Even though the weekday evening rush hour had passed, the lane connecting Yeonhui-dong to the Donggyo-dong intersection was narrow, and red taillights stretched ahead of us in a long line. It looked like we'd have to wait through at least two or three more light changes before we could make the right turn.

"We're almost there and now we're stuck."

Juhan hyung muttered, sounding bored as he rested an elbow against the window frame. Hyung and I were on our way home after delivering a piece to a client's residence in Yeonhui-dong.

"You could just drop me off here..."

"We're basically there already. Are you in a hurry?"

"No. I'll have to wait for hyung and nuna to finish anyway... I can just walk slowly from here."

"We're headed that way anyway. Is hyung and nuna buying you dinner because you were sick?"

I brushed off the question with an awkward smile and turned my gaze out the window. The days had noticeably grown longer, and the shops were only just beginning to light up their signs. Outside a Korean barbecue restaurant, staff were setting out folding tables and chairs on the sidewalk.

At Phantom, everyone thought I'd been sick. My body had briefly malfunctioned from the shock, but strictly speaking, I hadn't actually been ill. The Director, however, had been firm about it.

The following day, late in the afternoon, he drove me to the Teacher's residence himself and advised me to take two more days off. Although he phrased it as a suggestion, it was practically an order. He said that if I came to work, everyone would just worry about me, and told me to rest until I had fully recovered. I didn't really have the right to refuse.

Yuni nuna and Juhan hyung seemed convinced that I'd gotten sick from overworking myself—helping with gallery duties and then assisting with the Old Future shoot that same day. I tried explaining several times that I'd forced down a hamburger that wouldn't go down properly and probably upset my stomach, but neither of them seemed inclined to believe me.

Whether for that reason or another, I felt strangely embarrassed, wondering if I'd somehow gained a reputation for being frail. In reality, there was nothing wrong with my body.

Well. Maybe that wasn't entirely true.

After my first sexual experience with another person, my body might have changed from before. Each time I revisited that night — lying in his bed, that version of myself I barely recognized — I felt like I understood what it meant to be human less and less.

It was my first time having sex with someone else, so naturally it was also my first time observing my own reactions to it. But even so, the boldness of it fell far outside any range I had ever anticipated. I, who even when masturbating had only ever focused on reaching climax quickly and efficiently, as though dealing with an unavoidable physiological function... to have done that...

I let out a sigh without realizing it and rested my forehead against the window. I felt Juhan hyung's gaze flicker over to me, but no question followed.

Even if I harbored feelings or curiosity toward him that strayed slightly outside the ordinary, that was ultimately my own personal matter. Between the two of us, what happened that night was gradually settling into something akin to an act of first aid.

That night, I was far from my right mind due to severe shock, and he had simply taken special measures to help me forget everything and rest — not unlike pricking a finger to relieve indigestion, though the emotional reality was far more complicated. He was disconcertingly his usual self, yet it was precisely that attitude that had allowed me to regain my balance.

Sometimes, lying alone and retracing the events of that day, I would rub my ear as if I could still feel the warmth of his breath against it. That was all that remained — along with the lingering scent, that powerful fragrance that had enveloped my entire body from beginning to end that night.

Perhaps because I was thinking about it, even though I wasn't alone in bed now, my shoulders twitched as if he were whispering in my ear again, asking me to say something obscene. Flustered by the reaction that rose up in the confined space with someone else present, I rubbed my warm ears with my palms. The phone resting on my knee buzzed.

I looked down. An unsaved number. I muted it and turned my gaze back out the window. Our car was still in front of the barbecue restaurant.

"Wasn't that your phone? Aren't you going to answer?"

Juhan hyung pointed toward it with his chin and asked.

"I hardly ever answer numbers I don't have saved."

"Ah... because of the elopement?"

Juhan hyung said playfully, tapping the bottom of the steering wheel lightly with his fist. Then he added,

"More accurately, the elopement plus Seo Ihyeon?"

"......"

"I didn't mean to sting you. Don't look so down, man."

I knew that wasn't his intention, so I wasn't exactly deflated — but it was true that for the three of us to make it to Seoul as Morae nuna and Juhan hyung's elopement, I was the one who had to bow out.

"That still hasn't been resolved? You still have to be careful?"

When I nodded, Juhan hyung fiddled with the piercing on his lip and furrowed his brow.

"Most parents would forgive something like this by now. Then again, I'm still in a cold war with my own parents."

He chuckled lightly, touching on his own pain in passing.

"Turns out 'no parent can win against their child' only goes so far."

As the car ahead finally started moving, Juhan hyung released the brake and added indifferently.

I agreed with that. Not every parent necessarily put their child above all else. Some parents might find strength in their child's existence in extreme situations — and perhaps most did — but there were also parents in this world who simply couldn't.

I knew that in theory. I had even held the arrogant thought that I might be able to understand my father, even if I couldn't forgive him. But the reaction my body had shown in the Director's living room told me that had been a complete delusion.

It wasn't the right phrase for this kind of situation, I knew — but my body was honest. That was the reaction my body showed before the phantom of the past, symbolized by that painting. Proof that the past hadn't been sealed away — that it still held dominion over the present.

If just two more cars had cleared the intersection, there would have been a gap to turn right — but we had to wait for the light one more time. This time, we stopped in front of a charming little bakery.

Juhan hyung looked out at the shops and remarked that this neighborhood had lost all its former quietness. His expression was the same as always, but just because he didn't constantly lament his wounds didn't mean he had overcome them. A wound inflicted by one's parents wouldn't simply disappear just because you left home and stopped seeing them.

The light changed again, and after we made the right turn, it was only a short drive to What Happened in Bali. Juhan hyung leaned his upper body over the steering wheel, scrutinizing the old single-story building where the café was, and spoke.

"So this is it. It wasn't even registered on the GPS, so I had no idea where it was."

