Chapter 5

　　Last month, his mother’s nagging had pushed Woojin into meeting Hwang Seonwoo. Woojin’s mother had always been in a hurry to marry him off. Age was part of it, but she also said something about wanting to see him with someone.

　　Seonwoo hadn’t made a bad first impression. A neatly tailored suit, hair combed back. He had long legs and a faint ocean scent, pleasant and refreshing. It was a novelty to Woojin, who couldn’t detect ordinary alphas’ pheromones.

　　Until Seonwoo opened his mouth, Woojin had found him likable. Daesan Corporation had substantial financial resources and would make a useful partner for Inpyeong’s planned expansion. Yet the man sitting so properly across from him dropped a bombshell.

　　“I’d asked for a match with Yeonwoo, but somehow I’m here with you instead, Mr. Yang. But what can I do? I have to follow my family’s wishes.”

　　Watching Seonwoo loudly slurp his iced americano through a straw and flash a toothy grin, Woojin couldn’t bring himself to smile.

　　Whatever the circumstances, how could one tell his prospective husband, “I meant to marry your sister, not you”? Woojin’s face hardened at the rude man’s words, then he put on a businesslike smile.

　　“You’re welcome to call it off even now. Inpyeong has nothing to lose.”

　　Woojin picked up the hot espresso cup and slowly savored the aroma. With no regard for manners, Seonwoo leaned back on the sofa, crossed one leg over the other, and looked Woojin up and down.

　　“I heard you’re a recessive omega. Are you sure you wouldn’t regret passing me up?”

　　Seonwoo’s ocean scent grew thicker, as if to flaunt his status as a dominant alpha. Pheromones that felt like sinking deep beneath the waves. Other customers in the cafe began glancing at Seonwoo, trying not to be obvious.

　　A dominant alpha had shown up. And he was putting out seductive pheromones, so of course they would. Seeing a passing omega flush and look at Seonwoo, Woojin slowly set down his espresso cup.

　　“There are plenty of other alphas besides you, Mr. Hwang. We don’t seem to be a match, so I’ll be going.”

　　Thinking he’d wasted his time, Woojin shook his head and stood. That favorable first impression was long gone. If he’d known the man was this arrogant and rude, he never would have met him in the first place.

　　Yang Woojin, you’re still a terrible judge of character. He took out the tin of menthol candies he kept in his jacket. Dealing with unpleasant people always left a bad taste in his mouth, and this time was no different. He was about to turn and leave when a remark from Seonwoo stopped him.

　　“Your mother seems to have high hopes. Can you really let her down?”

　　Woojin slowly turned and looked at Seonwoo. That unpleasant man now looked entirely at ease and gave a little nod, as if telling Woojin to come sit.

　　Woojin had always been confident and unreserved; his weakness was his mother. She was a dominant alpha, yet one of her three children had been born an omega. That omega was Woojin.

　　After his trait test results came out, his mother had talked his father out of disowning him. She had raised him, established the hierarchy among her children, and helped him rise to Senior Managing Director of Inpyeong. To Woojin, Kim Jinhee was far more than just his mother. He owed her far too much.

　　The only person who had believed in him. That was Woojin’s mother, Kim Jinhee.

　　That was why Seonwoo’s words were like poison to Woojin.

　　“I think you’re the one who let her down. My mother never would have imagined you were such a piece of trash, Mr. Hwang.”

　　“A piece of trash?”

　　Seonwoo burst out laughing and straightened his open suit jacket. He rose from the sofa and slowly approached Woojin. Seductive pheromones drifted faintly. One omega sank to the floor, perhaps going into sudden heat from a dominant alpha’s pheromones.

　　As if the murmuring didn’t concern him at all, Hwang Seonwoo smiled at Woojin.

　　“Your mother begged this piece of trash to marry you. I wonder if you know that, Yang Woojin.”

　　Woojin curled his hands into fists. He wanted to swear and beat the man senseless, but there were too many eyes. Besides, his mother meant too much to him. He didn’t think she would have begged Seonwoo. With her fiery temper, she would never have been the first to yield. But he knew she must have put in the effort to redirect a proposal meant for his younger sibling to him.

　　Seonwoo only glanced at the omega on the floor once he was close to Woojin. He scratched his nose once, then slipped a hotel key into the pocket of Woojin’s suit jacket.

　　“Let’s have a little fun. We should at least sleep together before we get married, don’t you think?”

