Chapter 1

Aren’t Korean Lit beta Park Sia and that dominant Alpha Business major Kang Jihoon dating?

Again.

This was already the thirteenth time a post had gone up on Eta, the campus social media app, asking if she was dating her childhood friend Kang Jihoon.

No matter how many times she refuted it, the moment she saw yet another post circling back like a broken record, Sia’s tiny face scrunched up completely.

– No they’re not ㅡㅡ;;;;

– How would you know? Are you the people in question?

– I know them through someone else and they’re not even that close. I have no idea why that rumor’s going around. Sia literally shudders just seeing that Kang Jihoon guy^^;

After quickly posting her rebuttal comment, Sia crossed her tiny studio apartment and shot a sideways glare at her mortal enemy, who was lying on his side like a lump.

The space, already packed full of her cute little belongings, was cramped even for her alone to roll around in.

But with a guy nearly 190 cm tall sprawled out smack in the middle, her tiny studio felt like an actual dollhouse.

“Kang Jihoon. How long are you planning to stay here? Don’t you think it’s about time you left?”

Jihoon, who’d been absorbed in his reading with an expression as serene as if he were meditating, ignored Sia’s curt remark and pressed play on an audio file he’d recorded on his phone.

– ……So, I can order whatever I want to eat? Really?

– That’s what I said. Park-Shorty, have you spent your whole life getting scammed or what?

– So really, just three times a week, for just two hours each time. And every time you come over, I can order any delivery food I want?

– Yeah. Honestly, if you turn this down, I’m gonna have to question your intelligence. Let’s not mix personal feelings into business, Shorty.

– Well…… it’s not a bad deal. Kang Jihoon, you’re really just gonna sit there quietly reading and not bother me?

– Obviously. Deal?

– De…… deal.

Jihoon cynically ended the audio file, then pointed with his long fingers at the delivery food spread out all over the round floor table.

On the table were empty sushi containers that Sia had already finished, half-eaten pizza and pasta, a chocolate drink piled high with whipped cream, and gelato waffles loaded with cheese—a truly lavish spread.

“I paid fair and square to use Park-Shorty’s cramped house, and I’ve still got thirty minutes left.”

“Ha…”

Cursing her past self for giving in to a moment of temptation, Sia sat down beside the floor table with a dissatisfied look.

Honestly, she didn’t want to spend even a second with this insufferable jerk, but for a broke student living alone, the chance to order whatever food she wanted in exchange for lending out her space for an hour or two was too good to pass up—a sweet side gig if there ever was one.

This is how it all began.

Jihoon had stupidly messed up his schedule, leaving himself with three two-hour gaps each week. Since he had nowhere decent to go during those times, he wanted to crash at her place and read.

His excuse was that libraries and cafes were too distracting—people kept recognizing him and trying to talk to him—and his own place was too far from campus.

Of course, she’d stubbornly refused and tried to kick him out, telling him to stop spouting nonsense. But Jihoon, who knew her situation all too well, bribed her with a lavish spread of food, buying off the hissing, claws-out stray cat that she was.

For a broke student living alone, struggling each month with rent, utilities, and living expenses, the chance to order all the delivery food she’d been craving three times a week was like rain in a drought. Even if it was that insufferable bastard Kang Jihoon who was footing the bill.

Just swallow her pride once, and she could cut her weekly food budget in half—or more. Passing up an opportunity like this would be insane.

The one silver lining was that Jihoon really did just quietly read for those two hours and didn’t bother her.

They never ate together, and even if she left him alone at her place to run errands, he didn’t mind at all.

It really did seem like he just needed somewhere to hide from people for exactly two hours.

Even if she made a fuss and refused someone who genuinely just needed a quiet space away from others, it would be obvious she was overreacting.

Sia ignored the guy who seemed to have no ulterior motives beyond killing time, and opened up social media to check DMs from her friends.

But the moment she logged on, a familiar face in the recommended section made her furrow her brow again.

The man dominating the vertical video with an angelic face and a beaming eye-smile was none other than Kang Jihoon.

– How would you rate your looks out of 10?

– Hmm… 3 out of 10.

– What? Why do you think that?

– Because there are so many good-looking people these days.

– Can we share this on social media?

– Sure.

– Whoa. 600,000 followers? You’re really famous!

– Haha. Not really.

Even in the casually shot footage, the sculpted, three-dimensional quality of Kang Jihoon’s features stood out, and his reel had already surpassed a million views within a day of being made public.

-@ass_05** Hey hey, this is that dominant Alpha from our department I was telling you about! This guy!

-lalahaha** I couldn’t hear the sound, so I watched it with a magnifying glass.

-me__** Do you happen to have an omega you’ve promised your future to? If not, I strongly recommend myself, a 32nd-generation descendant of the Jeonju Yi clan.

-y_roun** Doesn’t this guy have a girlfriend in the Korean Lit department? Is the girlfriend position even open?

Sia clicked her tongue and shook her head at the zealous sharing spirit, as people tagged even their in-law’s eighth cousin to spread the word about this handsome guy.

Kang Jihoon, who had briefly been a competitive swimmer during his school days, was the type who stood out anywhere with his broad shoulders and towering height.

