Woosung Alpha’s Sour Grapes

Chapter 13

“Huh?”

Puzzled by Tae-geon’s ominously lowered voice, Hyeon-woo slowly raised his head. Something was off about Tae-geon’s face, flushed red under the eyes. His gaze, seemingly suppressing something, was both hot and cold.

“I asked if you’ve washed someone like this before.”

Tae-geon’s gaze fixed on him was as sharp as a honed blade. It was hard to understand why he had suddenly become so upset. Hadn’t he been relaxedly enjoying Hyeon-woo’s touch just moments ago?

“N-no,” Hyeon-woo stammered in confusion.

“Never…”

“……”

“Except for you.”

“……”

Only then did Tae-geon’s icy gaze soften. Hyeon-woo couldn’t keep up with his mercurial mood swings. He just wanted to escape this suffocating, hot bathroom as quickly as possible.

“I’m done. You can do the rest yourself, right?”

Hurriedly finishing up, Hyeon-woo placed the shower puff in Tae-geon’s uninjured right hand and fled the bathroom.

Had Tae-geon noticed the impure emotions in his glances at his naked body? Was that why he suddenly became upset? Hyeon-woo’s heart pounded anxiously like a guilty thief.

After gulping down cold water from the water purifier, his flushed insides cooled down. As he took several deep breaths, his clouded mind gradually began to clear.

Soon, the sound of water streams breaking against the tile floor could be heard from behind the closed bathroom door. As Hyeon-woo listened absentmindedly to the sound reminiscent of rain, he shivered once from the chill seeping through his wet t-shirt and headed upstairs to change clothes.

*

As Tae-geon’s wound healed completely, Hyeon-woo, who had been waiting for this moment, immediately brought up the topic of dividing household chores. Although he had unintentionally left all the housework to Tae-geon, when Hyeon-woo volunteered to take on the most difficult chore, he realized it was cooking and promptly gave up.

They agreed that Tae-geon would handle cooking, Hyeon-woo would do dishes and laundry, they would clean their own rooms as before, and take turns every other week cleaning shared spaces including the living room and bathroom.

With Tae-geon’s hand healed, even small tasks like helping him wash and looking after him disappeared, and physical contact between them ceased to exist.

While Hyeon-woo, who had a one-sided love for Tae-geon, felt regretful about this, he had no time to dwell on it. Tae-geon’s condition had become even stranger than before.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong, but Tae-geon seemed out of it, like someone with a screw loose in their head – he just wasn’t in his right mind.

“Sniff, sniff…”

Hyeon-woo, who was finishing up an assignment due soon in his room, wrinkled his nose at the smell of something burning.

…Surely he’s not burning the food again?

He headed to the kitchen where Tae-geon would be preparing dinner.

“Cough, cough.”

As he came downstairs, acrid smoke filled the air. Covering his mouth with his sleeve, Hyeon-woo entered the kitchen coughing. Two lumps of charcoal in the frying pan Tae-geon was holding were emitting white smoke.

It was as expected. Hyeon-woo hurriedly turned off the gas and threw open all the windows in the house. Only then did Tae-geon realize that the food he was cooking had burned black, and he rubbed his forehead, swallowing a low sigh.

Hyeon-woo was both worried and curious about this side of Tae-geon he had never seen before. He couldn’t count how many times Tae-geon had done such uncharacteristic, foolish things. Even when asked what was wrong, he would just shake his head and remain silent.

Choi Tae-geon with a screw loose?

It seems even the always cool and flawless Choi Tae-geon is human after all.

“Why do you keep doing this lately?”

“……”

It was frustrating that something was clearly wrong, but Tae-geon wouldn’t tell him what. Hyeon-woo cast a worried glance at Tae-geon while cleaning the counter.

“Tae-geon, tell me.”

“……”

“Something’s wrong with you, right?”

“If something’s wrong, it would be with you.”

His voice was somehow chilly as he replied. Hyeon-woo responded in confusion:

“…Huh?”

“Never mind. Go out. I’ll clean up.”

Hyeon-woo left for the living room, shrinking his shoulders at Tae-geon’s cold response. Was he annoyed because Hyeon-woo kept asking? If it was something to make him this sensitive, it must be an issue with his family. If that was the case, Hyeon-woo couldn’t help even if he knew the reason, so he stopped prying and quietly headed to the sofa.

Tae-geon, after finishing cleaning the messy kitchen, opened the refrigerator to prepare dinner again. His back, standing there for a while, looked somewhat awkward.