The owner didn't want the café filled with people who only dropped by to take a few photos for social media, so she hadn't listed What Happened in Bali on any search portals either.

"Juhan hyung, if you don't mind, would you like to come in for a bit? I could at least treat you to a drink."

He seemed to consider it, fiddling with the piercing on his lip for a moment and glancing toward the café.

"I'd like to, but... I have plans with the guys from my old band. I'll come by with Baek Yuni next time."

"Please do. I'll treat you to a meal then too. The nasi goreng is delicious."

Since it was a narrow residential alley, he couldn't leave the car parked for long. I thanked him for the ride and got out, and Juhan hyung quickly drove off down the alley.

"Seo Ihyeon!"

I turned around. Morae nuna was standing outside the café, smiling with her hands tucked into the pockets of her apron. It had been almost a week since I'd last seen her.

"Who was that?"

Morae came up beside me and pointed at the retreating car Juhan hyung was riding in. It wasn't his personal car, but one of Phantom's company vehicles used for deliveries and business errands.

"A hyung I work with at the gallery."

"He drove you all the way here? You should've invited him in for a glass of punch."

"I did... but he said he had plans."

"Next time, make sure you come together. He works with you, so I should make a good impression."

Morae bumped my shoulder with hers and grinned.

On the surface, everything seemed peaceful, but as Juhan hyung had said, we were still in a position where we had to keep a low profile. I trusted the Phantom crew, but hearing Morae suggest inviting them to What Happened in Bali without a second thought sent a flicker of anxiety through me. Part of me felt she should have been more cautious.

But I didn't mention any of it. I simply said I understood and followed her inside. The call from the unknown number still lingered in the back of my mind, but I kept that to myself as well.

Nothing would happen. Even if someone tried to dig up my personal information, the sharp-witted Phantom crew would handle it. And the call from that unknown number was probably just someone selling water purifiers, phone plans, or loan products—or simply a wrong number. Like reciting a mantra, I smothered my anxiety with those thoughts.

If I made up my mind and pushed for it, Morae and hyung could leave Seoul soon. I just needed a little more time. Until then, I hoped this fragile peace could withstand the weight of my anxiety.

It was Friday evening, and the café was nearly full. The owner, who had returned from Bali in the meantime, greeted me warmly from the kitchen alongside hyung. A new board had appeared on one of the café's walls, something the owner must have bought in Bali.

It felt like a notice demanding a decision from me, so I pretended not to notice and quietly set my bag down in my usual seat by the counter.

"We're closing at ten tonight, so hang around. The owner brought back a lot of interesting things from Bali. I'll show you later."

Morae, who had just taken an additional order from another table, ruffled my hair before heading behind the bar to make drinks.

Is hyung and nuna buying you dinner because you were sick? Juhan hyung had teased. But I hadn't told Morae or hyung anything about what happened that day, or about the two days I'd missed afterward. Today was both a staff dinner for What Happened in Bali and a welcome-back gathering for the owner's return. Since it was Friday, Morae and hyung had invited me to stop by, see everyone, and eat together. There was no reason to bring up something that would only make them worry, and besides, I still wasn't ready to put the shock of that day into words.

The practice notebook I always used like a sketchbook whenever I came to the café had been replaced with a new one. Seeing it reminded me of the old notebook, which had only a few pages left—and naturally, of the memo about the surfing school written inside. It felt as though another notice had landed with a thump on the desk inside my head.

I shoved the imaginary notice into an imaginary desk drawer and flipped through the new notebook until I found a blank page. As with all doodling, my hand began moving unconsciously, despite having no particular plan for what to draw.

Inside, as always, light, easygoing music played, carried by string instruments and what sounded like a ukulele. Combined with the murmur of customers talking, it created the perfect amount of background noise for concentration.

Without even sketching a guide first, I completed the outline of a face, then added a fully dressed body, complete with a vest, shirt, and trousers. The long ears belonged to a rabbit, but the proportions of the face and body were human.

I was so absorbed in drawing the shirt's ruffles, like swirls of whipped cream on a cake, that I didn't notice the incoming call at first. When my gaze happened to shift, I saw the call screen lit up on the phone resting on the table. Earlier, in the car, I'd switched it to silent mode and forgotten to turn vibration back on.

Fortunately, this time it was a number I recognized. It was Inwu hyung.

The café was a little too noisy for a proper conversation, so I grabbed my phone and stepped out into the alley in front. Leaning against the utility pole beside the entrance, half-hidden behind it, I answered the call.

[Why didn't you answer earlier?]

"Pardon me?"

As soon as the call connected, Inwu hyung got straight to the point.

[My phone battery died and I couldn't find anywhere to charge it. I borrowed someone else's phone to call you, but you weren't answering.]

"Oh..."

So that had been Inwu hyung. Relief washed over me, and I let out a small laugh. Slipping my hands into my jeans pockets, I scuffed the sole of my sneaker against the curb.

[I heard you weren't feeling well. I wanted to see your face once you were feeling better, so I called.]

I had no idea the news had reached Inwu hyung too. All week, ever since my absence, I'd been hearing concern from everyone around me—almost more concern than I deserved.

"The Director told me to rest, so I took a few days off, but it was really just a slight stomach upset. Thank you for worrying about me."

[If that cold-blooded man voluntarily told you to take two whole days off, it wasn't just a slight stomach upset.... You didn't even go to the hospital, did you? I'm a doctor. I'll see you for free, so if you're willing, let me take a look. Where are you? I'll come pick you up.]

Even though I already had plans, I hesitated for a moment.

There was something I'd been curious about for days, but I hadn't had anyone suitable to ask.

I had considered asking the Teacher, but it felt like too abrupt a topic. I'd thought about casually bringing it up with Juhan hyung while we were making deliveries, but he was too perceptive, and I lost my nerve. The Alpha closest to me was Morae nuna, of course, but she rarely talked about her own Alpha tendencies in the first place. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable for no reason.

