House of the Fog

The car was filled with the smell of gasoline. There was also the smell of leather. The director, sitting next to me, boasted about how expensive the smell was. Judging by the prominent, greasy cheeks, he seemed to be very pleased with his new car. Whenever the driver slammed on the brakes, he would shout curses loudly.However, Dan was not interested in the car. He was interested in the world outside the car window.He pressed his face against the window, looking out. His nose bumped against the glass with each jolt of the car, going “thud, thud.” His nose turned bright red from the continuous friction, but he didn’t pull his head back.[Memory Tailor Shop][Bandoh Hotel][Seoul Korean Medicine Clinic][Dongwoo General Store][Hyunseong Academy][Yangdong Billiard Room]He couldn’t take his eyes off the high and low buildings and the colorful signs. To some, it might just be an ordinary street, but to Dan, who had lived almost like a prisoner, it was an otherworldly scene.[Korean Empire Bank][NEW Seoul Night-Club][Korean Air Lines]His eyes darted around at the colorful signs. Although the car smell was giving him a headache, Dan did not give up on seeing the world. His long eyelashes kept fluttering upwards.“Pregnancy is not hard at all. It’s just because it’s your first time; you’ll get used to it after a few times. You know Geun-eum, right? She’s already given birth to four.”“…”“You can do as much as Geun-eum, right? You need to do this for your father and siblings to survive. You’ve lived off the money your brothers made, so you should repay them.”As always, Director Lee was talkative. He was a middle-aged man with a protruding belly, yellowing eyes due to chronic illness, a large bulbous nose, and thin lips in contrast to his voracious appetite. His chin had sparse, prickly stubble.He was dressed in an expensive suit, but couldn’t button the jacket over his swollen belly, and even the shirt buttons were gaping like the letter “e.” His hands, resting on his pregnant-like belly, were adorned with heavy gold rings that didn’t shine due to the grease.“Do ten times as a ‘seed bearer.’ After that, I’ll split the money with you. How’s that? Amazing, right?”“…”“What, are you scared? Giving birth is no big deal. You were born to bear children, weren’t you? So, don’t worry.”“…”Dan didn’t respond. It wasn’t that he was ignoring him; his voice just couldn’t penetrate the man’s eardrums. Dan was focusing all his attention outside. He was realizing what it meant to go to Seoul, no matter how you got there.So, this is Seoul. The capital of the Korean Empire. A place where only wonderful people live. A place where even foreigners come to see…Bang! Crash!Heavy sounds assaulted Dan in quick succession.“Ah…”The first was a slap to the back of his head with a heavy hand, and the second was his forehead hitting the window from that impact.With pain coming from both ends, his vision went black. For a moment, Dan thought he had gone blind, but after some time, he realized it was his wig obstructing his view. Long hair was flowing like black waves.“This kid, where’s your mind wandering that you don’t answer!”Director Lee shouted. His gruff voice echoed through the car, making the windows shake. Dan flinched as if he had caught the brunt of it, his neck shrinking like a reed, his ear almost touching his shoulder.“Sorry, I’m sorry, Father.”Dan apologized in a muffled voice, his face pale, trembling as he adjusted his wig.The cheap wig smelled of animal carcasses and glue. Wearing it made his stomach churn and his nostrils sting. The hair kept getting into his mouth, which was irritating, to say the least.However, Dan wore it without complaint, awkwardly smoothing the hair back.The wig was mandatory when being sold as a ‘seed bearer.’ No one wanted a male, so he had to pretend to be a woman, as insisted by Director Lee.Growing hair would be nice, but once when he tried, lice spread throughout the orphanage, even to Director Lee, so everyone was forced to wear wigs afterward.This was Dan’s first time wearing one. It was his first day being sold as a ‘seed bearer.’ The wig, reaching down to his chest, was quite heavy, making his neck droop, and now, with the slap to the back of his head, it felt like his neck might snap.Director Lee hit the back of Dan’s head again.Bang!“Ugh…”“Do well when you get there. Don’t be so slow that you get kicked out. I’ll lock you in the bathroom and beat you if you do.”“…Yes.”“Answer quickly.”