Sole Omega in an Alpha Family chapter 4

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As the door creaked open, his palms were drenched with sweat, worrying that his brothers might wake up.

Jungin quickly made his way down the quiet hallway and pressed the elevator button.

“Huff, huff…”

He rubbed his neck nervously, as if someone would grab it from behind any second, staring anxiously at the rapidly changing numbers on the display.

Ding.

“The door is opening.”

Jungin stepped into the elevator, letting his shoulders sag in relief at the thought that his brothers hadn’t caught him.

He looked into the mirror and saw himself standing there with the fruit basket in his arms, looking quite foolish.

‘I really ended up in Lee Jungin’s body. I still can’t believe it. It’s not like this is some movie, how does a car accident switch bodies? When is Lee Jungin going to wake up?’

He sighed heavily as the elevator reached the rooftop and came to a stop.

Ding.

“The door is opening.”

“Oh, the weather’s great.”

Holding the heavy basket, Jungin stepped out of the elevator, feeling refreshed as the cool breeze brushed through his hair.

The rooftop garden was better kept than he expected.

Even though it was late in the night, lights were brightly lit in various places, making it feel safe, and the colorful lights were a pleasant sight for his eyes.

“Where should I sit and eat?”

After scanning the rooftop garden, he spotted a bench in the corner and headed over.

Despite the cold seeping through his thin hospital gown, filling his empty stomach took priority.

Jungin poked a hole in the side of the fruit basket, which looked difficult to open, and slipped his fingers inside to pick out a fruit he liked.

He carefully grabbed a handful of large grapes, tilting his head as he muttered to himself.

“I guess I can just eat this, right…?”

He had seen Lee Jungin collapse a few times before, and briefly hesitated, wondering if it was okay to eat unwashed fruit in the body of a rich, pampered young master.

“Oh well, it’s just fruit… Still, I’ll do 30 sit-ups later… midnight snacks aren’t good, after all.”

Unlike his original body, just walking around for a while made his back and legs hurt, and he didn’t feel like exercising, but since he was borrowing this body, he figured he should at least make an effort.

After coming to this conclusion, Jungin inhaled the fresh scent of the fruit that had been teasing his nose and took a big bite.

“Whoa, this is really delicious.”

At the orphanage, fruit was a luxury.

Sometimes it was served in the school meals, but he had never eaten anything this fresh and big.

And after the kids had been singing about “Shine Muscat” (a type of grape) for years, he had secretly looked it up to see what it was.

Now, being able to eat as much of it as he wanted—it didn’t seem so bad that his body had been swapped.

“Wow, so this is Shine Muscat. There aren’t even any seeds. It’s expensive for a reason—it tastes amazing…”

Wiping the sticky juice off his lips with his sleeve, Jungin’s eyes sparkled.

The fact that he could eat it whole, without having to peel it, and that there were no seeds made it perfect for his taste.

Even though he was already feeling full, he greedily shoved more Shine Muscat into his mouth, eyes darting around as he wondered which fruit to eat next.

Cough, cough.

Maybe he had overdone it.

Juice seemed to have gone down the wrong way, causing him to start coughing, and his chest hurt.

The physical pain brought tears to his eyes, and they started streaming down his cheeks.

He clutched his chest, coughing repeatedly, twisting in pain as he pinched his thigh in a desperate attempt to cope with the strange agony.

Cough, cough.

‘I might really die like this. I should’ve just eaten in the hospital room instead of sneaking out.

As regret washed over him and he thought of Lee Jungin’s brothers, a shadow suddenly fell over him.

“Water.”

“Cough, ugh…?”

“Drink it.”

Is it Lee Jungin’s third brother?

Or maybe the second oldest?

The eldest?

His vision was blurry from the tears, making it hard to see clearly.

But the thought of survival pushed him to gulp down the life-saving water.

Even though more than half of it spilled down his hospital gown in his rush, now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“Phew…”

Finally, his coughing subsided.

Jungin breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the air filling his lungs again.

He wiped his soaked face and slowly looked up, only to find a stranger standing in front of him.

“Oh… thank you.”

He noticed a long scar beneath the man’s black shirt.

It seemed he had come for treatment and happened to help him out.

Like a good citizen of Korea, Jungin quickly stood up, bowed at a 90-degree angle, and thanked him again.

“Thank you, sir.”

“What?”

“For the water. Ah, but wasn’t that really expensive water?”

Looking at the empty bottle he had drained earlier, Jungin realized it was Eviaxx, something he’d only heard about.

He wondered how he could ever repay this kindness—it wasn’t like this was cheap pork, but high-end bottled water.

Just then, his eyes landed on two ripe apple mangoes, sitting temptingly in the fruit basket.

He had planned to eat them after finishing the Shine Muscat, but this was his savior, after all.

His hands trembled slightly, but he pulled out the two neatly wrapped mangoes and handed them to the man.

“I-I know this isn’t much, but please take these as thanks… They say they’re even sweeter than Emperor Mangoes.”

Jungin had actually considered giving him just one, but the man’s stony expression made him hand over both.

Even after that, the man’s face didn’t soften, making Jungin feel like his true feelings had been exposed. He forced a smile and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Hey.”

Modern people really could spit in the face of a smile, couldn’t they?

The man seemed irritated, running his hand through his hair with a cold expression.

“What kind of nonsense are you pulling now?”

“Pardon…?”

“They said there was an accident. Did you hit your head?”

Does this guy know Lee Jungin?

Confused by the man’s question, Jungin blinked up at him with wide eyes.

He was wearing nothing but a hospital gown, standing in the cold night with water spilled all over him, making him shiver in the biting wind.

“Excuse me, sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but can we go inside to talk?”

“…”

“I really can’t afford to catch a cold… I’m sorry.”

It was bad enough that he had to return this body tomorrow, he didn’t want to catch a cold too.

His lips quivered as he spoke in the frigid air, and the man’s expression twisted in frustration.

Ugh. If he knew it would turn out like this, he would’ve refused the expensive water altogether.

Jungin ducked his head lower, trying to avoid the man’s anger, when suddenly, he felt warmth on his shoulders.

“Cover up. If you catch a cold, who knows what kind of trouble your brothers will cause.”

The man had draped his coat over Jungin and rubbed his forehead, as if just thinking about it gave him a headache.

“Um, sir.”

“If you were trying to get attention, you’ve got it. So quit it.”

“…What? No, that’s not it at all.”

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