AOA Chapter 8

 

The sensation was like taking a sip of refreshing carbonated water, making Yeonseo tightly close her eyes. 

 

‘How could something feel so cool and invigorating?’

 

It was a completely different scent from Joo Kangwon’s. 

 

The weight, the feeling, and the power it carried were all distinct. 

 

While Kangwon used overwhelming force to crush and demand submission, Lee Shinwoo made you naturally want to submit to his dominance.

 

But it was too faint. She could only catch traces of the pheromones trapped within him, which only made her crave more. 

 

To tease her with the mere existence of such a fantastical scent felt almost cruel, even though she understood his situation.

 

“I want… to smell more.”

 

At Yeonseo’s whispered plea, Shinwoo clenched his teeth, his eyes tightly shut. Her body grew hot, her chest tight and breathless. 

 

The scent that had been sweet like cotton candy from a distance now felt dizzyingly intense up close. 

 

Shinwoo’s hands trembled slightly, clenching and unclenching into fists. Fortunately, while his pheromones stirred in recognition of the omega, they didn’t spiral out of control.

 

“Haah…”

 

When no more pheromones came no matter how close she pressed her nose, Yeonseo reluctantly pulled away. 

 

Shinwoo, who had been dazed by the sweet scent radiating from her, barely managed to open his eyes. 

 

They were now bloodshot, a stark contrast to their usual clarity.

 

Seeing the veins bulging on the hand resting on his thigh, Yeonseo retracted her pheromones. 

 

Though he visibly regretted it, his expression also noticeably relaxed.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

“…This much is nothing.”

 

His voice sounded like it was scraping against metal. 

 

Shinwoo seemed to feel it too, rubbing his neck roughly. A few strokes left red streaks on his skin.

 

“What does it feel like?”

 

“Like… my body is being torn apart from the inside.”

 

Kangwon had described it as a ‘door,’ but in reality, pheromones could escape through any opening—pores, sweat glands, even the crevices of his body. 

 

Yet, they were trapped, tearing at him from within. Yeonseo couldn’t even begin to imagine how painful that must be.

 

Shinwoo finally stopped rubbing his neck, perhaps feeling a bit better. 

 

Yeonseo noticed the marks were exactly where she had pressed her nose and mouth. 

 

‘Had my presence made his pain worse?’

 

“…That sounds even more terrifying.”

 

“What does?”

 

The thought slipped out before she could stop it. 

 

After a moment of hesitation, Yeonseo decided to be honest.

 

“It’s like having a billion won in your bank account but not knowing the password, so you’re starving. If you had no money at all, you could at least resign yourself to it, but…”

 

Shinwoo burst into laughter at the fresh analogy. 

 

No one had ever described his condition like that before, but it was surprisingly fitting. 

 

‘What difference was there between starving to death and his situation?’ 

 

The idea that everything would be solved if he could just crack the password was especially spot-on.

 

‘Could Hwang Yeonseo really be the solution to unlocking that password?’ 

 

Bringing her in had been a gamble, inspired by the idea that even poison could be medicine if used correctly. 

 

Until now, they had avoided omega pheromones, believing they worsened his condition. But the new approach was to awaken his alpha instincts instead. 

 

With all medical methods having failed, they had no choice but to grasp at straws.

 

However, it was a gamble no one could guarantee would succeed. 

 

At first, Shinwoo had been reluctant, but the moment he caught Yeonseo’s scent from behind the curtain, he decided to go all in. 

 

For the first time, he felt what the researchers called the ‘alpha instinct.’ 

 

The risks were high, but even Kangwon, who had been skeptical, stepped back when Shinwoo insisted.

 

As the only omega who had triggered his alpha instincts, Yeonseo’s role was crucial. But neither of them could have predicted the kidnapping drama that would unfold. 

 

What surprised Shinwoo even more was Kangwon’s swift action. 

 

Despite having no leads in the ABO case, Kangwon used every means available to track her down and personally rescue her.

 

“…”

 

Shinwoo forced himself to relax his heightened tension and looked at Yeonseo. Her worried expression, as if she thought her analogy might not have been appropriate, was oddly endearing.

 

Taking a deep breath, he could still smell the faint sweetness lingering in the air. 

 

It would probably remain even after Yeonseo left. The thought of overwhelming her with his own pheromones made him shiver uncontrollably. 

 

It was a completely different feeling from the pheromones raging inside him.

 

“Is a billion won a lot of money to you?”

 

“To anyone who isn’t a chaebol, a billion won is a lot… But I guess I lowballed it for you.”

 

Yeonseo paused and glanced at Shinwoo. 

 

Every piece of clothing he wore was designer. And it wasn’t just his clothes. The incredibly soft sofa he was sitting on, the elegant table—everything in this room likely cost an astronomical amount. 

 

It made sense that a billion won would feel insignificant to someone like him.

 

“Then make it more. Even if I look like this, my pheromone levels are top-tier. A billion won is too little.”

 

“Then how about 100 billion?”

 

‘It wasn’t even real money, so why did the number matter?’ 