“Yes, Father.”After that, Director Lee continued with much advice and warnings. He said he felt like he was sending his underdeveloped son out into the world, which made him worried. Dan’s lips twitched into a smile at that part. It wasn’t sarcasm; he just liked being called ‘son’, one way or another.By the time white foam had gathered at the corners of Director Lee’s mouth from talking non-stop, the scenery outside the car window had changed. The tall buildings seemed to lower, the number of buildings decreased, trees became more abundant, and the smooth paved road ended, revealing a mountain path.Dan couldn’t hide his disappointment. He had thought he’d live in the city during his time as a ‘seed bearer’. From the looks of the landscape, it might even be more secluded than the orphanage.As he sighed quietly, a thick fog began to envelop the surroundings. Between the trees, leaves, and sky, the fog was so dense that it felt like they were entering a cloud.“Fog…”Dan stared blankly at the unfamiliar scene.“Who would expect anything less from the Seol family; even the house looks eerie.”Director Lee, who had gotten out of the car, pulled his chin in and made a sour face. Dan followed, carrying a light cloth bag. He unknowingly inhaled, and his nostrils felt damp due to the fog that dominated the surroundings. It was so thick that even his worn sneakers looked hazy.Despite summer approaching, the air touching his skin was cold, unlike any spring, summer, autumn, or winter Dan had ever experienced.“You’ll have to be careful at night. A virgin ghost might appear.”Director Lee slapped Dan’s buttocks, laughing coarsely. With each slap, Dan’s thin frame lurched forward.It was a childish prank, but the color drained from Dan’s cheeks. A virgin ghost – wasn’t that the scariest ghost there was?Director Lee, with Dan tucked under his arm, started walking leisurely.“But do you know what’s scarier than a virgin ghost?”“I don’t know, Father.”“Colonel Seol. Colonel Seol.”There was a huge wall beside the road, resembling the outer wall of a mansion, but no entrance appeared no matter how much they walked. How big could one house be? It seemed the owner must be very rich.“Colonel Seol?”The wall was covered with vines and moss in no particular pattern. The smell of grass was strong, and there was also a subtle scent of wood and brick.“The guy you’re going to bear children for.”Dan held his breath for a moment after hearing Director Lee’s following words, then exhaled. Director Lee stroked his sparse beard as he added more.“He’s a soldier, very scary. Even the Emperor trembles in his presence. That’s why he became a colonel at such a young age.”“…”“He’s not young, but not old enough to be a colonel either.”“…”“Which means he’s killed a lot of people. He’s a demon, a demon. They say you can smell blood when you get close to him.”“Smell of blood?”“Yeah. From what I’ve heard, he’s addicted to killing, often beheading subordinates. So, don’t defy him or get on his bad side.”“…”“If Colonel Seol gets angry, getting hit by me will seem like nothing. Since he’s known for killing, cutting off fingers or toes is nothing to him.”“Fingers… toes…”Dan clenched his fingers. He also curled his toes inside his sneakers, making the shoe’s upper part bulge.He had heard rumors about Colonel Seol before, all from Director Lee. From what he gathered, Colonel Seol was literally a ‘demon’.He reportedly killed people indiscriminately, even eating their flesh and blood on the battlefield. It was said his canine teeth had grown abnormally large from cannibalism, protruding from his lips, his nails were sharp, and his sclera was pitch black like a beast’s.He was also cursed from seeing so much blood, with every family member meeting an untimely death.Dan closed his eyes in despair and then opened them. To think the first person he would bear children for was such a man. He truly had bad luck.It felt like being sold to a monster. Or rather, it was exactly that.“So, behave properly. Even if you get kicked out, you need to keep your limbs intact to go bear children elsewhere. Male shamans aren’t exactly in high demand, and if your limbs are damaged, who would want children from you?”“Yes. I’ll be careful.”Dan nodded slowly.After that, Dan had to listen for a while longer about how devilish Colonel Seol was. Just as he was thinking about running away from being a ‘seed bearer’, the entrance appeared.The entrance was as large as a castle gate. Though not adorned with fancy patterns or gold, its size and weight exuded an overwhelming presence.Director Lee looked around for the doorbell. Dan, spotting the one attached to the right wall, reached to press it, but Director Lee quickly pressed it himself.“Things like this are for the father to do.”“Yes, Father.”Dan stepped back one step.As Director Lee took his hand off the bell, a shrill sound rang out, like a bird crying. Director Lee straightened his shoulders, stood up straight, sucked in his stomach, and pulled in his chin while waiting for someone to come out.However, there was only silence from the other side of the door. Director Lee, looking displeased, raised an eyebrow and reached out again. When his index finger pressed the round bell firmly, there was a clanking noise from beyond the door.Director Lee quickly withdrew his hand, but the shrill sound rang out again.The heavy door opened slowly. From behind it emerged a woman.