Chapter 2: Spilled Water

For the first time, a small crease formed between his brows as he covered his mouth and began coughing repeatedly.

When he lifted the head he had briefly lowered, Go Ha-jin’s eyes were bloodshot, so brimming with tears that they looked as though they might spill at any moment.

Only then did Chae Woo-seok wonder if he had gone too far, but by then, all the trashy words and actions had already been unleashed.

“Yes, y-you’re being very rude…!”

“What?”

How interesting.

With a face that looked ready to burst into tears at any second, he was getting angry for the first time.

Of course, it could hardly be called anger, just a timid protest, and at one crooked remark from Chae Woo-seok, he immediately lowered his gaze back to the table, utterly harmless.

Watching Go Ha-jin like that, Chae Woo-seok hid the growing interest inside him and spoke in a deliberately rough voice.

“You said you just came back from the States, guess you didn’t hear the rumors about me?”

“…”

Go Ha-jin answered with silence, and Chae Woo-seok, seeing his hesitant lips, felt certain he already knew.

There was no way he wouldn’t.

He appeared more often in the society and entertainment sections than the business pages.

Setting aside his striking looks, there was the fact that he was a rare dominant Alpha, his background, and the constant stream of scandals and incidents he caused, it would’ve been strange not to know.

“Seems like you knew. And yet you still had the guts to come meet me?”

“Well, th-that’s…”

“Money really is tempting, huh? Must be living pretty well in the States, but you still cling on like this. Or maybe you’re just into dominant Alphas, right?”

The red lips that had been drawing such a pretty curve earlier were now stiff and tightly set.

Still, he didn’t seem completely devoid of pride.

Even as his jaw clenched and his lips trembled, he met Chae Woo-seok’s gaze head-on.

Of course, it had no effect on Woo-seok whatsoever.

“H-How can you say things like that…”

“What’s with you, acting like an amateur? Don’t tell me you came to a place like this hoping to talk about true love. I’m just saying the merchandise doesn’t suit me, no need to look so crushed.”

It was strange.

He hadn’t planned to say things this far.

Chae Woo-seok wasn’t exactly known for having a great personality, but he didn’t usually have a hobby of cornering people like this.

He hated wasting energy on pointless arguments.

And yet, this Omega in front of him oddly stirred some sadistically lying dormant inside.

He wanted to make those clear, moisture-filled eyes finally spill over with tears.

What would that wet, trembling voice sound like when it broke through those lips?

It sounded rather worth appreciating.

“Well, still, someone like you could probably squeeze into some decent household anywhere. If you’re lucky, you might even become the main spouse of Hansung Group.”

The position of Hansung Group’s main spouse had been vacant for quite some time.

No one knew how much longer the chairman would even live, he was nearing ninety and had been hospitalized for over a year with chronic illness.

Even so, obsessed with the idea that his lack of an Omega was the problem, rumors said he summoned countless Omegas to his hospital room every night.

How a dying old man managed such nighttime activities was beyond comprehension.

“…I think I misjudged you. I wanted to see for myself instead of trusting rumors… but the rumors were better.”

Go Ha-jin spoke softly, so quietly it took full concentration just to hear him.

Perhaps he had never truly expressed anger in his life, his words sounded more like a sulky complaint.

And at last, Chae Woo-seok got what he wanted.

Clear liquid slid down Go Ha-jin’s pale cheek.

Moisture clung to his long lashes, making his eyes stand out even more.

Even his crying met expectations.

Seeing a sight that any normal person should’ve found pitiful, Chae Woo-seok instead felt the fleeting urge to wrap a hand around that slender neck and squeeze out a few more tears.

To be clear, that wasn’t his usual taste.

This Omega just kept provoking unusual impulses.

“Let’s get up, then.”

While Chae Woo-seok was lost in those thoughts, Go Ha-jin, wiping his tears with the back of his hand, stood up first.

A nasty impulse flickered, maybe he should provoke him a little more, make him cry harder, but he decided against it.

Interesting or not, this wasn’t the person he was looking for.

A short diversion was enough.

Seeing someone entertaining had been sufficient compensation for the wasted time.

“And… this is a non-smoking area.”

It was just as Go Ha-jin, now standing, passed by Chae Woo-seok’s side.

