The Omega Is Pregnant

Kang Se-heon and Kang In-hyuk being cousins was something Tae-seo had known for a long time. That meant he should have considered the possibility of running into Kang In-hyuk when he was with Kang Se-heon.
No, he had thought about it before. He was sure he had imagined that such a day might come. But now, at this unguarded moment, it felt like a sudden punch had landed right in his solar plexus.

"Why are you…?"
At Kang In-hyuk’s question, Tae-seo’s lips were sealed shut, as if glued together, refusing to part. He should say something, but his mind went completely blank, leaving him unable to think at all.
"That is… well…"

Honestly, knowing Kang Se-heon wasn’t even a big deal. Their families knew each other, after all. So, even if he admitted it, it wasn’t anything strange. If anything, he could just turn the question back on Kang In-hyuk and ask, “And what about you? What’s your relationship with Kang Se-heon?”
But Tae-seo only opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, unable to produce a proper answer.
"Did you suddenly become an idiot or something?"

Kang In-hyuk frowned at Tae-seo’s hesitant attitude and urged him impatiently. He was just as flustered by this unexpected encounter as Tae-seo was. Moreover, he had been in a terrible mood all day, so his words naturally came out sharp and biting.
He said he wouldn’t act like that in front of me anymore. He said he was going on blind dates. And yet, here he is…
What a cunning bastard. Doing all the dirty tricks on his own.

"Are you scheming something weird again?"
"…It’s nothing like that."
Tae-seo, unable to suppress his frustration, glared at Kang In-hyuk. It was one thing to misunderstand, but this was ridiculous. What crime had he committed just by being here? What was Kang In-hyuk so mad about? It felt incredibly unfair.

"Then answer me. Why are you here?"
"What do you need to know for?"
At that moment, Tae-seo suddenly felt a warm presence behind him. At the same time, an arm extended past his side and grabbed the front door handle. Only after Kang Se-heon pushed the door open did Tae-seo realize that his own hand on the handle had been trembling.

"Se-heon hyung."
"Why does it matter to you who’s in my house?"
"That’s not what I meant. I was just wondering if Yoon Tae-seo—"

"Didn’t you come here to talk to me?"
Kang In-hyuk had just opened his mouth to speak about Tae-seo when Kang Se-heon cut him off.
A thought crossed In-hyuk’s mind—what if Tae-seo had been meeting with people around him, pretending to have no interest in him all this time? He suddenly felt the urge to tell Kang Se-heon about it.
"Yeah, I did come to talk to you. But since Yoon Tae-seo is here—"

"Who exactly did you come to meet?"
Kang Se-heon didn’t give him the chance to continue. Every time Kang In-hyuk even uttered Tae-seo’s name, Se-heon interrupted him.
"If you have something to say to me, come in. If not, leave."

With a casual tilt of his shoulder, Kang Se-heon gestured that In-hyuk was free to enter. At the same time, Tae-seo, pretending he had no choice, slipped inside. The hand that had been resting gently on Tae-seo’s shoulder was unexpectedly soft, but the way he treated Kang In-hyuk was as cold as ice.
Kang In-hyuk clenched his teeth behind his closed lips.
They weren’t particularly close, but he hadn’t thought their relationship was bad either. Yet, watching Kang Se-heon coldly brush him off while shielding Tae-seo like he was precious made irritation bubble up inside him.

But that wasn’t the only thing.
Lately, Tae-seo had been all prickles whenever he ran into Kang In-hyuk. But now, in front of Kang Se-heon, he was acting utterly docile. There shouldn’t be anything wrong with Tae-seo listening to Se-heon, but for some reason, it pissed In-hyuk off.
"It’s because I know Yoon Tae-seo."

"Haah… In-hyuk. You know I hate repeating myself. Did you come all the way here to introduce Yoon Tae-seo to me? Should I put up a projection screen for you? Wanna do a full presentation? Maybe a PowerPoint on how we met and what kind of relationship we have?"
"…I came to give you something."
Kang In-hyuk backed off slightly. He knew that when Se-heon’s words dragged on like this, it meant his patience was running thin.

Only then did Kang Se-heon finally turn his back on him.
The slowly closing door felt like a time limit, giving Kang In-hyuk only moments to decide whether he would enter or not.
Clenching his jaw, Kang In-hyuk forcefully pushed the door open again and followed Kang Se-heon inside.

 
Once inside, he immediately spotted Tae-seo hastily gathering up his laptop and scattered papers from the table.
It seemed like he had been studying in the living room until just a moment ago. The way he hurriedly packed up his things looked flustered.

"Why are you suddenly cleaning up?"
"I was planning to take it to my room."
"Why bother?"

Kang Se-heon sat down on the sofa and dismissed the need for Tae-seo to tidy up. But when Tae-seo shot a glance in Kang In-hyuk’s direction, he shook his head.
"I’d rather go study in my room. My back is starting to hurt sitting here."
"Just relax. Why are you acting all nervous?"

"I feel uncomfortable."
Kang Se-heon suddenly grabbed Tae-seo by the back of his head and pulled him down onto the couch.
"Your posture is bad, that’s all. Just sit comfortably."