Inwu hyung was neither too close nor too distant, and I felt his naturally easygoing demeanor might make certain topics easier to bring up. At least, that was my reasoning.

But plans were plans. After thanking him for his concern and declining because I already had somewhere to be, I ended the call with Inwu hyung, who sounded disappointed.

Inwu hyung, who seemed carefree at first glance, was a more complicated person the better I got to know him. Nearly everything he said and did was playful enough that taking him completely at face value could leave you looking foolish later, yet sometimes it felt as though he hid genuine sincerity inside that playfulness. It was difficult to tell where the joke ended and the truth began. In that sense, he was exactly like his artwork.

Because the impression I got from his paintings perfectly matched the impression I got from him as a person, I had, somewhat amusingly, lowered my guard around Inwu hyung compared to when we first met. Even if he hid his sincerity behind a flirtatious tone and casual detachment, he was never the kind of person to deny that sincerity existed and pretend to be something he wasn't.

"What are you drawing? A person? A rabbit?"

When I returned to my seat, Morae was standing there, peering down at my drawing from an angle. I'd become so absorbed in it that it had progressed well beyond what could reasonably be called a doodle. Feeling embarrassed, I quietly pulled the notebook closer and sat down. I'd never been the type to show my drawings to other people. To me, they were something like a diary.

"It's Mr. Rabbit."

"Mr. Rabbit?"

"From Alice in Wonderland."

"Oh... that Mr. Rabbit. His sunglasses are cool."

Morae sat down beside me, stretched out her legs, and hummed along to the music playing overhead. She wasn't looking at the drawing anymore, but I still couldn't concentrate. The truth was, there was another reason the tip of my pen had gone dull.

"Nuna... would it be okay if we ate together another time?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong..."

I was surprised by how reluctant I still was to let go of an invitation I'd already turned down, and explaining the situation with Inwu hyung felt awkward too. It made me realize how many things had piled up that I hadn't told Morae nuna since we stopped living together.

"Someone from the gallery?"

"Uh... no. Never mind. Forget it."

"What? Didn't you bring it up because you wanted to go?"

"It's not that I want to go..."

Morae was sensitive to other people's emotions. She responded thoughtfully not only to her own feelings, but to the feelings of those around her. That didn't mean she was impulsive or the kind of person who made major life decisions based solely on whatever emotions she happened to be feeling in the moment.

"Hey. What are you hiding from me?"

"No, really. I didn't bring it up because I wanted to go. I won't go. I don't want to."

"Seo Ihyeon."

She deliberately draped an arm over my shoulder and leaned her weight into me.

"I'm begging you—please go meet other people. Okay?"

She exaggerated her expression, like someone trying to shake off an annoying stalker.

"I'm so happy that since coming to Seoul, you've been working and actually spending time with people. Is this because of what I said last time about feeling hurt or left out?"

I used to think the same thing. That there was nothing we couldn't say to each other. What could I possibly keep from the two people who already knew my greatest weaknesses?

But that wasn't true.

I hadn't told them that I'd seen my painting at the Director's house. I hadn't told them that seeing it had sent me into a panic, that I'd hyperventilated, and that when I came to, I was asleep in his bed. I didn't want them to worry. And I had no intention of telling anyone about sleeping with the Director.

I wasn't foolish enough to think these changes meant we had never been as close as I'd believed. If anything, it simply meant my life until now had been too simple. In my twenty-two-year-old world, there had been only Morae nuna and Yeehan hyung. Everyone else had been empty space.

So it wasn't unreasonable that the two of them couldn't bring themselves to leave me behind. They simply weren't capable of being that cruel.

Resting her temple against my shoulder, Morae seemed to sense the complicated expression on my face. She tapped Mr. Rabbit on the notebook.

"I like this one. Can I put it up in our café?"

· · · · ·

Inwu hyung had offered to come pick me up wherever I was, but I felt perfectly fine — there was no reason to make him go to that trouble. When I kept insisting and only vaguely told him I was somewhere around Hongdae, he let out a sigh on the other end of the line and told me to meet him at a nearby location in a few minutes.

The meeting spot was a newly opened hotel near Hongdae. As a boutique hotel, it wasn't the kind of place that demanded strict formality, but it was still intimidating in its own way — trendy and sophisticated enough to make me self-conscious.

Hyung was waiting for me in the lobby, seated on an egg-shaped chair. As if this wasn't his first visit, he effortlessly led the way to the elevator hall and took me straight up to the bar on the fifteenth floor.

It must have been a popular place. Even at a glance, there were five or six groups — around twenty people — waiting for tables at the entrance. Since our plans had been made so suddenly, I couldn't imagine getting a reservation had been easy, but a staff member in a sleek black suit that looked like a uniform led us directly to the outdoor rooftop terrace.

Even the indoor seating I'd glimpsed in passing was completely full. The rooftop was no different, packed with people enjoying the cool evening air and the view. The crowd ranged from people in their twenties to those in their forties and fifties, but regardless of age, everyone was dressed stylishly. As usual, I found myself glancing down at my striped t-shirt and jeans.

I wondered if there was an unspoken dress code, but Inwu hyung didn't seem to care about what I was wearing at all. I pulled my gaze away from the frayed sleeves of my t-shirt. It wasn't as if I could change clothes now.

"You've really lost weight."

After ordering a few things at my request and sending the server away, Inwu hyung rested his arms on the table and leaned forward.

"I haven't..."

I felt guilty receiving so much concern when I hadn't even been sick enough to call it an actual illness. Embarrassed, I rubbed at my face and mumbled the response.

"I'm a doctor, remember? You've gotten gaunt. Your complexion doesn't look great either. Did I drag you out here for nothing? You said you'd been back at work since the day before yesterday, and tomorrow's Saturday, so I figured I'd reach out."

"I really am fine. If anything, I'm the one who said I couldn't make it and then contacted you again afterward... Sorry for making things complicated."