Hyeon-woo, who had been watching this closely, brightened up. He had ruined food like this more than once just this week, and tomorrow was grocery shopping day, so they must be out of ingredients.

“Tae-geon, shall we order delivery?”

Not missing the opportunity, Hyeon-woo immediately opened a delivery app and waved his phone.

“I was craving jajangmyeon anyway.”

“……”

“…Tae-geon.”

“……”

“Choi Tae-geon!”

“Yeah.”

“You’re lost in thought again, again! I said let’s order jajangmyeon!”

“…Okay.”

Okay…? Did he just say okay?

Hyeon-woo opened his eyes wide and examined Tae-geon’s expression.

Wow, and he never allowed delivery food at home before…! He’s definitely not normal.

Seizing this opportunity, Hyeon-woo ordered two jajangmyeon, sweet and sour pork, and garlic shrimp. After this rare satisfying feast, he went to bed rubbing his stomach, full as a mountain.

‘If something’s wrong, I’ll be with you.’

Tae-geon’s sharp retort briefly flashed through his mind, but he soon dismissed it and drifted off to sleep.

He felt the prodromal symptoms of his heat cycle again three days later, as school classes were ending.

He had been nervous about the symptoms coming while he was asleep like before, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. It was almost the weekend, and coincidentally, Tae-geon was planning to be away as something had come up with his family.

After finishing the last lecture, Hyeon-woo returned home alone and leisurely logged into the Alpha-Omega Community.

He had never paid much attention to the profiles of one-night partners before, but after the last unpleasant experience with the old alpha, he wanted to be a bit more careful.

With plenty of time, Hyeon-woo, alone at home for once, leisurely checked the site’s simultaneous users.

As he scrolled through profile windows one by one, his hand movement suddenly froze.

[Dominant Alpha. 20s. 191cm / 84kg. Blood type O]

An alpha with exactly the same specs as Tae-geon. Except for not being extremely dominant.

The residence wasn’t far from here either.

…Should I meet him?

It’s a heart that will never reach Tae-geon anyway. He knew better than anyone how deep-rooted Tae-geon’s hatred for omegas was, and moreover, Tae-geon even had a phobia of sex.

He had decided not to reveal his feelings because he knew that not only omegas but no one in this world could be with Tae-geon. That’s why he could give up before even starting.

He vividly remembered Tae-geon’s face towards omegas who approached him with interest. He had watched the contempt and hatred in his eyes towards them from the closest position for over a decade.

Whenever he had nightmares about his trait being discovered, Hyeon-woo felt the pain of his heart being torn apart by Tae-geon directing that cruel gaze at him.

He would wake up from nightmares, shuddering at the scene where the face of an omega being carried away on a stretcher, packed with syringe-type suppressants, morphed into his own. His whole body, drenched in cold sweat, would tremble with chills. He would pull the blanket over his head, repeatedly vowing never to let anyone discover that he had manifested as an omega.

Even so, his body would inevitably go into heat with each returning cycle. Every time he writhed in pleasure, penetrated by an alpha, Tae-geon would appear in his blurred vision, heated with arousal. Just imagining Tae-geon indulging in his body was electrifying enough to make his legs weak. In the face of the ecstasy given by pleasure, there was no more guilt or self-loathing.

…An alpha resembling Tae-geon.

What kind of sex would this alpha have?

Although he couldn’t smell the alpha’s pheromones with his nose, it didn’t mean he couldn’t feel them. He knew the ecstatic and overwhelming sensation that tightly squeezed through the pores of his skin.

Part of it mixed in the air would seep into his lungs through his respiratory system, making his mind hazy like a hallucinogen, while another part would melt into his skin, acting as an aphrodisiac that expanded his blood vessels and shook his nervous system.

Alphas had something that conquered him inside and out. Even as a half-omega, he could instinctively sense that this stimulant, recklessly stirring up all the erogenous zones in his body, was the alpha’s pheromones. Some were ecstatic, while others were so terrible they induced revulsion.

What would a dominant alpha be like?

Would Tae-geon’s pheromones be similar to this person’s?

Of course, it would be far inferior compared to the extremely dominant Tae-geon, but it would be clearly different from ordinary alphas, so he was curious and greedy even for that gap.

Once sparked, his curiosity rapidly consumed Hyeon-woo’s mind, swelling uncontrollably.

His fingers, which had been wandering over the keyboard for a while, slowly began typing.

[Would you like to meet me tonight?]