AOA 127

I furrowed my brow at the unwelcome omen. At times like this, I had to consciously stop myself from thinking of Baek Mugyeong.

The best thing in moments like this was conversation. It was about to tell Choi Jaeha that we should go eat something spicy.

“You’re here too? Jaeha, it’s been a while?”

A familiar man blocked my way and spoke to me. His somewhat glossy face looked familiar.

I couldn’t remember his name well. But I recognized that he was the Alpha who had once told me it didn’t matter even if I got married while I was hospitalized.

At that time, Baek Mugyeong said that man couldn’t keep his pants on and had given me advice in a serious and mocking way, to meet an Alpha who wasn’t troublesome.

Later, I had also run into him at Cheongam Art Museum. He had even flirted with me in front of Baek Mugyeong.

I remembered that he was rotten. Then I soon remembered his name. His name was Lee Jaegwang.

“What?”

As I felt relieved at remembering his name, Choi Jaeha, who had just put down a chair, reacted sulkily.

“What do you mean what? I’m just saying hello since it’s a familiar face. Isn’t that right?”

Lee Jaegwang answered glibly and looked at me to get agreement. I only nodded my head slightly in acknowledgment.

“It’s been a while.”

“It really has been a while. But where’s that scary-looking husband of yours? Are you alone?”

“I’m not in the mood to humor you. Jaeha, let’s go.”

I had no energy to echo Lee Jaegwang’s nonsense. When I refused, Lee Jaegwang showed a flustered look, but I didn’t care. As I picked up the chair again and continued walking, Choi Jaeha immediately followed and marveled.

“Wow, you cut him off clean. Are you two on bad terms?”

“It’s not that we’re on bad terms. I just don’t want to get involved with him. He’s strange. You seem to know him too, so don’t get close.”

“I know that too. He tries every Omega he sees. I even got hit on. His face is decent, but his behavior is the worst of the worst.”

“Right?”

Even then, because Choi Jaeha still judged his face, I couldn’t help but laugh. But my smile didn’t last long. It was because Lee Jaegwang blocked my way again.

“What’s this? Why so prickly? I’m just saying let’s talk a bit.”

“We almost became an in-law and then it broke off, so shouldn’t you be careful?”

Lee Jaegwang was from the family whose marriage talk with Baek Yeongseop had been nearly finalized. Because Baek Yeongseop had caused an Alpha Hazard, the marriage talk had collapsed.

When things turned out like that, both families usually kept their distance for a while. We could greet each other at events like a charity bazaar, but anything more was impossible.

When I looked at Lee Jaegwang with an expression that asked if he didn’t even know such things, he frowned, maybe he was offended. He wasn’t threatening with Alpha pheromones to suit his mood, he at least seemed to have patience.

I walked past Lee Jaegwang again and moved on. I set the chair inside the screen on one side of the banquet hall.

Choi Jaeha, who had been looking out past the screen, whispered softly.

“That guy went that way.”

“Good.”

“Now let’s go say hello to my mom. Huh? But what’s wrong with your face?”

“Why, what’s strange?”

As Choi Jaeha turned toward me, his eyes widened. His expression looked quite surprised, so I felt puzzled.

“Your face is red. It looks like you put blush on your cheeks.”

“Really?”

“Are you hot?”

“A little?”

When I rubbed my cheek with my hand, I definitely felt more heat than usual. The banquet hall was a little warm, but it was more likely a condition problem than that.

My daily life had continued, but I hadn’t been able to sleep properly at night. Even when I lay on the bed because of fatigue, my eyes stayed wide open. Most of the time I slept a little and woke again, or I wake up from nightmares. Usually, once that happened, I couldn’t fall back asleep.

During the past week, I had only gotten two or three hours of proper sleep in a day. My concentration had dropped, so before driving, I had to close my eyes and sit still for several minutes without fail.

The saying that the mind ruled the body was true. Stress killed my appetite, and just thinking of Baek Mugyeong made me sigh.

It was hard to tell all of that to Choi Jaeha. I had told my only friend that my relationship with Baek Mugyeong had fallen apart and that my relationship with my biological father was bad, so my family was in danger. I had also asked for help and gotten introduced to a lawyer.

But the stress I felt was something I had to endure alone. I could get a prescription for the sleep disorder. I kept putting it off because carrying it out was bothersome.

“Let’s drink some water first. You’ll get dehydrated if you’re not careful.”

“Yeah.”

Now that all the chairs had been moved, the only thing left was greetings. I only wanted to get out of this place quickly.

*

There weren’t many people I had to go out of my way to greet. The only ones who needed to confirm I had come here were Im Songyoon, Choi Myeongsuk, and Baek Sujin. Of course, I also had to meet my biological father and stepmother.

