Chapter 24: A Morning of Uncertainty and Transformation

[To: Kang Hae-il]

[I regret that we couldn’t talk much, but I’d like to get to know more about you, hyung, little by little!]

Chaeyeon-woo, having sent the message, placed his phone down and bit his lower lip.

Not long after Lee Dohwa was the first to enter their room, Ma Won-ho followed.

Those aware that the two had been together until the early hours of the previous day remained in their seats, whiling away the time with idle chatter.

‘Isn’t he a little too uninterested?’

Even when Chaeyeon-woo spoke to Kang Hae-il intermittently, the conversation abruptly ceased after his brief replies.

Still, he had been this way from the start, so Chaeyeon-woo resolved to endure it.

If he had only acted this way towards him, fury might have surged, but perceiving him as inherently reserved allowed Chaeyeon-woo to compose himself.

“Has everyone checked under their beds?”

“No.”

“I bet none of the three of us here have checked. I haven’t seen anyone go into the room yet.”

The three individuals, excluding Chaeyeon-woo, had not yet checked under their beds.

‘It would have been better if I knew who my date was tomorrow in advance.’

All he could do was wake up early and prepare faster and more perfectly than anyone else.

With two people gone, the atmosphere cooled, and the conversation no longer progressed. At Jae-hyun’s suggestion to tidy up, everyone helped gather their belongings.

‘Coming here, I’m doing nothing but things I’ve never done in my life.’

If not for the cameras, he wouldn’t have bothered with such tedious tasks.

After lingering nearby, asking if there was anything he could help with until the very end, he went upstairs to the second floor with the others and returned to his room with Woo Sori.

There, he met Lee Dohwa’s eyes; Lee Dohwa was wearing pajamas similar to yesterday’s, tucked under the covers with only his face peeking out.

“You weren’t asleep?”

He asked with a habitual, gentle smile, and Lee Dohwa nodded.

‘Shouldn’t he, at the very least, sit up when someone enters?’

Though he inwardly disapproved of such behavior, Chaeyeon-woo entered the powder room to remove his makeup, careful not to show any outward sign of displeasure.

Lee Dohwa remained lying down, still on his phone, waiting for Woo Sori to finish showering before Chaeyeon-woo could take his turn.

Lying in bed with a face mask on, he turned on his phone screen, quickly scanning the deluge of notifications before scrolling down.

‘Should I have learned to cook in more detail?’

He shouldn’t have slept at all last night. Regret washed over him, especially since Ma Won-ho, who had gone grocery shopping with him two days in a row, seemed interested in him.

“…Asleep?”

“No.”

Judging by the lack of a reply, Woo Sori seemed to have fallen asleep.

Despite saying he wasn’t asleep, Lee Dohwa still hadn’t turned his body towards Chaeyeon-woo, only showing the back of his dark head.

He stared at the back of that head and thought.

Just yesterday, he had been so certain after seeing the other two omegas, excluding himself.

‘A certainty that he would shine brightest among them.’

Now, he knew that certainty had unraveled.

And that the owner of that dark head of hair likely played a significant role in its undoing.

“I’m turning off the light.”

“Okay.”

Even after the light was off, sleep didn’t come immediately, and he continued to toss and turn.

‘It’s absolutely ridiculous that I haven’t received a single vote two days in a row.’

This reality felt like a dream.

‘It felt as though his scalp was being pierced by a gaze.’

Once Chaeyeon-woo seemed to have fallen asleep, his tossing and turning ceased, and Dohwa switched off his phone screen.

He had been lying on one side for so long that he needed to turn over, yet he felt Chaeyeon-woo’s gaze upon him, which kept him from moving.

‘Now this is more comfortable.’

Being able to turn over, he felt he could finally sleep.

Earlier, while writing his diary for the day, he had jotted down character settings he wanted to include, and once he started using his phone while lying down, there was no end to it.

[—This, too, shall pass.]

Though he had known it before, the phrase caught his eye as he passed by.

After much deliberation, Dohwa sent a message, and upon receiving another in return, he resolved to stop overthinking.

Though tomorrow worried him, as he made an effort to clear his mind, the lingering fatigue surged over him like a wave, quickly drawing him into a deep slumber.

How long had he slept?

Beep beep beep beep beep—

The alarm sounded once.

Beep beep beep beep beep—

The alarm sounded twice.

Beep beep beep….

By the third ring, he was fully awake and immediately got out of bed. Looking over, he saw Chaeyeon-woo’s empty bed, with his phone blaring the alarm.

