PSS Ch 15

I ate a quick lunch at the library cafeteria and spent the rest of the time in the same way. I didn’t move a single time. I remained sitting in the same spot.

3:30 p.m. I packed my bag as usual and got up from my seat. I pulled my parked car out and headed for Mr. Jang Taejin’s house. When I arrived, I saw the housekeeper waiting outside the main gate with a grocery bag. I took the bag from her, placed it in the back seat, and we headed to the mart together.

“I’ll carry that.”

The housekeeper handed me the grocery bag without a word. The cloth grocery bag, filled with a geometric pattern, hung down long. I went around the mart with her, gathering ingredients for dinner into the cart. As she headed to the checkout with the now-full cart, I told her.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

The housekeeper grabbed my hand as I was about to leave. She looked at me with her slightly bloodshot, reddened eyes, just as I had seen them in the morning.

“Be careful…”

I nodded to her, meaning that I understood. Leaving the anxious-looking woman behind, I headed for the restroom.

I went into the very last stall and locked the door. The sound of the lock clicking echoed loudly in the empty restroom. I closed the toilet lid and opened the housekeeper’s grocery bag. I quickly stripped off the clothes I was wearing and changed into the ones the housekeeper had packed for me in the bag.

Quickly. I have to be quick. Before someone comes. Quickly…

My hands kept trembling because I was in such a hurry. There was still no sign of anyone outside. Lastly, I pulled on a cap and then stuffed the now-empty grocery bag into the trash can. I rolled up the clothes I had been wearing, along with my phone, and threw them into the next stall.

I walked straight out of the restroom. With the cap pulled down low, I scanned my surroundings. As expected, a man was staring intently at the entrance. I lowered my head further and quickly walked past the man.

I headed straight for the customer service center. I quickened my pace, remembering the ATM located next to it. I arrived at the ATM and withdrew money. It was the money I had received while working at Epicure. Now that I had withdrawn all the money in my account, it was only a matter of time before he was notified. Sure enough, as I collected the money and turned to leave, the man who had been watching the restroom pulled out a ringing phone.

The man fumbled about while on the phone. As he turned his gaze toward the ATM, our eyes met. I ran into the aisle right next to me. To shake off the man chasing me from a distance, I headed for the parking lot. I deliberately weaved between cars to hide myself. The man ran over, panting, and looked around from the parking lot entrance. Then he headed for the left corner. It was where I had parked my car.

I ran in the opposite direction of the man. From the beginning, I had no intention of using the car, which might have a tracking device on it. I went out through the parking lot exit to the street. At that moment, another man came running from a distance, panting. It was a familiar face. It was the man who always kept his place with me at the library. My thought that there might be more than one of them was correct. I crossed the street with my head down to avoid being seen by him. Just then, I saw an empty taxi coming from afar. I quickly waved my hand.

“Hey, hey?!”

The man spotted me the moment I got into the taxi. Afraid I would be caught by him as he ran like mad from a distance, I quickly locked the door.

“Sir. Quickly. To any station from here, quickly.”

The flustered driver hurriedly stepped on the accelerator. The man pounded on the window, shouting from outside for me to get out. I looked at him with trembling eyes.

“Sir. Quickly! Please, quickly!”

With a loud noise, the car sped off. He ran alongside the moving car. But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t catch up to a moving car. The gap between us widened. He, who was completely out of breath, stopped in his tracks, screaming. He kicked the ground as if frustrated that he couldn’t catch me.

“……”

I watched him, now completely stopped, through the rear window of the car before turning my head. By now, he was probably reporting the number of the taxi I was in. I looked around and then called out to the driver.

“Please stop here.”

I was anxious about even going to a nearby station. I was planning to take a bus from here.

“Thank you.”

I paid the taxi fare in cash and got out. It was obvious that the moment I swiped a card, he would be notified immediately. I walked down the street for a bit and then boarded a random bus that stopped.

“……”

I sat on the bus and looked out the window. The passing road was quiet, as if nothing had happened. I hugged my bag with a trembling hand and slowly closed my eyes. Looking forward to the new life that was about to begin, I took a deep breath.

⋆.˚🦋₊ ⊹

A cool sea breeze was blowing. In a house built close enough to the beach to see the ocean, there was a large wooden outdoor bench in a corner of the wide yard. I sat there, letting my body, exhausted by the now quite hot weather, relax for a moment and catch my breath.

“Ants. Ants… There are ants here.”

A little boy who had been squatting under the bench spotted a line of ants crossing the yard and shouted. The small insects were busily moving, carrying a piece of apple much larger than themselves from who-knows-where. The child, who shouted while blinking his big eyes as if fascinated by it, was incredibly cute. Is he about old enough to go to kindergarten? The little boy, his overalls thoroughly dirtied with soil, stood up. As if to obstruct the ants’ procession, he stuck out a small finger to block their path. The insects, meeting an unexpected obstacle, scurried about in confusion, circling the same spot.