"I'm the one who reached out first because I wanted to see you. I was disappointed when I thought we wouldn't be able to meet, then got so excited when you contacted me again. But that wasn't... some kind of technique, was it?"

"......"

I tried to read his expression, wondering what exactly he meant, but Inwu hyung simply lowered his shoulders and let out a small laugh.

"I'm just saying I was happy to see you after thinking I wouldn't."

I couldn't tell whether it was one of his usual jokes or something sincere, so I sat there awkwardly unable to react either way, until the wine and appetizers arrived.

Instead of the server who had taken our order, a man wearing a gold nameplate that read Manager brought over the wine and food, exchanging warm greetings with Inwu hyung. From their conversation, I gathered that he'd once been a popular bartender at a famous bar Inwu hyung frequented before recently being recruited to manage this place.

It was a world I had nothing to do with, so I quietly listened to their conversation and nodded when Inwu hyung introduced me. The moment the word Phantom came up, the manager gave me a quick once-over, curiosity plainly visible in his eyes.

I thought of the Director, the Teacher, Yuni nuna, and Juhan hyung — their distinctive styles and personalities — and felt a faint bitterness at the thought of how I must look compared to them in the manager's eyes right now.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Pardon?"

As soon as the manager finished opening the wine, poured the first glass, and left, Inwu hyung proposed a toast. Before I had even lowered my glass, he asked the question.

"You said you couldn't make it because you already had plans, then contacted me again asking to meet. Maybe I wouldn't think much of it if it were someone else, but you, Ihyeon-ssi? I figured there had to be something you wanted to say. Am I wrong?"

I felt embarrassed, as though he had seen right through the reason I'd agreed to meet him alone. At the same time, I was relieved that I wouldn't have to force myself to figure out how to bring up the subject.

The opportunity had been handed to me, but I still needed a little more courage. Even the kind that comes from a few drinks. I picked up the glass I'd just set down and took three or four more sips of wine.

"Lately... there's been something I've been curious about... and I don't really have anyone around I can ask."

Across from me, Inwu hyung wore a gentle smile, clearly trying to make it easier for me to speak. Even so, I felt like one of those people who says, This isn't about me, it's about a friend... while insisting their own problem belongs to someone else.

"I... haven't really had much interaction with Alphas or Omegas before now. But most of Phantom's clients are Alphas or Omegas..."

"Hmm..."

Inwu hyung, who had been resting his elbows on the table with his hands loosely clasped beneath his chin, shifted positions and traced the base of his wine glass with his fingertips.

"I thought it might help if I learned more about their characteristics going forward..."

It was a clumsy excuse, but I couldn't tell him the truth. I had a feeling Inwu hyung would either let it slide despite knowing perfectly well I was making excuses, or tease his way deeper into the subject. One of the two.

Still, for all his playfulness, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would make light of someone else's feelings. That baseless sense of trust was probably what had unconsciously driven me to call him back.

"Did something happen with an Alpha or Omega?"

"Not... exactly..."

Even as I denied it, my gaze dropped on its own. From the moment I'd decided to confide in Inwu hyung, I'd expected he might piece together at least part of the situation. Even so, getting the words out was harder than I'd anticipated.

"Go ahead and ask. If Ihyeon-ssi is curious, I'm happy to play the intellectual. There's far too much hearsay floating around online anyway."

Inwu hyung took a sip of wine, set the glass down, and leaned forward a little more, looking ready to listen. But for me, coming here in the first place had been an impulsive decision. I needed a moment to steady myself.

After excusing myself, I got up from the table.

I escaped to the restroom to buy some time, but the space — aggressively decorated with pop-art paintings and props — only made it harder to calm down. After splashing water on my face beside a group of men around my age loudly debating where to go next after leaving the bar, I came back out having gained nothing from the detour.

Meanwhile, Inwu hyung was on a call. I didn't know who he was talking to, but from the way he leaned lazily against the back of his chair, legs stretched out and one foot bobbing idly, his expression radiating pleasure, it was obvious whoever he was talking to had put him in a very good mood.

"He's here. I should hang up."

Spotting me, hyung straightened up as if to end the call. Then, suddenly grinning mischievously, he stopped the person on the other end before they could disconnect.

"Ah, aren't you curious who it is? At least say hello."

After saying that, Inwu hyung immediately handed me his phone as I was about to sit down. I accepted it on reflex, though I had no idea who was calling either. Still, I didn't want to stand there arguing over the phone while keeping some anonymous caller waiting.

"...Hello..."

[......]

No response.

I glanced at Inwu hyung across the table, but he only gestured for me to keep talking.

"Hello?"

[Are you drinking?]

"Ah..."

A foolish, inarticulate sound slipped out before I could stop it.

Come to think of it, there weren't many people Inwu hyung would hand the phone over to me for.

"Yes... just a little wine..."

I fiddled with the glass on the table, trailing off, which made it sound exactly like I was making an excuse. There was no reason I should have been excusing myself, yet it came out that way because his question — Are you drinking? — carried the faintest trace of reproach.

[It hasn't been that long... since you were sick.]

There was a long pause between sentences. Eventually, he added that.

I could hear the hesitation in his voice, as though he was reluctant to bring up that day. After all, both of us knew I hadn't really been sick.

"Yes. I'm only planning to have a glass or two."

I had assumed he would never mention that day again, so even this much made me tense.

All week at Phantom, he had spoken to me about work while looking me straight in the eye, without any hesitation. Neither his attitude nor his tone had changed. I'd taken that as intentional. Everything that had happened that night — the Alienation, the hyperventilation, even sleeping together afterward — was something to be filed away as an unavoidable accident that had occurred outside the boundaries of ordinary life.

[You have a habit of drinking whatever's in front of you when you get nervous. Didn't you drink quite a bit of wine last time too?]

When we went to that Spanish pub, he hadn't seemed particularly interested in our group — me included. Or at least, that's how it looked on the surface.

But that was the only time I'd ever drunk wine.

