MOT | Chapter 1.3

At Taeseong’s stiff tone, his father’s voice, which had answered cheerfully, also grew serious.

“What is it… All right, should we gather at home? Or should I reserve a spacious restaurant?”

“No, it’s something very sensitive…”

Taeseong frowned and looked down at his fingers. Then he held them up one by one. Father, eldest brother, second brother. All alphas. And himself, who had just awakened and knew nothing, an omega…

Swallowing a sigh, Taeseong shut his eyes tightly.

“I think we need to have an online meeting.”

“What?”

Though an exasperated voice came back, Taeseong ended the call after saying only that he would post the address in the chat room later.

He had vaguely heard that pheromones had little effect between relatives. But he had not yet met a specialist, and since he was a special late-awakening case, he decided it would be better to act cautiously.

At 10 p.m., Taeseong met his family on an online meeting app. Four screens other than his own appeared on the monitor, and the family members appeared in their own little squares.

His father, still at the office, his mother in the home study, his eldest brother at his business trip destination, and his younger brother in his room all had complicated expressions. Half was from being startled by an online family meeting they had never seen before, half was from concern over the youngest’s incomprehensible summons.

“I’ll get straight to the point.”

Taeseong raised his head sharply, his tightly clenched fist on the table. Looking over his family members as they swallowed hard, he opened his mouth.

“I’ve become an omega.”

For a moment, Taeseong thought there was some error in the video call program. The moving family members froze like photographs in an instant. Silent shock spread like ripples across the monitor screens.

“What?”

“What do you mean? You’ve awakened now?”

“Oh my God…”

His father, eldest brother, and younger brother spoke over one another. His mother was so shocked that she froze with both hands over her mouth.

Taeseong fully understood their shock. He himself had also been unable to accept it and had been dazed.

But Taeseong was someone who could quickly get past shock. With the most mature expression in the family despite being the youngest, he waited until everyone’s breathing returned to normal before speaking calmly.

“As a beta man, my body has become one that can’t marry a beta woman. So I think I’ll have to cancel all the blind dates that were being arranged.”

Only then did his mother slowly lower the hand covering her lips. For some reason, a strange sense of relief appeared in her expression.

“Yes, that’s a good decision. Don’t cling to marriage for the sake of our company anymore, just…”

Taeseong instinctively sensed it. Even without hearing what his mother was about to say, he knew. The tower Taeseong had painstakingly built up to now swayed in his mind. His mother was trying to bring it down with a warm, gentle hand.

“Instead!”

At Taeseong’s thunderous shout, not only his mother, whose words had been cut off, but everyone else widened their eyes. Taeseong stood up with a self-assured smile.

“I, Myeong Taeseong, from now on will strive not as a beta, but as an omega. My goal has not changed.”

“What…?”

“I’ll become a talent anyone would covet in the marriage market and pull up brands that will help the company. It doesn’t matter if I’m not the number one groom, but the number one bride candidate.”

With his chin lifted, Taeseong’s eyes flashed. Despair lasted only an instant. New eagerness and will lit a fire and burned fiercely through his veins.

“That is all.”

Having finished, Taeseong gave a thumbs-up. The family members all froze with their mouths open. As he looked over the way they had once again turned into photographs with puzzled eyes, one of them let out a puff of air and lowered his head.

“This isn’t a meeting, it’s a unilateral notice.”

At the eldest brother’s snort of a remark, Taeseong simply laughed. He was sorry for speaking on his own, but he had no regrets.

He wanted to reassure his family. He also wanted to let them know his current body and mental state, and that his goal had not changed.

‘I’m going to become a useful son.’

Taeseong unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fist. Crescent-shaped nail marks remained in his palm.

* * *

To make a new life plan, he first had to accurately understand his condition based on a specialist’s diagnosis. Taeseong visited the hospital he had reserved in advance. It was a specialized hospital focused on omegas, among hospitals that treated trait-bearers.

He had pre-booked a first-round examination for trait judgment. He had been diagnosed at the ENT clinic, but he needed a more proper opinion.

After finishing the various tests, Taeseong returned home, and a week later, after receiving a text saying the results were out and to come in, he visited the hospital again.

As soon as he entered the examination room, the doctor Taeseong faced was an omega with a small build, round large eyes, and an androgynous air.

“Hello, Taeseong-ssi. You came to hear your test results, right?”

Taeseong sat in the chair prepared in front of the doctor. For Taeseong, whose build was above average, the chair felt quite small. He realized once again that he was not an omega of ordinary proportions.

The doctor gently guided him through the test results. Taeseong had awakened as an omega at a late age, and among omegas he was recessive, which was not much different from what the ENT doctor had told him on his first visit.

“If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime.”

Holding the report the doctor handed him and slowly scanning the writing, Taeseong raised his head.

“If I’m recessive.”

“Yes.”

“…Does that mean pregnancy is difficult?”

At Taeseong’s question, the round glasses sitting on the doctor’s nose slid down a little. The doctor promptly pushed the glasses back up and pulled the chair closer.