　　Without looking back at the man lightly patting his shoulder, Woojin stood still and watched the omega on the floor. Anyone could see they were wildly aroused. The omega’s gaze was fixed on Seonwoo, as if they might throw themselves at him any second. A few EMTs loaded the omega onto a stretcher and carried them out. They were probably a dominant omega, given how violently they reacted to mere pheromones.

　　Woojin pulled the key card from his pocket, looked at it, and sighed. He wanted to lash out as he normally would, and having to hold back left him in a foul mood.

　　Woojin did end up sleeping with Seonwoo. In the spacious hotel room, Seonwoo was wild with arousal, his pheromones hanging thick and heavy in the air as he took Woojin again and again. An ordinary omega might have gone into heat and even lost consciousness. Only after several rounds did Seonwoo finally let him go. About all Woojin could say for the experience was that if he married this man, they’d definitely have a kid.

　　The man came several times, but Woojin couldn’t come even once. Seonwoo tried desperately to find Woojin’s erogenous zones, but nothing he did brought any real pleasure. Everything felt numb. And even after being drenched in a dominant alpha’s pheromones, he showed no reaction at all, let alone going into sudden heat.

　　Despite pouring everything he had into it, Seonwoo furrowed his brow at the lukewarm response, his pride apparently stung.

　　“In all my life, I’ve never been with anyone this wooden. Listen, Mr. Yang. If we’re going to be married, this won’t do. At least pretend you’re enjoying it. God, I wonder if your mother knows about this. Someone like you? I should be the one turning you down—ugh!”

　　Woojin had already endured hours of dull sex, and Seonwoo’s remark finally pushed him past his limit. He pressed a pillow against Seonwoo’s head and began punching him.

　　Seonwoo grunted and cried out, the sounds muffled by the pillow.

　　“Listen. You fucking filth.”

　　With a low curse, Woojin overpowered the struggling Seonwoo, straddled his chest, and gripped his throat hard. Seonwoo tried to shove him off, but Woojin kept him pinned with his knees and looked down at him coldly.

　　“Don’t think you can say whatever you like, Mr. Hwang. You seem to be confused about who has the upper hand here.”

　　Seonwoo seemed stunned by Woojin’s fierceness, having dismissed him as a mere omega, and a recessive one at that. He couldn’t accept that an omega had beaten him in raw strength. Woojin’s mouth twisted into a chilling smile as he tipped his head and looked at Seonwoo.

　　“You can’t fuck for shit, yet you call a perfectly normal man wooden? Well, this block of wood doesn’t appreciate it. Aren’t you embarrassed, Seonwoo, that dragging someone’s mother into this is the only card you have to play?”

　　Woojin landed a punch on Hwang Seonwoo, who was staring at him stupidly, then dusted off his hands, threw on his clothes, and left the hotel room.

　　After that, Hwang Seonwoo, with one cheek swollen, came with his mother to meet Woojin and Jinhee.

　　Fortunately, their mothers’ warm conversation suggested he hadn’t mentioned being punched in the face by his prospective husband. Woojin had been right after all. Inpyeong was larger and financially stronger than Daesan, and Woojin outclassed Seonwoo in business planning and management.

　　The only weak point was that Yang Woojin was a recessive omega.

　　Their mothers stepped away to give them some privacy. As Woojin tried to leave too, Seonwoo caught his wrist.

　　“Quite a punch you’ve got there, Mr. Yang. I’d like you to break that habit.”

　　“Too bad. That’s just how I was born.”

　　“Can’t even let me have the last word. Fucking attractive.”

　　“Do you ever speak, or do you just bark?”

　　Seonwoo huffed a laugh, glanced around, then bent his head and whispered in Woojin’s ear.

　　“Get that frigidity of yours fixed before we sleep together again. I rather liked you, so I don’t want to call off the match over something like this. To be honest, I don’t care whether this falls through or not… but you do, don’t you, Mr. Yang?”

　　Hwang Seonwoo smirked as he continued. “If word gets out that you’re frigid and can’t even come, you won’t be getting married at all. Recessive or dominant doesn’t matter to me, but I can’t live with a block of wood. And if your mother finds out her son is so frigid he couldn’t even get engaged, she’ll be heartbroken, won’t she?”

　　That was the miserable memory he had of that day. The word “frigidity” had cut deep into Woojin’s pride. Afterward, he began seeking out partners for one-night stands, something he’d never done before. At first he wanted to prove Seonwoo wrong; later, he wanted to overcome the problem itself. But no matter who he slept with, he never once managed to come.