Though she hated to admit it, his sculpted features—as if God had painstakingly crafted each detail—often led people to mistake him for being mixed-race, and when his light brown eyes caught the sunlight, their glass-like beauty aroused a rich, profound atmosphere.

With looks like that, honestly, he could get praised just for breathing. But Kang Jihoon had excelled at everything since his school days—academics, arts, or sports. He stood out in every field without exception.

And on top of that, he was a dominant Alpha, of whom only 1% exist worldwide. Even without doing anything, attention would naturally pour his way, yet he kept accepting pointless interviews and photo shoots, so his popularity grew by the day until practically every college student knew who Kang Jihoon was.

‘So why does he have to act like an attention seeker on social media and create situations like this?’

Sia felt a pang of sympathy for the guy who couldn’t even visit a café freely despite not being a celebrity, but then she clicked her tongue with a ‘tsk-tsk,’ thinking he had only himself to blame.

“Hey, Kang Jihoon.”

When she held up her phone screen toward him with a mocking laugh, Jihoon looked at Sia with an indifferent expression.

“Are you serious about this? You actually think your looks are a 3 out of 10?”

“As if.”

At her question, Jihoon let out a scoff, telling her to be reasonable.

“What’s with this totally out-of-character angel act? Because you go around like this, people get the wrong idea and think you’re some normal, decent guy. No, wait—if you hate being recognized so much, you shouldn’t be posting this stuff in the first place. You know your words and actions are completely contradictory, right?”

“Why? Worried that your oppa’s popularity is shooting through the roof? Feeling like we’re in completely different leagues now?”

“What? Are you actually insane?”

“So try being a little friendlier. Stop being so prickly all the time. That nasty temper of yours is why you keep getting rejected, Shorty.”

“When have I ever been rejected? I’ve never been rejected, okay?”

“Stop scrunching up your face like that. That’s why you keep getting rejected.”

“I said I’ve never been rejected! And I’ve never told you about my dating history, so what the hell are you even talking about?”

Having apparently finished reading an entire book, Jihoon stretched with a satisfied sigh and stood up, then pressed down on Sia’s deeply furrowed brow with a smirk.

“Dating history, my ass. Come back and say that after you’ve at least held a guy’s hand.”

“I-I have held hands before!”

“Don’t bullshit me. Anyone can tell those are hands that have never held a guy’s hand even once.”

Jihoon chuckled at Sia’s small, delicate hands, then glanced around the cramped studio apartment.

“By the way, do you not air this place out? There’s some kind of smell in your room.”

“A smell? Is it food? I can’t really tell… Is it that bad?”

“Nah, it’s… I guess it is food like you said. But seriously, betas really can’t smell Alpha or omega pheromones? Not at all?”

“Nope. At least I can’t. Just walking into school with all those perfume smells everywhere gives me a headache—imagine if I could smell pheromones on top of that. Ugh, I’m so glad I’m a beta. Being an omega or Alpha seems exhausting.”

“Hmm. Really? Ms. Park Joraeng*, the self-loving narcissist who can’t contain how much she loves being a beta. Anyway, try not to get rejected this time, okay?”

[*T/N: He’s making a play on Joraeng Tteok/조랭이 떡 which are rice cakes shaped like small cocoons or snails, and are often eaten in soups.]

After stretching out his long legs a few times, Jihoon ignored Sia’s indignant expression and quickly left the cramped studio apartment, apparently done with his business there.

“Hey! I’ve never been rejected! I’ve never even confessed to anyone before!”

Her aggrieved cry echoed through the empty hallway like an echo.

Kang Jihoon, whom Sia found so insufferable, was her childhood friend—if it wasn’t enough that they’d gone to the same elementary, middle, and high schools, they’d even ended up at the same university.

The story of how Sia became something resembling childhood friends with Jihoon—the grandson of the chairman of one of South Korea’s leading mid-sized corporations—goes back to elementary school.

Sia’s mother had entered a lottery for a private elementary school just to try her luck, and Sia ended up winning a spot, just like that.

Though her family now ran a fried chicken restaurant, Sia’s father had been an executive at a small-to-medium enterprise back then. Eager to fulfill the wishes of Sia’s mother, who burned with passion for their child’s education, he paid the astronomical tuition to enroll Sia in the private school.

The private school, teeming with glamorous elementary schoolers—children of celebrities and politicians, grandchildren of famous businesspeople you’d only see on TV—was nothing short of a miniature battlefield.

Waiting for young Sia were countless exams—monthly unit tests for major subjects, of course, but also various instrument evaluations, foreign language speaking competitions, sports tournaments, and more.

In this monstrous school full of parents who hired professional tutors to coach their kids even for a simple recorder test, the most monstrous of them all was, without a doubt, Kang Jihoon—the youngest grandson of the chairman of K Group.

Unlike Sia, who had to pull all-nighters to score a hundred, Jihoon was a genius who could skim through a book once and memorize every page like he’d taken a photograph of it. Naturally, someone like him had no need for extra studying or tutoring.