“Who are you?”She was too old to be called an ‘aunt’ but too young to be called a ‘grandmother’. Very thin, with purple lipstick, her gray hair was pinned up with a hairpin, wearing a modified hanbok.She scanned the strangers with dry eyes. At her gaze, Director Lee moved one step forward, while Dan stepped back.Director Lee extended his hand with a smile.“Hello? I am Director Lee.”But she didn’t take his hand, just glanced at it.“Director Lee? From the hospital?”She asked as if she didn’t understand. There was slight irritation in her eyes and between her brows. Director Lee slowly withdrew his hand, scratching under his chin awkwardly, the sound of his thick beard rubbing against his skin.“Well… I should have been contacted…”“There are too many people coming without notice.”She didn’t seem pleased with the unexpected visitors. Consequently, Director Lee’s shoulders slumped, and his belly protruded more. Clearing his throat, Director Lee moved closer to her.“Major General Hwang sent us.”“…”“For the seed bearer.”He whispered the last part with his head bowed, not because there was anyone else listening, but because the word was somewhat vulgar. It was an action taken for his own dignity.“Ah…”The woman sighed softly. Her gaze naturally drifted to Dan. Dan quickly lowered his head, the tangled wig falling forward.Men should not look people in the eye, as it’s considered poor manners for a male shaman. This was one of the rules Director Lee had emphasized. After all, people viewed male shamans as repulsive beasts.“…”The woman was silent for a moment. She didn’t chase Director Lee and Dan away, nor did she open the path for them. After some contemplation, she must have decided she couldn’t dismiss ‘Colonel Seol’s’ guests at her own discretion because she pushed the door aside.“Alright… come in.”Director Lee entered with an expression like ‘I knew it would be this way’. Dan, brushing his wig aside, hesitantly followed Director Lee.The first thing they saw upon entering the mansion was an inner garden across from the entrance. The garden, enclosed by glass sliding doors, had a beautifully shaped pine tree on one side and a small pond beside it. A white stone path cut through the garden, seemingly connecting to other spaces without going through the corridor.As Director Lee and Dan took off their shoes, the woman handed them slippers. They were soft and fluffy.“Please come this way.”She walked to the edge of the garden and then turned left. Her pace was so brisk that her skirt fluttered like wings. Director Lee, breathing heavily, struggled to keep up with her.Dan followed them, peering through his wig to look at the garden. Small flowers under the pine tree and tiny lizards the size of his pinky finger scampered across the stone path, reflecting briefly in his shiny eyes before disappearing.Cute.A smile formed on Dan’s lips.After walking briskly for about a minute as if on alert, they arrived at what seemed to be the living room. The living room was as vast as a playground without any exaggeration. Though Dan had never been to a playground, it looked at least ten times larger than the backyard where they used to play in the dirt at the orphanage, so he felt justified in saying so.The floor was marble, and on the left, there was a large carpet with a light blue background embroidered with gold threads. On top of it was placed a sofa that could easily seat a dozen people, and next to the main seat was a telephone with a gold frame.On the right was a round table with glass on top, surrounded by six red chairs spaced evenly. The potted plants scattered around were well-maintained and lush, and the ornaments on tables or shelves were not ordinary. A few items shone particularly brightly; they were medals with sharp star shapes and the Taegeuk pattern.In the corner where the walls met, there was a fireplace, and in front of it was a chair where one could rest their legs. On the side table next to it, a couple of books, a notebook, and a pen were neatly arranged.And naturally, unlike outside, there was no fog inside the mansion. The lights were bright, making the view clear, and there was a pleasant, subtle scent of wood.It was a magnificent house, yet it felt alien. It was too clean and orderly to be the home of a ‘demon’ addicted to murder and cannibalism.Dan wondered if Colonel Seol was perhaps locked away in the basement or attic. He shook his head slightly. Would they lock up the homeowner? Maybe he just doesn’t come home often? Too busy killing and eating people?As Dan continued these grim imaginings, the woman led them to the round table.“Please sit here.”Dan instinctively started to follow her, but he stopped when Director Lee, who was standing in front, didn’t move. Director Lee cleared his throat beside the sofa. The woman, looking at him, forced a smile.