YHP 5

The memories of the day I manifested as an Omega are fragmented. It’s because I kept losing consciousness intermittently.

The only thing I remember clearly is that it was excruciatingly painful. It felt like my entire body was burning, and needs were piercing every inch of my skin from head to toe.

Looking back now, it seems like a trivial level of pain, but at the time, it truly felt like there couldn’t be anything more painful in the world.

‘Dad…’

It seemed like something strange was happening. Nothing made sense.

When I came to my senses, I saw my uncle’s face, crying while holding me tightly. As I turned my gaze, I also saw my father standing at the doorway. For some reason, he stayed a t a distance and didn’t come any closer at all. He just trembled, his fists clenched white.

The sight of my uncle crying, the image of my father not coming closer to me, the terrible pain and burning sensation I was experiencing for the first time in my life felt unfamiliar and frightening. It hurt and made me feel miserable. At that moment, I reached out to my father.

‘Dad… Hic, hic…’

Suddenly, my body jerked and my eyes rolled back.

‘Jeong-in. Honey, Jeong-in!’

As I started making choking sounds, my uncle cried as if he was dying and shouted at my father. He asked if he was still far away. He demanded to know why there was still no news when he said he’d be here soon.

I don’t remember what happened next. I must have been unconscious for quite a while.

Every time I briefly regained consciousness, the scenery changed. I was sure I had been in my uncle’s arms, but soon it seemed like I was in an ambulance, and then suddenly I was in a hospital. Sometimes I felt too cold, and other times my body felt too hot. The hospital rooms kept changing too. It was really disorienting.

During that time when everything changed every time I opened my eyes, there was only one thing that remained constant in that chaotic world.

‘Are you awake?’

It was the faces of my fathers, who had been at my bedside the whole time, looking like they had swallowed knives.

‘Yeah… but I’m hungry.’

After being sick for a full week, the deadly fever completely subsided when I woke up. Both my fathers were still by my side.

‘Looks like you’re not in pain anymore.’

‘It doesn’t hurt at all.’

***

‘This is serious, half your face has become paralyzed,’ my father said as he gently touched my cheek. My uncle didn’t say anything. He just looked at me with his eyes red and swollen from crying a lot, and smiled.

Soon after, we met the doctor. He tried his best to explain in simple terms why I had suddenly become an Omega overnight.

It probably wasn’t easy to explain the principles and concepts of hormones, much of which remains unclear even now after years, to a middle school kid. Anyway, according to him, I was born with a congenital hormonal disorder. Among those, I was an extremely rare type.

99.9 percent of heterozygous individuals classified as Alpha or Omega could usually have their traits identified through newborn screening. However, he said that among the rare cases of people born with hormonal disorder factors like me, there are instances where they consistently test as Beta throughout their lives, no matter how many times they’re examined, and then suddenly manifest without warning one day.

Given that both my fathers are heterozygous, the probability of me manifesting as an Omega wasn’t actually that low. The problem was the lack of care I didn’t receive growing up. Pheromones, which are difficult for humans to suppress, should be consistently managed from a young age so that after manifestation, one can naturally sense and control their own condition to some extent. But because I suddenly manifested without receiving any necessary measures during my growth period, it put a lot of strain on my body. That was the reason why I felt like I was dying.

Maybe it was because of the doctor’s very businesslike tone, or because I didn’t know exactly what pheromones were. At that time, I accepted this fact quite innocently.

‘So anyway, I’ve become an Omega. That means I’m the same as my uncle now, right?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Isn’t that a good thing then?’

‘Well…’

The doctor added that my heat cycle would likely be very unstable, and that I might experience a lot of pain or discomfort during each cycle.

So, he said it would be better to quit sports from now on.

“…did it.”

His breath suddenly became lighter.

“I…did it.”

Mumbling without knowing what he was saying, Jeong-in opened his eyes.

The tears that had pooled at the corners of his damp eyes fell onto the pillowcase. At the same time, a deep sigh came from beneath the bed.

“Taffy. Have you been there the whole time?”

The large Doberman’s ears perked up when its name was called. Then it started rubbing its forehead against Jeong-in’s hand.

That warm touch reminded him of Bori, who had passed away long ago. On days when he was sick, Bori would always stand guard by his bed like this.

A Greyhound with magnificent fur, Bori had been a 20-year-old young adult by human standards ever since Jeong-in could barely babble. Bori was a very smart dog–with a single treat, it would do all sorts of tricks. If asked to bring the newspaper, he would quickly bring it, and if asked where the phone was, he’d find it like magic and bark to say, “Here it is!”