“Little one. You shouldn’t do that.”

I had intended to just watch quietly, but I felt sorry for the floundering little creatures and ended up saying that.

“But they’re cute. I want to touch them.”

“That’s a bad thing to do.”

Hearing my words, the little boy put on a crying face, but he soon gave in and removed his finger. Once the path was clear, the line of ants set off again. The little boy watched the ants diligently carrying their food for a while before coming back toward the bench and plopping down on the dirt ground.

“Little one. What’s your name?”

The only thing I knew about the child was that he was the grandson of the owner of the guesthouse where I was staying. Perhaps thinking I had interrupted his fun game, the little boy answered sullenly.

“Yeonguk. Choi Yeonguk.”

“That’s a cute name.”

“It’s not cute at all.”

The little boy, puffing out his cheeks full of air and making a grumpy face, was so cute that I rummaged through my pocket. I took out a piece of candy I had packed in case my blood sugar dropped and held it out to the child.

“Want to eat this and feel better?”

“Wow. Candy!”

The little boy, delighted like a child, took what I offered. With his tiny hands, he unwraps the wrapper and pops the large candy into his mouth. As he sucks on the candy, seeming to be in a better mood, he gives a small smile, one cheek bulging out. His fair, flawless skin shone brightly under the sun.

“What about you, hyung? What’s your name?”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

Revealing my name was the same as leaving a trace of myself, so I hesitated a little, but thinking, what could a child possibly do?, I just opened my mouth.

“Lim Jaegyeong.”

“Aah. Jaegyeong-hyung.”

Thanks to the candy tribute, the little boy came and sat next to me without any hesitation. He held out his small hand and offered me a handshake.

“Jaegyeong-hyung. Nice to meet you.”

I shook his small hand in mine.

“Yeah. Me too.”

I watched the little boy endlessly as he sat on the edge of the bench, swinging his legs and happily eating his candy. I called out the nickname ‘Parangie,’ which I had made up without the father’s consent, in my mind and wished that our Parangie would also grow up quickly and eat candy as deliciously as that little boy.

“But hyung, are you an omega?”

“Huh?”

“My mom said so. That omegas have a nice smell.”

“Do I have a smell?”

“Yeah. You smell really sweet. It’s a delicious smell, like this candy.”

“Really?”

It seemed the little boy was going to present as a sub-gender. I had heard that some sub-genders could sense pheromones even before they presented, so I thought this little boy might be one of them.

“But hyung, you’re not an omega.”

“Huh? I’m not?”

“Yeah. Hyung, you’re a beta.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“That’s strange… You smell so good…”

I felt sorry for the little boy, but there was nothing to be gained from revealing I was an omega while living alone in such a remote area, so I told a rather shameless lie.

“You must be mistaken.”

“I guess so…”

The little boy tilting his head as if he couldn’t understand was cute. I suppressed the urge to pull the child into my arms and expressed my affection by stroking his head instead.

“Hey, Yeonguk. What are you doing over there?”

Just then, the owner’s daughter called to the little boy from a distance. This guesthouse was originally run by the grandmother alone, but her daughter, who lives in Seoul, was down for a short vacation with her grandson.

“Your mom is calling. You should get going now.”

I said, patting the little boy’s back. The boy replied with a smile, his face full of the unique innocence of a child.

“Okay! Jaegyeong-hyung! See you again next time.”

“Alright.”

The child hopped down from the bench and ran towards his mother. After exchanging an awkward nod with the mother, I waved to Yeonguk, who was waving excitedly from a distance. The little boy disappeared while talking about something with his mother. I stared blankly at the spot where the two had left before turning my head and getting up from my seat.

Even I didn’t know where this place was. That day, the day I decided to run away from Mr. Jang Taejin, I arrived at the Gangnam Bus Terminal and boarded the express bus that was departing the soonest without a second thought. After several hours of driving, the place I arrived at was Gumi. From there, I headed to an even more distant place. It took a whole day. After transferring buses several times and even taking a boat, the place I finally arrived at was an island so unknown it didn’t even have a name.

I was worried if there would be a place to stay in a place like this, but fortunately, there were occasional outsiders who visited the island, so I was able to find a place that offered lodging. It was a guesthouse, and they said they could even provide meals. I offered to pay extra and said I would appreciate it. For now, I only paid for one month’s lodging. It was based on the calculation that I wouldn’t be able to stay here for long.

Mr. Jang Taejin was a man who could find my whereabouts at any time. That was why I had deliberately headed to a destination where I had no connections, one I hadn’t prepared in advance. I thought that in a place like this, it would take him at least a little longer to find me.

