If It’s for My Brother, I’ll Kneel

“When you came with Omega pheromones on you before… I thought maybe you, you know, were an Omega who likes other Omegas… so I was wondering if I should support you…”

I get that you’re someone who supports all forms of love, but… Anyway, that’s not it for me.

Hanbyeol let out a deep sigh at his good friend’s thoughts.
Because of this darn brother’s pheromones, I’m hearing all sorts of things.

“First of all, since I said it’s not like that… I won’t ask further.”
“Then, that Omega pheromone is also from someone you know, right?”

“Yeah… It’s just that there are circumstances.”

“Then, it must be Yuseong brother?”

“……!”

Ah, maybe I shouldn’t have let him dig deeper.

Hanbyeol’s eyes wavered at the words that flowed from Taeha’s mouth.
Denying it seemed pointless as Taeha already seemed convinced.

“I smelled it before when I met your brother.”
“The pheromone coming from you, and your pheromone coming from your brother.”

Taeha’s complexion darkened even more than before.

“That… Hanbyeol-ah, I’m just saying this just in case, but even between biological siblings… you can’t get married.”

“No!”

It’s not like that!

On top of the shock of Yuseong being discovered as an Omega, this absurd misunderstanding was piling on.
Hanbyeol raised his fist and hit his chest in frustration.

What exactly is the problem here?
No, where do I even start solving this?
Do I need to clear up the misunderstanding that my brother and I are in that kind of relationship first?

Seeing Taeha’s still-serious expression, Hanbyeol hurriedly waved his hands.

“First of all, that kind of thing between brother and me is because of his anxiety!”

“……Huh?”

“Brother has some pretty severe anxiety, so…”

It was what he said out of necessity, but it was also the truth.

It happened when he was even younger than he is now.
Waking up in the middle of the night to a touch, Hanbyeol was startled as if he’d seen a ghost when he saw Yuseong, tears dripping down as he stroked Hanbyeol’s head.

‘……Brother? What are you doing?’

‘…….’

‘Why are you like this?’

‘My younger brother…’

‘What is it, brother, are you hurt somewhere?’

Just the day before, Hanbyeol had been having a normal computer argument with Yuseong, so he couldn’t help but be flustered by Yuseong’s sudden behavior.

And that wasn’t all.
Yuseong, who until then had never backed down in front of Hanbyeol, using the three-year age difference as his only reason, from that night on, started acting as if he had awakened to the virtue of yielding, becoming strangely soft.

From Hanbyeol’s perspective, it was actually quite convenient.
The ‘kind and good brother’ that only existed in younger siblings’ fantasies had become reality.

Of course, the downside was that he had become a brocon.

‘My pretty younger brother.’

So, no matter how much Hanbyeol thought about it, he felt like Yuseong’s puberty might have hit him a bit hard.
For his love for his younger brother to suddenly become so special one day, it was just weird no matter how he looked at it.

Thus, Hanbyeol kept a close watch on Yuseong, worried that maybe he was thinking something like, ‘In fact, my current personality is another alter ego of mine, and attacking such a me is…’ and so on.

However, he soon figured out that aside from Yuseong’s personality becoming very affectionate, his usual behavior hadn’t changed much.

Of course, that past incident isn’t directly related to the current pheromone issue.
He’s bad at acting, not at lying.

Hanbyeol employed the basic scam skill of mixing a bit of truth to perfectly deceive someone.

“So the pheromones, you know, just got on me, that’s all?”
“Don’t think of me as some seriously obsessed brocon, please…”

“Ah….”

“They say pheromones are proof of being alive, right?”
“Honestly, I still don’t really get what that means.”

“Huh?”

Question marks seemed to fill the air around Taeha.
He had a blank face, as if he didn’t understand Hanbyeol’s words.

“Remember? I told you before that I thought my brother had a seriously bad case of eighth-grade syndrome, no matter how I looked at him.”

“Oh, yeah.”

It was one day when he had become close with Taeha, Jaehwi, and Eunhan, buying snacks and going to the academy together.
Hanbyeol had told them with a serious face that it seemed like that famous eighth-grade syndrome had visited his brother.

Recalling that memory, Taeha nodded.

“Back then, that’s what happened.”
“He was seriously spouting nonsense. Something about proof of being alive, it felt like he’d watched some weird video and had a nightmare.”

Hanbyeol’s eyes grew distant as he recalled the past, then he clutched his head.
It was a buried truth from the past, concealed to avoid the lie being discovered.

It was also a past incident that must never be revealed to Signals, Yuseong’s fans, because the Yuseong on television was incredibly cool, a talented ‘mom’s friend’s son’ style idol.

Sorry, brother.
Let’s just go with the leftover eighth-grade syndrome for now.
It’s much better than your younger brother getting such a ridiculous misunderstanding.

