METAL 9

Hyunsoo went into a bathroom stall, crouched with his arms wrapped around his solar plexus for a few minutes, and only after barely managing to pull himself together did he rinse out his mouth once more at the sink and enter the lecture hall. It was a relief that he had arrived plenty early for the first class.

There were only two students there so far. Both were betas, but the moment they saw Hyunsoo enter through the front door, their eyes went wide, and their nostrils flared as they nearly shot up from their seats. Hyunsoo pretended not to notice and took his laptop and the attendance book out onto the lectern first.

Just as he was opening the first page of the attendance book, the particles of air inside the lecture hall stirred subtly. He felt as if some flower in his heart, which he had just managed to close, was cracking open and blooming again, pop, pop.

A tall, dark brown-haired male student was entering through the back door.

ʚଓ

That was our first meeting, Hyunsoo mulled over, sitting with his back against his studio apartment bed. He carefully patted the inside of his thigh dry with a tissue and pulled his pants back up.

Even after seeing the name Jun Griffin in the attendance book, Hyunsoo didn’t immediately realize he was Lee Yong-ha’s grandson. The fact that Jun was a descendant from the maternal side, resulting in a different surname, played a part. It was only a few weeks later that Jun himself came up after class and confessed it directly, which is how he found out.

He had guessed that being a dominant alpha meant he came from a good family, but he hadn’t known he was the maternal grandson of a chaebol ranked among the top few dozen in the world.

And of all families, that it had to be the Lee Yong-ha family.

The moment he learned that fact, his heart froze. Because eight years ago, that alpha sunbae had also been a distant relative of Lee Yong-ha. When Jun told him, with the lectern between them, Hyunsoo had simply nodded and let it pass with an “is that so,” but in truth, he had had a faint premonition since then. A suspicion that perhaps Jun had approached him from the very beginning knowing something about the relationship between his cousin and Lee Hyunsoo.

Hyunsoo crawled back onto the bed, curled up, and prayed inwardly. Please, I hope that man just does his laundry and leaves.

I hope he doesn’t use the dryer. The dryer is louder.

But he probably will, Hyunsoo muttered to himself. The dryer consumes a lot of electricity, so only two are installed in the entire building, but for that very reason, they’re popular; there was no way the man wouldn’t take advantage of a machine that happened to be free. If he ran that too, then sleep was out of the question.

One of the washing machines began its spin cycle, thumping and banging, and Hyunsoo soon felt his chest tighten from having to breathe in and out in thin gasps only in the gaps between the vibrations. His gaze did drift to the utility knife, but he didn’t think he could self-harm more intensely than the dryer’s vibrations anyway. Or rather, if he tried to harm himself more intensely than that, he felt he would reach the point of death.

Should I kill myself? The thought followed naturally.

If I stab the inside of my wrist deeply, I can win. If I cut horizontally and open a blood vessel, the sound will gradually stop.

In fact, it’s not just the sound that stops; all surroundings will cease and become quiet. No one will look at him or talk about him anymore.

As if protecting himself from the impulse, Hyunsoo crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his hands into his armpits. Curled up on the bed like that, he stared at a point in the darkness and muttered to himself. Quickly, hurry up.

I’m at my limit now.

About thirty minutes later, someone walked into the laundry room. He took out his laundry, put it in the dryer, and disappeared. It was only after the dryer had also finished its cycle that Hyunsoo finally drifted into a light sleep, waking an hour later to his alarm.

From 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning, Hyunsoo prepared for his classes, and at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 2:00 PM, he visited each university for his language classes. At 5:00 PM, he returned home and started on a translation job he had been commissioned. It was a twelve-page contract, a German-to-Korean translation, with a deadline of 9:00 AM the next day, Korea time.

Around the time his eyes began to feel strained, someone rang the doorbell. When Hyunsoo opened the door, two people were standing in the hallway.

“Hello. Mr. Lee Hyunsoo, you work as a part-time lecturer at Hankuk University, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you are a dominant omega, is that right?”

“Yes.”

Hyunsoo answered meekly to the one who had taken out a police ID. The police officer put the wallet back into his coat and asked if they could come inside to talk for a moment. Hyunsoo hesitated.