And as he'd just pointed out, even now I'd already had more than I'd planned simply because I was nervous.

I didn't know how to respond to someone who kept repeating himself in a way so unlike him, sounding almost worried. While I sat there moving my lips without answering, he let out a long sigh.

Even through the phone, it felt close enough that I could almost feel the breath against my cheek. I found myself imagining him roughly tousling his thick hair with one hand.

Silence.

I couldn't tell what that silence was trying to draw out of me. Even though all I could hear was his breathing through the phone, my ears began tingling again, and my shoulders threatened to curl inward. By reflex, I imagined I could smell him.

All week, I'd had to endure those sudden assaults of his scent. There were moments when I thought I sensed it even when he wasn't at Phantom.

And now that scent inevitably brought back memories of that night's sexual encounter.

It was troublesome.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, I took another sip of wine.

From the other end came the rustle of movement, the sharp click of a lighter, then the sound of a deep inhale and a slow exhale.

He seemed to be smoking.

Behind Inwu hyung, separated from us by a tall flower bed, a couple spent an absurdly long time taking selfies. Our silence stretched on. After a few more drags of his cigarette, he finally seemed to reach a decision and spoke in a voice that, if anything, sounded surprisingly lighter than before.

[Can you put Choi Inwu on?]

After all that hesitation, I hadn't expected him to ask for Inwu hyung.

Can I come over there? Where is it?

At the very least, I had expected something like that. Or perhaps another warning about Inwu hyung, like the one he'd given at the Manager's dining table — that he wasn't exactly the best person to get involved with romantically.

Maybe I was being self-conscious, but there had been a tension in his silence that made me think he was working up to something along those lines.

"Yes, then."

My answer came a beat late because my expectations had missed the mark.

Embarrassed by how far ahead I'd let my imagination run, I lightly bit my lower lip before releasing it. Then I held the phone out to Inwu hyung, who still looked pleased.

"What do you mean, why? I told you, I called because I was curious how the art fair was going to turn out."

Whatever he heard, hyung's expression tightened the moment he pressed the phone to his ear.

The next instant, his face relaxed into a knowing smile.

"Who knows. I'm not the one with a pheromone fixation."

Still swirling his wine glass, Inwu hyung tipped the last of the wine into his mouth.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I couldn't shake the feeling that hyung was deliberately provoking him. The teasing tone and amused smile gave that impression.

As for what had actually been said, I had no idea.

"Hey, Liu-ssi. What are you worried about? Pheromones are useless on a Beta. What's gotten into you? Is this some kind of early-stage manifestation? You act like nothing's impossible if you have pheromones—like people will just rip their clothes off and come running the moment you step outside."

As soon as Inwu hyung emptied his glass, a staff member appeared from nowhere, lifted the wine bottle from the iron basket on the table, and quietly refilled it.

My hands, loosely clasped in my lap, tightened together.

Beta. Pheromones.

The very subjects I'd wanted to ask about were already coming out of hyung's mouth.

I couldn't help wondering what he had said to prompt such an irritated reaction.

"Just focus on the Hong Kong Art Fair. I'd like to see some of my paintings make it into the international market too. I'm hanging up."

Without giving the other side a chance to reply, hyung cut the call short, then pushed his phone to the far side of the table and shrugged.

"He's impossible."

He added as if the person on the other end could somehow still hear him.

"Sorry. Did I startle you by handing the phone over so suddenly? I wanted to show off a little."

"......"

"That I get to meet Ihyeon-ssi one-on-one."

He lifted his glass to his lips, his gaze locked onto mine.

Showing off only works when the other person is capable of being jealous. If he genuinely meant to brag about meeting me, he'd chosen the wrong audience.

All the effort he'd put into making that call must have gone to waste. Smiling faintly, I raised my glass and merely brushed it against my lips before setting it back down.

"What you were just saying..."

After a few false starts, I finally managed to bring it up. Since the topic had already come up, it felt like the right opening.

"Betas... can't sense the pheromones of Alphas or Omegas, right?"

He crossed his legs and leaned back loosely against the armrest.

"What do you mean?"

"Since I'm a Beta... even if my clients are Alphas or Omegas, that means I don't need to worry about pheromones and can just work normally, right?"

Inwu hyung, who had been watching me with a faint smile, leaned forward and extended his hands across the table.

"Ihyeon-ssi, would you look at me for a moment?"

With his palms facing upward, his outstretched hands seemed to be asking me to take them. Hesitantly, I placed my hand lightly over his. His fingers curled inward and closed around mine.

The smile gradually disappeared from his face as he looked at me. Like a doctor searching a patient's complexion for signs of illness. Like a fortune-teller reading traces of the past and future in a client's eyes. Hyung studied both of my eyes slowly, intently.

I couldn't tell what he was trying to do, but it was the first time I'd ever seen Inwu hyung look that serious. I couldn't laugh it off or look away. Tall planters separated each seating area, so there was no need to worry about the other patrons, but a staff member passing by noticed our joined hands on the table and glanced between hyung's face and mine. The attention made me self-conscious, and I looked over instinctively. Almost at the same moment, Inwu hyung let out a soft chuckle and released my hand.

Trading my hand for his wine glass, Inwu hyung leaned against the table and smiled, the corners of his eyes narrowing slightly.

"If a Beta could sense an Alpha's pheromones."

"......"

"We'd probably be downstairs by now, tangled up in the backseat of my car."

If I'd understood correctly, hyung had just released his pheromones toward me.

But there was nothing. No sexual arousal. No unusual sensation. Nothing that felt different from normal. All I could feel was the refreshing early-summer breeze drifting through the fifteenth-floor terrace and the lingering gaze of the staff member who'd passed by—equal parts curiosity and confusion.

I had come here on impulse, wanting a clear answer to the question that had been nagging at me. Yet that brief little experiment alone already seemed to have given me part of it.

