RCKS 19

Because it was a school specialized in physical education, Samyeong High School had a high ratio of alphas. Among them, the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams had the best records, and as befitting its reputation as a volleyball powerhouse, alphas aspiring to play volleyball from all over the country flocked there. Therefore, the rumor that Samyeong High only accepted alphas and thus became a volleyball powerhouse was only half true.

It was true that the Samyeong High volleyball club consisted mostly of alphas regardless of gender, but originally, the school itself had a high alpha ratio and many applicants were alphas.

Since players were selected based on skill, in a sport like volleyball where physique was important, it was inevitable that alphas dominated. When the know-how of Samyeong High as a volleyball powerhouse combined with the players’ physiques, it was only natural that their results were better than other schools.

Above all, the Samyeong High coaching staff and trainers were famous for being strict about managing the alphas’ hormones. It was also their duty to thoroughly understand and manage without any gaps whether the players were taking the drugs to suppress hormones and pheromones well, what the dosage cycles were, and what the heat cycles were like, which could not be separated from sexual maturation.

Hwang Haekyung belonged to that team’s volleyball club, and he had risen as an ace starting from the recent middle and high school league match. He was only in his first year of high school, but his results had already been good since middle school. It was possible because he himself approached training diligently. For such a Hwang Haekyung, it was natural that he was subjected to harsh management of his hormones and pheromones as well.

However, in this situation, if Hwang Haekyung caused any incident related to the opposite sex, the aftermath would obviously hit the entire Samyeong High volleyball club. So it was inevitable that Ham Sejin, who belonged to the girls’ volleyball team, had to say something. Although all alphas who played sports were like that, Ham Sejin was also addicted to the management that suppressed alpha hormones and pheromones.

No, rather, alphas who were not like that were rare. To kill the excessive desires triggered by hormones, alphas usually started exercising from a young age. Even if they chose a different path later during college entrance season, basically, making them exercise from childhood made management easier, and that was also the common educational method.

Just as omegas suffered abdominal pain for the restoration of reproductive organs and experienced slowed growth throughout the manifestation period due to the aftermath, the manifestation period was painful for alphas too. One of them was growth pains incomparable to those of regular betas, and other causes were becoming extremely sensitive due to hormone effects, scattered emotions, and intermittent surges of explosive desires.

Moreover, the sensitizing temperament, emotions that could turn violent, excessively bursting desires, and the alpha-specific physique, all these conditions were things that easily led to incidents.

Therefore, in families with alphas, they made the child exercise to at least drain their physical strength, and in the player teams entrusted with the child, they strictly managed hormones and pheromones to prevent the child from having opportunities to go astray. Of course, the fact that all the physical conditions of alpha children were too precious to not make them exercise also played a big role.

An alpha who overcame all that growth period and matured properly had the most suitable condition as an athlete. The excellent physique and hardened mental strength, as well as the habituated self-management, were the results. Of course, not all alphas who started exercising ended up making sports their final career path.

In terms of population ratio, it was also true that alphas were most distributed in the overall social leadership class rather than in sports. It could be seen as similar to how Hwang Haekyung’s father was an alpha who had done sports but was now in business.

Hwang Haekyung also did not have a dream of a player life, but he was playing volleyball for the reasons mentioned above. The situations of Lee Seokjae or Ham Sejin, who were alphas in the closest group among the same sports club, were similar. Lee Seokjae enjoyed displaying his exercising self on SNS more than the exercise itself, and Ham Sejin was a case like Hwang Haekyung where she had suffered from a large amount of hormone secretion and was entrusted to the sports club for tight management.

“But those kids were kinda cute.”

Having vented all her temper, Ham Sejin said it casually while stretching her neck. Lee Seokjae grimaced at the cracking sounds that came every time she twisted her neck.

“Especially that desert fox and the black bunny.”

“They are middle schoolers, turn off your interest.”

“Hwang, you were into a middle schooler? Wow, you bastard.”

“That desert fox kid looks prim and proper, and the black bunny looks pure. With that obedient and pure look, plus the skin color, it makes it unique.”

“I told you to shut up, Ham Sejin.”

At Ham Sejin’s words that seemed to deliberately poke at him, a cold voice came out of Hwang Haekyung’s mouth. Lee Seokjae looked at the two and laughed as if trying to lighten the mood, but upon learning that the kids he thought were cute were middle schoolers, his interest seemed to cool off rapidly.

On the other hand, Ham Sejin kept her gaze on the black bunny headband hooked on Hwang Haekyung’s arm and deliberately provoked a reaction.

In fact, there were few kids who did not know that Hwang Haekyung had gone out of his way to follow around some middle school group today. It was that obvious, and different from the usual Hwang Haekyung.