Perhaps because of this, unlike the other mothers whose eyes were perpetually narrowed with stress over their children’s private education, Jihoon’s mother was always calm and composed. Every time they met, she’d look at Sia with a kind expression and dote on her for studying so diligently.

If only his abilities were concentrated solely in academics, it might’ve been easier to stomach. But whenever she saw him achieving good grades not only in PE, but also in art and music, Sia couldn’t help but feel a natural surge of envy.

Raised under the influence of a fiercely competitive mother to hate losing and crave being number one, Sia couldn’t help but find Kang Jihoon—who effortlessly excelled at everything from A to Z—exasperating.

This was especially true since, in every subject except PE, Sia always came in second place, trailing behind Jihoon by a hair’s breadth.

The teachers treated the two of them as a set, calling them “friendly rivals,” but being by Jihoon’s side meant being perpetually labeled as the sidekick, the eternal runner-up. For young Sia, who worked hard every single day, it was far from a pleasant experience.

She vowed that one day, through sheer effort, she would defeat Kang Jihoon—who relied solely on his natural talent without putting in any work at all. But…

Her strong will was shaken by the results of the trait test she received in middle school.

[Hey. Park Joraeng. What’d you get?]

[I’m a beta.]

[Hmm. Surprising.]

[Surprising?]

[Yeah. I totally thought you’d be an omega.]

[What? Why?]

[What do you mean why? You’re fucking short. Your hands and feet are fucking tiny too.]

[Crazy. It’s creepy how you even know the size of someone else’s feet. What about you then?]

[Alpha, obviously. You didn’t know all the men in my family are dominant Alphas?]

Around the time secondary sex characteristics began to emerge and their immature features started to change, each school conducted standardized trait testing through affiliated university hospitals.

Though the test involved simple procedures like blood work and ultrasounds, since traits were largely determined by genetics, most kids could already guess whether they’d be an Alpha, beta, or omega.

Jihoon, whose grandfather, father, and both older brothers were all dominant Alphas, was naturally classified as an extreme dominant Alpha. But Sia, born to a recessive Alpha father and a recessive omega mother, was classified as a beta.

While her dad just wanted her to grow up healthy no matter her trait, her mom had secretly hoped her daughter would take after her father and manifest as an Alpha.

That night, after being classified as a beta, Sia overheard her mother’s sighs as she lamented—even a recessive omega would have been better; how could she marry off a daughter who, as a beta, couldn’t even get pregnant?

Sia thought of her mother struggling through every heat cycle, taking suppressants each time, and figured that if she couldn’t be an Alpha, being an ordinary beta was a hundred times better.

But maybe she had realized that no matter how hard someone as ordinary as her tried, it was impossible to beat Kang Jihoon, an extreme dominant Alpha?

After the day she was classified as a beta, Sia found Kang Jihoon—who seemed to coast through life on his blessed genetics—insufferably grating.

That brilliant mind of his, that towering height of nearly 190cm and natural muscle mass, that amazing recovery ability that kept him from ever getting sick, not even a cold—realizing it was all thanks to his god-given genetics kept irritating her.

She knew it was a dirty, petty jealousy even by her own standards, but when she realized all her desperate efforts to beat him had been nothing more than a beta’s futile flailing against a dominant Alpha, a crushing sense of futility washed over her.

Was it because of these feelings? No matter how attractive Kang Jihoon’s appearance might be, to Sia he was nothing more than an insufferable Alpha who’d been born lucky and was living the easy life.

What’s more, Kang Jihoon’s charmed existence continued even after he became an adult.

Born into a good family with nothing lacking, he was a privileged, handsome guy people were crazy about, and everyone wanted to make him into content.

Naturally, that brilliant mind of his never let him slip from the top spot in S University’s Business Administration program, and just posting a few casual photos on social media seemed to earn him sponsorship deals rivaling any idol’s.

Sia envied Jihoon and felt uncomfortable around him.

Claiming the top spot in your major at S University—where the nation’s brightest Alphas all congregated—was no easy feat.

She’d thought once high school ended, smooth sailing awaited her. But having to fight tooth and nail for good grades in a place crawling with Alphas made her feel like she was studying twice as much as she had when she was a test-taker.

If she lost her scholarship, she’d have to double her tutoring gigs.

‘That guy living his carefree life without a worry in the world wouldn’t understand. It’s not like I want to live this way.’

What made it even more pathetic was that, despite disliking him, she couldn’t even refuse takeout food, so she kept allowing him into her space.

‘Just you wait. I’m going to graduate with excellent grades, land a job at a great company, meet a normal but sweet beta guy, travel together, raise a cat, and live happily.’

Vowing to become the happiest and wealthiest beta on this planet, Sia clenched her small, white hands, which Kang Jihoon always called “Joraeng-tteoks”.

 

***

“Teacher Sia, thank you so much. Thanks to you, our Junwon’s grades have really improved.”

“Not at all, ma’am. Maybe it’s because Junwon’s an Alpha, but he’s so smart and follows along well—it’s rewarding to teach him. And thank you so much for looking after me like this.”

Late at night after finishing the tutoring session, Sia repeatedly thanked the student’s mother as she received the bonus spending money.