The time I had estimated was one month. Before that, I had to move to another place again. I wanted to stay in one place for the sake of the baby in my belly, but it was too dangerous. Fortunately, I still had a few hundred thousand won on me. I didn’t know how long I could last with this, but it probably wouldn’t be a very long time. I had to keep changing places to stay and also earn money. But since I was still in the early stages of pregnancy, I planned to rest while staying here.

I still had severe morning sickness on an empty stomach in the mornings. If I managed to fill my stomach somehow and feel the cool sea breeze, my stomach would settle down a bit. They say it’s impossible for an omega to endure a pregnancy without the baby’s father’s pheromones, but I was going to make it through somehow. I was determined to endure tenaciously, give birth to the child, and raise him on my own. I judged that it would be better for the child to grow up without a father than to raise him in hiding while acting as Mr. Jang Taejin’s mistress. Even if the child were to resent me in the distant future, I persuaded myself that this was what I had to do right now.

“Young man. Come out and eat.”

As the sun, sinking into the sea, began to blaze and dye the sky orange, the grandmother who owned the house called me. I turned my back on the sea I had been staring at for a long time while standing in the yard and turned around. The old-fashioned house was surrounded by a stone wall, and the main gate was always open. It was the generous heart of the countryside, welcoming anyone to come in comfortably. I sat down at the table set up on the wooden floor and picked up my spoon. Even though it was a meal for me alone, various side dishes were laid out.

“Eat a lot. You’re too skinny, kid. How are you gonna live like that.”

I thanked the grandmother, who was nagging me with worry, and scooped up some soup. It was a clear, refreshing soup boiled with clams. As I swallowed a few mouthfuls, the grandmother, who had been watching from the side, plopped down on the wooden floor.

“So. Why’d you come here? You look like a city person.”

At the grandmother’s words, I just smiled silently. Her thick voice was pleasant to listen to, but if she asked about my story, I couldn’t answer.

“So pretty-faced. You’re not a face you see around here. Why’d you come alone? It’s dangerous for an omega to be here alone.”

“I’m not an omega. I’m a beta.”

“Really? You look like an omega.”

“You saw wrong.”

Because I was feigning ignorance, the food I chewed and swallowed didn’t go down well. I was definitely the type of person who couldn’t live a life of lies.

“Well, if you say so, then you say so. Ah, it’s hot. Hot. Why is the weather so hot.”

The grandmother, fanning her clothes, got up from her seat and left the wooden floor. Left alone, I thought of Parangie and forced myself to eat all the remaining food. Then I carried the table with only the empty dishes to the kitchen. At that moment, a few men entered the yard through the open door.

“Is the grandmother here?”

They saw me carrying the table, gave me an awkward nod, and immediately looked for the owner grandmother. The grandmother, who came out at the sound, took the table from me and greeted them.

“Oh yeah. Why’d you come?”

“You know there’s a meeting at the town hall this time, right?”

“A meeting? What meeting? I don’t go to things like that, they’re a pain.”

“Hey, don’t be like that, come out. You didn’t come last time either.”

“I said it’s a pain.”

Listening to the conversation, they seemed to be members of the village youth association. As they persistently tried to persuade the grandmother, who was waving her hands saying she wouldn’t go, they occasionally glanced at me. I felt burdened by their gazes and quickly headed to my room. As soon as I entered the room, I unconsciously stroked my belly.

Only after a long while did the noisy outside become quiet. They had probably gone back. There was no reason for it, but a sigh escaped me. Everything was nerve-wracking. His people could show up at any time. I had to be careful of everyone, whether they were villagers or outsiders. I had to hide quietly, trying not to be noticed by others as much as possible.

I waited for about thirty more minutes after the outside became completely quiet before finally opening the door. I let the sea breeze into the room to keep my body from getting exhausted by the heat. I closed my eyes, feeling the wind sweep over my body. I placed my hand on my belly, where I couldn’t feel any movement, and spoke cautiously.

“Baby. You’re sleeping, right? Nothing’s wrong, right? Right?”

Parangie, who was probably still the size of a bean, naturally didn’t answer. I slowly opened my closed eyes. I rubbed my flat stomach and quietly put a smile on my lips.

⋆.˚🦋₊ ⊹

The weather was exceptionally clear today. I put on thin clothes so I wouldn’t be hot, borrowed a wide-brimmed hat from the owner grandmother, and went outside. The sun was hot, but thanks to the hat, it wasn’t unbearably so.

I walked along the sandy beach and looked at the quiet sea. The grains of sand kicking up at my feet stuck to my skin stingingly. Looking at the surging seawater, my agitated heart calmed down a little. Lately, my morning sickness had been getting worse and worse. There were times when even just sitting still at home became agonizing. I endured somehow by thinking of Parangie in my belly, but there were far more times when I couldn’t calm down. Is an alpha’s pheromone really absolute for a pregnant omega? They say that just smelling the baby’s father’s pheromones when you have morning sickness can calm you down right away… But I soon shook my head with effort. Thinking about him, who wasn’t even by my side right now, was rather agonizing.

