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"Will you marry me?"
Jihoon froze with the water bottle still pressed to his lips. Only seconds ago, their conversation had been nothing but idle chatter—complaining about the new season's patch notes, debating whether the diner that had just opened near the dorms was actually any good. Then a brief lull fell over the room, and Sanghyeok looked up from his phone on the couch across from him. He said it with the casual indifference of someone mentioning that it might rain tomorrow.
Jihoon sat there, completely frozen, forgetting how to swallow. He couldn't have misheard it. The words had been way too clear. Will. You. Marry. Me.
No matter how many times he turned those three words over in his head, they didn't magically turn into something else. Finally managing to swallow the water, he lowered the bottle to his knee.
"...What did you just say?"
"Marriage."
"I heard that part."
"Then why ask?"
Sanghyeok blinked, genuinely puzzled. His expression made it seem as though Jihoon were the one overreacting. Watching his utterly calm demeanor, Jihoon seriously questioned his own sanity for a moment. Had the definition of the word changed without him knowing? Or was there some secret omega custom where they casually dropped surprise marriage proposals on alphas out of nowhere? No matter how he looked at it, he wasn't the crazy one here. More than anything, Sanghyeok didn't look like someone confessing his feelings. There was no nervousness, no flushed cheeks, and absolutely no anxious anticipation for an answer.
"Hold on a second, hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Why are you marrying me?"
Only then did Sanghyeok's brow furrow faintly. He stared at Jihoon for a few seconds as if he couldn't quite understand the point of the question, then gave an answer that, to him, was an absolute and self-evident fact.
"Because you're an exceptional alpha."
Jihoon clamped his mouth shut. Apparently satisfied that this explanation was sufficient, Sanghyeok looked back down at his phone. The silence dragged on. Staring at the omega across from him, Jihoon genuinely wondered whether he'd just been proposed to or selected as an ideal specimen for some kind of livestock breeding program. Expecting something like because I like you or because I want to be with you had clearly been naive. An exceptional alpha. Jihoon repeated the phrase in his head. The more he thought about it, the stranger it sounded. It was technically a compliment, but it made him feel less like a person and more like a prize-winning racehorse.
"...What makes me exceptional?"
"In a lot of ways."
"Care to name a few?"
Sanghyeok set his phone down. He seemed to take the question as a request for concrete evaluation criteria. After a moment of thought, he began counting them off on his fingers.
"For one, you're healthy."
"Okay."
"Good build."
"...Right."
"Your alpha traits are stable. Your pheromones are strong, but you have excellent control over them. You're smart, you've proven yourself in your career, and your lifestyle habits aren't the worst."
"Hold on."
"What?"
"Is this a job interview for the position of husband?"
Sanghyeok thought about it for a second.
"I guess it's pretty similar."
Jihoon dragged a hand down his face. This is driving me insane. The man sitting across from him didn't think there was anything strange about this at all. He wasn't even joking. Sanghyeok had a habit of letting the corner of his mouth twitch up just slightly when he was messing with someone, but there wasn't a trace of it now. He was completely serious.
The most maddening part, though, was that Jihoon didn't even want to outright reject this ridiculous proposal. He'd liked Sanghyeok. For quite a long time, actually. So it was true that his heart had skipped a beat the second he heard those words. But right now, it felt like he'd finally won the lottery he'd been waiting his whole life for, only to check the ticket and discover that he'd won because of his "superior genetic traits."
"Hyung. Usually, when someone asks someone else to marry them..."
"Yeah?"
"There are things they're supposed to say first."
"Like what?"
"...You seriously don't know?"
"No."
There wasn't even a hint of hesitation in his voice. Jihoon stared up at the ceiling. At this point, he was embarrassed just having to explain it. Why did the person being proposed to have to teach the person proposing the basic steps of a proposal? But Sanghyeok simply sat there, quietly waiting for him to continue. In the end, Jihoon let out a long, deep sigh.
"That they like the person. Or love them. Or that they want to be together forever."
"Ah."
Sanghyeok made a small sound, looking like he finally understood. Jihoon allowed himself a tiny bit of hope. No matter how unusual his thought process was, giving him a hint that obvious had to produce some kind of romantic response, right?
But after thinking for a moment, Sanghyeok simply nodded.
"That's already a given."
This time, Jihoon genuinely had nothing to say. Sanghyeok still looked like he couldn't understand why any of that needed to be said out loud. In his mind, the logic was simple. He didn't spend his personal time with people he didn't like. He didn't let people he hated into his personal space. More than anything, proposing something as long-term as marriage already came with the prerequisite that he liked and trusted the other person. So, to him, there was absolutely no need to explicitly say *I like you.* It would be like explaining that water was wet.
But the alpha sitting across from him was suddenly turning red all the way to the tips of his ears, completely at a loss for words.
"Why is your face so red?"
"Whose fault do you think that is?"
"Are you hot?"
"No."
"Do you have a fever?"
"I said it's because of you, hyung."
Sanghyeok narrowed his eyes slightly. The moment Jihoon realized his alpha pheromones were leaking, he hurriedly reined them back in. But rather than looking displeased, Sanghyeok actually took a very subtle, deep breath. Then, as if adding even that to his list of confirmed evidence, he gave a small nod.
