CH 2

“Sigh.”

As soon as the boy sat down on the couch, he let out a pained groan. He used his glove-free hand to press the injured leg’s knee. He must have had severe leg pain. I moved the stove closer to him while I sat across from it. He leaned against the wall, his head cocked. Due to the helmet, I was still unable to see his face, but I could tell he was in pain, keeping his eyes closed. While I studied his face, I attempted to dial 119 on my cell phone.- “Don’t.”

He muttered with his head resting on the wall.

“Don’t call anyone.”

“…Okay.”

I placed my phone down while acting as though I had agreed to his request. He gave me a long, skeptical look as though he didn’t believe me. No, he was facing me, but I couldn’t tell if he was dozing off or not. He then stopped making sounds.

I had strong social abilities, therefore I disliked that uneasiness. Normally, I would have blurted something out to break the awkward silence, but curiously, I didn’t find it to be all that difficult.

I think the inhibitor was to blame. The container office was silent. But outside, a powerful wind rocked the glass and howled like a beast. The fact that the location was secure despite its filth outweighed the fact that it was still chilly outdoors. I sniffed and questioned the boy who had run away.

“Why did you run away from home?”

“None of your business.”

Seeing how he could answer right away, it meant he was conscious. Well, I didn’t want to know. However, it was necessary to know him at a certain level to at least report smoothly in a 119 call.

“But I’m curious.”

He was dumbfounded at my answer. No, he might be sleeping inside the obstructing helmet. It was true, right? While I mulled over it, I heard a question.

“How old are you?”

The question was so cute I almost laughed out loud. He seemed displeased however I didn’t let out a laugh. I am older than you, I answered and pushed the stove toward him.

“Don’t do that.”

Suddenly he spat out sharply. Knowing that it was because of the stove, he roughly pushed it back. It was thanks to my inhibitor that I was not angry at his behavior. Could I have that every day despite whether I was not in my heat cycle?

“Why are you laughing?”

Since you’re cute. But thinking about 119, it couldn’t make him feel any worse.

“I am thinking that only an Alpha could be this relaxed even when he is injured.”

The word Alpha might have irked him again. He turned his head again. I peeked then asked.

“Does an Alpha have difficulties too?”

I thought he would reply along the lines of, “It’s nothing for you to know” but there was no reply. It was clear that he ran away from home because of the hardships he faced because of being an Alpha. Well, it looked like he was a dominant Alpha.

“Tell me. I’ll hear you out.”

“Are you an Omega?”

The question I heard earlier was repeated.

It didn’t matter even if he thought that I was beta because I couldn’t emit my pheromones because of all the inhibitors I ingested. It would be more comfortable to lie because he was someone I met for the first time. However, I didn’t know why I told him the truth when the situation was in my favor.

“Yes, Omega. A dominant Omega with a lot of hardships.”

He stared at me. I smiled but I didn’t think he could see it because half of my face was covered with my scarf.

“What were your hardships?”

There was no answer for a long time. I hummed the song that kept hovering around my head unconsciously. I didn’t know the lyrics exactly. Most of the time, I would fill it with hums. I felt the gaze then and raised my eyes. I felt an irritated glare. I smiled again. I pulled my head up so that he could see my mouth. See, that was how an adult could act in ease. The reaction came out immediately. I heard a sigh of irritation. I held back from wanting to laugh but then I heard a murmur.

“I am an Alpha but not an Alpha.”

It was not long before I understood that was his reason for running away from home. What was he talking about exactly? I couldn’t ask because of his serious tone.

“…it must have been hard.”

He nodded his head in affirmation. Was it really hard?

“What about an Omega?”

“What?”

“You said you had a hard time too.”

“Ah, well. It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

I didn’t know what to say at first so I looked around and picked a few things to say.

“Omega is a rational human being but periodically they go through an animalistic rut, and if they meet an Alpha who has strong pheromones, so matter how trash that person is they get excited and if the Alpha imprints on them, they must spend the rest of their life with that trash. So some people give up school and run away because that trash and shameless Alpha happened to imprint on them.”

But an Alpha, who was usually the boss for the rest of their life wouldn’t understand that feeling.l yet, I asked for his sympathy.

“For example, think of the person you hate the most. Who is it?”

“Dad.”

….Ah.

“Who do you hate the second most?”

“Mom.”

…I guess it was worth running away.

“Sorry. Think of the most annoying kid at school.”

“I don’t know anyone like that.”

“No way. There must be at least one Alpha who is arrogant, shameless and always showing off his strength?”

The runaway boy looked up and wondered but then soon shook his head.

“Not really.”

…Were there little students at his school? When I doubted if he was homeschooled, I heard his answer.

