Chapter Text
[ "Will you help me with something?
"Yeah, sure, what? And I'm going to get some groceries, do you want something?"
"Sweet potatoes, and uh… the thing is, I want to write a story,"
"Oh"
"Yeah, and I want you to help me,"
"You know I'm not good at stuff like this—"
"—I know! I'll put all the greatness in the story, just help me edit it? Like grammar and comprehension?"
"You know that both of us are—"
"—I know. But you are really good at nitpicking and that will help me,"
"...Taking that as a compliment, okay I guess,"
"Really? Really, really?"
"Calm down. Yes. Just give me time though, don't expect me to go through it in one day or so"
"No no, I want to serialise it. One chapter per week!"
"...Okay, I guess."
"Thank you so much! Also, I think cereal is running out,"
"Ah, okay. And no need to thank me,"]
One should not yell and vow to kill a person they have never met at two in the morning. Especially when one is drunk off one’s ass and is in this state because one is hung up on a character of a novel.
Alas, a young man sits against the foot of his bed in this predicament only. Clasped in one hand is a familiar green bottle of soju and on his other hand — his right hand — is his mobile phone. Usually when intoxicated, it becomes hard to read, but with adrenaline rushing through his body, this young man is able to read in quite a flurry. This young man scrolls through the page again and again, reloading the page again and again with a hope that whatever crap he just read is just a figment of his imagination.
The page remains the same.
This young man yells a string of curses, with nothing short of throwing the phone on the opposite wall, but he retains some consciousness, so he grasps the phone tightly, and with his thumb, taps on the tab that loads comments. He hardly finds any good comment, having clicked on the chapter the moment it came up and reading while skimming. He has reloaded the page for a good ten minutes, but nothing has changed. He is in shock.
Dear reader, you must be wondering, why is this young man so shocked? What did he read for such a reaction? Did his ex-girlfriend rant on Reddit about him and he found the post at r/AITA? Or did his father post some embarrassing tale about him on Facebook for some middle-aged Gen X people to laugh at? Was he scrolling through some blog about a world tragedy? This narrator will not leave you guessing.
This young man has just read the last chapter — or rather, the epilogue — of a web novel he has been following for two months.
The novel is a famous one, having started four years back and ending just thirty minutes ago. Having gained popularity two years back, this novel has garnered attention in leaps and bounds, which has made it possible for it to stay rooted in the Top 100 of a web novel platform called Naver Series. It is in this list that a non-reader like this young man had found the novel.
This young man doesn’t read. When he was young, he used to like playing sports in the field and video games in the local PC bang. Now as an adult, he likes to get drunk in temp bars and play video games in the lone switch he has. Having never read a single novel in his life, this young man himself was surprised at reading all of a sudden.
It happened to be such that this young man was an introvert. Such was his inability to streamline his way through the ocean of social interactions. People often regarded him as rude and curt in the office while this young man was just shy and awkward. So he ended up alone in the workplace as well, minding his own business, working on his targets, and trying his best not to end up doing overtime. In order to remain connected to the world while also being a total social recluse, he developed the habit of eavesdropping. One day while indulging in this habit of his, he heard a coworker rant to another coworker about a web novel.
This young man was struck by an idea which washed over him like a huge wave.
He pictured this: Him, on the bed with his quilt up to his chin. A mobile phone in his hand which would be the only source of light. His thumb would swipe across the screen periodically, and rather rhythmically, he fancied. After a grand total of five minutes, his eyes would start to get heavy, and neatly placing the mobile phone on the nightstand and tucking his arm under his pillow, he would promptly fall asleep.
What a picture, dear readers! The sweet hope of a sleepless salaryman!
So this young man marched home with hope bubbling in his ribs, ready to test out his theory. His theory you ask, dear readers? This narrator will relay to you. This young man heard the coworker rant enthusiastically about a novel so mediocre, at least in comparison to the lore in the video games our young man played, that this young thought to himself, such mediocre online novels could surely make him fall asleep in five minutes!
That night, after time escaped fast as it always does in city life, this young man made himself comfortable in his bed. He hardly wore any clothes, so relishing in the sensation of the soft blanket on his naked skin, the young man switched off the lights, and ventured to the app store on his mobile.
Our young man was a spontaneous guy. He didn't make elaborate preparations, or searched reviews or planned his reading. Being a true P — he was an ISTP — he dived right in! Downloading Naver Series, logging in with his Naver ID, the young man switched to the tab that read 'Top 100' and tapped on the first novel he could find.
That novel was 'The Man Who Shook The World, Taejun, ' or 'Segyereul Heundeun Ingan, Taejun'.
Dear readers, we will be referring to this novel with the acronym of the Korean title, which is SHIT.
So this young man found this SHIT novel, and started reading. At first, being a non-reader, he had trouble concentrating, and actually fell asleep faster than before. But on the third day, he started developing some concentration and commitment towards the novel, making the entire activity counterproductive. The young man got so engrossed in the novel, he would forget to sleep. Moreover, he started reading in the subway commute, in his lunch hour, and any other time he could indulge in leisure. He surely became addicted!
