DASH

Chapter 13

In the fourth grade of elementary school, Jihong took his first secondary sex test, a mandatory annual examination for high school students. The test is relatively superficial: People are defined as omegas if pheromones are found in secretions such as sweat, saliva, or urine, or as alphas if elements of the pheromone response are present in their blood. Those with nothing were classified as betas. However, the test was inaccurate, and the results were displayed in the tables as , or .

Students identified as possible omegas or alphas undergo a detailed examination at the hospital to get the final result. Students with "possible beta" status did not need additional research, since no markers of belonging were detected at all. However, in rare cases, very rare, betas later manifested as alphas or omegas, especially in the third year of high school or the first year of high school. This was observed in children who developed slowly. Therefore, until they became adults, it was mandatory to take a test once a year at school. Jihon was given beta status from the fourth grade of elementary school. Every year, the same message appeared: . People usually conclude, "Oh, my son is a beta," but Jihon's parents took him to a private clinic every year for a detailed examination. And it wasn't that Jihong was slowly developing, rather the opposite. It was one of the highest in its class.

Of course, there was another reason why his parents did this: Jihon's father was marked as an "omega" at the age of 20, despite the fact that previous tests confirmed his beta status. And Jihon strikingly resembled his father in appearance, although their characters were opposite.

Jihon's father was a military man who became an example for the public during the changes following the introduction of the anti-discrimination law. As a result of the introduction of the new recruitment system, the percentage of omega soldiers in the army increased, and Jihon's father was one of those cases. He began his career in the army as a volunteer as a sergeant, and later worked his way up to an officer. Jihon's father would laugh when people found out about his secondary sex, and say, "Wow, is it that hard?" and his favorite response was, "As long as the pheromones aren't released, there's no difference between alpha and beta. What's wrong with that?"

When Jihon's father joined the military, status chips were not yet available on the market. Due to the availability of effective medications with few side effects, it has become impossible to determine whether someone is an alpha, omega, or beta unless the person has revealed their status beforehand. Moreover, Jihon's father was tall and in good physical shape, which made everyone, even his older comrades, consider him an alpha.

Those around Jihon often called him an exact copy of his father. They had striking similarities in height, physique and facial features, but their characters differed greatly. And Jihon's father once jokingly said, "Oh, then should I have one?" to his girlfriend, now his wife, when they were 20 years old. From this information, Jihong was speechless once. He did not deny reality and even seemed to expect the sudden manifestation of his secondary sex to occur. And his second thought was: "It will be better this way." He thought that this might be a good excuse to give up swimming, and the memory of those events made him laugh.

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"Mr. Jung Jihong," Hearing his name, Jihong got up from his chair in the waiting room. The nurse pointed to the doctor's door and informed him, "Now you can come in." Jihon bowed to the nurse and proceeded to the doctor's office. As soon as he entered, Dr. Lim greeted him warmly, "Oh Jihon, it's been a long time."

Dr. Lim has had a noticeable increase in gray hair over the years. She was the head physician of the family hospital in Ilsan for almost three decades. Jihong has been visiting the hospital since he was in elementary school, seeking help whenever he caught a cold or had a stomachache. She also conducted an annual secondary sex test on Jihon, so she knew all about his late development and the history of his entire family.

Thus, even after Jihong became independent and moved to Seoul during his college years, he still preferred to visit this hospital whenever possible to replace his chip or get advice on related issues. In other medical institutions, he had to give long explanations, starting with the results of tests in elementary school, but this was too annoying. Even if he explains, the doctor will still listen inattentively and will not adjust the dosage of the drug, but only prescribe it in the usual amount, which caused Jihon to suffer for several days afterwards.

"How do you feel? Oh, are you here to replace the chip?" asked Dr. Lim, glancing at the monitor on her desk. "Yes, and I have a question," Jihong replied, giving a very brief explanation of what had happened the day before. "I'm wondering if there could be a problem with the chip or if the pheromone suppressor didn't work properly."

"Really? Let's see. The last time you changed the chip... exactly three years ago. It was in July."

— Yes. I changed it to a new one just in case I joined the company.@@@@

Jihong clarified the time and added, "I was given omega status in the summer of my second year of high school, and a year earlier, he trained at the same swimming center. We crossed paths for about two months until I got the final result and gave up swimming."

"Two months after confirmation do not matter. Because as soon as you received confirmation, you were immediately implanted with a chip," Dr. Lim rested her chin on the back of her hand and tapped the table with her other fingers, seemingly deep in thought. However, she asked Jihong another question, "How old was he then?"

— 12 years old

— Was he already an alpha at that time?

"His status was determined at the age of 12, but it happened a little later than mine. About a month after my results.

"It's only because the tests and results were revealed at the same time. He had probably already shown his signs by then," Dr. Lim said, standing up and walking over to the large bookshelf behind the desk.

– Do you know what level of sensitivity to pheromones your friend had before taking the medication?

"I don't know that much....

The doctor nodded and soon pulled out a very thick book. As the name suggests, it was a medical reference book. The binding was all torn, here and there many turned pages. Dr. Lim struggled to find the information she needed.

"Ah, there you have it

She returned to her desk with the book, having found what she was looking for.

— I think that this is probably just the case...

The doctor gave the book to Jihon. On the page, she highlighted a specific part of the text with a marker. Jihon narrowed his eyes and read...