“If you’re more comfortable there, you may sit there.”Director Lee immediately plopped down on the main seat of the sofa. Dan, not knowing what to do, shuffled his feet before sitting on the sofa to the left of the director, which had a clear view of the entire living room. As Dan smiled in satisfaction unnoticed, the woman approached.“I’ll contact the Colonel to see when he might arrive.”“We’ll wait even if it takes time.”“No one knows when he’ll arrive.”“He’ll come today, won’t he?”“He might not come today.”“…”The woman’s voice was excessively dry and blunt, almost as if she was pushing them out without actually doing so. Feeling like he was sitting on a bed of nails, Dan squirmed. However, Director Lee, seemingly unaffected, leaned back even deeper into the sofa.“Did he go out to kill someone again?”Having said that, he laughed boisterously. His thin lips stretched into a square shape.“…”The woman didn’t laugh. The air grew heavy and cool. Even Dan, who was often scolded for being inattentive, felt the tension, but Director Lee kept laughing. Then, he slapped the armrest of the sofa and looked up at the woman.“Being a busy man, he must be occupied. But since we’re here, we’ll wait. This one here, he’s like my son. I should at least introduce him properly.”The woman’s gaze turned to Dan. Dan quickly lowered his head.“Alright then. I’ll bring some tea.”“Oh, I’d like coffee, please. With three spoonfuls of sugar.”“Yes. And for you?”She asked Dan. However, Dan didn’t respond. He didn’t think she was asking him. Choosing was an unfamiliar concept for Dan, who had lived a life dictated by ‘do’ or ‘do not’.Dan felt something was off after a few seconds of silence and belatedly looked up, only to meet the woman’s eyes.“Uh, me?”He pointed at himself with his index finger, his lips curling up slightly without him noticing. If he asked for coffee, would he get to drink it? He had never tasted it before, but because Director Lee seemed to enjoy it, he wanted to try it. The aroma was pleasant; how fragrant would it be in his mouth? As he was about to say, “I’d like coffee too, please,”“Just give him water. He doesn’t know the taste of coffee.”Director Lee answered for him. Dan, swallowing his desire, nodded his head vigorously, making his cheap wig flutter.“Yes. Water, please.”“…”The woman didn’t ask further and turned away. Dan bit his dry lips. Right, what would he do knowing the taste of coffee, given his status? Thinking this, he scratched his knee as Director Lee leaned towards him.“Dan, you’ve hit the jackpot. Coming to bear children in a place like this. It looked spooky from outside like a ghost would come out, but the inside is well done.”He said, looking around the living room. Dan nodded in agreement. Director Lee chuckled and tapped Dan’s cheek with the back of his hand.“You know this is all thanks to me, right? I took care of you because you’re like my son. I wouldn’t let just anyone do this.”Director Lee seemed to have forgotten how he had described Colonel Seol on the way here, talking about the smell of blood, cannibalism, and cutting off fingers and toes.“Yes. Thank you, Father.”However, as always, Dan expressed his gratitude without any complaints.“The sofa is nice, really nice. Is it made of cowhide?”Director Lee patted the armrest with his broad hand, showing off. He then put the black telephone with the gold frame to his ear and looked around the house, stretching his fat neck side to side. He clicked his tongue when he saw the large Taegeuk flag hung behind his head.“Even if he’s a soldier, why put a Taegeuk flag right in the middle of the house?”“…”Dan also looked at the Taegeuk flag. It was in a frame as large as a bed, looking somewhat yellowed with age. In one corner was an embroidered pattern of unknown meaning, which he later learned signified that it was given by the Emperor.Dan thought the Taegeuk flag was quite splendid but kept his thoughts to himself. Director Lee probably wasn’t expecting an answer anyway.Dan quietly looked around the house through the strands of his wig.The pattern on the carpet was beautiful. The white porcelain on the side table was lustrous, and the shining medals were impressive. The wallpaper had tiny leaves drawn on it, which were also beautiful. No matter how you looked at it, this didn’t seem like the home of a cursed family.Dan explored the house meticulously with his pink fingertips. Then, he noticed a neatly stacked newspaper on one side of the sofa table.[May 12, 1962, National Institute of the Korean Language: From today, ‘Yang-in’ will be referred to as ‘Alpha’, and ‘Eu-min’ as ‘Omega’]The article stated that in line with global trends, the terms ‘Yang-in’ and ‘Eum-in’ for species would be changed to ‘Alpha’ and ‘Omega’. Consequently, the name of the orphanage also changed from ‘Eum-in Orphanage’ to ‘Omega Orphanage’. Dan remembered Director Lee grumbling about the unnecessary effort when they changed the sign.However, it’s been quite a while since the change… Moreover, today was May 20th. There were at least seven newspapers stacked by date, indicating that the homeowner hadn’t been home for some time.Dan’s eyes darkened. He must be a busy person. Maybe busy killing people as Director Lee said. When will I get to bear his seed? When will I get pregnant? He sighed silently.