Chapter 2

Tap tap tap!

On a dark night, Shin-Yeon stared at the monitor and quickly tapped on the keyboard.

[Search: How to seduce an alpha 10 years older]

└ Why would an alpha 10 years older be interested in a kid so young?

└ They might date for fun, but taking it seriously would be difficult… just date someone your age.

└ If that alpha is available, I should be the one dating them. Any decent alphas around?

[Search: How to flirt with an older alpha]

└ Today, we’ll learn how to flirt with an alpha. Subtly release pheromones, run your hand through your hair, and wink.

└ The comment above must be from the 1980s. Even in the Joseon Dynasty, people didn’t flirt like that.

└ If omegas accidentally release pheromones and act shy about it, most alphas find it cute.

└ What about sending messages at regular times? If you send cute messages every day and suddenly stop, they might start thinking about you.

[Search: How to find a runaway omega]

└ We track down runaway omegas. Contact Ilkwang Errand Center for inquiries.

└ If they ran away, they must have really hated something. Do you really need to find them?

└ Poor runaway omega…

As Shin-Yeon stared at the monitor, he let out a deep sigh and glanced at his phone.

“Haa…”

Time was ticking away, and the moment his family would end up on the streets was creeping closer.

“The time people feel most emotional… 2 AM…”

Holding his phone, Shin-Yeon considered sending a desperate, clingy message—like an ex who couldn’t let go.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: …Are you awake? They say people become the most emotional at this hour. So, um, would you marry me…?]

“No, no. This makes it way too obvious that Hyung ran away. I need to be natural… as natural as possible…”

Shaking his head furiously, Shin-Yeon deleted the message and rewrote it with a pitiful expression.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: This might be weird to say at this hour, but… you look really good in a suit. Oh, and by the way, you had some seaweed on your face.]

“Classic flirting never fails.”

After sending the message, Shin-Yeon kept staring at the screen, and as soon as the read receipt appeared, he quickly sent another message.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: Handsomeness, I mean.]

The moment the read receipt appeared, Shin-Yeon got embarrassed, flipped his phone over, and shot up from his chair.

Then, he nervously paced back and forth in his room, clutching his pounding chest and trying to catch his breath.

Bzzz—

“…What? A reply? Spam?”

He hoped it was a reply, but at the same time, spam felt safer.

With trembling hands, he hesitantly flipped his phone screen up. There it was—a message from Seo Kyo-Shin.

Thump, thump—

“This is all because of Kim Shin-Hee… What kind of crazy situation is this? I’m going insane.”

His heart felt like it would burst.

As he hesitated, debating whether to check the message, another one arrived.

“Ugh, this is driving me crazy. I’ve never even had a girlfriend before, and now I’m flirting with a guy ten years older than me… Damn you, Kim Shin-Hee!”

Clutching his head in frustration, Shin-Yeon finally gave in to the looming fear of becoming homeless in two months and tapped on the messages.

[Seo Kyo-Shin: You must be really bored at this hour. Isn’t it rude to text a working adult this late? Or are you still too much of a kid to know that? ^^]

[Seo Kyo-Shin: I’ve been handsome for years, so no need to remind me. If you can’t sleep, studying for an English proficiency test is a great idea. Otherwise, just go to bed.]

“…He’s mad, isn’t he?”

With a guilty expression, Shin-Yeon chewed on his thumbnail while staring at the messages. Checking the time again, he quickly sent an apology for texting so late.

“Yeah… texting at this hour was overstepping.”

He flopped onto his bed, buried his face in his pillow, and teared up at his own stupidity.

Bzzz—

“…?”

[Seo Kyo-Shin: So, if I make time for you, what do you plan to do?]

[Kim Shin-Yeon: That’s a secret. Goodnight.]

Shin-Yeon hastily replied, turned off the lights, and pulled the blanket over his head.

“Kim Shin-Hee, you bastard… If you were going to run away because of a pregnancy, couldn’t you at least have broken off the engagement first? Or asked for more time to pay back the investment?”

That night, Shin-Yeon sniffled under the covers until he finally fell asleep.

The next morning, he groggily opened his eyes, feeling unrested from all the stress.

Dragging himself to the kitchen with a disheveled look, he called out, “Mom.”

“You’re up?”

Shin-Yeon approached his mother, who was preparing breakfast, and said,

“If I marry Seo Kyo-Shin… we can stop the investment from being pulled, right? Can you ask him if he’d marry me instead of Hyung?”

“Your dad subtly asked around, and they said you’re too young—it feels burdensome.”

According to her, even if there’s an age gap, a single-digit difference and a double-digit difference give off completely different levels of pressure.

“Should I say I fell in love at first sight and got lovesick?”

“Oh, don’t. He’s not the type to fall for something like that.”

“Still, I have to do something. I can’t end up on the streets in two months…”

Seeing his mother’s pained expression as she prepared breakfast, Shin-Yeon suddenly teared up and threw his arms around her, sobbing.

