HWAMB — Chapter 35

“Excuse me. You want to sell that? How about selling it to me?”

“Huh?”

“You said you wanted to sell. Sell it to me. Better yet, sell me both.”

Hyun-woo threw out a price casually. The two widened their eyes, surprised.

The offer must have been tempting—gone was their hesitation, replaced by eagerness.

With no reason to refuse such a good deal, they quickly agreed, thinking they had struck gold.

Before long, Hyun-woo had two holographic photocards in his hands.

He fell into thought. From the looks of it, holographics were nearly impossible to pull, and yet here he was with two out of six. It smelled suspiciously like rigged odds.

Even if Eun-jae was naïve, if he ever realized Hyun-woo had paid money for them, he’d feel terribly burdened.

After debating, Hyun-woo slipped one of the holographic cards into his pocket.

Like a pair of couple rings, it wouldn’t be bad for them to each keep one.

He then photographed the remaining cards: one holographic of Serri, one holographic of Ravvy, and four carefully chosen regular photocards.

He sent the picture to Eun-jae and waited for a reply, staring fixedly at the card with Eun-jae’s favorite on it.

‘Is this guy really that great…’

Though Ravvy looked sturdy enough, compared to Hyun-woo, it was nothing.

Still, Eun-jae’s tastes had always been consistent. Though he always denied it, Hyun-woo knew from childhood exactly what kind of face Eun-jae liked.

Then Eun-jae’s reply came in.

[? Is this real??]

[Yeah]

[Ah holy sh—;uognrsjflks]

[lol hurry up, I’m so lonely]

[Okay, I’m coming now]

Hyun-woo read the text message and smirked. Just imagining Eun-jae scampering over like an innocent squirrel, all excited, filled him with a warm sense of pride and happiness.

He remembered someone once saying, “If you date like that, aren’t you the one losing out?”

But he had never once thought of it that way.

From that day fourteen years ago, he had already received so much from Eun-jae—so much that it overflowed.

Now he was only returning all those sparkling things he had been given.

He just wanted Eun-jae to feel the same happiness he had felt.

Honestly, even now, the fact that they were really dating didn’t feel real.

‘Maybe we should get couple rings soon.’

When would be the right time? Since Eun-jae’s fingers were so slim, he’d probably need to get them custom-made.

What color should it be? He’d have to subtly ask later what color Eun-jae liked.

And the design shouldn’t look too expensive—Eun-jae would hate that.

As he carefully plotted everything out in his head, Eun-jae arrived carrying a shopping bag.

“You’re back?” Hyun-woo greeted him with a relaxed smile, took the bag, and set it down beside him.

Then he sat and quietly listened as Eun-jae chattered away, face shining with excitement.

Side Story 1. Do Jin-gyeong

Since that day, he had always caught my attention.

A smaller figure, standing out because he was never really part of a group.

“Going to the store? Get me a soda~”

“Damn it, Kang Eun-jae, you bastard… Why do you always make me do stuff! Don’t you have hands?”

“You’ve been drinking soda nonstop lately. Aren’t you addicted?”

At his friends’ words, he answered cheerfully, “I don’t know, I just keep craving soda lately. Totally hooked, I guess.”

He looked lighthearted, always laughing, but inside he seemed endlessly heavy. Surrounded by noise, yet with a good-natured personality—a beta.

That was how Jin-gyeong first saw Eun-jae at the start of their first year of high school.

Back then, Jin-gyeong hadn’t paid him any real attention.

Jin-gyeong had always been first. From the moment he graduated middle school, he had never once lost that spot.

His parents had high expectations, and he had felt proud each time he met them, so it never felt like a burden.

Being number one felt natural. To him, it was a place of stability.

Even without killing himself studying, as long as he worked hard enough, his grades always came out on top.

Coming from a wealthy dominant alpha family, with loving parents, a good sibling relationship, and natural talent—those four things combined made his life one constantly in the spotlight.

And that, too, felt natural.

But then came the day, after he had smoothly entered high school, when the report cards were handed out.

Something unimaginable happened.

He saw the number “2” written in the rank column and thought it must be a mistake.

Sure, he had lost 1.5 points on the short-answer section, but since the test was so difficult, he was certain the number “1” would still be beside his name.

It turned out the one who had taken first place was none other than Kang Eun-jae.

Honestly, it rattled him. The unfamiliar experience felt both uncomfortable and strangely intriguing.

It was then he realized, for the first time, that he actually had a competitive streak.

So he poured more time and effort into studying.

But all through their second year of high school, not once did he manage to surpass Kang Eun-jae.

He thought constant failure would make him resent the boy. Instead, it only made him pay more attention.

That attention soon turned into interest. The smile he had dismissed as nothing special became something he liked. The noisy voice that once grated on him now felt cheerful.

