Chapter 20.1

* * *

“So, can I have dinner with you tonight?”

– Sure.

When Hae-won asked if he would like to have dinner with her, Adam readily agreed. Haewon chose the place in consideration of Adam, who would not be familiar with Korea yet.

The restaurant was on top of a high-rise building.

Hae-won stood in the elevator and pulled herself together as she watched the number of floors going up. She arrived ten minutes earlier than she promised, but Adam was sitting in the reserved seat first.

“You’re here already?”

As Hae-won approached urgently, Adam, who felt the presence, raised his head. As their eyes touched, Hae-won became more urgent for some reason. In a quiet restaurant, she was conscious of the noisy sound of her heels alone.

Adam got up quickly and stood up to Haewon. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist as if to calm her down.

“Hae won, were you hungry?”

“What?”

Hae-won asked back a sudden question.

“You look uncomfortable.”

“No, Adam,”

“Oh, I was hungry.”

She was about to tell him that she was walking faster because he was waiting, but Adam interrupted. As Hae-won looked at him with wrinkled eyes, Adam pretended to zip his lips.

“Sit down, Haewon.”

Adam pulled out the chair as if nothing had happened.

Hae-won also sat down without showing any further reaction. Hearing frivolous sounds repeatedly, it seems that she has developed immunity to them.

Or because of what happened at the hotel today. Yes, that reason was more accurate.

Above all, her trust increased without knowing that Adam restrained his desires for her in heat.

‘He’s also an omega…….’

Hae-won glanced at Adam over the menu.

Adam sitting in the background of the skyscraper at night was like a scene in a classic black-and-white pictorial. Even though he was quietly browsing the menu, he seemed to exist alone in a different space.

Then, a faint sweet smell brushed the tip of Haewon’s nose.

Ah. It’s Adam’s scent.

If she were Alpha, would he respond to this reverberation?

In a typical case, any omega would be insensitive to the reverberation of another omega. Hae-won was also attracted to the seductive atmosphere surrounding him rather than the lingering scent of Adam.

Adam’s first impression was like that. His unique atmosphere, his confident attitude, his languid voice. It was impressive that the atmosphere where those things were combined.

Of course, she was the first to react to his reverberation in the first meeting. The problem was that Haewon didn’t know that the Alpha was Adam.

Her body remembered Adam, but it was a situation that was not recognized by her head. At the same time, she felt a sense of alienation, and she felt protected and dominated.

“Why, Haewon?”

Adam ghostly recognized Haewon’s subtle reaction and asked.

“No, Adam’s reverberation is……, I thought it was like Omega.”

Suddenly, she remembered Sera’s words about smelling like rotten fruit. Of course, she couldn’t say this at all.

“Really?”

She thought it might have been rude, but surprisingly, Adam looked fine. To be honest, Adam said more than he did.

“Did you go to work well today?”

Adam changed the subject by turning over the menu.

– Hotel J, right? Then shall we meet there?

‘No, it’s hard to meet. I have to wash up, but if I go home, I’m late, so I go to the hotel.’

– Haewon is the head, so it doesn’t matter if you’re late. There’s no one to scold.

“I have to set an example even though there is no one to point it out.’

Come to think of it, she was already late even before she left the hotel. Hae-won replied with an awkward smile.

After looking through the menu, Hae-won raised her head and asked, “I chose my food already. What about you, Adam?”

“Yes, me too.”

She put down the menu that Adam was holding onto, on the table.

While the food was being prepared, surprisingly, Adam continued the conversation on common-sense questions. Hae-won was fascinated by his different appearance from the morning, but she did not relax, knowing that he might change like a palm.

“I’ll prepare you a meal.”

After a while, the waiter put down dishes containing food on the table. Adam chose meat and Haewon chose fish.

A plate of red meat and golden-grilled seasonal vegetables was placed in front of Adam. Haewon’s plate contained white flounder dishes seasoned with butter and lemon.

The reds and the whites. The man and the woman. Strong and weak. Relaxation and anxiety. They just checked the food on each other’s plates, and contrasting words came to mind.

‘But he’s also an Omega.’

Haewon somehow tried to recall the commonalities between her and Adam.

Yeah.

Omega and Omega.

But a glance at Adam seemed to show something different.

“…….”

“…….”

Adam rammed a knife into the steak. The red gravy slowly spread on the white plate.

Adam put the ravaged piece of meat in his mouth under the knife. As if the tongue caressed, it wrapped around the lump of meat and moved it to the molar. Whenever the meat was chewy, the closed-lip outline twitched together.