Had both police officers been alphas, or even betas but male, he wouldn’t have been able to make up his mind so easily. But they were a mixed-gender group, a beta man and woman. Once they were both inside, Hyunsoo closed the door.

The entryway was small. The man remained standing in the entryway, but the woman had to come all the way into the living room and stand right next to Hyunsoo. The female police officer cleared her throat and quickly asked again.

“We apologize for the sudden visit. We’re not here on business regarding you, Mr. Lee Hyunsoo, but to ask about an incident that occurred at Hankuk University. It should only take about fifteen minutes. Would it be alright if we talked while standing?”

“Yes.”

“Have you heard of the Dongbaek Faction?”

“I have.”

“Then you must also know about the serial murder case targeting only members of the Dongbaek Faction, right? The pattern is that a person of a secondary gender who participated in the festival is murdered a few days later.”

“Yes.”

As Hyunsoo replied, the officer continued to explain. A part of the sixth murder victim’s body had been discovered in a trash can in a bathroom at Hankuk University, so they were conducting interviews with everyone confirmed to have been on the Hankuk University campus around the relevant time on that day.

“The reason we came to see you, Mr. Hyunsoo, is, well, the body was disposed of on campus around 11:00 PM two nights ago. It was discovered late, but the time of disposal is estimated to be then. We heard that you, Mr. Hyunsoo, also came out of the main library around that time.”

“Yes.”

Hyunsoo searched his memory. It was the day he had accepted an urgent translation request.

The deadline was midnight, but the request had come in at 5:00 PM. The volume was considerable, but since the time was tight, it was classified as urgent and came with a significant additional payment, so he couldn’t turn it down.

Hyunsoo had gone straight to the main library after his afternoon lecture—Hankuk University provides library access cards even to part-time lecturers during the semester. He disliked crowded places and was afraid of the walk home getting dark, and the library staff didn’t particularly welcome dominant secondary genders because of their scent, but on days when an urgent translation came in, he had no choice. As the other person nodded readily, the police officer continued her questions.

“The body parts were in a dumpster outside the library cafeteria. They were in a navy blue standard trash bag. Did you happen to see anything, anyone, or any suspicious situation around there?”

“Nothing comes to mind right now. I don’t really look at my surroundings.”

Hyunsoo answered quickly.

“If I remember anything, I will let you know later. Your phone number is…”

“Ah, I’ll give you my card. Please contact me here.”

As he nodded and accepted the business card, Hyunsoo thought, if this is all, couldn’t this have been handled with just a phone call? The police officer, as if sensing his thoughts, explained.

“We were passing through this area anyway, and there was something I wanted to ask while seeing you in person. It must be difficult for you, isn’t it?”

“Pardon?”

“Because you’re a dominant omega. And among them, my gut tells me your rank is probably… Never mind.”

The police officer needlessly wiped under her nose once and said.

“My apologies. In any case, living like this must be very difficult for you. We understand that well.”

“It’s alright.”

“You went abroad to study, and I’m sure part of that was because it was difficult. During one’s teenage or university years, when one is most sensitive, so many things can happen. It must have been difficult for you after you came back, too, wasn’t it? You’ve moved several times… that area, especially around that Geumseong studio apartment. There were several stalking incidents. And then a dominant omega like you, Mr. Hyunsoo, moved in. The landlord must have kept it quiet, so you probably moved in without knowing.”

The female officer looked Hyunsoo straight in the eye and continued speaking. Hyunsoo wondered what this person’s rank was; she definitely didn’t seem like a patrol officer. Maybe a profiler of some sort who goes around doing direct investigations herself. Deliberately rambling on about trivial things to observe the other person’s reaction.

She went on to speak in a soothing tone, saying that even as a beta woman, there are many times when things are hard, so she can at least imagine what life is like for a dominant omega.

“Alphas are so cruel, aren’t they.”

Then, she suddenly brought it up.

“Especially dominant alphas. I can understand why you’d resent them.”

“I don’t particularly resent them.”

“Well, I wonder. But their social standing is so different, isn’t it? Even though you’re of the same secondary gender and the same dominant rank. How did history end up this way? With a few exceptions, dominant alphas are overflowing with wealth and power, and they wrap themselves up in layers of connections amongst themselves, on the level of an international cartel. They are people who can do almost anything they want. So this murder case, too…”

“Do you think Chairman Lee Yong-ha of Liberator Corp. sponsors the Dongbaek Faction?”

