To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 171: Come on, you gotta give us the tea

Kang-woo drank the champagne in one gulp, but his throat still felt dry, as if he had run a marathon in a hot desert.

’What’s wrong with me?’ he wondered and then raised his head to find Chin-hwa looking at him concerned.

"Are you okay?"

Kang-woo stared at him, panting softly, and then smiled. He caressed Chin-hwa’s cheeks and said,

"I’m fine. I don’t think I’m that good at holding my liquor, I apologize." He said but Chin-hwa shook his head.

"It’s alright," he said. "But you’re something if you can’t hold a little bit of champagne in your system. You’re an Alpha, after all."

"As I’ve been told," Kang-woo said and laughed.

"Then, shall we have a drink after this is over?" He asked. "Just you and me. I’ll make you chug down two bottles before you pass out."

Kang-woo laughed once more and nodded.

"Alright, I’m looking forward to it." He said and raised his gaze. "But for now, we should probably go there."

Chin-hwa turned his head to find his family greeting the president, as well as Kang-woo’s family, with people who were waiting around for their turn to speak with the president.

"Ah, it’s started." Chin-hwa exclaimed and sighed. "Then, come on. Let’s go."

They both started heading towards there and after they were gone, all eyes fell on Yun-tae, who flinched at their sudden attention.

"What? What is it?"

"Is that the reason you broke up with Kang-woo?" Dong-cha asked first but it only got Yun-tae confused since his eyes had been on his phone the whole time, exchanging texts with Myung-woo.

"What? What do you mean?" He asked, seeing their curious gazes.

"Are you trying to act oblivious right now?" Seoung-bo asked. "We’re talking about Kang-woo and Chin-hwa. Sure, they make a great couple, and their backgrounds click a lot, so it wouldn’t be strange if they were dating, but was the reason you backed out because you knew you wouldn’t fit?"

They were asking out of concern, and Yun-tae was finally able to wrap his head around what they were talking about.

"Haa, you’re talking about that?" He chuckled. "Well, it is true that I backed out as soon as I found out those two had had a huge crush on each other without the other knowing but that’s not all."

"What? They had a huge crush on each other?" Seoung-bo exclaimed, shocked. "Come on, you gotta give us the tea. Don’t leave us hanging."

Yun-tae felt awkward, but it wasn’t like he didn’t expect them to be so curious, so he told them about it. Just a bit of it, though.

He told them a little of what he knew. Like how Kang-woo and Chin-hwa had no idea they had feelings for each other and were suffering in silence till Kang-woo had to leave for reasons he still didn’t know and Chin-hwa was heartbroken.

"In any case, his sudden departure was what changed Hwa into someone so inclined and refusing to stand out. He was always so cheerful before Kang-woo left."

"Wow, there was so much story behind it that we didn’t know." Beom exclaimed. "It’s not like we ever had a way of knowing to begin with."

"So, do you think Little Hwa will go back to his old ways now that he’s cleared the misunderstanding with Kang-woo?" Dong-cha asked. "I mean, they have cleared their misunderstanding, right?"

"Yeah, they have. And as for his plans for the future, I have no idea." Yun-tae answered and then planned to drink his champagne when someone snatched it from him from behind, and he turned to find Myung-woo, who was already drinking it.

"Hm," he licked his lips. "The flavor is so much better when you’ve had it." He said.

"Hyung? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you suddenly stopped replying to my text, so I decided to come see what you were up to." He said and Yun-tae looked at his phone.

Only a few minutes had passed and he had already sent him so many sad stickers just because he didn’t respond.

He was so childish.

Then, Myung-woo waved at his friends who were completely stunned to see how much different he looked from the last time they saw him.

His hair was slicked backward, showing his face completely, and they were very sure they had seen his face somewhere.

But why did he look so much like...?

"Ah, I’m yet to formally introduce you guys," Yun-tae said, his eyes practically swirling at his handsome Myung-woo look. "Hyung, these are my friends, Beom-Chim, Seoung-bo, and Dong-cha. And this is..."

"Myung-woo nim." They all chorused and Yun-tae pursed his lips.

"Yes, this is the Myung-woo that you know."

Earlier that day, Myung-woo finally told Yun-tae his name. The name rang a bell on Yun-tae’s head but he couldn’t recall where he knew him from.

"Look it up online," Myung-woo said and Yun-tae wondered if he was that popular for him to have his name online.

He thought he was just a small name musician but as soon as he opened up the search, he was shocked to discover he was no small name.

In shock, he looked at Myung-woo’s face and the face in the pictures he was seeing, but they didn’t look the same. Was it because his hair was down?

"H-hold on," he said and brushed Myung-woo’s hair back, only to find the similarity to be uncanny. But why was he so different with his hair down?

"I can even fool the world perfectly if I wear a pair of glasses with my hair down." Myung-woo proudly said.

"Ah, so that’s why you have no fear going around without a nose mask. No one would ever know it was you." Yun-tae said and Myung-woo nodded.

"Exactly," he took Yun-tae’s hand and kissed it. "Does it bother you?"

"No, not at all." Yun-tae answered and blushed. "In fact, I feel glad."

"That I told you my name?"

"Yes," Yun-tae said and rested his back on the bench. "You know, I was a little worried. Since I didn’t know your name, if this app turned out to be a dream, I wouldn’t be able to find you in the real world. I might remember all the time we spent together so vividly but without your name, without your identity," he smiled, his eyes looking somewhat teary. "... It would feel like you never existed. And if it were reality where you suddenly disappeared without a trace, I would feel so lost since, without your name, it would feel like you were never here with me, and it was all my imagination to cope with my circumstances. So, I’m glad that I know your name now."