Because You’re His Weak Spot

“……Brother, just try to hold on somehow.”

The world doesn’t go as you want.
Hanbyeol, lying in bed due to suppressant side effects, pressed a hand to his forehead.

‘–Your cycle isn’t supposed to be now, right?’

“I don’t know either…”

Probably got influenced from being with my brother.
Ugh, hearing Hanbyeol’s voice grinding his teeth, Yuseong fell silent on the other end of the phone for a long while.

Whether Alpha or Omega, people with dynamics had a hard time with this.
Being unintentionally exposed to pheromones often disrupted their cycles.

Even though they were both Omegas, because he had been constantly in contact with Yuseong’s pheromones, his cycle had been thrown off, making it seem like a heat cycle had suddenly hit.

‘–I’m sorry, brother… Is it really difficult?’

Hearing the worried voice from the other end, Hanbyeol let out a hollow laugh as if it were ridiculous.

“Who’s worrying about who now? I’m perfectly fine.”

It was just funny seeing the person whose body was unwell, leaking pheromones, worrying about the healthy one.

His cycle was just a bit off.
Thanks to the suppressant’s effect, his physical condition was just slightly poor; it wasn’t like his pheromones were leaking like Yuseong’s.

‘–But you can’t even go to school. You should be attending classes.’

“You’ve already taught me everything up to the CSAT scope, what more.”
“Besides, classes aren’t even proper these days anyway.”

‘–But the CSAT isn’t that far off, right? Once you feel better, you’ll have to go take the exam immediately, won’t you?’

“I said I’m fine.”

It’s actually lucky it hit before the CSAT.
If it had been just a bit later, I might have done all that studying and then not been able to go take the exam.

Plus, Taeha is studying together too.

Since the CSAT is approaching, most classes have shifted to focusing on solving practice problems, so there’s no need to worry about keeping up with the class material.
It’s just that right now, my head hurts a bit, I feel breathless, nauseous, and tired.

‘–But, it seems like the side effects get worse every year…?’

“It can’t be helped. There are so few dominant Omegas.”
“Medicine only advances when there are more people.”

Until about 30 years ago, before suppressants were developed, it’s said that Omegas were anxious about going outside, worried about what-ifs.

But you can’t live your whole life inside just because you’re an Omega, so they chose to reveal their dynamic rather than hide it.
It was because if a cycle suddenly hit in a situation without suppressants, it would be awkward.

Since having a dynamic isn’t wrong, being honest about it is good, but on the other hand, subtle discrimination existed.
So, even now with suppressants developed, many Omegas and Alphas still don’t reveal their dynamics.

Especially Hanbyeol, after manifesting as an Omega like his brother, he deliberately didn’t reveal his dynamic to anyone.
Only a few close friends from his clueless childhood, with whom he shared his dynamic test results, knew.

Fortunately, his friends were tight-lipped, so Hanbyeol would occasionally skip school when he wasn’t feeling well, but the fact that he was an Omega never spread.

The fact that he was an idol’s brother was also only known to a few and didn’t become a big rumor, so he thought staying quiet helped his own life in its own way.

From Hanbyeol’s perspective, it was actually fortunate.
If the rumor that Hanbyeol was an Omega had spread, it would have caused issues in helping Yuseong too.

Even if he were the brother of a Cha.N member, the fact that he was an Omega and that there were Alphas among the members wouldn’t change.

So, once his brother’s affairs were settled, he planned to keep his distance again like before.

‘–Your parents aren’t home, right?’

“Yeah. It seems like they won’t be able to come home this week either?”

‘–You’re not feeling well, and you’re alone at home…’

“I’m not a child, you know? Who’s worrying about who here?”

His older brother, who’s unwell, worrying about his younger brother who’s almost twenty…
Hanbyeol still felt it was absurd and let out a sigh.
The big but quiet house was familiar.
His parents’ busy schedules had been a frequent occurrence since he was young.

Yuseong had tried to act like an older brother since middle school, but from Hanbyeol’s perspective, who remembered the old Yuseong, it was astonishing.
Who was it that taught a 3-year-younger sibling how to cook because he was too lazy to make food…?

Because of that, Hanbyeol had recently started having a rational suspicion: maybe Yuseong started managing his behavior towards him around the time he began dreaming of becoming an idol.

‘–Once I finish today’s work to some extent, I’ll stop by home.’

“Ah, it’s fine! Don’t come!”

‘–I have to go, of course. My younger brother is sick.’
‘It’s obvious you wouldn’t have told our parents, worried they’d be concerned.’

“Of course. That’s me…”

‘–Choi Yuseong! Ah, you’re on a call?’

Hanbyeol, who was about to add, ‘It’s not just me,’ closed his mouth.
From the other side of the receiver, he could hear voices other than Yuseong’s.

Ah… I get it.
I wondered why he was calling me over the usual suppressant side effects.

Even though he was gradually getting better, Yuseong’s pheromone control still showed no improvement.

After the heat cycle started, Hanbyeol hadn’t left the house for about three days.
The point had been reached where it was impossible to pass off Yuseong’s subtly leaking pheromones as Hanbyeol’s own, so it was right for Yuseong to stop by home, even briefly.

While it wasn’t a situation where control was completely impossible, like when his body first got bad, it was better to exclude the possibility of discovery from the start.

