The Unperceived Lie

“Is it a lover?”

“…….”

“The one you mentioned before.”

Hyunwoo’s hand, holding the chopsticks, trembled slightly, but Taegun, who was focusing all his sensory nerves on his sense of smell, did not notice.

He was irritated by the scent that popped like a soap bubble every time, leaving no trace.

Although he had never smelled it properly, he thought it resembled a fruity scent.

It was fresh and refreshing, making him think that Hyunwoo was meeting an Omega just like himself.

Amidst the pheromones sweet like fruit, a lewd and dense fragrance was mixed in.

Judging by the traces left on Hyunwoo’s body, the partner’s possessiveness seemed immense as well.

Markings that Alphas usually leave on Omegas were etched all over him.

Since it was a spot invisible in the mirror, Hyunwoo probably hadn’t noticed, but a single red bruise remained on the back of his neck, uncovered by a bandage.

The look in Taegun’s eyes as he stared at that mark was brutal.

‘They really sucked on it. Is his type an active Omega?’

‘I suppose so. That’s why he keeps meeting them even after coming here.’

Judging by the intervals of his outings, it seemed the meetings took place around the time of the partner Omega’s heat cycle.

Taegun thought it was just like Hyunwoo to persist in a relationship with only one person, rather than meeting many others in pursuit of pleasure like other Alphas.

And for some reason, Taegun was engulfed in a displeasure that couldn’t be compared to before, and he unconsciously clenched his teeth.

…At most, it’s once a month.

Except for those periodic outings, everything about Hyunwoo was in the palm of his hand.

All the elements that constituted and formed Hyunwoo originated from him.

The composition of the meals Hyunwoo ate every day and his snack preferences; the shampoo and bath products with scents he favored; his surrounding environment, including human relationships; the way he enjoyed his leisure time; his taste in books and movies; and even the music he enjoyed listening to.

There was nothing, down to the slightest likes, dislikes, and trivial tastes, that was not under his control.

He had penetrated deep into Hyunwoo’s subconscious and exerted influence everywhere.

He had spent a long time painstakingly taming him so that he would enjoy the best comfort within the fence he had built.

So that, in the end, he wouldn’t be able to live outside this fence.

He had done well so far.

Therefore, he didn’t want to ruin the plan by suffocating Hyunwoo over something not even worth being angry about.

He didn’t want Hyunwoo to realize that being by his side—which should be his only sanctuary—was actually a noose that bound him.

Taegun calmed his rising anger by imagining Hyunwoo in the near future, who would belong perfectly to him.

It wasn’t the first time he had discovered kiss marks on Hyunwoo’s body, but even so, he couldn’t help the unpleasant feeling every time.

His stomach twisted at the thought that someone else had taken away that area, which was once his own territory.

However, since he wasn’t in a position to handle Hyunwoo’s needs himself, Taegun stubbornly suppressed his childish jealousy.

While trying to pull his gaze away from Hyunwoo’s white neck marked with red, Taegun suddenly recalled the fact that he had never seen Hyunwoo steadily contacting or meeting anyone else.

A relationship somewhat ambiguous to be called romance.

If it were a normal couple, they wouldn’t have business only during the heat cycle.

‘An Omega who expresses possessiveness toward an Alpha without being clingy.’

As Taegun weighed the relationship between Hyunwoo and the Omega, he became genuinely curious about that unknown existence.

“Introduce me to your Omega later.”

“Cough! Cough!”

Taegun held out a cup of water to Hyunwoo, who suddenly choked and burst into a series of coughs, even bringing tears to his eyes.

Cold sweat broke out on Hyunwoo’s forehead as he hurriedly gulped down the water.

Throughout the meal, he didn’t know if the food was going into his nose or his mouth.

Returning to his room and sitting on the edge of the bed, Hyunwoo reflected on what Taegun had said earlier.

‘He asked if I was still meeting them, that Omega.’

He was talking about a specific person.

It meant Taegun had been remembering the Omega pheromones he smelled from him every time.

Goosebumps broke out all over his body.

Until now, Hyunwoo had vaguely regarded pheromones as a yardstick to distinguish between traits.

