The Unreasonable Jealousy of a Dominant Alpha

“So… you’re saying that thing is a fake?”

“Yeah. I told you.”

Dae-eon placed a few more pieces of grilled meat on Ju-myeong’s plate before finally setting down the tongs and picking up his chopsticks. Ju-myeong, however, looked like he had no intention of eating. He bared his snaggletooth, asking fiercely:

“Then why the hell is something like that in your house?!”

“It’s just…”

“Just what!”

“My uncle made it for me. He was worried I might be in danger.”

“What kind of danger would you even be in?”

Ju-myeong looked utterly baffled. Dae-eon broke into a cold sweat, struggling to explain without revealing the truth about being a Beta.

“Anyway… just know it’s fake. I’ll tell you the rest later. Can we leave it at that?”

“You’re really freaking weird, I swear.”

“I know. That’s why we’re friends.”

“What?!”

Dae-eon gave a sly grin, and Ju-myeong eventually let it slide. It was typical of him—Ju-myeong never pushed past Dae-eon’s “lines.” His greatest strength as a friend was knowing when not to dig for every single secret.

“Anyway, Sunbae is totally misunderstanding things because of you.”

“Dammit, I’m a victim too! I’ve spent years because of that—!”

“Years of what?”

Ju-myeong looked annoyed but bit back the rest of his sentence. Instead, he swerved the topic.

“And so what if he misunderstands? That bas— I mean, that guy didn’t even seem to care.”

“He’s older than you, Ju-myeong. And what do you mean he didn’t care?”

“He didn’t!”

Ju-myeong downed a glass of water in frustration and slammed it onto the metal table. The noise was loud, but neither cared.

“When I told him I saw the certificate at your place, do you know what he said?”

“What did he say?”

“Ah… an imprint. I see…”

According to Ju-myeong, Ji-ha had only blinked slowly and muttered those words. Frustrated by the lackluster reaction, Ju-myeong had pressed harder:

“Yoon Dae-eon already imprinted. He’s taken, get it?”

“It’s okay… Dae-eon isn’t mine anyway.”

Ji-ha had looked slightly sad, but he didn’t look shocked. At least, not in the way Ju-myeong expected. In fact, he had whispered something else:

“……As long as I don’t lose……”

“What? Lose what?”

“…….”

Ju-myeong had asked him to repeat it, thinking he’d misheard, but Ji-ha hadn’t answered. To this day, Ju-myeong wasn’t sure if he’d heard correctly.

“He said something about ‘my imprint’ back then.”

“Sunbae said that?”

“Yeah. f*cking hell, Yoon Dae-eon. Out of all the people to pick, you choose…”

The most gloomiest, craziest bastard of the lot.

Ju-myeong swallowed the words. Dae-eon was staring at him with a look that said, “Go ahead, say it and see what happens.” Even a kind Dae-eon had his limits, and Ju-myeong didn’t want to get scolded.

“……Forget it. Anyway, what’s up with your phone? It’s been vibrating like crazy.”

Ju-myeong gestured to Dae-eon’s phone, which was face-down on the table, buzzing incessantly. Dae-eon realized he’d been so caught up in the conversation that he’d forgotten to check his messages.

When he flipped it over, his previous text was buried under a mountain of messages from Seon Ji-ha.

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Why aren’t you looking at the chat?] 5:35 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Where are you?]

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Are you eating dinner alone?] 5:37 PM

The messages had paused at 5:37 PM, only to resume with a vengeance around 6:00 PM.

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Why aren’t you looking?] 6:02 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Dae-eon.] 6:03 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Where are you?] 6:05 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Where are you?] 6:06 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Where are you?] 6:07 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Where are you?] 6:08 PM

The “Where are you?” appearing once every minute startled Dae-eon. He hurriedly typed a reply.

[Sunbae, I was eating! I’m at the pork belly place in front of the school.] 6:08 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: By yourself?] 6:09 PM

Ji-ha must have been staring at the screen, because the “1” disappeared instantly. The reply was lightning-fast. Dae-eon didn’t remember him being such a fast typer when they first met.

“Hey, you’re burning the meat.”

