Diamond Dust Novel - Chapter 20

I was an unmistakable Beta to the point where I had never once felt the need for a re-examination. The kind that made up the majority of this world. A very common existence in the world likened to water, air, or dust. I was one of them.

Yuni nuna and Juhan hyung, who were Betas, naturally accepted me as a Beta without any particular verification process. And as far as I knew, the CEO and Inwoo hyung were Alphas. Inwoo hyung thought I was an Alpha, and the CEO, a Golden Alpha, was certain I was an Omega.

And right now, his profile as he drank his wine with a face looking like he had suffered a great failure seemed to show he still couldn’t accept the fact that I wasn’t an Omega.

“But setting me aside, to think you were wrong. What happened, Golden Alpha? Huh? Lost your touch? Pheromones need some circulation to function properly, don’t they? So release some pheromones, expose yourself to some Omega pheromones and stuff. Or what, are you trying to become a Beta entirely?”

Toward Inwoo hyung, who was teasing him by poking him with his elbow, he twisted one side of his lips, openly displaying his dissatisfaction.

“I’ve never lacked partners even without pheromones.”

“Hmm… Whether you received help from your pheromones or not, only those who have been your partners would know that.”

“Don’t treat me the same as those other Alpha bastards who leak theirs indiscriminately.”

He put strength into his eyelids, looking genuinely displeased.

Juhan hyung‘s explanation that Golden Alphas could control the release of their pheromones on their own came to mind.

“You know that’s a kind of germaphobia, right? This situation happened because you control your pheromones too much. This isn’t just a monkey falling from a tree. Who is Lau Wikun? Isn’t he an Omega discriminator more accurate than a DNA analysis? Ah… A Golden Alpha’s pride is completely ruined.”

Telling him not to overreact over nothing, he tried to shut Inwoo hyung up, but his face showed the most inability to hide his agitation that I had ever seen.

The fact that I was a Beta, that I wasn’t an Omega, that he had mistaken a Beta for an Omega—why was that such a shock to him?

Was it merely because, as Inwoo hyung said, it put a blemish on his track record of identifying Omegas more accurately than DNA results until now?

I didn’t know the reason, but to fluster him, revealing the clear fact that I was a Beta seemed more effective than an absurd false declaration of being gay. Perhaps his reluctance regarding me moving into Teacher’s house was also because he had misunderstood me as an Omega.

Anyway, right now, the cause behind him furrowing his brows and rapidly emptying his wine was me.

Perhaps due to the wine I’d been diligently drinking, I felt like my body was swaying as if floating on waves. To hide the uncalming heat, I needed wine once again.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

As the vigilance I had been continuously maintaining faltered, my leg bumped into someone’s leg under the table, and I immediately pulled my foot under my chair, apologizing to Phantom’s CEO.

His face, still wearing a fierce expression, turned to look at me, and subsequently, Inwoo hyung tapped the edge of the table from across me.

“Yihyun, that… was my foot.”

Looking at me with an intense gaze, Inwoo hyung brought his wine glass to his lips. He then alternated his gaze, taking in me and the CEO. Very slowly.

“I’m sorry.”

I offered another apology to Inwoo hyung, not knowing if it was an apology for stepping on his foot or for mistaking the recipient of the apology.

My throat burned, feeling like Inwoo hyung must have figured out who I was so conscious of just from my reaction a moment ago. I had no choice but to drink more wine.

The drinking party continued past 2 AM. The five of us emptied six or seven bottles of wine, and what I drank alone was a little over a bottle. Without exception, we were all tipsy, and Inwoo hyung, Yuni nuna, and Juhan hyung were excessively more hyper than usual.

“CEOOOOOOOO, I looove you.”

“I don’t. Why are you being so clingy? Get lost.”

Even as he pushed away Juhan hyung‘s face, who was suddenly hugging him and puckering his lips, Phantom’s CEO was laughing. Though his drunkenness didn’t show outwardly in forms like his face flushing or him becoming more talkative, I could tell he had also loosened up pleasantly.

Getting tipsy on the wine I was drinking for the first time was the same for me. Feeling my body float hazily and my focus blur, I was looking down at my toes and blinking slowly when I raised my head at the touch of a hand grabbing my wrist and lightly shaking it.

“Yihyun, where is your house? I’ll take you home.”

It was Inwoo hyung.

“No, no, Teacher, you take us home. Because the CEO is going to take Yihyun home.”

“Hmm… Why can’t it be the other way around?”

Toward Yuni nuna, who had her index finger raised and was shaking it side to side, Inwoo hyung stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes. At his playful expression, a soft chuckle escaped me.

“If you place your hand on your heart and think about it yourself, you’ll know the answer right away. Now, let’s go. The designated driver is here!”

Looking overflowing with energy as if he had drunk an energy drink, Juhan hyung snatched Inwoo hyung‘s wrist and started running toward the car parked by the roadside.

“CEO, please take good care of Yihyun!”

