"Can I take a selfie with you?"
Haneul pushes his hair back behind his left ear, looking at the young man in front of him. He can see the glimmer in his eyes as the omega closes his eyes slowly, teasing before giving the man his typical smile. "Sure." He replies, waiting for the excited beta to prepare his phone for a snapshot. In the corner of his eyes he can see a group of males sitting on a nearby table, out-of-place, eyeing him. As the young author bids his goodbye to his satisfied fan, Haneul finally gives the pack his brief attention.
Bunch of himbos, that is for sure. And based on their auras - alphas.
It is obvious why they are waiting there; for him. No, not like the rest of the people in this small bookstore who are here for his meet-and-greet cum book-signing session. They are here hoping to get his attention and have a taste of him. Just look at the pathetic lustful face that one guy is making. Haneul almost laughs at his terrible attempt to be sexy by biting his lips. Too young to even try. Which is the exact reason he choose to be with older alphas instead of those around his age. They are too desperate it almost seems pathetic.
Shifting his attention towards another person in line, Haneul continues socializing with his readers. He really wants to ignore those alphas because one, they are seated right in his line of sight and two, they are making it really obvious that Haneul finds it hard to just accidentally look over without them thinking he is giving them hints. And that sucks, because he knows they will get bolder by the minute. But, he also he knows they won't be leaving any time soon so he will just have to put on his typical poker face.
It can't be helped, he is an attractive omega, and he is, famous among their circle for being good in bed and "easy" anyway. He won't deny it, he sleeps with alpha almost every time he has a chance. It is an open secret. Heck, he even wrote it in his book, confessing about it being his way to cope with his past. It is only natural for people to start calling him easy. But, on the contrary, he is very picky. Alphas are the ones who will gather around him desperate for a taste, not the other way around.
He is the one in control, not the other way around.
"I read it in two days. You're so brave to write about it…" Haneul thanks the middle-aged woman who starts to tear. He wants to sigh loudly but holds it in. Sensitive people really irks him.
"I'll always support you," she continues, now crying. Almost at his limit, the young author eyes his manager, signaling her to take the lady away. He can tolerate reasonable tears but fake tears and weak emotional tears, in other words, undeserving tears really annoy him.
Well, a lot of things annoys him but tears especially. Tears are for the weak.
Okay, obviously he is at his limit right now. He really needs a break but the line is still long. Eyeing the clock which indicates another hour before he can be free, Haneul requests for a toilet break. He can see one of the desperate alphas standing up, probably planning to follow him to the washroom. He smirks, pitying the guy. Despite Haneul being a normal omega with a "bad" reputation, his book is a best-seller which means, in this small bookstore, he is somewhat a celebrity. Obviously he will have a manager and a bodyguard taking care of him while he is attending his own signing event. There is no way the James Dean-wannabe will be able to touch him right now.
…and just like he expected, the guard pushes the alpha away as he tries to force his way to the toilet, following Haneul. Feeling a bit better at the amusing scene, the young author makes his way inside, expecting an empty space to clear his mind. Which is why seeing a figure moving from the corner of his eyes caught him off-guard he almost curses loudly.
At one of the sink, an alpha is washing his hand, not really paying any attention towards the pretty omega behind him.
And without saying anything, the alpha with dimples left. Without even sparing Haneul a glance.
#####
Haneul really wants to stop the signing event right now. He is feeling a bit better after the break but this rich girl just has to spoil the mood by rambling on and on about him being an inspiration.
Come on, him? Inspiration? To a girl with Chanel bag like her? Seriously? What inspiration?
All of them are privileged enough to buy books and walk around freely unlike the kids at the omega house who depend on donations and welfare of others. They are privileged enough to be able to socialize with others without any problems unlike most people at the shelter who end up with communication problems due to their terrible pasts. Just what in the world that he wrote in that book that can be considered an inspiration to those not going through the same thing as him? Inspiration to not give a fuck? Or sneaking out in the middle of the night to sleep with alphas double his age? What load of bullshit.
Smiling at the girl anyway, he wipes his face to avoid showing his annoyance to the next person. He knows better than to reflect his emotion on another.
God, she is still talking. Now he is really regretting not putting a time-limit to his meetings. It is not that he enjoys long talks; his fans doesn't usually talk this much either. He just refrain from doing so because he knows there are a few of his readers who actually experience what he did, or something similar, and when those people come and gather their courage to tell him about their stories, he wants to listen. Because they need it.
But not this girl. This girl needs to shut up.
