Correction Chapter 51

And the next day.

Soohan barely managed to catch the fleeing Jungmin and pressed a slip of paper into his hand. A phone number was written on it.

Jungmin frowned when he saw it, but he didn’t ask what it was.

“I changed my number.”

Only then did Jungmin look at Soohan.

“I changed my phone, too.”

Although Jungmin didn’t ask why, Soohan waited for the right moment to speak.

“I’ve cut ties with all the Omegas I knew until now, and in my phone’s contact list, there’s only my parents, you, Sooeun, and a few old classmates left. Of course, none of them are Omegas.”

Jungmin was dumbfounded.

“So?”

“This is just the beginning. It seems you don’t believe my feelings are sincere, so I’ll show you, one by one.”

“Sunbae.”

“I told you to call me hyung.”

“I’m quitting the hospital.”

This time, it was Soohan who was stunned.

“You… what are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re sincere or not, sunbae. I don’t date Alphas.”

“Why?”

“…Are you asking because you don’t know? In the end, Alphas are bound to choose Omegas. The sweet, lovely, and comforting pheromones of an Omega! I don’t have those kinds of pheromones. Look. Can’t you feel what my pheromones are like right now?”

There was no way he couldn’t feel it. Jungmin had been emitting strong Alpha pheromones for a while now. Soohan was once again reminded that Jungmin was an Alpha. It was the first time he had revealed his pheromones to this extent.

Strong pheromones, capable of embracing an Omega.

“In the end, sunbae, if you had an Omega who looked just like me standing in front of you, you’d choose that person. Why would I take a gamble like that?”

As soon as Soohan heard those words, he grabbed Jungmin by the collar. The tension between them was palpable.

“You think I haven’t been in that situation? You have a twin. Your younger brother has the same face as you and is an Omega. But have I ever once said I liked your brother?”

In fact, Soohan was right. He had never once given Youngmin a second glance. If anything, he had only ever shown an expression of annoyance and irritation.

“That’s! You’ve never properly looked at him! That’s why you can say something like that.”

Jungmin shut his eyes in agony. Pushing him away like that should have naturally made Soohan give up, but he only grew more stubborn. The reason was simple. He had realized at some point that Jungmin wasn’t pushing him away because he truly disliked him, but because he was afraid.

“Who is Yoo Shinwoo?”

Soohan finally uttered the name he had been so curious about. At that moment, Jungmin’s trembling stopped, and he stared at Soohan with a deathly pale face.

“Sun…bae, how do you know that name?”

“You don’t know that you call out that name every time you’re drunk, do you?”

Jungmin covered his mouth, staggered, and leaned against the wall. As Soohan reached out to support the collapsing Jungmin, Jungmin slapped his hand away forcefully, as if something filthy was touching him.

“No way. That can’t be true.”

“I’ve known that name for months already. You call out for him so much whenever you drink. How could I not know?”

Oh my god. Jungmin squeezed his eyes shut.

“He’s an Alpha, right?”

“It has nothing to do with you, sunbae.”

“You’re right. It has nothing to do with me. But if that’s the reason you won’t accept my feelings, then the story changes.”

“Sunbae. Please, stop.”

“Yoo Shinwoo is an Alpha, you’re an Alpha. You loved him… and he couldn’t accept it, so he left. That’s my deduction so far.”

Jungmin said nothing, leaning against the wall with his gaze averted. His heart was pounding like it would explode. He couldn’t believe he had done something so foolish. He thought he was completely over him, but he had been calling out his name while drunk? Jungmin was so disgusted with how stupid he was.

“Jungmin-ah.”

“That’s right. Your deduction is correct. But I didn’t love him because he was an Alpha. I just… I just liked him. But it didn’t work out. Things like this are common, though. Love is like that. Dating is the same. You break up, you get together…. Shinwoo hyung doesn’t mean that much to me.”

The eyes that said so looked sad and pained. Soohan sighed, looking at Jungmin. That couldn’t be true. You must have loved him very much. Enough to help Sooeun both materially and emotionally….

Putting it all together, the whole situation made sense. He had always wondered how Jungmin could so readily decide to help Sooeun. He had been projecting himself onto her. Because he couldn’t have it, he had helped Sooeun so wholeheartedly, hoping that at least she could be happy.

