When Jiheon got back to the office, a thick stack of documents was waiting on his desk. All of them were related to Jaekyung’s contract and the tasks tied to it.
Jiheon grabbed the stack and headed for the smoking room. He’d had one cigarette when he woke up—but not a whiff since. He looked up Jaekyung’s name online. First news articles, then social media. Thankfully, there were no sightings or photos just yet.
Relieved, he put the phone down, only to pick it back up moments later and search Sunghyun’s name. He was scrolling through search results, a cigarette in hand, when someone behind him went, “Whoa. Cha Sunghyun!”
Jiheon turned to see Seungmyung grinning, a pack of cigarettes in his hand.
“Handsome, huh?” he asked.
“Very,” Jiheon replied.
Seungmyung slipped a cigarette between his lips and sat down across from Jiheon.
“I think he’s the best-looking among the younger actors these days. He used to be a model, but he’s not bad at acting either. And he’s only twenty-five. He’s probably going to blow up even more.”
“He seems to have a great personality, too,” Jiheon said, exhaling smoke.
“He looks quiet and introspective in photos. But when I actually met him, I was surprised—he’s way more easygoing and sociable than I expected.”
“You met him in person?” Seungmyung asked, eyes wide.
Jiheon realized his mistake, but the cat was already out of the bag. It was too late for excuses, and Seungmyung wasn’t the sort to run his mouth, anyway. So Jiheon just came clean.
“Yeah, just now. Jaekyung was to meet him in Gangnam, so I gave him a ride.”
“For real?” Seungmyung said, shifting his cigarette to the other hand.
“Wait—are they really dating?”
“No. Nothing like that. I mean, I never thought they were dating.” Jiheon said right away.
He wasn’t lying. Jaekyung had made it clear they weren’t, no matter what Jiheon might have thought.
“Oh? Maybe they’re just friends, then.”
“Well... probably.”
Friends with benefits were friends, too, Jiheon supposed. Maybe it was just semantics—but what did that matter? He pulled himself together a moment later and sighed, breathing out smoke.
It wasn’t like anyone had confirmed they were sleeping together.
Jiheon began to worry that he might blurt out something that would offend Jaekyung.
Whatever their relationship was, it wasn’t any of his business. He wouldn’t even bat an eye—unless it was an affair. And even then, he’d just nod at it like a museum exhibit and move on. None of it was his business, plain and simple. Not even if Jaekyung was now under his agency.
He’d done a pretty good job keeping his distance so far, and he had no idea why this sudden fixation had taken hold now. Just shake it off and forget about it. That’s what you usually do. There was no real reason why this was bothering him so much.
Maybe it’d been too long since he last dated anyone. Was that why he was suddenly meddling in someone else’s relationship?
If that was true, it was a dangerous shift. Jiheon smiled, his expression hollow, and slipped the cigarette back between his lips.
“You know, I’ve been thinking this for a while, but Cha Sunghyun kinda looks like you, Mr. Jung.”
It was Seungmyung, staring into his phone. The absurdity of it nearly made Jiheon choke on his smoke.
“What are you talking about?” he managed to say, coughing as he exhaled.
“No. I mean it,” Seungmyung said, pushing his phone right up to Jiheon’s face.
“See? Don’t you think your eyes and nose look kind of like his in this photo?”
Seungmyung had been flipping through a photo spread of Cha Sunghyun’s. It was from some magazine or other. Sunghyun had his elbow on a table, wearing a knitted top, his gaze angled to the side as he leaned slightly forward. Maybe it was because of his downward gaze, but his sharp eyes and straight nose stood out clearly, while his jawline and lower face were mostly hidden in the shadow cast by his arm. Jiheon did see the resemblance.
“I think it’s just this one photo. You can only see the side of his face, and his jaw’s barely even visible,” Jiheon said.
“That’s not true! I’ll admit this one looks more like you than the rest, but I still see it in the other ones, too.”
“We both have that faint crease on the eyelids, barely visible. Maybe that’s why,” Jiheon said.