As they waved their hands boisterously and disappeared in Inwoo hyung‘s car, the street that had been noisy just a moment ago instantly became quiet. Only then did it catch my eye that most of the surrounding shops had already closed, and there wasn’t a single person passing by on the street.

The CEO, who had also called a designated driver like Inwoo hyung, checked his wristwatch and said.

“I just need to take you to Manager Han’s house, right?”

“I’m not… that drunk, so I can take a taxi.”

He looked down at me without a word. The gaze staring at me with his hands shoved into his pants pockets and his head tilted slightly to the side was too much to bear, so my gaze, conversely, headed downward.

I looked down at the firm wrists exposed under his rolled-up shirt sleeves, the beautifully colored, naturally wrinkled pants, and the high-quality leather loafers.

I wasn’t drunk to the point of not being able to control my body. I had just momentarily lost my balance while swaying my upper body back and forth, staggering for a split second. However, he seemed to have judged my condition to be one where I couldn’t even gauge my own level of intoxication.

The hand that quickly approached and grabbed my staggering arm pulled me right along with a faint sigh.

“Let’s go.”

Yielding the driver’s seat to the designated driver and sitting side-by-side in the backseat, there wasn’t much said on the way home. Asking for understanding on whether he could smoke a cigarette and my reply were the extent of our conversation.

The gentle breeze blowing in through the window I had opened to sober up a bit felt pleasant. My hair blowing here and there and brushing against my face tickled, so I giggled, prompting him to look back at me, and even while looking at him, I kept smiling. Laughter just came out. I laughed again because I found myself being silly. He was probably a bit dumbfounded.

I wondered why he was going down to the underground parking lot instead of dropping me off at the apartment entrance, but he got out of the car following me and sent the driver back.

“I can go up for a bit, right?”

“…….”

“There’s something I need to fetch from Manager Han’s house, too.”

Since he said so, there was no reason to block him and say no. I was living there, but it wasn’t my house either.

To hold onto my consciousness that was trying to loosen up, I gripped my bag strap tightly in the elevator.

Getting off the elevator ahead of me, he typed in the passcode and entered as if it were his own house. Then, putting on the guest slippers, he headed straight for the kitchen, humming a low tune as he took out a sports drink and drank it.

Toward me, standing blankly in front of the dining table, he shook the bottle of the drink he was having and raised his eyebrows as if asking if I wanted a sip. Even though he had been drinking straight from the bottle. I thought he’d be particular about personal hygiene like that, but it seemed that wasn’t necessarily the case.

Wanting to drink some cool water rather than a sports drink, I filled a glass from the water purifier. Because he was sitting at the dining table with his drink in front of him, I, too, had to sit in the seat opposite him instead of going into my room to change my clothes and take a shower.

“Manager Han will probably come in having drank quite a bit today. There’s a group of people Manager Han gets along well with among the ones gathered today. Please take good care of them in the morning.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

Teacher was also a smoker, and ashtrays were always prepared on the coffee table in the living room and on the dining table. He asked if he could smoke, and I nodded before getting up to open the kitchen window.

“How tall are you, Seo Yihyun?”

He asked while tapping his ash, staring at me as I returned to my seat. There were a lot of people asking for my height today of all days.

“Around 181.”

“Taller than I thought.”

It was the complete opposite of what Yuni nuna and Juhan hyung had said. However, even though he was the one who brought up the topic, he wore an expression of having no great interest.

The vertically long dining area where the table was placed was located between the living room and the kitchen. Since he, who had entered the house ahead of me, had only turned on the lights above the dining table, the light in the spacious interior was focused solely on the table.

It was a space that seemed decorated more for enjoying drinks and conversation with close people rather than for the purpose of eating meals; Teacher had chosen lightbulbs with a subtle, cozy orange hue for the dining room lighting.

Due to the low-hanging lights that made it feel like you might bump your head if you stood up too hastily, deep shadows were cast over his face. Drawing from his cigarette with movements that looked somewhat restless, he stared at me at an angle.

“Those paintings you said you drew in the past, can I see them?”

“…….”

Unlike his lukewarm reaction after asking how tall I was, his question about the paintings was genuine. For him, who had been indifferent, if not outright hostile toward me, to be curious about my paintings of all things—I hadn’t expected it at all.

“No… I don’t have any with me…”

“You don’t even have any pictures taken of them or anything?”

I shook my head.

Shaking it several times, I tightly gripped the water glass placed in front of me.

Through the breaths he took smoking his cigarette, vzzzt, vzzzt, the faint vibrating sound of a phone pierced through. His, placed on the dining table, remained still. Tapping his ash, he gestured with his chin.

“Answer it. It’s fine.”

The caller was Inwoo hyung.

Saying he had dropped off Yuni nuna and Juhan hyung and just arrived home, he asked if I had gotten in safely. After conveying my thanks once again for the delicious meal to hyung, who said he had fun today, I hung up the phone. It took less than a minute.