“Oh! Uh, hang on. Start eating without me.”

[I’m with a friend. 🙂 Did you eat, Sunbae?] 6:09 PM

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Which friend?] 6:10 PM

Dae-eon wouldn’t put the phone down, so Ju-myeong grumpily piled meat onto Dae-eon’s plate.

[Ju-myeong. Yoon Ju-myeong! You saw him last time, right?] 6:10 PM

The rapid-fire replies suddenly stopped. Dae-eon took the chance to stuff a mouthful of meat into his face. Just as he started chewing, a final message arrived.

[Ji-ha Sunbae: Wait.] 6:11 PM

That was it. Dae-eon blinked. What did that mean? Was Ji-ha waiting, or was he telling Dae-eon to wait?

“f*cking eat already!” Ju-myeong barked.

“Ah! Why are you screaming? You scared me! I’m eating!”

“Stop staring at your phone and put food in your mouth.”

“I usually eat well, I can afford to miss a bit. You’re the one who needs to eat.”

“I try to look out for you and this is the thanks I get……”

Ju-myeong began aggressively loading Dae-eon’s plate with meat, refusing to give back the tongs. Dae-eon fought back by moving the meat back to Ju-myeong’s plate with his chopsticks.

“Anyone can see you’re scrawnier than me, you idiot.”

“I eat a lot, I just don’t gain weight! You’re the one who just doesn’t eat.”

“Shut up and eat.”

The two of them ended up laughing as they traded meat back and forth.

“Whether we’re twenty or high schoolers… nothing changes,” Dae-eon muttered, dipping a piece of pork into ssamjang.

“Did you think being an adult would be different?”

“I thought it would be. More composed, more……”

Dae-eon trailed off, trying to remember what else he had wanted to say.

Clang!

The bell on the restaurant door rang violently. Someone had pushed the door open with such force that the ringing lasted for a long time. Dae-eon turned his head toward the door and froze.

A very familiar Alpha was striding toward their table.

“Hey, Yoon Dae-eon, I told you to eat—what the?”

Ju-myeong, who had his back to the door, only realized something was wrong when a massive shadow fell over the table.

Seon Ji-ha stood there, his face a mask of cold indifference.

“……Sunbae?”

The air around Ji-ha felt heavy. He looked back and forth between Dae-eon and Ju-myeong before suddenly reaching out. His target was Dae-eon’s wrist.

He yanked Dae-eon toward him and said curtly:

“Let’s go.”

“Sunbae, wait! Ju-myeong is—”

“…….”

Dae-eon was practically dragged along, half-buried in Ji-ha’s side. He kept looking back at the abandoned Ju-myeong, but Ji-ha didn’t care. He looked ready to pick Dae-eon up and carry him out.

Finally, Ju-myeong stood up and grabbed Dae-eon’s other wrist.

“He said he doesn’t want to go, dammit.”

Ji-ha stopped. He looked into Dae-eon’s eyes and asked:

“……You don’t want to?”

“No, it’s not that, Sunbae. Let’s just finish eating. Or at least let me say goodbye.”

“I don’t want to.”

Dae-eon realized that Ji-ha wasn’t talking about himself—he was saying he hated the fact that Dae-eon was with Ju-myeong.

“Sunbae, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. We weren’t even drinking, just having dinner. If I knew you’d hate it this much……”

“You knew…… I’d hate it.”

Dae-eon flinched. Did he know? Did he suspect that Ji-ha would react this way? Ji-ha had pinpointed his guilt perfectly.

Ju-myeong cursed under his breath and stepped between them, shielding Dae-eon with his body.

“Give it a rest. What’s wrong with eating with a friend? Being a boyfriend doesn’t mean you own him. Is Yoon Dae-eon your property?”

Ju-myeong’s eyes weren’t entirely innocent, but for now, he was playing the role of the protective friend. Ji-ha stared at him.

Behind those bangs, Ji-ha’s eyes showed no sign of anger or danger. If anything, Ju-myeong was the one who looked heated.

But that lack of expression was exactly what made Ji-ha dangerous. Because in the next second, without changing his expression at all, Seon Ji-ha threw a punch.