He wanted to get closer to him, but it wasn’t easy. Eun-jae treated everyone equally, which made it harder.

They had only exchanged a few words. And though he wanted to step into Eun-jae’s world, it felt like a thick wall blocked the way.

On the outside, Eun-jae seemed light and simple, but inside he was a tangled mess of threads.

So he would wait. Step by step, slowly, until Eun-jae opened the door.

He decided to wait right there.

Spring passed, and the greenery grew thicker.

Eun-jae got into a fight.

It shocked Jin-gyeong to see him like that—sharp and fierce, exchanging blows. His first instinct was to run to him, but he decided he needed to stop the rampaging alpha brat first.

Even if a beta wasn’t affected by alpha pheromones like omegas were, the difference in size and strength couldn’t be ignored.

When Eun-jae’s childhood friend Shim Hyun-woo dragged him to the infirmary, Jin-gyeong, still burning with adrenaline, subdued Jang Jae-ho and hauled him off to the teachers’ office.

The crowd of onlookers quickly parted to make way.

“Shit, what are you staring at.”

The same filthy mouth Jang Jae-ho had always had made Jin-gyeong sigh.

Their parents’ business ties meant he had known Jae-ho since childhood, so he knew exactly how the guy had been raised.

Jin-gyeong glared at him in disdain.

“Don’t you know he’s close with Shim Hyun-woo? Why stir up trouble for nothing? Your father warned you enough times.”

“…”

“When are you going to grow up? It’s lucky Kang Eun-jae’s a beta—if he were an omega, you’d be heading straight for the police station.”

“Bullshit. Kang Eun-jae’s a beta?”

That was the day Jin-gyeong first learned Eun-jae wasn’t a beta, but an omega.

At first, he didn’t believe it. But during three-legged race practice, he became sure.

A faint, delicate scent drifted over, and his body went stiff with tension, his heart hammering.

He had smelled it before on Eun-jae, but never guessed it was pheromones.

It was so subtle, he had assumed it was just Eun-jae’s natural scent.

‘So he really is an omega…’

That was when it hit him.

Ah, I like him.

‘That’s why I couldn’t stop paying attention.’

That night, until he finally fell asleep, his mind was filled only with Eun-jae.

When he heard they weren’t dating—that Eun-jae and Shim Hyun-woo were just friends—he had been ecstatic.

So what if others thought they looked more like lovers than friends?

They weren’t dating yet. Which meant he still had a chance.

In fact, he felt a little grateful to Jang Jae-ho. Because of that day, he had managed to talk with Eun-jae a little more than before.

It was worth the courage it took to reach out.

‘Starting tomorrow, I’ll move just a little closer. Just enough not to overwhelm him.’

Even at practice today, the atmosphere had been good.

Just a little more than that.

Anything too much would only increase the risk of failure.

On the day of the sports festival, when they finished the three-legged race without incident, Eun-jae looked unusually gloomy.

“You okay?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Eun-jae quickly wiped away the sadness from his face and forced a clumsy smile with a nod.

He didn’t look okay at all. Wanting to ease his mood, Jin-gyeong patted his back and said he’d buy a drink, heading toward the vending machine.

He figured maybe then Eun-jae would relax enough to open up a little more, and they could get closer.

He even remembered perfectly that Eun-jae liked soda.

* * *

Because it was summer and the day of the sports festival, the vending machines had been emptied by students, and to make matters worse, the one nearby had broken down. I had to run all the way to the distant school store.

I hurried back as fast as I could, carrying two cans in each hand, but by the time I returned to the stands, the obstacle race was already over. What disappointed me most was missing the chance to see Eun-jae run.

I meant to apologize for being late and explain what happened, but when I got back, Eun-jae was gone.

Confused, I grabbed the nearest person and asked,

“Do you know where Eun-jae went?”

“Eun-jae? Oh, I don’t know exactly, but after the race, I saw him running off that way with someone.”

Was his pale face earlier because he was feeling sick?

Worried, I asked urgently,

“Did he say he wasn’t feeling well?”

“Not really… He still ran fine. But during the last obstacle when he drew the slip, his face didn’t look good. I guess running so hard and then losing first place upset him…”

I ran in the direction the student had pointed.

The thought that he was with someone else made me uneasy, but I forced myself to stay positive.

Maybe he really wasn’t feeling well and someone went with him to support him.

After running for a while, I suddenly heard a familiar voice. Eun-jae’s voice. I turned toward it and carefully approached.

And then.

“I think I like you too. Not just as a friend, like you said…”

My breath caught. Standing in front of Eun-jae was “that someone.”

Someone I knew very well.

“…”

They say when you hear something so shocking, your mind goes completely blank. It was true.

After that, I couldn’t hear a single word.

Like a drenched stray dog, I leaned against the shaded wall and just stood there quietly.

Then I turned away.