A World Without Betas

“Hey, isn’t that pheromone insane?”

Inside a quiet lecture hall, Yoon Dae-eon’s hands froze as he was packing his things to leave. The voices of the students sitting in the row directly in front of him were piercingly loud. Dae-eon listened to their conversation while feigning indifference.

“Holy sh*t. That scent is driving me crazy. You don’t think it’s pheromone perfume, do you?”

“No way, man. This is the real deal. Trust my animal instincts.”

From the way they were talking, a potent pheromone seemed to be lingering in the air. The two men in the front row smacked their lips greedily before soon departing the room. Despite their big talk, it seemed they lacked the courage to actually track down the pheromone’s owner. Yoon Dae-eon lingered for a moment, pondering who they could have been talking about. Fortunately, his classmate sitting next to him, Oh Dong-chol, provided the answer.

“So low-class. Do they really think Jung Yoon-gi would give them a single drop of his pheromones? Typical Alpha bastards…. Don’t you agree, Dae-eon?”

“Huh?”

“I’m saying, would a Dominant Omega like Yoon-gi ever go for guys like that?”

Ah, Jung Yoon-gi. He was one of the department’s most famous Dominant Omegas. A freshman who had entered the university at the same time as Yoon Dae-eon, he had been the center of attention since the orientation party thanks to his refreshing citrus scent. Dae-eon carefully gauged Oh Dong-chol’s mood before responding.

“You’re right. Yoon-gi does have very high standards.”

“Right? Dominant types only play amongst themselves. They won’t even spare a glance for anyone with weaker pheromones than their own.”

“Yoon-gi seems nice, though.”

“That’s only because he’s a prince. When Recessive Alphas are falling over themselves to serve him just for a smile, he has no reason to be mean.”

As a Recessive Omega, Oh Dong-chol frequently expressed his jealousy toward Jung Yoon-gi in this manner. He denied it, of course, but to Yoon Dae-eon’s ears, it was clearly envy and resentment. However, since it was a sentiment most Recessives harbored toward Dominants, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

“You know yourself how much that citrus scent of his leaks out everywhere.”

Regrettably, as a Beta, Yoon Dae-eon did not know. In fact, Yoon Dae-eon was the only one who didn’t know—exactly how refreshing Jung Yoon-gi’s citrus scent actually was.

“Whenever I smell that, I just wish I could become a Beta. It’s so damn thick. It just gives me a headache, but those Alpha bastards….”

“Alpha bastards go absolutely insane for it. Do you have any idea how many guys are constantly sniffing around Jung Yoon-gi?”

“Hey, Kim Ye-jun.”

The one who cut off Oh Dong-chol was another classmate, Kim Ye-jun. He had been sleeping throughout the entire lecture and was only now sluggishly getting up. As a Recessive Alpha, Kim Ye-jun clearly found Oh Dong-chol’s remarks irritating. Kim Ye-jun yawned widely and spoke.

“And where the hell would you even find a Beta in this world? It’s not like you can just become one because you want to.”

Betas exist. Right here.

Yoon Dae-eon stuffed his tablet into his bag, maintaining a perfectly neutral expression. As he stood up and headed out of the classroom, Oh Dong-chol and Kim Ye-jun followed closely behind. Their conversation showed no signs of stopping.

“Why not? There might still be some surviving Betas!”

“Didn’t you listen to the lecture? Beta populations plummeted after World War II, and they’ve been extinct in the modern era.”

“You were snoring the whole time; when did you even hear that?”

Yoon Dae-eon remained steadfastly silent. He had no intention of telling them that the “extinct” Beta was standing right here. If he did, he’d either be dragged away for study or end up on the evening news. Perhaps both.

Alphas and Omegas. In this world, only two genders existed. He had heard that until the early 1900s, when Betas still existed, people were also divided into male and female, but since the disappearance of Betas, those categories had become virtually obsolete.

In such a world, Yoon Dae-eon was, unfortunately, a Beta. The reason for their disappearance was simple: during World War II, war-criminal nations committed Beta massacres. Korea, having endured the colonial period, was no exception; most Korean Betas were slaughtered during that time. Yoon Dae-eon’s grandparents were among the few Betas who had managed to survive by hiding during those chaotic years. His parents were the same—a Beta couple who had lived lonely lives until they finally found each other and formed a struggling union.

Kim Ye-jun and Oh Dong-chol were still heatedly debating the topic of Betas. Then, Oh Dong-chol suddenly brought up a useless piece of trivia.

“But do you think it’s true?”

“What?”

“That if you eat a Beta, you can become a Dominant.”

