Salt Society Chapter 51

Tennis players usually have quite a nasty temper, so it was fascinating to see a man with such a gentle personality. Kihyun got into the car, fastened his belt, and then operated the gears to slowly pull the car out.

In the meantime, the man was approaching the car, perhaps having finished throwing everything away. It was slightly annoying because of the man who insisted on following him to the hospital even though he was fine, but his heart, which had been gloomy all along, had been blown away a bit by the unexpected accident.

“Did you throw it all away properly?”

“Yes, plastic in plastic.”

The pronunciation of the short word plastic was very good. Kihyun, who glanced at the man getting into the passenger seat and answering with a smirk, set off for a nearby hospital. Not Haeseong Hospital, but somewhere else.

And at the hospital they arrived at, the matter that he thought would end with just an X-ray grew larger.

“…It is a simple bruise, so why do I have to do a blood test?”

“Um, you wrote your gender as beta male on the state check questionnaire for Mr. So Kihyun, right?”

I wondered why he was asking that, so I nodded.

Since he said it was weighing on his mind, Kihyun had no choice but to drive the man’s car to the hospital, and since he was told that general medical appointments were closed, he headed to the emergency room.

Since it had just become evening, the emergency room was quiet. To the question of where it hurt, he explained the circumstances of the accident and said that there was no place that hurt. Kihyun pointed to the man standing blankly beside him and said.

—This person is the perpetrator, and I only came because he kept insisting we go to the hospital. Nothing hurts. It is not like I was hit by the car either.

The emergency physician, who gave a short laugh asking if that was so, soon furrowed his brows slightly and picked up the penlight that was hanging from his lab coat’s front pocket. After saying he would examine him for a moment and checking his pupil reaction, he soon said they should do a blood test.

I wondered if something was wrong, or why he was checking the pupil reflex when the injury was not even enough to cause a concussion, and they even drew blood while Kihyun was left feeling puzzled. Holding the result sheet that came out soon after, the doctor tilted his head as if it were strange. Then, didn’t he suddenly bring up the fact that he had checked the beta/male column?

“Is something wrong?”

The man, who had been standing still like an elementary school student who had broken a window, asked instead of Kihyun. The doctor glanced at the man’s face and said.

“You are not the husband, right? Since you said earlier you were the one who caused the accident.”

“Hus, what…?”

Kihyun asked back in absurdity. I could feel the man next to me was also flustered. It was clear that for the past few days, whether it was luck or whatever, things were definitely not good. If not, could such ridiculous things happen one after another?

When Kihyun, who let out a sigh, said no repeatedly, the emergency physician, who let out a “Hmm” from his throat, opened his mouth again.

“…Well, since this is a first for us as well, it is a bit difficult to say, but do you have a guardian you can contact?”

“Why a guardian…? It is fine if I just hear it myself.”

The names of diseases that could come out through a blood test would be limited, so it was strange that he wanted to hear the contents of the test with a guardian, and Kihyun frowned without realizing it. He looked at the doctor with an expression that said if he was not going to die in five minutes, he wished he would tell him quickly. The doctor, who was staring at Kihyun, soon let out a sigh and said.

“When I looked earlier, you had no reaction in your pupils. Normally, when you shine a light and then the stimulus disappears, the pupils should constrict or dilate, but you had no such reaction.”

“Then a problem with the brain…”

“It is not that, and I did a blood test just in case, and I was confused because Mr. So Kihyun wrote your gender as beta, male.”

I did not know why he kept nitpicking about the gender, so I just waited for the doctor’s next words. However, he only brought up a story that Kihyun could not understand.

“Mr. So Kihyun, you are currently in a state of pregnancy.”

“…What state are you talking about…? I am a male. A beta male at that. There is no way I can be pregnant.”

A tone that said look if you have eyes came out naturally. Along with it was the thought that the Minister of Health and Welfare gives medical licenses to just anyone. I could not understand the doctor’s words.

The doctor, who was looking at such a Kihyun, poked his temple with the end of the ballpoint pen he was holding and said again.

“It was a simple blood test, so it did not come out in detail, but Mr. So Kihyun’s gender is not beta male. You are an omega close to recessive.”

“…Yes?”

Even though he knew he was asking back in a stupid voice repeatedly, Kihyun had no choice but to ask the doctor again.

