“P-Please… s-save me… save me…”
Kim Minju pushed his fingers deeper into the small air hole that had been slashed open with a knife, widening it. He licked his lips and spoke again.
“S-Save me… please…”
Ji Haesu smiled.
But you’re not Do Si-in—the one who hired me, who paid me to take revenge on Choi Suho.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ji Haesu flung the 50-liter trash bags he’d brought, one after another, onto the Omega whose name he didn’t even know. The Omega let out a faint scream, but it was quickly drowned out, buried under layers of garbage and filth, until even the sound of his crying vanished completely.
As if that weren’t enough, Ji Haesu slammed the lid of the trash bin shut with a loud clang and briskly dusted off his hands. If you pressed your ear to the container, you could still hear a faint whimpering.
“Please… save me… I’m scared… I think I’m gonna die…”
After tossing the trash, Ji Haesu casually raised his phone to his ear and quickened his pace. From the other side came hurried footsteps—dress shoes clicking rapidly against the pavement. Not just one person. Several.
He quickly slipped his large frame behind the building he’d just come out of. It was close to midnight, and although the shadows weren’t long, the trees planted in front of the hotel cast overlapping silhouettes against the building, allowing him to vanish completely into the dark. He turned only his eyes and focused on the voices.
“Hey. Get him out. Now.”
Choi Suho’s voice. He could hear trash bags being dragged out one by one, and then—
“Fuaaaagh!”
A scream that was cut off mid-breath. Choi Suho had probably clamped a hand over the guy’s mouth.
“I gave you thirty mil in settlement, yeah? Thumbprint here.”
“H-hic… hhk…”
Kim Minju’s sobs slipped through faintly. Ji Haesu, eyes darker than the night itself, raked the ground with his gaze, recalling what Do Si-in had told him.
—I woke up to find my uterus severely damaged. They said I’d lost the baby in an accident. That my condition was so critical, they had no choice but to remove it. I want to believe that… but I can’t help doubting it. What if they did it on purpose? What if he hit me so hard that everything inside just collapsed? I don’t know if it was intentional or an accident. And that day… my father died.
Do Si-in’s voice hadn’t wavered once as he calmly listed the miseries Choi Suho had inflicted on him.
—I want Choi Suho to lose everything. Every last thing. I want him to know what it feels like—to be forced to press your thumb down in despair and accept a settlement when your world has collapsed…
Someone who’d already lost everything didn’t need to fall even further. That was why Do Si-in had been so calm.
“Fuck, stop crying and just press your damn thumb. Huh? And don’t you go saying it was my fault. You liked it too, didn’t you? Huh?”
But Choi Suho—if you lose your father, Jang Yuguk, the man who gave you everything… how far will you fall then?
Jang Yuguk, seventy-eight years old. People said he was still in good shape, but he suffered from chronic heart disease.
The reason the Jang family was moving so frantically. The reason Do Si-in had escaped the psychiatric hospital in the countryside—where he’d been forcibly committed—and brought his entire fortune to Ji Haesu… all of it came down to Jang Yuguk’s condition.
So, Suho. Now’s really not the time for you to be playing around.
Ji Haesu leaned his head back against the wall, barely suppressing the laughter threatening to burst out of him.
Ah… but when someone looks cute during a job, that’s a problem. I end up going easy on the revenge. Not for them—for the client.
Even now, he’d already offered a discount, just because the target was Choi Suho. Maybe it was fate. When Do Si-in came to him asking for revenge equal to what he’d suffered, Ji Haesu had felt oddly intrigued.
After all, a predator recognizes one of their own.
“All right. Thumbprint’s done, payment received—send this bastard home. Wipe the entrance CCTV clean. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone see anything?”
Even at Choi Suho’s crude, low-class question, the older-looking bodyguard answered with sweat dripping down his face.
“Looks like… no—ugh!”
Thud!
Sounded like Suho had kicked him. The bodyguard let out a sharp yelp.
“Fuck, can’t you even check something like that properly? What if someone saw? What if my dad finds out again? You know I’ll get reamed!”
Even now, Ji Haesu found it cute—how scared Choi Suho was of getting scolded by his father—and had to suppress another laugh.
Twenty-eight years old. That’s still young enough to want your dad’s approval. Earlier too—he’d looked like a kid receiving a present when he said his dad told him to drink his tonic. Drank it all in one go, too.
“Search everywhere. If any rat bastard saw anything… fuck, what do I do? My dad…”
“We’ll make sure nothing like that happens. We’ll keep it quiet.”
As the bodyguard answered in a strained voice, Choi Suho seemed to calm down a bit, replying more softly.
“Make sure you do.”
As the footsteps receded, Ji Haesu slowed his own pace and melted into the darkness. To appear like an innocent rookie, he returned to the work area deliberately late—only to be met with a barrage of nagging from the seniors.
“Why are you so late?”
“Ah… I was throwing out the trash…”
Back to being “Jang Jisu,” Ji Haesu adopted the clumsy, hesitant demeanor of a greenhorn just entering the workforce. He bowed his head, apologizing—“I’m sorry…”—and just then, the manager in charge of the suite floor stepped out.
“That’s enough. Jang Jisu, come here. I’ve got a separate task for you starting tomorrow.”
“Huh? But I haven’t even—”
He started to ask whether he wasn’t supposed to finish out the three-month contract before being converted to full-time, but a senior grabbed his thickly muscled forearm. Startled by the dense, corded muscle that couldn’t even be grasped with one hand, the senior reflexively pulled back and muttered,
“What the hell is this guy…”
Ji Haesu turned to him with wide, confused eyes, as if asking what was wrong. When he smiled, the man’s face froze like stone.