“Actually, at first I had a bit of a prejudice when I heard our teacher was a beta. But now I think you’re even more impressive, you know? You placed top of your department at S University, where it’s all those smart Alphas. I truly think you’re talented, Teacher. It’s not every day a beta beats out Alphas, is it?”

Even at the parent’s innocent remark that straddled the line between compliment and insult, Sia didn’t feel the least bit offended.

“Thank you for the compliment, ma’am. Haha.”

With the thick envelope of cash clutched tightly in her hand, Sia could only feel grateful and reverent.

Junwon’s mother had this odd habit of always paying the tutoring fee and bonuses in wads of cash.

At first it felt somewhat uncomfortable, but thinking ‘when else will I get to smell cash like this?’ Sia was grateful even for this.

And what about that sound when you feed bills into an ATM machine—that satisfying rustle? Had she ever heard such a delightful sound in her entire life!

Thinking herself an inevitable slave to capitalism, she left her student’s house in high spirits, when Junwon’s older brother Junik hurriedly followed her out and stopped her.

“Um… Teacher. I have something I need to buy at the convenience store. If you don’t mind, would you like to walk out together? I’ll take you to the station.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

Sia looked at Junik, who was scratching his head with his face flushed as if shy, and nodded slightly.

Perhaps because she’d so rarely received this kind of attention from the opposite sex, Sia didn’t actually mind Junik’s timid display of interest in her.

Junik, who was rather good-looking, was a recessive Alpha, unlike his younger brother who was a dominant Alpha.

Maybe that was why. In their household, Junik often seemed somehow dejected.

While Sia normally couldn’t stand Alphas, whenever she saw Junik being treated like the odd one out in this household, his sense of powerlessness in front of his outstanding younger brother felt strangely relatable. Sometimes she even felt an odd sense of kinship with him.

“By the way, Teacher, do you happen to have a boyfriend?”

“Huh? No, I don’t.”

“Ah… I’ve been thinking this for a while now. You always seem to have the same Alpha pheromones on you. Pretty strongly, too.”

“On me?”

“Yes. You had no idea?”

At Junik’s question, Sia immediately thought of Kang Jihoon, who came and went from her cramped studio apartment as if he owned the place.

It wasn’t enough that he stretched out his long legs and lounged around her studio; she recalled how he’d sometimes climb onto her narrow bed and lie spread-eagle reading a book, and a quiet rage began bubbling up inside her.

‘Kang Jihoon, seriously! He’s not some one or two-year-old kid—how can he not control his pheromones and let them rub off on me like this? What a total nuisance!’

Having lived her whole life as a beta, Sia didn’t really know how to control pheromones or exactly how they flowed from the body. But she remembered learning in sex education class as a child that Alphas and omegas could control their pheromones, except during rut and heat cycles.

She’d also heard that pheromones could leak out in situations where the body became overly relaxed—like when someone was very drunk or completely relaxed…

Still, even if he found her cramped studio comfortable and familiar, that was no excuse. To be so careless with his pheromones that they rubbed off on an innocent beta, making her seem like she was already married—what a nuisance.

Next time they met, Sia thought to herself that she’d definitely have to hold him accountable for this incident and squeeze at least one more delivery meal out of him. She waved her hands dismissively as she answered.

“Oh, this? Don’t worry about it. There’s this Alpha jerk I know—no, actually, just someone I know… He’s like a childhood friend. Even though he’s a guy, I don’t see him as a man at all—that kind of friend! He uses my place pretty often during his free periods between classes… Since he finds my place comfortable, I guess he must’ve been letting his pheromones out.”

At her explanation, Junik furrowed his brow slightly, looking even more confused as he asked again.

“You’re saying a male Alpha friend comes and goes from your place—where you live alone—during every free period he has?”

“W-well, I know it might sound weird when you put it that way, but he pays to use it. It’s complicated to explain… Anyway, think of it like I’m renting out the space temporarily for a fee, like a café? Haha…”

“A paid café?”

“Yeah. In exchange for spending his free periods at my place, he pays me a sort of fee. It’s like a symbiotic relationship. I’m a broke college student living alone, after all.”

As she hastily fumbled through her explanation, Junik tilted his head, his eyes still showing unresolved doubt.

“I’m an Alpha too, so I can at least tell the difference between when someone’s relaxed and letting their pheromones out versus when they’re not. But the pheromones on you, Sia… they’re not the kind that would naturally come out just because you were relaxed…”

“Then…?”

When Junik trailed off with an expression that said he wasn’t sure how to explain, Sia quickly shot him a curious look urging him to finish.

“It’s more like… a thick, dangerous scent—the kind that lingers after sex.”

“What? S-sex?”

At the sudden crude word, Sia jumped as if she’d been shocked. Junik carefully observed her reaction before adding,

“To be completely honest, walking around covered in this much Alpha pheromone is… basically the same as announcing ‘I slept with this Alpha today.'”

Sia’s face flushed bright red at Junik’s blunt words.

The heat rose so intensely that it felt like steam might shoot out from the top of her head.

