The Hidden Gaze

Contrary to their initial plan to go to the department store as a trio, they arrived as a group of four. The person who had suddenly joined their ranks was Jeong Yun-gi, whom they had happened to run into on their way.

When asked if he wanted to join them since they were heading to the department store, Jeong Yun-gi glanced briefly at Yoon Dae-eon and immediately nodded. Only then did Yoon Dae-eon remember that Jeong Yun-gi had previously mentioned having something to tell him, but with Oh Dong-cheol and Kim Ye-jun around, he couldn’t ask right away.

The four of them arrived at the department store and wandered through the more affordable casual brands. As expected, Oh Dong-cheol and Kim Ye-jun spent a long time teasing each other, and once they seemed to hit it off, they wandered off to a different floor.

Jeong Yun-gi proved quite helpful to Yoon Dae-eon, who was looking through the clothes one by one with a fairly serious expression. Usually known for dressing neatly, Jeong Yun-gi had a good eye for color matching.

“Dae-eon, this really suits you.”

“Ah, I’m not sure about this color…….”

“Why? You have fair skin, so pink suits you well.”

Unfortunately, what Jeong Yun-gi was holding out was a cute, light pink sweatshirt. It wasn’t the design Yoon Dae-eon had been looking for, as he wanted to approach Seon Ji-ha looking cool.

However, as Jeong Yun-gi held the sweatshirt up under his chin, the clerk watching from the side began to chime in.

“Oh my, it’s so cute! Your friend has a good eye.”

“I don’t like being cute…….”

“It means it looks good on you. Really. Just trust me once.”

Yoon Dae-eon looked at the full-body mirror in front of the fitting room with a troubled face. If there was one compliment Yoon Dae-eon didn’t like, even though he had received his fair share regarding his appearance, it was ‘cute.’

Up until middle school, Yoon Dae-eon had been much smaller than the average Omega student, so he was showered with affection by the older Omega boys and girls. There had even been an Omega girl who said she wanted to date him because he was too cute.

He was pale, his eyes were round, and back then, his blush was quite prominent, so it was only natural that he received all the attention.

After entering high school, he shot up in height, which helped tone it down a bit. Although there were occasionally Alpha jerks who would look at him while he was sitting and tease him, saying it suited him better to be short, he was secretly relieved that he heard the word ‘cute’ less often after he grew tall.

To hear that word again now that he was in university.

“Would you like to try it on? What size do you wear?”

“I wear a 100.”

“No, don’t you think a 95 would be enough for you, Dae-eon?”

“That’s what I think, too.”

Yoon Dae-eon’s attempt to sneakily pick a size larger was immediately shot down. Yoon Dae-eon nodded dejectedly.

I wish I had broad, thick shoulders like Sunbae. Then I’d look really cool. A sigh leaked out, full of disappointment.

While the clerk went into the storage room to get the clothes, Jeong Yun-gi approached him as Yoon Dae-eon sighed.

“What’s wrong? Are you worried about something?”

“No……. I just wish I could pull off things like that.”

Yoon Dae-eon pointed to a mannequin displayed in the next store. The mannequin, dressed smartly in a blazer, exuded an Alpha-like image. Following Yoon Dae-eon’s finger, Jeong Yun-gi glanced at the next store and then smiled, his eyes crinkling.

“Dae-eon, you look better in jeans and sweatshirts. You still have your baby fat.”

“Argh, seriously, this damn baby fat. I want to wear a cool suit, too!”

“Why? Is there someone you want to impress?”

Jeong Yun-gi asked calmly, browsing through clothes that were a bit tidier and neater than Yoon Dae-eon’s, perhaps looking for something for himself. Yoon Dae-eon hesitated for a moment before answering.

“……Yeah. I just want to look really cool. Not cute.”

“Coolness doesn’t come from the clothes, but from how you act.”

Jeong Yun-gi chuckled softly and patted Yoon Dae-eon’s hair. That might be true, but…… Yoon Dae-eon’s small murmur sounded just like a grumble.

“But who is the person you want to impress? Is it that person you were asking for relationship advice about before?”

“Huh? Well, if you want to know who it is…….”

Yoon Dae-eon hesitated for a moment. Nothing was set in stone yet, so was it okay to just say it?

But it seemed like even Oh Dong-cheol and Kim Ye-jun already knew. It felt silly to keep lying only to Jeong Yun-gi. After debating it, Yoon Dae-eon quietly said the name.

“Seon Ji-ha Sunbae.”

“……What?”

Jeong Yun-gi’s face, which had been looking at him with the smile of an older brother, twisted slightly. Although it soon returned to his original warm expression, there was no way Yoon Dae-eon, who was facing him, could have missed it.

Wondering if there was some issue between him and Seon Ji-ha, Yoon Dae-eon asked cautiously.

“Why? Is Sunbae…… not good?”

“No, it’s not that, but…….”

Jeong Yun-gi repeatedly opened and closed his lips—the very lips the senior students in their department had nicknamed ‘lips they wanted to devour.’ He clearly had something to say, but he seemed hesitant to say it to Yoon Dae-eon.

Unable to bear the suspense, Yoon Dae-eon urged him before he even realized it.

“Why? Come to think of it, you said you had something to tell me last time, too. Yun-gi, what was it?”

