Chapter 2: A Day slightly Off Course.

Yooha, who had been quietly chewing with an indifferent expression, furrowed his brow slightly the moment he heard Woote’s words.

How was it that such thoughtless remarks never seemed to change, not even their repertoire?

He had already heard it countless times, yet every time it made him sigh.

Despite Yooha’s displeased expression, Woote remained completely undeterred and instead puffed out his chest, speaking even more boldly.

“What’s the point of studying yourself to death and working nonstop every day? You’re just wearing your body out, hyung.”

“…….”

“Hyung, I’m being serious. They say omegas have to marry alphas anyway.
Since there are fewer omegas, alphas apparently pull all kinds of tricks trying to get married.
I learned all this at school, so I know. And alphas are all rich and successful, aren’t they?”

Just what on earth were they teaching about traits at Woote’s school for him to end up with such warped values?

Ever since last autumn, Yooha had been sick to death of hearing him say, ‘Just snag a rich alpha and get married.’

At this rate, he was genuinely worried that Woote might grow up into an irresponsible adult who relied only on luck.

“And hey— with your face, hyung, every alpha in the world would fall head over heels!
You’ve got a resource and you’re just letting it rot? That’s what you call a waste. A total waste.”

Woote continued his passionate speech, completely unaware of the worries running through Yooha’s mind.

Yooha himself had never once given much thought to his appearance, but Woote often nagged him about how he was wasting such a face.

Each time, Yooha would let out a small sigh and respond seriously.

“Woote, not all alphas are rich or successful. And… it’s even harder for a recessive omega to meet someone like that.”

“Still, you never know.”

“Eat up. It’s going to get soggy.”

Yooha was usually indulgent toward whatever Woote did, but when it came to absurd talk about seducing alphas, he became uncharacteristically firm.

He deliberately put strength into his voice and even hardened his expression, but Woote always let it go in one ear and out the other.

“I’m just saying this for your sake, okay?”

Watching Woote try to smooth things over with a sly smile and exaggerated aegyo, Yooha eventually gave up and laughed instead.

Swallowing a sigh, he gulped down water.

Although he reacted negatively every time, he couldn’t say Woote was entirely wrong.

It was considered natural for alphas and omegas to marry, and many alphas did live wealthy lives in the upper echelons of society.

And it was also an undeniable reality that omegas were fewer in number, and that alphas would do anything to hold on to one and marry them.

But there were always exceptions.

No matter how scarce omegas were, and no matter how alphas might willingly place themselves in the weaker position, that only applied to dominant omegas— it had nothing to do with a recessive omega like Yooha.

Perhaps to Woote’s eyes, Yooha—who never neglected his studies while carving out time to earn his own living expenses through part-time work—looked pitiful.

Organizing his thoughts that way, Yooha brushed aside the childish remarks and tried to wrap up dinner.

Woote stared silently at Yooha as he drank water, then opened his mouth again.

“Hyung….”

Yooha stacked the empty bowls neatly inside the cleaned pot and looked at Woote calling him.
When Woote suddenly grabbed his wrist, his eyes seemed oddly wet, and Yooha was just beginning to feel guilty for having been so stern—

“Even if you marry a rich alpha… you won’t forget our family, right?”

“…….”

“Especially your kind little brother Woote who makes really good ramyeon? You won’t ever forget me, right?”

Seeing Woote grin shamelessly as if nothing had happened, Yooha let out a hollow laugh.

Feeling foolish for having worried even for a moment, he slumped his shoulders, picked up the pot, and headed for the sink.

Marrying a rich alpha— it was such an unrealistic idea.

Leaving money aside, it would be hard enough just to meet someone who truly liked him….

Thinking thoughts that bordered on resignation.

****

Since he had no morning classes that day, Yooha arrived on campus a bit later than usual and headed straight for the campus bookstore.

He needed to buy the major textbooks he had already selected after checking the syllabi.

He planned to buy the books, study a bit at the library, grab something simple like gimbap or a sandwich for lunch, and then attend his afternoon class.

He only had one lecture that day, but since he had a library shift in the afternoon, he wouldn’t get home until close to ten at night.

Sorting through the day’s schedule in his head, Yooha entered the bookstore and walked briskly toward the shelves.

“Oh? Yooha!”

As he reached the display for business administration textbooks and picked one up to look through it, he heard someone calling him from nearby.

Turning around, he saw a familiar face approaching with a bright smile.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Ah… yeah.”