“Here you go.”The woman brought out the tea. On the square wooden tray were steaming coffee, a green bottle of cider with a straw sticking out, and a white plate. On the plate were glossy sweets, well-fried puffy snacks, and walnuts coated in syrup.“Oh my, thank you.”Director Lee welcomed the snacks with exaggerated enthusiasm.Dan rolled his eyes around. No matter how many times he looked, there was no water. His throat was dry from nervousness, but did they not give water to male omegas? As he slumped his shoulders in disappointment, he saw the green bottle through his wig.“It’s cider.”The woman had placed cider in front of Dan. Cider, a newly popular drink. Of course, Dan had never tried it before. He looked up at her with a start, which was quite rude.“Is… is this for me?”“Yes. I’ll bring water if you need it.”“No, no. This is enough. Thank, thank you.”Dan bowed his head while still seated, then quickly adjusted his wig as it started to fall. It was a comical sight, but she didn’t laugh.After collecting the wooden tray, she spoke to Director Lee.“The Colonel will be coming home. It will take about an hour.”“Is that so? Good news.”“Yes, then.”She bowed slightly and disappeared. As she walked away, Director Lee bent towards Dan and cursed her.“What a stiff woman, no charm at all. She’s probably never been married, right?”“…”Dan didn’t respond. He was just marveling at the taste of the cider through the straw, his eyebrows rising and falling with the tickling carbonation and the sweet, refreshing flavor. To offer something so precious to an omega; indeed, rich people were different.“Is she the only one working in this house? Well, who would want to work in a place like this?”Director Lee said, grabbing a piece of sweet with his bare hands.“It’s because the family has seen a lot of blood.”He bit off half of the sweet with his yellow teeth and chewed it noisily, continuing to curse the Seol family.“That’s why they are cursed.”The Seol family had been a military family for generations. Even from the distant Joseon dynasty, they were a lineage of warriors only. There was a saying that if you gathered all the eldest sons, you could form an army.They were all people who fought with their lives for the country, but whether ally or enemy, blood was red, and they incurred divine wrath. Thus, a curse was placed on the house, causing everyone, family or servant, to have a short life. Even Colonel Seol’s family was all dead.If the father died in an accident, the mother would die of illness; if a son fainted, a daughter would go mad.Ironically, none of them had died in battle, which Director Lee said made the curse even more dreadful.“I’ve heard that even the workers here often die. They get sick, languish, or fall down the stairs and break their necks, or disappear without a trace like they’re possessed by ghosts, into that fog.”He gestured toward the fog outside. Dan, who had let go of the straw, widened his eyes.“Will… will I die too, Father?”“Well, you’ll be here for maybe a year, just to bear some children. What could happen in that time?”Director Lee replied nonchalantly while stuffing the last of the sweet into his mouth. However, Dan’s face remained dark, his mind filled with images of himself dying with his neck twisted in some bizarre way.Indeed, I was born with bad luck. Not only am I an omega, but my first seed bearer is someone like this. Dan sucked on the cider with a gloomy expression.Director Lee, who had inadvertently cursed Dan with misfortune, greedily devoured the sweets. The syrup left his fingers sticky, which he licked off. Then he crunched on the puffed snacks and munched on the walnuts.Dan had to watch him, momentarily forgetting his own misfortune, because of how noisily he was eating.Dan’s small Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He glanced at the remaining sweets on the plate. Four had come out, but only two were left. However, Dan couldn’t bring himself to say he wanted to eat them.But Director Lee noticed his gaze. He chuckled and surprisingly threw one sweet to Dan.“Here. You have one too.”It looked like he was throwing food to a dog, but Dan quickly caught it and bowed to the director.“Thank you, Father.”