 

Yeonseo’s eyes seemed to say exactly that, making Shinwoo unable to stop laughing. 

 

Still, perhaps because the tension had eased, the surging pheromones inside him began to stabilize. The sweet scent that stimulated his instincts was still dizzyingly intense.

 

As an alpha himself, Shinwoo couldn’t understand how other alphas could dismiss such a rich, intoxicating fragrance as shallow or simple. 

 

But their ignorance was his good fortune. If they couldn’t recognize a gem like her, it was their loss.

 

“Don’t let those worthless idiots get to you.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It’s like having a bottle of wine worth millions of won right next to you, but you’re sucking on a piece of candy because your pride’s hurt. They don’t even know what’s real.”

 

A bottle of wine worth millions versus a piece of candy that might as well be worth a hundred won. 

 

Yeonseo wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be comforting. 

 

It stung a little to be compared to a hundred-won candy by other alphas, but she decided to take solace in the fact that at least Shinwoo saw her value. 

 

Noticing her conflicted expression, Shinwoo shook his head and laughed.

 

“To me, Hwang Yeonseo, you’re worth 100 billion.”

 

100 billion. The idea that her pheromones were on par with Shinwoo’s in value felt like empty flattery. 

 

But Shinwoo’s expression remained serious as he continued, “Your scent is real. It’s not overhyped or pretentious. It just honestly tells me how captivating you are.”

 

“…Thank you for saying that.”

 

Realizing she didn’t need to question whether he was saying this because he needed her help or because he genuinely meant it, Yeonseo thanked him sincerely. 

 

His words—that she wasn’t cheap, that she didn’t need to be exaggerated to be valuable—stirred something deep inside her.

 

Shinwoo, who had been quietly watching her, placed his right hand on the sofa. 

 

Specifically, between Yeonseo’s slightly parted legs. 

 

Startled, Yeonseo froze, unable to move her legs or close them. Shinwoo twirled his index finger in a circle, not touching her directly, but the sensation felt as if he were grazing her inner thigh. 

 

Yeonseo flinched, swallowing dryly and curling her toes tightly. 

 

A deep smile spread across Shinwoo’s face.

 

“A 100-billion-won candy… I won’t let anyone else suck on it carelessly.”

 

💫

 

Taking a leave of absence from school turned out to be surprisingly simple. 

 

There was no need to visit the campus in person; everything could be done online, and the approval came through without requiring any detailed explanation.

 

“They need you?”

 

The real challenge wasn’t the leave of absence but explaining the situation to her family. 

 

Sitting across from her parents, Yeonseo broke into a cold sweat as she tried to explain without revealing too much about Lee Shinwoo’s personal circumstances.

 

“To be precise, they need an A-grade omega, and I agreed to help.”

 

“Help with what? Why do you need to take a leave of absence for it?”

 

Just as Yeonseo’s father pressed for more details, her mother slapped his arm sharply. 

 

When he widened his eyes in confusion, she shot him a glare to silence him, then turned to Yeonseo with a bright smile.

 

“What else would an alpha need an omega for? So, it’s about Chairman Joo Kangwon, right?”

 

“Mom, what are you talking about?”

 

“Don’t play dumb! If you get involved with that Lee Shinwoo, it’ll be a mess. He’s not even a Joo, just someone living off their wealth.”

 

Yeonseo sighed as her mother raised her thumb, emphasizing her point with a stern look. There was no point in arguing, her mother wouldn’t listen anyway.

 

“When grown adults see each other every day, feelings can develop out of nowhere, you know?”

 

“Mom.”

 

“Don’t even think about saying you don’t have feelings for him! Do you know how rare it is to get this close to someone like Joo Kangwon from Cheonsang Group?”

 

‘Feelings can develop when grown adults see each other every day?’ Yeonseo thought to herself. 

 

Maybe that could happen with a beta, but there was no way Joo Kangwon, who disliked her pheromones, would ever develop feelings for her.

 

If anything, Lee Shinwoo seemed more likely. 

 

At least he appreciated her pheromones. Unlike her beta mother, who saw Joo Kangwon and Lee Shinwoo merely as alphas, Yeonseo didn’t care that Shinwoo wasn’t a Joo. 

 

Still, imagining a rosy future was pointless when she didn’t even know if she could help unlock his pheromones. 

 

If it were that easy, he wouldn’t have suffered this much in the first place.

 

‘Not even a Joo, just someone living off their wealth.’

 

But her mother’s words made her wonder why Joo Kangwon had gone out of his way to seek her out for Shinwoo’s sake. 

 

‘Was it because of the bond they’d formed living together? Or was Lee Shinwoo that important to Cheonsang Group?’

 

“Hwang Yeonseo! Are you listening to me?”

 

Seeing her mother’s determination to keep pushing until she got the answer she wanted, Yeonseo nodded along, pretending to agree just to get through the moment.

 

“I get it. If we see each other often, there might be an opportunity.”

 

“Exactly! That’s my girl. If I gave birth to an A-grade omega, it’s only natural for you to aim for the best alpha, right?”