Epilogue

Ding—

[Sia, I’m sorry. I messed up…]

Ding—

[You’re really mad, aren’t you? I won’t bother you to the point where you’re stressed out like this again. Honestly, I’m not confident I can keep that promise… but I’ll try. Please forgive me, Sia.]

Ding—

[I keep crying because I’m worried you’re not eating properly. Darling, you eat so much…]

Ding—

[I miss you. It’s already been 6 hours since I’ve been alone without you. I’m really struggling here… Can’t you please just reply…?]

“Hmm. I should probably respond around now.”

Sia glanced at Jihoon’s messages that had been blowing up her phone all day like it was on fire, then, with a cynical air, tossed her phone onto the spacious hotel bed.

After getting pregnant with Jihoon’s child and rushing through a wedding ceremony, time had flown by quickly, and her once-flat stomach had begun to swell slightly.

Noticing that her appetite seemed to have increased more than usual, Sia gently caressed her belly, which held a precious life within.

“It’s so nice and quiet being alone.”

She stretched contentedly, then finished off the slice of pizza and club sandwich she’d ordered through room service earlier.

Just a few months ago, staying in a luxury hotel suite and ordering room service without even glancing at the prices would have been unthinkable. But thanks to the unlimited credit card Jihoon had given her, those days of trembling while checking price tags just months ago now felt like a past life.

“Hotel food is all just so-so, I guess. Kang Jihoon really is a total chowhound, huh.”

Was it because she’d been eating nutritious meals prepared daily by the chef working at Jihoon’s family home? Even the luxury hotel’s room service tasted more bland than food from a franchise restaurant.

Even the fruit bingsu* she’d ordered from a place that was pretty famous on YouTube didn’t taste particularly special compared to the desserts Jihoon bought her every single day.

[*T/N: milk-based Korean shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings]

Their newlywed life together, where Jihoon would procure absolutely anything she wanted to eat like a doting fool, wasn’t actually as sweet as a fairy tale.

Ever since they’d started living together, Jihoon’s obsessiveness had gotten even worse than before, and Sia was honestly so overwhelmed she felt like she might get sick.

She could maybe accept that he insisted on accompanying her to every prenatal checkup, but even stepping out near the house for a bit or meeting up with a friend was only possible if she brought him along.

[Honey, the doctor said you still need to be careful during this period, remember? You have to listen to what the doctor says. Okay?]

Whenever Sia showed even the slightest hint of displeasure, Jihoon would use the doctor as an excuse to sneakily overprotect her, and Sia felt suffocated.

Of course, at first she’d found it comfortable and nice that he treated her like a child, doing everything for her from A to Z.

Deep down, it felt like she was finally receiving the kind of unconditional love she’d never even gotten from her parents, and sometimes her heart would ache while simultaneously swelling with pride.

She never had to clip her own fingernails or toenails—Jihoon did it all for her. Even washing, drying, and brushing her hair was Jihoon’s responsibility. Sometimes he even changed her underwear for her. Jihoon had taken it upon himself to do all of it.

She sometimes wondered if she’d gotten herself a personal butler instead of a husband.

But as these days repeated themselves endlessly, Sia began to feel incredibly exhausted.

Her dissatisfaction piled up layer by layer until finally, a small incident erupted.

She’d asked him to sign her up for prenatal yoga because she wanted some quiet time alone, but that sly snake who always pretended to be oblivious went ahead and hired a yoga instructor to come to their house and signed them up for 2-on-1 lessons.

She’d pictured herself wearing cute yoga outfits, chatting with other members around her age, striking up a casual rapport with the instructor—that kind of fun, enjoyable workout. But the instructor Jihoon brought in was an elderly gentleman with the aura of someone who’d just finished training under a waterfall.

Of course, the instructor’s lessons were excellent, but they were quite different from the cozy, cute classes she’d imagined.

That small incident eventually escalated into a marital spat.

Though calling it a fight was generous—it was more like she unilaterally vented her frustration at Jihoon. Still, for their newlywed home that had been nothing but peaceful day after day, raised voices felt like a huge deal.

But what could she do? As the saying goes, the one who loves more loses, and Sia figured all of this was Kang Jihoon’s karma to begin with.

“I mean, who told him he could just make me an omega without asking? It’s Kang Jihoon’s fault from the start.”

She finished her room service fresh fruit juice while admiring the view of Namsan Mountain* through the large hotel window.

[T/N: mountain in Seoul]

“Still, nothing beats the view from our place.”

Even as she gazed at the beautiful, unobstructed scenery, Sia reacted indifferently, recalling the panoramic view she saw every day at home.

Ding—

[Honey, it’s getting late and really dangerous… Let’s go back home now, okay?]

Ding—

[I really don’t like the idea of you hanging around with younger members… Do you really hate working out alone with me that much? Enough to leave home like this…ㅠ?]

Sia shook her head at Jihoon’s clinginess, amazed at how he’d managed to hold himself back before they’d gotten together.