Hyunsoo asked inadvertently. The male officer pursed his lips as if flustered, but the woman shrugged her shoulders and replied as if it were nothing special.

“Well, there is circumstantial evidence to believe so. Although the Dongbaek Faction keeps its list of sponsors strictly confidential.”

The officer readily nodded. The male officer standing beside her smirked.

“Of course, it’s like sponsoring their enemy, but the alphas of that family probably want to enjoy it personally, too. And honestly, is the Dongbaek Faction really a rival to that company? They just cause a social stir. If anything, from the pharmaceutical company’s perspective, they can make money and advertise by creating and supplying good aphrodisiacs to that festival.”

“Well, Mr. Hyunsoo, you probably know.”

The man glanced at the female officer, and then, seeming to decide it was alright, chimed in.

“That there’s a young dominant alpha at Hankuk University who’s a direct descendant of Lee Yong-ha. His minor is in comparative literature, so he might have even been in your class, Mr. Hyunsoo. Our interest is naturally leaning in that direction. There’s also evidence found at the last scene.”

“I see.”

“That student, Jun Griffin, whether he’s a member or not, would have naturally been granted the right to participate in the festival.”

“Yes.”

“So…”

The two police officers met each other’s eyes. Hyunsoo got the impression that they wanted to tell him, be careful.

The woman soon shifted the topic slightly, emphasizing that the police were taking the situation seriously. She mumbled things like they planned to increase patrols on campus in cooperation with the campus police, so please don’t worry too much and trust them. Then the two of them smiled, said goodbye to Hyunsoo, and turned their backs. Hyunsoo also said goodbye and closed the front door.

Hyunsoo returned to his desk and resumed his translation work. He had been commissioned to translate a Korean contract for a small trading company into Spanish, and it was more difficult than he had expected. This was because the Korean itself was bizarre.

The contract stated that if the document was translated incorrectly, differing from the original, the translator would bear the responsibility and have to pay around 4,000 euros in compensation, but to avoid translating it incorrectly, he practically had to rewrite the whole thing. Amidst the sound of his typing echoing, Hyunsoo felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him. It was because he had barely slept the day before due to the washing machine and dryer.

Hyunsoo blinked. Every time his eyelids opened and closed, the police officer’s voice crawled across his vision, and across the monitor, like a hairline crack. Because you’re a dominant omega. And among them, my gut tells me your rank is probably… Never mind, my apologies.

So it’s true, it is. If even the police say so… Hyunsoo thought, even as his head bobbed from drowsiness. His pheromones really do affect even betas.

The woman seemed to control herself well, but the male officer looked flustered and a little angry, as if his body had a physical reaction. Hyunsoo had seen countless faces turn red right in front of him like that throughout his life.

Living like this must be very difficult for you.

Alphas are cruel, especially dominant alphas. Well, that’s not necessarily true. No, it is true, but that discrimination is not always just overt violence. The kind one commonly experiences in daily life has a more complex texture.

Certain things that happen to an extremely dominant omega in daily life would likely be outside the scope of a beta police officer’s imagination. Not because they are atrocious, but because they are complicated. Hyunsoo came to his senses while sleeping with his head tilted back over the headrest of his chair, his open mouth facing the ceiling. He needed coffee.

Stumbling to his feet, Hyunsoo went to the window side of the room. It wasn’t quite a proper kitchen, but it was a space equipped with basic items like a microwave, a sink, and a portable gas stove. Hyunsoo poured tap water into a cup, microwaved it for one minute, and then tipped coffee grounds into the hot water.

As he stirred with a teaspoon, watching the way the grounds combined with the water, he suddenly blinked. The color of the liquid reminded him of something. When he removed the spoon, the swirl subsided, and the jet-black liquid whispered placidly. Professor, then let’s trade for this.

[Let’s trade that letter for this.]

It was an incident from the middle of last semester. Mid-April, the first class after midterms were over. Before the lecture had even begun, Jun Griffin had come up to the lectern, held out a coffee, and said that. No matter how you looked at it, it was a coffee he had brought to drink himself, but he had said it anyway.