HWAMB — Chapter 41

His voice trembled as he went on.

His haggard face looked fragile, unstable.

“After I found out you were an omega when I thought you were a beta, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, no matter how hard I tried. Even before falling asleep. I hate omegas… I always hated them, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. It drove me insane, made me confused… twisted me up inside. I felt like you were messing me up and making me lose my mind. That’s why I snapped.”

“So that’s why you acted like that toward me? Just because a friend you were hanging out with turned out to be an omega?”

Jae-ho hesitated, unable to answer. His silence was as good as admitting it.

Even if he hated omegas, how could that justify spewing such venom at someone just living their life? I still couldn’t understand.

“You were the one who bit my arm in the infirmary, weren’t you?”

“…Yeah, it was me.”

“For someone who claims to hate omegas, you sure had a funny way of showing it.”

“That’s because you…!”

“What. Are you going to blame me for that too?”

The rest of his words were obvious enough.

‘Because you’re a damn omega. Because of your pheromones.’

At my biting retort, Jae-ho bit his lip and looked away.

I remembered what Young-ho had told me on sports day. He’d said Jae-ho had been looking for me back then too.

To apologize.

“I’m sorry for lashing out at you that day. And for biting you too… I’m sorry.”

“…”

“Please forgive me. I want to get along with you.”

“…Fine. I get it. But don’t come looking for me anymore. And last time, you even went to Seo Young-ho, didn’t you? Don’t approach the people around me just because of me.”

The faint flush of relief on his face drained back to ash.

Jae-ho looked shaken.

“…Why?”

“Because even if we meet again, it’ll just wear us both out.”

Why? I’d figured it out from talking to him now.

Back when we were friends, I never imagined he hated omegas this much. But now I knew.

The way he looked at me was already different from before. A relationship like that could never last; it would only hurt us both.

I was the idiot for ever being close to someone like him.

Jae-ho let out a bitter laugh.

“What are you talking about. You’re the one who made me like this.”

“…What?”

“So you have to take responsibility. I… I can’t live without you now.”

Clink, clink.

A strange rattling came from Jae-ho’s pocket.

His vacant eyes fixed on me, unsettling and dangerous.

Sensing the danger, I stumbled backward on my injured ankle, but Jae-ho closed the gap in a few long strides.

That’s when I noticed. He wasn’t wearing shoes. He was barefoot.

“You’re not about to say something insane like ‘I like you,’ are you…?”

“…? No, I don’t think that’s it.”

“What the hell then. What do you mean I should take responsibility.”

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

Was Jae-ho really here just to hang out?

From his face and clothes, it didn’t look that way. And how did he even know I was here?

“…Why are you here?”

“Of course to see you. I thought maybe I’d get a chance today. But Seo Young-ho and Shim Hyun-woo keep getting in the way.”

“Hyun-woo too…?”

“You didn’t know? I went to your house several times. Didn’t that bastard Shim Hyun-woo tell you? He reported me just to screw me over.”

Reported?

I remembered what my brother had told me.

That someone suspicious had been lurking in the complex with a weapon. That someone called the police, but the guy wasn’t caught. And the weapon was just a small utility knife.

‘Don’t tell me…’

His glaring eyes shone with a sick gleam.

His huge hand grabbed me by the collar. Instinctively, I shoved him against the wall and turned to run.

Pain shot through my injured ankle.

I grimaced and froze, and in that moment Jae-ho lunged from the wall and tackled me.

My shoulder slammed against the wall, his arms pinning me with crushing strength.

I struggled with all my might, but his voice cracked with frustration as he choked back tears.

“Why are you doing this? What do I have to do?”

“You crazy bastard! Get the hell off m—mmph!”

His hand clamped over my mouth.

With the shadow of his hood cast over his face, he looked even more menacing.

“You think you’re that special? Huh? You think you’re so great? You’re just an omega.”

I bit his hand hard. He flinched, grimacing.

He raised his fist like he was about to hit me, but then clenched his lips and slowly lowered it.

With a pathetic face, he muttered in despair.

Then, almost daring me to bite again, he shoved his hand harder over my mouth.

“You got your apology. You forgave me. Isn’t that enough? All I want is for us to go back to how we were, so why the hell are you making it so complicated?”

Like someone unhinged, Jae-ho swung between sobbing and raging.

I wanted to scream every curse I knew and kick him, but my body wouldn’t move.

My injured leg ached and went numb.

“Because of that bastard, I’ve been put under house arrest… such a pain.”

I sank my teeth into his fingers as hard as I could.

“Argh!” Jae-ho yelped, yanking his hand out.

He looked at the bloody bite marks on his fingers and growled. I spat out the blood and glared at him.

Startled, his face twisted with confusion, but then he clutched his head like struck by a migraine.

“Shit… what do you want from me… what do I have to do for you to forgive me… for you to like me…”

“Are you insane? After all this, how the hell would I ever like you?”

“…You’re the one who messed me up. Ever since I learned you were an omega, my head’s been filled with you—I’m going crazy!”

“You idiot! Just admit you like me! Stop blaming me because you’re too much of a coward to face it!”

I yelled, and then drove my knee hard into his stomach.

Jae-ho gasped, crumpling to the ground, clutching his belly in pain.

It must have landed solid, because he wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

Limping, I tried to escape the alley.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, someone yanked my head back from behind. Before I could scream, something covered my nose and mouth.

The cloth was soft, but reeked of something strange. My body immediately lost strength.

Realizing something was wrong, I thrashed with all my might, but the grip only tightened. Sleep crashed over me.

And then—blackout.

When I opened my eyes, rough fabric brushed against my cheek. A chill seeped down my spine into my bones.

My vision was still dark.

Something soft was tied over my eyes.

My wrists were bound tight.

What the hell happened.

I’d gone to the night market with Hyun-woo, ran into Hyun-seo, played around, then hurt my leg so Hyun-woo left for the pharmacy… and then…

‘Right. Jang Jae-ho!’

He’d suddenly appeared, dropped to his knees, then threatened me.

After the scuffle, just as I tried to escape, someone knocked me out.

That foul smell still lingered in my nose. Probably some kind of sedative—it stank.

Voices came from a short distance away.

Two men talking. One voice I didn’t recognize, the other was Jang Jae-ho.

Instinctively, I knew they were together.

Jae-ho must have noticed I was awake, because he spoke.

“You’re up?”

His voice was calmer, softer. I laughed bitterly in disbelief.

Then I snapped back at him, my voice sharp with anger.

“Jang Jae-ho, are you seriously out of your mind?”

“Don’t be so mad. We just need to talk.”

“Then talk normally, you bastard! Not like this!”

“I tried. It didn’t work.”

Clink, clink.

That rattling sound from his pocket again. It grated on my nerves.

Talk? Was kidnapping me to some unknown place supposed to be normal?

Honestly, I was scared—but more than that, I was furious.

Hyun-woo must be worried sick by now. They probably took my phone too.

“You even hired people just to catch an omega?”

“…Yeah. Just in case, I hired a few. So don’t think about running.”

“…? Wait, not just one?”

“Of course not.”