Chapter 6: 20 Days In

Six Years Ago

In mid-March, a cold wave swept across the country.
The temperature plunged unexpectedly below freezing, and people hurriedly dug out the padded jackets they had already put away, while those who had come out unprepared endured the cold with their bodies tightly hunched.

Forsythias and azaleas that had just been preparing to bloom froze over, their buds still tightly wrapped.
It was vicious weather that made the word spring feel utterly meaningless.

Outside, the late cold raged on, but the second-floor bedroom of the mansion was warm and cozy, like a greenhouse.

That was only natural, considering that the room’s owner was in an extremely sensitive state at the moment.
Because of that, the household staff in charge of the mansion devoted themselves around the clock to maintaining the room’s temperature, humidity, and even scent so that nothing would cause the slightest discomfort.

Even past ten in the morning, someone was still lying on the large bed pushed against the wall, buried beneath the covers.

The soft, lightweight bedding rustled briefly, and a pale face peeked out from within.
Having forgotten to set an alarm, he had slept in without any sense of time passing.

Seon-kyung slowly pushed himself upright, still half-asleep, rubbing at his face as his eyes struggled to open properly.
He had expected his face to be puffy from sleeping too long, but surprisingly, the skin beneath his palm felt smooth and unblemished.

He swept his tousled hair back carelessly and tilted his neck from side to side.
His body felt lighter than expected.

Am I finally starting to feel better?

Seon-kyung glanced at the wall clock and slid off the bed.
His bare, white feet touched the floor.
The ivory-colored polished tiles weren’t cold at all—instead, they were pleasantly warm.

Out of habit, he walked over to the bedside table.
He poured lukewarm water into a clean glass and swallowed his daily pheromone suppressant along with a vitamin.

After that, he shed his pajamas and went into the attached bathroom.
With nothing pressing to do, he took his time even with a bath before coming back out.
Having soaked in the tub for quite a while, his whole body felt loose and languid.

Seon-kyung loosely tied the belt of his robe and roughly wiped the water dripping from his wet hair with a towel.
Though his sleepiness had completely faded, everything he did was sluggish and indolent to the extreme.

As he lazily dried his hair and walked along, his gaze drifted toward the desk without thinking.

Neatly arranged there were the study-abroad materials he had obsessed over until recently.
Seon-kyung stared blankly at the booklets crammed with English text, then deliberately composed his expression as if nothing were wrong.

He gathered up all the booklets and printed papers and tossed them into the trash can.
It was time to let go of his lingering attachment.

By the time he got dressed and left his room, it was already nearing noon.

Unlike the frigid weather outside, the mansion, bathed in midday sunlight, felt nothing but warm and comfortable.

Seon-kyung descended the stairs slowly.
Contrary to his expectation that no one would be around, there was an unexpected figure in the reception room.

“Up at last?”
“How are you feeling today?”

Sitting on the sofa watching the news, his eldest brother, Woo Seon-woo, noticed him and greeted him warmly.
He even picked up the remote and turned off the TV, fully turning his body toward his younger brother.
Judging by the playful smile on his face, despite his words of concern, he looked more eager to tease.

Reading his brother’s intentions, Seon-kyung sat down one seat away and immediately scowled.

“What’s with you?”
“Why aren’t you going to work today?”

“It’s a public holiday.”
“Did you really sleep so much that you lost track of the date?”

“Woo Seon-kyung, you slept that long?”
“You’re seriously living like a bum.”
“Get it together already—how long are you planning to hole up at home?”
“What, did becoming an omega give you some kind of fatal illness?”

With just one sentence, he ended up getting nagged by two people at once.

That sharp reprimand belonged to his second older sister, Woo Jae-gyeong.
Apparently, the holiday wasn’t a lie, since everyone who should have been at work was gathered at home.

I should’ve just stayed in my room.

Seon-kyung covered his face and let out a deep sigh.

The moment Seon-kyung came down to the first floor, Gwangju-daek, who had been working in the kitchen, rushed out into the living room.
She had already been worried about him skipping breakfast and sleeping in, and had been thinking of waking him up to make him eat something.

She hurriedly wiped her wet hands on her apron and carefully checked Seon-kyung’s complexion first.

“Young master, did you sleep well?”
“You should eat something.”
“I simmered chicken porridge for a long time—shall I serve it now?”