Of course, even with the eighth-grade syndrome, aside from the ‘proof of being alive’ nonsense, he was a good brother, so Hanbyeol made good use of it.

If he’s a kind, friendly, and good brother who’s weak to his younger brother, even with eighth-grade syndrome, it’s fine.
That was Hanbyeol’s current sentiment.

“Proof of being… alive?”

At Taeha’s question, Hanbyeol nodded.
A bit of an unusual brother, but well…

“I’ve heard that story before too.”

“What story? That pheromones are proof of being alive?”

“Yeah.”

Taeha nodded.
It made sense.
A dead person couldn’t give off pheromones.

“Anyway, so it seems like brother’s pheromones got on me a little…”

As Hanbyeol slowly pursed his lips, Taeha checked his expression.

He was clearly in a bind.
Hanbyeol’s parents were Betas.
The probability of Alpha or Omega dynamic children being born to Beta-Beta parents was extremely rare.
They were a case where, defying extremely low odds, both brothers manifested as Omegas.

Given that his parents had overcome opposition to marry, even the relatives didn’t know Yuseong was an Omega.

Unlike Hanbyeol, who manifested his dynamic in fifth grade, Yuseong’s dynamic manifestation was relatively late, after middle school.

While dynamic discrimination had largely disappeared, some residual perceptions remained, and this was an aspect that rightly should be protected.
Therefore, elementary, middle, and high school teachers were only allowed to check students’ dynamics for emergency preparedness and were not to mention it anywhere.
If leaked, not only would they lose their teaching license, but the fines were also substantial.

Thus, teachers kept students’ dynamics strictly confidential.
Aside from them, only a few hospital staff, who had to record patients’ detailed personal information for treatment, knew the dynamics of the patients they treated.

So it wasn’t something that could be hidden forever.
Legally, it would be marked as recessive Omega anywhere he went.

But, if that was his brother’s choice…

Hanbyeol glanced subtly at Taeha’s expression, then knelt before him with a grave look.

“Ha, Hanbyeol-ah?”

“I’m begging you!”

“Wh, what…”

“Help me!”

Please, never speak about brother’s dynamic anywhere.
Hanbyeol bowed his head earnestly to Taeha.

“Ah, no, even for your brother’s sake, can you just kneel like this…?”

“Yeah. Up to a single digit.”

If it meant maintaining his brother’s idol life, he could kneel like this a few more times.
Of course, only up to a single digit.
He couldn’t kneel more than that.

“So… nine times is the limit?”

“Of course.”
“If I have to kneel more than that, he should just quit being an idol. I’ll leak it to the newspaper first and make him retire.”

“…….”

Taeha was left speechless by Hanbyeol’s resolute answer.

Though it sounded like a joke, it wasn’t entirely wrong.
The more secrets pile up, the harder they are to keep.
By that point, it’s better to openly reveal them than to try and keep them hidden.

Seeing Hanbyeol’s demeanor, Taeha smiled.

“Alright, I got it. I’ll help too.”

As expected, unlike Eunhan or Jaehwi, Taeha had a sense of loyalty.
If it were those two, they would have already asked, ‘Then what will you do for me?’ and extorted all sorts of snacks and dinner menus.

As Hanbyeol raised his head with a bright expression, Taeha, who had leaned in close, spoke again.

“But, there’s a condition.”

“What is it?”

If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it.
Well, if he wanted to debut as an idol, I could convey his wish.

Of course, I can’t just recommend him as a trainee right away, but I can at least say I have a talented friend!
A celebrity connection?
I’ll just ask brother for a favor to get a tour of the broadcasting station, or something!

To Hanbyeol, whose eyes were sparkling, Taeha spoke firmly.

“If anything happens, can you contact me immediately?”

“Huh? What kind of thing?”

“Just, if it’s anything I can help with, I want to help.”
“It’s the same with your brother’s matter.”
“I know it’s a secret and unavoidable, but I don’t want you, Hanbyeol, to struggle too much alone.”

It wasn’t a request but a situation that was only good for Hanbyeol.
Hanbyeol was worried about Taeha, who always seemed so pure and harmless.

“Taeha-ya. If some elder you don’t know outside asks you to help load stuff onto a truck, be sure to call me. Got it?”

“Huh?”

“If I’m not there, you can just come out thinking the driver will help load it.”

“……Hanbyeol-ah. I think you see me as too naive.”

“Answer.”

At Hanbyeol’s firm words, Taeha opened his mouth as if he had no choice.

“……Yeah, okay.”
“And you, don’t follow even elders you know, got it?”

“Why not if I know them? I told you not to follow strangers.”

“…….”

At Hanbyeol’s words, Taeha momentarily wore a flustered expression before smiling affectionately.