HWAMB — Chapter 4

2. I Don’t Notice It

I was about to reply, ‘Let’s put our hand on our chest and think about it, Hyun-woo…’ but Hyun-woo snapped his head away without even meeting my eyes.

The tips of his ears and the nape of his neck were faintly red. Seeing that, my words stuck in my throat, and without realizing it, I turned my head in the opposite direction from Hyun-woo.

It was only for the briefest moment, but just now, Hyun-woo looked… just a little. Barely a speck, but kind of cute.

‘Crazy. I’m crazy, Kang Eun-jae.’

Suppressing the restless pounding in my chest, I shook my head vigorously. These days, because of this guy, even I felt like I was going strange along with him.

I snuck a glance back at Hyun-woo, but he still looked sulky, his face heavy with displeasure.

Yet his ears were still flushed red.

“…A little. Just a little cute… I guess.”

“…”

“Not more than him, though…”

I stole a glance at my bias moving on the screen, but felt embarrassed at the words I had just blurted and turned my head away again.

That’s when I felt Hyun-woo’s shoulder trembling beside me.

When I looked back, the sight of Hyun-woo shaking with laughter made a flood of shame crash over me.

“Argh, I don’t know! It’s your fault!! Because of you, I got swept up in the mood and said something weird!”

“Fine, I’ll let it slide.”

Still fuming, I barely managed to cool my burning face. For even a second to think that was cute—I must be out of my mind.

Admittedly, the way my bias was dancing on screen did, at a glance, look kind of similar to Hyun-woo’s features.

But deep down, their essence was completely different, so there was no way they could be considered the same.

Convincing myself of that, I nodded. That’s when Hyun-woo suddenly leaned over, borrowing my shoulder.

The way he rubbed his cheek against me like a cat tickled, but it felt heavy.

“…What are you doing?”

“Nothing. You just smell comforting.”

At that, I tilted my head and sniffed myself. Nothing special—it was just the scent of fabric softener. I looked at him curiously and said,

“Really? You like the smell of softener?”

“…”

“This one’s called Soft White. If you like it, buy it and use it too.”

A sigh came from beside me. It seemed like he wanted to say something but held it back.

“What? What is it?” I frowned, but Hyun-woo ignored me, his silence making it look like he was holding back his words.

* * *

That evening, when I came home, my brother was back early for the first time in a while. The TV in the living room was on, broadcasting the news. The clear voice of the announcer filled the air.

These days, so-called “random” assaults and kidnappings were on the rise, and most of the targets were omegas.

At the string of unsettling reports that seemed never-ending, my brother clicked his tongue and muttered a curse under his breath.

“You’re home early today?”

“You’re back?”

Noticing me only then, my brother turned to me with a warm smile, as if he hadn’t just been swearing with such a grim face.

But almost immediately, his expression turned serious again as he pointed toward the TV. “You heard that, right? Don’t stay out late,” he said with concern.

To reassure him, I answered that I understood and went into the bathroom to wash up.

This negative situation had been going on for years already, yet it wasn’t being resolved—if anything, it was only getting worse.

A few years back, it had all begun with an incident where a recessive alpha, consumed by inferiority toward a dominant alpha, kidnapped and killed an omega. Since then, similar cases had followed one after another.

When I came out after washing, a dining table spread to the point of bending its legs was set in front of me.

I froze in shock, standing there stupidly until my brother, unable to watch anymore, pushed me toward a chair.

Was it my birthday today? No… it wasn’t.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Sometimes, we can have a day like this.”

Humming to himself, my brother grilled meat. The expensive-looking cuts gleamed enticingly.

True to their price, they melted softly with juicy tenderness the moment they touched my tongue. With that happiness, even my worries seemed to dissolve away.

But I couldn’t hide anything from my perceptive brother.

“Something on your mind? You looked half-dead when you came in earlier.”

“H-huh? Me?”

“You always scrunch up right here when something’s bothering you.”

His hand, still holding the tongs, gestured toward his own brow.

Did I really?

I touched my forehead where he had pointed.

Since it wasn’t anything to feel guilty about, I decided to just tell him.

“Well… I got confessed to, but I don’t know how to turn them down…”

“Why? You’re not interested?”

“No! It’s not that I dislike them…”

“Then?”

“I just… never thought of them that way before…”

Being eleven years older than me, my brother had surely experienced far more relationships than a green kid like me.

Handsome and good-natured, as I remembered, he’d always been popular.

So surely he had gone through situations like this countless times before.

But contrary to my expectations, his reply was blunt and simple.

“If you’re not interested, then just turn them down.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“…I don’t want things to get awkward between us.”

At my desperate response, his eyes narrowed slightly. My voice trailed off smaller and smaller.

He crossed his arms and listened in silence.

“…So, a friend? Who confessed to you?”

His leisurely tone made me fumble my words, and I gave no clear answer. His eyes creased faintly with displeasure, but I kept my mouth shut until the end.

After watching me quietly for a while, he finally answered in a nonchalant voice.

“Do what your heart tells you. If your relationship can break over something like that, then it was bound to break sooner or later anyway.”

