Chapter 4: A Meal You Can’t Refuse

“That applies to you too, doesn’t it?”

“Hah. You listened so obediently when that guy was talking about age and looks earlier, so why are you only like this with me?”

“That’s because last time-!”

Chae Woo-seok found the omega in front of him amusing.

To be more honest, he found him… kind of cute.

It was strange.

When he first heard that familiar voice and realized the guy was on yet another blind date, irritation had surged up instantly.

Yet unlike the way his voice rose sharply in anger, those large eyes quickly grew moist, as if tears might spill at any moment, while his face flushed bright red.

The same went for that small mouth, working restlessly as if holding back words.

It was a peculiar talent, one that made people want to tease him even more with low-grade jokes.

“Haa… forget it. What’s the point of bringing up old stuff anyway.”

Go Ha-jin leaned back heavily in his chair and turned his gaze toward the window.

He stuck his lips out slightly and crossed his arms, clearly expressing his intent.

‘I don’t want to talk to you anymore.’

Of course, in reality, every nerve he had was focused on Chae Woo-seok across the table, but showing any sense of regret toward him here wouldn’t do him any good.

Given their last encounter, he needed to maintain an appropriately cold atmosphere.

“It’s only been a few days and you’re already meeting another man.”

“You were meeting another omega too, weren’t you? And on top of that, barging in and ruining someone else’s blind date seems pretty rude.”

“And of all people, you go and meet some low-grade trash like that? What, as long as the conditions match, you don’t care where you get sold off?”

That’s rich, coming from him.

To track down Chae Woo-seok, Go Ha-jin had even brought in the so-called Director Lee.

Woo-seok’s movements were wrapped in far more secrecy than expected, and it was only today that he finally learned Woo-seok would appear at this lounge.

The blind date partner he hastily secured to match that timing was the man Woo-seok had chased off earlier.

This might have been his very last chance, so he’d simply grabbed the fastest option available.

As if he’d want that kind of guy, even if given a whole truckload of them.

“Well, I don’t know. From where I’m standing, this alpha and that alpha don’t seem all that different.”

He put it diplomatically.

‘You and that bastard, what’s the difference, really?’

Rude and arrogant, that was how most alphas were, and Chae Woo-seok was no exception.

At least, that was how Go Ha-jin saw it.

Though… looks-wise, there was a world of difference.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Sit down. Why have you been acting so rude since last time?”

Maybe because this was the first dominant alpha he’d ever faced in person.

Just moments ago, Go Ha-jin had boldly risen from his seat, only to collapse right back down as if shoved.

He hadn’t actually planned to leave anyway, but sitting back down like this hadn’t been intentional either.

It was simply that Woo-seok’s feral pressure overwhelmed everything around them in an instant.

“I-I mean! It’s just… it doesn’t seem like there’s anything left to talk about…”

This time, he wasn’t acting.

Faced with Chae Woo-seok’s low, growling presence, Go Ha-jin couldn’t even properly meet his eyes and ended up blurting out excuses.

He hadn’t felt this during their first meeting.

Back then, he’d only thought Woo-seok was a bit rough and arrogant, but now he realized that maybe Woo-seok had actually been holding back for his sake.

At least compared to now.

At this rate, there was no way he’d be able to throw water on Woo-seok’s head again.

That was how vicious his aura felt.

“We’re not friends, so what is there to talk about? How about we just go eat?”

Was a dominant alpha really capable of regulating himself like this?

The razor-sharp presence that made it hard just to breathe vanished in an instant.

Before Go Ha-jin could even process it, a hand far too large, yet oddly gentle for its owner, wrapped around his wrist.

Despite the polite tone, Woo-seok used sheer force to haul him to his feet.

“I’d rather not-”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

Figures.

Only thinking of his own long legs, Woo-seok strode ahead, forcing Go Ha-jin to scurry after him in short steps.

Woo-seok didn’t see it, but Go Ha-jin’s lips twitched upward, just barely.

He didn’t know the exact reason behind Woo-seok’s behavior, but one thing was certain, it wasn’t over between them.