My biological father shouted at me about why I hadn’t persuaded Baek Mugyeong to come together. Since the day Baek Mugyeong had mentioned divorce, my biological father had been on edge.

Because Baek Mugyeong hadn’t taken any further action, my biological father’s threats had vanished. Instead, he demanded a detailed explanation of how things were going. He demanded me on what kind of conversations I had with Baek Mugyeong, why Baek Mugyeong wasn’t returning home and was living in a hotel, and what Baek Mugyeong had said about today’s charity bazaar.

Because of that, I had to visit him once a day for the entire week and report this and that. One reason for my insomnia was clearly my biological father. Listening to nagging every single day was enormous stress.

Today was the same. Even though I had told my biological father in advance that Baek Mugyeong wouldn’t attend the charity bazaar, it didn’t work on him. He blamed me without question, saying it was all my fault.

“Let’s talk later.”

At least maybe because of the gazes of people around us, he didn’t drag it out long. I could separate from my biological father by using the excuse that I was going to greet other people.

When I moved away from my father and stepmother, Choi Jaeha, who had been apart, came close to me.

“I don’t usually say things like this to elders, but your dad is really, wow… So, just wow.”

Choi Jaeha criticized my biological father without swearing once. His words were so fitting that I nodded in agreement.

“Really wow, right.”

“You’ve had it rough too. Are all your greetings done now? Ah, I’ll go over there for a bit. I saw something pretty earlier. I want to look at it closely.”

Since it was a charity bazaar, they were selling all kinds of things. It seemed one of them had caught his eye.

“Then I’ll go to the restroom. My face feels hot, so I’ll wash it.”

“Alright. Let’s meet here in a bit.”

I parted with Choi Jaeha and headed to the restroom. The inside of the banquet hall bustled with people, but outside it was quiet and cool.

The heat in my body still hadn’t settled. My condition felt poor in proportion to that. My steps toward the restroom also felt heavy.

Judging from the heaviness of my body, it seemed like a cold with body aches. It was understandable since I had kept my nerves on edge all week, had been moving around constantly, and hadn’t slept well at night. I thought I should hang out with Choi Jaeha only a little and then return home.

Or else I could rent a hotel room and sleep with Choi Jaeha nearby. That idea appealed to me.

I reached the restroom while planning what to do, and I washed my face first. When I washed with cold water, my slightly dazed mind came back to place.

“It really is red.”

When I looked in the mirror, my red cheeks came into view. They definitely looked as if I had put makeup on them on purpose.

While I fixed my disheveled hair, I suddenly wondered if this was a sign of heat. After manifesting as an Omega, heat had come regularly.

The first heat was the hardest. My temperature went up, and I was drowsy for most of the time. But after that, it was only a slight fever. Above all, the cycle didn’t match. There were still more than ten days left until the expected date of the next heat.

I thought maybe this was because of stress. Or it could be a problem with the medicine. My father had given me traditional medicine, saying it would help me conceive easily, and a few days ago I had even gotten a separate injection. They said there were no side effects, but that was something no one could be sure of.

“I’d better go back quickly.”

Whether it was a cold with body aches or heat, I needed to go somewhere without people. I took the suppressant from my wallet and tossed it in my mouth, and then I splashed water on my face again.

I took a long breath and left the restroom. I went through a short hallway and was about to turn the corner when suddenly a big shadow approached me.

“Oh, meeting you again here?”

Lee Jaegwang was smiling. I couldn’t know if meeting him here again was a coincidence or not. What mattered was that I wasn’t in any state to deal with him now.

“Yes. Then.”

I inclined my head slightly and tried to pass, but his large body blocked my way. I frowned and looked at Lee Jaegwang.

The hotel hallway leading to the restroom wasn’t secluded. Beyond the corner was the lobby connected to the banquet hall, and people passed by this way one by one.

I wondered what it meant for him to purposely block the path.

“What is this?”

“You’re really a fortress.”

Lee Jaegwang smirked and grabbed my arm. In that instant, I understood what he wanted to do. I tried to shake him off, but I couldn’t escape from his grip.

“What are you doing?!”

I shouted loudly to draw people’s attention. At the same time, Alpha pheromones rushed at me. The strong floral scent instantly suffocated me.

It was the same thing Baek Yeongseop had done to me once. Pouring out Alpha pheromones onto a specific Omega was a special technique. It was called an Alpha Blow, and there were far more Alphas who couldn’t do it than those who could. An Alpha Blow, just like now, could arouse an Omega without being noticed by other trait bearers.