Hanbyeol ended the call, picked up his phone, and turned on a recording that recited English words and their meanings one after another.
It didn’t really go into his head, but he felt uneasy if he didn’t do even this.

Buzz.

Then, his phone vibrated.
Hanbyeol, with an annoyed expression, moved his hand.

Kang Jaehwi

The lunch today is jjolmyeon and fried dumplings, can I eat your portion too?

Not ‘dwaetga’ but ‘doeda’, you crazy bastard.
Hanbyeol, who had his common sense flying away at a friend who says things like ‘I’ll eat your food’ to a sick friend, ground his teeth.

Get lost…

A moment later.

Just as he was about to fall asleep from the medication coursing through his body, the phone vibrating again chased the sleep away.

Do Eunhan

Not Kang Jaehwi

I’ll eat it, call?

And I call these people friends.

Hanbyeol’s common sense, which seemed about to return with his sleep, flew far away again.

What should I do with these friends who live to eat?
Hanbyeol ignored Eunhan’s message and flipped his phone over.

Buzz.

But as the phone rang again, Hanbyeol clenched his fist, grabbed the blanket, and pulled it over his head to ignore the vibration.
If I don’t answer, they’ll stop contacting me.

Buzz.

Yet it rang again.
Whether it was a message bombardment because he wasn’t answering, the vibration didn’t stop as if a call were coming in.

“Ah, you damn crazy bastards!”

Finally picking up the phone due to the renewed vibration, Hanbyeol rubbed his eyes as he saw an unknown number, not the names that annoyed him.

“……Hello?”

‘–Sorry. Were you, by any chance, sleeping? Did I wake you?’

A low voice flowed through kindly.

It was a familiar voice.
Did Danyeong hyung have my number?
As Hanbyeol failed to continue speaking, a voice came from the other side saying, “Hello?”

“Hel, hello?”

‘–Hello~.’

Not much time had passed since the call with Yuseong ended.
He had heard the members’ voices from the receiver… Did he call after seeing the call ended?

“Um, how did you get my number….”

Hanbyeol had never saved the Cha.N members’ numbers, and he hadn’t given his out either.
Danyeong’s voice from the other end sounded awkward.

‘–Ah, the members have other family numbers.’
‘We need to have an emergency contact list.’

It was because if an accident or problem occurred, they needed to contact the family immediately.
If they didn’t know the family’s number, they’d have to find the manager and go through various routes to contact the family, creating an inconvenient situation.

‘–Since Yuseong’s parents are often on business trips, they gave your number as the primary contact instead of the parents’ number.’

“Ah….”

That made sense.
Hanbyeol had also written down the contact for Yuseong’s agency and the Cha.N manager’s phone number at school, not his often-away, busy parents’ numbers.
Since his brother was an idol and his number changed often, he chose the contact method that would reach him.

‘–I heard you’re not feeling well… Sorry. I was worried, so I called.’

Why?

Hanbyeol was puzzled as to why Danyeong would be concerned about his health.

“By any chance, is my brother not able to focus well because of me? Because I’m not feeling well?”

‘–Huh?’

“If that’s the case, please tell him he doesn’t need to worry.”
“I’m really fine. If it’s affecting his work, I shouldn’t have told him.”

‘–…Wai, wait a minute, Hanbyeol-ah? Did you think I called because of Yuseong?’

“……?”

Isn’t that obvious?

Danyeong was just a member of Cha.N, which Yuseong belonged to—someone distant from Hanbyeol himself.

These days, due to the circumstances, they met often, but Hanbyeol’s thoughts hadn’t changed.
Once Yuseong’s health improved, they would stop meeting like before.

‘–Well, this is… Hanbyeol-ah, I just called because I was worried about you.’

“Huh? Why?”

‘–Why? Because you’re a younger brother.’

But I’m Yuseong hyung’s younger brother, not yours…
As Hanbyeol looked confused, perhaps sensing the meaning of his silence, a laughing sound came from the other end.

‘–Of course, not a biological younger brother.’
‘But you’ve been coming to the dorm often, and you’ve visited the company too.’
‘How can I not be concerned when someone I know is sick?’

“Ah… I see.”

‘–There’s no other meaning.’
‘I also know very well that I tend to bother people when I get fixated on what I want.’
‘While part of it is because I feel a bit sorry and regretful, you’re still a younger brother.’
‘Yuseong is very worried too. From my perspective, it’s the same.’
‘I was worried hearing you’re alone at home when you’re only nineteen, so I called.’

“Yes… Thank you.”

It felt awkward to receive such concern.

The ones who worried about Hanbyeol were always Yuseong and his friends.
It felt a bit strange that someone else, an outsider, would contact him out of worry.

‘–You’re also an exam student. The CSAT is coming soon, so let’s take care of your health.’

At Danyeong’s words, Hanbyeol let out a small laugh.
It sounded like something the director of a cram school for exam students would say.
No, wait, he’s giving me composition lessons, so he is a teacher, right?

“I’ll do my homework well and bring it.”

‘–Yeah~ I’ll look forward to it. Take good care of yourself.’

It wasn’t a long call.
The screen, which had shown they’d talked for just over 2 minutes, soon changed back to the default wallpaper.