HWAMB — Chapter 19

It was Hyun-woo. The PC café was too loud, so I stepped outside to answer.

–When are you coming home.

“…Soon.”

–When, exactly.

At his relentless questioning, I sighed and glanced at the clock.

He hadn’t even been around lately, yet the overprotectiveness was the same.

Ever since the report of a suspicious man in the complex, both he and my brother had been like this.

Either way, I’d planned to head home by seven. Staying too long at the café would just make me dizzy and tired.

If I’d just told him I’d be back by then, there’d have been no problem. But instead, an odd question slipped out of me.

“Are you hiding something from me these days? Or… worrying about something you can’t talk about?”

Silence.

Neither denial nor affirmation—an uncertain quiet that made my nerves itch.

Then, from the other end, a voice called, “Hyun-woo.”

I froze.

A voice I’d never heard before.

Gentle yet refined, soft yet dignified. It was hard to explain—captivating, mature.

While I was stiff with shock, I could hear Hyun-woo’s flustered breath.

I didn’t want to continue the conversation. I blurted out,

“I’ll—I’ll be home by seven!”

Like I’d done something wrong, I hung up after stammering my own words.

I thought I heard Hyun-woo’s voice in the background, but by then I’d already cut the line.

I stared blankly at my phone screen.

Why couldn’t I just answer?

I hadn’t noticed I was pouting at it, fiddling with the display, until I finally let out a sigh and turned back.

Dragging my feet, I returned to the PC café and unpaused Tetris.

I thought focusing would calm me down, but it didn’t.

TL/N: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is Korean internet laughter. Each “ㅋ” = “k” sound, short for 크크 (keukeu), the Korean equivalent of “hehe” or “lol.” 짱ㅇㅏ찌 This is meant to be 짱아찌 (jang-ajji), a slang nickname.“짱” = best, awesome, “the boss.” “아찌” is a casual way of saying 아저씨 (ajusshi = older man/uncle). Sometimes it’s just playful nonsense. Written here with a mix of letters (“ㅇㅏ” instead of “아”) to look quirky/cute in-game.

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‘I was so restless I couldn’t sleep a wink…’

Forcing my drowsy eyes open, I dragged my pen across the page and took notes through class.

All night long, I dreamed of Hyun-woo linking arms with some man, telling me, “Sorry for lying all this time. The truth is, I like older men.”

And beside him, the man wore a moved expression, murmuring, “Hyun-woo…” in a gentle, tender voice as they wiped their tears and carried on with their ridiculous display.

It was a bizarre dream.

I shook my head hard.

‘Think logically. It could’ve just been someone he knows.’

But no matter how I turned it over, the “Hyun-woo” I’d heard yesterday wasn’t just casual familiarity—it was far too affectionate.

This wasn’t me being paranoid. Even from an objective standpoint, the voice that had called out to him had dripped with honey.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice that my hand had stopped mid-sentence while underlining in the textbook.

Who knows how much time had passed.

Only after spacing out for ages did I realize I hadn’t moved my pen.

‘This is driving me insane.’

I pressed my forehead and let out a deep sigh.

‘If there really was nothing going on, he wouldn’t have tried to brush me off…’

Whatever it was, it was certain Hyun-woo was hiding something.

At that moment, someone tapped my desk. I flinched and looked up to see Sang-su giving me a curious look.

“Class is over. You’re not going home?”

Glancing around, I realized half the classroom was already empty.

I gave an awkward smile and quickly shoved my textbook into my bag.

“Where’s Young-ho?”

“He’s on cleaning duty today. Since the sports festival’s coming up, he told us to go ahead without him.”

“Ah… I see.”

Fiddling with his phone, Sang-su gave me a sidelong look.

“And you?”

“Hm?”

“You’re not going with Shim Hyun-woo again today?”

“Uh… yeah.”

I remembered this morning, when Hyun-woo had said not to wait because he wouldn’t be able to walk home with me again today.

Sang-su glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, then lowered his voice just for me.

“Listen… this is just something I heard, so don’t take it too seriously. It’s just secondhand.”

“What?”

“I heard he’s been seeing someone lately. Not a student—supposedly a really gorgeous omega.”

“Ah… really?”

I tried to respond casually, as if it didn’t bother me, but from Sang-su’s expression, it was obvious I’d failed.

My face must have betrayed me.

The meaningful smile on his face made my blood boil.

Narrowing his eyes, he asked me,

“You like Shim Hyun-woo, don’t you.”

“No!”

A hasty, forceful denial.

Sang-su chuckled knowingly and patted my shoulder.

“Better confess before someone else snatches him up. Let’s be real—he’s got the looks, the skills, the family background.”

“I told you, it’s not like that…”

I was too drained to keep explaining this strange relationship.

As we left the classroom and walked down the stairs together toward the school gates, I happened to lift my head from the ground. Off in the distance, I saw Hyun-woo’s back.

He was walking the exact opposite direction from home.

At that moment, the curiosity I’d tried to suppress churned restlessly inside me.

“Sang-su.”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry, something urgent came up—I’ll see you later!”

“Urgent? Like what?”

“Tomorrow!”

Unlike Young-ho, Sang-su wasn’t the type to be fooled by such a clumsy lie.

He gave me an incredulous look as I rushed off, then shrugged and waved me off with a, “Whatever.”

I quietly trailed after Hyun-woo.

There were plenty of people on the street, so it wasn’t obvious, but Hyun-woo was a dominant alpha—he was sensitive to omega scents.

Sometimes he’d say mine smelled nice, but since people couldn’t smell their own scent, I had no idea what mine was like. He claimed it was light compared to other dominant omegas, and I’d always assumed he was just complimenting my fabric softener.

‘Where’s he going…’

We walked for what felt like forever, but Hyun-woo never stopped.

Could Sang-su have been right?

That would explain the unfamiliar voice I’d heard on the phone yesterday—gentle and sweet enough to make me queasy just remembering it.

Finally, Hyun-woo stopped in front of a shop.

I froze too.

A glass workshop.

In front of it stood a tall, strikingly handsome man. He waved warmly at Hyun-woo with a bright smile.

A “really gorgeous omega,” Sang-su had said.

But to me, he looked more handsome than pretty—like a statue sculpted by a famous artist come to life and walking the streets.

Somewhere between beautiful and handsome. Both, really.

He drew stares even from passersby who’d been mindlessly walking by.

I stopped breathing. My blood felt like it had frozen.

I’d thought about it while following Hyun-woo. If he really liked someone else…

Then I wouldn’t have to agonize over rejecting him. We could just go back to being friends. No awkwardness.

But why…

Why did the idea of him being with someone else make my insides twist like this?

‘So his type was older…?’

Just as Sang-su had said, the man didn’t look like a student.

He seemed closer to my brother’s age. Since my brother and I were about ten years apart, this man was probably at least ten years older than Hyun-woo.

No matter how handsome he was, that wasn’t just shameless—that was practically a crime.

Suddenly, I remembered that stupid dream from this morning.

I wanted to believe it was nothing like that, but it was hard to ignore the closeness between them.

The man leaned down and straightened Hyun-woo’s school tie, and Hyun-woo didn’t exactly push him away.

I couldn’t see Hyun-woo’s expression, but the whole scene felt ominous.

‘Still… he looks familiar somehow.’

No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn’t place him.

I shook my head.

Calm down.

We weren’t even dating. The only reason I was this riled up was because I cared about him like family—that was the excuse I fed myself to settle my nerves.

Hyun-woo and that ridiculously handsome man went inside the glass workshop.