AOA Chapter 6

“…Your house is amazing.”

 

She managed to force out a response, but he didn’t seem particularly interested in her answer, instead scanning her up and down.

 

“Seems like there’s nothing seriously wrong with you.”

 

“Yes. Thanks to you.”

 

Though she was on the verge of collapsing, barely able to keep herself together, the medical results showed no major issues. 

 

And she couldn’t deny that it was thanks to Joo Kangwon.

 

He nodded, but still didn’t look away. His eyes were deep and intense. She had heard that in the West, such eyes were called ‘hunter eyes’—the eyes of a predator. 

 

The charisma radiating from those sharp, shadowed eyes was undeniable.

 

Feeling the weight of his gaze, Yeonseo unconsciously held her breath. 

 

As the silence stretched, she finally exhaled. ‘Phew…’ 

 

The sweet, caramel-like scent of her pheromones wafted through the air, and Kangwon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“Truly, your scent is as simple as it gets—no depth to speak of.”

 

His blunt critique felt like a jab at her weakest point. Yeonseo forced herself to keep her expression neutral, though she wanted to frown.

 

A simple pheromone. She hated that phrase. 

 

Other omegas were praised for their scents—like the aroma of a forest, or so luxurious that even the most expensive perfumes paled in comparison, or likened to the finest wines. 

 

But Yeonseo? She only ever heard comparisons to sugar water or cotton candy. She knew alphas mocked her pheromones behind her back, but hearing it to her face was something else entirely.

 

“Whether my pheromones have depth or not, it shouldn’t matter to you, Joo Kangwon.”

 

Pheromones were determined at manifestation—something she couldn’t choose or refine. 

 

Even if she had chosen her scent, such a rude comment to her face was beyond disrespectful. 

 

‘Did he trade his manners for his superior pheromones?’

 

Though he had saved her, and she was here to repay that debt, she wasn’t about to endure this humiliation without a word. She glared at him, but Kangwon only smirked. 

 

The unfamiliar smile made her hesitate, and he casually waved his hand, as if dispersing the sweet scent that had settled around him. The gesture made her chest tighten.

 

“Who knows? Maybe not.”

 

She didn’t understand what he meant by that, raising an eyebrow in question, but he turned and walked away without another word. 

 

‘Was it his alpha nature that made him so arrogant, or was it just his status as a chaebol?’ 

 

Swallowing her frustration, Yeonseo followed him.

 

The staff moved with precision, all in uniform, not a single one out of place or slacking off. 

 

Their disciplined demeanor seemed to underscore just how intimidating Joo Kangwon was, and Yeonseo swallowed dryly.

 

As they ascended the stairs, the atmosphere changed so drastically it felt like they had entered a completely different house. 

 

The bold color scheme surprised her, but she kept her composure and followed until Kangwon stopped in front of a reception room and turned to her. 

 

Yeonseo, about to step inside, froze when she saw the person inside.

 

“Finally, I get to see you.”

 

Sunlight streaming through the large window bathed him in a dazzling glow. His face was obscured by the light, and she couldn’t catch his scent, but instinctively, 

 

Yeonseo knew he was a high-grade alpha. She also knew who he was.

 

The second alpha of Cheonsang Group, Lee Shinwoo.

 

As his surname suggested, he wasn’t a blood relative of Joo Kangwon. 

 

The story of how he was brought into the family under the condition of being adopted if he manifested as an A-grade alpha. 

 

Only for the plan to fall apart after the chairman and his wife passed away was a well-known piece of Cheonsang Group’s history. 

 

So much so that even Yeonseo had heard of it. 

 

Seeing the man she had only heard about in person left her both fascinated and bewildered.

 

“I’ve been wanting to see you.”

 

‘Since when had we met for him to say that?’

 

 Yeonseo’s expression turned puzzled as she stared at him. 

 

A charming smile spread across Lee Shinwoo’s face. Unlike the expressionless Joo Kangwon, Shinwoo seemed to wear his emotions openly.

 

His sharp, horizontally elongated eyes glowed as if lit from within. 

 

The charisma and authority radiating from his gaze were undoubtedly on par with Joo Kangwon’s.

 

“Hwang Yeonseo.”

 

For a moment, Yeonseo felt like a stray dog that had wandered into a lion’s den. 

 

Joo Kangwon and the infamous Lee Shinwoo—this was a predator’s lair. 

 

If the two of them had decided to release their pheromones, she might have instinctively rolled over and exposed her belly, her omega instincts surging uncontrollably.

 

As Shinwoo approached, Yeonseo had to tilt her head back further to meet his gaze. 

 

Just like with Kangwon, she had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. Her gaze followed his hand as it reached toward her face. 

 

He gently brushed the hair near her ear, then leaned in and took a deep breath. He wasn’t smelling her hair—he was inhaling her pheromones. His eyes closed, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

 

“It really is you.”