“Ha…”

I concluded that thinking useless thoughts only made me more miserable and was about to start walking again when I suddenly felt a commotion and turned my gaze from the sea.

“Uh, uh…?”

The young men who had visited the guesthouse yesterday were walking from the opposite direction, and when they spotted me, they exchanged glances with each other. I was feeling burdened by their gazes and was contemplating taking a different path when they beat me to it and came right in front of me. One of them spoke to me with a faint smile on his lips.

“Hello?”

Unable to bear the awkwardness, I replied with my gaze slightly averted.

“Yes, hello.”

“You’re the person staying at Grandma Okchun’s guesthouse, right?”

While one of them was talking to me, the others watching from the side snickered and glanced at me. I didn’t like their attitude. It might have been natural for people living in such a remote place to show interest in someone from the outside, but it was still hard to accept being looked at as if I were a monkey in a zoo.

“Yes…”

“Wow. To run into you in a place like this. Nice to meet you. My name is Hongjun. I’m the president of the youth association here.”

He held out his hand. It was a rugged hand, tanned dark by the sun.

I didn’t take the hand he offered and just looked down at it in silence. I had no intention of being friendly, and even less of an intention of exchanging names. As I just stared at his outstretched hand, he awkwardly scratched his head and withdrew his hand. I didn’t turn my gaze, which I had kept averted to the side, until the very end.

“You must be from Seoul?”

He asked, following behind me as I was about to leave. The people who had been snickering at me with such rudeness did the same. I glanced at those following me, trying hard not to look at him. The man who was acting overly familiar with me just wouldn’t leave me alone.

“You’re from Seoul, right?”

“Yes…”

“Why are you here? Traveling?”

“……”

“You look really young. How old are you? Maybe around twenty?”

This time, the man casually dropped the formal speech. I didn’t hide my displeasure and frowned.

“Why’d you come alone? Aren’t you scared being here by yourself?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. The man who had been persistently sticking to me and talking also stopped. When I turned my head sharply and glared at him, he chuckled and played it off.

My tightly shut mouth opened sharply.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Wow. So prickly. Why are you so on guard? Is it because you’re an omega?”

“I’m not an omega.”

“Come on. What do you mean, you’re not? I can tell you’re an omega just by looking.”

Annoyed, I started walking again. Unfazed by my cold attitude, the man stuck to me again. He walked alongside me, matching my pace.

“It’s boring being alone. Want to hang out with us? Us hyungs will take you to fun places and buy you good food.”

“No, thank you. I came here because I want to be alone, so please mind your own business.”

“You’re really cute. You hear that a lot, right? You have a face that alphas would go crazy for.”

Deciding I couldn’t listen to the man’s talk any longer, I abruptly changed direction and went back the way I came. I had expressed my intention not to talk anymore, but the men following behind me cluelessly smiled and spoke to me.

“Yeah. Let’s hang out together.”

“Us hyungs will treat you really well.”

What on earth are they all trying to do? I glared at them with a look of disbelief and quickly left the place. They chattered on about something else behind me, but I didn’t look back even once. I couldn’t even stand the sight of them, clinging to me and pestering me even when I said I wasn’t an omega.

“Ha…”

As soon as I entered the guesthouse, I leaned my back against the stone wall and let out a long sigh. Their voices had stopped being audible by the time I left the beach, but my heart was still pounding. No matter how hard I tried to hide it, my omega nature, which just wouldn’t be concealed, attracted the attention of others and created a difficult situation. It was strange for anyone to see a young omega living alone in a backwater place like this. The situation was not good. Even if they were betas and not alphas, it didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.

With a deep sigh, I stood up. I forced myself to ignore my still-unsettled heart and went into my room.

Deep in the night. Not a single ray of light came through the window with its thin curtain. I, who had been fast asleep, barely woke up, letting out a hot, ragged breath. Something was wrong with my body. My whole body was drenched in sweat, sticking clammily to the blanket.

“Haah, haah…”

I clutched my dizzy head and managed to sit up. My whole body was boiling as if I were in heat. I panted, lifting my pajama top to cool my hot body. But no matter how I tried to calm down, my body, instead of getting better, was only getting hotter.

Suddenly, I remembered a story I had heard somewhere. It was a story about how a pregnant omega’s body would break down if they couldn’t smell an alpha’s pheromones for a long time. Pregnant omegas don’t experience heat. But that was only when they were continuously exposed to an alpha’s pheromones; if they were in a situation where alpha pheromones were lacking despite being pregnant, they could experience a phenomenon similar to heat periodically.