Now this narrator will tell you about the novel. This novel is about a man called Kang Taejun — quite obviously deduced from the title — and this is his story about how he conquered the world. He wasn't a king, or a dictator, but rather, a celebrated hero. The story was set in the Joseon period, so it was at least three centuries in the past. This story is about how Taejun, an adopted son of the butcher in a small village, ended up becoming the most trusted person of his majesty the King and the common people's most celebrated hero.
Here is the twist: this is an omegaverse novel.
For the readers who aren't aware, just like our young man wasn't earlier, omegaverse is a type of fictional fantasy troupe, in which characters are divided into three distinct ranks of hierarchy called alphas, betas, and omegas, in that order. This troupe is often used by authors to experiment with hierarchy, dominance and fantasy-like mating, which is not possible among humans. Combining this omegaverse — without betas as a personal choice — with the existing caste system-like structure of Joseon, the author of SHIT was able to create a complicated set of hierarchy. The protagonist was the lowest class of all, and his only saving grace was his first gender, which is alpha and second gender which is male.
But the journey wasn't smooth.
The protagonist rose from his low rank step by step, chapter by chapter, in such a humane and awe inspiring way that the readers could root for him till the end. He suffered a lot, and was defeated many times, but he stood up each time, displaying his resilience and grit. As he powered up with each epic fight, he became better and better. A tweet about this novel went, 'The prose is amazing, it is beautiful when describing the setting, like Tolkien, it is sharp like a sword, when epic fights happen, and it is morose like rain clouds when the protagonist's situation asks for it. The writing is top notch!', and this narrator thinks it's an apt sentence to describe the prose.
Hence, came the popularity of the novel. There was an ample of angst, heartfelt moments, exciting and exhilarating moments and loving moments, that resonated with the audience. There are also few viral quotes that appear in TikTok all the time. Even when Taejun attained a dignified position near the King, the story was far from over. In the later part of the five hundred thousand word novel, he ventured to the north, the south, the east and the west, conquering nations and adding more to the glory of the King and to himself. To the readers' satisfaction, he had all the riches in the world, and with a loving family, he lived happily ever after.
One must wonder, if he lived happily ever after, why was our young man getting drunk and nothing short of wailing at the epilogue? What must have happened?
Our young man was allured by the prose, the fight scenes, and the humane levelling up of the protagonist. But then his main interest shifted. He focused on a particular drawback of the story. Even this narrator, who is an emotional person like the young man, has resonated with him. The drawback is the SHIT novel’s treatment of the omega characters, and specifically, an omega character called Yoon Jeonghan, who is also the main love interest of Taejun.
Yoon Jeonghan is described as the most beautiful man in the existence of the world, born in a low class merchant family, but possessing enough beauty to pass as a yangban or an aristocrat. Such was his beauty that the villagers felt he should cover his head all the time, lest some alpha whisked him away. Which must make you realise — if you have read omegaverse novels before — that Yoon Jeonghan is a beautiful omega, the kind you can hardly find in some random village of the country and the kind that every alpha yearns for. The perfect love interest to win over.
Meeting the protagonist in his bad childhood days, and despite having a better social standing than Taejun, who was the butcher’s adopted and abused son, Yoon Jeonghan stuck to him in devotion. Yoon Jeonghan was like the beautiful girl who always stayed with the protagonist, because dear readers, it is imperative for you to notice that the author is sexist without even writing any female characters. This narrator has deduced so, because let us be honest, even though this novel is said to be omegaverse, the author definitely injects his own fantasy about women in it. The complicated hierarchy, and the lack of female characters despite having a prominent theme of reproduction and mating, makes the author seem like a misogynistic fool. Apologies, this narrator is rather enraged.
Not a single character apart from male alphas like Taejun, and the King, and a few others like the royal advisor, are given any kind of a backbone. Rest of the characters? Cardboards! Fodders!
Yoon Jeonghan is not cardboard however. Yoon Jeonghan is the absolute sweetheart and the light of everybody's eyes. The Author describes him with length, about his beauty, his virtues, his actions and his thoughtful mind. In fact, our young man falls in love with him just like the other readers because of the way he is written. But oh! He has a worse life than the cardboards! Yoon Jeonghan is used like reusable chopsticks! Such a thoughtful character which was developed in such a beautiful love story in their childhood, only for the protagonist to go on an adventure to seek his calling. It is not bad to wait for your loved one, but oh, the protagonist also leaves the twenty year old Yoon Jeonghan pregnant! The omega raises the kid on his own for a few years, shunned by the villagers, after which the protagonist comes to his birth village again. This place is filled only with bad memories and Yoon Jeonghan, so he whisks Jeonghan and the kid away and never returns.
Well maybe Jeonghan may forgive him for this. Even the readers were ready to forgive him, gushing over the interactions of Taejun with their first kid, Minseo. But ah, this narrator, and other like-minded individuals like our young man ought to be irritated! It is because of the common situation that occurs in every other omegaverse novel. Fantasy-like mating!
The protagonist levels up with each situation in the story, becomes the King’s confidant and goes to win battles in all four directions. With each battle won, he would come back and there would be a huge fuck fest in Jeonghan’s chambers for twenty or even thirty thousand words. How horrendous! At some point, Jeonghan came into the plot only for the smut, or when Taejun’s arousal hit, or when a new child was born. In the comment section of the chapters, certain female readers even expressed their displeasure about this.