"That’s not what I meant!"
Tae-seo flared up but immediately clamped his mouth shut, glancing at Kang In-hyuk. He knew that protesting any further would only make things worse.
Ignoring Tae-seo’s obvious discomfort, Kang Se-heon turned back to In-hyuk and motioned toward the seat across from him.

"Aunt Mi-sun must be in a real hurry."
With just one glance, Kang Se-heon had already figured out that Han Mi-sun was behind In-hyuk coming here.
There was no point in hiding it, so In-hyuk silently sat down and handed over the documents he had brought.

"She told me to give you this…"
"Do you even know what this is?"
"Not exactly, but it’s related to the latest project KH Mart is planning—"

"You seem to know quite a bit."
Se-heon cut him off as soon as he got the information he needed.
"Take it back."

"…What? But you didn’t even look at it."
"It’s a project from KH Mart, right? Then why are you the one bringing it? Are you a KH employee? Are you the project manager? Do you even have clearance to read those documents?"
"No, but my father is overseeing this project personally. He’s invested in making it work, so he wanted to collaborate with you. That’s why I brought it."

Kang In-hyuk rushed his words, afraid Se-heon would cut him off again.
"Then tell me—why the hell are you handling this? Take it back and submit it through the proper channels."
"Hyung!"

Kang In-hyuk’s voice rose in frustration as Kang Se-heon simply stood there, arms crossed, staring down at the documents without even touching them. He had never expected Se-heon to accept them easily in the first place. That’s why he had planned to either humor him with a smile or ask if he could at least take a look.
This was exactly why he hated running these kinds of errands. It wasn’t that he disliked his cousin, but Se-heon’s rigid separation of personal and professional matters could be exhausting at times.
Still, he had come here for his father’s sake, but Se-heon was being completely unyielding, not giving even the slightest leeway.

And to make matters worse, Yoon Tae-seo was watching.
Earlier, Tae-seo had acted like he was going to his room, but now, he was just sitting there, quietly observing everything unfold.
Kang In-hyuk clenched his teeth and steeled his gaze.

"Hyung, we’re family. KH family."
The closest relationship in this room was between him and Kang Se-heon. Yoon Tae-seo was nothing but an outsider. So, at the very least, Se-heon should consider his position too.
"In-hyuk."

Kang Se-heon, recognizing the disappointment in his cousin’s voice, gave him a faint smile.
"So, what you’re saying is that, in front of a third party, you’re deliberately bypassing formal procedures and pushing business through informal channels? Are you telling me I should accept this document just because we’re family?"
"Hyung!"

Kang In-hyuk finally snapped, calling out to him sharply.
He knew Se-heon wasn’t wrong. Not a single word he said was incorrect. But right now, in the heat of the moment, all In-hyuk could feel was frustration and resentment.
"Go back and tell Aunt Mi-sun that her nephew turns into an idiot the moment he steps into his house and doesn’t understand complicated things like this."

From start to finish, Se-heon didn’t spare a single thought for his feelings.
In-hyuk let out a few harsh breaths, then grabbed the documents and stormed out.
SLAM!

The front door closed with a loud bang, making Tae-seo’s shoulders involuntarily flinch.
Damn, Kang In-hyuk is scary.
And yet, the man who had just effortlessly dismissed Kang In-hyuk with only a few words…

"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because it was cool."
Tae-seo was genuinely impressed. He had seen a fully grown man handle a childish tantrum with complete ease and not budge an inch.

Seriously, Kang In-hyuk—that Kang In-hyuk—had just been completely overwhelmed.
Tae-seo, who had been silently watching the whole thing, had just witnessed the most entertaining spectacle of his life.
"I thought you only talked to me like that, but it turns out you don’t discriminate."

"Is that a compliment?"
"Well… something like that."
Whatever it was, Kang Se-heon had looked incredibly cool, so it might as well be a compliment.

It was almost like watching a child admire an adult.
But then, Tae-seo quickly glanced around and lifted himself off the couch.
"Well then, I should go finish studying."

"Yoon Tae-seo."
Kang Se-heon called his name as if putting a shackle on him.
Tae-seo flinched and immediately sat back down.

"So, you know Kang In-hyuk."
"Yeah. We ran into each other a few times at school. But who would’ve thought we’d cross paths again like this?"
"So, you’re not engaged to him or anything?"

So he’s not just some hotel bum, but actually a hotel heir?
Kang Se-heon muttered to himself. The moment Tae-seo mentioned knowing Kang In-hyuk, he had immediately figured out exactly who he was.
Tae-seo blinked in surprise.

"How did you know that?"
"Oh… so you really are that…"
Kang Se-heon’s eyebrows twitched restlessly.

He still couldn’t believe it. His lips, which had been tightly sealed in skepticism, finally parted with a sigh.
"So you were actually a quiet and well-behaved kid."
Not a shameless, cunning little fox—but a quiet and well-behaved one.

Even after saying it, Kang Se-heon let out a hollow chuckle, as if he couldn’t believe his own words.
"Me? Quiet and well-behaved? Who said that?"
Tae-seo blinked innocently, looking completely clueless.

Even though he obviously knew exactly who had said it.
That fake, exaggeratedly clueless expression was downright obnoxious.