#41
It was a mistake. He should have anticipated that Han Hyunyong, when cornered, would resort to some tactic—not against himself, but against Eunsol, who was clearly vulnerable to anyone watching.
Until now, Hyunyong had only attacked Hyun-oh because there was no one else around worth targeting… he should have realized this sooner.
“Cough…”
“Lee Eunsol!”
Hyun-oh, who had been frozen in place as if a nail had pierced his foot, quickly rushed to Eunsol. Not because Eunsol was coughing, but because of the faint trace of blood visible at the corner of his mouth.
Hyun-oh cupped Eunsol’s face and opened his mouth to examine inside. Though it was difficult to see clearly as blood continued to pool, he could tell the red liquid was coming from the tongue.
Only then did the scene he’d encountered upon opening the door vividly flash in his mind: Eunsol, pinned helplessly beneath a man twice his size, body trembling powerlessly.
“You really…”
He should have bitten off Han Hyunyong’s ear instead. Why would Eunsol do something that harmed his own body?
Hyun-oh took out a handkerchief from his pocket and rolled it into a ball. Just as he reached out to stop the bleeding from Eunsol’s tongue, which wouldn’t stop flowing, Eunsol grabbed Hyun-oh’s wrist with feeble strength. It was a weak grip that could have been easily ignored if he chose to move.
Nevertheless, Hyun-oh halted all movement in that moment and gazed quietly at Eunsol. Eunsol seemed to want to say something, slowly blinking his eyelids and moving his lips.
“Pheromones…”
After a long moment, the only word Eunsol managed to say was “pheromones.” Even saying just that seemed to tax his strength, as Eunsol took small, labored breaths.
Concerned that blood flowing down his throat might block his airway, Hyun-oh raised Eunsol’s upper body and let him lean against his chest.
What did Eunsol’s words mean? While Hyun-oh was lost in thought, Eunsol desperately buried his head against Hyun-oh’s chest.
The small chest rising and falling filled Hyun-oh’s downward gaze. He was momentarily distracted by the trembling eyelashes.
Hyun-oh slowly released his pheromones. Somehow, it felt like the right thing to do.
“Hnngh…”
The alpha pheromones washing over him like a tidal wave was the same situation as before. Yet instead of feeling terrible fear, Eunsol was enveloped in pleasant ecstasy.
Even though his body showed abnormal symptoms in response to Hyun-oh’s pheromones, he wasn’t as frightened as before. Rather, he felt differently—he wanted Hyun-oh to caress every part of his body with those large hands.
It was an audacious thought that would normally make his face flush.
But Eunsol’s face was already flushed, as was his entire body. There was only one thing he wanted now. The thought that he wanted Hyun-oh to somehow soothe his painfully heated body appeared in his mind like a revelation and wouldn’t go away.
Eunsol moved his trembling hand to add warmth to the large hand resting somewhere around his waist. Hyun-oh’s pupils shook violently. He seemed to understand what Eunsol intended by pulling at his hand.
“Not now.”
Eunsol wasn’t in his right mind. Whatever Han Hyunyong had done to him, Eunsol’s condition looked serious at a glance.
And Han Hyunyong was certainly capable of doing terrible things to Eunsol. He had even tried to forcibly violate Eunsol when he was in a state unable to resist.
Hyun-oh firmly removed Eunsol’s hand. It was true that his body was also responding to Eunsol’s pheromones. Eunsol’s pheromones, which would normally be faintly perceptible, were flowing out more intensely than usual, stimulating Hyun-oh.
Moreover, the lily-of-the-valley scent that had always seemed delicate now carried a sensual undertone. If Hyun-oh’s patience had been even slightly thinner, he might have pinned Eunsol beneath him and ruthlessly violated him, just as Han Hyunyong had tried to do to Eunsol earlier.
“Why…”
Eunsol pouted with a chest full of sadness. Currently, Eunsol was in a state where he could barely make rational judgments due to the effects of the surging pheromones.
He couldn’t remember that normally, even holding hands wasn’t freely done between himself and Hyun-oh. He was only shocked that Hyun-oh had rejected his touch, and his eyes grew hot with tears.