My heart sank. The moment I realized that a fluid of a different composition than sweat was flowing out and soaking my lower half, my vision went white. In a countryside like this, without Mr. Jang Taejin, let alone any other alpha, it was impossible to just endure a phenomenon like heat.

“Ah-heuk!”

A sudden pain rushed over me. My lower part, which wanted to be pierced by an alpha’s cock, began to contract instinctively. A sense of urgency washed over me. I was worried about Parangie in my belly if I continued to suffer like this. I was still in the early stages of pregnancy; what if I miscarried from the strain…

“Ah, no. Parang, Parang-ah…”

I hurried to the closet. I took out the bag I had put there and rummaged inside. My hands kept trembling so much that even that was difficult. The sweat that trickled down kept clinging to my eyelashes, making my eyes sting.

Hurry, I have to find it. Hurry. Hurry…

I muttered to myself and rummaged through the things in the bag, pulling them out. Only after turning the contents of the not-so-large bag completely upside down was I able to find what I was looking for.

“Ah…”

With a trembling hand, I picked it up. Listening to my heart pound as if it would burst, I opened the bag. From the place I had carefully wrapped it in several layers so that the scent wouldn’t escape, came a handkerchief. It was Mr. Jang Taejin’s handkerchief. I quickly brought the luxurious piece of cloth with his initials on it to my face. I placed it over my nose and took a deep breath. His scent, though faint, remained. Thanks to bringing one I had deliberately not washed, I could feel his pheromones, however faint.

I inhaled the scent over and over again. The sweet scent penetrated my lungs and relaxed my tense body. The more I smelled his scent, the more the pain subsided, but my body ached in a different way. I wanted him. The omega’s instinct waited for the alpha. My lower part, having detected his scent, stood erect and cried out for more stimulation.

“Aah…”

I fumbled my hand down. Following the trace of him left on the handkerchief, I put my hand inside my pants. I grabbed the piece of flesh that had grown in size and hardened, and pulled it out of my training pants. The cock, only a handspan long even when erect, bounced elastically out of my clothes.

Inhaling his scent, I slowly rubbed my cock with my hand. Naturally, Mr. Jang Taejin came to mind. His naked body, his cock squirming as if alive, was as vivid as if it were right in front of me now. I imagined him holding and touching mine. He was heaving his large pectoral muscles, pouring his hot breath onto me. I wanted his tongue to part my lips and enter. I unconsciously opened my mouth and moved my tongue as if kissing him. The hand stroking up my cock got faster and faster. I pictured him kissing me and touching me in my mind.

“Uungh, Mr. Jang… Uuungh.”

I brought the handkerchief that had been covering my nose down. I wrapped my cock with the cloth that held his scent. Just as he had done in the swimming pool with a clear view of the outside that one time, I wrapped the slick glans, slick with my fluid, with the cloth and rubbed it.

“Ut!”

A wave of pleasure shot through me. I masturbated by rubbing my finger over the handkerchief soaked with my fluid, just as he had done. I missed him. Every part of my body that his hand had touched was hot. I longed for the kisses we had shared. I wanted to be desperately broken by his hot, penetrating cock.

“Mr. Jang… Uungh, uungh. Do it more, Mr. Jang… More…”

I pulled down my pants along with my underwear. Rubbing the glans with Mr. Jang Taejin’s handkerchief, I put my other hand into my hole. But no matter how hard I stretched my fingers, it never reached the climax. I grew more and more frantic with desire. I kept moving my fingers, calling for Mr. Jang Taejin.

I was miserable. My whole body shuddered because I couldn’t reach him, because I couldn’t have his cock inside me. The fluid that flowed out soaked my groin and pooled on the floor. My fingers, rummaging through my wet hole, made a splashing sound. My imagination grew thicker, picturing him taking my cock in his mouth and sucking it. I imagined him kneeling in front of me on the empty floor, his mouth on my dripping cock, and then I came just like that.

“Mr. Jang! Hht!”

The pleasure of climax was short, and a long emptiness followed. I looked down dazedly at the handkerchief, sticky with white fluid, and burst into tears. I knew what these tears meant. It was longing. I missed Mr. Jang Taejin. I missed him so much that I was masturbating, clinging to a handkerchief that held his scent.

I leaned my hot body against the wall. The arousal, which hadn’t ended, tormented my body. I bit my lip, rubbing my cock again with the handkerchief that was now wet with my own fluid, its scent erased. I closed my eyes and shook my cock, picturing his face that appeared so clearly.

⋆.˚🦋₊ ⊹

It was noon before I came out of the room. Thinking that the weather was exceptionally hot today, I made a shade with my hand to block the sun, when I heard a bustling sound from outside the door. Through the wide-open main gate, which welcomed anyone, entered men with familiar faces. They were carrying something in their hands, laden with bags.

