#100
“What’s going on here?”
With hurried footsteps, the bedroom door opened. The owner of those footsteps was Im Hoyoung. He was shocked at the scene before him. Chairman Ji Hyeongman had collapsed with a nosebleed.
“What… Why is the Chairman like this?”
“Sa… Save me…”
Hyeongman, his face pale, desperately reached out his hand. Following him, other employees including Secretary Kang rushed in. They all had the same expression as Im Hoyoung, and the security guards supported Hyeongman.
“Chairman, are you alright?”
“My goodness, what on earth happened!”
In this thunderbolt of a situation, Im Hoyoung scanned the surroundings to find the perpetrator. He saw Taemin tightly embracing a bewildered Idam.
No way…
Im Hoyoung imagined a situation he wanted to believe was a complete mess. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that this fantasy was reality. He knew Taemin wasn’t in his right mind, but he didn’t know he was this much of a scoundrel.
“Ji Taemin, are you crazy?”
At Im Hoyoung’s words, Taemin turned his head. His expression was equally sharp.
“What?”
“What did you do to your father just now?”
“I only did what I had to do.”
Taemin was unapologetic.
“Hey, even so…”
Im Hoyoung was dumbfounded by his unreasonable statement. Taemin was again embracing Idam.
Soon, Hyeongman was carried out on a stretcher. Im Hoyoung wanted to interrogate Taemin about why he did this, but he had to check on Hyeongman, so he reluctantly left.
“Um… CEO…”
Idam looked up at Taemin with a choked voice.
“What? Are you hurt somewhere?”
Taemin’s face was full of worry, as if concerned about even the smallest scratch on Idam’s body. Idam couldn’t understand why he was being so overprotective when there was no chance of him getting hurt. Especially when he didn’t even like him…
Idam gently pushed against Taemin’s chest, his heart aching from this kindness.
“I’m fine. But why did you do that to the Chairman?”
“Because he was interfering with us.”
“What do you mean ‘us’?”
Though knowing he shouldn’t hope, Idam asked with a trembling heart, as Taemin’s words made him think unnecessary thoughts.
“We’re in a contractual relationship, aren’t we?”
Cruelly, he casually said words that betrayed Idam’s expectations. The wound already etched in Idam’s heart was carved deeper. Taemin, perhaps sensing something ominous in Idam’s disappointed expression, grabbed his shoulders.
“What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”
Idam bit his lip, unable to answer further. He realized there was no point in showing his true feelings.
“CEO.”
At that moment, Secretary Kang cautiously entered the bedroom.
“The King Chairman has contacted us through the Chairman’s phone. He says he wants to talk to you.”
“Grandfather?”
Taemin wondered why the old man was contacting his father instead of him. He belatedly checked his own phone. There were records of five missed calls from his grandfather. It seemed he had heard about Taemin’s recovery from the rejection syndrome from his father and called. Because of this, he was anxious and worried that Idam might disappear.
But he couldn’t keep ignoring his grandfather’s calls, and it could lead to bigger problems. He replied with a reluctant expression.
“Alright. I’ll talk to him now.”
He then left the bedroom with Secretary Kang.
“Haa…”
Only then did Idam feel his blocked breath loosening. But it didn’t ease his heavy heart. Rather, his confused emotions were only growing. Taemin asserts that his relationship with Idam is just contractual. Yet his desire to keep Idam by his side continued to leave lingering attachments that tormented him. Because of this, the thought of running away was becoming diluted.
“What should I do…?”
As Idam was unable to make a decision, stuck between choices,
Knock knock.
“Um… Madam.”
It was Sujeong. Idam opened the door, wondering why she had come again. She very cautiously looked around before entering.
“Um… The person you texted earlier keeps calling and sending messages. I think you should check.”
“Hayun?”
Idam looked at the phone in confusion. As she said, there were already more than ten messages and ongoing calls. It seemed Hayun had been unable to contact Idam for a while and was now frantic after communication opened up through text.
“Well, you should take the call. I have something to do now.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Sujeong tactfully left. Idam was nervous. He thought about taking the call here but was anxious about not knowing when Taemin might return. So he went into the dressing room and locked the door from inside.
* * *
“What? Why isn’t he answering?”
Taemin, who had come out to the corridor, called his grandfather. The call just kept ringing without being answered. He frowned, wrinkling his forehead.
“How annoying.”
And he headed back to the bedroom where Idam was.
* * *
Idam went as far into the corner as possible. Then he curled up into a ball and started the call.
“He-Hello? Hayun?”
[Huh? Is this really Idam?]
“Yes, it’s me.”
Perhaps because the dressing room was so quiet, Hayun’s voice sounded as loud as if it were on speakerphone.
“Why did you send that message earlier about me being murdered?”
[Do you know about that family?]
“I… I know roughly… That is…”
Idam conveyed the information he knew to Hayun.
[So you know to some extent.]
“Yes…”
[The abnormal alpha family that the orphanage teacher talked about before was referring to Ji Taemin.]
“That’s right.”
At that time, he had thought there couldn’t be such an alpha in the world and had even fantasized about it. But the reality had a cruel form.