"Well, our chemistry is pretty good, too."
"Hyung."
"Yeah."
"Please stop making my heart race and then immediately pulling out an evaluation sheet."
"It's a compliment."
"I know. That's why it's driving me crazy."
When Jihoon buried his face in both hands, Sanghyeok simply stared at him, looking even more confused. A moment later, he stood up and moved over to sit beside Jihoon. The sofa sank slightly beneath his weight. They were sitting close enough that their shoulders touched. Jihoon lowered his hands and glanced sideways. Sanghyeok was as calm as ever. But looking closely, he was sitting a little closer than usual. Their knees were touching, too. And he wasn't pulling away.
Sanghyeok wasn't the type to seek out unnecessary physical contact. Once that fact registered, Jihoon finally started to notice the other meanings buried beneath all the absurdity, belated as they were.
"I like you," Sanghyeok said.
Jihoon's eyes widened. Sanghyeok wasn't simply repeating the sentence Jihoon had taught him a minute ago like homework. His voice was still calm, but his eyes were fixed directly on Jihoon.
"I'm comfortable when we're together, and I think about you sometimes when you're not here. If we go a while without talking, I wonder what you're doing. When something good happens, I want to tell you, and when things are difficult, I want to be the first person you tell."
Sanghyeok paused there for a moment. He carefully chose his next words, like someone who wasn't used to putting his feelings into words.
"And the idea of you pairing up with another omega... I really don't like it."
Jihoon's eyebrows twitched.
"You don't like it?"
"Yeah."
"How much?"
Sanghyeok thought about it for a moment.
"A lot."
Those two short words were enough to make Jihoon drop his head and burst out laughing. He really was such a strange person. He'd managed to propose in the most bizarre way imaginable, but when it actually mattered, he could effortlessly make someone's heart drop.
When Jihoon laughed, Sanghyeok looked confused again. He seemed to have no idea why Jihoon was laughing when he'd answered so seriously. Jihoon laughed for a long time before finally catching his breath and looking back at Sanghyeok.
He was finally starting to understand.
To Sanghyeok, love wasn't something that needed to be dressed up in emotional rhetoric or grand declarations. It was simply writing someone into his future as though their place there were an absolute given. For this peculiar omega, that was probably the most definitive confession he could make.
"So that's why you want to get married?"
"Yeah."
"Because I'm an exceptional alpha?"
"That's part of it."
"And?"
Sanghyeok stared at Jihoon. He looked slightly annoyed by the endless stream of questions, but this time, he answered him honestly.
"Because you're Jeong Jihoon."
Jihoon's expression went completely blank.
Completely oblivious to what he'd just said, Sanghyeok added, "I'm sure there are other exceptional alphas out there. Why would I bother marrying any of them?"
At that, Jihoon bit down hard on his lower lip. He knew he shouldn't smile. If he smiled now, it would be painfully obvious how much he liked that answer, and he'd probably be teased about it for the rest of his life. But the corners of his mouth were already creeping upward.
Sanghyeok watched him for a while before bringing the conversation back to the point.
"So, what's your answer?"
"Hyung."
"Yeah."
"You can't just propose to someone like that and then rush them for an answer."
"Do you need time to think?"
The moment he heard the question, Jihoon's expression shifted slightly. The playfulness returned to his face. The alpha who had spent the entire conversation flustered and getting dragged along was finally back in his element. Jihoon deliberately leaned deep into the sofa and crossed his arms.
"Hmm. Well, it's a lifelong commitment, you know? Shouldn't I give it some proper thought?"
Sanghyeok's eyebrows dipped slightly.
"How long?"
"Maybe a week?"
"Too long."
"Three days?"
"Still too long."
"A day?"
"Can't you just do it now?"
Jihoon couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing again. Sanghyeok didn't laugh. In fact, he looked a little put out.
And that was when Jihoon realized.
It wasn't that this guy had never considered the possibility of being rejected. He simply hadn't *wanted* to think about it. That was why his fingers were a little stiffer than usual, why the hand resting on his knee was curled inward just slightly. He looked completely calm, but in his own way, Sanghyeok had been on edge, waiting for an answer.
The moment Jihoon noticed that, all desire to tease him disappeared.
Jihoon uncrossed his arms. Then he placed his hand over Sanghyeok's.
Sanghyeok looked down. The hand covering the back of his was large and warm. Jihoon shifted his fingers slightly, adjusting his grip until he was properly holding his hand.
"I'll do it."
"Do what?"
"Marriage."
Sanghyeok looked up.
"With me?"
"Well, is there anyone else here?"
A brief silence fell between them.
There wasn't any dramatic change in Sanghyeok's expression. He didn't break into a huge smile or look visibly moved. His eyes simply softened by the slightest degree.
But that was more than enough for Jihoon to know.
Sanghyeok was satisfied.
And, exactly as expected, the very next second, Sanghyeok nodded.
"Good choice."
Jihoon's smile disappeared.
"...What was that?"
"I said you made a good choice."
"You just proposed to me, right, hyung?"
"Yeah."
"Then why does it feel like I just passed an interview?"
"Probably just your imagination."
"I really don't think it is."