The person greeting him warmly was Park Seongyeong, a classmate from the same department.

Although they were in different sections, they had worked together on a group project in a general elective course last semester and recognized each other.

Back then, two out of the four team members had practically freeloaded, and Seongyeong, the team leader, had suffered greatly trying to drag participation out of them.

Yooha hadn’t joined her in venting his anger, but instead had taken on the redistributed research and presentation work and completed it perfectly.

Since then, the two had at least exchanged greetings whenever they ran into each other.

Standing beside Seongyeong were two unfamiliar faces, likely classmates from her section.

With nearly three hundred students per year, it was common not to know names or faces once classes were divided.

Yooha, who never attended department events or drinking gatherings—and didn’t even have a regular friend group—knew even fewer people.

“Here to buy books?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“So am I.”

Seongyeong held up the same book Yooha had picked out.

Following her grin with an awkward smile of his own, Yooha gathered all the books listed in his phone memo into his arms.

Some were thick hardcovers, making them surprisingly heavy.

Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, Seonggyeong spoke first.

“Yooha, if you don’t have plans, want to have lunch with us?”

His half-turned body stiffened. It was an offer he hadn’t expected at all.

For someone used to eating alone, it was an unfamiliar situation.

Seeing the surprise on his face, Seongyeong smiled gently and asked,

“What time’s your next class?”

“…One o’clock.”

“Then you’ve got time. Let’s go.”

Even as Yooha hesitated, unsure of what to do, Seongyeong remained cheerfully unconcerned.

With the other two urging them on, saying they were hungry, Yooha grew even more flustered.
In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse and nodded.

****

Yooha ended up at a pasta restaurant a short distance away from the business building with Seongyeong and her group.

Accustomed to filling his stomach with cheap cafeteria meals or convenience store food, Yooha figured that if it hadn’t been for Park Seongyeong, he probably wouldn’t have set foot in a proper restaurant like this even once before graduating.

“Should I order a set? Let’s have this, there’s pizza.”

“Okay. Let’s choose two pastas from these. Which ones should we get?”

“The rosé here is delicious. Let’s order rosé.”

“Then I have to choose one Rosé and one more.”

Unable to join the easy, familiar conversation about choosing dishes, Yooha hovered like an outsider, his gaze drifting before he finally glanced at the menu.

Next to strings of foreign words he could barely make sense of were prices so unbelievable that his throat instantly went dry.

With that kind of money, he could eat cafeteria meals more than ten times over. He could buy dozens of triangle kimbap without blinking.

Moistening his parched lips, Yooha felt regret sink in.

He should have found some way to refuse Seongyeong’s invitation.
But thinking about how foolishly weak he was to other people’s kindness, maybe it had been impossible from the start.

“Yooha, what do you like?”

While he was fretting over his empty wallet, Seongyeong—who had been chatting away—turned to him and asked.

Feeling pressured by her direct gaze, Yooha darted his eyes back and forth before answering with an awkward smile.

“…I eat pretty much anything.”

Even if he stared at the menu, he knew he wouldn’t understand it anyway, so he brushed it off vaguely.

In truth, Yooha wasn’t a picky eater, nor did he have any particular favorite foods.

As if she had picked up on his discomfort from his sheepish smile, Seongyeong didn’t press further and simply gave a small nod.

“Then we’ll order for you. That’s okay, right?”

“Yeah.”

The three of them exchanged a few more words before pressing the call button to place their order.

Not long after, warm bread was brought out, and Kim Eunchae—who was sitting beside Yooha—was the first to reach for it.

Muttering that she hadn’t even had breakfast and was starving, she suddenly seemed to remember something, her eyes lighting up as she spoke.

“Hey, did you hear? That senior—you know, Shin Myungjin’s son. Apparently he came back this semester.”

After speaking, Eunchae chewed on a piece of bread she had torn into a reasonable size.

At the sudden mention of a stranger’s name, Kang Sohyun, sitting across from them, widened her eyes.

“Really? Ah, wait, what was his name again? Shin… Shin… Shin Jaewon?”

“Isn’t it Shin Joowon?”

Only after quietly answering Sohyun, who was frowning in thought, did Seongyeong pick up a piece of bread herself.

It was then that Yooha finally reached into the small basket and took the last remaining piece, tearing off a small corner.

The warm bread gave off a rich, savory scent that stirred his appetite.

Meanwhile, Kim Eunchae stared into the air as if entranced, murmuring softly to herself.