“Yes. Be thankful. How would you get to eat these if you were alone? Eat now while you can.”Dan nodded vigorously in agreement and took a small bite of the sweet. It was chewy yet crispy. He held the sweet carefully in both hands, savoring it bit by bit.Director Lee was often scary and sometimes capricious, but to Dan, he was an incomparably good father.Like most male omegas, Dan had been abandoned as a baby. However, perhaps his parents didn’t wish for his death since they left him in front of the orphanage run by Director Lee. There was a piece of paper with his name and a few banknotes tucked in his swaddling.Director Lee said he couldn’t help but pick up Dan, even though the orphanage was in dire straits at the time because he felt so sorry for him. That alone made Director Lee someone Dan should be forever grateful for.Thus, Dan grew up in the Eum-in Orphanage, now renamed the Omega Orphanage.The Omega Orphanage wasn’t much different from other orphanages. They raised the children until adulthood, then sent them out into ‘society.’Society. A place where one earns their living, lives with others, forms relationships, and builds a family. However, male omegas like Dan couldn’t survive in that society.Their bodies, which didn’t easily build muscle, were weaker than other men’s, their pheromones were hard to control, making alphas uncomfortable, and they often went into heat inappropriately, earning them disdain. How could one make a living with such a body?Thus, most of the children from the orphanage were sold as ‘seed bearers’ like Dan. With monogamy in place, ‘concubines’ no longer existed, but since there were no laws regarding seed bearers, male omegas could survive this way.However, it wasn’t that easy either. There were hardly any clients looking for male omegas, so even if one wanted to be sold, there were no buyers. Everyone wanted female omegas.The few clients could be categorized: typically, they were men who liked men. Meeting another man would label them homosexual, but with male omegas, they faced less criticism.Also, infertile couples looking for children would sometimes seek them out. Otherwise, it was because they needed an alpha heir but couldn’t take in a female omega due to their ‘status,’ thus resorting to male omegas.‘Not having the status’ meant they were poor, physically impaired, or practically elderly.Colonel Seol was in a similar ‘status.’ His family name required an alpha heir, but due to the bloody rumors associated with him, female omegas wouldn’t marry into his family.That’s why Dan came to be his seed bearer.Dan was happy yet unhappy about being able to earn a living this way. He hadn’t imagined the person giving him seed would be handsome, kind, and gentle, but he also hadn’t imagined they’d be a ‘demon.’Dan took a deep breath and sucked up the last bit of cider.“The Colonel has arrived.”The woman announced that the homeowner had arrived. Director Lee jumped to his feet. Dan quickly stuffed the half-eaten sweet into his bag and stood up, then quietly gazed down the hallway leading to the entrance.From far away, he felt something approaching. In this vast space, he could sense someone’s presence even though he couldn’t see them. It was a strange feeling. There was no sound of footsteps or voice, yet their presence was palpable throughout his body.Director Lee wiped his sticky hands vigorously on his jacket. Dan diligently combed down his tangled wig, though his hair got even more tangled in his fingers, but he was unaware of how he looked.Murmured conversation could be heard. Due to the distance, he couldn’t make out the words, but it seemed like the woman and the homeowner were talking about the guests, meaning Director Lee and Dan.The homeowner’s deep voice carried through the air. Though distant, it was evident the voice was very low.And finally, the homeowner, Colonel Seol, made his appearance.He was dressed in a navy uniform as if he had just come from some important event.Before even thinking about demons or monsters, Dan’s body stiffened. The man had an enormous physique. His size was literally like a mountain. He would have been impressive just for his height, but his build was also massive. He wasn’t fat like Director Lee; instead, he had broad shoulders and a slender waist. His chest looked thick and heavy as if it could hold sacks of rice. Despite being covered in complex clothing, one could sense his firm skin.He strode confidently towards the sofa, making one understand what it means to call someone a ‘house-sized tiger’. Indeed, it felt like a giant beast was approaching.The oppressive presence made even the usually loud Director Lee swallow hard. That’s how overwhelming his stature was.With each step he took, the numerous medals on his chest glittered. The brightest was his rank insignia, showing he was a colonel, with three bamboo leaves that looked like stars or flowers, and a rose of Sharon hanging in the middle.On his right chest was a name tag with Colonel Seol’s name clearly written.