Correction Chapter 47

“Ugh….”

It seemed he’d come down with a bad case of gastritis; his stomach hadn’t been in good shape since that night of drinking. On top of that, he’d even eaten instant noodles last night… It was basically torture for his stomach. Serves me right, Jungmin thought, suffering.

“Are you okay?”

Sooeun approached, worrying about Jungmin’s pale complexion.

“Yes, I’m fine, Ms. Sooeun. My stomach is still upset, and I think it’s because I ate ramen yesterday.”

“Did you take any medicine?”

“Yes. I had some after eating porridge this morning. Thank you for worrying. Oh, by the way, I’m going to see Soohan sunbae now. Would you like to come with me?”

“Oh my, it’s already lunchtime. Look at me, I’m so out of it.”

It seemed Sooeun was having a hard time lately, busy looking for a house to live in after immigrating, all while juggling her intern duties. Still, Jungmin thought it was amazing how she bravely handled her assigned tasks so well.

In fact, taking a nap during her lunch break might be more necessary for her than eating, but Jungmin feigned ignorance and, for his own selfish reasons, headed to Ji Soohan’s office with Sooeun. The reason was simple. He felt awkward around Soohan for some reason.

Last night, when he had asked Soohan to have dinner together, Soohan had said he had plans and suddenly left. Seeing that, Jungmin had felt a pang of disappointment and, at the same time, had a moment of clarity. He realized just how much he had been clinging to Soohan for a while. Soohan had his own life, and he needed to meet good people too. Regretting how much they’d been sticking together lately, he had planned to jokingly tell him today that he should live a little more freely from now on.

But when he saw Soohan this morning, Soohan didn’t greet him as usual and instead averted his gaze. Thinking he must have seen wrong, Jungmin approached Soohan to talk, but he kept avoiding eye contact, only giving one-word answers like “Uh…. um…. oh…, right,” before saying he had a page and leaving.

He hadn’t seen Soohan since then. It was Soohan who would always come find Jungmin whenever he had a spare moment. Especially during lunchtime, he would unfailingly show up and drag Jungmin out. Since he hadn’t made a move at all today, Jungmin decided to take the initiative.

“Looks like Oppa is still in his office.”

Ji Sooeun said after exchanging messages with Ji Soohan, and another wave of disappointment washed over Jungmin. The message he’d sent earlier still had no reply.

He stood in front of Soohan’s office. It was a door he had always burst through without a second thought, but why did it feel so awkward today? He knocked a couple of times and went in to find Soohan sitting in his chair.

“Oppa!”

“Ah, you’re he-re.”

The ‘he-‘ was for Sooeun, and after seeing Jungmin next, Soohan finished with a delayed ‘re.’ Seeing this, Jungmin couldn’t help but force a smile. Soohan was definitely acting strange.

Sooeun went up to Soohan and was talking about this and that when she suddenly paused.

“Oppa. Were you with an omega yesterday, by any chance?”

“What?”

Sooeun crossed her arms and frowned.

In contrast, Ji Soohan glanced furtively at Jungmin. Jungmin was staring blankly at him.

“You reek of omega. You’ve been walking around like this all day? What about scent neutralizer? Did you come here without washing? My goodness—you’ve advertised it to the whole hospital. That you slept with an omega last night.”

Only after Sooeun said it did Jungmin realize that the scent of omega pheromones was coming from Soohan’s body. To smell it this strongly despite being some distance away… it must mean he’d spent the night with that omega.

“Wait a minute. I’ll go get some scent neutralizer.”

As Sooeun left the room, an awkward atmosphere flowed between Jungmin and Soohan. No matter how much he thought about it, Jungmin couldn’t understand how things had become so awkward overnight. Sleeping with an omega was no reason for their relationship to change.

“Ah, we should decide on the lunch menu in advance, right?”

Jungmin bravely said, trying to be playful, just like usual.

“Sorry. I’m not hungry. You eat with Sooeun.”

Soohan stood up from his chair. He continued to avoid eye contact with Jungmin and seemed to be trying to get away. Just why?

“Soohan hyung.”

“Let’s talk later. I have some work to do.”

When Jungmin tried to grab the arm of the departing Soohan, Soohan quickly pulled his body away.

From that day on, the relationship between Jungmin and Soohan became strange. Sooeun asked if the two of them had fought, and Jungmin just shook his head, saying he had no idea. If he at least knew the reason, he wouldn’t feel so frustrated….