He thought that Alphas had Alpha pheromones and Omegas had Omega pheromones, and that these strictly bifurcated pheromones only had qualitative differences based on dominance or recessiveness.

Because he couldn’t smell pheromones even after manifesting, he still understood them from a Beta’s perspective.

He had completely overlooked the possibility that pheromones, each with a different “scent,” could act as a standard to distinguish between people.

‘I see. Is that why he told me to go to a hospital?’

Because a different scent would have come from his Alpha pheromones every time.

He hadn’t expected to be able to completely hide his pheromones from Taegun, who was a Dominant Alpha, from the start.

That was also the reason why he hadn’t dared to wash his body immediately after rolling around with an Alpha.

In case only the Alpha’s pheromones were washed away while his remained.

Hyunwoo had believed that the reason Taegun had closed his eyes and ignored the traces of s*x on his body until now was that he didn’t want to dirty his mouth and ears with disgusting topics.

‘Omega’ and ‘s*x’.

He was even prepared to humbly accept it if Taegun poured out rebukes toward him for betraying his trust with both of those things he considered most foul in the world.

However, far from interrogating him, Taegun actually embraced him as he was.

Not only that, there was no hatred or resentment toward Omegas in Taegun’s face when he asked to be introduced.

That fact weighed heavily on Hyunwoo’s heart.

‘He definitely said “your Omega”.’

‘That must be why you made that face, even while mentioning the Omega you find so horrifying.’

He felt as if the breakwater piled up in his heart had instantly collapsed.

Guilt surged like a tidal wave through the gap. Hyunwoo buried his face in his hands.

‘What am I doing to Taegun right now?’

He had rationalized to himself that hiding the fact of his manifestation as an Omega was the best way to sustain this relationship.

Every time that day arrived like a disaster and he opened his body to an Alpha, Hyunwoo thought he was like a living sacrifice.

He felt like he was using his body as an offering to ward off misfortune so that no bad luck would come between Taegun and him.

In reality, Taegun, who had brought this disaster upon him, knew nothing and had nothing to lose.

He even felt a sense of victimization because of it.

At every moment he reached a climax in the arms of another Alpha with the body of an Omega—a being Taegun loathed—he thought of Taegun.

He felt that enjoying at least this much would make the balance sheet even.

As time went on, the sense of guilt vanished and was replaced by a spirit of rebellion.

A thorny rebellion toward Taegun, who consistently feigned ignorance toward him while he radiated the scent of s*x from his entire body, was growing larger and larger.

‘Why don’t you say anything?’

‘Is the version of me who throws my body away dirty?’

‘Is that why you’re pretending not to know?’

While he was having such thoughts alone, perhaps Taegun had been preparing.

Preparing his heart to accept him as he was, even though he shared pleasure and rolled around with an Omega he found horrifying.

His chest felt tight. It felt as if something were blocking his throat.

Far from being able to repay Taegun’s heart for trying to embrace him, he was now scared and afraid to confess the truth—that he was that very Omega and had been deceiving him all this time.

It was no longer just a matter of the truth.

He didn’t know how he could be forgiven for the sin of chasing pleasure while thinking of Taegun at the touch of another Alpha.

It was even more impossible because it was after he had realized his feelings for Taegun.

He felt he absolutely couldn’t bear the look in Taegun’s eyes turning into one of hatred.

His heart felt like it was tearing apart just from imagining it.

‘Taegun must not know.’

‘I must not let him find out I’m an Omega.’

‘Absolutely not. Never, ever.’

With a face turned pale, Hyunwoo bit his lip.

Taegun set the dinner table and waited only for Hyunwoo to return.

The stir-fried sausages Hyunwoo liked grew cold and hard as they were left abandoned on the table.

Hyunwoo, who said he would be back by 8:00 PM because of a group project, did not return until after 9:00 PM.

Taegun, who was sitting slouched on the sofa, stood up at the sound of the front door opening to greet Hyunwoo as he entered.

“You’re back?”

“…….”

“You’re late.”

A meal for two was set untouched on the table.

Hyunwoo’s gaze wavered as he discovered it.