“Now you’re the one not making sense. So everyone with eyelids like that looks like him?”
Seungmyung looked annoyed, like Jiheon had just insulted his keen eye.
“It’s not just the features. You’ve got a similar vibe. Like—clean, elegant, but a little cold. That kind of sharp male beauty. But of course, you’re always smiling, Mr. Jung. That makes you come off a bit softer.”
“A clean and what? Cold beauty...?” Jiheon repeated, laughing.
“I’m serious. You know just as well as I do that you’re good-looking. You do realize humility can be taken too far, right? And that’s exactly what you are doing right now! You mock me!” Seungmyung said, clearly getting worked up.
Seeing Jiheon’s expression, he added.
“What’s there not to like? I’m comparing you to a handsome actor!”
“I’m afraid someone will hear about this and laugh in my face.”
“They won’t. Sunghyun is the more eye-catching, sure, but when it comes to your face, you’re better looking. Cleaner-cut, if you know what I mean.”
“I doubt anyone other than you would say that, Mr. Nam.”
Seungmyung looked up thoughtfully, then lowered his phone.
“I know Sunghyun is good-looking, but sometimes he’s just a little too beautiful. It can be... unsettling. I know you don’t like it when I say things like this, and maybe it’s not appropriate, but I think he has that look—the look of a pretty omega.”
Jiheon paused, cigarette halfway to his lips.
“Cha Sunghyun is an omega?”
“Wasn’t there a rumor about him online?”
“All I heard was that he might be a beta.”
“Oh? What I read was that he’s actually an omega, even though people think he’s a beta. But then again, who knows? They’re just rumors—from the internet rumor mill. For all we know, he might even be an alpha.”
“Maybe,” Jiheon said, nodding.
“What was he like? When you met him.”
“I don’t know. I’m not much good at sizing people up just by how they look.”
Seungmyung nodded in agreement.
“Me neither. Alpha, omega, whatever—I can never tell. Not even when they’re right in front of me, or after I’ve had a long conversation with them, jokes and all.”
Yeah. I can see that, Jiheon thought.
“You know, they say alphas and omegas can recognize each other, but I can’t see crap. Are alphas going extinct or something?”
Seungmyung clicked his tongue at the sad state of affairs.
“Back in the day, the pheromone suppressants weren’t as powerful,” Jiheon said, breathing out smoke. “Alphas could probably tell from an omega’s pheromones, and omegas from how alphas reacted to them.”
“People wear chips nowadays. What’s interesting is that some can still detect secondary sex despite that. I’ve heard, it’s a sign they are perfect for each other—which is why those couples are more likely to have a successful marriage, or so they say.”
Seungmyung was a cynic in all things, so it was unusual for him to get so sentimental. Jiheon wished he could play along, but it wasn’t easy when it came to this particular topic.
“Some alphas are just more sensitive to pheromones than the average. Chips suppress them, but not completely. So someone with a heightened sense could, in theory, still pick something up.”
“That sounds like the most likely explanation, scientifically speaking,” Seungmyung muttered, taking a drag and exhaling.
“But if it’s just about sensitivity, then a highly sensitive alpha should be able to pick up on every single omega out there. When people say two people are meant for each other, isn’t it because an alpha can sense only one specific omega—and no one else?”
“Think of it like an allergy,” Jiheon said, laughing as he flicked ash from the tip of his cigarette into the ashtray. “If you’re allergic to peaches, just walking past a fruit stand in summer could make you itchy. If the alpha reacts to a specific compound in pheromones, then of course they’d only respond to individuals who produce that exact compound.”
“Mr. Jung, are you secretly a science major or something?” Seungmyung asked gravely.
“You know that I was better at reading and writing than math.”
“I know. I just had to ask. Is this what they call discriminatory reasoning? Or should I say dis-grim-minatory?”
Jiheon let out a laugh at the pun and took another drag from his cigarette.
“In today’s world, it’s better than being overly emotional.”