The Outsider Omega Wants to Be Alone! Chapter 1

Lee Yuseong was an assa (an outsider).

He was an introverted human being from birth.

As many psychologists who have studied human extraversion and introversion have emphasized, a person’s temperament or personality is significantly influenced by postnatal factors, but it is bound to be innate to a certain extent.

In this regard, Lee Yuseong was an introvert-optimized human being equipped evenly with both postnatal and innate factors. In other words, he was an introvert among introverts, an assa of assas, the best of the outsiders.

“Honey, our baby… doesn’t he cry too little?”

“Did you talk to the other mothers at the postpartum care center? Is it only our Yuseong who doesn’t cry like this?”

“You… it’s not like I could’ve gotten close to anyone in a place like that.”

“True…”

Even so, his parents did take baby Yuseong to the hospital.

“…Is there something wrong with our child?”

The reply returned by the doctor was firm.

“It seems he is simply a child who does not cry much to begin with.”

On that day, a large exclamation mark floated above his parents’ heads.

His subsequent steps were equally consistent.

Baby Lee Yuseong lay quietly without crying even until diaper rash broke out on his bottom.

Toddler Lee Yuseong was well-behaved and obedient, making him the number-one kindergarten student among the teachers.

“Yuseong is really good, Mother~! He always shares his toys with the friends, you know.”

“They said the kids took all of Lee Yuseong’s toys today!”

“Oh my! Mother, that’s not it…”

“…It’s fine, teacher. Please don’t worry about it.”

Elementary school student. While all the children flocked out to the playground to kick a ball, Lee Yuseong never chased after them. Instead, he pulled off the remarkable feat of reading through every single book in the classroom library.

Middle school student. Thanks to using his preceding background as a stepping stone and studying quietly and demurely, he managed to achieve quite good grades.

“Are you having any trouble studying? Tell me anything and Dad will help you…”

“Just please don’t send me to a cram school.”

“But I heard from my friend, they even do private tutoring along with cram schools… Will you be okay?”

“I study strictly focusing on textbooks.”

Lee Yuseong’s high school days were likewise similar to before. Even without cram schools swarming with kids or tutoring where he had to be locked in a room 1:1 with a teacher for lessons, Lee Yuseong easily maintained good grades.

The time his characteristic of not feeling lonely even when alone truly proved its worth was during college admissions. After quietly concentrating on his own time, Lee Yuseong was accepted into university through early admissions. What is more, it was none other than Hankuk University.

It was the moment when a stellar line of achievement was engraved upon Lee Yuseong’s ordinary life.

“That household’s son is truly a filial child! Well-behaved, hardworking, and he got straight into Hankuk University of all places. They said he never even went to a cram school or had a tutor?”

“Yes, well…”

“What’s the secret to raising a son well?”

“I didn’t really do anything, Yuseong just took care of everything himself.”

It was the truth. His parents hadn’t done anything special. If there was anything they did, was it perhaps passing down their introversion genes?

Based on his innate introversion, Lee Yuseong had walked the path of doing well by himself.

In other words, he was a figure in whom the most positive aspects of introverted tendencies were well-expressed.

Having walked the lonely road of an introvert so smoothly, Lee Yuseong became an outsider adult.

∞ ∞ ∞

This is an era where introverts receive unfair treatment even in part-time jobs, and job postings go up with phrases like [Only Extraverts Can Apply].

“Come on, take a glass! Hurry!”

Seated in the corner of a bustling, noisy barbecue restaurant, Lee Yuseong was having a miserable time.

Packed densely with four or five humans at each circular table, the barbecue restaurant lacked even a proper ventilation system.

Smoky air. Noise loud enough to burst eardrums and suffocating population density. The combination of meat grease smell and burnt odor blending into it was sending his sanity almost to Andromeda.

“What’s your alcohol tolerance?”

“…I drink about a bottle.”

“Whoa, just looking at you, you look like you’d drop dead after three glasses! Hahahaha!”