“Oh? You were home?”

The man who had persistently struck up a conversation with me on the beach before was the first to acknowledge me. I kept a straight face and didn’t answer, but he didn’t seem to mind and smiled cheerfully with a good-natured face.

“We can at least say hello.”

“Yes. Hello.”

I truly said nothing more than a greeting and turned away. I was wondering when Grandma would be getting lunch ready and peeked into the kitchen, only to see her, despite her bad back, struggling out into the yard carrying a cauldron lid as big as a house.

“You’re a bit late today. Why’d you sleep in so long?”

“Here, let me take that.”

I quickly ran over and took the cauldron lid from her. I practically snatched it from Grandma, who insisted she was fine, and followed her to a corner of the yard. There was a traditional stove with a large cauldron set in it. As I placed the lid beside it, Grandma stirred the food inside the cauldron with a large ladle.

“What are you making?”

“It’s Boknal today, isn’t it? I’m going to boil some chicken until it’s nice and tender.”

Inside the cauldron were all the familiar ingredients for samgyetang, except for the chicken. I tilted my head, wondering where the chicken was, when the men from the youth association approached, holding a black plastic bag.

“Here, the chicken’s here.”

“Oh my. Took you long enough.”

Grandma teased them playfully and took the chicken the man handed her. Then she headed to the kitchen to prepare it.

“The samgyetang Grandma makes is really delicious,” the man said.

I nodded in response to his words.

“Just stay inside for a bit. It gets hot when we light the fire.”

The men began to move about busily, seemingly intending to light the fire in Grandma’s stead. For some reason, I felt I should lend a hand and tried to help, but the men adamantly stopped me.

“I said stay inside.”

There seemed no reason to insist when they said they didn’t need me, so I quietly headed to my room. After some time, a delicious smell wafted in through the slightly open door. The aroma of chicken, boiled with all sorts of ingredients until the meat was falling apart, stirred my hunger. I kept peeking out the door, wondering when it would be ready, and only after a long while did I hear Grandma’s call to come out and head to the yard.

“Eat a lot.”

As I sat at the already prepared table, Grandma said this as she tore off a large chicken leg and placed it in my bowl. After a word of thanks, I picked up my spoon. Unlike all the times I had eaten alone, the many bowls on the table suggested that today, Grandma, the youth association men, and everyone else were all eating together.

“Oh! It’s Jaegyeong hyung! The hyung who smells pretty!”

It seemed the owner of the empty bowl next to Grandma was her daughter and grandson. They were the last to join the meal. I waved and greeted the little boy who was running towards me, calling my name from a distance.

“Hi, Youngwook.”

“Hi, hyung.”

The little boy kicked off his shoes anywhere and hopped onto the wooden bench, sitting next to his grandmother. His mother, who followed behind, greeted those already seated before perching on the bench. Grandma tore off some well-cooked meat for her adorable grandson and placed it in his empty bowl. As soon as the meat was in his bowl, the little boy began to gobble it up.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get a stomachache.”

The mother said to her child, who was hastily eating the pale chicken breast. Watching the scene with a pleased smile, I too ate my portion of meat. As I drank the hot soup, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. The chicken, eaten while sitting and chatting with people in the yard in the middle of summer, was quite delicious. It felt even more so because it was something you couldn’t taste in the city.

“Have a drink.”

The men, who were sharing makgeolli, said as they handed me an empty bowl. I stared at the bowl for a moment, then slowly shook my head.

“I can’t drink.”

“A glass of makgeolli should be fine, shouldn’t it?”

“I can’t even drink that much.”

I didn’t want to drink, but even just for the sake of Parang in my belly, it was absolutely out of the question.

“Stop being so difficult.”

The head of the youth association, sitting next to me, said as he forcibly grabbed my hand, which I had been refusing with. I flinched and looked at him with revulsion. He immediately let go of my hand as if it had been a mistake. It was only for a moment, but my wrist had already turned red.

“Hey, hey. He said he can’t drink. Let’s just drink among ourselves. Have a glass.”

It was so unpleasant how they laughed and talked among themselves without even apologizing to me. As if nothing had happened, they started joking around again and drank their makgeolli. They occasionally offered some to Grandma and the little boy’s mother, laughing and chatting. While everyone else was having a good time, my mood sank alone.

“Jaegyeong hyung. Youngwook is going back up tomorrow.”

I was sitting with a frown due to my foul mood when my eyes suddenly met Youngwook’s, who was sitting across from me. The child’s eyes, as he mumbled with his small mouth, were filled with disappointment.

“Youngwook lives in Seoul. Mom said we’re going back home tomorrow.”

“Is that so?”

“I liked playing with you, hyung. I like that you smell nice.”

“I see. That’s a shame.”