[They say that the alphas in that family found vulnerable omegas because of their rejection syndrome, exploited them thoroughly, and then discarded them when their condition improved.]
“…”
[They say they committed inhumane acts in the process.]
Idam’s eyes moistened, feeling like he was hearing about his own future.
“Why would they go that far?”
[They say it’s because the genetic disease itself arose from illegal activities, so they want to silence people to avoid it becoming known to the world.]
Idam felt himself shrinking even smaller and curled up. As he listened, he suddenly felt puzzled.
“Hayun, how do you know all this?”
[Someone I met recently told me. They said they’re a friend of Ji Taemin.]
A friend? Who could that be? Moreover, the idea of the CEO’s friend communicating with Hayun seemed unnatural and puzzling.
[Then, do you know this too? That Ji Taemin is even more despicable than you think…]
“What… what do you mean?”
[Remember when Heo Jitae kidnapped me last time? I almost ended up in Thailand…]
“Yes…”
The miserable memory flashed through his mind. Because of that incident, Idam had borrowed 350 million won from Taemin and started a week-long married life as his wife.
[They say it was Ji Taemin who kidnapped me and handed me over to Heo Jitae.]
“That… that’s”
Facing the truth, Idam felt his heart sink. He was confused and couldn’t believe what Hayun was saying. Because of this, he didn’t notice.
He didn’t notice that the locked dressing room doorknob was being quietly picked open.
“Wh-Why would the CEO hand you over to someone like Heo Jitae?”
“Why? To possess Idam completely, of course.”
A sinister voice was heard from behind. Startled, Idam dropped the phone. His heart pounded as if all the blood was draining from his body. Trembling, he turned around. Though it was dark with the lights off, Taemin’s eerie blue eyes and facial contours were clearly visible.
“How… how…”
Idam trembled and bent down to pick up the phone on the floor. In that moment, Taemin’s hand snatched the phone first. He checked the screen.
“Is the current caller Jang Hayun?”
His voice was gentle, but it seemed like he was wearing a mask.
[What’s going on? Idam, why are you like this? Did something happen?]
Hayun’s urgent voice echoed. Gradually, Taemin’s eyes grew cold as if filled with ice. Eventually, he gripped the phone and threw it against the wall. With an aggressive scraping sound, the phone screen cracked and then went dark.
“Haa… Ho-How…”
Shocked by the situation, Idam’s body trembled violently. Moreover, it wasn’t even his phone but Sujeong’s, which made him even angrier.
“What are you doing!”
Idam shouted. At the same time, Taemin grabbed Idam’s shoulders and pushed him against the wall. He immediately kissed him violently, like a starving beast. Idam found it even harder to endure Taemin’s rough kiss. When he tried to avoid it, Taemin grabbed Idam’s chin.
“What were you plotting with Jang Hayun behind my back?”
“It’s… it’s not like that. Why did you do that to Hayun?”
“I told you. It was to make you my wife.”
“Even so, that’s too much.”
Idam’s heart felt like it was being torn apart as the painful memory of being held by Heo Jitae resurfaced.
“The one who’s gone too far is you, Yeo Idam.”
“What?”
“You brought about that result by refusing my request at that time.”
“How… How can you say that…”
“So if you had just obeyed my orders from the beginning, none of that would have happened.”
His voice vibrated with malice.
Idam felt like his head would explode at Taemin’s irrational logic. He finally shook off Taemin’s hand gripping his chin.
“Let… Let go… I can’t be with you anymore, CEO…”
At Idam’s words, a murderous glint flashed in Taemin’s blue eyes.
“What?”
“Let’s end our contract here…”
“I even took in that eyesore Jang Hayun for your sake, and you want to end it here?”
“What?”
“Who said you can end it here!”
Idam’s eyes shook violently at Taemin’s outburst.
Taemin only sees Idam as a tool.
He should have realized this from the moment Taemin rejected his confession.
If he had truly seen him as a human being, he would have apologized first when his wrongdoings were revealed like this. He realized that Taemin’s kindness in taking in Hayun and being affectionate was just an act to manipulate him as he pleased.
In conclusion, Idam would be toyed with by him and then disappear from the world.
Idam’s heart, which had been barely holding on, collapsed destructively.
Taemin’s kiss followed immediately. After spewing such cruel words, his lip movements were extremely gentle. Idam bit down hard on Taemin’s tongue exploring his mouth. The metallic taste was strong enough to be felt clearly in his mouth. Taemin’s strength drained away, and Idam escaped from his embrace.
He had to run away. He couldn’t be toyed with by Taemin’s side any longer.
Idam looked around. With Taemin blocking the door, leaving seemed challenging. Then he saw a stool chair next to him. Idam grabbed it and threw it towards the window.
Crash!
With a loud noise, the glass shattered. Idam took off the slippers he was wearing and threw them. Then he slipped through the broken glass and jumped out the window. It was the second floor, but there was a tree right in front. He easily grabbed a branch and climbed down safely.
“Ha… Yeo Idam…”
Taemin looked at the back of Idam’s head as he fled, then immediately opened the window to follow.