Some comments included: Is this guy writing all this to live whatever fantasy he has about women? I bet this man is an incel with a god complex. I know this is omegaverse, but your bigotry is so evident I’m puking. You are using omegaverse to show how much you hate women without writing any female character! Surely this story is only good at giving descriptions, epic battles and giving jack off material for men who are ill in the head.
Our young man also commented in support of this in Chapter 158. No women slander from his side! And goodness, he cared for Yoon Jeonghan too much too, despite him being an imaginary person. Yoon Jeonghan was to be protected! Cherished! Loved! Adored! Our young man really wishes he had a better fate in the novel.
That is why, when the SHIT novel ended, and the epilogue did not cater well to Yoon Jeonghan, our young man ended up drunk and devastated. This narrator also ought to do the same, but this narrator will not, because something quite magical happens in a while.
Our young man, drunk and devastated, yells in fury at the author. He calls him a misogynistic pig, a fucking pervert, and wants to kills him. Regardless of all these passionate and borderline dangerous thoughts, our young man thinks vigorously about something in his drunk state. Opening the comment section, he types the sentence with renewed soberness, only for him to fall unconscious before he could press enter.
Then, our young man has a weird dream at night.
He is some sort of an authority, in the older times, with people bowing to him left and right, afraid of every single movement of his. Our young man gets irritated by such behaviour, dismissing everyone around him and going to his study room. He settles down on a cushion and wishes for the dream to end, but it doesn’t. He hesitantly eats meals placed before him, and when some servant comes to undress him for the night, he yells and sends them away.
The young man is frustrated and confused, unravelling the knots of the jeogori on his own, and still feeling stuffy, he searches for a window. Scouting one, he swiftly moves and slides it open, welcoming the cool night breeze on his heated cheeks.
Why does it feel so real?
The young man senses that something is not right. He can feel the wooden frame of the window on his palm, the fluttering of dry leaves in the distance, along with the breeze on his cheeks. He looks over his back. Someone has lit an oil lamp for him on his desk, and through the dim light, this young man can crudely see every object in the room. It is a traditional hanok room. The furniture and the floorboards are made up of high quality wood, with each decorative item looking handmade. There is a bookshelf on one side, filled with hand-sewn books and scrolls, making this place look eerily real. Our young man doesn’t know how to react. This dream has been too long already.
Muddle-headed, he turns back to the front and looks at the night sky, only to break into cold sweat.
In the SHIT novel, other than the element of omegaverse, everything else was normal, be it the historical setting or the weapons or the food. However, one other thing was peculiar and special about the novel.
In the sky seen by our young man, there hangs two huge moons, shining like pearls in the deep ocean. The larger moon is higher up in the sky, and the smaller one right behind it. Both of them shine brightly. These moons are actually a fan favourite element of the story because of what they signify.
The appearance of such clear-cut evidence wakes up our young man completely.
“I’m in this novel…” The young man mumbles in the silence, “I’m inside Segyereul Heundeun Ingan, Taejun… and of all the characters… I’m Choi Seungcheol?”
Dear readers, a notice from the narrator: From now on, we will refer to our young man as ‘Choi Seungcheol’ because that is the character he transmigrates as, in this SHIT novel.
Now, who is Choi Seungcheol?
Our Seungcheol doesn’t even clearly remember this guy, because this character was last seen in Chapter 27 or so, around the teenage years of Kang Taejun.
In the SHIT book, Choi Seungcheol the character was written only to stroke the teenage protagonist’s ego. He was a boy of a similar age, pining for the same omega as him. Which one had more social standing, the boy of the butcher or the boy of the wealthy merchant? Obviously the latter. But despite all the heart-eyes and dotting Seungcheol did on Jeonghan, the beautiful omega chose Taejun over him anyway. That was the part where Choi Seungcheol appears! After the apparent defeat in love, Seungcheol had gritted his teeth and had never appeared in the story again.
Our Seungcheol sighs while remembering that second-hand embarrassment. Well… not second-hand anymore, this narrator can say. Seungcheol lets out a full bodied shudder at the flashbacks of the character, but in a moment, he is blinking with his eyebrows rising high.
After many years, this embarrassed Choi Seungcheol inherits the merchant business and subsequently the martial arts hall? What luck!
Seungcheol deduces this because he can see that he is the master of the house, with everyone calling him 'alpha' today. There is certainly no higher person than him in this hanok.
Seungcheol's deduction is correct. Choi Seungcheol was sacked from the novel early on, and taking his broken heart, he worked hard as an apprentice to his father, learning the trade and excelling in martial arts as time went by. His father, the alpha of the hanok, was already forty years old when Choi Seungcheol was born, so as soon as Choi Seungcheol was capable, he handed over the responsibilities to Seungcheol and retired to go live comfortably in the city, spending his days engaging in leisure activities with Choi Seungcheol's omega father.
Seungcheol whistles in awe.
Dear readers, you must be wondering, what is so special about Choi Seungcheol's current position, and what the heck does a merchant have to do with martial arts? This narrator will tell you.
