Chapter 1: The Rumored Omega

“I heard your father runs a large business in the United States.”

“N-No! It’s really nothing like that… um, it’s just a small real estate business.”

Go Ha-jin flailed both hands in panic as he hurriedly denied the man’s words.

“You’re more humble than you look.”

With a faint smile, he swept his gaze over Go Ha-jin.

The rumors were accurate, no, the reality was even more so.

He was more innocent than described, and far more striking in appearance than any story conveyed.

He was the very image of a perfect dominant Omega.

His light brown eyes, matching his hair, were large and luminous, paired with a high nose bridge and flawless skin that seemed devoid of even peach fuzz.

And the finishing touch among his features was his lips.

Whether Alpha or Beta, they stirred an instinctive desire to put something between them.

Full, smooth, and tinted a translucent red, they were almost unreal.

And then there was his pale, slender neck, enough to make one want to wrap a hand around it on impulse.

Judging by looks alone, he exceeded expectations.

“Ivy League?”

“P-Pardon? Y-Yes… I was just lucky.”

“Princeton?”

“Yes….”

As Go Ha-jin’s ears reddened, he looked genuinely embarrassed.

Despite his sharp eyes, his demeanor was obedient.

He kept his gaze modestly lowered, speaking only when the man, who already held the conversational upper hand, addressed him.

“There was a good Mediterranean place right in front of the main gate.”

At the muttered remark, Go Ha-jin reflexively looked up, and caught the sharp glint in the man’s eyes.

Since sitting down, the man had maintained a politely friendly tone, his voice flat and even.

Yet in his black eyes, a keen light would occasionally flash.

This time was no exception.

It felt different from what the rumors had led him to expect.

“Um… are you talking about ‘Meditera’? I went there often too!”

“Ah, right, that was the name. I only stopped by briefly after causing some trouble, so I didn’t remember clearly.”

The man, Chae Woo-seok, had casually tossed out bait.

It wasn’t so much that he distrusted this Omega, but rather a habit born of instinct.

Given Chae Woo-seok’s circumstances, it was understandable.

He had two formidable fathers.

His Alpha father was the chairman of SHS Group, ranked among the top three in domestic market capitalization.

And his Omega father’s father, his grandfather, was the current leader of the ruling party.

People eager to tear him apart for profit were everywhere.

As a result, he had learned to test even the stone bridge twice before crossing.

Even in the safest situations, he verified everything possible.

It was a deeply ingrained habit, separate from his well-earned reputation as a scumbag.

“Ah! Then we’re alumnis?”

For someone like Chae Woo-seok, Go Ha-jin’s earlier claim that his father ran a small real estate business in the U.S. couldn’t simply be dismissed as modesty.

Compared to Woo-seok’s background, anyone else might as well be running a corner shop.

“And, um… I’m glad we seem to have similar tastes…!”

A faint blush bloomed across Go Ha-jin’s cheeks.

As the corners of his small mouth lifted shyly, a dimple formed on one warmed cheek.

Watching him, Chae Woo-seok felt a spark of pure curiosity.

Had this Omega been pushed here by his family, or had he come of his own will?

Was that smile meant for Woo-seok’s background, or for Woo-seok himself?

Had he truly never heard the rumors that flooded this world?

Facing someone who seemed the embodiment of innocence, questions surged unbidden.

“I see. Perhaps we’ll have a meal together sometime.”

As Chae Woo-seok spoke again, the smile vanished from Go Ha-jin’s face.

His expression dropped so suddenly it looked as though he might burst into tears.

Seeing that, Chae Woo-seok became certain, this Omega has taken quite a liking with him.

…Well, at least he has decent taste.

“P-Perhaps…?”

Go Ha-jin’s shoulders slumped as if they might touch the ground, like someone whose fiancé had just announced a broken engagement.

They hadn’t even known each other for thirty minutes, what had he been imagining all on his own?

Even to someone who had met countless Omegas, it was a remarkably fresh reaction.

Among modern Omegas, Go Ha-jin was unusually honest with his emotions.

Conversely, that meant he was terrible at handling Alphas.

From how completely he failed to hide his feelings, it was obvious he’d lived a life far removed from romance.

It was a rare level of innocence, not just in Korea, but even compared to Omegas raised in the U.S., often touted as an Omega rights haven.

“Our family is rather conservative,” Chae Woo-seok said.

“Yes…?”

Korea could be described as a backward country when it came to Omega rights.

Considering its economic and international standing, this was all the more glaring.

Human rights violations that felt like relics of rural villages decades past still occurred with alarming frequency in modern Korea.

Alphas went without saying, and Betas, the overwhelming majority, stood by and watched.

Since the emergence of Alphas and Omegas centuries ago, Omega rights had barely changed.

There was little hope for improvement.

In that sense, Chae Woo-seok’s words were a warning to Go Ha-jin, who had grown up in the U.S.

Even in this already regressive country, his family was worse.

Did he really think he could endure that?

“I… I figured that might be the case. I mean! With such a distinguished… family.”

Perhaps, though, the Omega before him had been molded precisely for such conditions.

“There will be many situations you find unreasonable. And it won’t be easy to voice complaints.”

“Yes…. I’m an Omega, so it’s only natural to comply.”

Still passive, yet his resolve was clear.

It didn’t sound like empty words meant to please Chae Woo-seok, rather, the result of upbringing and indoctrination.

That, too, tickled something deep in an Alpha’s instincts.

So did the faint pheromone scent that had lingered all along.

Even Chae Woo-seok, well-acquainted with countless Omega scents, had never encountered one quite like this.

Soft and proper, much like his behavior, enough to draw a response from Woo-seok’s own pheromones.

“Hm…”

Every time Go Ha-jin spoke, his answers were as flawless as his background.

Had this been a job interview, he would have been chosen over any competitor without question.

He possessed a set of conditions rarely seen.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been ideal.

But his textbook perfection drained Chae Woo-seok’s interest entirely.

“Hah. How boring.”

Rejected.

Not what he wanted.

Had they met elsewhere, outside a setting like this, Woo-seok might have indulged a flicker of curiosity.

But he wasn’t looking for a conventional marriage candidate, and so his interest vanished in an instant.

“…Pardon?”

At the abrupt shift in Chae Woo-seok’s demeanor, Go Ha-jin’s pupils darted wildly.

Those red-arched lips curled inward, teeth catching them, yet he couldn’t bring himself to meet Woo-seok’s gaze.

He kept stealing glances, trying to grasp what was happening.

From the outside, it was oddly entertaining.

How could someone be this timid?

“You’re the most talked-about Omega in Gangnam these days, right?”

Honorifics disappeared from Chae Woo-seok’s speech.

Leaning back deeply into his chair, he casually pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

The area was non-smoking, but since he had rented the entire lounge, no one dared stop him.

“I-I don’t quite understand what you mean…”

“You came here to get married, didn’t you? Don’t play dumb. You must’ve met dozens of Alphas at places like this.”

The cigarette smoke filling Chae Woo-seok’s lungs spilled across the table, washing over Go Ha-jin’s face.