[Seol Taejae]“…”Dan stared at the name tag. Come to think of it, he didn’t even know his name until now; he only knew him as Colonel Seol.Seol Taejae.Seol Taejae.Taejae.Dan repeated the name to himself. As he did, he inadvertently looked at Taejae’s face.Fortunately, the man didn’t have the face of a monster. His canines weren’t long, and his sclera wasn’t black. Despite the rumors of cannibalism, his bronze skin glowed healthily.However, he had many scars. There was a diagonal scar across his right eyebrow, and several large and small scars on his neck.Yet, despite these ugly scars, the man was very…“Good-looking…”He had a very appealing appearance. His eyes were sharp like a beast’s, dark to the point of looking blue. His nose was high enough to cast shadows on his cheeks, and his lips were full yet neat. His jaw was slightly angular, but the sharp lines only made him look manly and cool.No matter how one looked, he was far from a monster or demon. It was also hard to understand why he couldn’t find an omega mate.He looked like the perfect alpha. Even if one said he was at the pinnacle of alphas, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Why then…If Dan had been a female omega, he might not have cared about the bad rumors following him. Bearing the seed of such a man would be an honor for any omega.…Well, except for the part about potentially eating people. He would have to worry about Taejae possibly biting off his arm or leg at night.Dan swallowed hard and lowered his head, not wanting to be noticed. Did he understand that? His crooked wig covered his face entirely.At that moment, Taejae stood before Director Lee. Director Lee extended his hand first.“Hello, Colonel Seol. I am Lee Yong, the director of the Eum-in, no, Omega Orphanage.”“…”Taejae looked down at Director Lee’s shiny hand. Then,“Yes.”With that brief response, he turned his head. Thus, Director Lee had been ignored for a handshake twice today. However, he didn’t show any signs of being upset. Taejae was an important client, and he could tolerate this level of slight.Taejae looked at Director Lee, who was sitting in the main seat of the sofa, then sighed faintly, a sigh mixed with annoyance. But he didn’t ask him to move. He just unbuttoned his jacket and sat on the sofa to the right.Coincidentally, it was directly opposite Dan. Dan made his already shallow breathing even shallower.Director Lee cleared his throat with a “Khhmm,” then sat down on the sofa. Dan, unsure whether he should stand or sit, hesitantly perched on the edge of the sofa.“…”“…”“…”Silence ensued. Director Lee kept swallowing, watching Taejae’s mood, while Taejae looked down with an indifferent expression, more out of fatigue than avoidance.Dan peeked at Taejae through his hair. The sofa Taejae sat on was identical to the one Director Lee sat on, but it felt completely different. Taejae’s large frame filled the sofa so much that the backrest wasn’t even visible.His thighs, spread out under the pressure of the sofa, looked very thick and solid. One could worry about the durability of his tightly stretched pants. Moreover, there was something protruding from the inside of his left thigh, perhaps a thermos or a modern gun; something was stored between his legs.His hands, resting on those thighs, were also large. Unlike his scar-covered hands, they were neat and without any jewelry.His wrinkle-free uniform looked splendid, his tie was perfectly tied, and his Adam’s apple moved intermittently, thick.Are all alphas built like this? They were certainly different species, but they seemed too different.Dan couldn’t take his eyes off Taejae. It was the first time he had seen an alpha this close. Occasionally, alphas would come to the orphanage looking for omegas, but he had only seen them from a distance.“Colonel, shall I bring some tea?”At the woman’s voice, Dan, who had been stealing glances at Taejae, shrank back.“No need.”Taejae spoke quietly. Though not loud, his deep voice had a significant impact. Dan scratched his right ear with his shoulder. His ears itched, whether from the wig or Taejae’s deep voice, he couldn’t tell.“Yes.”The woman bowed and left. As her presence faded, Director Lee cleared his throat again and raised the corners of his mouth.“We’ve come on Major General Hwang’s recommendation. You were looking for an omega.”He corrected his words hastily, frowning at the annoyance of having to use the new term ‘omega’ instead of ‘eum-in’. But he quickly adjusted his expression. Turning his upper body towards Taejae, he spoke with flattery.“Indeed, you’re very handsome. With a good job and such a magnificent house… there should be a line of omegas from here to Jongno wanting to marry you, but how come you’ve come to us…”“…”Taejae continued to maintain his impassive silence. It was impossible to tell if he agreed, disagreed, or even if he wanted an omega, or if he intended to send them away. He just tapped his thigh, which was like a stone, with his fingertips.He’s like a lake, Dan thought. Given his size, he could be likened to an ocean, but he had no waves. Thus, a quiet, dark lake fit him more than the sea.With no response from Taejae, Director Lee shifted his gaze to Dan.“What are you doing? Greet him.”