Fifty years ago, the common folks did not know how to protect themselves, and living near a river, they were frequently attacked by the bandits on the other side for hoarding resources. The villagers' requests for protection and for arms were not entertained by the city nearest to them, and the matter never reached the King either. So taking matters in his own hand and being one of the wealthiest persons in this village, Choi Seungcheol’s grandfather had started his centre for the villagers. He was, in no means, the best martial artist, but he brought tools and constructed an area outside the hanok for training the villagers, and even sent Choi Seungcheol’s father to the city to study. Thus, the reputation of the Choi family was good in the village.
The protagonist was nine when he stumbled upon this hall, and Choi Seungcheol’s father had long ago taken over by this time. The villagers tried to shun Kang Taejun because he was of the lowest social standing, and the taunting got so bad, the main character’s abusive parents hit him even more for a few days. Choi Seungcheol’s father didn’t believe in classist ideologies. In the text, it is mentioned that his father saw a shine in the protagonist’s eyes, which made him want to teach him how to fight.
This narrator will admit that the progress of this arc was really good. The protagonist had nothing but passion within him. He could not learn well. He lost in fights again and again. He had little to eat but lots to practise. This was an important point in the story because it showed how the protagonist was made of steel. A small boy worked on himself on and on, and levelled up very well. The progress was written very naturally, because Kang Taejun is a mortal after all, and with each step, something about the prose made the reader’s heart hum with support.
While all of this was happening, he had Yoon Jeonghan by his side. The main character met the omega when the latter was eight. It was like fate had tied their paths together when ten years old Kang Taejun passed out from hunger and Yoon Jeonghan nursed him back to health by feeding him porridge that he stole from his own house. It was a sweet episode which showed how caring and gentle Yoon Jeonghan is. They were together all the time after that, their young love growing with leaps and bounds over the years. Which led to the meeting of Yoon Jeonghan and Choi Seungcheol.
Choi Seungcheol’s father didn’t believe in classism, but he definitely believed in… uh… in omegaverse terms, sexism, one can say. Omegas were not allowed to learn how to fight in the hall. Ridiculous! Yoon Jeonghan would still come to the centre each day anyway, watching from the open windows, cheering Kang Taejun on, and bringing him meals. That was when the young master of the house, Choi Seungcheol, got enamoured by Yoon Jeonghan’s beauty. This arc went on for at least five-six years, making all the three of them grow a bit older and mature by the end.
After getting his character sacked after these few years, Choi Seungcheol inherits the centre. Pretty good fate, actually. Choi Seungcheol is running the big merchant business of the family, and also runs the hall like a CSR . In real life, Seungcheol was just a deputy manager in a huge corporation, so he is very impressed. He feels like he has been upgraded in life.
The moment he has that thought, Seungcheol starts fretting.
He was just a deputy manager who never got promoted, but now he runs a big business and also teaches martial arts? Moreover, this is the ancient world without any computers or internet? How is he supposed to cope up with all of this? Seungcheol immediately feels a chill crawl up his spine and in a hurry, he closes the window and puts on two layers of under garments. Slowly, as he fastens the ties, he thinks that he should come up with a plan.
What should he do?
There is a good description of the martial arts centre in the novel, so Seungcheol at least knows where he is and what the history of the place is. Thank goodness! Now he will have to build-up from here. Seungcheol is not well aware about the character. Choi Seungcheol was only written in the context of rivalry, so how should he act? What should he speak like? Our Seungcheol is in a dilemma, but he is smart and easy to adapt to new situations.
Seungcheol looms his gaze over everything in the room, and his eyes narrow on the books on his low desk. He rushes over and sits on the cushion and lights up the lamp on the desk. With jittery fingers, he picks a book and flips through it. The characters are a mixture of hangul and chinese characters, but Seungcheol is able to read just fine. This one seems to be a book on Accounts. Good, he can know about the business of the centre with this. Turning the pages, he sees that there are sections in the book, one pertaining to equipment, one towards salaries of the employees, and others. Another book pertaining to the martial arts hall reveals the list of villagers who avail this service, along with their age, first gender (... just alpha) and second gender (... just male). Sexism much. No wonder hardly any female character appeared in the novel.
After flipping some more, Seungcheol cannot find anything useful anymore. He sighs, stretching his arms above his head, and thoughts race in his mind. What should he do?
He thinks, at least tentatively, Seungcheol should keep the brooding alpha act. He can pretend to be cold and intimidating, so he won’t have to react much to happenings around him. It seems to be the perfect mask behind which he can observe the happenings and think of a strategy.
When the morning comes, Seungcheol doesn’t get a wink of sleep, so he tries to… stretch his muscles out or something. To his surprise, his body is wonderful. One glance at his torso in the mirror and he is rendered speechless. He has triceps and eleven abs and thick thighs and sturdy calves. In real life, Seungcheol could only go to the gym once a week or so, so this is actually his dream body!
With an excited sound escaping his lips, he decides to do some exercise to test his body. It is just dawn, so confidently, Seungcheol opens the window, jumps out to the backyard, and does some warm-up. He does jumping jacks, does planks, burpees, and then push-ups. By the two-hundredth push-up, he is only slightly tired. This body is crazy.