“Mom… I—I’ll… sniff! I’ll try my best to win him over… hwaaah!”

Letting out a deep sigh, his mother patted his back with a bitter expression.

“Sigh… Because of that irresponsible eldest son, you’re the one suffering. No matter how much I cherished him, he only causes trouble. Meanwhile, my second son, who listens well and is so sweet, couldn’t even enjoy life properly after finishing his college entrance exams, huh?”

“It’s not about enjoying life! If our family goes bankrupt, I won’t even get the chance to have fun… waaah!”

His mother regretted pouring so much effort into raising Kim Shin-Hee, but it was already water under the bridge.

“All the more reason for you to stay calm and composed. Now, stop crying and eat your breakfast.”

Sniffling, Shin-Yeon ate breakfast with his mother before returning to his bedroom. He plopped onto the bed and grabbed his phone.

“I’m in no position to be picky. I have to seduce him and get married no matter what.”

[Kim Shin-Yeon: The weather is so nice today. It reminds me of you, Executive Director Seo.]

After sending the message, he walked over to the window, pulled back the blinds, and saw… heavy snowfall under a gloomy gray sky.

Whoooosh—!

“…Wow. I’m screwed.”

[Seo Kyo-Shin: (Photo of a snowstorm outside his office window) You saw this weather and thought of me?]

What’s flowing from my eyes right now? Sweat? Tears?

“I should’ve checked the weather first before sending that…”

Still, the fact that Kyo-Shin even replied was a good sign. Shin-Yeon decided to push forward with his flirting.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: It’s full of atmosphere. I love snowy days like this!]

“I need to show some effort.”

He quickly grabbed a padded coat from his closet, put on a furry hat, wrapped a scarf around himself, and rushed to the front door.

“Mom! Take a picture of me!”

“In this snowstorm? Why?”

As soon as he stepped outside, a gust of wind slammed into him, and the snow pelted his face. But… he couldn’t lose!

“M-Mom! Hurry up and take it!”

Shin-Yeon struck a pose in the blizzard, then quickly dashed back inside.

“Ugh, it’s freezing!”

“You don’t even like snow that much.”

“From today, I have to like it.”

Opening his mother’s phone, he checked the photos.

“…Wow. Why do I look so ugly?”

Most of the pictures made him look like a tiny, three-headed doll, and his face was so distorted by the wind and snow that he looked like a bundle of misfortune.

“Why does it matter? You’re a good boy who listens well. That’s more important.”

“This won’t do.”

Determined, Shin-Yeon rushed back outside into the storm. He stood under a snow-covered tree, making a V-sign with his fingers, and took another photo.

Click!

Whoooosh—!

“Ack—!”

He checked the selfie, but his hands were so frozen that he could barely press the screen properly.

“Ughhh… I really hate the cold.”

Shivering, he scurried back inside and sent the photos to Seo Kyo-Shin.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: (Photo), (Photo) I really like this kind of weather.]

After sending the message, he hurried into his bedroom, took off his coat, and burrowed under the warm blankets.

His hands were ice-cold from the brief time outside. He tucked them under the covers and stared at the ceiling.

“Ugh… How the hell am I supposed to seduce him?”

***

Inside a high-rise office overlooking the snowstorm raging through the city.

Seo Kyo-Shin was working when a notification popped up on his personal messenger on the secondary monitor.

[Kim Shin-Yeon: (Photo), (Photo) I really like this kind of weather.]

When he enlarged the images, the screen was instantly filled with a pretty face winking while making a V-sign, wearing a sky-blue furry hat.

Shin-Yeon’s milk-white skin—likely from spending so much time indoors studying—was flushed pink from the cold wind.

What caught Kyo-Shin’s attention the most were his reddened nose and cheeks from the cold, along with the faint traces of tears in his eyes.

As he observed the gentle brown eyes framed by long lashes and slightly parted lips, Kyo-Shin unconsciously rubbed his own mouth and muttered,

“He looks like a kid camellia flower.”

The first time he met Kim Shin-Yeon—Kim Shin-Hee’s younger brother by three years—was at a formal meeting arranged for a business engagement.

Seventeen-year-old Kim Shin-Yeon had followed his parents and older brother to the gathering, looking so young and small that he seemed like an actual child.

Unlike his brother Kim Shin-Hee, who had sharp, rabbit-like features, Shin-Yeon’s bright, innocent eyes made him seem more like a hungry little kitten.

But no matter how much he stood out or how much Kyo-Shin liked his appearance, back then, Shin-Yeon was just a kid.

What could he possibly do with someone ten years younger and still a minor?

Lost in thought, reminiscing about that day, Kyo-Shin continued scrolling through the pictures—only to let out a small chuckle.

Shin-Yeon had been posing in the yard when a gust of wind blasted him directly in the face, distorting his features into an utterly ridiculous expression. It was… surprisingly cute.

“He really didn’t think about the possibility of someone zooming in on these, huh?”

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