“Excuse me. I think you’re being a bit rude. We’re not close enough to be having this kind of conversation, are we?”

Sia responded in an icy tone to Junik, who wore an awkward expression as if he didn’t know what to do with himself after blurting that out.

She felt deeply offended, as if she’d just been sexually harassed by a man she wasn’t even close to.

So this is what Alphas are like—all of them rude jerks who don’t care about anyone else?

When people live and work together, of course perfume and pheromones can rub off on each other. What? Just because she has some Alpha pheromones on her, it looks like she’s advertising she slept with an Alpha? Ha! Takes one to know one!

When Sia clenched her small fists and huffed as if ready to punch Junik, he fidgeted anxiously and bent his tall frame over and over, spewing repeated apologies.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Sia. I really didn’t mean it like that… It’s just that you always have Alpha pheromones on you, but you seem completely unaware of it… I was curious whether you didn’t know or were doing it on purpose.”

“Why would I do it on purpose?! What sane beta would deliberately go around covered in Alpha pheromones?”

“B-but there are so many people who deliberately go around with pheromones on them.”

“Why?”

“To show they have a partner. Generally, Alphas and omegas who are dating but haven’t imprinted yet often do that to show it.”

As Junik fidgeted and continued his explanation as calmly as possible, Sia finally looked at him with a somewhat softened expression.

Realizing he hadn’t meant any harm at all, she felt a bit embarrassed about her fiery outburst.

“Oh… I had no idea.”

“Actually, Junwon mentioned several times during meals that you smelled like an Alpha and probably had a boyfriend. Even my mom assumed you naturally had a boyfriend…”

“What?”

Sia looked up at Junik with her eyebrows scrunched, as if she’d been wronged.

After Junik, even the student she tutored and his mother had misunderstood that she had a boyfriend. She felt frustrated and wronged that, as a beta, she couldn’t tell how strongly Jihoon’s pheromones lingered on her.

“Haven’t you ever been asked about this before? I’d think guys interested in you would ask…”

“No. Never.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not popular.”

“What? That can’t be true.”

When Junik made a face that said he didn’t believe her, Sia answered matter-of-factly, as if she were used to this kind of situation.

“It’s true. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a warm and friendly personality… I’m just not popular. When I was younger, I used to hear people say I was pretty and cute all the time… but I guess my kind of face isn’t trendy these days.”

“Do you not have a mirror at home?”

“A mirror? I have one.”

“Ah. Well… I see.”

Junik quietly looked at the woman before him.

Her petite frame fell far short of average height, with a tiny face that looked like it might vanish at any moment. Her pale face was free of blemishes, and her large, slightly droopy eyes stood out. Her delicate features were arranged harmoniously without a single harsh angle—creating a face so lovely and charming that you’d be hard-pressed to find any man who wouldn’t find her attractive.

Her slender neck, her thin arms and legs that were well-shaped for her small stature, and even her dainty hands and feet…

She was like a doll that stirred protective instincts so strongly, you’d want to carry her around in your pocket if you could.

The first day Sia came to the house to tutor Junwon, Junik saw her sparkling as if she were dusted with stardust and thought Tinkerbell herself had walked through the door.

Her face, fresh as a green apple, and her fragrant smile were so lovely that, even though it was his younger brother who was getting tutored, Junik found himself strangely nervous, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Maybe everyone saw things the same way. Even his still-wet-behind-the-ears high school brother kept spouting nonsense about how the new tutor was so pretty, and how he’d confess his feelings as soon as he became an adult.

Throughout dinner that evening, the main topic at Junik’s family table was just how surprisingly pretty and cute Sia was. Of course, Sia’s charm came not only from her small, delicate looks but also from her sharp and confident personality. But even setting her personality aside, Sia was objectively attractive.

For a woman like her to spout such nonsense about not being popular because she doesn’t fit current trends…

‘Hmm. That’s suspicious. Maybe that guy friend of hers deliberately rubbed his pheromones on her.’

Junik was growing increasingly suspicious of this Alpha guy friend—whose face and name he didn’t even know—who had gotten his pheromones all over her.

“He really is just a friend, right? This childhood friend you mentioned…”

“Ugh, seriously. I told you, he’s a friend. Actually, he’s not even a friend. I hate that guy more than anyone in the world.”

The moment the childhood friend came up, Sia puckered her plump lips and launched into a tirade against her guy friend, as if the mere thought of him made her blood boil.

“Maybe it’s because he’s an extreme Alpha. He doesn’t put in any effort but excels at everything so easily… I guess life’s just easy for him. Meanwhile, some of us work ourselves to death just to barely achieve results. When I look at him, it goes beyond envy—I feel inferior. Because I know that no matter how hard I try, I can never beat him. It makes me resent him, and I hate him.”

“Still, I think it’s really healthy that you can express yourself so honestly like that.”

“I really do hate him more than anyone in the world. Because of that jerk, I even got the nickname ‘Eternal Second Place’ back in elementary school.”

Junik watched Sia work herself up badmouthing her childhood friend, finding her adorable.

He felt a bit sorry for the Alpha guy friend whose name and face he didn’t even know. But at least it was clear that Sia had absolutely zero interest in him.

