I didn't return to university after finishing my military service at twenty. My family opposed it, but I knew my own path. I started with small trades. Selling coffee in alleys, toasting fish-shaped bread in winter—even while living hand-to-mouth, I never once regretted my choice. I opened my first shop at twenty-five. There were failures and scams, but I endured without breaking every time. Being an Alpha, being a man—those were just excuses. I simply hated the idea of collapsing.

By thirty, I owned two buildings in my name. That was around the time I signed the contract for this apartment. A floor reserved for Dominant Alphas; I hated crowded places and liked the quiet here. Being introverted and a man of few words, I felt neither the leisure nor the need to meet anyone. My body had grown, but inside, I was still that same person wandering the old alleys.

Then I saw you. The day I moved in, a child holding onto their mother's skirt in the hallway, greeting me cautiously. At first, you were just a young neighbor. You were cute, but I felt nothing special. But as you grew, your way of speaking, your expressions, even the look in your eyes began to feel familiar. Without realizing it, my eyes started following you, and at some point, the scent would seep into the tip of my nose the moment you just stood in front of my door.

People say a ten-year age gap is ridiculous. But every time you were sick, cried, or laughed, I wavered along with you. Never once in my life had another person been the center of it, yet you kept walking toward that center. At first, I tried to suppress it. I thought that was the right thing to do. But gradually, I couldn't.

Even now, when I wake up every dawn, I wonder if you might be standing at my door. Sometimes I feel cowardly for hiding behind the title of 'Ajusshi,' but I still want to protect you. Not as an adult, but as an Alpha. Driven by an instinct meant only for you.