Meanwhile, the manager called again, “Jang Jisu, hurry up!” The senior exchanged glances with another coworker, whispering about Ji Haesu’s body. Jang Jisu—fully aware of everything—straightened up and followed the manager.
The manager led him to a café near the front desk. Sitting alone at a table, she gestured for him to take a seat. Ji Haesu adopted the stiff posture of a 27-year-old just starting out in society and looked at her with clear amber eyes. Perhaps feeling a pang of guilt, the manager hesitated briefly, then slid a document across the table.
“You met the president, didn’t you?”
She didn’t bother hiding it. Ji Haesu waited a moment, then let the tips of his ears flush red and lowered his head deeply. But his eyes—still recalling everything that had just happened—were cool and composed.
“Yes…”
I have to act like I don’t know anything. Like no matter what happens, I can’t say a word. As if I’m the one who did something wrong. With downcast eyes and a small, intimidated voice, he said,
“Um… I was thinking I should apologize to the president again…”
“Oh, no. It’s not like that. It’s not that kind of issue, so don’t worry.”
The manager patted his broad shoulder, then asked,
“I’ll have a hot latte. And you, Jisu?”
When did we get close enough for you to call me Jisu? he thought, but figured that since he was supposed to be 27 here, it wasn’t that strange.
Still, the fist clenched tightly under the table wouldn’t relax. Ji Haesu—now thirty-two—had an unexpectedly rigid, old-fashioned side to him.
“I’ll have it iced.”
“Iced Americano.”
The manager—Jang Haejin—was a dominant Alpha woman who oversaw the entire suite floor at just thirty. Her name tag read “Jang Haejin.” As the surname suggested, she was a Jang.
That someone like her had to clean up after a twenty-eight-year-old illegitimate heir to the hotel… Even if it wasn’t public knowledge, Choi Suho’s position clearly wasn’t low.
True to her dominant status, Jang Haejin stood at 175 cm with a solid, athletic build. She wore pheromone suppressants, and the faint scent of cigarettes clung to her.
Before the coffee even arrived, she cut to the chase.
“Starting now, I want you to handle President Choi Suho’s room service.”
“What? But today—”
Their conversation was interrupted as the coffee arrived. Once the drinks were placed and each took a sip, the discussion resumed. Wiping the foam from her latte, Jang Haejin spoke firmly.
“Suite management is a coveted position. Work here just a few years and you’ll climb the ladder faster than your seniors. Do you really want to miss that chance?”
So this was how they handed over victims who fit Choi Suho’s tastes to the suite. Or maybe, like Kim Minju—prey Choi Suho had lured in himself—those who survived simply accepted it, got promoted, and kept their mouths shut.
Or were the seniors blackmailed too?
That thought made Ji Haesu smile faintly.
Seeing his smile, Jang Haejin seemed to take it as agreement. She pushed the document closer and lowered her voice.
“Here. Just sign this.”
“All right, thumbprints are done!”—Choi Suho’s voice overlapped with Jang Haejin’s cheerful tone, sounding like a predator who’d just caught something fresh.
Seriously. This world’s nothing but garbage.
Ji Haesu picked up the pen she handed him, signed without hesitation, and smiled.
“What’s the first thing I should do?”
He already knew—but asked anyway, pretending not to. As if it were nothing, Jang Haejin passed him a box of tonic she’d brought and said, eyes gleaming with envy,
“Just like yesterday. Morning and evening, bring the president his tonic. With meals—and one caramel candy. Never forget the caramel. He can’t handle bitterness.”
Tonic and caramel. The moment he heard that, one thought passed through his mind: That’s adorable. How old was this guy, drinking tonic and eating caramel like a kid?
“And just handle any personal requests the president makes.”
“Yes.”
“Exactly as stated in the contract.”
Jang Haejin deliberately trailed off, then looked up at Ji Haesu and spoke with a sharp, cutting tone.
“Whatever happens here—you saw nothing. And you can’t let a word slip. There’s no CCTV here anyway, so no one’s going to take your side no matter what happens. On the other hand, if you keep your head down and work properly, you’re guaranteed a full-time spot. Promotions too. So don’t worry.”
A 100% conversion rate. Fast promotion. None of it made any sense. With traps laid this neatly, it was no wonder Suho’s prey always fell so fast.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then start shadowing the seniors today, and work in the president’s suite.”
“Yes. Understood. Thank you for trusting me. I’ll give it my all!”
Ji Haesu picked up the tonic box, stood, and bowed deeply at a perfect ninety degrees. True to Jang family arrogance, Jang Haejin didn’t return the bow and walked off, her heels clicking loudly.
Ji Haesu stayed bowed until she was gone, then gathered the tonic and returned to the seniors.
They all congratulated him like it was some great honor, though they’d known from the start. He acted bashful, scratching his cheek with a shy smile.
Bastards. You were betting on whether I’d get fucked or not—and now you act like this? Just wait. I’ll fuck you all over even harder.
The seniors reminded him again: all he had to do was bring the tonic morning and night, keep things tidy, and never be a bother before or after shifts. Then, just like Jang Haejin, they looked at him meaningfully and said,
“Whatever happens—never talk about it outside. It won’t do you any good. Just keep your head down and work.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Just remember that. The president will be waking up soon. Prepare the tonic and the caramel.”
A senior patted him on the back like it was nothing. Still smiling, Ji Haesu looked down at the box of tonic in his hands.
Seriously—what about me makes them trust me enough to hand me something this important?
Since ancient times, things with strong smells—like curry, or tonic—things where you could slip something in, or switch out the contents while the scent stayed the same… those were always entrusted only to close aides.
Suho, becoming an Omega will be entirely your loving father’s fault.
And the wish of Si-in—who once loved you.