"The basics are easy enough to find online, so you probably already know this... but Alpha and Omega pheromones aren't just scents. They're classified as a type of releaser pheromone—something that triggers an immediate response in the individual who receives it. Put simply, they're sexual pheromones."

Perhaps realizing he was getting too technical, hyung paused and let his eyes drift as he searched for a simpler way to explain it. Then he distilled Alpha and Omega pheromones down to a single phrase.

Sexual pheromones.

That was true. It might sound a little blunt, but when you stripped everything else away, Alpha and Omega pheromones were ultimately sexual pheromones. Substances designed to sexually arouse another person and initiate a connection—not from affection or interest, but for the purpose of sexual arousal.

Inwu hyung set down his glass and pushed it aside, closer to his phone. I, on the other hand, swallowed more of the dark red liquid, wetting my mouth and throat, which had tightened for reasons I couldn't quite identify.

"In other animals, pheromones are detected by an accessory olfactory organ called the Jacobson's organ, but in humans, that organ has completely atrophied. The same goes for Alphas and Omegas."

"Then..."

Hyung rested his arms on the table, adjusted his posture, and continued, cracking open the shells of the nuts served alongside the wine.

"Alphas and Omegas do perceive each other's pheromones through scent, but the scent itself isn't what's affecting them. It's the reaction the scent triggers in the brain. In other words, the smell is just the delivery mechanism. When an Alpha or Omega detects a pheromone, the brain performs a function that effectively replaces the Jacobson's organ. The scent still travels through the normal olfactory pathway, but the response it produces is completely different from ordinary smell. For a Beta, a scent is just a scent. The brain can recognize it, remember it, even associate it with certain experiences, but it doesn't analyze that scent and trigger the kind of powerful secondary reactions that pheromones cause in Alphas and Omegas."

After completely crushing the shell of a small nut roughly the size and shape of a ginkgo nut, Inwu hyung picked up another and rolled it idly around in his palm.

His gaze, angled somewhere around my chest, seemed distant, as though he'd drifted into his own thoughts or memories. For an Alpha like him, pheromones might be a medium that called up countless experiences. Things Betas never need to go through. Things they could live their entire lives without ever consciously noticing.

"Unpleasant, pleasant, comforting... Betas have a sense of smell too, but it's hard to say that smell alone compels behavior. Smelling a certain scent and becoming so uncontrollably furious you start breaking things. Or feeling so infinitely at peace that you fall asleep as if you've taken a sedative. Or being swept up in a sexual urge so overwhelming that you want someone in a dangerous place, in a position you'd never normally consider...

Having crushed the second shell as well, hyung placed the smooth kernel on the plate and brushed the fragments from his fingers.

"A scent alone doesn't produce that kind of extreme reaction in a Beta, does it?"

Meeting hyung's gaze as it traveled up from my chest to my face, I nodded in agreement... But the confusion over being consumed by an uncontrollable sexual urge and acting in ways completely unlike my usual self—that was exactly why I'd come here today.

But that day had been my first sexual experience with another person. I had no basis for comparison. I couldn't tell whether that kind of passion was simply part of who I was—it had certainly felt intense by my standards, especially compared to when I was alone—or whether I'd reacted that way because of the circumstances. And I hadn't exactly been in the most stable frame of mind, either.

My throat felt dry again. I reached for the wine.

"Humans can distinguish an incredible number of different scents using only about a thousand olfactory receptors, but we still don't fully understand how that works. So when it comes to Alpha and Omega pheromones, there's even more we don't know. As for why Betas can't even detect the scent, let alone react to it, there are plenty of experiments and theories, but no definitive answer yet. That's simply where the science stands right now."

The media's attitude toward Alphas and Omegas was extreme.

In movies, dramas, and variety shows, they were portrayed as romantic figures—beautiful, talented, and utterly helpless in the face of love. This despite the fact that the idea of Alphas and Omegas being genetically superior to Betas had been disproven long ago. Meanwhile, the news often painted them as dangerous or incapable of self-control, fueled by sex scandals involving wealthy Alphas and Omegas and sexual crimes committed by those in more precarious circumstances.

The fact that many Alphas and Omegas were socially successful didn't mean that most successful people were Alphas or Omegas. The overwhelming majority of humanity was Beta. In a world where being Beta was considered normal, I'd never really thought about what it meant to live as an Alpha or an Omega.

I had never been particularly curious about their biological differences, but I hadn't taken the time to understand them, either. Morae nuna, the person closest to me, was an Alpha — but because she never revealed that about herself, I naturally treated and accepted her as though she were a Beta. Even if she chose to live that way, and even if she were in a relationship with Yeehan hyung, who wasn't an Omega, Lim Morae was still an Alpha, and that didn't change.

As I searched for information online, I kept coming across all kinds of misleading content—curiosity-driven misinformation and rumors that read more like fiction—passing by constantly. Perhaps it was precisely because the mechanism of pheromones still hadn't been scientifically explained that Betas kept interpreting them in romantic terms, or simply filling in the gaps with speculation and rumors.

Hyung had gone quiet, and from the steadiness of his gaze, it seemed he was waiting for some kind of reaction. I fiddled with the edge of the coated paper coaster and opened my mouth.

"Hmm. That's difficult..."

"My explanation?"

I shook my head. Hyung's explanation had been so clear and considerate that even someone as unknowledgeable about Alphas and Omegas as I was could follow it without much effort.

"I understand the explanation itself... but what it actually feels like to live under the influence of something like that. It seems like the kind of thing Betas can't easily grasp — something too large to be summed up as just a feeling."

I didn't think they were in a worse position than Betas. It wasn't something you could easily judge.

Hyung chuckled, easing the weight of my words.

"There's that saying, right? If women are from Venus and men are from Mars, then Betas are from Pluto, and Alphas and Omegas might as well be from an entirely different solar system. It's only natural that understanding each other is difficult. I don't really know what it feels like to live an entire life without the influence of pheromones either."