He desperately wanted the alpha before him.
It felt like the agony of being thrown naked into a hot desert would disappear quickly if only the alpha would release his pheromones and touch his body.
When he had released his pheromones, for a brief moment it felt like entering an oasis. The feeling of liberation—as if cool shade covered his body instead of the scorching sunlight that seemed to burn his skin, and a pleasant breeze brushed against his cheeks—lasted only briefly.
Now Eunsol wanted to immerse himself in the oasis before his eyes. If cold water soaked his entire body, it seemed like the persistent heat tormenting him would flee in fear.
“Director, I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”
It was at the moment when Hyun-oh’s pupils trembled aimlessly as he faced Eunsol, whose eyes were beginning to crumple with sorrow. Song Do-ye approached Hyun-oh and bowed nearly 90 degrees.
Song Do-ye’s complexion was pale. She felt like biting off her tongue over what had happened during her brief absence from the room.
She didn’t even notice Han Hyunyong sprawled on the floor in an unsightly state.
“Ugh, hic…”
Eunsol’s sobbing, which was so severe it seemed he might stop breathing, pierced her ears. Song Do-ye unconsciously bit the inside of her mouth hard enough to draw blood.
Although she had left the room at Eunsol’s request, she couldn’t absolve herself of responsibility for what had happened in the meantime.
She should have called security personnel to protect Eunsol. It was her oversight for being reassured that the lounge was a space where only Eunsol, Hyun-oh, and Kang Ye-ryeong had access.
“Keep to yourself until I contact you further.”
“…Yes.”
The frosty voice resonated in the eardrums of Song Do-ye, who still couldn’t straighten her bowed back. Following that, Kim Myungjun, who had entered the room, also had a gravely stiffened face.
After Hyun-oh suddenly left his post, he had made appropriate excuses to the party guests and then followed Hyun-oh. But as he approached the lounge room, he had a strangely bad feeling.
Kim Myungjun quickly assessed the situation after scanning the room.
“Director, what should we do about the Vice Chairman?”
Hyun-oh didn’t answer Kim Myungjun’s question. Instead, he began stroking the back of Eunsol’s head and patting his trembling back. Despite the awkward gestures, Eunsol’s crying gradually subsided and soon turned into wheezing breaths.
Hyun-oh carefully detached Eunsol’s face from his chest. The small face, soaked with tears, was still flushed.
“Call his secretary to handle this. Make absolutely sure everything that happened in here is kept confidential.”
“Yes.”
Only after confirming that Eunsol had fallen into what seemed like an unconscious sleep did Hyun-oh rise from his seat. After firmly wrapping Eunsol’s lower body with his jacket, he turned to look at Kim Myungjun with a face so cold it could cause goosebumps.
“Take him home and call the doctor to check his condition.”
Hyun-oh handed the sleeping Eunsol to Kim Myungjun. He wanted to take Eunsol home himself, but the event hadn’t even properly begun yet.
Moreover, with Han Hyunyong collapsed in a disheveled state, today’s event was like a feast laid out for Hyun-oh. It was better to make the most of such opportunities rather than letting them slip away. Just as he had always done.
But strangely, Hyun-oh couldn’t take his eyes off the sight of Kim Myungjun carefully lifting Eunsol in his arms and leaving. He couldn’t forget the face that had seemed relieved yet feverish when Eunsol had inhaled his pheromones.
The sensation of his shirt sticking to his skin, dampened by Eunsol’s tears, was unusually vivid. Hyun-oh shook his head to clear away the distracting thoughts threatening to overwhelm his mind.
There was a spare suit prepared in the lounge room. This was already the second time today he was changing suits.
The first time was because one of the secretarial staff had soiled the suit Eunsol had prepared. This time, it was because of his half-brother, who acted so thoughtlessly that one might suspect he had no brain.
Hyun-oh’s hands became rough as he unfastened his shirt buttons, without him even realizing it. His cold gaze fell on the location where Han Hyunyong would likely be, just beyond the door.
The violent thought of stomping on his lower parts to prevent him from ever behaving so disgracefully again filled his mind.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
