and stained shirt.

His first thought wasn’t about the pain or the danger—it was: “What if my brothers find out?”

Until now, the bullying had been something he could hide, but this… this would be different.

Maybe I should move up the D-Day…

“Not quite ready yet. Sure, I have plenty of recordings and video evidence of them bullying me, but I’ve been acting way too cheerful at home. Maybe starting today, I should look a bit down and pretend to cry every now and then…

‘Deceiving people is harder than I thought. First, I need to do something about my hands.’

Jungin grabbed a small first aid kit from their bag and hurried to the bathroom.

Thankfully, the cut wasn’t deep enough to need stitches, but they clicked their tongue at the sight of their finger.

Click, click—

After taking a few clear photos of both hands, Jungin put the phone back in their pocket.

“Ouch, it stings.”

They disinfected both hands carefully, applied some ointment, and covered the cuts with band-aids.

Having band-aids on eight of their ten fingers made them look a little ridiculous.

The bloodstain on the shirt wasn’t coming out with just water; it looked like they’d have to wash it with soap at home.

‘Did I pack a spare shirt?’

With how often they were doused with water, had their gym clothes stolen, or had food deliberately spilled on them, packing a spare set of clothes had become essential.

Jungin flexed their stinging fingers, trying to get a feel for them when the warning bell rang.

Quickly gathering their things, Jungin headed back to the classroom.

The bloodstains on the floor had been cleaned, probably by someone else.

Glancing over at where Woohyun sat, they made eye contact and mouthed, “Thanks.”

Soon after, the Earth Science teacher entered through the front door, tapping a rolled-up exam paper against their shoulder.

“Alright, everyone, get ready for the first-period test. You all know how important the March mock exam is, right? Do your best.”

Jungin wasn’t bad at studying, but this would be his first exam in this body.

Already, the homeroom teacher and classmates were looking for any excuse to pick on them, and the last thing they wanted was to be belittled for their grades.

Clutching the black pen tightly, they unfolded the exam paper in front of them.

.

.

“Man, that was exhausting.”

“Wanna hit the PC bang after this?”

“Dude, advanced lessons start today. If you ditch the academy again, your mom’s going to take your card.”

Whether in a prestigious high school for the rich or an ordinary one, this scene seemed universal.

After the last test, students grouped together, checking answers and chatting casually.

Stretching their sore shoulders, Jungin cracked their neck and met Woohyun’s eyes, who sat diagonally across from them.

‘Are your fingers okay?’

Right after lunchtime, Woohyun had sneaked them to the nurse’s office, away from Hyuntae’s gang, and even disinfected their wounds properly.

Now, looking at them with that worried puppy expression, he seemed more concerned than necessary.

‘Thanks to you, they don’t hurt at all.’

Jungin grinned and waved all ten fingers at him like they were saying hello. Just then, the back door creaked open, and the smell of cigarettes filled the room as someone approached.

Jungin quickly straightened up.

“Hey, stay after school for a bit.”

Park Hyuntae, surrounded by his usual group, spoke in a threatening tone.

Ignoring the intimidating circle, Jungin looked straight at Hyuntae and asked, “Why should I?”

“Why? You think I’m just going to let yesterday slide?”

Oh, right. Yesterday.

Not that Hyuntae ever left them alone anyway.

Jungin placed both hands deliberately on the desk, looking up at Hyuntae, who spat on the ground before continuing.

“Don’t think you’re going to run away like yesterday. You’ll regret it.”

The angry, twisted look on Hyuntae’s face made it clear he wouldn’t let them off easily.

‘I have to visit the orphanage today…’

And there was money hidden deep in their bag that might get stolen if they weren’t careful.

Better to avoid him if possible.

“Fine. But I have to go to the principal’s office after school.”

“Why the hell are you going to the principal’s office?”

Looking annoyed, Hyuntae ruffled Jungin’s hair and glared at them with bloodshot eyes.

“I got called in because of what happened yesterday.”

Of course, it was a lie.

But Jungin figured Hyuntae wouldn’t follow them into the principal’s office, no matter how reckless he was.

Even he hated dealing with annoying things.

“Ugh, whatever. Fine, go. But come to the rooftop after.”

‘Oh, so the rooftop is your hangout?’

The cigarette smell was all over them, just like yesterday.

If that’s their hangout, they probably smoke a lot up there too.

Jungin made a mental note to snitch to a teacher later, grinning slyly.

“What, you don’t have an answer? You wanna die?”

“No, I’ll be there.”

After getting a response, Hyuntae returned to his seat.

As soon as class ended, he was the first to leave the room.

And Jungin…

“Huff, huff… God, I thought I was going to die…”

…bolted. They escaped through the back gate, running as fast as they could.

After catching their breath, they looked around and, thankfully, no one had followed them.

Still, it was better to leave the area as soon as possible.

They had about two hours left before meeting the driver at 7 p.m.

‘There’s time to visit.’

Jungin hopped on a village bus that was approaching the stop, heading toward Seonhee-dong, where they used to live.

As the familiar neighborhood came into view, their heart began to race.

Apart from two brief stints where they didn’t even last 100 days before being sent back, this was the neighborhood where they’d spent all 19 years of their life.

There were more bad memories than good, but returning after so long made their heart pound.

With a hiss, the bus doors opened, and they stepped into the large supermarket in the neighborhood.

As a kid, they used to come here with friends or older kids to grab free samples.

“I should buy something for the kids.”

But this time, they confidently grabbed a cart and placed their bag on it, heading to the section where they could buy treats for the younger ones.

“Yuna, Haneul, Sehyun, and Yeonsu. And there’s Homin too…”

Counting on their fingers, they soon ran out of fingers to count.

Snacks had become more expensive, and with so many kids and so little funding, it had been months since they’d had any treats.

“The kids will be happy.”

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