CH 4

5th of December

Maybe it was because December was the last month of the year and the year ended by the time the month turned 12, I felt relaxed. But that year was different. I finally planned to return to school next year. I took a break from school to run away from reality but life was like a bird’s nest.

Thanks to the money I saved from working for two years, I was able to prevent the worst from happening to my house earlier that year. We didn’t have to move out of the house we were living in and my mother didn’t have to work hard despite her hurting waist. But instead, I had to take one more year off due to the tuition money that I had saved was lost.

As soon as December 1st came, I came back home after 3 years of living in Pohang. I thought about making more money by continuing working in the logistics warehouse before returning to school but I changed my mind after talking with my mother on the phone.

“Tell Yura that if her grades are as bad as last time, she would have to quit everything and work in the countryside.”

My mother’s voice to scold my younger sister and tell her that she could be banished to the farms was quite fierce. I suddenly realized when I was listening to the conditions she laid with a smile. I might be the one who would enjoy the joy of such farming from next semester because I was the one who had not studied for three years. I arrived in Seoul in advance, finding myself in a sense of crisis.

Studying was an excuse because though studying I wanted to find myself returning to my original self. I was a normal student before. Thanks to petty greed, I had to find a part-time job so that I could find my original identity as a student. Fortunately, I found a part-time job which gave me a strong paycheck. The store I would be working at was the place which was under construction three years ago but now was a new city at full swing.

“Wow, it has changed a lot.”

The place that was completely under construction three years ago was now a completely different world. Tall buildings of more than 50 stories obstructed both sides of the eight lane road that was stretched like a runaway and wide parks and lakes between buildings and apartments were everywhere as if it was a foreign country. In particular, the complex with high end villas were distributed throughout as if it were a vacation spot.

“Is it your first time here in this kingdom?”

The owner of the large restaurant, which was located in the complex and where I got my part-time job, asked.

“Kingdom?”

“You didn’t know. This place is called kingdom. Most of the buildings here belong to one person.”

“This whole housing complex?”

“No, the whole city.”

“…It must be a kingdom.”

“Of course it is. Even the ferris wheel in the distance is his.”

Ferris wheel? Oh, that one. When the bus took its time coming into the city, I remember seeing the Ferris wheel at the end of the long road. A huge iron structure which made the new and shiny city even more exotic. Was it because I heard it was a kingdom? I deemed that the exposed peek of the Ferris wheel looked like a crown. So was there a prince of this kingdom?

“So you are really not going to do serving?”

I shook my head immediately.

“I’ll work hard washing the dishes in the kitchen.”

“No wonder, you are an Omega after all. Since this is a wealthy city, there are a lot of Alphas here as well.”

The man accepted the fact but he expressed his regret.

“You have a face that the guests tend to like. How about working while having your inhibitors? They have a good effect.”

“The price of the new inhibitors is equivalent to my week’s worth of part-time wage. I’ll have it if the boss buys it for me.”

“…Just work in the kitchen.”

I bowed my head, saying yes and then in passing he asked.

“Do you have anything you are curious about?”

“When you try to recruit people for the kitchen, why do you give preference to students from W University?”

I was also chosen because I was a student at W University. Was the boss a graduate of W University?

“The owner of the building likes students from W University.”

As expected, not everyone who could be the boss.

It didn’t take long to understand the correlation between the owner of the building, W University students and the boss’ over the top flattery.

“There is a rumor that the owner of the building, Chairman Noh, who is a very rich man, often stops by the store. Because he knows that students from W University work here.”

Before I officially started working, I was told about how to serve and I got to know at that time.

“Rumor?”

“Yeah, no one knows what Chairman Noh looks like. But the boss’ strategy worked.”

“If it’s a rumor then how do you know that it worked?”

“Chairman Noh, is known for being a cheapskate and he extended the lease contract for the store under the same conditions as he gave the first time.”

…It worked. But there were still questions.

“But the boss said that I was the only one who is from W University among the employees.”

“This store pays more than the other places and if you are a W University, it’s easier to get tutoring gigs so who would do a job which requires so much effort?”

Hm, me?

“So I, who is from the local W University, work here.”

As expected, not everyone can do business. The boss looked kind.

“But why does Chairman Noh like W University students so much?”

Kijoon wagged his fingers and opened his mouth as if he had been waiting to tell it.

“There are many theories why Chairman Roh likes W University students. That he wanted to get into Chairman University so much but he failed the entrance exam for the 10th time, also that his crush was a W University student but she passed away in an accident and became the ghost of the university and that his grandson is the student of the University. Which one do you think it is?”

“…Only the 3rd one.”

“I think it’s the 1st one. I don’t think he would be so obsessed with W University for such a simple reason.”

Obsession. If it’s that, then number 2 is more romantic.

“Anyway, I’m glad you are from W University.”

“Well, you are from W University as well.”

Kijoon smiled pleasantly at my words.

“Yes, that’s right. You’re going to work starting tomorrow afternoon, right? Have fun today, man.”

Kijoon recommended having fun but there was nothing I could play with. I thought to call a friend but I remembered seeing a library on the way here so I headed that way. When I got off in front of the huge library building which was like a Greek temple, I felt a passion for learning which didn’t exist before.

But the appreciation didn’t last long. It was cold. As the cold wind breezed past, like a habit I buried my nose in my scarf and quickly padded away. Anyway, I was going to study in the morning and work past time in the afternoon so it was not a bad idea to explore beforehand. More than that, around here…

I didn’t go straight for the library and looked around. Three years ago, I had a lot of inhibitors and left the house to spend the night in a container office on this site. The surroundings have changed but I remember it being around here. I met a runaway student then. However the place that used to look like a collapsed world of dystopia had now become a different world, with buildings and constructed monuments. It had only been three years. But people might be the slowest to change.

