The Outsider Omega Wants to Be Alone! Chapter 25

It was just that he was flustered. Why on earth were summer and stargazing suddenly coming up out of nowhere?

“Aren’t we not really the kind of people who go stargazing together?”

Lee Yuseong asked, looking up at Kim Wooju steadily. He hadn’t meant to refuse or point anything out. He was simply puzzled. Because Lee Yuseong had never once made plans with anyone—or even with friends—talking about the next season and making promises.

So a question from Kim Wooju, whom he’d known for barely three weeks, sounded excessively unfamiliar to Lee Yuseong. As a result, the question came out without thinking, exactly as it was.

But Kim Wooju’s perspective was different. He’d asked knowing full well that Lee Yuseong wasn’t the type to readily accept, but he never expected this kind of answer.

‘We’re not the kind of people who go stargazing together.’

In other words, because Lee Yuseong lacked social skills, he hadn’t considered at all how his words might make the other person feel.

“…”

So of course, he had no way of knowing that he’d pressed Kim Wooju’s button.

Silence passed between them for a moment. Under Kim Wooju’s gaze as he silently looked down at him, Lee Yuseong belatedly thought that something might be wrong.

“Oh, well, I mean…”

“Why do you think we’re not that kind of relationship?”

“Pardon?”

An answer he’d never imagined came back.

Then Kim Wooju slowly lifted the corners of his mouth. The smile spreading across his face looked somewhat dangerous—was that just his imagination?

“Yuseong. You’re looking for a new part-time job, aren’t you?”

“…!”

How did he know that? Lee Yuseong’s pupils shook greatly.

“Originally you planned to quit after just two weeks, but it’s dragged on until now.”

“…!”

This time, startled Lee Yuseong sucked in a breath.

Wha—what the hell, this guy.

“Let’s work until three weeks, you said, but finding a job hasn’t been as easy as you thought.”

“…”

Kim Wooju, as if he’d been looking inside Lee Yuseong’s head, had accurately grasped his tiny, trivial plans.

“Now it looks like you’re stuck holding out until four weeks.”

“…Hic.”

Finally, a hiccup burst out.

‘Crazy. So humiliating.’

Lee Yuseong quickly pressed both hands over his mouth. He tried somehow to hold back the hiccups, but hic, hic—the spasms of his diaphragm wouldn’t stop.

At the same time, a chilly night breeze blew in. As he shrank from the cold, Kim Wooju took off the jacket he was wearing and draped it over Lee Yuseong’s shoulders.

“Oh, I’m fine, hic, really. I’m going inside anyway…”

A faint scent wafted from the jacket. It was that same fragrance he’d smelled at the shoot earlier. Kim Wooju’s pheromone scent—warm yet dizzying.

Despite Lee Yuseong’s refusal, Kim Wooju pressed the button at the top of the jacket closed, as if trapping Lee Yuseong inside it.

Looking into Lee Yuseong’s eyes from close range, he spoke.

“Don’t quit your job.”

“…”

He couldn’t say anything. Lee Yuseong didn’t even realize he’d been holding his breath.

Kim Wooju’s eyes slowly curved. It was a handsome eye-smile that inevitably bewitched people.

“And watch what kind of relationship we become.”

Even after finishing his words, Kim Wooju stared into Lee Yuseong’s eyes from close by for a while.

Soon, he slowly straightened up and placed his hand on the frozen Lee Yuseong’s head. Then, no different from usual, he playfully tousled his hair.

“Alright, goodbye. Go inside now.”

“…Ah, uh? Yes. Yes?”

As if playing freeze tag, Lee Yuseong stammered.

“See? The hiccups stopped, didn’t they?”

“Oh.”

Now that he mentioned it, the hiccups had stopped.

Lee Yuseong quickly bowed his head deeply.

“Goodbye, hyung. Thank you for today.”

He couldn’t afford to give any more room for conversation to continue. Since he had no idea how to respond or what to explain or clarify, Lee Yuseong decided to bolt when the opportunity came. Fortunately, Kim Wooju let him go easily.

“Good night, Yuseong.”

Lee Yuseong practically flung himself through the gate. Then, without looking back, he quickly climbed the stairs.

∞ ∞ ∞

Behind a dark corner with no streetlights.

Someone who had been watching the two from the shadows all along took a step forward as Lee Yuseong entered his house.

Click. In the darkness, a lighter flame flared briefly, and a cigarette began to burn.

The man’s eyes were fixed on Kim Wooju’s receding back.

Exhaling cigarette smoke, he muttered lowly.

“The fuck is that bastard.”

Jo Eunha

∞ ∞ ∞

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠It was now the point when introverted Lee Yuseong was entering his fourth week of part-time work.

“Glasses are all passed around, right? First glass is a shot!”

Sitting in a corner of a noisy, bustling meat restaurant, Lee Yuseong was having a miserable time again. The smoky air and maddeningly high population density—this meat restaurant was so packed with people every time he came.

But what tormented him most wasn’t external factors.

It was Kim Wooju, sitting on his right.

“What’s wrong with you? You seem especially stiff today?”

At times like this, Choi Jigu—who ate awareness for breakfast—sat on Lee Yuseong’s left and butted in.

Can’t you stay still? Stop paying attention to me.

Internally spewing spines, Lee Yuseong muttered quietly.

“…I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“You didn’t sleep well?”

Kim Wooju leaned toward Lee Yuseong and examined his face. His beautiful face was endlessly innocent. It was a face genuinely concerned about Lee Yuseong’s well-being.

“No matter what the boss says, Yuseong, just drink at your own pace. Okay?”

Who do you think kept me awake? Lee Yuseong barely swallowed the words that had rolled to the tip of his tongue.

“…Yes.”

After coming back from the shoot on Saturday, Lee Yuseong had nightmares all night long. It was another dream about bees, but this time it was a solo parade of Wooju bees. The Wooju bee persistently chased Lee Yuseong, narrating his every move. Then threatened him not to quit his job.

Thanks to that, when he opened his eyes on Sunday morning, Lee Yuseong’s body and mind were completely wrecked. It didn’t even feel like he’d slept—he drew the blackout curtains tight, forgot to feed the cat, and just lay there motionless. He felt like he’d been beaten all over.

The aftermath continued into Monday. So Lee Yuseong, dragging layers of fatigue, had been dragged out to today’s company dinner.

How did Kim Wooju see through every single plan Lee Yuseong had?

‘…Was I really that easy to read?’

And somehow, it seemed he knew more than that. For example, the secret of Lee Yuseong’s lost virginity.

Of course, this was only Lee Yuseong’s speculation. Because Kim Wooju seemed to know at least some of the parts that had vanished from Lee Yuseong’s memory after his blackout that night.

Come to think of it, Kim Wooju was the only one who hadn’t gotten completely wasted.

He’d been the first to wake up, with a perfectly fine face, and had woken Lee Yuseong and the others.

“Now, to celebrate Lee Yuseong’s fourth week of part-time work!”

The boss.

“Cheers!”

Choi Jigu.

“Cheers.”

Kim Wooju.

“…”

I don’t think you need to celebrate that, thought Lee Yuseong.

Glasses filled with somaek clinked together.

The boss was the first to empty his glass to the bottom, then performed the feat of shaking the empty glass over his head to show it off.