Ding—

[My cousin said it too, remember? That since you’re a recessive omega, you need to be extra careful compared to other pregnant women… I’m just worried something might happen to you.]

When Jihoon once again slipped in an excuse about his doctor cousin, Sia suddenly recalled how that same cousin had shown up looking pale as a ghost after hearing about their marriage.

Just recalling the scene from that day, an irresistible laugh slipped out from between her full lips.

“Sia. Can you spare me a moment? There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Sorry, but Jihoon wouldn’t like it if he knew we were talking alone. Please tell me when he’s around.”

“No, this is something Jihoon can’t hear. Please. If I let you two get married like this, I won’t be able to live with the guilt. Even if you go ahead and get married, I think you should at least know the truth…”

Jihoon’s cousin, who was unusually good-natured and moral for an Alpha, had a condition that made him unable to lie.

He confessed everything honestly—that Jihoon had planned to change Sia’s traits from the very beginning, and that he was the one who told him how to do it.

But he never dreamed Jihoon would deliberately set out to change Sia’s traits. From the day Jihoon carried Sia—who had been transformed into a recessive omega—on his back to the hospital, he’d been tormented by guilt every single day. His cousin apologized to Sia over and over, his face deathly pale.

“Oh, jackpot. Holy shit. I was right.”

“…Huh?”

“My theory was right! I had a hunch, you know. That what happened to me was Kang Jihoon’s doing.”

“Wh-what? How?”

“How could I not know?”

As the man recited his sins like a confession before her, Sia felt an enormous rush of satisfaction, as if the vague lump of suspicion that had been sitting uncomfortably in her mind was finally sliding away.

After her traits transformed into those of an omega, she was immediately run ragged by Jihoon, leaving her no time to think about anything else. After she became pregnant, they quickly moved in together, and every day was a whirlwind of busyness. She barely had a moment to catch her breath as she tried to adapt to her suddenly changed life.

After the wedding, Sia finally regained some breathing room in her life, and only then did curiosity suddenly strike her.

Why on earth had she transformed into an omega overnight? Was all of this really just because of a weakened immune system? And if so, were there other cases like hers? Once her curiosity was piqued, questions began popping up one after another in an endless chain.

Most of all, since it was so rare for a beta to transform into an omega overnight, she kept suspecting that some other factor besides a simple weakened immune system had caused her traits to change.

If betas could turn into omegas just from a weakened immune system, then when infectious diseases like COVID or the flu were going around, most betas who caught those illnesses should have transformed into omegas too.

‘Now that I think about it, that doctor who dodged the question when I asked why my traits changed was suspicious too… That doctor was definitely Kang Jihoon’s cousin. What if the two of them were in on it together?’

The more she mulled it over, the more suspicious Jihoon’s cousin seemed—the way he’d brushed it off as just an immune system issue—and it didn’t quite add up that her immune system would have weakened so drastically just from drinking too much.

Sia set herself to the task and started searching for cases of other betas whose traits had changed like hers.

But the more cases she found, the more clearly a common pattern emerged.

‘Wait. Every single case of a beta transforming into an omega happened after direct exposure to dominant Alpha pheromones…?’

Sia suspected that perhaps somewhere in her forgotten memories, there was a dominant Alpha who had exposed her to their pheromones.

And naturally, the face that came to mind at the end of that suspicion was Kang Jihoon—the only dominant Alpha she knew.

‘Now that I think about it, it was kind of weird how he suddenly insisted on using my place during his free periods. Was that bastard flooding my apartment with his pheromones every time he came over?’

Not only had he come and gone from her place countless times, but Kang Jihoon was also the one who’d carried her on his back straight to the emergency room when she’d collapsed dead drunk.

For it to be mere coincidence, the timing of everything was just too perfect.

Once she’d caught that first whiff of something fishy, her suspicions snowballed. But she’d already bonded with him and was even pregnant with his child.

Even if she wanted to back out of the marriage now, bonding with him made it impossible to be with another Alpha, and their baby was growing steadily inside her.

More than anything, she was pretty satisfied with her married life as it was—she had no intention of disrupting this peaceful routine.

Sia was a realist to a fault. She was well aware that since Jihoon had entered her life, her quietly anxious days had gained breathing room, and her complicated routine had become surprisingly simple.

From the moment she woke up until she went to sleep, she could do whatever she wanted and eat whatever she craved.

Compared to just a few months ago when she’d been struggling to scrape together living expenses, every single day truly felt like heaven.

In fact, she hadn’t even felt particularly inconvenienced since transforming into an omega, so this seemed like a pretty fair trade-off.

Of course, the biggest reason was that she didn’t dislike Jihoon the way she used to. More than anything, she enjoyed having such satisfying sex that her whole body was soaked, intoxicated by his cool pheromones.

Sure, it pissed her off that Kang Jihoon had pulled such a stunt behind her back while playing innocent as a lamb to her face, but that was something he could pay her back for gradually as their married life continued.

