CH 7

Vibrate vibrate vibrate. 



I was exhausted after working a night shift, and I was woken up by constant vibration.



10:10 am.



An hour had passed since I fell asleep.



I was so irritated that I looked at the screen, convinced that the company would curse at me, and the words [Uncle] came to mind.



I woke up.



It would have been better if it was a company.



I went out, drank a sip of water, sat in the living room, blinked blankly, and answered the third phone call.



“Yes, Uncle.”



–Why aren’t you picking up the phone? I called five times. 



My uncle became irritated as soon as I answered the phone. I was already annoyed, but this agitated me even more.



“I told you that I work night shifts. If I don’t answer the phone, I’m sleeping because I work at night. Do I have to wake up and work tiredly?”



– This is very… do you think I’m your friend? What’s going on? Just hurry up and tell me what happened, and you can go back to sleep.



– You’re such a punk. If your father knows, he’ll fall to the ground and cry.



Nothing can’t be said to a child who has lost his parents in an accident. I waited for my uncle to say something without responding to his previous words.



– I know someone who owns two buildings and runs a private academy. Would you like to meet him? Of course, it’s alpha.



I snorted.



“Of course, it’s Alpha and a divorced man, right? How old was he? He wasn’t in his fifty, was he?”



– He was only forty-five. He was married to a Beta woman and divorced neatly for one reason or another. After all, shouldn’t alpha need to meet omega?



Expectedly.



My uncle is the person who had been introducing me to a middle-aged Alpha since I was in my third year of high school. I trusted my uncle’s family when I was younger, so I met everyone they introduced me to.



despite the large age difference, he introduced me to a fifty-one-year-old Alpha when I was nineteen years old. The meeting location I  received through text message at that time was ‘○○ Hotel Room 1303’. Naturally, we had a relationship… and my uncle and aunt were planning a wedding without my knowledge. However, I was planning to go to college normally.



When I was fussing about why they wanted to proceed with my marriage on their own, they advised an ardent omega like me to get married when I was young. Now that I think about it, they seem right.



I met the people my uncle introduced me to a few times, and my cousin later informed me that they are clients of my uncle’s company.



He said he overheard him brag about having an omega nephew while on the phone with his client.



He has the audacity to do that to his older brother’s child. Damn fucking pervert bastard.



“So, when and which hotel should I go to this time? I have plans for this weekend, so I’m only available for next month.”



Nonetheless, I’m going because the person my uncle introduced me to is a rich Alpha and I need to start thinking about marriage gradually. Who knows? Relationships could develop as a result of unexpected situations.



– Yeah, good thinking. He’s a knowledgeable and decent person, so you’ll be fine.



My uncle was relieved and scheduled a meeting. I believe he was worried because I had been refusing for two years.



Uncle said that he was a 45-year-old director of a math academy, an avid alpha who owns two commercial buildings in the countryside. He also emphasized that he was the most gentle and highly educated teacher among those whom he has introduced to me. He divorced his ex-wife due to religious differences and had a daughter, who was taken by his ex-wife.



It seemed like a good thing because if I had a child, there would be a conflict with the other child.



I scheduled a weekend appointment for early next month. After I made the schedule, I realized I’d have to wait three weeks without finding a lover.



I believe it was the 18th that I had my longest solo period since turning 20.



I can’t go three weeks without making a lover. I should have a lover I can break up with for a short period of time, or I should have a one-night stand.



In fact, I don’t like one night stand that much, so I should find someone to date for three weeks. But first, I’m going to bed.



I coughed and lay back on the bed.



My cold hasn’t gone away after two weeks.



Fuck lover or whatever.



I was so dizzy from not being able to sleep for hours. I was in terrible shape on this day of all days when I had work in the logistics room this week.



Cough, cough.



In the meantime, I was irritated that I couldn’t stop coughing. I needed a sweet drink, so I left work and went down to the cafe.



“Welcome… Oh, you’re here?”



The cafe owner looked at me and smiled. He was about to take off his brown barista apron.



I looked at the time. It is unmistakably still 10 o’clock. The cafe closes at 10:30 p.m.



“I had an appointment, so I had to close early. What should I do, I can’t make a delicious Americano right now?”



“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll be back tomorrow.”



“Wait a minute.” 



The boss grabbed me in a hurry and moved loudly in the kitchen. There was also a sound of bumping or dropping something. It was not like a person who was always quiet.



I said I’d go, but he won’t let me.



I took a seat at the table and waited. It was difficult for me to sit still, so I leaned against the wall.



“Customer.”



After a while, the boss called me quietly. I was surprised to see that the boss had brought something with him.



“Is this porridge?”



“Yes, it’s porridge.”



It wasn’t even just a porridge, it was a chicken porridge. The steaming hot chicken porridge was served in a disposable container.