Seeing Woo Sori completely still, he thought it was amazing that he hadn’t woken up.

‘Could it be that this happened yesterday too?’

Perhaps he had fallen asleep so late then that he hadn’t heard it.

The clock read 8 AM.

Since he couldn’t sleep anymore, he picked up Chaeyeon-woo’s phone and got out of bed to wash up. Going to the powder room, he saw Chaeyeon-woo drying his hair.

“Here, your alarm kept ringing.”

Chaeyeon-woo waved in greeting, so Dohwa waved back once and handed him the phone.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I forgot to turn off my alarm.”

“It’s fine. It was almost time to get up anyway.”

Seeing Chaeyeon-woo’s apologetic, crestfallen expression, a white lie slipped out effortlessly.

‘I had planned to sleep for at least another hour.’

Since the paper said ‘morning,’ it wasn’t bad to start getting ready now. Perhaps thanks to the unfamiliar alarm, his sleep had never vanished so quickly before.

Haunted by the trauma of rushing out yesterday without even washing, he planned to take his time showering today, ensuring he was presentable before leaving.

“…Hyung, why are you so fast at getting ready?”

“Time is gold.”

It was astounding.

When Woo Sori, who had woken up the latest among the three, went to wash up, Chaeyeon-woo left the room, saying he would go down to the first floor. In the meantime, Dohwa rummaged through his suitcase, found the first date outfit Kim Junhee had picked out for him, and put it on.

He entered the powder room to apply the basic makeup and hair styling he’d learned at the salon.

He marveled at Woo Sori’s unusually deft touch as he watched him, despite the many cosmetics Woo Sori was using next to him.

‘He’s even changing all his earrings and piercings.’

Chaeyeon-woo had one piercing in each earlobe, but Woo Sori had many more, including piercings.

Conversely, Dohwa, who disliked pain, had perfectly smooth, unadorned ears.

“Are you all ready?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…”

Woo Sori spotted Dohwa, who had forgotten half of his routine and was sitting, half-watching.

Woo Sori, without even looking in the mirror, changed a piercing, stared intently at Dohwa, and then spoke.

“Should I help you a bit?”

Woo Sori approached, holding out some cosmetics that were still unpacked.

“Oh, if you could, I’d be grateful…”

He instinctively took a step back, then stopped, watching his face and hair being touched in the mirror. He’d had the same experience at the hair salon.

“I think that’s it.”

It was almost like witnessing a person’s rebirth.

His straight hair now had a gentle wave. Only when Woo Sori made a satisfied expression could Dohwa finally stand up.

‘Light pink suits you well. Use this to gain the upper hand!’

The image of Kim Junhee, so passionately helping him choose clothes, shimmered in his memory.

The light pink cardigan, which Kim Junhee had emphasized as a key piece for Dohwa, who always needed a cardigan in the air-conditioned summer.

‘I’ll wear this when I go out.’

This highly recommended cardigan, purchased specifically for the broadcast, had never once been worn.

Woo Sori said he would take a little more time to decide what to wear before coming out, so Dohwa deliberately ignored the cardigan and headed downstairs to the first floor.

From the stairs, he could see the faces of those sitting on the living room sofa.

Though it was barely 10 AM, Jae-hyun, Kang Hae-il, and Chaeyeon-woo came into view in succession, indicating they were all already awake.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“You’re here?”

Receiving greetings from so many people first thing in the morning stirred a peculiar feeling within him.

“Won-ho just went to the kitchen.”

Dohwa nodded at the remark and entered the kitchen to get some water, where he saw Ma Won-ho standing with his back to the sink.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m washing fruit.”

Perhaps not noticing his approach, Ma Won-ho looked at him with a slightly startled expression, and Dohwa found himself bothered by the occasional belated addition of honorifics to his speech.

‘He can just speak casually.’

Watching him wash the two bunches of Shine Muscat grapes bought yesterday, Dohwa’s lips parted slightly before he closed them again.

“Want some?”

“Thank you.”

While he typically ate nothing for breakfast, Shine Muscat grapes were an exception; they were, after all, fruit.

With one of the two plates, Dohwa returned to the living room with Ma Won-ho. Woo Sori hadn’t come down yet, so it was the same group as before.

As he placed the plate on the table, his eyes fell upon the cups already there.

Oh?

Among the four cups, there was one he’d never seen before, adorned with a bear character.

‘Whose is this?’