“Have your inhibitors.”

Of course, I had it. However, if ruts could be solved by inhibitors, then no omega victims would have been imprinted. Imprint. Alpha and Beta weren’t aware of how awful that word sounded.

“The inhibitors aren’t available all the time. Also, inhibitors don’t really work on dominant Alpha pheromones. When they know that an Omega had their inhibitors, they get more excited and act like a dog to get a response. To hunt as if Omega is a trophy.”

“…I don’t do that.”

That time, I didn’t hide my laughter and even wrinkled my eyes.

“Yes, I think you don’t.”

I answered and I untied my scarf. His gaze seemed to be directed at my face but I ignored it and spread the enormous scarf from my neck and covered his body. His body had been shaking intermittently since he came inside. Having pushed the stove away, he might throw the scarf but while I carefully covered his body with the scarf, there was no resistance other than flinching. However, I felt his eyes on my face until I returned to my seat.

“…You.”

“What?”

“You smell. I could smell you from earlier.”

I was about to sit down but stopped midway. Did I smell?

“I showered though. I take a shower twice a day.”

The boy wanted to protest but he swiveled his head to the side without saying anything. I had my inhibitors so the smell of the pheromones should be faint. He was an Alpha so he probably could have smelled it but if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be able to smell it. I thought he was on alert given how I revealed my impression of an Alpha.

Just as there were very strong dominant Alpha but there were recessive Alpha who were like Beta. What did he mean by smell? What was it? I sniffed hard and he kept turning his head to the side as if trying to avoid the smell. In the meantime, I successfully dialed 119 as I kept peeking whether he was looking in my direction.

“By the way.”

Surprised by the sudden remark coming from him, I turned my cell phone upside down. He muttered, his head against the wall.

“Even if they fell for your pheromones first, they could end up liking you eventually.”

“That’s possible. If they are lucky that is. But I don’t believe in luck.”

There was no reply from him for a long time. Having achieved my purpose, I waited leisurely for 119 to come. However, it was not polite to keep looking at my cell phone when there was a person in front of me so I stared at the red light of the stove and kept humming the song that was echoing in my head.

There were times like that. When a song would be stuck in my head and my mouth. Again, I didn’t know the lyrics so I replaced them with hums and continued to the song’s climax. I hummed again. That part of the song was short but it felt like years had by in that silence. So when I finished humming the song, I felt that his silence was strange.

“Are you cold?”

I didn’t hear an answer so I got up from my seat. I noticed belatedly that his body was trembling.

“Are you okay?”

I moved his arms and it fell sideways.

“Ah, hey!”

I bent down in surprise and took his helmet to check his condition. Like a midsummer, his sweaty face and hair were revealed. He had a younger face than I thought so I was surprised to the point where I lost my composure. His childish face turned red with heat as he huffed quickly. I hastily took a handkerchief out of my pocket and wiped the sweat off. He couldn’t open his eyes as if he was suffering from a fever, but I kept talking to him to reassure him.

“It’s alright, an ambulance will come soon. You’ll be fine when you go to the hospital.”

It’s alright, it’s alright. I repeatedly murmured and stroked his head. How long had I been stroking like that? Fortunately, I heard an ambulance from afar just when I thought of running carrying him on my back to the hospital. I packed the handkerchief in my pocket and quickly got off my seat.

But before I could stand up, his hand seized my arms strongly. His hands were so hot that I could feel his heat on my arms. I looked down at him, who could barely open his eyes to stare back at me. The fever seemed to be distracting. I patted him on the head again.

“Good boy.”

I praised him as I was doing it to my little sister and yanked my arm from his hot hand. The 119 siren was louder. I wanted to get out of there before I got caught. When I opened the door of the container office and walked out, I could hear the paramedic looking for the patient’s location. I quickly walked to the other side and hid.

After a while, I went back to the office once the uproar as if a war broke out had died down. The stove was off and my scarf was rolling on the floor. I shook off the dust from my scarf and sat down. Ring I checked the ringing cell phone and there were several text messages. It was from my younger sister and mother.

Are you okay? Where are you in this cold? Call me as soon as you get to your uncle’s house, okay?

– Oppa. That Alpha senior came to our house a while ago. He said even if you avoid him, he’ll find you. I even called the police. They knew that the senior was a dominant Alpha, so they told me to settle it with words and left. The cop is a jerk too.

Since then, there were four more messages from my sister who recommended that I take a leave of absence from school. I sighed into the cold indoors and wrapped the scarf around my neck. The runaway boy’s visit seemed a long time ago. I waited for the time to pass like the first time I came there. I still had to hold out longer to catch the first train. My last day as a 20-year-old was unusually cold.