A cold liquid suddenly flowed down from the crown of Woo-seok’s head.

It ran over his neatly styled bangs, exposing his straight forehead, down past his dark brows, along the masculine line of his jaw, dripping wet.

The cigarette between his lips soaked through, sputtered, and went out.

For the first time in his twenty-eight years, Chae Woo-seok was genuinely stunned.

He’d done all kinds of delinquent, reckless things, but this was new.

Absentmindedly sucking on the cigarette filter yielded no taste at all.

Only when the water glass in Go Ha-jin’s hand landed on the table with a sharp clack did Woo-seok snap back to his senses.

“Ha…”

An Omega, just an Omega, had splashed him with water.

And then, without a shred of hesitation, turned his back and walked away.

****

“Filthy huge” really was the perfect description, for this hotel lounge, that is.

He’d been walking for quite a while and still hadn’t reached the elevator.

As he moved, Go Ha-jin’s nerves stayed trained entirely on what was behind him.

Even though he deliberately walked slowly, there was no sign of anyone following.

Meaning Chae Woo-seok wasn’t chasing him.

“What do I do…!”

Only the neatly uniformed staff, clearly panicked, rushed past Go Ha-jin toward Chae Woo-seok.

The closer he got to the elevators, the more his anxiety grew.

Seeing Woo-seok suddenly act like a lunatic, he’d splashed water as a last resort, but it seemed to have had no effect at all.

Even with his overly classic sensibilities, a normal Alpha should’ve at least chased after him in anger.

How could there be no reaction whatsoever?

Even after letting one elevator go empty and boarding the second, reaching the hotel lobby, he still didn’t hear Chae Woo-seok’s voice behind him.

It had to be a failure.

Truly, it had been a long time since anyone, Alpha or Beta, had torn him down so thoroughly right to his face.

No matter how much he replayed the meeting in his head, he couldn’t pinpoint where it had gone wrong.

He’d proven his value beyond what he’d prepared, if anything, that made it worse.

“…This is driving me crazy…”

Chae Woo-seok had been both exactly like the rumors and nothing like them.

As said, he was arrogant, insolent, and lacked seriousness.

He’d insulted someone’s family outright on a first meeting.

Even considering how abysmal Omega rights were in Korea, an Alpha showing such blatant disrespect at a marriage meeting was rare.

Perhaps being a “noble” dominant Alpha had made him arrogant by nature.

Still, that much had been expected.

What hadn’t been expected were the sharp, probing questions.

Contrary to his playboy reputation, he possessed detailed knowledge of the U.S. real estate market and asked questions that couldn’t be answered without firsthand experience.

Up to that point, everything had been fine.

No, he’d even thought the vibe was good.

He’d been prepared for that level of scrutiny.

What he’d never imagined was being dismissed so brutally.

Now, Go Ha-jin’s mental state was genuinely shaken for the first time in a long while.

“Would you like me to call you a taxi?”

“…It’s fine.”

Standing in the hotel lobby, he realized how late it was.

Given the neighborhood, it wasn’t especially dangerous for an Omega to walk alone at night, but that didn’t mean nothing could happen.

Though he declined the doorman’s obligatory kindness with a light smile, the man’s gaze lingered on him.

Go Ha-jin’s eyes, clearly red from crying, stirred something indescribable.

His pale skin stood out even under the yellow lights, his hair fluttering softly in the breeze.

It was enough to make even strict service regulations, no staring at guests, no initiating conversation, fly straight out of the man’s mind.

“Then, um… if it’s alright, could I at least get your contact-”

Seeing the man, Go Ha-jin’s thoughts only grew more tangled.

This was the normal reaction.

This was how people were supposed to look at him, unable to tear their eyes away, filled with desire.

So why had Chae Woo-seok rejected him so coldly, scraping at him down to the core?

“I think he said he doesn’t need a taxi.”

Just as he was wondering how to shake off this unwelcome nuisance, an unexpected voice came from behind.

“What kind of rude bastard dares to look at my guest like that?”

Chae Woo-seok’s voice was sharper than it had been even when he was spewing garbage in the lounge earlier.

In contrast to that edge, his steps were unhurried as he approached, wrapping an arm around Go Ha-jin’s shoulders and pulling him into his embrace.