Chapter 145
Tae-geon thought he had finally lost his mind. It was impossible to recall that face from the touch of such a dim-witted employee without going crazy.
“That’s enough.”
Tae-geon coldly shook off the hand of the employee holding him and turned around. Though his expression wasn’t visible, his attitude seemed annoyed, and the employee obediently stepped back, moving away from Tae-geon. Soon, he heard the sound of the employee cleaning up the messy floor behind him.
*
“It’s a first-degree burn. Fortunately, it was treated well in the early stages. You’ll be uncomfortable with heat and pain for a while, but if you apply the ointment well, it will heal without a trace within a month.”
Kwon Hak-gyu, who had arrived in time, carefully applied ointment to Tae-geon’s reddened, burned skin and finished the treatment by wrapping it with a bandage. Then he handed the organized dressing kit to Hyeon-woo.
“Dressing once a day is enough. However, be especially careful not to use the injured hand for the time being.”
“…”
“Also, young master, no more than three cups of coffee a day.”
It seemed he had been informed by the head butler about the incident caused by coffee. While Hyeon-woo looked relieved at Hak-gyu’s advice, as if a 10-year-old indigestion had been cured, Tae-geon pouted and made a sour face.
Hyeon-woo followed Hak-gyu as he got up and left the room. Only after they had left the mansion did Hyeon-woo call out to Kwon Hak-gyu in a small voice.
“…Uncle.”
Hak-gyu turned to Hyeon-woo and whispered quietly.
“Let’s go this way.”
They moved to a secluded spot away from people’s eyes.
“Tae-geon doesn’t know. That it’s me.”
Kwon Hak-gyu’s gaze fell on Hyeon-woo. After a brief silence, Hyeon-woo spoke.
“…There’s a truth I need to uncover from Tae-geon.”
“…”
“Please keep it a secret until I find out. I’m begging you, uncle.”
“…Alright.”
Hak-gyu had noticed from Tae-geon’s behavior towards Hyeon-woo that his identity hadn’t been revealed yet. He thought it strange that Tae-geon hadn’t said a word during the examination, but it seemed he was even hiding his voice.
Only after hearing Hak-gyu’s promise to keep it secret did Hyeon-woo’s expression relax.
“I heard that Tae-geon is taking sleeping pills, so he shouldn’t drink too much coffee. If there’s anything else I should be careful about, please let me know.”
Hak-gyu fell into thought for a moment at Hyeon-woo’s request.
“Do you remember the cylinder you knocked over during the last rut?”
Hyeon-woo, who had been startled by that, soon regained his composure.
“…You knew. …Yes, you mean the one with the strange smell, right?”
“Yes, it must have had a terrible smell. It’s a drug used as a sedative during every rut, but it has a fatal side effect.”
Hyeon-woo’s response was a beat late, as if tense from those words.
“…What is it?”
“Loss of sense of smell. If exposure continues like this, it could be permanent.”
“…!”
Hak-gyu added, facing Hyeon-woo who couldn’t hide his surprised face.
“Even now, his sense of smell is paralyzed, so he can’t smell anything. Thanks to that, you’re probably able to easily hide your identity.”
“…What about using a different sedative instead of that drug?”
Kwon Hak-gyu shook his head. Hyeon-woo asked with a gloomy face.
“…If we stop the drug from now on, can it recover?”
“Yes.”
“How long would it take to recover?”
“It would take about 3 months.”
“…3 months…”
Hyeon-woo, who had been muttering to himself in a subdued voice, suddenly raised his head towards Hak-gyu. A heat resembling hope briefly filled his eyes.
“What about his eyes? Is there a chance for Tae-geon’s eyesight to recover?”
Hak-gyu, with a deep shadow cast over his face, opened his reluctant mouth.
“Since the cause is optic nerve damage due to imprinting pain, unless the root of the problem is solved, blindness would recur even with eye transplantation.”
“…”
“Surgery would be meaningless in the current situation.”
“…”
It meant that unless the rut was resolved, he would never be able to see again. Hyeon-woo silently lowered his head.
Sight and smell, Tae-geon’s past 4 years and perhaps his future too. It seemed like the imprinting was taking away everything that should have been Tae-geon’s brilliant life, one by one. Hyeon-woo felt sick. He struggled to suppress the nauseating feeling, as if bitter water was rising in his throat.
