Chapter 13
Do-heon, who had been following behind, retorted instead. In response, grandmother clicked her tongue while adjusting her glasses.
“Who are you to decide such things?”
That’s exactly what I’m saying, grandmother. Cheong-yeon felt his constricted chest open up slightly at the satisfying words grandmother had thrown on his behalf.
“Exactly. Director Do-heon told me too late and I didn’t know anything… I’m sorry, grandmother. How are you feeling?”
Cheong-yeon smiled at Do-heon once before moving closer to grandmother. Her fingers holding the embroidery needle trembled slightly, lacking strength in her grip.
Up close, Cheong-yeon felt his mouth go dry seeing grandmother’s complexion, noticeably more pallid than before.
“The doctor says I’ve improved a lot.”
“That’s good. Please take your medicine properly, even if it’s bothersome.”
“I know that without you telling me. You didn’t show your face at all when I was bedridden, and now you’re here nagging?”
Cheong-yeon made a troubled expression and opened his mouth slightly. However, he couldn’t find an appropriate response.
“Have lunch with Do-heon later when the food is ready before you leave.”
“I will. But grandmother, what is this? Is it a dragon?”
Cheong-yeon pointed at the embroidery grandmother had been working on earlier as he asked.
“It’s a flower.”
“A flower…?”
“…”
“…”
There was an enormous disconnect between a dragon and a flower, with no possible connection between them.
A cold silence enveloped the living room. Cheong-yeon, who had been frozen for a moment, nodded smoothly with feigned understanding.
“Ah, I see. It’s very pretty.”
“No need to sugarcoat it. I know it’s a failure.”
“No, now that I look again, it really does look like a flower. The stem is incredibly vivid, isn’t it? Is that a leaf?”
“That’s a petal.”
“Yes, yes, a petal. I misspoke.”
“You silver-tongued devil.”
Grandmother laughed and pinched Cheong-yeon’s side. He bent over, pretending it hurt more than it did. Judging by the strength with which she grabbed his flesh, she didn’t seem completely devoid of energy.
“By the way, what happened to your hair? Why did you scorch it like that?”
“I was tired of my old hair, so I changed it.”
Cheong-yeon absently touched his own hair.
“It suits you well. Makes you look younger.”
“Director Do-heon said it looks strange…”
“He’s always had poor taste.”
“I guess that’s why Director Do-heon married me.”
Cheong-yeon smiled mischievously. Do-heon was just leaning against the wall, fidgeting with a piece of embroidery grandmother had completed earlier, not saying anything.
“Would you like some tea? It has a lovely fragrance.”
At grandmother’s gesture, an employee from the kitchen brought a tray with teacups. Cheong-yeon took a sip of the tea, which had a subtle floral aroma rising from it. At that moment, grandmother, who had been staring intently at Cheong-yeon, spoke.
“By the way, still no news about a baby?”
“Ah.”
“It’s been over three years since you got married, it should be about time. I asked Dr. Jung, and he said there should be no problems getting pregnant even for a Recessive Omega.”
Cheong-yeon’s hand gripping the teacup tensed. He couldn’t give any answer. Contrary to grandmother’s wishes, since he had already been diagnosed with infertility and divorced, the possibility of him having Do-heon’s child would never occur.
“…It hasn’t been quite three years yet. Director Do-heon was at the American branch for several months.”
“Two years is plenty of time if there’s intention. I’m tired of waiting. Don’t dismiss this as an old person’s nagging and take it to heart.”
“We’ll try.”
This time, Do-heon, who had been silent until now, answered. Cheong-yeon, who had been chattering away until then, silently moistened his throat with tea.
Grandmother smiled with satisfaction at Do-heon’s firm answer. Cheong-yeon, on the contrary, darkened his expression. He wondered if the comment hinted at remarriage with another Omega. Even knowing it had nothing to do with him anymore, he couldn’t help feeling bothered.
Cheong-yeon quietly looked down at the wedding ring on his finger that now felt cumbersome.
It was then that the doorbell suddenly rang.
“Were we expecting someone else?”
Cheong-yeon turned his head toward the sound. When the employee went to open the door, familiar faces appeared.
It was Moon Hee-jin and her husband Park Jong-wook. Additionally, Do-heon’s relatives, whom Cheong-yeon hadn’t seen in a while, entered behind them.
Watching this, Cheong-yeon’s face rapidly hardened. They also seemed not to have expected Cheong-yeon to be there, wearing peculiar expressions.
