AOA Chapter 10

 

“I’ll call you when it’s time, so just rest for now.”

 

Kangwon gestured toward the living room with his chin, as if the matter was too obvious to warrant a proper response. 

 

A servant quickly approached Yeonseo, offering to guide her. She moved smoothly to the sofa and sat down, pulling out her phone to take a breather. 

 

Thanks to having her contacts and photos backed up in the cloud, switching to a new phone hadn’t been much of an inconvenience.

 

She hadn’t noticed earlier because she had set her phone to silent, but there were several messages waiting for her. 

 

The family group chat, which had hundreds of unread messages, was too overwhelming to open, so she decided to ignore it for now. 

 

Instead, she checked her messages from alphas and omegas, her eyes widening slightly as she scrolled.

 

〈Kim Sihwan〉

 

Kim Sihwan. He was an alpha she had been seeing regularly until recently. 

 

Omegas went into heat once a month, and finding a new alpha with compatible pheromones each time was a hassle. 

 

Suppressants weren’t a great solution either—while they could temporarily suppress the heat, they left her mentally frustrated and were bad for her health in the long run. 

 

Yeonseo had wanted an alpha who wouldn’t mock her pheromones or belittle her, and she had found stability with Kim Sihwan. 

 

Though he was only a B-grade and his pheromones weren’t particularly outstanding, he was easygoing and polite, making their meetings comfortable.

 

This was the first message she had received from him since she had turned down his offer to visit her in the hospital, citing how overwhelmed she was. 

 

As she began typing a reply saying it was difficult to talk right now, a finger suddenly appeared in her line of sight.

 

“Who’s this guy?”

 

“Huh, wha—!”

 

“Cute how startled you are.”

 

While Yeonseo was busy clutching her phone, nearly dropping it in surprise, Shinwoo scrolled through her messages. 

 

The exchange between her and Kim Sihwan flew by, but since there weren’t many, the screen soon stopped. 

 

He even clicked on Kim Sihwan’s profile, checking his photo and grade. The letter ‘B’ and a clean ID photo filled the screen.

 

“Hmm.”

 

Feeling oddly uncomfortable, Yeonseo quickly turned off the screen.

 

“What are you doing! You can’t just look through someone else’s phone like that!”

 

“Your messages are so businesslike. Does he only contact you when he needs something?”

 

“That’s none of your business.”

 

Not satisfied with just turning off the screen, Yeonseo stuffed her phone back into her bag. She even made sure to fasten the bag’s clasp securely, which made Shinwoo laugh as he lounged on the sofa, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

 

“Are you going to keep seeing that guy?”

 

“…”

 

Yeonseo hesitated for a moment. 

 

It was only natural that she would continue seeing Kim Sihwan for her next heat, since there was no way Shinwoo would be able to unlock his pheromones overnight. 

 

But for some reason, that didn’t feel so natural anymore. She had now experienced two pheromones that were far more sophisticated, intoxicating, and made her want to lose herself completely. 

 

Could she really be satisfied with Kim Sihwan’s pheromones after that? The doubt crept in before she could stop it.

 

Yeonseo pressed her lips together tightly and turned to look at Shinwoo. 

 

His expression, waiting for her response, was filled with mischief. He raised his hand, which had been running through his hair, to his nose and smiled contentedly, the corners of his mouth lifting. 

 

Each strand of his hair looked like threads spun from scattered sugar syrup. 

 

The thought that if she were to put it in her mouth and chew, it would taste sweet, made her impulsively bite the tip of his hair. 

 

Yeonseo looked at him with a puzzled expression, unable to comprehend his impulsive behavior.

 

“It won’t melt even if you suck on it.”

 

“…You’re weird.”

 

Yeonseo stretched her lips sideways, shaking her head as she pulled his hair out of her mouth and wiped it with a handkerchief. 

 

Seeing his hair damp with saliva, she wondered if his pheromones had transferred to it, but she had no desire to bring it close to her nose to check.

 

“Anyway, if you can’t release your pheromones by the next heat… I guess that’s how it’ll have to be.”

 

Only intercourse with an Alpha could relieve an Omega’s heat, but that was only when pheromones were in play. 

 

Since an Alpha’s pheromones needed to dissolve into an Omega’s body, it was pointless to go through heat with Lee Shinwoo, who couldn’t produce pheromones.

 

Yeonseo roughly let go of his hair and looked at him. 

 

Since an early heat had already occurred, it was unclear whether the next heat would come in a week as scheduled or skip this month altogether. 

 

But whether it was a week or a month, it was far too short a time to solve the problem that had plagued Shinwoo for over three years. 

 

Seeing the subtle change in Shinwoo’s expression, it seemed he too was aware of this reality. 

 

Deep down, she wished it could be resolved today, but she knew better than anyone that it wouldn’t happen.

 

“So, you’re saying once a month, some other guy will suck on my candy?”

 

‘My candy.’ 

 

Yeonseo was at a loss for words as the ‘10-billion-won candy’ had turned into ‘my candy.’ She stared at him, while Shinwoo furrowed his brows, clearly displeased at the thought. 

