Chapter 146: (Beginning of Volume 2) An Old Story

The very first memory Joo Hyunjin had of feeling fear was tied to darkness.

He had been trapped in some dim, suffocating place.

He couldn’t remember how he ended up there.

All he remembered was crying endlessly, and when he finally regained his senses, he found himself alone in a narrow, pitch-black space.

“Hic… hngh….”

Hyunjin could only cry, tears falling nonstop.

After waking up, he had pounded on something hard nearby and screamed, but no answer came, and eventually he had given up.

All he could do was cry and cry.

It was too dark, too frightening.

He felt like he would be trapped there forever.

Like no one would ever come for him, like he would be forgotten for eternity….

The thought alone terrified him beyond reason.

“Hyung….”

In that moment, he thought of the person he wanted to see more than anyone.

Before being trapped here, Hyunjin had been with his older brother, Hyunwoo.

Joo Hyunwoo was practically Hyunjin’s only family.

Even their parents barely paid him any attention—only Hyunwoo cared for him and looked after him.

Of course, sometimes he played pranks or snapped easily because of his temper, but Hyunjin liked him anyway.

So Hyunjin continued calling out for Hyunwoo while crying.

Creak.

“……!”

He had no idea how much time passed.

The darkness that felt endless suddenly vanished.

A burst of bright light stung his eyes, and Hyunjin instinctively frowned.

“Ugh….”

“Joo Hyunjin!”

“…Hyung!”

Along with the light, a familiar face popped into view.

Hyunjin’s face lit up the moment he saw him.

But when Hyunwoo saw Hyunjin’s tear-streaked cheeks, he flinched.

“Why… why are you still in here?”

“But…”

Hyunjin had been playing hide-and-seek with Hyunwoo.

But honestly, Hyunwoo had long grown tired of playing with him.

Hyunjin was only eight years old, while Hyunwoo was thirteen—far too old to spend an entire holiday entertaining his little brother.

So he had suggested hide-and-seek.

He placed obedient little Hyunjin inside the unused attic and went off to do whatever he wanted.

Hyunwoo completely forgot about Hyunjin and went on with his day.

It was a holiday, and his friends had come over.

After playing with them for a long time, Hyunwoo suddenly felt like he had forgotten something.

He realized what it was only when it was nearly dinnertime—Hyunjin was missing.

He remembered the hide-and-seek game from that morning.

There’s no way he’s still hiding like an idiot, right?

Surely he would’ve given up and returned to his room.

The indifferent household staff hadn’t bothered fetching Hyunjin for dinner, so Hyunwoo went to check his room himself.

“Hey, Joo Hyunjin…!”

But the room was empty.

Only then did Hyunwoo understand how serious it was.

He had rushed straight to the attic.

Hyunwoo looked down at Hyunjin with a frustrated expression.

“If I didn’t come, you should’ve just gone back to your room!”

“Hic… but…”

“What do you mean but!?”

Even though it was clearly his fault for not taking care of his little brother properly, Hyunwoo acted angry on purpose because he felt embarrassed.

He couldn’t help it.

Lately, Hyunjin following him around like a little goldfish had started to annoy him.

When Hyunjin was first born, Hyunwoo had felt proud of being an older brother.

When that tiny hand grasped his finger, he felt like he owned the world.

And since their father and stepmother didn’t pay attention to Hyunjin, Hyunwoo was forced to take care of him.

Back then, it wasn’t so bothersome.

When Hyunjin followed him with bright, sparkling eyes, Hyunwoo felt responsible.

“Are you stupid?
Who waits for hours just because someone said to?
Hm?”

“Hic…”

“Stop crying.”

“……”

“Sigh….”

Hyunwoo sighed and shook his head.

Hyunjin, reading the mood, clamped his mouth shut.

But forcing himself to stop crying only made him hiccup harder.

“Hic… ugh…”

“Ah, seriously.
Come here.”

“Hyung….”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Annoyed but unable to ignore him, Hyunwoo pulled Hyunjin into his arms.

He patted Hyunjin’s now slightly bigger shoulders.

“You’re eight now.
You should start doing things on your own.”

“But I…”

“And once you manifest, we won’t even be able to stay together like this.”

“What?”

Hyunwoo had manifested early, around age twelve, as an Alpha.

Chairman Joo thought it was only natural for his successor to awaken as an Alpha.

He was even disappointed that Hyunwoo wasn’t a dominant Alpha.

Because of that, even his awakening had left Hyunwoo feeling low for a while.

“When I manifest… why can’t we stay together?”

“Because you’re going to manifest as an Omega.”

“Omega…?”

“That’s right.”

To young Hyunjin, talk about classifications was unfamiliar.

He had only just started grade school and received almost no proper education at home.

Hyunwoo had told him bits and pieces before, but it wasn’t enough.

Feeling annoyed that he had to explain again, Hyunwoo continued:

“Even siblings can’t stay together if one’s an Alpha and one’s an Omega.
Something bad could happen.”

“I don’t want to be an Omega.”

“That’s not up to you.”

“I don’t want to be away from you…”

“……”

Hyunjin began to cry again.

Hyunwoo stared at him helplessly.

Like a baby animal imprinting on the first thing it sees, Hyunjin had latched onto him.

He wasn’t literally the first person Hyunjin had seen at birth, but he was the first person Hyunjin had reached out to—and the first who reached back.

If this were just a short while ago, Hyunwoo might have felt a twisted sense of superiority.

But not anymore.

Hyunjin’s clinginess now only exhausted him.

To adolescent Hyunwoo, Hyunjin had become little more than an annoying goldfish trailing behind him.

“I told you, it’s not something we can control.”

“Hic…”

“Stop crying already.”

“Mm….”

Hyunjin was terribly sad, but he forced himself to stop crying because he was afraid Hyunwoo would leave him again.

Even so, his vision blurred with tears.

He didn’t want to be away from Hyunwoo.

Hyunjin was perceptive enough to know that lately Hyunwoo found him annoying.

But it didn’t matter.

As long as he could stay near him—as long as the only person who cared for him remained by his side—Hyunjin would endure anything.

I don’t want to be an Omega…

Hyunjin prayed silently, over and over.

He wished he could be anything else—even a Beta.

But fate was cruel: five years later, Hyunjin awakened as an Omega.

A dominant Omega, at that.

A year after manifesting as a dominant Omega, when Hyunjin turned fourteen—

He wore his uncomfortable school uniform awkwardly, and around that time, he began to understand what Hyunwoo had meant years ago.

He understood why Hyunwoo tried not to meet his eyes and kept a distance.

It was sad, but inevitable.

At least it wasn’t because Hyunwoo hated him—that alone was a small comfort.

If he could just see him occasionally, greet him briefly, that was enough.

That day was ordinary—Hyunjin returned home from school.

He entered the quiet house, unwelcomed as always.

“What are you saying?”

“……?”

He froze when he heard raised voices.

He had been heading to his room but stopped mid-step.

What’s that sound?

Normally, he would have ignored it.

But the familiar voice made that impossible.

It was Hyunwoo’s.

Unthinking, Hyunjin followed the sound.

It led to Chairman Joo’s study—a place Hyunjin never approached.

If he wandered near and ran into the Chairman, things would go badly.

“Hyunjin isn’t my brother?
What do you mean!?”

“……!”

Hearing the words spilling through the cracked door, Hyunjin froze where he stood.

He stared at the massive door in disbelief.

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