That alone was satisfying enough.

“Ah-! That hurts!”

This, too, was genuine.

Until they exited the lounge and reached the lobby, Woo-seok had been gripping Go Ha-jin’s wrist with considerable force.

As a result, the pale wrist, thin-boned to begin with, had turned red well beyond where Woo-seok’s hand had been.

And yet, Woo-seok only let go after shoving him into the back seat of the car.

No-“throwing” him in might be more accurate.

“Artisian.”

Leaving behind what sounded like a command to Manager Kim, Woo-seok ignored Go Ha-jin entirely and began scrolling through news articles on his tablet.

Amazingly enough, they were English-language newspapers.

In this day and age, a chaebol reading something like that wasn’t all that shocking, but when the person was Chae Woo-seok, it was another story entirely.

A delinquent who drank every other day and caused trouble nonstop, reading English news?

It wouldn’t have been surprising if he couldn’t even read Korean properly.

Once again, Go Ha-jin reconsidered.

Some of the rumors about Chae Woo-seok were wrong.

Which meant he needed to be even more careful.

“‘Dubois’ is coming.”

The low voice filling the quiet car sounded almost languid.

He hadn’t named a listener, but Go Ha-jin knew the words were meant for him.

Fortunately, it was a topic he recognized.

“I think he’s overrated.”

“Overrated?”

“I only heard that name after coming to Korea. He’s not that famous in the U.S.”

“Is that so? I don’t really know much about art.”

Turning his head away to avoid Woo-seok’s gaze, Go Ha-jin smiled faintly.

As if.

Someone who knew nothing about art wouldn’t be heading to Artisian while bringing up Dubois.

Dubois was a French painter with a strangely localized popularity, beloved almost exclusively among wealthy Koreans, especially in Gangnam.

A few of his works flickered through Ha-jin’s mind.

“You must be busy with company work.”

“You’re being sarcastic.”

“…Not at all. You work at SHS Group, so of course you’re busy.”

Sharp.

The sarcasm was intentional, tossed out with the expectation Woo-seok would take it as praise.

Anyone who knew Woo-seok also knew it was common knowledge that he had no interest in company affairs.

Though he held the title of director, it was a position handed to him thanks to his father and his status as a leading successor candidate, nothing more.

“Strangely irritating… anyway, get out.”

The place Woo-seok led him to was a garden that evoked a quiet forest.

Between the sprawling grounds, clearly funded by an obscene amount of money—, tood a single-story modern building with glass walls on all sides.

The floors and towering columns inside were polished marble, and familiar paintings were displayed throughout.

“Isn’t this place reservation-only…?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do I really need a reservation just to eat a meal?”

Recognizing Chae Woo-seok, the staff bypassed the main dining hall and guided them to a private room overlooking an inner garden, its night view like a painting.

Calling it a “room” was generous, it was large enough to rival an entire restaurant, with only one table set in the center.

“You said you haven’t been in Korea long, but you’ve been here already?”

No way.

Even with money, this wasn’t somewhere you could just walk into.

With limited tables due to its connection to a gallery, reservations were booked out at least six months in advance.

Even Gangnam alphas who loved flaunting their wealth couldn’t easily bring him here.

“Well… I’m interested in art. It’s my first time eating here, though…”

He mixed in a bit of harmless lying.

Claiming he’d dined here before would’ve been stranger, especially given the kind of blind date partners he’d been meeting, men utterly disconnected from the arts.

Most of them were too busy scheming how to drag him back to a hotel room.

“You majored in economics, didn’t you?”

“I just… like paintings. I’m not good at them, though.”

Another carefully placed lie.

He’d learned economics only through bitter life experience, but liking art, that part was true.

“Then why study economics? It’s not exactly a fun discipline.”

After ordering without consultation, Woo-seok took a sip of red wine and slowly swirled the glass.

A tongue redder than the wine slipped out to lick his lips before disappearing again.

Maybe it was the lighting, but watching that made Go Ha-jin’s fine hairs stand on end.