Now that part-time job recruitment with absurd conditions is overflowing, finding a job where Lee Yuseong could earn some pocket money was like picking stars from the sky. At least, that was Lee Yuseong’s thought.

Actually, the reason Lee Yuseong had a hard time finding a part-time job until now wasn’t because he was an introvert.

Let’s examine Lee Yuseong’s styling at this point.

Checkered shirts stocked in every color, which he didn’t even remember when he bought, and jeans with frayed hems were his default outfit. Moreover, his eyesight had worsened considerably since he was in high school, so he wore thick-rimmed black plastic glasses with thick lenses. Due to his severe nearsightedness, the thick lenses were a magic item that shrunk his eyes down to half their size.

“Hyung, don’t tease him too much. What are you going to do if Mr. Lee Yuseong runs away because of that?”

The person sitting to Lee Yuseong’s right threw an arm familiarly around his shoulders. A refreshing scent brushed past the tip of his nose amidst the dizzying and sticky barbecue restaurant odor.

“Hey, Choi Jigu. Is that any way to talk? When did I ever tease him?”

“If he runs away again this time and leaves me to work alone, I’m going to run away for real this time.”

Choi Jigu. That was his name. A name hard to forget even for Lee Yuseong, who was bad at remembering people’s names.

When Yuseong silently stared at him, he smiled while making eye contact with Yuseong. Fine wrinkles gathered at the bridge of his nose in a refreshing smile that revealed his even teeth.

Lee Yuseong pulled his head back. His face was too close, which felt burdensome. At the same time, instead of saying this or that, he glanced with his eyes at the hand wrapped around his shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Whoa, I actually get to see someone avoiding Choi Jigu.”

A handsome man sitting diagonally across from Lee Yuseong said with a faint smile. He was someone with hair bleached platinum blonde and arms and legs as long as a model’s.

“Avoiding you? It’s not like that, right?”

Choi Jigu leaned his head in close toward Lee Yuseong’s side.

Startled, Lee Yuseong ended up blocking Choi Jigu’s face with both hands and pushing him away.

“Oh, hey. Isn’t this too much?”

Hahaha, laughter burst out around the table. At first, only the boss and the model-like hyung laughed, but before long, even Choi Jigu, whose face had been pushed away, started laughing out loud.

It was embarrassing. Feeling awkward, Lee Yuseong removed his hands and had no choice but to take Choi Jigu’s wrist in his own hand and pull it down.

The boss spoke as if he found it interesting.

“Wow, it’s real. He’s keeping his distance from Choi Jigu.”

“See? There are people who find a type like Jigu burdensome.”

“Burdensome? Yuseong and I are just still awkward with each other.”

Even though he had shown a clear intent of rejection, Choi Jigu didn’t care at all. Even after his wrist was pushed away, he looked in a good mood. Lee Yuseong felt like he knew what kind of type this guy was.

An insa (an extravert/social butterfly).

A type who liked mingling with people and had no reservations.

In other words, the human image furthest away from Lee Yuseong.

“Right? It’s not that I’m burdensome, am I?”

Choi Jigu, who had flipped the well-cooked meat, suddenly looked at Lee Yuseong. Yuseong was flustered by the surprise attack.

Before he could answer quickly and only stammered his lips, the model hyung chimed in at a good time.

“Come on, stop teasing Mr. Lee Yuseong and let’s toast. You’ve all filled your glasses, right?”

He stretched out his long arm and clinked the drinking glasses. Thanks to that, the atmosphere shifted instantly. The boss and Choi Jigu each raised their glasses. Glancing around nervously, Yuseong also followed everyone else and lifted his glass.

Did he help me out?

When he glanced sideways at the model hyung past his glass, their eyes met squarely. The model hyung curved the corners of his eyes softly while looking at Yuseong. He felt needlessly self-conscious. Lee Yuseong quickly averted his gaze.