As I was talking with the little boy, I suddenly felt the strange gazes of the men. Only then did I realize the boy had said ‘the hyung who smells nice,’ and I knew I was in trouble. The boy must have said it without thinking, but it was obvious how these men would interpret it. In a situation where they didn’t believe me even when I insisted I wasn’t an Omega, a comment about smelling nice was like driving the final nail in the coffin.

“Does your hyung smell nice?”

As if seeking confirmation, one of the youth association men asked the child.

“Yeah. He smells sweet, like candy.”

“Is that so?” The men exchanged glances and laughed among themselves. I felt my mood sink even further and scowled. I don’t know what was so great about me being an Omega, but they chattered even more loudly and greedily devoured the chicken in front of them. I completely lost my appetite and put down the spoon I was holding.

“Why aren’t you eating more?”

Grandma asked as she was tending to the child’s food.

“I’m full. I think I’m done eating.”

“How are you going to live on just that? Eat more.”

“No, I’m fine.”

When I firmly refused, Grandma clicked her tongue in disapproval. Then she said she would bring some watermelon and told me to wait, rising from her seat. She disappeared into the kitchen, patting her stooped back.

“How long are you staying here?”

Switching between informal and formal speech, the man who was the head of the youth association grated on my nerves even more as he spoke however he pleased.

“You don’t want to answer that either?”

I was about to ignore the man’s question to the end, but then I noticed the little boy’s eyes, which were looking back and forth between me and the man as if he had sensed the strange atmosphere, and I quietly opened my mouth.

“I’m planning to stay for about two more weeks before I leave.”

“Are you going back to Seoul?”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t planned on it, but it was too much of a hassle, so I just answered that way.

“That’s a shame. It would be nice if you stayed a little longer.”

“Before you go, let’s have a drink with us. Ah. Did you say you can’t drink?”

“Then let’s at least have a meal together.”

And what is this we’re eating now, if not a meal? I just nodded noncommittally to end the conversation.

“Here, eat some watermelon.”

Grandma returned to the wooden bench, carrying a plate of watermelon with its flesh glowing red. I picked up a slice dotted with black seeds and was about to take a bite when the head of the youth association, sitting next to me, offered me a piece of watermelon with the seeds already removed.

I frowned without realizing it. The excessive kindness was just uncomfortable.

“It’s alright. I can eat my own.”

I spoke coldly enough to make his outstretched hand feel awkward and took a bite of the watermelon I was holding. The man gave an embarrassed laugh but soon returned to talking with his group as if nothing had happened. I let out a small sigh, listening to the laughter of the men as they clinked their makgeolli bowls.

⋆.˚🦋₊ ⊹

Night came early in the island village. Because everyone turned off their lights and went to bed before it was even midnight, it was much darker and quieter than the city.

Late at night. For some reason, I couldn’t fall asleep. I kept tossing and turning, replaying the day’s events in my mind. After lunch, the men’s behavior had grown even more brazen. Ever since Youngwook said I smelled nice, they seemed to have completely decided that I was an Omega. They were like that before, but now they had started to swagger and hit on me openly.

I intuitively realized that I had to leave this place sooner than planned. I knew very well how dangerous it was for an Omega to be alone in such a remote place, a secluded island where the ferry only came twice a day and finding an outsider was like plucking a star from the sky. There was no way a person with such a rare trait would be on an island like this, even in the city they were precious. To them, an Omega must be like a unicorn, something you only see in movies or dramas. Just as we watch the lives of chaebols in movies as if they’re tales from another world, so too must the existence of an Omega be to them.

That being the case, how tempting must it be for them, with an Omega who had just turned twenty having come down to a place like this all alone. I recalled their gazes as they stared at me so overtly during the samgyetang meal. To them, I was no longer a person. They saw me as something like a toilet into which they could excrete their dirty desires. It was obvious they were watching for any opportunity to touch me more, to somehow pin me down beneath them.

I still clearly remember the conversation I had with Executive Director Jang Taejin while dining at Epicure one day. Thanks to his words, about how he wanted to lay me on the table right then and there and rip all my clothes off, I had become properly conscious of how alphas, and even beta men, saw me.

An Omega was inevitably that kind of existence. A trait that had reached its final evolution, optimized for reproductive ability. A trait created to propagate the species, one way or another.

Rustle. Rustle.

As I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, I suddenly heard a commotion outside the door. My senses on high alert, I got up. Someone was pacing in front of my door. And they were doing it very carefully, trying to muffle the sound as much as possible.

I wondered if it was Grandma, but it occurred to me that there was no way she would come here so late, well past midnight. Then was it Youngwook? Had he come because he was sad about leaving tomorrow? No, that couldn’t be. It made no sense for a young child to be awake at this hour.

