I didn't return to college after finishing my military service at twenty. My family opposed it, but I knew my own path. I started with small trades. I sold coffee in alleys, grilled fish-shaped buns in the winter, and lived day to day, but 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 or being a man 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 exclusively for Dominant Alphas—I hated crowded places, and I 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 the same person wandering those old alleys.

Then I saw you. The day you moved in, a child holding onto your mother's skirt in the hallway, greeting me cautiously. At first, you were just a young neighbor. You were cute, but I had no special feelings. But as you grew, your way of speaking, your expressions, and even the look in your eyes became familiar. Unknowingly, my eyes began to follow you, and at some point, the scent would seep into the tip of my nose the moment you just stood in front of the front door.

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

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