Like a predator eyeing prey.

Or a beast on the verge of mating.

Combined with the sharp gaze that seemed to pierce straight through him, it felt disturbingly vivid.

“Omegas… can’t really live however they want, can they?”

Go Ha-jin smiled bitterly.

That expression alone said everything.

A face that held stories too heavy for words.

A silent answer, complete in itself.

“You’re wrong.”

“…What?”

“It’s not just omegas. Betas and alphas can’t live however they want either.”

What a lunatic.

If anything, an alpha’s dilemma was probably choosing between white gold and pink gold.

A dilemma of abundance, deciding between the best and the second-best among countless options.

For betas and ordinary omegas, it was different.

They chose between the worst and the lesser evil.

And they were expected to be grateful just for having choices at all.

“I suppose. Everyone has their own kind of worries. I guess I was complaining with a full stomach.”

Since there was no point in dragging the argument out, Go Ha-jin once again gave the answer suited to his role.

Woo-seok didn’t seem dissatisfied either and didn’t press the issue.

With nothing more to add, Ha-jin took a sip of wine.

The motion and expression suggested he was quite accustomed to it.

“Hope it suits your taste.”

“I’m not picky about food.”

Soon, the dishes arrived.

Woo-seok offered a perfunctory dining remark, and Ha-jin responded in kind.

“Seems that way.”

“Pardon…?”

“Judging by how you go around meeting just any man, I figured you’d eat anything too. You look like you’ve got a strong stomach.”

He almost did it.

He almost threw something, anything, at Chae Woo-seok.

A knife, a fork, a plate, whatever was within reach.

Instead, Go Ha-jin dug his fingers into his thigh and clenched his jaw, forcing down the rage boiling up.

“That’s a nasty hobby.”

“What, planning to throw wine on me this time too? I won’t let it slide twice.”

“So you do realize those are words worth throwing wine over?”

He tried to hold back.

After their last encounter, he’d told himself not to act too friendly.

To keep his distance, to voice only mild complaints.

But every time Woo-seok opened his mouth, it felt like he was deliberately scraping the bottom of Ha-jin’s patience.

Each word churned his insides, and before he realized it, a sharp tone slipped out.

Of course, that irritation belonged only to Go Ha-jin.

In contrast, Chae Woo-seok’s face suddenly bloomed with a smile.

A smile that didn’t fit the situation or the conversation they’d been having.

Seeing it, Ha-jin felt his anger evaporate for a moment.

It was nothing like the mask-like smiles Woo-seok had worn before.

This one was genuine… and annoyingly, quite good-looking.

“Hah, seriously…”

Woo-seok didn’t finish the thought and picked up his knife and fork.

Ha-jin didn’t dare ask.

Something told him he wouldn’t like whatever came after that unfinished sentence.

A man with a face that nice rarely had a personality to match.

It might very well have been, ‘Should I just kill you?’

“Eat. I’m joking.”

“Y-Yes….”

Piano melodies befitting a gallery filled the space.

Without the clink of cutlery, their meal continued in silence.

Though Woo-seok had chosen the menu unilaterally, it surprisingly suited Ha-jin’s tastes.

The steak was cooked just right, and the sauce paired smoothly with the tender meat.

“Not to your liking?”

“Huh? Oh, no. It’s good-I’m just full….”

A quiet click of the tongue followed.

Woo-seok muttered something like, “Figures, omegas,” under his breath.

Ha-jin almost snapped back that it was alphas who ate like barbarians, but held it in.

Generally speaking, it was natural for omegas to eat less than alphas.

Their builds and basal metabolism were different.

Even accounting for that, Ha-jin ate very little.

Less than half of the palm-sized steak.

No, he’d deliberately held back.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Forget it. Better than forcing yourself and getting sick.”

At Woo-seok’s gesture, the table was cleared, leaving only wine glasses and a light platter.

In the quiet atmosphere, Woo-seok spoke again.

“So you really must be desperate to get married, huh? Is it because of your age, like they say?”

‘You f*cking bastard…’