Hyung shrugged.

He wasn't wrong. Given their structural physiological differences—and everything that stemmed from them—it was inevitable they would struggle to fully understand one another. And even setting pheromones aside, humans were already divided in countless ways: nationality, culture, age, income, occupation, education. Conflict between different groups was everywhere.

Society was structured in such a complex way that people who seemed to belong to the same group under one standard—speaking with a single voice in pursuit of shared interests—could end up on opposite sides when seen from another perspective.

As I tried to pull my thoughts back from drifting too far, I reached for the wine again. The phone on the table vibrated lightly. From the short buzz, it seemed like a messenger notification.

"It's fine — go ahead and check it."

There was nothing urgent waiting for me, and we were in the middle of a conversation, so I had been trying not to pay attention — but Inwu hyung pointed at my phone first and urged me to check it.

As I checked the message, hyung watched with obvious interest. That familiar, playful smile of his looked like it might spill right off his lips.

"What does it say?"

"Asking if I'll be late tonight."

“Hmm… telling you to come home early? To go easy on the drinking?”

“No, they don't really get involved in things like that.”

I typed a reply into the messenger window while stealing a glance at hyung. His expression, cheerful just a moment ago, shifted in an instant—clearly disappointed.

“Liu Weikun, right?”

“Uh… it's Teacher.”

I didn't know what made Inwu hyung so certain it would be him, but he looked noticeably disappointed.

While I took a sip of wine, another message arrived almost immediately from Teacher. After replying to her suggestion that we have dinner tomorrow evening if I was free, I quietly turned my phone face down again.

Watching hyung slump against the armrest like someone who'd just confirmed the message wasn't from the lover he'd been waiting for, I forced myself to speak first. For some reason, I felt responsible for getting the conversation back on track.

"So Betas really can't detect pheromones at all?"

Hyung shrugged once, then straightened his slouched posture.

"There are plenty of movies and dramas where a Beta exposed to Alpha or Omega pheromones describes them as some kind of blissful scent... but that's all just fantasy. According to current research findings, it is impossible for a Beta to detect pheromones or react to them. Impossible."

By repeating the word twice, Inwu hyung emphasized that there wasn't even the slightest possibility.

Pheromones might be transmitted through scent, but they didn't actually act through the olfactory system itself. And a Beta couldn't even detect the scent of pheromones in the first place. At least, that was what most sources online claimed.

That said, it wasn't hard to find people arguing the opposite. And beneath those posts, heated debates inevitably broke out. Most of the criticism accused people of twisting established facts into sentimental speculation.

"There's a study where male mice had their Jacobson's organs rendered non-functional and were then observed afterward. The results showed sexual behavior toward both female and male mice. It's evidence that the Jacobson's organ responds to female pheromones and directs courtship behavior specifically toward females. It also shows just how heavily sexual behavior can be influenced by pheromones."

Our conversation was briefly interrupted as a staff member approached to refill hyung's glass, which had gone empty again.

I cast an aimless gaze at the deep crimson liquid filling the transparent glass and recalled a few anecdotes I had come across online. Most followed similar patterns — personal experiences, or stories claiming to be personal experiences.

Maybe those online "experiences" from Betas were nothing more than lies, exaggerations, or outright fiction — the ones claiming that an Alpha or Omega at work had suddenly overwhelmed them with such a sweet scent that their legs gave out and they found themselves clinging to the other person, unable to explain it as anything but a deliberate pheromone release meant to seduce them. But one thing I knew for certain was that my own experience had been real. As his scent suddenly deepened in concentration, I had been swept up in an intensity of pleasure far beyond anything ordinary.

Or perhaps my own experience was no different — just another fanciful story written by a Beta and colored by sentimental interpretation.

As soon as the glass was refilled and the staff member left, Inwu hyung immediately tilted it back and drank it down in one go, as easily as if it were cold beer. Then he looked at me and smiled.

"If a Beta feels sexual attraction toward a certain Alpha or Omega... it's simply because they're drawn to that person themselves. Not because of pheromones."

I couldn't tell whether Inwu hyung had already seen through how I felt, whether he was simply teasing me based on some vague intuition, or whether he had no particular intention at all and I was just getting worked up on my own. Since I hadn't sorted out my own feelings enough to be certain of them, I pretended not to notice and took another sip of wine.

You have a habit of drinking whatever's in front of you when you get nervous. I had no choice but to acknowledge how accurate that observation was.

"Whether you're an Alpha, an Omega, or a Beta — before any of that, you're human. When you spend time with someone, you can be drawn to them regardless of primary or secondary sex. Even between Betas, without any pheromonal influence, people can be captivated by looks and sleep together with no emotional connection. That's just how the world works. Without necessarily involving pheromones — Alphas and Betas, Omegas and Betas, Alphas and Omegas — if people catch each other's eye, they date, they have one-night stands. It happens. Because before any of that, we're all human.

He wasn't scolding me, but there was an edge of sarcasm in hyung's tone — perhaps aimed at those who treated Alphas and Omegas as nothing more than beasts driven entirely by their instincts. He popped the kernel he had just cracked out of its shell into his mouth and kept going.

"If you only felt sexual desire through pheromones... wouldn't that be a bit too primitive? You'd be no different from mice that throw themselves at anything, male or female, once their Jacobson's organs stop functioning. Alphas and Omegas can also be attracted to someone independent of pheromones."

If I, who cannot detect pheromones, could be drawn to an Alpha — then the reverse must be true for them as well. But in terms of raw sexual appeal, a Beta probably couldn't surpass an Omega's pheromones.

Suddenly, Shushu came to mind.

Even without sensing his pheromones, Shushu was an attractive person in his own right. Compared to an Omega who was already attractive even without the help of pheromones, wouldn't even the most appealing Beta seem like a faded black-and-white film to an Alpha?