The volleyball club alphas including Hwang Haekyung usually had no leeway to pay attention to the opposite sex because the director and coach’s momentum was fierce and strict, regardless of boys or girls. If the kids showed even a little interest in the opposite sex, whether they were primary gender or secondary gender, the coach would notice like a ghost. Then from that day on, the training program and drills became intense.

The kids were not unaware that the adults were doing it on purpose to prevent any unseemly incidents in advance. Knowing that, they followed even if they were dissatisfied.

Also, because of that, the volleyball club kids did not give any leeway regarding the opposite sex at all. It was natural since showing interest itself was inviting hardship.

Hwang Haekyung was an alpha who showed no interest in the opposite sex at all among those kids. It was the influence of having gone through the growth pains of the manifestation period more harshly than other alphas, as he had been very small and weak when young.

And above all, when he went home, there were words his parents habitually said. They would always say like a habit that when he became an adult, they would properly let him meet a pretty partner, so do not pay attention to that side now, and that he was a minor without the ability to handle or take responsibility even if the worst incident occurred.

He thought the former words were just said in passing, but he acknowledged the latter, so he did not seek the opposite sex even in the exhausted state after exercising.

His SNS activity was the same. Perhaps because of the memories of suffering from doing kid modeling when young, he was inevitably indifferent to that side, to the point of even a faint sense of rejection.

But such a Hwang Haekyung openly showed interest in an omega. And that too to an omega from another school, wearing some bunny headband.

Moreover, that omega and his friend group were all cute one by one. Omegas would anyway grow into what was called ‘beauties’ for the most part, but those kids had chubby cheeks and the look of boys fitting their age. Their neat attire caught the eye more, and it was unexpected and cute that they enjoyed all sorts of rides despite their slender builds and big eyes that made them look like they could not ride rough rides.

Ham Sejin also knew well because she was one of the alphas who had followed those kids and ridden rides from the morning. She had also noticed that the alphas in their own class were giving glances to those omegas.

The word cute was heard frequently, and in the afternoon, while passing by the souvenir shop, there were kids joking about buying bunny headbands and desert fox headbands like those kids. Of course, they failed to purchase after getting kicked in the butt by Hwang Haekyung.

Ham Sejin also recalled the homeroom teacher of those omegas, who had been on guard against them like a highly sensitive wild animal. At first, that homeroom teacher’s vigilance seemed funny, but soon she could understand. All four omegas that homeroom teacher was leading had striking appearances.

Moreover, their alpha group had as many as 20 people. It was also a gender ratio where, if hormone management was not proper and they deliberately released pheromones, an incident could lead in the blink of an eye.

“Hwang Haekyung.”

“……”

“This is a real warning. I know that kid is cute, but do not cause problems because of that.”

“There will be no such thing, and you do not need to know that he is cute.”

“Do you remember last month when I got caught with a photo of me and Hye-yoon, and they made us roll like crazy in agility training under the guise of physical training?”

“Ah, Ham you crazy bastard. Was that program extension because of you? I felt like I got borderline personality or something and rolled so freaking much…!”

“Lee Seokjae, you shut up a bit.”

Lee Seokjae got annoyed at Ham Sejin’s following words, but he could not finish his sentence due to Ham Sejin’s momentum.

The Samyeong High volleyball club held joint responsibility for troubles regardless of boys or girls. It meant that if the girls’ volleyball team caused an incident, or the boys’ volleyball team did, the disciplinary training programs were added even to the other team.

Last month, there had been an incident where someone uploaded a photo taken with the opposite sex on their personal SNS, and to give awareness about such lax mindset, the training program had been changed, and it seemed the cause was Ham Sejin.

Of course, from Ham Sejin’s perspective, it was a bit unfair. Ham Sejin was a tall, handsome yet pretty alpha, and as befitting the volleyball club, her physique was good and her height reached 183cm. That was still a figure where growth had not ended.

For such a Ham Sejin, it was inevitable that she was popular at other schools too. Matches where Ham Sejin was selected were unusually full of boy and girl fans. While the boys’ volleyball team had three or four players who drew popularity, in the girls’ volleyball team, Ham Sejin was unrivaled. She had what was called an ‘alpha-like’ appearance, so her fanbase was even more solid.

The person Ham Sejin had taken the photo with was a friend named Seong Hye-yoon, and she was a beta from another school. It was not even an omega, and since it was a photo with a beta and SNS was a personal space, she had uploaded it without thinking, but the problem arose when Seong Hye-yoon attached a heart emoticon below it.

The coaching staff who were snooping on the players’ SNSs raised the issue anyway, saying that since secondary genders were different, it was the opposite sex, and was not this a sign of a lax mindset.

Although the counterpart was a beta female student so it ended with a short-term training addition, if it had been an omega, it might have gone to disciplinary action, given the atmosphere.

That was why Ham Sejin’s words to Hwang Haekyung were not groundless venting.

