That Wasn’t My Place

“Hanbyeol-ah. Do you have a song you like?”

Seeing Danyeong’s shining eyes, Hanbyeol wanted to open the door again and run away.

He used to be the Hanbyeol who would shout, ‘What kind of dating is this for an idol! You like my pheromones, huh? You say you want to see my face often?!’

But to think that wasn’t the instinct of an alpha seeing an omega, but the instinct of a producer wanting to insert a favorite raw gem into his own puzzle…….

“Really…… I, I really can’t sing or dance.”

“Hanbyeol-ah. I’ll be the judge of that.”

Hanbyeol glared intently at Yuseong.

An expression came back that seemed to say, ‘I didn’t know it would turn out like this either……!’ but it didn’t work on Hanbyeol.

‘Show that face to the fans. Not to me.’

“And, those pheromones absolutely couldn’t be from someone who can’t dance.”

“……Huh?”

“My instinct says so. I’ve never been wrong so far.”

At Danyeong’s words, the gazes of the Channel (Cha.N) members, who had been looking at Hanbyeol full of expectation, turned to Danyeong.

Yoonsoo, the alpha who had also smelled the pheromones, had an expression not much different from the other members.

Countless question marks floated in the air.

As if agreeing with Danyeong, who wanted to make Hanbyeol a junior, the members who had been looking at Hanbyeol with shining eyes also floated question marks above their heads.

“……Brother. What if Hanbyeol really can’t, like he says?”

The youngest, Yechan, who had seen Hanbyeol’s panic from the beginning, asked Danyeong.

Danyeong grinned.

“Then I’ll help Hanbyeol with his composition studies. I don’t know about entrance exam help, but I should be plenty helpful for debuting as a composer, right?”

The royalty king of Channel (Cha.N) had spoken.

Hanbyeol, who had had dead eyes all along, shone and shouted ‘Call!’

The condition was a no-brainer, but this was a scam from the start.

The pheromones were Yuseong’s, not Hanbyeol’s.

‘What’s wrong with that guy’s instinct? The owner of the pheromones, Yuseong, dances well, sings well, and raps pretty well too.’

“Alright, shall we try? Sehyeon-ah. Play a song, please.”

“Sure~.”

A song with a good rhythm for dancing flowed out.

‘Ah, I’m so embarrassed I think I might die…….’

Hanbyeol tightly closed his eyes and moved his body.

‘I don’t know, let whatever happens happen.’

“This…… it can’t be…….”

Danyeong’s pupils trembled violently.

“I told you I can’t dance…….”

The wooden plank crumbled.

It wasn’t even floppy; it was stiff itself.

At the movements with absolutely no flexibility, Danyeong, as if grasping at the last straw, played the easiest ballad among Channel (Cha.N)’s album tracks.

“You want me to dance to this?”

“No, singing…….”

Aish. No way, no way you can’t even sing?

The moment Hanbyeol made a sound, Danyeong who had been thinking that died a heroic death.

“It doesn’t make sense! With that good of a voice! Why is there only one note? While keeping the rhythm perfectly!”

Choi Hanbyeol.

Today, he informed his brother’s colleagues that he, unlike his brother, was an absolute tone-deaf and an absolute clumsy dancer.

“So I…… I told you I just do composition…….”

Hanbyeol felt like crying.

****

Of course, including Hanbyeol in Danyeong’s project to create idol juniors fell through.

It was Danyeong’s principle that unless one was an extreme case, with bone-grinding training, even those clumsy at dancing or tone-deaf could debut.

But, as mentioned earlier, it was for ‘unless one was an extreme’ cases.

[‘He’s not tone-deaf to the beat, so what if we try rap……?’]

Danyeong, who had been hooked on Hanbyeol’s pheromones (actually Yuseong’s pheromones), said he couldn’t possibly give up and called Hanbyeol to the practice room a few more times after that, but since everyone shook their heads, Danyeong eventually sank.

“Pfft…….”

“Choi Hanbyeol, singing and dancing…….”

“Just laugh openly, you bastards…….”

Hanbyeol, who had told his friends the story, leaving out the part about pheromones, was laughed at.

Hanbyeol looked at his snickering friends resentfully and stared at the backs of their heads while holding an empty drink bottle.

‘Violence is bad, Choi Hanbyeol. Put your hand down.’

“Pfft-hk, kgh…….”

“Wow, seriously. Those brothers didn’t know you were tone-deaf and clumsy?”

“What on earth was he hooked on, seriously saying since the older brother is good, the younger brother absolutely can’t be like that?”

Danyeong kept denying reality, saying it couldn’t be, but in the face of Hanbyeol’s unchanging state, he finally had to admit it.

That Hanbyeol absolutely could not be part of his grand dream.

“But, it seems like you’re leaving school early even on days you don’t have academy lately?”

“I have to make songs.”

“At the academy?”

“No, at brother’s company.”

Even though he couldn’t debut Hanbyeol as an idol, as a result of the bet Danyeong had confidently declared, Hanbyeol ended up occasionally visiting his brother’s company.

Originally, he had only planned to sneakily send his personally worked-on results via email, but Yuseong subtly changed the plan.

[‘Wouldn’t it work for Hanbyeol to come to our company’s studio? Honestly, seeing the equipment actually in use would be better than doing MIDI work with academy equipment. If I promised to teach him as agreed, I should make some time.’]