“Do you have plans for pregnancy?”

Until not long ago, Taeseong had been a beta man. He was someone who had never once thought that he himself would be able to get pregnant, so even if he had awakened as an omega, it would be normal for him to have difficulty accepting that reality. Perhaps the doctor’s puzzled question came from that assumption.

But Taeseong had already humbly accepted his new trait. Taeseong looked straight at the doctor and nodded.

“Probably, if I’m going to marry an alpha? An alpha who wants an omega partner would usually want children, and a bride who can’t get pregnant no matter how much seed is poured in would be troublesome.”

“Seed… cough.”

At the blunt wording, the doctor flinched and coughed. The flustered expression quickly returned to calm.

“It’s not infertility, but pregnancy will not be easy.”

“Why?”

“First… because you awakened so late, the changes in your body are slow and your hormone levels are unstable. Your pheromone levels are also uneven. And now that you’ve entered your thirties, there is also the risk of advanced maternal age.”

Twitch. Taeseong’s thick eyebrows jerked. He pulled the chair closer and sat more forward, lowering his voice.

“Can instability be improved through effort? Like by taking medicine or something?”

“Yes, medication can also be prescribed, but… actually the most important thing is your ‘mate.’”

“A mate?”

“Yes. Love an alpha with good compatibility. That’s the most accurate treatment in the world.”

The doctor answered with a bright expression. Taeseong stared at the doctor for a moment, speechless, then let out a dry laugh. Love, in the middle of a medical explanation.

“You’re suddenly being so romantic.”

“I’m speaking based on scientifically verified facts. If you’re frequently exposed to the pheromones of an alpha with good compatibility… and if the body’s ‘omega-ization’ accelerates, the chance of pregnancy goes up.”

“Then could I become a prime omega?”

“No, that’s a different matter. What I’m talking about now is your body, after living for about thirty years as a beta man, changing like an omega.”

The doctor brought over a small mannequin-like figure from the desk. Then he pointed to the abdomen of the anatomical model, where all the upper-body organs were visible.

“This is the uterus. It’s an organ that alpha or beta men do not have, and one that omega men are supposed to have. In your case, this uterus has only just begun to develop.”

Taeseong’s eyes widened. And without realizing it, he looked down at his flat stomach.

“You can’t become a prime omega just from being exposed to alpha pheromones, but it helps these organs settle in and makes pregnancy easier… ahem, ahem, in other words, you become a recessive omega who is not lacking as a mate for the ‘alpha who wants children’ you mentioned earlier.”

It meant that if he met an alpha with good compatibility and came into contact with strong pheromones, the organs related to pregnancy would also develop. So above all else, the first thing was to meet a good partner.

But there was a flaw in the doctor’s words. To meet a good partner, he needed to be ready to become a good match. Taeseong’s mind worked quickly.

‘At my current state, it’ll be hard to meet a partner with good conditions. I should also look into what kind of omega traits prime alphas prefer.’

Taeseong mentally decided what he would study next. Then he slowly got to his feet. The doctor lifted his head, eyes shining.

“Don’t you have anything else to ask?”

“That’s enough. I’m satisfied!”

Now that he had set his next goal, he felt at ease. Taeseong nodded toward the doctor with a brightened face. The doctor looked at Taeseong for a moment, then gave an awkward smile.

“You’re a little unusual.”

“Me? Am I a bit strange?”

“No, many people become depressed over sudden changes, so I’m glad you’re bright.”

“There’s no point in getting depressed over something that can’t be helped. I have to move on to the next step quickly.”

It was true that he felt plenty of regret and frustration, but he could not just sit there collapsed. Taeseong shrugged and then grinned, showing his white teeth.

“Well then, see you again.”

Taeseong left the examination room with light steps. He had a lot to look into, so he was in a hurry.

After returning home with various prescriptions, including heat cycle suppressants, Taeseong went into the study and turned on the PC. Then he began researching what kind of omegas were usually popular and what the conditions for a marriageable omega were.

Of course, he searched knowledge sites and devoured all the information that came up, and he also watched every “omega tip” video people had uploaded with provocative titles. He also went into marriage information sites and looked around, and searched blind date review posts as well. He even asked AI what a “good omega” was.

He had searched all this while thinking of the efforts he had made as a beta man to become the number one groom, but the more he searched, the more empty he felt. The conditions for an omega popular with alphas were simpler than he had expected.

They had to be young and pretty, smell good, be cute and docile, and be good in bed, and so on.

Taeseong frowned. It was not that he disliked the conditions for an omega desired by alphas, but rather that almost none of them applied to him.

First of all, young and pretty was out. Taeseong turned his head slightly and looked in the mirror. The masculine features he had been proudly viewing just a few days ago now felt annoyingly out of place.

Then was his personality docile? Not at all. To a certain extent he might be able to act it, but Taeseong was not that obedient a type. Maybe if it were a style that proactively took the lead.

“I didn’t even ask what scent my pheromones have. I should be able to find out if I ask the doctor.”