When he stops, and sits back near the window, he becomes hyper aware of the sweat running down his body. He should take a bath. But wait, he thinks, how did people take baths at this period? In the novel, Taejun usually sneaked in the dusk to wash himself by the river. Does Seungcheol have to do this too? Nah, he’s rich. He should probably call a servant to draw a bath.
“Servant…”
Here, he feels a bit uneasy. Seungcheol was raised in the most middle-class family possible, and his entire childhood was spent in an apartment with two rooms. He has learned how to do every household work on his own. Moreover, moving to the biggest city and cutting off contact with his parents made him self-reliant for taxes and bills as well. Here, he obviously wouldn’t know how baths work. So he will need someone’s help. Apart from having to disturb others for his own work, he also realised that he had already chased away all the servants the previous night. How to approach them again now? Ah, the plight of introverts.
Seungcheol has seen dramas. He knows that servants just stay around in case the preppy rich yangban needs something. But where do they stay exactly? Biting his lip, Seungcheol moves to the door and presses his ear against the hanji panel. He cannot hear anything, and he cannot detect if someone is lurking around. Seungcheol sighs and puts on the rest of his clothes. He thinks he makes a mistake in the layers — which is true, this narrator confirms — but he wears the top layer which hides everything. Taking a moment to gather himself and straighten his posture, he slides the door open and walks down the corridor.
Spontaneous despite being nervous, he turns to the left. A courtyard appears, with a minimalistic stone statue in the middle, with four small ones on each side. Not spending much time admiring the scenery, Seungcheol sees a maid on the adjacent corridor, transporting a pail of water and rags with both hands. Oh so for servants, suddenly women appear in the story huh. That author can eat mud. The woman is going in the opposite direction, so all Seungcheol has to do is call out, but he hesitates.
He does not think it will be easy to just say ‘ Excuse me, can you please tell me how and where to use the bath?’ without drawing suspicion.
So drawing his arms behind his back and standing up straight, he clears his throat. The maid immediately jumps and turns towards him, shocked. What is up with everyone’s reactions towards him? Is this Choi Seungcheol a short-tempered guy along with being brooding? What a character. The woman puts the pail of water down, which sloshes the contents and water splatters on the wooden floor. The woman looks at it in horror, then at Seungcheol in horror.
Seungcheol, wanting her to not die of shock, says, “Draw me… a bath.”
Huh, that was natural, Seungcheol-ah!
“Yes, alpha!” The maid says, totally abandoning the pail of water and rushing in the opposite direction.
Seungcheol watches with wide eyes.
Dear readers, a term to clarify for you. Here, you must have noticed that the servant calls Seungcheol as ‘alpha’ despite not being his spouse or such, right? The title ‘alpha’ can have different meanings. It is the title used to address one’s alpha spouse, and in this story, along with this, the occupants of a house call the head of the house as ‘alpha’. Also, children also call their alpha parent as ‘alpha’. So instead of ‘master’, here, our Seungcheol will be called ‘alpha’. Because of the book, Seungcheol knows about this, and thinks that this is pretty neat. He has a hard time grasping titles of the olden times, so this is better. Seungcheol isn’t sure if the students will call him ‘seonsaeng-nim’ or alpha, but if this is a common way of addressing, then it will make things easier. Omegaverse is a little hard to grasp, considering this was the first time Seungcheol had ever read something like this, but he has to understand it properly in order to survive here.
It’s going to be hard.
After bathing, Seungcheol ventures to the west of the hanok, towards the hall where the students, or rather, the villagers are taught. Carefully, he walks around until he finds a yard which leads to the separate building which acts as the hall. When he enters the hall, hands behind his back, he sees no one. Where are the people? He recalls that when Kang Taejun used to come here, he used to be here at dawn and used to leave at dusk. Seungcheol is really confused.
The villagers' main occupations include agriculture, animal husbandry, craftsmanship and other activities. They do not have enough time to be in the CSR like a martial arts hall from dawn to dusk. Kang Taejun, on the other hand, was hardly ten years old. He used to escape from his house before his abusive parents woke up, and came back after they slept. After plotting their murder at the age of twelve, he didn't have to do that much either. He had ample time to train here.
Seungcheol doesn't see the teachers he has appointed as well. Apart from him, there are two teachers who work here part-time. Seungcheol does not understand the absence of people in the hall. He sighs and decides to go back to the study room.
What is Seungcheol supposed to do in the meantime? Ah, the information gap is too much. What does a rich merchant do at 6 in the morning? Golfing?
“Greetings, alpha!”
A youthful voice bounces in the hall, and Seungcheol looks behind him to see a tall man with his head bowed slightly. This was one of the boys who was flinching around him yesterday, Seungcheol vaguely remembers.
This boy is Mingyu, age eighteen. He appears along with a few other children as unnamed characters in Chapter 17 when the novel describes Kang Taejun's attempt at whisking Yoon Jeonghan away for an evening. These children lived in the same neighbourhood as Yoon Jeonghan and Kang Taejun had bypassed them at some point. Seungcheol doesn't know this.
Seungcheol busies himself in figuring out this lad's first gender.
