* * *

Junhee’s mouth slightly opened, and he stared at him without uttering a word.

“I divorced your mom, and for a while, I couldn’t bring you because I didn’t have the means… But now that you’ve graduated, I thought if you worked with me, at least our family wouldn’t starve. What do you think?”

“……”

Words Junhee never dared to dream of escaped his father’s mouth.

On his seventh birthday.

His mother took his to the amusement park, the very place Junhee had wished to go.

He even bought his the toy car he had wanted so much.

Junhee held the car tightly and waited for his mom, who had gone to the restroom until the park was about to close.

But she never returned.

As he waited for his mother who never came back, Junhee recalled the conversation he had accidentally overheard the night before between his parents.

“Dear, Junhee is seven now. I know we’re struggling, but can’t we at least get his one thing he wants for his birthday…?”

“Are you bringing in money? What’s the point of me working myself to the bone, bringing in money, if it all goes to hospital bills and whatnot? We’re barely scraping by, and you think we have room to afford a child?”

“That’s… I’ve tried to save as much as I could. Besides, you didn’t say no either. You’re the one who kept saying ‘our son, our son,’ every day!”

Junhee had only woken up because he needed to go to the bathroom.

Standing blankly by the door, he could hear his parents’ voices growing more and more agitated.

“This crazy woman! Whose fault do you think it is? If you weren’t a useless Recessive Omega, you could at least work part-time at a grocery store like other women and contribute to the household!”

“How could you say that…!”

“What, did I say something wrong? You think it’s my fault? My Alpha genes are just fine. Is it my fault if our kid ends up like you…?”

“N-no, that’s not it… I’m sure Junhee is… a Beta.”

“Either way, just the thought that he might be a useless Recessive Omega like you disgusts me. Take him for a trait test right away!”

“And if he is a Recessive Omega… then what? What are you going to do? It’s too late now to do anything about it!”

“What do you mean what? I’ll throw both you and that useless kid out! Pathetic woman.”

Junhee peed his pants, frozen by the reverberating voice.

He recalled visiting the hospital with his mother a week ago.

They drew his blood, hooked him up to some machines that scared him, but he held onto his mother’s hand and endured.

After the test, his mother bought him tonkatsu and told him to keep it a secret from his father, so he nodded eagerly.

Even at that young age, he understood one thing clearly.

‘If I go back home… Mom will be thrown out too.’

So, when Junhee was found by an amusement park employee and taken to a nearby police station, he didn’t say a word.

Neither his address, nor his phone number, nor his parents’ names.

That day, Junhee learned two things:

‘The ability to hold back what you know.’

And the art of discarding things you thought were yours.

That’s how Junhee ended up at Hanbit Orphanage.

He had an opportunity for adoption, but barely half a year later, he was returned to the orphanage.

It was revealed during that time that Junhee was indeed a ‘Recessive Omega,’ leading to the annulment of his adoption.

So, he lived at the orphanage until he turned twenty.

The headmistress was kind, and though his older brothers and sisters sometimes bullied him, they would avenge him if he ever got beaten up outside.

Junhee’s father first visited when he was in the upper grades of elementary school.

At first, he hated him for showing up only once every few years.

But as he grew older, the hatred faded, and he began to understand him a little.

All the money he made went towards hospital bills for Junhee and his mother, so it was understandable for him to be worn out by such long years of sacrifice.

None of the children at the orphanage were without their own stories.

Some had been beaten or nearly killed by their parents.

Compared to them, Junhee’s situation seemed almost ordinary.

“What do you think, Junhee?”

His father’s careful voice pulled Junhee out of the past.

“I…”

Even though he abandoned him, his father still came back every few years.

That was better than a mother who left and never looked back.

No matter how infrequently, his father remembered Junhee.

His siblings at Hanbit Orphanage — the ones who were there when he first arrived — half of them were now gone.

Some were adopted, while others were taken back by estranged parents or grandparents who suddenly appeared.

Junhee thought he didn’t envy them, but maybe he did after all.