“Who…”

I said as I fully sat up and moved towards the door. Then, I saw a dark figure through the window. My room was in a separate building, completely detached from the main house where Grandma stayed. There was a wooden porch in the front, and the structure had one window and one door facing the back wall. Because of this, if someone came to the separate building, no one in the main house would notice. It was obvious no one would have noticed the figure silhouetted against the thin curtain on the window, either.

“…!”

Sensing something was wrong, I stepped back. I had locked the door, but the old-fashioned, worn-out door was so flimsy it could be opened easily just by sliding a thin object like a card into the crack and scraping it.

My premonition was correct. It wasn’t just one person; a group of them had come, and they were pushing something into the gap next to the locked door and scraping. The sound of metal scratching sent shivers down my spine. My whole body froze as if I’d seen a murderer sawing up a corpse with a chainsaw. Scrape, scrape. The eerie sound echoed in the room. I wanted to block my ears, unable to bear the grotesque noise any longer.

Creeak.

The chilling sound that had been piercing my eardrums stopped abruptly. At the same time, the door creaked open. Through the widening gap, I could see the figures with the darkness at their backs. Large, burly men were peering into the room, smiling like beasts.

“Hah!”

When the door swung wide open, when they fully revealed themselves before me, I froze on the spot. It was them. The ones who had stared at me, an Omega, with such blatantly vulgar eyes.

“What are you doing here—! Mmph!”

They stormed into the room at once. One of them grabbed me as I tried to scream and clamped a large hand over my mouth.

“Mmph, mmmph! Mmph!”

A man covered my mouth from behind and held my torso tightly. His large hand covered both my nose and mouth, making it impossible for me to breathe. His heavy forearm pressed against my chest, overpowering my struggling body. The chest pressed against my back was heaving, and a piece of non-erect flesh rubbed between my buttocks. My eyes flew wide open, and a filthy feeling rose to the top of my head.

“Quite a sight.”

The man who was the head of the youth association, the one who had always been desperate to strike up a conversation with me, said as he approached. His face, tanned dark by the sun, was faintly visible in the darkness. A vile smile wet his lips. His eyes, glinting with desire, were greasy and dirty. He placed a hand on my face as I shivered, held fast by his cronies. He looked closely into my sharp, glaring eyes and licked his own lips with a tongue that slithered like a snake.

“How did the high-and-mighty Omega end up in such a state?”

I thrashed violently in my restraints. But I was held so tightly I couldn’t move an inch.

“When you act so haughty, how could we not lose our minds? You should have known when to back down. If you had just played along a little, had a drink, and hung out with your hyungs, we wouldn’t have gone this far.”

You son of a bitch! The words I tried to shout were blocked by the large hand and couldn’t get through properly. Seeing me only able to make muffled, choking sounds, they burst out laughing. Rage shot through me. My helpless body, trapped in their hands and unable to do anything, had never been so hateful. The fact that I was an Omega, the fact that I had such a pathetic body that couldn’t even escape the grasp of beta men, drove me to despair.

“What, looks like you have a lot to say? You never answered before when we tried to talk to you.”

The hand that had been filthily stroking my face pulled away. I thrashed my body once more, kicking out wildly with feet that couldn’t reach anything.

“Let his mouth go. Let’s hear what he has to say.”

The hand covering my mouth loosened slightly. As the hand moved away, I bit down on it with all my strength.

“Aargh!”

The man who had reflexively let go of me screamed. I immediately bolted forward like a madman. But I was caught again in an instant. Besides the man who was hopping around, crying that his bitten hand hurt, there were three other intruders in the room.

“You—where do you think you’re going!”

“Hah!”

My hair was grabbed. I was dragged and sent tumbling onto the bedding. I desperately tried to get up. Praying that someone, anyone, would hear me, I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Help! Somebody help me! Grandma! Grandma! Please save me! Is anyone there?!”

“This one, has she lost her mind?”

A man’s rugged hand snatched my hair again. Held by him, my body was lifted and shaken in the air. Along with the words, “Let me snap you out of it,” the man shook my head mercilessly by the hair. I felt a pain as if my scalp would be torn off, and my face flushed red. As he held my head and shook it, the man relentlessly cursed at me and slapped my face. The places he hit swelled up red, and a ringing started in my ears. The others stood by, laughing and cackling at my predicament. The voice of the man cursing me, their laughter mocking my state, all sounded like distant echoes.

“You bitch. Feel a little saner after a few slaps? Huh? No matter how much you scream, no one’s coming to help you here, you know?”

The man who had been continuously slapping my face released his grip. My body went limp, collapsing onto the bedding.

“Let’s not get hurt more by making a fuss, and just stay still, okay? Who knows? If you offer your body quietly, maybe these hyungs will be impressed and go a little easy on you.”

The others who had been cackling chimed in.

“You crazy bastard. As if you’d go easy.”

“How can you go easy when you’re shoving it into an Omega’s hole?”