She’d had her suspicions but no proof, which left her feeling stifled. But with that one clarifying comment from her cousin that snapped the final puzzle piece into place, Sia felt as if her chest had cleared, like drinking a cold soda on a hot day.

‘I knew it—my deduction was right! This time, I beat Kang Jihoon!’

It was a moment that brought to mind the saying, “There’s always someone flying above the one who’s running*.”

[T/N: proverb meaning no matter how skilled, powerful, or clever someone is, there is always someone superior.]

Sia applauded herself for noticing all the schemes Jihoon had pulled and for having been suspicious.

Truly, cheerful bells rang loud and boisterous inside her head.

“Doctor, don’t tell Jihoon about this conversation.”

“Huh?”

“That I found out about all of this. Keep it secret from Jihoon until the day you die. Since you’re partly responsible for me becoming an omega, you can at least do that much, right?”

From the moment they’d gotten married, Sia had become the one with absolute power, so she had no need for any extra cards up her sleeve to torment Jihoon.

At her every word and expression, Jihoon swung between heaven and hell. Sia was well aware of this fact.

Ding-dong—

Just then.

At the sudden sound of the doorbell, she looked toward the firmly closed front door.

When she didn’t answer, the doorbell rang again—ding-dong—its sound almost plaintive.

“Well, I guess six hours alone is pretty impressive self-control for Kang Jihoon.”

Sia chuckled softly to herself, picturing his large frame fidgeting restlessly like he had separation anxiety whenever she wasn’t around.

Most of all, there was no way he’d let her sleep alone in an unfamiliar hotel when he couldn’t even sleep comfortably unless he was holding her tight.

The moment she opened the firmly closed door, there stood Kang Jihoon holding a bouquet as big as himself.

The bouquet was so enormous that the spacious suite was instantly filled with the scent of flowers.

“What’s… this?”

“…Flowers. Of course, they’re not as pretty as you, but still…”

At his sullen voice, Sia struggled to suppress the laughter bubbling up inside her, pretending to accept the bouquet reluctantly.

It was so heavy and large that Sia’s small frame swayed under its weight.

“Sniff, honey, I was wrong.”

Jihoon, looking even more dejected than usual, fidgeted for a moment before his voice came out choked with tears. No matter how many arguments they’d had, this was the first time Sia had actually left the house abruptly, and he seemed genuinely shaken by it.

She could almost see puppy ears drooping sadly atop his jet-black hair. Watching his tearful face, he looked like a giant dog caught in the rain.

“What exactly did you do wrong?”

“Sniff, just… e-everything. I did everything wrong.”

The man who’d been on the verge of tears finally burst into full-blown sobs.

Whatever grievance weighed so heavily on him, Jihoon’s large frame shook as he wept, clinging to Sia’s small form like a child seeking comfort.

His usually cool and composed pheromones now radiated unmistakable anxiety.

Beyond his choked sobs, the sound of his stomach growling could be heard. At the sound, Sia’s neat eyebrows twitched. It seemed Jihoon hadn’t eaten anything this whole time.

“God. You’re such an idiot. You didn’t even eat?”

“Sniff, I am an idiot. Without you, I’m a useless idiot. Sob…”

She’d thought she’d never be able to beat Kang Jihoon in this lifetime.

But somehow, she’d become an absolute presence in his life—one he could never win against.

“…Do you really like me that much?”

“Of course I do. Sob, how can you even ask that?”

Jihoon pulled Sia into a tight embrace as she kept trying to gently push him away, nuzzling his face against her neck.

“I can’t live without you anymore. My life has no meaning without you.”

“If I ever mentioned divorce, you’d lose it, wouldn’t you?”

“Di…! Don’t even joke about that. I’m serious. That word is banned from now on.”

Watching the man whose world seemed to crumble at the mere mention of divorce, Sia wore a helpless expression.

Seeing him so anxious and restless, terrified that her feelings might waver even slightly, she was once again amazed that someone could love her this deeply.

“I love you. I love you, Sia. I really only need you. So… don’t leave me. Okay?”

“Just because I feel like it. Noona will let you win today.”

“Really? So you’re not mad anymore?”

“That’s right.”

Sia smiled softly as she stroked the large frame clinging to her like a child who knew nothing of the world.

Reassured by her smile, Jihoon finally grinned as if he’d won everything in the world.

His pheromones, which had been tense and chaotic, finally settled back to their usual calm.

Sia savored her Alpha’s pheromones that shifted moment by moment because of her, contentedly nestling into his embrace.

Into the arms of the dominant Alpha who had once been her rival—but who, by possessing her, could never win against her again.

[End of Story]

This was definitely a dubcon story but I love my yanderes and when I started reading the manhwa, I knew I couldn’t wait to see what happens next so here the story is! I hope you guys enjoyed the insaneness of Jihoon. See you in the next story, it will be by the same author!