The taxi, after driving for some time, stopped in front of a café near my neighborhood.
There was no point in going home since Han Jinheon wasn't there. Reluctant to enter an empty house right away, I stopped by the café, using coffee as an excuse.
As soon as I ordered, I settled into a corner. Thankfully, people were sparse, and even those present were busy with their own work, so they didn't pay attention to me, which was a relief. I didn't have to struggle with being self-conscious.
It was only after taking a sip of my americano that I finally exhaled the breath I'd been holding. Even though I tried not to show it, I had been tense. The thought that I had successfully escaped made my body relax.
Ah, this wasn't the time for this.
[Hyung]
[I’m at the cafe near our place]
[Can you pick me up on your way home]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠ] 7:41 PM
I sent Han Jinheon a pickup request. It was too far to walk home, but a waste of money to take another taxi. The most regrettable expense of all was the dinner I had just paid for.
I’d settled the bill myself because I didn’t want to give him any leverage and just wanted a clean break, but now I wished I’d insisted on splitting it. Why on earth did I buy a meal for a scumbag like that?
Just as I was vowing never to do something so foolish again, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen, expecting to see Han Jinheon’s name, but it was Lee Geumyeong. Mom. I never knew those two letters could be so terrifying.
“Hello.”
I took a breath and sipped my drink before answering. Lee Geumyeong immediately started shouting.
– Han Sol, are you crazy?! You still haven’t come to your senses, have you?!
“What? What are you suddenly talking about….”
– You’re determined to tarnish my and your father’s reputation! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?!
“What- what are you saying? Why would I tarnish your names?”
—Your blind date! I heard you acted completely out of line! How am I supposed to face Mrs. Shin now?!
I couldn’t make any sense of the words pouring out of her frantic, agitated voice. I acted out of line? Not Park Wonyoung? Ah, so that bastard Park Wonyoung had beaten me to the punch.
—I heard you tried to force yourself on him when he wasn’t interested. And when that wasn’t enough, you assaulted him! Why did you do it?! Why! What are you going to do if Shinil decides to make an issue of this? What will you do if your father finds out? I told you not to lose when someone throws water on you, but that doesn’t mean you should be the one throwing it first! You have to know where to draw the line. We didn’t set this up for you to run wild!
My grip on the phone tightened. A fire ignited in my gut, but the situation was so absurd that all I could manage was a short, sharp sigh. That bastard, Park Wonyoung. To think he would pin what he did on me.
“Mom. I think you’re misunderstanding something. Please, just listen to me. I can explain.”
—Now that I think about it, you probably brought it on yourself during that first blind date, too, didn’t you? You were asking for it, weren’t you?
“No! Who in their right mind would splash water—!”
My voice nearly shot up. I remembered I was in a café and tried my best to remain calm.
“First, just listen. The one who tried to force himself on someone who wasn’t interested wasn’t me, it was him. He was the one who got a room and told me to go up with him!”
– I knew you’d make excuses like that. They said the same thing. You know it’s always been your fault, your wrongdoing, every time this happens, right? I can’t even hold my head high regarding your affairs anymore. So, apologize properly before this blows up.
“Why should I apologize? Why should I apologize when I haven’t done anything wrong? Mom, just because I’ve made mistakes before, do you automatically assume this one is my fault too? Then check the CCTV. You’ll see!”
– You really are—!
"Really what? He was the one who forced himself on someone unwilling, he was the one who grabbed me when I tried to leave, and he was the one who insulted me and you… Of course, I did kick him in the shin. I had to do something to get away from him. If I apologize, it’ll only be for that part.”
Lee Geumyeong was silent. I also waited for her, holding my breath, without saying more. I felt I had explained it calmly and clearly, so she should understand.
She should at least say she’d investigate the situation again, asking Shinil why they lied. But Lee Geumyeong was far more twisted than I expected.
– How can you be so shameless? You’re being so confident because you think your mom can’t check that, aren’t you? No, it’s not even worth checking. It’s always your fault. Because it’s always been your fault, no matter what.
“…”
– Apologize to Shinil. If you don’t, you won’t be able to go on any more blind dates. Do you know that?
“Then I just won’t go. If I have to apologize, I’d rather not go at all.”
—What makes you think you’re so special!
I stopped talking at her sharp cry. My stimulated heart pounded unpleasantly.
Han Sol was indeed the villain who committed evil deeds in this web novel. There was no argument about that, but questions about his surrounding environment slowly began to emerge.
Chairman Han didn’t love his son, and his mother didn’t trust him at all. Even when he said it wasn't his fault, no one listened.
Lee Geumyeong, after a long silence, exhaled roughly and then complained.
– If only you were an Omega….