Usually in this universe, there’s something called ‘scent’ and ‘pheromones’ that each being secretes, which can help identify their first gender. This scent can be concealed by wearing a cravat around the neck, where the scent gland is located. This cravat is infused with activated charcoal or something, which serves as a cover. Seungcheol is wearing one such cravat, not because he wants to hide his scent, but because it is a tradition at this place. Usually, cravats are worn by omegas in public to minimise threats to them based on their sweet scent. Alphas, on the other hand, will parade their scents in every nation because hiding their scents is a sign of cowardice or something. When this place was established, Seungcheol’s grandfather had reasoned that training brings in aggression and a spike in the scents, so in order to avoid fights among the alphas, everyone ought to wear a cravat.
This boy is wearing a cravat as well, so Seungcheol cannot determine if he’s an omega or an alpha. But wait, if he can enter the hall, he must be an alpha. It was silly of him to rack his brain right now.
“Alpha?”
“Yes,” Seungcheol says, lifting his head up, feigning some arrogance, and letting the boy approach him on his own.
“I couldn't find you in your study room… Anyways! The books you ordered from the city are here.” The boy says, “Also, you told us to practise archery for the coming week, but the farmers are asking for help,”
“What help?”
“Help in harvesting! They say they need a couple of hands next week, but then that would hinder our practice, archery and all,”
“Shouldn’t the farmers approach me first to ask anything of this sort?”
The boy bows his head in guilt. “Yes, alpha. But, they are… um…”
“They are?”
The boy squeezes his eyes shut. “They’re afraid of you! So they asked me to request you,”
It suddenly clicks in Seungcheol's mind. The hall is empty, because the villagers are busy preparing for the harvest season.
“Straighten your back,” Seungcheol says, looking at the way Mingyu is curving into himself because of Seungcheol's silence.
“Yes, alpha” The man straightens up immediately.
Seungcheol doesn't have much information about what is happening. But thinks for a while before saying, “Your practice is not to be hindered, but the harvest is important as well. You must help the farmers, but for a fixed time, because you must practise as well.”
“Yes, alpha!” The boy says, nodding his head, “I will do the needful! I can send you a list of people, which farmer they will be helping and at what time?”
Rather impressed at his sharp and careful thinking, Seungcheol nods his head. “What is your name?”
The boy looks surprised. “It’s Mingyu, alpha”
“Age?”
“I have turned eighteen this year, alpha”
“How long have you worked here?”
Mingyu looks at him, a little confused. Ah, Seungcheol has made a mistake. Mingyu is not an employee, Seungcheol-ah! These children were taken in by Seungcheol two years back, when a communicable disease hit the neighbourhood and these children were the only survivors. Being poor, they were sure to die in a week or so, but Seungcheol became their guardian and they have been living in the hanok since then. The four alphas among them learn and help in the martial arts hall, and the two omegas pursue their leisure, helping in the kitchen sometimes.
But Mingyu does not take this question in a suspicious way. To him, it sounds like Alpha is asking him how long he has been an apprentice in the hall. At the same time however, he feels like Alpha does not remember him. Alpha is a busy man, who hardly appears anywhere other than his bedroom, his study room and the hall. Else he is just out in his office. He was benevolent enough to take all the kids in, but it is not necessary for him to remember them.
Mingyu decides to answer with as much information as possible, without sounding like he is preaching the Alpha. Nervously shifting his weight from one leg to another, he says, “S-Since, you took us in, alpha. I and a few others were orphaned because of measles.”
Seungcheol doesn't show it, but he becomes alert. In the book, this is a prominent incident, not because some heroic fight broke out or something, but because this bout of measles is what orphaned Yoon Jeonghan. Seungcheol remembers that while the other survivors were taken in by some affluent man — so that was Choi Seungcheol — Yoon Jeonghan trusted Taejun and became dependent on him instead.
“How long ago was that?” Seungcheol asks carefully. He doesn’t want to raise suspicion, but the boy looked nervous rather than suspicious. Seungcheol recognizes the pattern in the characterisation of men like Choi Seungcheol. Brooding types, with people at his beck and call but he probably doesn’t remember more than half of their names. So far, his theory is supported. The boy probably thinks of himself as someone that Seungcheol will never remember.
“Two years, alpha”
Two years. Seungcheol holds back a gasp.
Along with the kids like Mingyu, Yoon Jeonghan was also one of them who was orphaned. He was around eighteen when this happened, and twenty when he was abandoned by Taejun. Seungcheol deduces that if it's been two years, the incident must be around this time only! His thoughts start racing. What if Jeonghan is already abandoned? Is he alone in this state? What should Seungcheol do? Should he round up every corner of the village, search for Jeonghan and bring him back to this hanok?
That will be reckless.
“Okay” Seungcheol says through a tense jaw, dismissing the young alpha, and when the alpha bows and leaves, Seungcheol calls for him again.
“Mingyu!”
“Yes, alpha?” The boy says, eyes wide in surprise.
To be honest, Seungcheol is already tired of being called alpha. Anyways, he doesn’t know how to say this casually, considering he doesn’t know how often this brooding alpha goes out or whatever. What shopping do men around here do anyway?
“I… shall go to the marketplace?” Ah, so awkward, our Seungcheol is so awkward, dear readers!
Having a good brain in his head, Mingyu doesn’t take it in any other way. He says, “To buy calligraphy supplies? Have they run out already?”