This was the first time he had faced them since their last dinner gathering. After Cheong-yeon collapsed during that meal and was taken away, Moon Hee-jin had entered the hospital room and heard about Cheong-yeon’s infertility diagnosis, so they all probably knew something about it. Grandmother hadn’t been present that day, and considering her health, they apparently hadn’t told her.
Cheong-yeon glared at Do-heon with irritation. He nonchalantly met Cheong-yeon’s gaze as if this were someone else’s problem, silently asking what was wrong.
You didn’t tell me these people would be coming too. Cheong-yeon clenched his teeth while cursing with his eyes.
“My goodness, Cheong-yeon. It’s been a while.”
Moon Hee-jin approached with Park Jong-wook, greeting him pleasantly. Her voice carried an underlying sneer.
Having been often disregarded among these people and being completely unprepared mentally, Cheong-yeon couldn’t think of an appropriate response.
“Indeed. We didn’t know you would be here too, Cheong-yeon.”
Their gazes lingered on Cheong-yeon’s changed hair color and the wedding ring he was wearing. They seemed to roughly know about the divorce as well.
Or did they? Not being able to gauge what they knew and didn’t know made him anxious.
Facing people he had thought he would never see again in his life, and whom he didn’t want to see, all his thoughts momentarily froze.
People continuously spoke to him, but nothing registered in Cheong-yeon’s ears.
Habitually, Cheong-yeon looked to Do-heon as if he were a lifeline. But as always, he was making eye contact and conversing with others, not with Cheong-yeon.
“…Haah.”
With overwhelming feelings of isolation and anxiety, Cheong-yeon took a long breath in and out. But his mood didn’t improve at all.
Soon his stomach began to churn, and his vision wavered slightly as if he were motion sick.
This was the first time such symptoms had appeared since he divorced and left that house.
Finally, without even listening to what people were saying behind him, Cheong-yeon abruptly stood up.
“I’m sorry, but… I just remembered an urgent appointment I need to go to. I’ve been so busy lately… I forgot.”
Grandmother looked at Cheong-yeon’s complexion with confusion. After finishing his precarious excuse, Cheong-yeon passed through the crowd and left the house.
As he staggered across the garden, he finally felt released from whatever had been constricting his chest.
“Yoo Cheong-yeon.”
Do-heon followed him out and called his name. Cheong-yeon whirled around and glared at him. Seeing Do-heon’s face showing no sign of agitation, unlike his own trembling self, anger rose to the top of his head.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you invite those people deliberately to make me suffer?”
Do-heon wore an expression of complete incomprehension. Feeling frustrated, Cheong-yeon clenched his molars and held his forehead. But no matter how long he waited, his insides wouldn’t calm down.
“I even got divorced because I couldn’t stand seeing you and those people, and now I have to see them here again? Are you playing with me? Am I a joke to you?”
Cheong-yeon found himself pointing and shouting at Do-heon without realizing it.
“Why are you doing this to me? What did I do so wrong? Why did you invite those people to make me look foolish!”
“Calm down, Yoo Cheong-yeon.”
“How can you tell me to calm down when you’ve disrespected me like this? It might be easy for you! But for me! For me! …Haaaaah.”
Cheong-yeon gasped as if he were about to lose his breath any moment. He knew he was overreacting, but he couldn’t control his overflowing emotions.
Despite having taken suppressants before coming here, his pheromones were leaking out steadily. Cheong-yeon thought of himself as a faucet that was never fully closed. While others could easily control their own pheromones and emotions, he had no idea how to handle his, ending up like this every time.
The cursed Recessive manifestation. No matter how desperately he wanted to suppress it, it always betrayed his inferiority.
Even in this situation, Do-heon remained calm without the aid of medication.
“Haah… haah…”
He had learned that pheromones naturally intertwine between Alpha and Omega like clapping hands, becoming more intense together, but it was always Cheong-yeon who was anxiously affected by this dynamic. Do-heon never reacted to Cheong-yeon’s pheromones.
Without even thinking to wipe away the tears wetting his cheeks, Cheong-yeon removed the wedding ring from his finger and forcibly handed it to Do-heon.
“Forget it. What’s the point of talking to you.”
Then he turned around and quickly moved away from Do-heon.
“Yoo Cheong-yeon.”
“…”
Do-heon followed him again, but Cheong-yeon ignored him.
“I’ve never thought you were a joke.”
“Get out of my way.”
“Look at me. Where do you think you’re going in this state?”
