Keith walked away immediately. He left with his woman, leaving me behind as I stood there blankly. Just as my expression collapsed in bitterness and embarrassment, she suddenly looked back at me. Just for a moment, I had shown her my raw emotions. I quickly put back on my smile, but I was nervous inside.
‘She couldn’t have noticed, right? It’s okay. I’m sure she didn’t see it. It was just for an instant.’
Although it must have only lasted for a few seconds, my brain was tangled in thoughts. Just then, the main chef approached me.
“Yeonwoo, would you mind looking at the dishes for a moment?”
“Oh, yes. Of course.”
I nonchalantly walked away. When I glanced over my back, she had already disappeared along with Keith.
*
*
Nothing special happened even until the halfway point of the party. Guests continued to arrive here and there, and I spent the entire night frantically combing through my brain not to get their names wrong. To my greatest misfortune, not one guest used the nametag that we had gone through the trouble of preparing.
The only strange thing was that there were many guests with two or three or even more partners. I had even stared with my eyes wide open as an invitee waltzed in with a queue of partners behind them—though, of course, I quickly feigned indifference. Although there were both male and female partners, it was for sure that there were exceedingly many omegas.
Something seemed strange, but I quickly dismissed the thought. My job tonight was to wrap up the party without any issues, nothing more. Whatever private life the invitee had, however many partners they brought along, all they needed to do was not make a mess out of the party.
I examined the list of invitees and noted those who had attended and those who had not. Looking at the time, the few who hadn’t arrived yet must not be attending at all. I checked off those people and requested the security staff at the entrance to ensure that they let me know if anyone else arrived.
Everything was going smoothly up to that point. No guests in particular were causing trouble, and the night waves were gentle. I could barely feel the ship rock.
One other thing that was different about this party was that the guests seemed to be keeping more to themselves. Most of the time, the purpose of attending a party was to socialize or gain new information, naturally forming big and small groups of people chatting among themselves. However, that wasn’t the case tonight. In fact, not a lot of people were out on the decks. I had been nervous about the pheromones that exuded from Extreme Alphas, but I was hardly affected by it tonight. It almost felt like a waste that I took more meds than usual.
‘In any case, it’s a good thing that there hasn’t been any issues,’ I thought as I looked around the decks.
Suddenly, I was hit by an odd thought. There were too little people. There was lots of food and alcohol on the tables, but no people to be seen. Although there were a lot more than just a few peculiarities, I continued to ignore them. I had no reason to continue nitpicking. As long as there was no trouble, I would be fine.
Just as I finished my thought, I saw one couple talk to another couple about something before heading toward the guest suites together. I had made sure to prepare the lounges and hallways as well as the decks, but I became slightly concerned.
‘What if there isn’t enough of something?’
All the guest suites were equipped with an intercom, so they would be able to contact the preparation room directly if they needed anything. Perhaps everyone was just enjoying their time with their partners, though I wondered why we even bothered to host a party if they were all going to hang out separately.
Did Keith know about this situation?
The thought hit me, but Keith was also nowhere to be seen. I tried my best not to think too deeply about it.
“Everything seems fine here. Maybe I’ll go look around the guest suites.”
After intentionally muttering out loud, I trudged across the decks with heavier footsteps than usual. In the corner of my eye, I saw a man lounging on a long beach chair that was placed off to the side. He was an invitee to today’s party and, unsurprisingly, an Extreme Alpha. I pretended not to see him as he and his three omegas squeezed and licked each other all over. I quickly found the elevator and pressed the button.