Conversely, from that day on, Soohan started having one-night stands with omegas. Every time an omega cried beneath him, it was Jungmin’s wails he heard in his mind, and he became terrified upon discovering that he was, at some point, starting to enjoy it.

He was gradually becoming an alpha obsessed with a man named Shin Jungmin in bed, to the point where he couldn’t distinguish reality from delusion.

“Want me to introduce you to an omega?”

Soohan, who had been looking at a chart next to him, suddenly asked Jungmin. Startled that someone might have heard, Jungmin whispered quietly to Soohan.

“Hyung, what if someone hears you?”

“Why?”

“You have to think of Ms. Sooeun. Everyone in the hospital thinks she and I are engaged.”

“Ah, right. That’s true. So, should I introduce you to an omega? Or not?”

Soohan asked again. Why? Right now, Ji Soohan didn’t seem to care about the eyes of others. He was a man who used to be so careful about anything related to Sooeun that he’d treat her like a fragile flower, but lately, as his relationship with Jungmin grew distant, his concern for Sooeun seemed to have lessened as well.

Soohan looked like he would keep asking until Jungmin gave an answer, so Jungmin spoke again, as if whispering.

“I’m fine. For now.”

“For now?”

“Yes, for now.”

“Why ‘for now’?”

“I’m just too busy right now to even think about omegas.”

“Well, you’re the guy who easily ignored dominant pheromones, after all.”

Soohan said, laughing. He gave the back of Jungmin’s head a light tap with the chart and went back to his spot. Jungmin grumbled while rubbing the spot where he’d been hit, but Soohan continued to laugh. He was incredibly satisfied with the answer that Jungmin didn’t need an omega just yet.

And that satisfaction soon led to self-loathing. He suppressed the increasingly dangerous thoughts he was having. He had to. Socially, for his own life, for his family—it was an attraction that made no sense at all. But there was a limit to suppression. Reason cannot win against instinct. Knowing this, Soohan started going out more, to the point where Sooeun became worried.

“Mr. Jungmin, do you have time after work, by any chance?”

At Sooeun’s careful request, Jungmin gave her a gentle smile.

“Of course.”

They agreed to meet at a cafe near the hospital after work. Then, it suddenly occurred to him that Ms. Sooeun might be worried about something, so he sent a message to Soohan, but he didn’t see the message by the time he left work.

Lately, Ji Soohan seemed to be avoiding Jungmin, yet would strike up a conversation out of the blue, then his smile would stiffen and he’d start avoiding him again, repeating the cycle.

‘Sigh, I should probably check the mood later and ask Ms. Sooeun if something’s been going on with her brother lately.’

Jungmin looked at the unread message one more time before putting his phone in his pocket.

✽✽✽

“By any chance, is something wrong with Oppa?”

Jungmin was inwardly surprised by Ji Sooeun’s question but didn’t let it show. That was what he had been meaning to ask….

“I don’t know either. Why do you think so?”

“…Oppa is… being very strange. You feel it too, right, Mr. Jungmin? He’s hanging out with omegas way too much lately.”

“He was tied down for a while thanks to me and you, Ms. Sooeun, so I think it’s understandable. Please don’t worry too much.”

“But….”

“Giving his already worried little sister another thing to worry about. How about when we see Soohan hyung tomorrow, we each give him a good smack on the back?”

“Oh my, puhuhu-”

Sooeun smiled and laughed. Only then did the shadow on her face disappear, and Jungmin felt relieved as well.

“Ah, right. I… have something to tell you, Mr. Jungmin.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Next week is his heat cycle…. I want to be with him. For about two nights and three days…. Usually, he takes suppressants, but this time, maybe because he’s a little stressed, the hospital put a ban on suppressants for him…. So… I think I need to be there for him. I’ll rent a hotel….”

Sooeun’s face grew redder and redder. Jungmin quickly nodded so she wouldn’t have to say any more.

“I understand. Then it would be best if I also disappear for about two nights and three days.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Not at all. Thank you for telling me in advance. I should use it as an excuse to get some rest. I’ve been so overworked for a while.”

“I’ll tell Oppa too, so you can probably stay at his place.”

“Yes. I’ll take care of myself, so please don’t worry too much, Ms. Sooeun.”

Jungmin gave her a warm smile. Sooeun thanked him, her eyes welling up with tears. He hoped it would be a happy and blessed time for them. They were both omegas, so there would surely be difficulties, but Jungmin believed they would overcome everything with love.