Chapter 22 - Bolted Door

Act 5

“I told you, Mom. I don’t plan on getting married anytime soon,” I repeated yet again. A concerned voice trickled out from my phone.

“But Yeonwoo, you’re almost of age. I can’t possibly be at peace knowing that you’re not even dating anyone.”

“Once again…” I inhaled and exhaled deeply, suppressing my irritation. “I’m not feeling up to it right now.”

“Even if you aren’t, you should still go around and meet some people. I’m not saying that you should be dating people with the intention to get married. You’ll know when the right one comes along as you go about dating them.” Mother paused for a little as if to read the atmosphere. “It’s just that… you’d have to try harder than everyone else.”

Before I could say anything, Mother quickly continued to nag.

“I wouldn’t be so worried if you hadn’t transitioned into an omega. It would have been nice if you remained a beta, or even transitioned to an alpha. There used to be so many girls who had a crush on you. I gave birth to a handsome son, and out of all things—”

“Mom, Mom!” I cut her off, unable to hold back anymore. “It already happened. I can’t do anything about it even if you say that. It’s not like I transitioned because I wanted to.”

‘Besides, my looks are not the point here. To parents, their kids are always handsome and pretty.’ I swallowed these words before they could escape. There were many good-looking men and women in this world. On top of that, alphas and omegas were naturally better-looking. There was no doubt that I was just a nobody among all of them.

Mother didn’t reply, perhaps taken aback by my annoyed tone of voice. I softened my voice a little and continued.

“Moreover, I don’t necessarily have to marry an alpha. There are betas out there, and there has to be a girl who’s okay with the fact that I’m an omega.”

“If you marry a girl, you won’t be able to have kids,” Mother refuted right away as if she were waiting for me to say that. “You must have kids when you get married, and you need to marry an alpha to have kids. Do you know how difficult it is to find a female alpha? And marrying a female beta or omega would make it impossible to have kids. You should search for a decent beta male. That’s the easiest option, no? An alpha would have been better, but a beta… the thought of you marrying a man is concerning enough. I wish it were Yeonhee or Yeonjoo who transitioned. Instead, you—”

Her voice suddenly stopped, and another voice butted in.

“Hi, Yeonwoo, how ya doing? Anything special going on? Do you need anything? Want me to send over some snacks?”

The cascade of questions pulled the tenseness out of me. A smile rose to my lips.

I replied, “I’m good. Do you need anything?”

“Lots, of course! See my Amazon wishlist.” My little sister chuckled and bold-facedly made her request. I promised her that I would and asked her a few things about her life. She answered energetically before closing the subject. “Yeah, okay. Sounds like you’re also going through a bunch. Hang in there. Getting paid well must mean having to take care of a lot of annoying stuff, too. After all, who wants to pay people for nothing? Get some rest, then. I’m hanging up. Bye-bye!”

“Yeonhee, hand me the phone! Yeon—”

I heard Mother’s urgent cry, but the call ended abruptly. Only then was I able to exhale the breath I had been holding.

When I had first confessed that I became an omega, Mother turned pale and could not speak. I was worried that she might faint, but thankfully that didn’t happen—although her sitting there and huffing rapidly without standing up for a long while made it seem like she was about to.

Father was also shocked and at a loss for words. Yeonhee, the oldest of my younger sisters, was the first to collect her thoughts. She thankfully stepped forward to ease the mood.

“Then what will you do during your heat cycle, Yeonwoo? My friends take their meds and don’t leave their houses. Will you be doing the same?” I remember her saying.

“…Basically, yeah,” I answered after a moment of hesitation.

“I see,” she murmured before quickly changing the subject.

“You’re gonna keep living in the US, right? Then there shouldn’t be any problem. America’s got a lot better meds and systems for stuff like that.”

“Not necessarily. Some things are better, and others are worse.”