Chapter 73: Confrontation in the Shadows

“Wow, sorry, but isn’t that woman completely out of her mind?
Why would she try to stop you from going to your friend’s solo recital?
So what happened?”

“It’s not that she stopped me, but she insisted on driving me here herself…”

“What?
First opposing it, and then offering to drive you here personally?
That obsession goes way beyond normal.
It’s maniacal.
So?
Did she come with you?
Where is she?”

Chaewoo warily watched Oh Minseong, who was working himself up into a frenzy right in front of him.
‘Even so, I can’t possibly tell him it’s Beom Euigeon.’

Minseong seemed to have firmly concluded that Beom Euigeon was some deranged woman trying to police his friendships.

“Of course I told her I’d come alone.
Since there were juniors coming along, too.”

“That’s a hundred percent.”

Snap!
Out of nowhere, Oh Minseong snapped his fingers.

“You startled me.
What is?”

“She already thinks she’s dating you.”

“…I doubt that.”

Ah, how suffocating.

How on earth was he supposed to untangle and explain their relationship?

He was at a loss, having no way to clear up the misunderstanding against his friend’s stubborn conviction.

“Watch how she behaves carefully.
Ah, wait.
A call’s coming in.
Hold on.”

Flashing a hand sign to pause, Oh Minseong answered his phone.

Just like that, the conversation was cut short at an awkward, unresolved point.

Listening to the phone call, one of his peers was simultaneously offering apologies and congratulations for missing the recital.

Finishing the call in less than a minute, Oh Minseong picked right up where they had left off.

“Anyway, that woman’s behavior.
Don’t just dismiss it casually; observe her closely yourself.
Even to you, don’t the two of you seem a little strange right now?”

“That part is definitely true.”

“See?
She’s already fallen for you, but she’s either in denial so she can’t confess, or she’s waiting for you to make a move first.
Take it to heart, Chaewoo.”

“Uhm…”

Beom Euigeon?

Chaewoo tilted his head in doubt.

While it was true that the boundaries with Euigeon as partners had become blurred, concluding that he had feelings for him was a huge leap.

Even if he was intensely possessive, it was far more likely an interest strictly limited to the Omega carrying his child.

“What do you think of that woman, anyway?
You wouldn’t be seeing her if she were completely awful.
Honestly, you don’t dislike her, right?
Isn’t it nice being together?”

Having seemingly decided to play matchmaker, Oh Minseong pressed earnestly to draw out Chaewoo’s feelings toward her.

Asking what he thought of Beom Euigeon.
The question caught him completely off guard.

“Do you hate her?
Do you like her?”

Oh Minseong’s face drew uncomfortably close.
His eyes burned with intense curiosity, demanding an answer on the spot.

“To me, he’s…”

Chaewoo hesitated before parting his lips.

However, the words vanished back down his throat when the closed waiting room door swung open.

Amidst the heightened atmosphere over the profound topic of Beom Euigeon, both Chaewoo and Oh Minseong snapped their heads around.

“Ah… Beom Euigeon.
Are you done with your call?”

Seeing Euigeon, Chaewoo stood up.

He didn’t answer right away, merely standing at the threshold, breathing slightly raggedly.

Scanning the room for a few seconds, Euigeon’s face twisted into an ugly scowl once he confirmed only Oh Minseong and Chaewoo were inside.

“What’s wrong?
I asked if your call was finished.”

What was going on?

Did he overhear their conversation?

Chaewoo warily gauged Euigeon’s mood, wondering if that was possible.

“It’s done.
Let’s go now.”

“Ah, hey.
Wait.”

Seeing him approach to seize his wrist, Chaewoo quickly jerked away.

“I was saying goodbye to my friend.
You said you enjoyed his singing, too.”

Chaewoo nudged Euigeon’s foot with his shoe, signaling him to show basic courtesy and say goodbye before leaving.
Only then did Euigeon shift his gaze to Oh Minseong.

“…Yes.
You did well.”

However, anyone could hear that it was an utterly empty, insincere compliment.

Having been thoroughly engrossed in teasing Chaewoo about romance, Oh Minseong grew irritated at Euigeon barging in and arbitrarily trying to drag his friend away.

“Your face says otherwise.
Besides, I’m not finished with Chaewoo yet.
Mind stepping outside so we can wrap up our chat?”

“Senior Seol has somewhere to go with me.”

“…Where?”

I never heard anything about that.

Chaewoo asked back in bewilderment.

At that, one of Euigeon’s eyebrows twitched, signaling his deep displeasure.

“Chaewoo clearly knows nothing about it.
Get out.”

“And if I refuse?”

“There’s a limit to being ill-mannered.
What kind of junior throws a tantrum demanding to leave right in front of seniors who are talking?”

“Minseong, it’s not like that.
I think he’s just in a bad mood today.”

Intervening between Oh Minseong, who was closing the distance with Euigeon, Chaewoo tried to stop things from escalating any further.

“Stay out of this, Seol Chaewoo.
Since when did senior-junior boundaries get so shameless?
Put aside the fact that I’ve graduated—isn’t Chaewoo still your senior?
Do you normally act so insolent with your seniors, or do you take him lightly just because he smiles gently at you?”

“You seem to care an awful lot about school matters even after graduating.
He’s my direct senior, so I’m escorting him.
The recital seems completely over, so is there a problem?”

