Correction Chapter 15

Jungmin came to the hospital for his annual checkup. Youngmin had already finished all his tests and gone home, but Jungmin had to stay for some special tests.

“Sigh….”

Jungmin sighed, looking at his arm where blood had been drawn. Shouldn’t he just give up now? He was almost 21, and the fact that he hadn’t presented yet meant he was a beta. And now, being a beta didn’t matter anymore. The reason he wanted to be an omega was because of one person, and that person now belonged to someone else, so being an omega would just be a bother. The same went for being an alpha. He just wanted to live a normal life with a normal secondary gender.

“Shin Jungmin!”

Seeing his name appear on the waiting list, Jungmin stood up and entered the examination room. The doctor greeted him and then looked at the monitor to check the test results.

“Hmm, there’s still no sign of presentation.”

“Excuse me, doctor. Do you think I might be a beta? The fact that I haven’t presented yet… I think I’m a beta after all.”

“I’ve been running some additional tests with that possibility in mind, but Jungmin, you’re not a beta. You have sufficient factors with the potential to present as an omega or an alpha.”

“But wouldn’t it be a problem if I’m an omega or an alpha? If I’m an omega, I’m too old for the uterus to develop properly, and if I’m an alpha, there’s a high chance I’ll be recessive. I’d rather be a beta in that case.”

The doctor was speechless at Jungmin’s words. There was nothing to refute. The later the presentation, the higher the probability of being recessive. If it were any other patient, he would probably have coldly told them about the possibility, but knowing Jungmin’s family well, the doctor couldn’t bring himself to say it easily.

“Still, Jungmin, let’s not give up.”

He shouldn’t trouble the doctor any further. Jungmin nodded. After saying goodbye to the doctor and leaving the examination room, Jungmin took a deep breath, feeling suffocated.

“What? You’re still here?”

A voice he hated to hear even in his dreams. A voice he had forgotten after not hearing it for several months. He thought he would never see him again. Jungmin clicked his tongue.

“Sunbae, you really can’t hide your dislike, can you?”

Kim Joohwan, who had strode up to him with a playful voice, stood before Jungmin. Had he gotten taller? Jungmin had also grown taller since entering university, exceeding 183 centimeters, but Joohwan seemed at least a handspan taller than him. That damn bastard.

“You didn’t even greet me.”

“…It’s been a while.”

“I’m experiencing firsthand what it’s like to have someone bow down and not accept the gesture, sunbae.”

He seemed even more annoying than before. Why was he so rude? This guy.

“What are you doing here?”

He had to say something.

“I came with my father. I’m about to graduate, so he told me to make an impression and network.”

Making his son, who hasn’t even graduated high school yet, work already. Suddenly, Jungmin felt people’s gazes and glanced around. People in the lobby were looking at them as they passed by. More precisely, at Kim Joohwan.

He was clearly a dominant alpha. He hated to admit it, but it was a fact he couldn’t ignore. Moreover, he was a dominant alpha with unlimited potential for growth.

“By the way, sunbae, it seems you haven’t presented yet.”

“What?”

“I don’t sense any pheromones.”

“What’s it to you…!”

Kim Joohwan took a step closer, bent down, put his nose to Jungmin’s neck, and inhaled deeply.

Jungmin, startled, pushed Kim Joohwan away.

“What the hell?”

As Jungmin glared at him, Kim Joohwan shrugged.

“You’re not a beta, are you?”

“Whether I’m a beta, alpha, or omega is none of your business, so please mind your own.”

He didn’t want to be in the same place as Kim Joohwan any longer. Jungmin ignored him and walked towards the elevator.

“I heard you’re getting engaged? Shinwoo sunbae and Youngmin sunbae.”

He thought he wouldn’t care what that bastard said, but those words stopped him in his tracks.

“I got an invitation. To the engagement party. Cruelly enough, it’s on your birthday. Someone will be blessed and engaged on that day, while someone will be standing alone. Shall I be your partner?”

“I told you to mind your own business.”