With an even softer voice and expression than before, Junik carefully spoke to Sia.

“If you’re not involved with that childhood friend… what about me?”

“Huh?”

“I’ve liked you from the very beginning, Sia.”

“M-me?”

“Yes. Actually… when I first saw you, I thought you were… Tinkerbell. I thought you were really as pretty as a fairy.”

Along with his somewhat cheesy yet shy confession, Junik’s pale face flushed pink with shyness.

Faced with the gentle man’s sincere confession, Sia’s face also heated up like a ripe apple.

‘Oh my god. He called me a fairy! What do I do!’

They say when men fall in love, they throw around flowery words like “angel” and “fairy” left and right.

Hearing such an embarrassing term for the first time in her life, Sia’s heart pounded so hard she didn’t know what to do with herself, repeatedly clenching her small hands tight.

Whenever lines like that came up in dramas, she’d go “ugh” and change the channel. But now that someone was suppressing their embarrassment to sincerely tell her she was pretty, her heart fluttered strangely.

“You’re okay with me being a beta, Junik?”

“I don’t think my partner necessarily has to be an omega. I’m not that into kids to begin with anyway. My dream isn’t about Alphas or omegas or any of that—it’s to meet someone I like as one human being to another, travel together, and live life raising pets.”

“C-cats!”

“Huh?”

“I love cats!”

At her hurried words, Junik gave a bashful smile.

“Me too. I love cats.”

As they walked to the subway station, their voices drifted along like a spring breeze.

From time to time, shy laughter burst from their lips, ringing out pleasantly like sweet background music.

For some reason, the night air felt especially warm tonight.

 

***

[Good morning, Sia. There’s a shower forecast for this afternoon. Make sure to bring an umbrella. 🙂 ]

So just having a guy you’re seeing can make mornings feel this bright.

Sia stretched contentedly as she gazed out the window, which looked noticeably hazier than usual.

Despite the gloomy weather that looked like it could rain any minute, she felt inexplicably giddy.

Even with the sky full of dark storm clouds, her heart sparkled as if dozens of fluorescent lights had been switched on inside her.

“Maybe I should start wearing perfume. I really hate being mistaken for Kang Jihoon’s girlfriend.”

Sia sniffed at herself, trying to catch her own scent.

Come to think of it, she’d found it strange how countless posts kept popping up on Eta.

A reasonable suspicion crept in—maybe someone who’d picked up on Jihoon’s pheromones on her had been consistently posting those threads.

But no matter how much she sniffed, she couldn’t smell anything.

“Being a beta really is convenient. This world is too complicated to live worrying about other people’s pheromones on top of everything else.”

Sia deliberately threw open the curtains wide and opened the window to air out the room.

Now that things had come to this, she was determined to completely air out every trace of Kang Jihoon’s pheromones from her room.

“We’re on the fifth floor, so it should be fine to leave the window open while I’m out, right?”

After spritzing on some subtle perfume she rarely wore, she left the house with the window wide open.

Today was the day of an important group presentation that would substitute for the final exam.

It was the presentation day for a major class she’d poured effort into all semester, so Sia dressed more neatly than usual and left home early.

Despite the humid air, her steps felt unusually light today.

Today’s presentation was in a subject she was especially confident in.

After working on countless group projects throughout the semester, this was the one with her favorite team members, so her expectations were very high.

Out of the three members in her group including Sia, the other two were upperclassmen retaking the course, and the team leader seemed to be pretty close with the professor.

True to being retakers, they had a strong grasp of the subject matter, and they’d accumulated plenty of materials from previous semesters, so their starting point was completely different from other groups.

There had been a mini Q&A presentation in a discussion format midway through the semester, and her upperclassman teammate had fielded every question smoothly, wrapping up his answers so brilliantly that he’d even received a round of applause.

At this rate, an A+ was practically guaranteed.

“Hey, Park Joraeng.”

She was humming as she walked from the back gate toward the College of Liberal Arts when a familiar figure appeared in the distance, standing tall at the bottom of the hill.

She watched the large frame stride purposefully toward her, her brow furrowing.

“…Why do you keep showing up over here? The Business School is by the main gate, you know?”

“I’m going to the café by the back gate. Their iced americano is good.”

“You’re telling me you climb over the hill and come all the way here every time just for an iced americano?”

“It’s not just an iced americano. The depth of the beans is completely different, you know? A kid like Park Joraeng with her palate for whipped cream-loaded hot chocolate wouldn’t understand an adult’s taste.”

“You drink iced americano and you’re calling yourself an adult? Anyone listening would think you’re some kind of gourmet.”

The Business School building, sitting prominently at the university entrance, occupied one of the flattest spots on the flattest stretch of campus. Rumor had it that wealthy alumni had funded the construction of that shiny building on flat ground.

The Business School building, still smelling of fresh paint, and the Liberal Arts building—a crumbling structure covered in bizarre, garish murals—were separated by an entire hill’s worth of distance.

And yet here was Kang Jihoon, who should’ve been planted firmly on flat ground, showing up so frequently beyond the hill at the Liberal Arts building. It was downright suspicious and strange.