“It will not be good for those kids either. You saw how guarded their homeroom teacher was.”

“Just do one verse.”

Hwang Haekyung tapped the shoulder of Ham Sejin, who was speaking with a troubled expression, and turned his gaze as if ending the conversation. Then the teacher who had been doing the dismissal closing ceremony in front pointed to Hwang Haekyung’s arm and said.

“Hwang Haekyung, what is that on your arm? I did not see you buy it?”

“I found it, on the street!”

Thanks to Lee Seokjae shouting indifferently from the side as if covering, the story about the headband ended there. The Samyeong High alphas headed to the bus parked in the parking lot all at once as the closing ceremony ended. Since it was not a beta class, the alphas also had to be accompanied by the homeroom teacher until the end.

Only then did Hwang Haekyung lift the bunny headband he had slipped on his arm and examine it closely. From the inside near where it had been attached to the head for a long time, a faint but soft fragrance wafted.

Since it could not be expressed in any other way, it seemed like it was Lee Yoonsan’s pheromone. No matter how suppressed with drugs, items worn for a long time naturally absorbed that scent faintly. Especially alphas like Hwang Haekyung with high hormone levels were sensitive to such pheromones, so he could distinguish it.

“Hey, but what about your clothes?”

“…I lost them.”

So he had covered Lee Yoonsan with his own clothes. The homeroom teacher would not escort all the way home, so it was obvious that anyone would see it as wearing someone else’s clothes.

And to let him experience his own pheromones that would be very very faintly embedded in it. While even making the ridiculous excuse that the weather might get chilly.

Of course, if Lee Yoonsan was not sensitive to pheromones, he would not smell it, but that did not matter. Just the fact that he had made him wear his clothes made his mood a bit better.

It was not that he felt some emotional thing toward Lee Yoonsan right away. But Hwang Haekyung did not dislike his current mood. He was a childhood friend he had seen after a long time, and the younger brother his parents had emphasized needed to be protected like that.

At the very last moment of that summer, it had ended up with Lee Yoonsan protecting him, but sending Lee Yoonsan off wearing his clothes on purpose was in a similar context to what Lee Yoonsan’s homeroom teacher was doing.

Hwang Haekyung rubbed the inside of the bunny headband slightly with his thumb while thinking about Lee Yoonsan.

The fact that Lee Yoonsan, whom he had to look up to before, had become smaller than him felt a bit awkward and bewildering. The sensation of Lee Yoonsan’s pudgy arm, which had been useless no matter how much he struggled and pulled, fitting loosely in his hand was also unfamiliar. On the other hand, hearing that Lee Yoonsan was cute only slightly irked him, but he took it as natural. Lee Yoonsan had heard a lot that he was cute from adults even when young.

Anyway, Hwang Haekyung kept thinking of Lee Yoonsan even while sitting on the bus. The eyes he had met with Lee Yoonsan, the wrist that had fit in his hand, the body that had fallen and sat between his legs.

Perhaps because it was an unexpected reunion after a long time, such thoughts and sensations did not fade at all and continued to occupy Hwang Haekyung.

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On the night Lee Yoonsan returned from the on-site experiential learning, he confessed to his parents who came home late that he had seen Hwang Haekyung. It was an action he was confident would bring a happy reaction because it was clear his parents still adored Hwang Haekyung. But the expectation missed the mark nicely.

‘Yoonsan, you were not with Haekyung by any chance, right? You cannot go near or meet Haekyung right now.’

Lee Yoonsan’s parents admonished their son with an expression that could not hide their difficulty. Those words sounded like telling him not to approach a beast in training, so Lee Yoonsan could not understand his parents’ reaction.

On the other hand, Lee Yoonsan’s parents felt a bit complicated at their son’s news. They had known from early on that Hwang Haekyung belonged to a very strict yet prestigious volleyball team, and they knew how harshly his manifestation period was being managed. Above all, because they themselves were alpha and omega.

Moreover, the high school Hwang Haekyung was attending now was the school where Lee Yoonsan’s alpha mom, Lee Jungwon, had graduated. Lee Jungwon had done basketball, but even then, the player management of the volleyball club had a considerable notoriety. It was to the extent that even the teachers openly chattered that the success in hormone management and pheromone suppression for players was the decisive know-how that made the volleyball powerhouse reputation.

So Lee Jungwon could not help but know Hwang Haekyung’s current situation well. He would be taking drugs to regulate hormones and suppressants to hold down pheromones. In that situation, he would be subjected to training programs and control so intense that he could not turn his attention or energy elsewhere. There might be talk of student rights, but since minor alpha incidents related to the opposite sex still periodically decorated the news, there had not been much change from the past. Above all, several years ago, some alphas who claimed to be conscious in the social leadership class had stepped forward to showcase the strict management of their children, and that incident had been quite effective.