“N— Yes,”
“Oh,” Mingyu says, blinking, “I’ll send Soonyoung hyung to fetch a stock! You should not tire yourself, alpha. You must be busy.”
Seungcheol blinks slowly, trying to control his expressions. “I must go myself.” he says in a deep voice, “Soonyoung shall accompany me,”
Mingyu is bewildered, but doesn’t question him. Something is different about Alpha today, but it is not in his place to ask. He just nods his head and says, “Yes, alpha”
Saying that, Mingyu leaves. The moment the hall is empty, Seungcheol exhales loudly. Ah, all of this is too stuffy for him. Seungcheol is not even a yangban — aristocrat — he’s just a wealthy merchant’s son. How can these people live with so much help from others? Oh Seungcheol needs to go out and get some fresh air. Seungcheol spies another door leading to a lush green area, and quietly goes there.
This Soonyoung chap is… a lively one for sure, Seungcheol thinks.
Seungcheol is putting on his brooding alpha character pretty well, keeping his hands behind his back and walking with heavy and calculated steps. This Soonyoung, however, is skipping and galloping. Aren’t all alphas supposed to be mature? The only omegaverse novel he has read is this SHIT one, and the only alpha of this age he has followed closely is the main protagonist, who had become mature by the age of twelve. Why is Soonyoung galloping?
Soonyoung is another alpha adopted by him. Actually, he is older than the mature acting Mingyu by a year! The reason he is galloping and smiling so widely is— well, he will tell you himself.
“I’m so happy today!” Soonyoung says.
Seungcheol doesn’t show it, but on the inside, his eyebrows are shooting for the sky. What a character. Literally! They are walking down the street that leads to the marketplace, and while Seungcheol should be mesmerised by the ancient people and clothes and the hanoks, he is distracted by the way Soonyoung is jumping along.
“And why is that so?” He asks with the urge to pull Soonyoung by his jeogori and make him walk properly.
“Alpha noticed me!” Soonyoung says happily, beaming up at him, “I have admired you for so long, alpha! At least for six years. I used to come to learn martial arts before too! Since I was twelve. And all this time, you never got my name right, but suddenly Mingyu came and told me you asked for me. Imagine how happy I was!”
Then the boy pauses, slapping his hands over his mouth.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.” The boy removes his hands and says robotically, “Mingyu also said if I talk too excitedly, alpha will get irritated.”
“It’s fine, be yourself,” Seungcheol says, before he can control himself. But he thinks it is alright to say it. Looking back at the ledgers, he realised that these kids are not listed in the employees page. They do not work under him, so he should not be strict with them.
The boy gets excited automatically, saying, “Really? Thank you, alpha!”
“How long will it take to reach the market place?” Seungcheol says, changing the subject.
“Just two minutes, alpha!”
Seungcheol nods his head, walking slightly faster. Seungcheol was supposed to come with a strategy, but to be honest, he doesn’t have any plans right now. His eyes search the face of every person on the street, but in vain, because he doesn’t know what Jeonghan looks like, exactly. According to the texts, Jeonghan gets humiliated in a crowd. Seungcheol can only assume that it will be the marketplace, or the townsquare in the centre. He curses the SHIT novel for not giving any other elaboration about the event.
As the story follows Kang Taejun only, the reader can only know about events that pertain to Taejun. Therefore, once he comes back to this village five years later, one single paragraph is devoted to reveal how Yoon Jeonghan was shunned and how he raised Minseo on his own. The only purpose of this paragraph was to write Taejun as his knight in a shining armour despite the fact that he was the one who brought Yoon Jeonghan to this state. What a scum! Hence, Seungcheol doesn’t have a clue as to where and when this will happen. He wants to kill the author, if anything.
Sighing on the inside, Seungcheol keeps walking and they reach the marketplace. Seungcheol runs his gaze over the place and sees no commotion. The market is bustling, with the hawkers yelling offers and the customers trying their best to bargain. Seungcheol passes by stalls that sell vegetables, fruits, children’s toys, candied apples and much more. He roams around in vain before Soonyoung — who had disappeared for a brief second — comes back and guides him into a shop. While following him, Seungcheol sees a packet in Soonyoung’s hand.
“Oh this?” Soonyoung says, noticing the alpha’s gaze on it, “This is for my Jihoonie. He wanted to eat something sweet!”
Seungcheol can only guess that Jihoon is another orphan he took in years back.
A shopkeeper greets them cheerfully, surprised to see Seungcheol in person but maintaining a perfect customer service smile. He then proceeds to chatter their ears off about the new rose infused paper he has brought from the capital city and the new brushes with jade bodies. Soonyoung is all ears, listening and ooing and aahing appropriately, while Seungcheol is left behind in this conversation.
In his mind, Seungcheol starts getting a little depressed. He feels disappointed and… lost. He doesn’t know why has transmigrated to this place. He doesn’t know how to deal with anyone properly. He… the only thing he loved the most in this story was Jeonghan, and he has no way to find him. It’s the correct age, it's even the correct season, because back then when Taejun left, the harvest was starting as well. Seungcheol feels hopeless, but he must be courageous and he must be resilient, if he wants to find Jeonghan. He doesn’t have a meaning in this world—
“—This whore omega!” Someone yells in the street, and Seungcheol’s heart thunders.