He felt a bit sorry for his brother, who was struggling not to be discovered as an omega, but since he decided to help, he had to go along.

Thanks to that, composition tutoring began, but as the college entrance exam drew near and he had to prepare for composition and practical skills simultaneously, even Danyeong seemed to become heavy-hearted along with Hanbyeol.

But for Hanbyeol, he couldn’t miss the opportunity to work with good equipment.

[‘Even if I can’t make you an idol, I want to help you pass the university…….’]

[‘Yes……. I really want to get into that university…….’]

[‘Sigh……. My head still hurts. Those pheromones absolutely aren’t from someone who can’t dance or sing.’]

[‘Brother, I told you I’m not becoming an idol.’]

[‘Right…… no! But why does K University look at high school records for the special admission, making you apply for general admission? It’s a composition major!’]

[‘I don’t know either…….’]

[‘And why is the entrance exam cutoff like this? It’s a composition major!’]

[‘I don’t know either…….’]

It was composition tutoring accompanied by many such aniciations.

Hanbyeol had already messed up his high school records.

Honestly, just looking at grades, they were quite good.

Among his group of friends, Taeha studied the best, and next was Hanbyeol.

But he was often late and absent, and had quite a few absences on school exam days too.

Of course, it wasn’t what Hanbyeol wanted.

[‘Since Hanbyeol is a dominant…….’]

There was a reason Yuseong used the excuse of Hanbyeol being a dominant with the Channel (Cha.N) members.

Among the Earth’s population, omegas were few, and among them, dominant omegas were even rarer.

If one took suppressants according to their heat cycle, unless it was an extreme case, they were usually suppressed.

Perhaps because he took after his brother, Hanbyeol’s heat cycle was quite precise, starting about every two months and two weeks.

But the suppressant side effects were severe.

Originally, suppressants themselves, being medicine for a minority trait, had some side effects, but those with dominant traits had them even more severely.

Unlike Yuseong, who was recessive, Hanbyeol, being dominant, sometimes collapsed on the way to school after taking suppressants and was taken to the hospital.

On days he took suppressants, because his nosebleed wouldn’t stop for a long time, on the orders of the PE teacher who witnessed the scene, Hanbyeol’s PE class became a basic exclusion situation.

Thanks to that, his high school records were ruined.

In a situation where the entrance exam and practical skills were extremely important.

Even if he had stress because of his brother’s situation, Hansol couldn’t give up studying and composition tutoring.

“Hanbyeol-ah. So you’re going to the company again today?”

Taeha, who had been quiet throughout the conversation, cautiously opened his mouth.

Hanbyeol, turning his gaze to the voice lower than usual, nodded.

“Yeah. I have to study. I don’t have academy class today either.”

“Are you working alone, by any chance? With that leader person?”

“No~ My brother’s there too, and Yechan brother is there.”

No matter how much they thought of him as family, they were still others.

Since they were people he wouldn’t have been tied to if not for his brother, Hanbyeol tended to keep his distance even if the other party thought of him comfortably.

Moreover, if he was alone, he couldn’t make them recognize that his brother’s pheromones were his own.

Hanbyeol was a desperate hunter trying to catch two rabbits: confusing the owner of the pheromones while preparing for college entrance.

Most of all, being together in the studio, Yuseong’s MIDI recording skills started improving unexpectedly.

Compared to other members, his album participation rate was always lacking, which was regrettable, but he laughed saying it was good he could learn next to him on this occasion.

Remembering his brother’s face, Hanbyeol gritted his teeth.

“Hanbyeol-ah……?”

“Sorry. I just had a random thought.”

“Random?”

“A thought about how to best hit someone on the back of the head to knock them out in one go.”

“……Violence is bad, Choi Hanbyeol-ah.”

“Sigh…….”

Hanbyeol, who was sighing, sent a vague look at his friends.

‘Shouldn’t you ask what makes a person do such things?’

Turning his head, Hanbyeol saw Taeha looking at him worriedly and his eyes lit up.

“Taeha-yah.”

“Yeah?”

“When do you rest?”

“Huh?”

“Hey, hey. Even though Ji Taeha has been crazy about studying lately and isn’t taking care of his body, even though he’s focused, you can’t forcibly knock him out. We won’t take your side?”

“Ah, be quiet. I wasn’t talking to you guys! Taeha-yah. When do you really rest? Do you even think about resting?”

There was a reason for Hanbyeol’s sudden question to Taeha.

Because the only person around Hanbyeol somewhat similar to Yuseong was Taeha.

He had the same goal, good grades, good personality, and was diligent.

Moreover, because he took care of his surroundings extremely well, he seemed to care for others more than himself.

Put nicely, he was a person helpful to those around him; put badly, he was a pushover.

Because he tended to not spare his body for the things he had to do, he had the common trait of enduring even if he was sick and prioritizing what he had to do.

“I also really think about resting when I’m exhausted.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But, I just haven’t had such thoughts until now.”

“That’s the problem……?”

“Huh?”

The problem was that the standard of pain the two people thought of was so different from Hanbyeol’s.

In Hanbyeol’s eyes, these people who really should rest kept trying to move, so he couldn’t just stand by and watch.

His friends looked at Hanbyeol with faces that said, ‘Are you Ji Taeha’s guardian?’ but he couldn’t help being concerned.