Chapter 8
Even though he could feel the gaze, Hyun-oh never once looked back. In his place, Kim Myungjun turned his body and bowed politely towards Eunsol before following Hyun-oh and disappearing.
“Eunsol.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
Eunsol didn’t seem to want to move, so the driver standing next to him called his name softly. Eunsol nodded at the unfamiliar polite language and followed him. Now, Hyun-oh’s figure had disappeared out of sight at the end of the long corridor.
With every step he took following the driver, sighs poured out. He wanted to do well, but he only made mistakes. Instead of helping Hyun-oh at the gathering, he only caused trouble.
He couldn’t even greet properly, and in the conversations that followed, Eunsol was quiet as a clam because most of the words were incomprehensible to him.
If Ryu Jeong-woo hadn’t spoken to him, Eunsol might have spent the entire gathering just holding his sweaty hands.
But the gathering wasn’t entirely difficult. It was Hyun-oh who blocked the sharp words indiscriminately directed at Eunsol at the beginning.
‘Even so… he stood up for me.’
It was protection he had never felt from his family. At the social gatherings he attended with his father, he had experienced even greater humiliation. His half-brother and stepmother had all left him to be ridiculed by others.
Compared to those times, today’s gathering was much more bearable. Even though everyone at least outwardly showed courtesy to Eunsol, separate from the disappointment he felt at showing his incompetent side.
Even though Hyun-oh didn’t properly look at him, it was the same for others.
In fact, among the people in the hall, it could be said that Hyun-oh only paid attention to Eunsol. Thinking that way, his heart felt lighter. If he continued like this, he thought he might be able to blend into gatherings as smoothly as Ryu Jeong-woo, who was always at ease.
The way back was clear. It was because it was far from the rush hour.
‘It’s snowing a lot.’
As his mind became more comfortable, the scenery filled his eyes. The sight of pure white snowflakes falling made his lips part naturally.
The car stopped at a signal. Within Eunsol’s gaze, a couple walking hand in hand affectionately came into view.
His gaze lingered on their faces, smiling brightly at each other with flushed noses, even as the car started moving again when the signal changed.
‘Their hands… were really big.’
Eunsol rolled his eyes and looked down at his own hands. Just looking at his hands, one would think he had never suffered hardship.
In fact, he hadn’t really suffered. He had just received contempt as naturally as breathing and was treated differently from his half-brother, with whom he shared half his blood. Eunsol had eaten well, slept well, and received basic education while living.
He had never done household chores with his own hands. The room he stayed in was shabby compared to others, and the hired help didn’t come into his room often, so dust piled up in the corners.
Meals were provided regularly, and the clothes he wore were washed and brought to him if he left them outside.
Eunsol didn’t think his life was miserable. It was just that sometimes, when a lonely wind blew into his heart, the tears that welled up and flowed down his face were pitiful.
Warm light seeped into his pitch-black eyes. Because there was a difference from that time.
‘Now… I have a family. A family that protects me.’
A pale red hue spread across his white cheeks like paint on a canvas.
‘Things I want to do.’
When Kim Myungjun asked, he couldn’t answer immediately, but after thinking carefully about his relationship with Hyun-oh, he found something he wanted to do.
Eunsol took out his phone and sent a message to Kim Myungjun. His thumb pressed down hard, and his hand was filled with excitement.
* * *
“I’ve created a schedule based on the content you sent. Please take a look and let me know comfortably. Also, I’ve printed out a copy of the family relationship certificate and the marriage certificate.”
Kim Myungjun handed Eunsol a document folder and a tablet PC. Eunsol received the documents before looking at the schedule.
Inside the transparent file was a document proving the marriage between Eunsol and Hyun-oh.
“…Thank you.”
Even though he already knew that the marriage registration had been completed and they were even sharing the same room, seeing the legal document in front of him brought new emotions.
“Really, are you sure you don’t want to go to university? If you wish, we can also support studying abroad. The Director has also instructed to support everything Eunsol wants without hesitation.”
Kim Myungjun carefully observed Eunsol’s expression, wondering if he wanted to but was hesitant to speak up.
“No. What I said I wanted to do is true.”
“…Understood.”
What Eunsol wanted wasn’t grand. While others might try to secure their position when becoming Hyun-oh’s spouse, Eunsol had surprisingly little ambition. To Kim Myungjun, he was a refreshingly unfamiliar type of person.
[I want to learn about household chores. Things like cooking and flower arranging.]
This was the content of the message Eunsol sent to Kim Myungjun. When Kim Myungjun first read the message, he blinked several times, thinking he might have read it wrong.
“Even so, please feel free to tell me if you change your mind at any time.”
“Yes. I will.”