I was surprised at myself for making such a preposterous comparison between Shushu and me. Not simply because it was an unfair comparison — though that was true too — but because the comparison itself made me flinch, as if it had exposed something I would rather not name.

"Ah, there's actually a prime example right near Ihyeon-ssi. An Alpha who manages his sex life entirely without pheromones."

Inwu hyung swallowed the wine he'd been drinking and lightly tapped the table. Then he added,

"Phantom's Director."

"......"

"He claims he never releases his pheromones to the people he sleeps with. Not that I'd know — I've never slept with him. Then again, with Liu Weikun's looks, influence, and wealth, he probably doesn't need pheromones anyway. But he does have a bit of a fixation about it."

I vaguely remembered Inwu hyung talking about this on the day we first drank wine at that Spanish-style pub. Back then I knew even less about Alphas and Omegas than I did now, but I recalled him teasing the Director — saying that pheromones needed circulation to function properly, so he should try releasing his own and getting a whiff of an Omega's in return.

"He probably just doesn't like the idea of being no different from a lab rat."

Hyung said it with an expression I couldn't quite read — somewhere between mockery and reluctant admiration for the fastidiousness — and smiled, the corner of his mouth pulling up crookedly.

"He was always a bit odd in that regard, even back in school. It was unofficially an Alpha and Omega institution, so Betas were actually the rare ones there. Most of the guys had a basic sense of Alpha entitlement and tried to coast through life on it. But that guy acted as if being an Alpha were something to be self-conscious about. Plenty of people looked down on him for it. They thought he was putting on airs.

I had read something similar in an article about artist Shushu. A special school in Hong Kong, effectively exclusive to Alphas and Omegas. From what had been said so far, it seemed he, Inwu hyung, and artist Shushu were all alumni of that school. As if reminiscing about the turbulent years of their youth, hyung stared at some point on the table for a moment before raising his head and grinning.

"But ironically, because he hated being played by his own pheromones, he put in enormous effort to master control — and ended up becoming a top-tier Golden Alpha. Even without that, his genetics had already given him strong Alpha potential, so his starting conditions were good. But control isn't something you perfect through genetics alone. Ah, is this getting too technical?"

"No. I've heard the basics..."

"Kwon Juhan?"

When I nodded, he gave a knowing chuckle, then added a word of advice: if I wanted accurate information about Alphas and Omegas, I should take about half of what Kwon Juhan said with a grain of salt.

"How was I? Did I do okay? As the resident intellectual?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his question; his chin was tilted up just slightly, a hint of self-satisfaction in the pose.

"Yes, much more helpful than Wikipedia. Thank you."

"I'm not usually someone who explains things so diligently. I was just pretending to be especially kind because it was you, Ihyeon-ssi."

I thanked him again, unable to tell whether that was a joke or something he meant. Whether he was only 'pretending to be kind' for my sake or not, the kindness itself was real.

"Anything else you're curious about?"

The doubts from that night had been resolved — there was no longer any reason to keep dwelling on them — but other lingering questions remained. I paused to consider before speaking. If not now, there probably wouldn't be another chance to ask.

"Before... why did you think I was an Alpha?"

"......"

His gaze and expression stiffened subtly. But the very next moment, a quiet smile turned toward me.

"Can I be honest?"

I nodded.

"Because I found you captivating."

He'd asked if he could be honest, but the word still made my face flush. Captivating... I'd never thought of myself that way. Not even once.

"It's not often you find yourself that drawn to someone when you know almost nothing about them. Since I couldn't sense any pheromones from you, you couldn't be an Omega. So I naturally assumed you must be an Alpha. That's what I thought. Even without actively releasing pheromones, there's something between Alphas and Omegas — a kind of pull that's hard to put into words."

From our very first meeting, hyung had shown an almost startling level of interest in me. Yet he was so straightforward about it that it felt more like teasing than a sincere confession. Even now, despite using a word like captivating, I couldn't tell how much of it he truly meant. From our first meeting until now, he'd stayed at that same ambiguous distance, never coming any closer.

"But that's just my perspective. As for why Kun felt Ihyeon-ssi was an Omega — I honestly don't know. That guy is a top-tier Golden Alpha; he almost never makes mistakes distinguishing between Alphas, Omegas, and Betas. Ihyeon-ssi must be his first."

Hyung's words sounded sweet on the surface, but not everything that is a "first" carries precious meaning. Because I was a Beta, not an Omega, I would be remembered by him simply as his first mistake.

He had been my first sexual partner. Come to think of it, we'd each ended up being a first for the other in some way. The thought was so oddly mundane that it made me laugh.

Whatever had pulled me into that terrifying intensity near the peak that night, it hadn't felt like a mere scent.

And yet Inwu hyung's explanation, along with every verified source, said the same thing: even if he had deliberately released his pheromones, you—a Beta—wouldn't have been able to detect them, let alone become sexually aroused by them.

That was only possible between an Alpha and an Omega. A Beta cannot understand the language of those from another solar system. No — before that, a Beta cannot even hear what language they are communicating in.

What Juhan hyung had once said — that someone like the Director could trigger a pheromonal response even in a Beta if he wanted to — was nothing more than the kind of baseless rumor that circulated online.

And if it was truly his rule—his fixation—not to release his pheromones to the people he slept with, then even if I'd been an Omega, there was no reason to think he'd have released them that night. The bold reactions I'd shown were most likely nothing more than my own passion. No—at this point, I should stop talking in probabilities and simply admit it.

For days I had wondered whether the sensations I felt with him—the ones that pulled me so completely into the moment, that overwhelmed me with a pleasure intense enough to frighten me—had been caused by pheromones. But the truth was, even if pheromones had been responsible, nothing would have changed.

As I had already admitted to myself: whispering obscene things in his ear that night and surrendering myself to extreme pleasure had been an unexpected, unrecognizable side of me — but not refusing him when he came onto the bed had been entirely my own choice.

But now, there was no need for even that assumption. There were no pheromones.

His scent was just that — a scent.