An omega. Alpha and omega traits are determined from birth. Just as the gender of beta males and females is determined from birth, so it is for alphas and omegas. To put it simply, an alpha is born with the properties of an alpha, and an omega with the properties of an omega, and when secondary sex characteristics arrive, they manifest as the gender corresponding to each trait.

So, Kihyun, who was born a beta, could only be a beta consistently. The reason is simple. Because he was born that way.

“…I do not know what you are talking about. I was born a beta.”

“Yes, it seems so. Your pheromone levels are negligible. That is why I asked repeatedly.”

Kihyun frowned. Him, an omega. There must have been some mistake. The doctor explained kindly as if guessing Kihyun’s doubt.

“Of course, it is natural that you cannot believe it. Even if it were my own matter, it would be absurd. But you remember when I confirmed the loss of pupil reflex earlier and requested the test, right? This is a reaction that can only happen to those whose traits have recently changed.”

“What does that…”

“When a sudden mutation manifestation from beta to omega occurs, a loss of pupil reflex happens. This depends on the partner alpha…”

A partner alpha? At the moment Kihyun was about to ask back, the doctor asked Kihyun.

“Did you not feel like your eyes were a bit dazzled or that your night blindness had worsened recently?”

He had not felt such things. Kihyun slowly shook his head with a blank face.

“Why on earth did the trait transformation occur…”

“To know the reason, we have to do a detailed examination, but the most common reason is continuous physical contact with a dominant alpha. But in this case, it is not important that several dominant alphas contacted you multiple times, but rather, the conversion is determined by how many years you have been in contact with one alpha.”

“…”

Kihyun could not answer. Continuous contact with a dominant alpha. What those words meant was only one thing. The doctor seemed to be mindful of the man standing behind Kihyun. Since it could be a personal story, if he was not a guardian, he wanted to tell it only to Kihyun as much as possible.

However, Kihyun was currently in a state of panic to the point where he could not even read such signs from the doctor. Instead, whether he had noticed, the man spoke first.

“Over there… I will wait outside. I will give you a ride home, so please come out to the parking lot when you are finished talking.”

Had he nodded at those words? Because of his blank mind, he could not properly recognize that the man was heading toward the emergency room entrance.

The doctor, who was staring at the man’s back, continued his words again.

“It did not come out exactly whether it is dominant or recessive, but Mr. So Kihyun is currently in a state where your trait has been transformed into an omega. Furthermore, you are in a state of pregnancy.”

“…Then the trait transformation because of the pregnancy…”

“That cannot be. The organ must be formed first for implantation to be possible. Mr. So Kihyun’s trait transformation would have already completed its progress at least one or two months ago.”

Kihyun could not listen further and stood up just like that. Then he headed for the entrance. From behind his back, the sound of the doctor calling Yeonsin Kihyun was heard. As if thinking he would just leave, the doctor blocked Kihyun’s path.

“You should try doing some more other tests before you go—”

“It is fine. I have a blood test I conducted at another hospital. I will hear the results again there.”

“Ah, you had a hospital you attend?”

The doctor had a noticeably relieved look. He must have hoped that what happened to Kihyun was not something so sudden. He seemed to think that there was a pheromone internal medicine clinic that Kihyun attends separately.

For someone who has the gender of a beta to have their trait transformed into an omega or an alpha was an extremely rare probability. Kihyun also knew this because he had listened to physiology lectures during his undergraduate years.

That the pheromones of a dominant alpha contain a trace amount of neurotransmitters that turn the partner into an omega, regardless of the beta’s gender. However, they said that actually manifesting as an omega is close to a one-in-ten-thousand probability. It was also a nonsense thing for an alpha to transform a beta into an omega, but in the first place, dominant alphas were rare, and the probability of him maintaining a close relationship with a beta male was even smaller.

Because it was funny that he was only now recalling the knowledge he learned back then, Kihyun laughed hollowly as he stepped out of the emergency room. Then, he soon began to walk quickly. There was something to confirm.

Kihyun tried to get into a taxi that was coming into the hospital right away. Until someone chased after him and closed the door Kihyun was opening again. It was the tennis player who had caused the accident.

“…What is it.”

“I said I would give you a ride. Please go in my car.”

“…”

Kihyun had a headache. Come to think of it, did he say he was not familiar with driving? The taxi driver rolled down the window and shouted, “Hey, are you getting in or not!” After bowing his head saying he was sorry, he walked past the man.