The last time Jeong-in saw him was right before his manifestation.

On the night he manifested, he had taken a leisurely walk with the dog, matching his pace to the aged dog’s slow steps.

Then, on the morning of the day he finally opened his eyes, Bori left quietly without even looking at Jeong-in, as if in a hurry for some reason. It was as if Bori had died in Jeong-in’s place, taking away all the pain that was tormenting Jeong-in.

“…Thank you for being by my side.”

As he stroked the shiny fur that reminded him from Bori, he glanced at the date blinking onthe clock. Four days had already passed since he collapsed.

On that rainy day, Jeong-in collapsed as soon as he arrived at Chairman Choi Hyun-wooks’ mansion. It was only natural given the side effects of the suppressant and getting caught in the rain.

He tried to endure somehow, but he couldn’t muster the courage to turn the steering wheel. He had no choice but to contact his uncle, pleading several times not to inform his family.

How many times had he drifted in and out of consciousness? Now, he was fully awake. Rubbing her eyes, he got up. The house was quiet, so it seemed like Hyun-wook had sent all the employees away and gone to work as usual.

He barely managed to pull himself together, his body still aching, and went downstairs with Taffy. Jeong-in sighed deeply as he gulped down milk straight from the carton left in the fridge. Suddenly, he heard movement from the living room.

“You’re up?”

Jeong-in’s eyes widened as he saw Ju-young folding his newspaper in half while getting up.

“Oh… Why are you here, hyung?”

“I have a shoot starting early tomorrow morning, so I wanted to rest today. By the way, are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.”

His uncle’s beautiful lover stretched lazily as he approached Jeong-in. He wondered why he was reading a newspaper, which was unlike him, but sure enough, the articles were barely touched while there were black pen marks all over the crossword puzzle.

“Why is a well-raised kid like you blowing his trumpet the moment he wakes up?”

Ju-young snatched the milk carton from Jeong-in’s hands and started pouring it into a cup. Meanwhile, Jeong-in checked the empty spaces in the crossword puzzle Ju-young had been working on and started calling out the answers one by one. 

“Revelation, The Invisible Hand, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Lottery.”

Ju-young looked surprised.

“What? Is this hereditary too?”

“What?”

“Your uncle is really good at this.”

“Ah…”

It was unlikely for such things to be hereditary. He didn’t say that out loud, however. Jeong-in quickly sat down on a chair and sipped the milk he had poured. He also didn’t forget to give sweet potato snacks to Taffy, who had kept him company all night.

“Oh, right, you should probably call home.”

Jeong-in nearly spit out his milk.

“They know at home?”

“Of course. Both of them came by every day.”

Jeong-in had asked them to keep it a secret from his dads, but it seemed that they had already spilled the beans. Feeling betrayed, Jeong-in fidgeted with his fingers and firmly set his cup down.

“But you know, kid.”

After finally completing the crossword puzzle with his help, Ju-young looked at the newspaper with a proud smile before tossing it aside. 

“I understand you don’t want to worry us, but you really shouldn’t do that,” Ju-young said gently, as if comforting Jeong-in. “Seeing someone you love in pain is naturally heartbreaking. But if you don’t realize it until later, it won’t just hurt. You’ll shed tears of blood.”

No words could express that feeling. Ju-young put on his coat.

“I’m going to take Taffy out for a walk, so call me if anything happens.”

“…Okay.”

Taffy started moving ahead toward the entrance to eagerly wait by the door.

Watching them, Jeong-in pulled out his phone, thinking about which of his dads to call when the phone rang loudly in his hand.

“Yeah, Dad.”

It was his older uncle, Jeong-hoon. As soon as Jeong-in answered, his warm voice poured out like honey.

“I’m okay now. No… I was just really out of it that day. I just… came to Uncle’s place because it’s closer to school.”

Jeong-in explained why he hadn’t gone home or to the office.

Had he eaten? Was he feeling better? How was school? Jeong-in answered his questions calmly, and then there was a brief silence on the line.

“Oh, right.”

Fidgeting with the cup, Jeong opened his mouth slowly. Listening to Ju-young reminded him of a vague memory.

He remembered the hand that had been resting on his forehead all night, and the quiet sighs next to his bedside.

“Hey, Dad…”

How was Younger Uncle doing?

“…”

Was he really sad?

“…It’s nothing.”

He wanted to ask about it casually, but his throat suddenly felt tight. The words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed down.

“I love you too. Bye.”

In the end, he dropped his head again. The round light in his glass of milk floated like a moon.