Eunsol put the documents aside and began to carefully examine the schedule in the tablet PC.
“You can go and take the classes yourself, or you can have a tutor come to the house. I’ve prepared plans in various directions, so please choose the one you want the most.”
There were various types of classes. Even if Eunsol went to take them, he could choose to have one-on-one or small group lessons.
The list of famous academies and tutors was neatly organized, making it easy to look through.
“I want to take classes at home. Is that okay?”
“You can do as you wish. Then, how many times a week would you like to have the classes?”
“I want to learn as quickly as possible… If there are no other schedules on weekdays, I want to take them every day.”
“Understood. I will prepare for it to proceed smoothly starting next Monday.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me each time. I serve the Director, and Eunsol is the Director’s spouse. It would be good for Eunsol to get used to treating me comfortably, just like the Director.”
“…Yes.”
Kim Myungjun’s tone was kind. Even when living with his family, the manager who took care of household chores treated Eunsol more like a superior than the others. Yet, Eunsol found him difficult.
Eunsol, who couldn’t easily meet Kim Myungjun’s gaze and lowered his voice, saw Kim Myungjun preparing to leave his seat.
“Ah, and the Director will go on a business trip to China right after leaving the company today. He will be at the Shanghai branch all weekend.”
“…A business trip?”
“Yes. He’s probably too busy with work to contact Eunsol separately.”
Eunsol stroked the screen of his phone, which had no notifications. His eyebrows drooped sadly, but he couldn’t demand a busy person to contact him.
“I will also follow the Director on the business trip, so if there’s an urgent matter, please contact the secretary’s office.”
“…I will.”
Would there be anything to contact about?
Eunsol had no plans to go out and intended to stay inside the house all the time.
After seeing Kim Myungjun off as he left the house, Eunsol returned to the living room.
Today, the spacious house felt even emptier. The time he could spend with Hyun-oh was short.
But the time waiting for him to come home from work wasn’t boring. In fact, his heart beat faster than usual at the thought that he would see him soon.
“…I want to see him.”
Unconsciously, his true feelings slipped out, and Eunsol’s cheeks flushed. Hyun-oh was now Eunsol’s family and husband. In a way, the relationship between spouses could become closer than that with parents.
Legally, spouses were also marked as immediate family. Eunsol’s eyes, looking at the documents on the living room table, curved into a smile.
As someone who wanted to get closer to him quickly, it was his honest feeling to want to see his face every day.
He hadn’t seen Hyun-oh’s face in the morning either because he woke up late. Since that day when a strange atmosphere lingered, Hyun-oh hadn’t touched Eunsol at all.
Rather, Eunsol had stayed awake until late at night to calm his heated body.
“My pheromones… really have no charm, it seems.”
The voice of his brother, who used to mock him, saying he couldn’t even meet an Alpha with such pheromones, kept haunting and tormenting Eunsol. His eyes, which had a faint smile, sank sadly.
“During the rut cycle… he won’t spend it alone, right?”
Hyun-oh’s Alpha grade was publicly known to be high. But the more time Eunsol spent with him, the more he thought he might be of a higher grade than high.
Perhaps he was an EX grade, of which there was said to be not even one in South Korea.
Eunsol’s father was also a high-grade Alpha. But Hyun-oh emitted much denser pheromones than his father.
It wasn’t when he was conscious. Sometimes, when Hyun-oh was deeply asleep, the Alpha pheromones emanating from him made Eunsol’s eyes flutter helplessly.
His father used to release pheromones to their limit when disciplining Eunsol. The density of the pheromones Hyun-oh emitted while asleep was higher than that of his father at that time.
The higher the grade, the better they could manage the period when pheromones fluctuated greatly. Eunsol, being a low-grade, had to suffer for several days even when taking suppressants during his heat cycle.
He couldn’t go out. There was a high chance of encountering danger from random Alphas due to uncontrolled Omega pheromones overflowing.
Unlike him, his half-brother, who was a high-grade Omega, lived his daily life without problems by taking a certain amount of suppressants.
Hyun-oh was also a person with enough ability to do that. But taking suppressants and spending the rut cycle alone was when there was no spouse or lover.
And most Alphas had an Omega partner, even just to satisfy their sexual desires.
As his thoughts continued, Eunsol couldn’t sit still and got up from the sofa.
“Could there be someone else…?”
Even Eunsol thought he had no charm. His appearance, personality, pheromones—none of them might be worth more than a pebble on the street from Hyun-oh’s perspective.
Eunsol, who had been biting his lips, finally took his phone in hand.
He went into his contacts, pressed Hyun-oh’s number, and opened the messenger app.
Like a blinking cursor, Eunsol’s heart began to beat rapidly with tension.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