But Sia remembered what Junik had said last night, and she didn’t want to prolong this conversation with him. Not for a single minute, not for a single second did she want to be mistaken for his girlfriend.

She chose to hastily flee the scene, worried that someone might catch the two of them together.

“Anyway, Mr. Kang Jihoon, self-proclaimed gourmet, you enjoy your iced americano at the back gate. This noona’s busy, so I’m heading out first?”

“You still have thirty minutes before class. Come on, oppa’s in a good mood, so I’ll buy you an iced chocolate loaded with whipped cream.”

Whenever Kang Jihoon spoke in that smarmy voice, it always meant trouble was brewing.

The big data accumulated until now produced a result that screamed: avoid Jihoon, and fast.

“Sorry. I’m extremely busy, so if you’ll excuse me.”

She tried to bolt away from him just as her brain commanded, but Kang Jihoon’s large hand grabbed hold of the backpack on her shoulders.

“Where do you think you’re running off to?”

“Hey, stop it! You’re going to knock the keychains off my bag!”

“Wow, playing hard to get, are we? I’m feeling generous. I’ll buy you bread too. You think I don’t know all that chub in your cheeks came from stuffing your face with bread?”

Jihoon wore a cheeky grin as he poked her cheeks repeatedly with his long fingers.

Being with him was bound to draw a crowd. No, before that—she’d barely managed to air out and even sprayed perfume to mask her pheromones.

This clueless Kang Jihoon had her backpack in a death grip and showed absolutely no intention of letting her go.

“Bread, my ass. Want a knuckle sandwich? I told you I don’t want to talk to you at school.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean why? Because you and I keep…”

Sia hastily swallowed the embarrassing words that were about to spill out.

Because people keep mistaking us for a couple! That was the one thing she refused to say to his face, even if it killed her.

“Anyway. Whether it’s iced chocolate or bread, I’ll buy it with my own money, so move.”

“Hey, Park Joraeng. But why are you wearing perfume tod—”

Ding.

Just then, before Jihoon could finish his sentence, a notification chimed from the phone clutched tightly in Sia’s hand.

[Sia, I wanted to show you the stray cat I’ve been feeding. Haha. I’ll introduce you next time.]

The moment she saw the photo of an adorable orange tabby along with Junik flashing a peace sign, Sia’s lips—which had been spitting irritation just moments before—curved up softly.

Seeing this, Jihoon furrowed his brow and asked.

“Hey. Why are you suddenly grinning like an idiot? It’s creepy. What are you looking at?”

When Jihoon tried to snatch Sia’s phone with his large hand, she dodged nimbly and stuck out her tongue.

The way she teased him with that bleh was so infuriating. Jihoon nearly grabbed those chubby, soft cheeks right then and there and gave them a good pull.

“Hehe. Do I look happy to you?”

“What is it? Why are you grinning like that? It’s creepy.”

“Don’t freak out, Kang Jihoon. This noona here might be dating soon.”

“…what?”

The moment Jihoon saw Sia’s expression, unable to hide her excitement, he stared at her with a dumbfounded look, as if he’d just been doused with cold water.

“Dating, I said. Dating. You’ve been making fun of me for always getting rejected, right? Well, this noona here got something close to a confession yesterday.”

After saving the photo Junik had sent, Sia flashed a victory sign with her fingers at the stunned Jihoon, showing off.

“Now that I think about it, why aren’t you dating anyone? Seems like you’re always alone whenever I see you. From what I hear, you’ve gotten confessed to like fifty times since you started school.”

“…Who told you that?”

“Just heard it here and there.”

Since her childhood friend was such a celebrity, there was information that reached her ears whether she wanted it to or not.

Rumors about Jihoon were passed around by countless people—some said he’d been flirted with by the prettiest girl in the dance department, others claimed a famous influencer had confessed to him, or that he’d gotten DMs from an idol trainee.

What guy in the prime of his youth would turn down all those beautiful women? Sia naturally assumed Jihoon must be seeing someone she didn’t know about.

“Kang Jihoon, you… don’t tell me your lower half is… all over the place…”

“What?”

“Ha. Never mind. Seriously, these dominant Alphas…”

“Hey. Why start something and not finish? If you’re going to say it, say it all the way.”

“If I say it all, I feel like my mouth would get contaminated.”

Sia scrunched up her small face, recalling a story she’d once heard from an omega friend.

Dominant Alphas—blessed with superior genes from birth, possessing overwhelmingly superior physical traits and blessed DNA that kept them from even catching minor illnesses—had one critical difference from other Alphas: their pheromones were toxic. Because of this, if they didn’t regularly release their pheromones, something in their body would malfunction or they’d go insane.

The only way to neutralize that toxicity seemed to be finding an omega partner as soon as possible and marking them.

As a result, some dominant Alphas who failed to find their mate early on apparently fell into bad habits—getting involved with nightlife or drugs.

Even that idol-turned-rapper who’d made headlines recently was a famous dominant Alpha.

Sia shook off Jihoon’s large hand that had grabbed her wrist, suspecting her childhood friend might be sleeping around indiscriminately.