“Why is there porridge in the cafe?”



“Actually, I had a cold and went to the store to get some porridge. I saw you on your way to work earlier today and thought you had a cold, so I bought two…”



“… “



“I bought it… customer… please, eat it.”



The boss blushed and bowed his head as I stared. I blinked my eyes at the fading voice.



I’m not sure why. Did I present a favorable image to the boss? What happens if I don’t show up today?



I hid my confusion and smiled softly.



“I can’t eat right now because I still have work, so I’ll take it home. Thank you.”



“Yes, Thank you.”



The boss bought me porridge and said thank you. It was the strangest act I’d seen in four years.



If someone else had acted like this, they would have wanted to sleep with me, but the owner of this cafe most likely did not intend for that to happen. This guy has a pretty girlfriend.



Even if such a motive existed, I couldn’t be in a relationship with someone I could see face to face. I have to have an Americano and a citron tea here at least once a day, but if we break up, I won’t be able to return.



“Take it easy. You look very sick.”



“Yes, it’s already late at night, so get home safely.“



“I, by the way, customer.”



I was about to leave the cafe with my packed porridge when the boss grabbed me, hesitated, and asked,



“Do you wear perfume?”



“What? Perfume?”



“The scent comes from you, customer. It smells like roses.”



‘Your pheromones smell like rain-soaked rose petals.’



That’s how the Alpha, whom I met through my uncle’s introduction, described my pheromone. I thought it was a fresh scent, but after he said that, it smelled exactly like roses.



I didn’t leave the cafe to return to work but instead went across the street to the pharmacy. However, because the pharmacist did not provide me with a prescription for heat cycle inhibitors, I returned to the company in vain.



Why does the hit cycle have to happen now?



Since my last relationship with Park Jin-cheol… It had been two months. The heat cycle doesn’t come often because of my extreme heat. However, the last time I went to the club, I was stimulated by Alpha’s pheromone and forced to go into heat.



Damn…



I’m guessing it’s due to the wealthy dominant alpha brothers.



This explains why my fever didn’t go away. Because of the cold, my nose was stuffed and I couldn’t smell the pheromone. Even though I could smell it, it was too dull.



Why didn’t I prepare?



If you’re not smart, your body will suffer. I’m such a fool.



Fortunately, it hasn’t completely hit me yet, so I think I’ll be fine without medicine until work is finished. I have a pheromone remover at home, so I’ll use that for now.



“Seo-yu ssi, are you okay? Why are you trembling like this?”



My logistics manager asked me with a worried expression when I returned to my seat and put on my work clothes.



“I’m not okay. I’m dying from a cold.“



“Just endure it for today. Tomorrow is the weekend.”



“Sir, how do you manage to work the night shift? Even after two weeks, I’m exhausted.”



“I’m an owl type of person. Seo-yu ssi, if you’re tired, you can take a break.”



“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”



Unlike other employees, I rotate every two weeks between offices and logistics rooms. The office is a job that requires you to sit and turn over documents, whereas the logistics room requires you to work hard to transport paper boxes. Originally, I applied for office work only, but the section chief gave me night work, claiming that the zealous omega is like a beta.



That bastard, he clearly gave orders for retaliation.



I barely made it until the morning thinking only that tomorrow is Saturday. There was no place that didn’t hurt. My back, shoulders, and neck were all sore from carrying the box.



In case I emitted a pheromone scent, I bought an air freshener in a hurry at a convenience store that opened early in the morning. Even on the way home on the bus, I couldn’t sit down and relax because I was too wary of people.



The weather was quite warm for winter, but there was no time to relax and gaze up at the sky.



I fell asleep in the living room when I got home.



I fell asleep as if I were about to pass out.  I woke up screaming from a nightmare. when I looked at the time on my phone, When I looked at the time on my phone, it was only 30 minutes after I got home.



Warm sunlight streamed in through the living room window, and I nervously pulled the curtains down.



The heat cycle is a crazy physiological phenomenon.



It exhausts the human mind and body.



I stumbled up and went inside to wash up. I had to take a bath because I was covered in dust from working in the logistics room.



I lay down on the bed instead of the sofa I usually visit after taking cold medicine and a heat cycle inhibitor without forgetting to take them.



My eyes were spinning around.



I closed his heavy eyelids.



“…”



Oh.



Oh shit.



Not long after, I woke up feeling cold.



A dark night sky appeared in front of me.



The bed was floating on the river.



Cold river.



I’m so tired.



The river that engulfed everything, ran over the bed and filled up to the tip of my feet.



A black hole with its mouth open… waiting for me to jump in.



I woke up and opened the top drawer of the bedside drawer. I took a handful of sleeping pills and poured them into my mouth without water.



When will I be able to get out of this nightmare?



Will such a day ever come? Life is so depressing.