He exits the shop like the wind, and finds a crowd near the town square. Everything feels surreal, but Seungcheol knows this is it.
“Move” He bellows, and the crowd parts hastily, while whispers echo in the air.
‘Who is that?’
‘Seonsaengnim! What is he doing here?’
‘From the village school?’
‘No! From the Choi clan’s martial arts hall!’
‘Ah the Choi clan! What is he doing here indeed?’
‘I wonder myself! One doesn’t see him around much!’
Seungcheol ignores them all in favour of pinning his gaze at a tall man in the middle of the commotion. The man looks down in disgust, and as Seungcheol’s eyes follow downwards, his breath catches.
Another man lies on the dusty ground, trying to get up. He is clad in battered, beige coloured jeogori and chima , his hair is a mess, clumps of it falling out of his braid, and despite his dishevelled state, he makes sure to wrap his hands around his stomach. His face is hidden by his hair, and the wind bellows, the hair parts to reveal a face covered in dust and sweat, and a single line of blood trickles down.
Seungcheol sees red.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He says in a low growl.
The tall man looks at him with a slight alarm. In fact, the entire crowd focuses on Seungcheol, whose silk clothes and stoic demeanour are a high contrast from those of the villagers. With the sudden silence, even the person who is beaten up looks at him slowly, confused.
Seungcheol has never seen him, but he knows he is Jeonghan. This Jeonghan has huge eyes, soft petal lips, and pale skin, which glows despite his dishevelled appearance. He glows with a radiance none of the villagers can compete with. He is the most beautiful person to walk this world, and even the second before when Seungcheol hadn’t seen him, Seungcheol knew him as the most beautiful creation of the universe. This has to be Jeonghan.
“Seonsaeng-nim! This is nothing to be concerned about!” Someone says in the crowd.
“Yes! This whore omega got himself pregnant before marriage—”
“—So that was what this is? I did smell a sweet scent—”
“—And an orphan at that! When parents aren’t present to raise the pups, the children are led astray—”
“—Whose child is it anyway? Did he sell—”
“—Enough!” Seungcheol says. “You! Don’t touch him,”
The tall man, some forty something aged alpha man, must not take it lightly when a youngster speaks like that. He says, “You must be some rich man, but do not meddle in this business without cause” and swings his hand on Jeonghan’s head.
Seungcheol is livid, and with adrenaline rushing through his body he stalks forward, yanks the middle-aged alpha by his collar and slams him on the ground. Then looking at the way the man twitches on the ground, he murmurs, “...Sorry”
The crowd gasps in shock, but with the way the alpha slammed another, they keep mum and do not meddle. Seungcheol looks at the other alpha one last time, before his gaze turns to Jeonghan.
Jeonghan has been looking at every moment with a blank face this entire time. He looks up at Seungcheol with no hint of what is going on in his head. Seungcheol’s heart skips a beat when their eyes meet, and he finds himself kneeling in front of Jeonghan, much to the horror of the villagers. Kneeling down, he’s almost face to face with Jeonghan, and he feels breathless. Jeonghan’s huge brown eyes look at him without wavering. One of his eyelids is swollen, there are a few scratches over his cheeks, and a cut on his forehead is matted with blood. Despite it all, Jeonghan is the most beautiful person here.
“Alpha! What happened?”
Someone crouches down next to them, and Seungcheol turns his head to see Soonyoung.
Someone in the crowd says, “Seonsaeng-nim, don’t bother yourself with him, he’s an orphan,”
“So he has no one to take care of him,” Seungcheol says.
“Young alpha! Don’t be bewitched by him! He’s with child!”
“What’s wrong about being with a child?”
“He’s unmarried! This is dishonour. No one shall even speak to him! Such disgrace!”
“ I’ll marry him!” Seungcheol says loudly, rendering everyone speechless. Due to his adrenaline, the realisation of what he just said doesn't dawn upon him.
Then the murmurs begin all over again, so Seungcheol says, “You may leave, there’s nothing left for your entertainment.”
"Yeah, exactly! Leave" Soonyoung says, supporting him and flapping his hands at the people, "Go!"
Someone helps the middle-aged alpha stand up, and Seungcheol reckons he should do the same, so he turns to Jeonghan to lift him up as well. He reaches for him, but stops. It will be over stepping to touch him.
"I'll fetch a few omegas, alpha" Soonyoung says, understanding immediately and standing up. "I'll come quickly!"
"Okay, good. Get a cravat as well," Seungcheol says, and tries to access Jeonghan's state. "Can you sit up?"
Jeonghan tries to do so, using a hand to straighten himself up, and when his weight presses on his leg, he twitches violently.
"Is your leg hurt?" Seungcheol asks carefully.
Jeonghan looks at him with a blank face but nods minutely. Then he opens his mouth, wanting to say something but only a scratchy sound comes out.
"I'll get you some water," Seungcheol says, about to stand up but Jeonghan starts speaking.
"I…" He tries to say, and Seungcheol waits patiently. Then five words come out of Jeonghan's mouth, and Seungcheol is stupefied.
"I… will not… marry you,"