“Ugh.”

I borrowed a book to study and was reading it in the study room and I heard a small groan somewhere. It was a place with a wide table without a partition so I could find the source of the sound right away. A boy who looked older but must not be older than a middle school student sprung up from the seat with a stiff face. I rushed out of the study room.

Red face, trembling hands and how he couldn’t stand properly. It looked like he was an Omega in a heat cycle. He must have only started to experience heat cycles because he was still young. A friend of his who seemed quite young as well followed the student so I wasn’t that worried however the problem was the people who were sitting in front of him on the table.

Two boys who appeared to be high school students were snickering. One of them seemed to be an Alpha. They probably wouldn’t do anything to the young kid but still I took the small packet from my bag and went outside. While looking around the bathrooms from different floors, I finally found the friend of the Omega on the second floor bathroom. The friend was worried about his Omega friend and was standing outside the bathroom stall.

“Hey, are you okay? Should I call someone?”

“Yes, it would be better to call someone.”

The friend looked at me in surprise when I stepped in. I grabbed the packet and then knocked on the bathroom door. Knock, Knock.

“Did you have your inhibitors today?”

When I asked, a struggling voice replied.

“I took an inhibitor…Before I came to the library…”

“The effects of refined medicine are weak. It’s better if you take these inhibitor herbs. I’ll give it to you, open the door.”

The student was hesitant inside but after a while the door opened. The middle school Omega student was hunched over a covered toilet. I opened the bag and held out the dried inhibitor herb.

“Now, chew and eat.”

His face, which blushed due to the heat, was now distorted to tears.

“This tastes…really bad.”

I swallowed my laughter at the childlike words and advised them seriously.

“Or else you have to sleep with an Alpha and have a baby or whatever.”

The Omega, a middle school student, flinched and chewed on the grass. I gave him a few more and advised him to eat them all.

“Call your parents or guardians who can help you and tell them to come right away.”

He nodded his head, shedding tears as if the herbs were disgusting.

“Hmph! I’m going to call my uncle.”

The friend who was in the back was surprised and asked back.

“Huh? That uncle? Wow.”

He said wow. Is he at least a great Alpha who is 3m tall? I suggested something to the friend who said ‘Wow’ earlier.

“I’ll take care of your bags in the study room so don’t come out yet. There’s an Alpha there.”

The friend excitedly nodded at my words.

“Those Alpha hyung were following us before we came to the library. I overheard them saying nonsense like  that since they were in the first stages of awakening, they were still unstable and inhibitors didn’t work on them…Hmph.”

If they heard that, they should have gone home quickly. I wanted to say something but I held it in considering that they were still children. At that time, no matter how I heard it, I wanted to curse saying, “So? What do you want me to do?” but it was not the time to do so.

“But they said they were okay since they took an inhibitor…”

Muttering an excuse, the friend looked up at me.

“Are you an Omega?”

I just smiled and left the washroom before asking the library staff for help. When I came up to the study room and packed the middle school student’s bags, the Alpha who was sitting across, looked at me, frowning. When I stared back at them with eyes saying, “What?” they avoided my eyes.

When I got back to my seat, I kept a watch on them while I read my book but fortunately they didn’t go to look for the Omega. I thought it was a relief but soon it turned to a misfortune after two hours. I was hungry. But I couldn’t go to eat because I was keeping the students’ bags.

I had no choice but to pour a few cups of coffee from the vending machine in the hallway right in front of me and downed it in an empty stomach. I was even more hungry. Coffee had high calories but zero satiety. I thought I would wait another half an hour and if they didn’t come I would then go down to the bakery downstairs to get some bread however soon someone tapped my arm.  As I turned around, it was the Omega student. When I came out with their bags and handed it to him, the student bowed his head and greeted me.

“Thank you for your help.”

“It’s fine. Are your parents here?”

The Alpha high school student just left so I asked just in case. The student shook his head but answered with a confident face.

“My uncle is here. He left to find those Alpha hyungs to give them a scolding.”

“You have a harmonious family.”

My compliment made the child feel elated but then he grimaced.

“But I can’t see them anywhere.”

“Those high school students just left with their bags.”

The kid looked disappointed but then showed his strong will.

“They will be back soon so if they do, I will call my uncle.”

Such harmony. I nodded to the heartwarming scene that was rare in the nuclear family society and I tried to leave. But the kid caught me.

“Oh, wait a minute. Uncle, here!”

The kid called the person who was climbing up the stairs. The man turned to the kid’s voice. My first impression was that the man was tall. Expressionless yet had sharp eyes. I stopped breathing without realizing it. He looked familiar. I realized the reason after a while.

An invisible energy emitted from him. A strong Alpha male energy but it was not pheromones…Huh? Was he the Alpha I saw in Pohang last year? I blinked in amazement and noticed that the man stopped on the stairs and didn’t move. He was staring at me.

Perhaps his aura was too overwhelming the question, “Why?” didn’t come to my mind. Why did he stop and didn’t move and why did he stare at me like that? I couldn’t even step into the realm of that thought. I couldn’t take my eyes off him who was standing there for a while but then turned my eyes away when I came to my senses.

I must be crazy. Why was he looking at me like that? Afraid of being caught, I didn’t look at him but I could feel his movements as if the sense of my skin had replaced my eyes. So the Alpha, uncle of the Omega student and one head taller than me, stood near me. Let’s not be conscious. He’s just an Alpha. Just a bit strong.

“He is my Uncle.”