“…Do you know when he imprinted?”
Hak-gyu shook his head again.
“I don’t know exactly. The first time I witnessed the young master’s abnormal symptoms was probably…”
Hak-gyu, who had been trailing off as if lost in thought, nodded as if he remembered.
“It must have been around the time before his first winter break after entering university.”
Hyeon-woo was surprised by the unexpected answer. He had guessed it would be sometime around when he was being confined and abused by Tae-geon almost daily, but Hak-gyu was mentioning a much earlier time.
…Winter break at twenty years old…
Hyeon-woo fumbled through old memories that had gathered dust and faded from not being looked at for a long time. It was already more than 7 years ago. He suddenly remembered that around that time, he had attempted to run away to leave Tae-geon’s side. Without his imprinting partner nearby, Tae-geon must not have been able to control his rut, and in the process, Hak-gyu must have found out.
Well, hadn’t they been mixing bodies to the point of exhaustion even before he was confined by Tae-geon? With him wearing K’s mask. It seemed that imprinting had happened during one of those unfortunate encounters.
It was self-inflicted.
Hak-gyu, who had been hesitating for a moment whether to continue speaking, noticed the cynical look on Hyeon-woo’s face and spoke in a resolute voice.
“Because the young master has been hiding it so thoroughly, I don’t know exactly when the imprinting happened.”
“…”
“As you know, Hyeon-woo, in a world where an alpha’s imprinting is considered shameful, if the young master’s family found out about this, they wouldn’t have left the imprinting partner alone.”
“…”
“I think he might have been embracing it alone to protect his partner from danger.”
“…”
The air between the two facing each other was heavy.
*
Of all places, he had to injure his right hand. He tried to wiggle his fingers, but they were tightly wrapped in bandages and wouldn’t budge.
He heard the employee who had entered the room busily placing plates on the table. As he reluctantly moved to his seat, he felt the presence of the employee sitting down close to him.
The head butler had firmly instructed the employee to attend to his meals until his hand was fully healed. It was a measure taken by the head butler after witnessing him unable to properly pick up side dishes during last night’s dinner when he attempted to use chopsticks with his left hand. Tae-geon had protested, refusing the assistance, but he couldn’t ultimately break the head butler’s stubborn will.
Tap, tap.
He heard the sound of metal chopsticks tapping the plate in front of him. It was a signal to open his mouth. Tae-geon frowned as if reluctant.
Tap, tap.
The metal chopsticks tapped the plate again, as if scolding the hesitant Tae-geon. He opened his mouth reluctantly. As if waiting for this moment, soft fish meat and fragrant rice settled in his mouth.
Tap, tap.
Every time the chopsticks tapped the plate, he opened his mouth to receive the food, feeling humiliated as if he were a baby bird being fed by its mother. And to think he was in a situation where he had to be fed by such a dim-witted employee.
But this was just the beginning.
Tae-geon entered the bathroom and, after struggling with the razor in his left hand for several minutes, finally threw it roughly into the sink. Judging by the sharp pain spreading from the tip of his chin, it seemed he had cut himself properly.
Although he had lost his sight, he had been able to do everything on his own as before, including shaving, relying on his sense of touch. Of course, it wasn’t easy at first, but he got used to it with practice. However, with his right hand in this condition, there was nothing he could do alone anymore.
Knock knock.
Noticing Tae-geon fuming alone in the bathroom, the employee outside carefully knocked on the door. After washing off the foam on his chin, Tae-geon irritably flung open the bathroom door, and he heard the employee gasp. They must have been surprised to see the blood flowing from his chin.
“What are you so surprised about?”
“…”
“Whose fault is all this?”
Even knowing it was pointless venting, his words couldn’t come out nicely.
“Come and shave me.”
“…”
“It should be in the sink.”
With those words, Tae-geon sat on the edge of the large enamel bathtub behind him. He heard the employee taking a towel from the shelf. Soon, the faucet poured water, and before long, a wet towel touched his chin.
The employee carefully patted Tae-geon’s chin with the towel, wiping away the blood. As the blood droplets that had formed along the cut gradually subsided, the employee finally washed the razor that had been lying in the sink several times under running water and stood in front of Tae-geon.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