“…”
– Do you know what the HANQ Group’s sole weakness is, in name and reality? It’s the son I brought in. My son, whom I thought would manifest as an Omega. My son, who absolutely had to manifest!
“…”
– If you couldn’t even manifest and become an Omega, you should at least try to survive and struggle like other Betas. Why do you live like that? Why… If you can’t even be an Alpha, you should at least be an Omega… If you’re not even an Omega, you’re useless…
“What’s so great about an Omega? Do you think it’ll change anything if I become one? Fine, should I just become one? Should I show you that even an Omega who causes trouble won’t change?”
I had no patience to listen to her resentful whining about her son’s failure to present as an omega. At this rate, I was afraid I might let slip the secret Han-sol had guarded for so long—that he was un-manifested. More importantly, the moment she started rambling, I had a hunch. This woman was not sober.
“I have nothing more to say to you, and nothing more to hear. I’m hanging up.”
I ended the call abruptly. Putting the phone down, I scooped up my drink, ice and all, and crunched it fiercely between my teeth.
Replaying the conversation would only hurt me, so I tried my best to think of nothing. I emptied my mind, lightened my heart, and just drank the cold coffee.
But suddenly, the echo of someone’s voice surfaced, wandering through my mind and body, refusing to leave.
‘I’m probably the only one in this house who thinks of you.’
It was true. Han Jinheon really was the only one who cared about me.
I thought I could finally understand why Han Sol hadn’t revealed his un-manifested status to his parents for all these years.
Because even if they knew he could become an omega, nothing would change. His father’s indifference would remain, and his mother would be just as obsessed with setting up blind dates.
If he became an omega, they might treat him with a fraction more respect than now, but only to relentlessly use him for their own gain.
Still, a question surfaced. What would happen if the one and only weakness of the great HANQ Group actually became an omega?
My phone lit up again, and I turned my gaze to it, praying it wasn’t Lee Geumyeong. The name that filled the screen was Han Jinheon. He had texted to say he was out front.
I hadn’t even been here that long. I quickly tidied my spot and went out, climbing into the familiar car. I had expected to see the driver and Secretary Song, but Han Jinheon was alone.
I had opened the back door but promptly shut it and opened the passenger door instead, taking my place beside him.
“Hyung, did your meeting go well?”
“And you? You went on your blind date and then came here to loaf around at a café?”
“Yep. Look at the time… Didn’t you check my location? I was at that hotel just a little while ago.”
Han Jinheon raised an eyebrow. It was the reaction of someone feigning ignorance when he had clearly seen my location.
“What happened to Secretary Jeong? Why are you at a café by yourself?”
“I told him to go home. I figured I could just take a taxi back.”
I added a plea for him not to reprimand Secretary Jeong. He had insisted on staying, but I had been stubborn. I’d thrown a childish tantrum, saying I wouldn’t go on the date unless he left, so he had reluctantly clocked out.
Han Jinheon, failing to grasp my innocent intentions, just snickered. He turned the steering wheel with practiced ease and spoke with a cynical air.
"Wasn’t it supposed to be just a meal? What else were you planning to do that made you send him away first?”
“You think so too, hyung? That I was going to do ‘something else’?”
The recent call with Lee Geumyeong came to mind, and my heart sank. The empty space that emerged as it settled was filled with sorrow.
I must have grown very comfortable with him, and relied on him a lot. I ended up complaining to him unnecessarily.
“I really didn’t do anything. I don’t know why everyone assumes I’m always up to something like that.”
“Did something happen?”
Sensing the strange shift in my mood, Han Jinheon immediately pressed for details. After being unjustly torn apart by Lee Geumyeong, I desperately needed this small, offhand show of concern. I turned to face him directly and began my lament.
“Hyuuung! It’s so unfair!”
What happened today wasn’t something I could just tell anyone, I tried my best to keep it hidden because it wasn't something I'd talk about just anywhere, but since that bastard spoke first, I'd spill it too. To my only brother who cared about me.
I told Han Jinheon everything that had happened, from beginning to end. How I thought that bastard Park Wonyoung was a nice guy, but he wasn’t.
How he had booked a room on his own and tried to get me to go up, and when I refused, he wouldn’t accept it and grabbed my wrist and shoulder.
How I had to kick him in the shin to get away, but when he told Mom his version of the story, she refused to believe me.
“He looked so clean-cut, I never thought he’d be so disgusting! I should have kicked him harder!”
As I poured out my sorrows, we arrived at the mansion. Han Jinheon opened the garage door and parked inside.
He turn off the engine, said nothing more than a clipped, “Let’s go,” and got out of the car first. I just blinked, stunned.
My story had been a jumbled, incoherent mess, but… had he even heard a word I said?
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