“…Still.”

“Oh, and if they get pathetic and start pestering or harassing you over it, tell me right away.”

Though he was smiling, the air around his words was chilling. It felt like he might bury someone alive without hesitation.

I imagined Hyun-woo bothering or clinging to me just because I didn’t accept his confession.

Thankfully, that unrealistic thought shattered quickly. There was no way he’d ever do that, not in a million years.

In the end, my brother’s advice wasn’t of much practical help.

* * *

The bell rang. Children rushed out toward the playground in a noisy crowd.

It was P.E. class.

Watching the teacher step forward to demonstrate for the performance test, I sighed. Far away, I could see another class playing soccer—it must have overlapped with our period.

Nearby, I heard whispering.

“Hey, isn’t that Shim Hyun-woo?”

At those words, I turned my head.

It really was. Off in the distance, Hyun-woo was kicking a ball. I quickly looked away.

Because the embarrassing thing that had happened yesterday kept coming back to mind.

“Looks like our class overlaps with Class 6. I guess they’re doing their soccer performance test first.”

“Hey, quiet down! P.E. captain, come show the rest of the demo.”

When the class president dashed out at the teacher’s words, the class buzzed with excitement. Do Jin-gyeong, who served as both P.E. captain and class president, was extremely popular.

Most of the kids blushed just from looking at him. He wasn’t just “in” or “out”—he was handsome, athletic, and smart enough to stay at the top ranks in class.

In short, he was the perfect golden boy who could do anything.

Normally someone that outstanding would show off, but he was kind at heart, too.

“No wonder the atmosphere’s heated. With two of the most popular guys around, that explains it.”

“If you’re jealous, you lose.”

“Well, if I were an omega, I’d want to date someone like the class president. Even as a beta, I get butterflies.”

“Seriously, where else would you find a guy like him? He’s kind, diligent, handsome, good at everything. Oh, and apparently his family’s rich, too.”

“Sounds like some kind of drama…”

When Jin-gyeong demonstrated with the ball the teacher had passed him, small gasps escaped from the omegas. “He really is handsome, isn’t he?” “I heard he even got confessed to by a girl in Class 3 yesterday.”

After Jin-gyeong performed the demonstration perfectly, the teacher nodded in approval and began handing out balls in groups.

Everyone paired up with their close friends to practice. I followed my friends and joined them.

The assignment was to keep the ball bouncing without it touching the ground, juggling it with your legs. Easier said than done.

I wasn’t hopeless at sports, but I was weak at this sort of thing, like playing shuttlecock. I could manage ten times in a row, but on the eleventh, it always flew off somewhere else.

My desperate attempts had others holding their stomachs, laughing. To get a perfect score, you had to do at least thirty.

I sighed in frustration.

“Ugh, Kang Eun-jae’s terrible at this.”

“Well, Eun-jae only studies all the time, that’s why. Want me to teach you?”

“I don’t need it!”

Maybe my flustered shouting was even funnier, because Jae-ho, who was laughing with them, patted my back with a sympathetic look.

That only made me angrier. I must have kicked too hard, because the ball suddenly soared far away.

With a sharp gasp, the ball arced high and slammed right into someone’s head.

It was the class president.

I was screwed.

The sound of impact was loud, a real thud.

Startled, I ran straight over to him.

He had staggered slightly just now—what if he had a concussion?

“I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

He was standing fine without needing help, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hurt.

I hovered, trying to check the back of his head, when our eyes met.

He always had a friendly smile, but now his face was blank as he stared at me in silence for a long moment.

My heart pounded.

‘What the—he’s not fainting while standing, is he?’

Carefully, I raised a finger and waved it in front of his eyes.

As I moved it slowly, his gaze followed my finger.

…So, not fainted…?

“Uh… you okay? Can you hear me right now?”

“…Ah! Yeah. I’m fine.”

Like someone just snapping out of it, he reacted belatedly, then smiled as if nothing happened and nodded.

Still suspicious, I wiped cold sweat from my forehead and asked,

“You’re fine…? You know that sound was really loud, right? And you only answered after a while…”

“It hurt a bit, but I’m okay now. Eun-jae, I’m sturdier than you think.”

“I didn’t think you knew my name.”

“Ha ha. Don’t joke. How could I not know the name of the top student in school?”

So “I’m sturdy, so it’s fine” was all it took?

His fresh, easy smile left a strong impression.

We had exchanged brief words before, but this was the first time we’d actually talked this much.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, that’s a relief… but if you feel dizzy, say something. A concussion would be serious.”

“Got it. By the way… Eun-jae, you seem to be struggling.”

“Huh?”

“That.”

Jin-gyeong pointed at the ball in his hand with a bright grin. The teasing tone of “to send it that high” made my face burn.

Seeing that, he started laughing along with the others.

Which basically meant: how clumsy do you have to be to kick it hard enough to hit someone’s head like that?

He quickly grabbed my shoulder.

“Your upper body posture is wrong.”

He adjusted my stance himself. Suddenly, the ball bounced far more steadily.