A parent who was only his, not one who had to be shared with countless others.

“Junhee, let’s live together forever. I don’t care if you’re a Recessive Omega or whatever.”

Whether he was a Recessive Omega or anything else, it didn’t matter.

…Forever.

That magical word made him nod involuntarily.

His father’s wrinkled lips stretched into a smile as he patted Junhee’s head.

Just as his father said, Junhee was now old enough to shoulder some of the burden.

He could enter college, take on tutoring and part-time jobs to help with living expenses, and take out student loans to cover tuition.

So, he hastily packed his things and moved into his father’s two-room apartment.

But an unexpected person was there.

“Are you Junhee? You’re cute.”

It was his father’s live-in partner and lover.

He didn’t seem much older than Junhee, making Junhee wonder how he should address him, but he suggested that Junhee call him ‘hyung’.

“Junhee, you’re too skinny. I made stir-fried pork, so make sure you eat.”

“Yes… Hyung.”

“Hyung is going to work now. Tell your dad to have dinner when he gets home.”

His brother would leave every night and return in the early morning, reeking of alcohol.

His body was always marked with traces of others, but Junhee pretended not to notice.

He never asked what kind of work his brother did because he felt like he shouldn’t.

But he enjoyed eating dinner together before his brother left for work.

Warm bowls of rice and modestly arranged dishes.

Those small comforts on the round table with three sets of chopsticks eased Junhee’s anxiety.

It was awkward at first, but as time passed, living like a family of three became something he cherished.

But, like everything Junhee had ever been given, it soon began to crack and fall apart.

“Why is our budget in the negative this month? I’m busting my ass at construction sites, and the money just disappears! Where’s it all going?”

“You’re asking because you don’t know? There’s an extra mouth to feed. You brought Junhee here, didn’t you?”

“Does that mean our expenses double? Are you using this as an excuse to satisfy your greed? We get a delivery every other day! Did you think I wouldn’t notice?!”

Junhee stood frozen outside, unable to even enter the house.

He had just come back from a trial tutoring session with a middle schooler, where he secured a permanent position starting next month, and even bought meat for dinner.

“Are you screwing that brat behind my back while I’m gone?”

“How can you say that?!”

Hearing the argument sparked because of him, Junhee tried to turn around but stopped in his tracks.

“If not, then stop coddling him and put him to work already. Didn’t you tell me to bring Junhee here for that?”

“Well, yes… but he’s just a kid when I see him in person. He’s your son too. Are you seriously suggesting we take him to a bar to work? You know exactly what kind of work he’d end up doing.”

“What’s the big deal? He’s grown up now, so Junhee needs to act like a proper adult. He should be grateful if anyone even gives a job to a low-ranking Omega like him, instead of acting ungrateful. Does he really have the luxury to be picky?”

Junhee, who had been standing blankly by the door, suddenly felt like he was seven years old again.

He clenched his trembling hands, his face pale, desperately wishing it was all just a bad dream.

Even though his father often drank, he would pat Junhee’s head with his rough hand and say, “My son.”

He believed that was real. He believed they were family.

But it was all, all a lie.

It was nothing but a dark nightmare, threatening to pull him back into an abyss.

It was the whisper of a devil trying to push him off an even higher cliff.

“Hah, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell him yourself then? But… didn’t you say there was some sort of support fund for Junhee?”

“Yeah, 5 million won. I guess I should bring it up today.”

“Do you think they’ll actually give us that money?”

“Why wouldn’t they? They know how tight things are for us. If we get it, why don’t the two of us take a trip to Jeju Island?”

“Well… sounds good. Hey, I’m going out for a smoke.”

Creak— Just as the rusted iron door swung open, Junhee’s eyes met his older brother’s.

“Junhee…?”

The rest was a blur.

Someone yanked the trembling Junhee back into the house.

His father grabbed his shoulders, shaking him, demanding to know how much he had heard.

Crying, Junhee might have mumbled something like “damn it,” but the next thing he knew, his vision went black, and his jaw went numb as it snapped sideways.

* * *