The warm voice he had heard since childhood had a way of calming his heart all on its own.

Faced with her motherly care, Seon-kyung gave a small, silent smile.

Still, he had no appetite.
Leaning his head against the sofa, he slowly shook it.

“I don’t really feel like it.”

“You barely ate dinner last night either—oh dear, what are we going to do…”
“Your little face has gotten even smaller.”
“You’ve lost so much strength, goodness gracious.”
“I’ll bring you some fruit, at least.”
“You can eat that, right?”

Truthfully, he didn’t feel like that either, but seeing Gwangju-daek fretting as if it were a major crisis, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse again.

When Seon-kyung nodded, afraid her mind might change, she hurried back into the kitchen.

The sounds of rummaging through the pantry and opening and closing the refrigerator grew conspicuously loud.
It seemed she intended to bring out every piece of fruit in the house.

Watching the small commotion, Jae-gyeong finally spoke up.

“Why don’t you just eat a proper meal?”
“We agreed you’d at least eat one decent meal a day.”

“There’s still dinner.”

“Seriously, you never give in.”

Though her words were sharp, she stepped closer and placed the back of her hand against Seon-kyung’s cheek.
The peach-tinted flush on his face wasn’t as warm as she’d expected.

Still frowning in displeasure, she lightly pinched his cheek before letting go.
More than anyone, it was Jae-gyeong who worried about Seon-kyung’s condition.

Before long, the staff brought a wooden tray piled high with food into the reception room.
Warmly toasted bread, homemade fruit jam, a classic teapot and teacups—
the once-empty sofa table filled up in an instant.

Declining the staff’s help, Jae-gyeong personally poured chrysanthemum tea into three cups.
Fragrant steam rose into the air.

Seon-woo skewered a strawberry with a small dessert fork and took a bite.
Chewing the sweet, ripe fruit tucked into one cheek, he turned sideways on the sofa.

He studied the youngest sibling sitting at a distance, head tilted in curiosity at how different he looked from just yesterday, then asked Jae-gyeong,

“How many days has it been since Seon-kyung manifested?”
“About three weeks now?”

“Yeah.”

“This is bad.”
“I think he’s getting prettier by the day.”
“Is it because he stays inside sleeping all the time?”
“His skin’s all pale and glossy.”
“You weren’t like this, Jae-gyeong.”
“Are alphas and omegas really that different?”

“Oppa, that’s enough—read the room.”
“Seon-kyung doesn’t have a fever anymore.”
“That means his condition’s improving.”

Which also meant his original temperament was coming back.

As if to prove her point, Seon-kyung glared sharply at his eldest brother.
Say one more word.
The message was painfully clear on his expression, utterly devoid of humor.

Unfortunately, Woo Seon-woo was a bit slow on the uptake.

He picked the reddest, prettiest strawberry, speared it with his fork, and held it out to the youngest as a form of consolation.

“Seon-kyung, is it still hard to accept?”
“It’s okay, I told you before.”
“You just manifested late—that’s all.”
“People always expected you to be an omega anyway.”
“You weren’t secretly hoping to be an alpha like Jae-gyeong, were you?”
“Honestly, with how you look, calling you an alpha would go against social norms.”

“Now that you mention it, people around me weren’t very surprised either.”
“Is there really such a thing as an ‘omega look’?”

“…..”

Even when the fork was brought to his lips as if feeding him, Seon-kyung kept his mouth stubbornly shut.
Clearly uninterested in conversation, he covered half his eyes with his palm and exhaled slowly.

Being sandwiched between his siblings only made the stress pile up.
Unable to endure it any longer, he stood up first.
When he asked a nearby staff member to bring his coat, Seon-woo immediately asked where he was going.

“Where are you headed?”

“Mu-yeol’s place.”

“Hey!”
“It’s cold outside—dress warmly!”

Ignoring his brother’s advice as usual, Seon-kyung chose the coat he liked better from the two offered.

He slipped his arms into a thin cashmere coat and fastened the buttons loosely.
Kwon Mu-yeol’s place was practically right next door anyway.
Whether it was cold or hot hardly mattered.

In the end, he didn’t take a single bite of what Gwangju-daek had prepared.
His stomach was empty, but his appetite never returned, and his mind remained unsettled.

Seon-kyung left the house just like that.

Today marked the twentieth day since he had manifested as an omega.