Dammit. He really needs to get away from here. He is hungry and tired, he no longer has the motivation to continue nor the patience. Sometimes he wonder why he is even doing this kind of events. Had it not been for his future career of choice, he really won't have to pretend to give a crap. Unfortunately he needs the exposure so he has to do this. But, it is not like each person here even reads his book and relates to him. Most of them are just here because of his reputation.
"Oh my god. You're so pretty up close." The girl's voice breaks him from his wandering thoughts. Haneul wants so badly to roll his eyes but keeps his professional face on, internally wishing she will not say anything about inspiration anymore because he won't be able to pretend to be touched anymore. Finally facing the owner of the overly-excited female omega who has a really inappropriate over-the-top fangirling face, as if he is an idol instead of an author of a book on childhood trauma, he tries to pretend to be just as enthusiastic, with a tone of discomfort. Just to give a hint.
Half an hour left. He can do it. "My friend is li-"
Aah. Finally someone uses the 'friend' story today. He was wondering when someone like that will appear here. Keeping track on the typical lies people tell him on these events has been his guilty pleasure. Seriously though, this girl sucks at storytelling. She isn't even pretending to look the least bit empathetic about her 'friend' who supposedly been through similar thing which is a bit disappointing to Haneul. Still, she puts a lot of details in her story. She must be the kind of person who enjoys a one-sided conversation.
Owh god, she really loves the sound of her voice. Haneul is really getting bored his eyes starts to wander. The alphas are still sitting at the corner waiting for him, his manager is talking to the guard at the end of the line, other customers of the shop are standing at the sideline, curious about who he is…
"Owh…" The dimple alpha he met at the toilet is sitting at another table, leaning against the backrest. The guy is looking his way, Haneul finds himself admiring that handsome face. No, he can even be considered pretty. He has really distinct eyes, brown pupils, full lips… Such a cute face for an alpha, he almost seem innocent. Realizing the alpha is not actually looking at him, Haneul traces his line of sight towards the talkative girl in front of him. Connecting the dots, the male omega concludes the two are a couple, considering how lovingly he is staring at her.
What a pity, he would have love to spend the night with the alpha had he been one of his 'fans'. Maybe even give him some extra service after. The guy looks like he will be good in bed.
"Author-nim?"
"Huh?" Haneul quickly turns his attention back towards the girl. No wonder things seems calm, she has stopped talking. Now is his chance to send her away. "I'm glad the book helps. So who should I write this for?" He doesn't even care if she is asking him a question or is expecting him to respond to her fake story, he just wants to be done with the book-signing session.
"Gyuri."
"Have a nice day Gyuri," Haneul smiled and passed the book to her, quickly asking the next person to come forward.
"Thank you so much! My friend wo-"
Owh god please just go, he wants to hiss. Thankfully the next person in line, an alpha, is already waiting beside Gyuri, her face is that of obvious annoyance. Noticing the expression, the female omega quickly makes her way towards her lover who greets her with his sweet smile.
Haneul smirks at the weird sight. He cannot help but wonder how the couple ended up together. Maybe the dimple alpha is as annoying as her?
#####
Finally done for the day, Haneul lets his body fall back on the chair. He really doesn't mind people watching, he is exhausted and famished. The young, thirsty alphas are obviously still hopeful it makes Haneul laugh at their desperation. They waited for a few hours just for a chance?
Really. Pathetic.
But… what the hell. He wants to let off steam.
Honestly, they are not attractive enough for him. Haneul has a lot of experience with a lot of alphas, his standards are high. He usually won't even look at those obvious high school boys let alone consider fucking them. But today is one of the most annoying sessions he had by far and he really wants to do something to release his stress. And torturing desperate perverted alphas like them is exactly the kind of thing he is looking forward to.
Haneul rests his head on the table and looks over to them, sighing at the sad sight of the three excited teenagers. Some threatening will be required since young boys like them like to brag about their sexual encounters unlike more mature alphas who prefers to keep their bedroom talk to themselves. Sure people know he sleeps around, he doesn't mind that. He just doesn't want people to know with whom he slept with as there will definitely be dramas considering that most of his partners have successful careers. He is sure most of them wouldn't want their names to be exposed either which makes keeping things private so easy.
Those boys though, they are the opposite. Just look at that excited face eyeing him as soon as he steps closer to the table.
Urgh. Their visuals are not on par either. Now he is really disappointed that pretty toilet alpha is not one of them.
Owh well, at least one of the three is decent-looking. James Dean-wannabe will do it.