Listening to this, Yoon Dae-eon let out a private sigh. It was a rumor that never failed to surface whenever Betas were mentioned. It was precisely because of those rumors that the few remaining Betas had to go into hiding. It was all thanks to thoughtless Alphas and Omegas spreading nonsense. Since Betas had almost vanished, all sorts of urban legends masquerading as rumors had been generated.

Kim Ye-jun, who had clearly heard the rumor before, answered firmly.

“I believe it.”

“Ehh, really? You actually believe that?”

“Hey. Look at the chairmen of all those conglomerates. They were all Recessives when they were young, but they’re all Dominants now that they’re older. Doesn’t that tell you everything?”

“You need to stop watching so much You-Tube, man.”

After bickering for a while longer, Kim Ye-jun and Oh Dong-chol eventually stopped Yoon Dae-eon. They wanted an objective opinion from a third party. Kim Ye-jun asked with a grimace.

“Dae-eon, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About Betas. The rumor that you become a Dominant if you eat one—do you think it’s true? You’re a Recessive too, so you must have heard it at least once.”

“Well….”

Yoon Dae-eon, whose official government ID identified him as a Recessive Omega, feigned indifference as he dragged out his answer. Finally, he spoke.

“I think the idea of a Beta still even existing in this world is what’s truly unbelievable.”

“Ah, good point.”

“True. That makes total sense.”

The argument between his classmates ended just like that. It was a dull conclusion. Seeing that the conversation had reached a lull, Dae-eon smoothly changed the subject.

“Oh, I have to stop by the student lounge for a bit.”

“Huh? Why? Class is over.”

“I left my major textbook there when I went in for lunch. You guys go on ahead.”

While Kim Ye-jun and Oh Dong-chol lived in the dorms, Yoon Dae-eon lived in his own home. Since their paths were different, they parted ways without much fuss.

**************************************

“Is a Beta some kind of animal? To talk about eating them or not….”

Left alone, Yoon Dae-eon climbed the stairs of Building 114 toward the second-floor student lounge. There were hardly any people in the university building in the late afternoon as the sun began to set. Because of that, the distinct creak of the old wooden floors echoed with every step he took.

“The only animals are the Alphas and Omegas.”

The words he had suppressed while with Kim Ye-jun and Oh Dong-chol kept spilling out now that he was alone. He believed the term “beast” was far better suited to Alphas and Omegas than Betas. That was how his late parents had raised him.

Betas are never confused by love because of pheromones, nor do they suffer through cycles. Betas are the ones closest to being evolved humans, more so than any other race. His parents were people who took immense pride in the rare Beta gender. Raised by them, Yoon Dae-eon had never once forgotten that he was a Beta, even if he had used a broker’s help to register himself as a Recessive Omega with the state.

Beep-beep-beep-beep

Arriving at the student lounge, Dae-eon unlocked the door and pushed it open. The moment the door swung wide, the stale scent of dust enveloped him. Had Oh Dong-chol or Kim Ye-jun been with him, they would have likely complained about the “stink of pheromones,” but once again, Dae-eon felt nothing.

To a Beta like Dae-eon, it was just a room that smelled heavily of dust. But today, the smell seemed a bit more….

“Ah, found it.”

Fortunately, the textbook he had left behind was still sitting on the large table. He had stopped by for lunch because of the rain to order Chinese delivery and had left it then. He retrieved his item and turned to leave, but faltered when he heard a strange sound.

“Hhh….”

He froze. It was definitely a human sound, yet it sounded more like an animal. Dae-eon had heard this sound only a few times in his life.

“……Is someone there?”

As he slowly turned around, he saw something wrapped in a blanket on the old sofa. It was the kind of sofa that looked like it would puff out a cloud of dust every time someone sat on it.

“Huuu, ugh….”

“…….”

As he listened closer, the animalistic groaning became more distinct. Dae-eon stood by the table, plunged into a fierce internal conflict. Just as he was about to turn away coldly, a single plea brushed against his ears.

“Help… me….”

At those words, Dae-eon’s lips twitched as he mouthed a curse. Ultimately, he approached the sofa and pulled back the part of the blanket he assumed covered the face. Simultaneously, a wave of intense heat rushed over him.

“Save… save me…. Haa, please, some—how….”

Sweat-drenched black hair. Black eyes that had lost their focus. An expression that looked as though all reason had been stripped away. Though Dae-eon couldn’t sense any pheromones, the radiating heat and the man’s state were enough to tell him everything.

The person hidden beneath this blanket was currently in the middle of a cycle. And not just any cycle—it was the notoriously violent Dominant Alpha Rut.