‘Ah, we’re screwed,’ Chaewoo cried inwardly.

The atmosphere turned from frigid to downright vicious.

Dominant Alpha versus Dominant Alpha.

While usually mild-mannered, Oh Minseong was never the type to bow his pride and back down.

The pheromones he released to pressure Euigeon were uncomfortably oppressive.

He had likely deemed it fine since he believed Chaewoo was a Beta.

“Wow, is this the kind of attitude you get from relying on a silver spoon?
You’ve spoken like total crap from the moment I first saw you, completely ruining the mood.”

Euigeon quietly shielded Chaewoo behind his back.
Fortunately, his own pheromones remained largely steady without noticeable agitation.
Perhaps because he had grown accustomed to it over time, feeling Euigeon’s pheromones up close made Chaewoo feel significantly more comfortable than standing near Minseong.

“You catch on quick.”

Euigeon kicked aside a chair sitting awkwardly between them, looking ready to lunge at any second.

“Beom Euigeon!”

Chaewoo shouted, barely able to believe his own eyes.

Was this bastard truly out of his mind?

No matter what, Minseong was a senior, and Euigeon had already heard from Jeong Taehyun that he was Chaewoo’s close friend.

Glaring at the back of Euigeon’s head, Chaewoo ultimately spun him around and dragged him out, knowing something disastrous would happen if he delayed a moment longer.

“You, get out here.”

The moment he swung the door open and dragged him into the hallway, the eyes of passersby converged upon them.

“Minseong, I’ll call you later.
I’m sorry about today… and thank you.”

“What’s going on, a fight?
Are those pheromones coming from over there?”

“What is it?
Where?
What’s happening?”

Leaving the murmuring whispers behind, they headed straight for the parking lot.

Though Euigeon followed along without resistance, hauling someone larger than himself drained Chaewoo’s strength, leaving his breathing rough.

A frigid silence hung in the dim parking lot.

Chaewoo’s thoughts were a tangled mess as he agonized over what to say to Euigeon.

He had already given up on trying to understand him; honestly, the strongest emotions he felt right now were hurt and embarrassment.

Did he really have to behave so brazenly in front of his friend, completely ruining the mood of the recital?
And the pitiful gaze Minseong had directed at him at the end…

That look in his eyes, as if asking why on earth he was being treated like this by a junior, weighed heavily on his heart.

He was embarrassed, distressed, and blushing with mortifying shame.

As if making life difficult at every turn weren’t enough, why did he have to come all the way here and subject him to such humiliation?

At this moment, he resented Euigeon more than ever.

“Did you really have to act like that back there?”

“What did I do?”

Chaewoo glared at Euigeon, utterly flabbergasted at how he could speak with such confidence as if he had done nothing wrong.

“Did you really have to be so insolent and cross the line in front of Minseong?”

At that, Euigeon let out a scoff.

“I fail to see why I should say pleasant things to that senior.”

His voice was thoroughly warped.

To think such a self-centered bastard could actually like him.

Oh Minseong had been dead wrong.

Beom Euigeon was nothing more than an endlessly selfish jerk incapable of considering anyone else.

“If you’re going to act like that, you shouldn’t have followed me in the first place.
I never even invited you, so what kind of bullshit is this?”

“You don’t inspire much trust, so what else was I supposed to do?
Was I just supposed to let you go when you were grinning ear to ear holding a bouquet to meet an Alpha?”

Chaewoo bit his lower lip.

The reason Euigeon had acted so recklessly at someone else’s recital was, in the end, simply because he hated seeing the Omega who had to carry his child go watch another Alpha perform.

Merely because it annoyed him, he had behaved with utter disrespect in front of peers and seniors, throwing cold water over Oh Minseong’s recital.

If that was the case, he should have just told him not to go when they ran into each other in front of the school.

Chaewoo felt so mortified and apologetic toward Oh Minseong, whose first recital had ended on such a sour note because of him, that he couldn’t face him as a friend.

He already knew this.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know Euigeon was far from a good guy, so why was he feeling such profound disappointment toward him, enough to make him feel aggrieved?

“If you’re a Reset Partner, act like one.
Am I supposed to just watch you hanging around other Alphas before you even get pregnant?”

“He doesn’t even know I’m an Omega!
He has a partner, too.
We’ve been friends since our freshman year, and this is the first time I’ve seen him in years!
Is that really the only way your brain can process things?”

“We made a contract.
You agreed not to meet other Alphas.
Why are you the one getting angry at me, Senior Seol?”

Euigeon tilted his head at an angle, as though he genuinely couldn’t comprehend why Chaewoo was so infuriated.

He narrowed his sharp eyes and scrutinized Chaewoo from head to toe, as if trying to piece something together.

“Just because I have to carry your child, I can’t even congratulate a friend?
There was no clause like that in the contract!
Who are you to speak to Minseong like that?
No matter how much money I’m taking from you, you don’t have the right to follow me here and tell me—”

“Do you like that bastard?”

“…What?”

Chaewoo, who had been lashing out furiously, froze.
What on earth did he just hear?

“Or is it an unrequited crush?”

Looking at his wavering pupils, as if suddenly certain of something, Euigeon’s voice turned vicious, completely unlike his composed demeanor from moments before.

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