 

Yeonseo didn’t understand what he meant, but she was certain now that these two men had sought her out for a reason. 

 

Even if the kidnappers hadn’t intervened, she would have ended up in this house one way or another.

 

Stimulated by the presence of two alphas, a sweet, sugary scent began to emanate from Yeonseo. 

 

Kangwon’s eyes narrowed at the scent, while Shinwoo broke into a wide grin.

 

Feeling her mind grow hazy, Yeonseo desperately tried to rein in her pheromones. 

 

As she did, she realized only one alpha’s scent was present—the oakmoss aroma. 

 

Unconsciously, her eyes flicked to Kangwon, then back to Shinwoo.

 

Outwardly, Shinwoo was clearly a remarkable alpha, yet even this close, she couldn’t detect his pheromones at all. The dissonance was unsettling.

 

“The rumors… were they true?”

 

The words slipped out before she could stop them, and Shinwoo’s eyes sparked as if catching fire. His sharp gaze, filled with unrestrained madness, bore into her.

 

“Which rumor? The one about the Cheonsang Group’s burden dying this year? Or that I’m a half-baked alpha?”

 

“…”

 

“Oh, there’s more. The one about being a eunuch who can’t get it up for omegas.”

 

Each rumor was bitingly harsh—and all three were ones Yeonseo had heard with her own ears. 

 

Seeing her expression, Shinwoo chuckled softly, then lowered his gaze. 

 

Yeonseo’s eyes followed, and she gasped at the sight of his prominent bulge, so out of place on his otherwise refined appearance.

 

“Guess at least one of them was a lie?”

 

Amused by her flustered reaction, Shinwoo burst into laughter. His clear, refreshing laugh was undeniably charming, but it felt out of place in this situation.

 

“How long are you going to stand there?”

 

Kangwon stepped in, cutting through the tension. He seemed unfazed by Shinwoo’s unpredictable behavior, as if he were used to it. 

 

Yeonseo, following Kangwon like a lifeline, caught Shinwoo’s darkening gaze. It was the look of a predator watching its prey try to escape—yet his lips still curled in a pleased smile.

 

“Did you find me… because of Shinwoo?”

 

Yeonseo lowered her voice as she followed Kangwon to the sofa in the center of the spacious reception room.

 

“Last month, you received a request from Giseon Research Institute to assist with pheromone research, didn’t you?”

 

“…”

 

Giseon Alpha-Omega Research Institute. 

 

With the omega population dwindling to a point where the species’ survival was threatened, omegas were obligated to comply with requests from ABO or research institutes unless they had a valid reason. 

 

Last month, Yeonseo had received an official notice about participating in omega pheromone research, and like all other omegas in the country, she had undergone the required tests.

 

“The waiting room…”

 

“Right. I was behind the curtain then. You really didn’t notice, huh?”

 

Shinwoo sat across from her, picking up the conversation. 

 

Yeonseo glanced at him, then tried to recall the memory. During the test, she had been guided to a waiting room to rest. 

 

The room, where she waited for about ten minutes, had an oddly placed curtain behind the sofa. She never imagined there was a space behind it.

 

“We’ve checked every omega in the country. And then we found you. Your pheromones are the most compatible with mine.”

 

There was another reason Lee Shinwoo was famous, aside from having a different surname from Joo Kangwon. 

 

He suffered from a pheromone circulation disorder, and despite expectations that he would become the next top-tier alpha, his pheromones were effectively sealed.

 

He had an abundance of pheromones—two or three times more than others—but because they couldn’t be released, they became a ticking time bomb. His severe episodes had been publicly documented a few times, leading to rumors that he wouldn’t survive the year. 

 

It was like a balloon stretched beyond its limit, ready to burst at any moment.

 

“We planned to use your cooperation to unlock my pheromones, but then you got kidnapped, huh? Should I be mad or not?”

 

‘Cooperation. Helping out.’ 

 

It was a perfectly normal term, but Yeonseo felt a chill run down her spine. 

 

Maybe it was because Shinwoo’s expression didn’t match that of someone asking for help. His gaze suggested that if she refused to cooperate, he wouldn’t simply let her go.

 

Now she understood why Joo Kangwon had personally come to rescue her. 

 

It was to create a debt. Before the kidnapping, they would have had to persuade her to cooperate, but now it was a given. 

 

To them, the kidnapping must have felt like an opportunity.

 

Of course, she couldn’t deny that she had been helped. She wasn’t about to call them opportunists and dismiss their actions. 

 

They had reunited her with her family and saved her from hell. 

 

Thinking about the future she would have faced if she hadn’t been rescued, she was willing to do more than just cooperate.

 

“…What exactly do I need to do to cooperate?”