Jungmin suppressed the urge to punch him and left the hospital. He had thought he was calmly sorting everything out, but apparently not. Feeling like he was about to burst into tears and his chest would rip apart, Jungmin gritted his teeth and thought of Kim Joohwan. It was better to curse at someone he hated.

✽✽✽

Yoo Shinwoo and Shin Youngmin’s engagement party was, cruelly, on the twins’ birthday. He had heard it would be a small and simple engagement party, but of course, that wasn’t Shin Youngmin’s style.

Loving to show off and appear important, he had persuaded his parents to rent the banquet hall of the best hotel in the country for the engagement party. With over 200 guests invited, it was by no means a small event.

“How do I look?”

In the waiting room, Youngmin, dressed in pure white, hummed and showed off his outfit. Even without any personal bias, Youngmin was a truly beautiful omega. And he knew it better than anyone.

“You look beautiful.”

“Right? Shinwoo hyung picked it out. He has good taste. I complimented him, and he said he’d pick out all my clothes from now on. Ugh, so cheesy!”

But seeing him grinning and talking like that, it seemed he didn’t dislike it.

“But what are you wearing?”

“What?”

Jungmin looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing clothes his mother had bought for him from a fairly well-known brand, but Youngmin looked displeased.

“I mean, look at your clothes and your hair. Couldn’t you have dressed up a little?”

“It’s fine. It’s not my day today. You get all the spotlight.”

“Well, of course, but still, I want you to meet a good partner too, Jungmin~ You haven’t presented yet, but you’re quite handsome even without it, so why don’t you dress up a little more?”

Youngmin grumbled on, but Jungmin heard nothing. He was just thirsty and sipped the wine that had been prepared.

Knock, knock-

With a knock, Yoo Shinwoo entered the waiting room. He looked dazzlingly handsome.

“Wow! Shinwoo hyung! You look amazing!!”

Youngmin trotted over and hugged Shinwoo. Shinwoo’s eyes didn’t leave Youngmin. He looked truly happy. Like he had the world in his hands.

Jungmin emptied another glass of wine and then a glass of champagne. During the time he drank those three glasses, Shinwoo didn’t even glance at him. His eyes were only for his omega. That was understandable. It was inevitable. Jungmin felt a pang in his chest. He had expected it to hurt, but it hurt more than he thought.

“Youngmin, you’re really, so beautiful.”

“Right? You’re making a good choice getting engaged to me.”

“Of course.”

The same conversation repeated several times. The two were completely absorbed in their own world. Feeling slightly tipsy, Jungmin stood up and left the waiting room. Still, the two paid him no attention.

Couldn’t they at least say goodbye? He was no longer a part of their world. No, he didn’t care about Youngmin’s world. He didn’t want to leave Shinwoo’s world, but he felt lonely and sad, as if he had been kicked out long ago. Jungmin stumbled away from the hall where the engagement ceremony would be held. No one would look for him anyway. He sat down on a velvet chair on a secluded terrace and quietly looked out the window. Damn it. Even the sky was clear.

“Jungmin sunbae?”

Ugh, and that annoying voice too. Jungmin tried to ignore it. But he soon regretted it. The owner of that voice was someone who enjoyed approaching more and more, the more he was ignored.

“Why are you here?”

The man, with his bow tie loosened, stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at Jungmin.

“Go away.”

“You’ve already had a drink.”

“Go away.”

He told him to go away because he wanted to be alone, but Kim Joohwan only moved closer. Just then, an announcement came over the speakers that the engagement ceremony would begin soon.

“Aren’t you going?”

He should go. He should go, but it seemed like it would be okay even if he wasn’t there. But there was no need to tell Kim Joohwan that. He just wanted to be alone.

The sound of applause in the distance gradually tightened his heart. No, he couldn’t stay here any longer. Jungmin got up from his chair and strode off in another direction. However, he hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps when he was grabbed. Seeing Kim Joohwan holding his arm, Jungmin tried to shake him off with all his might, but perhaps because of the alcohol, he couldn’t muster enough strength to break free.