“And while we’re on the subject, you probably shouldn’t come over to my place anymore. I won’t order delivery from you either.”

“What? Why? Didn’t we already have an agreement?”

“The guy I’m about to see told me I smell like an Alpha and asked if I was dating someone. Just how comfortable are you making yourself at my place that you’re leaving your pheromones all over me like this? Do you have to sabotage my marriage prospects?”

Sia tapped Jihoon’s shoulder a couple of times as he still looked dumbfounded, then burst into giggles.

“Anyway, this girl’s off to the land of pink happiness. Farewell, everyone! I’m leaving to find my happiness. Ahaha. May you all be happy!”*

[*T/N: meme created by a phrase used by Korean comedian Yoo Jaesuk who uses it to express his farewell. People use it to humorously or ironically bid farewell or express happiness or excitement.]

She mimicked a famous meme and scurried out of Jihoon’s sight like a flying squirrel.

So full of anticipation for the romance that might be beginning, she didn’t notice at all the dark, piercing gaze Jihoon fixed on her back.

 

***

Whoooosh—

A fierce downpour came crashing down.

Like the rain hammering down on the pavement, Sia trudged out of the College of Liberal Arts with ragged steps.

Just this morning, she’d been so happy she could’ve floated away like a balloon. Now, looking more deflated than a punctured one, anyone could tell from her face that her group presentation had crashed and burned spectacularly.

The kind-hearted returning student who’d led their group all semester long had caused a massive disaster on presentation day.

Right when he was supposed to present the most important final section, he suddenly started stammering that he couldn’t remember the content. Then, like an actor giving an awkward performance, he abruptly bowed to the professor and started shouting apologies.

Wondering if that crazy bastard had gotten drunk the night before, Sia, her nerves shot, frantically tried to wrap up the team leader’s part herself, but the professor—who’d declared from day one that all team members had to present equally to receive points—said the team’s unity was a complete mess and skipped straight to Q&A without even listening to the final section.

If only it had ended there. The Q&A was even more of a spectacle.

The team leader, who’d confidently insisted he had the Q&A covered since he was retaking the course, started mocking every student who asked a question, and eventually arguments big and small broke out right there during presentation time.

It was hard to believe this was the same guy who’d received applause during the mini-presentation—today’s team leader was seriously acting strange.

Unable to watch any longer, the professor angrily declared this was the worst group presentation they’d ever seen and that the group would be getting the lowest possible score. The moment class ended, Sia couldn’t hold back her tears anymore and ended up sobbing her heart out in the cramped bathroom.

Naturally, her dream of a full scholarship had gone up in smoke, and having to retake the course was something she never could have predicted.

If it had been a team member trolling from the start, she could’ve at least prepared for it. But how could someone completely flip overnight like that? Sia found herself downing soju bombs one after another, something she never normally drank.

“Hic—no, how does this even make sense?!”

At a pub near campus, Sia, drunk, clung to another team member and sobbed her heart out.

But unlike Sia, who felt she’d go crazy from the injustice of it all, the senior who was retaking the course remained surprisingly calm.

She gently patted Sia, whose face was streaked with tears, quietly refilling her glass whenever it emptied and simply being there to listen.

“I know, right? He was so smooth during our practice run—how does someone change overnight like that? And you said you needed that scholarship…”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying! He told us not to worry because he’s tight with the professor!”

Sure, there was no point badmouthing him now that the damage was done. But she was so frustrated and angry she couldn’t let it go.

“What can we do? Looks like we’re both retaking it… Let’s just try our best next semester…”

“Hic—unnie, I’m seriously so pissed off! Waaaah.”

Sia sobbed as she grabbed a beer mug far larger than her face and chugged down her somaek*.

[*T/N: mixture of soju and beer]

Several hours later,

Thoroughly drunk, Sia steadied her swaying body and finally made it to her studio apartment.

“Ah… I’m home. Hehe. Made it.”

Even in her hazy state, she found herself thinking she was lucky to be born a beta—it meant she could drink this late at night without a care in the world.

Back at the pub, everyone still drinking at that late hour had been betas and Alphas only.

Pushing down the jumbled thoughts spiraling through her mind, she pressed at the door lock keypad.

But strangely, every time she tried to enter the password, her fingers went limp and she couldn’t seem to press the numbers properly.

“Mmph…”

After stumbling around in front of her door for a while, Sia was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness. She clamped both tiny hands over her mouth and sank down right where she stood.

The effects of the alcohol intensified, making the whole world spin.

“Tsk. You’re completely wasted.”

Through her fading consciousness, she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Park Sia. Did you bring this on yourself today?”

After that, she thought she heard the familiar beep-beep-beep of someone entering her password.

“I was trying to be considerate and take things slow, but you keep provoking me… so I don’t have a choice, do I?”

She managed to blink her heavy eyelids, and through her blurry vision, she thought she caught a glimpse of a familiar face giving her a faint smile.

Along with a familiar, pleasant scent, everything went black.

And when she opened her eyes in the hospital emergency room…

“…Huh?”

Out of nowhere, she was hit with the shocking news that her secondary gender had changed to omega.