So, it was understandable that he was anxious. And that he didn’t believe in his own love. Ji Soohan started to hate this Alpha named Yoo Shinwoo, whom he had never even met. He should have met him first. Then he would have loved him without giving him such scars.

“I feel the same way. It’s not because you’re an Alpha that I love you. I… I love the person named Shin Jungmin.”

Soohan’s trembling voice gently tapped on Jungmin’s heart. While telling himself it couldn’t be, a sliver of hope began to sprout.

No. This feeling… this was a feeling not permitted to him. And he never wanted to walk such a difficult path again. Jungmin wanted to escape that place. He wanted to run away to somewhere Ji Soohan wasn’t. Quickly, before he could open the door he had shut.

“Jungmin-ah!”

As Jungmin pushed Ji Soohan and tried to leave the room, Ji Soohan quickly grabbed him.

“Sunbae! Let go!”

“Look at me!! Not Yoo Shinwoo, look at me! Can’t you give me a chance, too? I’ll treat you really well.”

“I told you I’m not an Omega?! I can’t have children! I can’t even be imprinted! Isn’t that why you slept with an Omega, sunbae?”

“I was wrong about that. I should have admitted it sooner. But I won’t anymore. I’ll never do that again.”

“Sunbae…. Sleeping with an Omega isn’t wrong. You’re an Alpha, sunbae, you can do that. But this is a different issue…. Look at Sooeun-ssi. She can’t even tell the person she loves that she loves him anywhere. Even when they’re so tightly bonded! But you and me, sunbae? It’s obvious without even looking. It’s a difficult path. So snap out of it already!”

“Shin Jungmin!! You’re the one who needs to snap out of it and listen to me!”

When Jungmin pushed him away once more, Ji Soohan’s pride flared.

“Listen carefully. I know you’re an Alpha! That’s why I agonized over it. I was in more pain than you could ever imagine. Of course I was! You’re an Alpha, and I’m an Alpha! Damn it…! But what can I do? The more I think about it, the more I find your upright self lovely… I get jealous and furious at the Alpha who stole your heart…. And yes, your pheromones? I don’t know what answer you’re looking for, but to me, your pheromones are sweeter than a dominant Omega’s heat cycle pheromones.”

While still holding Jungmin by the collar, Soohan moved even closer to him. As their bodies pressed completely together, Jungmin’s eyes trembled as he felt Soohan’s erection.

When Jungmin hastily tried to push Soohan away, Soohan pulled him in and kissed him. The lips that had desperately tried to stay shut eventually gave way to Soohan’s strength, and Jungmin, tripping over their entangled legs, ended up collapsing to the floor.

Soohan followed him all the way down, kissing him deeply. Only after Jungmin’s pheromones were enveloped by Soohan’s did the strength leave Soohan’s hand gripping his collar, and he gently pulled Jungmin into an embrace.

For a long while, they kissed like that, exchanging their heat. Their sharp pheromones had dulled slightly, but they still pushed each other away. But that was only the pheromones. Soohan gently caressed Jungmin’s cheek.

“Anyone can see you’re an Alpha. You’re about my height, you’ve worked out a lot so you’re well-muscled… and above all, you’re strong. I’ve seen you helping Omegas in trouble at the hospital many times. You were very dependable. And I like that about you. Jungmin-ah.”

“Sunbae….”

“I told you to call me hyung.”

Jungmin cautiously gripped the hem of Soohan’s clothes.

“I still don’t know…. I know it’s foolish, but since I have that experience… I can’t help being scared.”

“I know. But I’ll work hard so that you won’t be scared. So you, too, please try to love me.”

He couldn’t bring himself to readily answer that he would. Ji Soohan probably wasn’t saying it because he wanted an answer, either. Jungmin squeezed his eyes shut, feeling their pheromones that wouldn’t mix. Even while thinking that such a happy ending would never exist, his already moved heart was preparing to dash off somewhere.

Because Shinwoo wouldn’t accept him as an Alpha, he had wanted to become an Omega. But Soohan was telling him he loved him even if he was an Alpha. If so, perhaps this was a little closer to a brighter light. If he didn’t have to suppress the fact that he was an Alpha, and if they could accept this situation and be together…. He wanted to believe that that was the happy ending.