 

The deep vertical lines between his eyebrows spoke volumes about his mood.

 

“Some lowlife like that…”

 

“No, you’ll spend your heat with me.”

 

At that moment, Kangwon’s voice cut through the conversation. 

 

Shinwoo’s gaze sharpened instantly, and Yeonseo, unable to hide her surprise, turned to look beside her. 

 

Kangwon stood there with his arms crossed, though no one had noticed when he left the room.

 

“With you?”

 

Shinwoo’s demeanor grew sharper, almost fierce. 

 

Yeonseo could almost visualize his pheromones filling the vast space like a storm, causing her to shiver. 

 

But it was just her imagination—no actual pheromones were felt. 

 

Kangwon, staring calmly at Shinwoo, who now seemed like a caged beast with only his sharpness on display, spoke nonchalantly.

 

“When heat comes, an Omega releases hundreds of times more pheromones than usual. So, of course, it shouldn’t be some other guy but Lee Shinwoo, right by your side, shouldn’t it?”

 

“…”

 

“I only meant that if even after being drenched in those pheromones, it still fails, I’ll handle it.”

 

It was an extremely rational response, and it made sense. 

 

An Omega during heat was practically a different being compared to their usual self, so meeting once during heat would be far more effective than meeting dozens of times otherwise. 

 

The effect might even be too intense, bordering on dangerous, but high risk often came with high return, so that part didn’t bother him. 

 

Even though Yeonseo understood this logically, Shinwoo’s sharp, tense energy showed no signs of easing.

 

“You’ll spend your heat with me.”

 

Although he said it as a precaution in case of failure, in reality, it was no different from declaring that failure was inevitable. 

 

He was essentially saying, “Of course, you’ll fail, so I’ll take care of the heat for you.” 

Objectively speaking, the likelihood of my failure was 99%, but it still irked me. It really, really, really bothered me.

Even though Kangwon must have sensed the blazing emotions in Shinwoo’s gritted expression, he nonchalantly turned his gaze to Yeonseo.

 

“If you have any objections, say them now.”

 

Yeonseo pressed her lips together tightly. 

 

‘Spending my heat with Joo Kangwon?’ 

 

There was no reason to refuse. He would cleanly resolve her heat and even pour out pheromones so intoxicatingly good that it would feel euphoric. 

 

In fact, she was the one who wanted to beg him to spend her heat with her. She hadn’t even considered asking because she knew he didn’t like her pheromones.

 

“If I fail, the two of you will do it.”

 

Shinwoo forced a bitter smile, grinding his teeth. 

 

Seeing Hwang Yeonseo’s expression, it seemed Kangwon’s proposal was more than welcome. 

 

Well, he had never seen an Omega who wasn’t drawn to Joo Kangwon.

 

Joo Kangwon had never formed a deep relationship with any specific Omega. 

 

It was as if he felt no attraction to Omegas at all. But would it be the same with Hwang Yeonseo?

 

Yeonseo had mentioned that Kangwon didn’t like her pheromones, but the Joo Kangwon Shinwoo knew wasn’t the type to endure pheromones he disliked. 

 

If he really hated them, he would have found another Alpha to spend Yeonseo’s heat with—someone like Kim Sihwan, perhaps.

 

“…”

 

Shinwoo felt like mess. 

 

Just imagining Hwang Yeonseo being drenched in Kangwon’s pheromones made him furious. His irritation flared as he saw Kangwon move closer to Yeonseo.

 

Kangwon, now standing behind Yeonseo, placed a hand on her shoulder. 

 

At the sudden touch, Yeonseo raised her head, and the sharp line of his jaw came into her view. 

 

At that moment, a heavy wave of pheromones poured through his hand.

 

“Hng….”

 

Yeonseo’s legs tightened as the damp, secretive pheromones coiled around her neck, making her breath tremble. 

 

The pheromones were deliberate and unmistakable. 

 

Shinwoo’s eyes sparked with fury as he watched Yeonseo, trembling and clutching Kangwon’s hand on her shoulder.

 

“What are you doing right now?”

 

Kangwon didn’t respond, instead letting more pheromones flow. 

 

As they wrapped around her neck and trailed down her spine, Yeonseo couldn’t help but arch her back. 

 

The pheromones, without a hint of hesitation, traveled down her lower back and into the curve of her hips. 

 

Reflexively, her legs parted, and a damp, sweet scent flowed out from between them.

 

“Take a whiff.”

 

Kangwon’s gaze dropped blatantly to the space between Yeonseo’s legs before covering her eyes with his hand. 

 

Yeonseo flinched, but didn’t push his hand away or turn her face. At that moment, Shinwoo instinctively realized that Kangwon’s pheromones were dominating Hwang Yeonseo.

 

“…”

 

Shinwoo’s eyes burned. 

 

Seeing that Shinwoo still hadn’t moved despite being given the opportunity, Kangwon released his pheromones even more intensely, as if to say, “Is this still not enough?” 

 

Overwhelmed by the sudden flood of pheromones, Yeonseo couldn’t hold back her ragged breaths. Her stomach felt like it was boiling, and in an instant, she was soaked below.

 

“Spread your legs.”