“Ah, that is…….”

Jeong Yun-gi let out a long sigh. Just then, the clerk who had gone into the storage room returned with the pink sweatshirt wrapped in plastic. It seemed it had been in a hard-to-find spot, as beads of sweat were visible on the clerk’s forehead.

“You waited a long time, didn’t you? You can go try this on right away.”

Rip. The clerk tore open the new garment as if it were natural and handed it to Yoon Dae-eon. Once he received the clothes, Yoon Dae-eon just stared blankly at Jeong Yun-gi, as their conversation had ended so awkwardly.

“Try it on, Dae-eon.”

Jeong Yun-gi ultimately ended the conversation there. Yoon Dae-eon felt uncomfortable, but he couldn’t push aside the clerk who was telling him to go try it on and continue the talk.

Once Yoon Dae-eon finally entered the fitting room, Jeong Yun-gi, now alone, stared blankly at the door. He then accidentally made eye contact with the clerk in the mirror attached to the wall.

Since they had made awkward eye contact, he tried to look away, but the sociable clerk seized the opportunity.

“You’re both Omegas, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Your friend is very cute, but you look like a model yourself, sir.”

“Thank you.”

It was a compliment he was so used to that Jeong Yun-gi just looked away and answered nonchalantly. Having been born and lived as a Dominant Omega, such compliments were neither awkward nor embarrassing.

“You must be very popular.”

“Ah…… yes. Dae-eon is quite popular, yes.”

To the clerk’s comment about Jeong Yun-gi, he looked blankly at the fitting room and thought of Yoon Dae-eon as a matter of course. As the clerk said, Yoon Dae-eon was popular. Although Yoon Dae-eon didn’t seem to realize it.

If Jeong Yun-gi attracted attention because of his appearance and easily received light interest from almost any Alpha, Yoon Dae-eon was different.

Yoon Dae-eon, whom he had watched quietly since high school, had a lot of friends just by looking at him. It was to the point where he wondered how he could treat so many friends without making a single one feel slighted.

However, having received countless advances, Jeong Yun-gi often noticed the secret gazes hidden among Yoon Dae-eon’s ‘fake friends.’

In any case, if there was one difference between the popular Jeong Yun-gi and Yoon Dae-eon, it was that those who approached Yoon Dae-eon didn’t easily confess their feelings.

Those who liked Yoon Dae-eon were all like that. They didn’t like him with the kind of light heart that would allow them to confess easily and give up if rejected. Unlike the many Alphas who liked Jeong Yun-gi.

“Yun-gi, how is it?”

“It’s pretty. It suits you well.”

“I keep thinking this looks better on you than it does on me.”

He feels shy when praised. And he’s desperate to return the favor if he receives something good. Jeong Yun-gi was certain that everyone who had liked Yoon Dae-eon must have liked him for those reasons.

Back in high school, the curiosity he felt while watching Yoon Dae-eon, who wouldn’t even glance at him, had slowly grown. However, even Jeong Yun-gi didn’t know which direction these feelings were heading. And he didn’t particularly want to know, either.

Just looking at Yoon Dae-eon made him feel good. That was all.

“I paid for it. I really bought this because I trust you, Yun-gi. It really suits me, right?”

“It’s the truth. Make sure to wear it when you go on your date.”

At the word ‘date,’ Yoon Dae-eon smiled sheepishly, perhaps distracted by a stray thought. Watching him, Jeong Yun-gi chuckled and asked in a slightly lower voice.

“Do you like Seon Ji-ha Sunbae?”

“Huh? Oh…… yeah. I think I do.”

“Why? Is it because he treats you well?”

“Well. That’s part of it, but I just like him. Well, it’s not like I can’t live without him or anything like that.”

“It would be a big problem if you felt that way already.”

Jeong Yun-gi laughed in vain and shook his head. ‘Well’, ‘Just’. Did Yoon Dae-eon know that expressions like these were like variables? Did he know what an affectionate expression he was wearing?

“You’re right. We aren’t even officially dating yet.”

Saying that, Yoon Dae-eon’s expression was as bright as that of a lover who had just started a relationship. Seeing that, Jeong Yun-gi completely put away what he had been about to say.

The facets of that Sunbae he had seen in front of Yoon Dae-eon’s house, and at the pub.

‘……There’s no chance of losing this…….’

Ever since he heard those words from Seon Ji-ha, Jeong Yun-gi had been watching him closely. In doing so, he often saw sides of him that Yoon Dae-eon hadn’t noticed yet.

For instance, the way he picked up and hid the spoon Yoon Dae-eon had dropped at the pub.

From Jeong Yun-gi’s perspective, Yoon Dae-eon was quite drunk at the time. Because of that, while Yoon Dae-eon was looking at Oh Dong-cheol, he hadn’t seen Seon Ji-ha extend his long arm to pick up the spoon. Only Jeong Yun-gi had seen it.

However, he must have been watching Seon Ji-ha too closely, because he soon noticed Jeong Yun-gi’s gaze. And then, their eyes met.

Seon Ji-ha stared at Jeong Yun-gi from under his shaggy bangs. His pitch-black eyes, hidden by his hair, didn’t catch the light and were devoid of even a single spark. At that moment, Jeong Yun-gi realized it instinctively.

Ah, that is…… dangerous.