Knowing full well that Taegun would have been waiting for him on an empty stomach until this hour, Hyunwoo spoke in an unconcerned voice.

“You should have eaten first; why did you wait? I told you I’d be late.”

As Hyunwoo tried to head straight upstairs, Taegun subtly blocked him and gestured toward the table.

“Sit down for now. I’ll reheat this for you.”

“Taegun, I already had dinner outside.”

“…….”

“I’m tired, so I’ll go up first.”

Taegun stared blankly at the back of Hyunwoo as he moved upstairs and pressed his temples.

He was tired. It wasn’t just once or twice.

The situation where he avoided sitting with him in this manner.

Usually, when they returned home after classes, they would sit together at the living room table to do major assignments or watch a movie, but all those daily routines felt distant now.

Recently, he hadn’t even come out of his room on weekends, so it had been an eternity since he had properly spoken with Hyunwoo.

He often went out alone using external schedules he didn’t know about as an excuse, and he frequently skipped meals saying he had eaten outside.

As the food Hyunwoo hadn’t even touched was repeatedly left until it spoiled and was thrown away, Taegun felt his patience reaching its limit.

He was clearly avoiding him.

He recalled the day a few days ago when he entered Hyunwoo’s room to take out the trash and discovered a large amount of instant food packaging, such as triangle kimbap and cup ramen.

His feelings were even more hurt because it was right after he had come back from throwing away an entire pot of curry he had made and left on the stove for Hyunwoo to reheat, which had spoiled.

‘Does he hate touching even the things I make?’

‘Why?’

Taegun moved the completely cold stir-fried sausages into an airtight container.

Even without looking, he could vividly see Hyunwoo filling his hunger with mediocre food bought from a convenience store right about now.

‘Is he doing this because I asked him to introduce his Omega?’

The way he was checking him as if he were an Alpha was ridiculous and pathetic.

While he was worried about Hyunwoo, who had been eating meals with instant food packed with preservatives and artificial seasonings for over ten days, he was also infuriated by the attitude of setting himself against him because of a single Omega.

Taegun decided to dismiss Hyunwoo’s silent protest with indifference.

He figured he would stop on his own once he got tired.

Nevertheless, in the refrigerator, freshly made food was placed in airtight containers every day, as if waiting for someone’s touch, in the most accessible spot.

Another half-month passed that way.

As the cold war lasted longer than expected, the two even began to go to school separately.

Their timetables were the same, but for some major subjects, the professors were different, so the lecture halls were different.

The first-period class today was such a class.

Taegun, who was putting on sneakers at the entrance, furrowed his brows at the sound of the morning call in Hyunwoo’s room, which had rung at least ten times, ringing once more.

‘What on earth did he do last night that he can’t wake up even when the alarm is ringing like that?’

With the intention of letting him be properly late for once, Taegun headed to school alone, leaving Hyunwoo behind.

He didn’t know how many times he had come out under the excuse of the restroom and looked into Hyunwoo’s lecture hall.

Since it was a three-hour mandatory major class, he thought he would show up in the middle even if he was late, but Hyunwoo’s designated seat remained empty until the lecture was over.

As soon as the professor left the lecture hall, Taegun sprang from his seat and ran home like a madman.

When he arrived home, panting heavily, the front door happened to open and Hyunwoo burst out.

“……!”

Discovering Taegun standing at the door, Hyunwoo was startled, and his appearance was a mess.

The loose T-shirt he wore at home was soaked with cold sweat, and his hair was completely disheveled like someone who had just woken up, making him look entirely out of it.

Taegun raised one eyebrow and slowly scanned Hyunwoo’s appearance from top to bottom.

Cowering under that gaze, Hyunwoo shrank his shoulders and stepped back.

A violent rage swept over him at the sight of Hyunwoo avoiding him even in this situation.

He reached out and snatched Hyunwoo’s retreating arm, pulling him in.

From Hyunwoo, who was pulled into his arms, Taegun sensed a fragrance he should not have smelled at this moment.

Omega.

The pheromones of that vulgar Omega who was luring Hyunwoo were wrapped around Hyunwoo’s entire body.