#136
In an instant, Ji Taehwa collapsed, and the bodyguards were frantically trying to protect him. However, his injuries didn’t seem as severe as Hyeongman’s, as Ji Taehwa soon got up.
“Taemin, come to your senses.”
Ji Taehwa looked at Taemin, panting.
“You’re different from Hyeongman, aren’t you? Why are you protecting someone like that?”
“…”
“Come on! Let’s continue Baekwol Corporation together, with your grandfather, okay? Don’t… don’t do this! Taemin, please?”
Taemin frowned deeply.
“Of course, I plan to grow Baekwol Corporation even bigger than it is now. But Idam must be at the center of it.”
Idam’s eyes also wavered at Taemin’s statement.
“So stop interfering with my relationship with Idam.”
Taemin picked up Idam, supporting his bottom and the back of his knees. Idam also tightly hugged Taemin’s neck. Immediately, he ran towards the bathroom entrance. Of course, the bodyguards tried to stop him, but Taemin kicked them away. As a result, the bodyguard fell. But immediately, another bodyguard followed behind Taemin.
“Huk!”
Idam hit the bodyguard’s head with the hammer he was holding. With a thud, he fell like a doll. Idam was so startled that he covered his eyes with both hands. He had hit two people with a hammer today. His heart felt heavy, feeling like he had committed a great sin.
“You did well, why are you so surprised?”
Taemin’s lips twitched as if he found Idam’s hammer strike amusing.
“No… I… It’s my first time…”
“Well, I guess hammer strikes wouldn’t be very helpful for prenatal education. Let’s get out of here quickly.”
Taemin ran while carrying Idam. He went up the stairs. Witnessing this scene, Ji Taehwa’s lips trembled roughly. Then he shouted at the bodyguard slowly getting up behind him.
“Prepare the Jeramy.”
* * *
They reached the cruise ship’s deck. It was a space romantically decorated with white lilies. As the sunset was approaching, the lounge was being dyed orange. Taemin first sat Idam down on a chair. Idam also put the hammer he was holding on the chair. Meanwhile, Taemin made a phone call.
“Secretary Kang, I’m on the western deck now. Come here with the yacht and the others. Yes, Idam isn’t seriously injured.”
After finishing the call, Taemin knelt in front of Idam and looked up at him. With the sunset behind him, he looked somewhat pitiful.
“Secretary Kang will come soon with a yacht. We’ll escape on that.”
“Okay…”
Idam nodded. Taemin gave a faint smile.
“Thank you.”
“What? For what?”
“For holding up well in front of my grandfather.”
“Ah…”
“I smelled blood earlier and thought you were seriously hurt.”
Taemin gently took Idam’s left hand. He checked the finger that had been deliberately cut with a glass shard earlier. The bleeding had already stopped, and a scab was slowly forming.
“You said before that you could detect me by my blood scent when you were looking for me. So I deliberately made this wound.”
“Ah… Don’t do this in the future.”
“Okay.”
Idam nodded.
“It might be a small wound for you, but it’s too big for me.”
Taemin whispered worriedly and gently caressed Idam’s cheek. At that warmth, Idam felt his heart pounding. For some reason, it also felt melancholic.
Was it because of the sunset… Why did tears come when looking at him?
Idam’s eyes grew hot, and a lump rose in his throat. But he didn’t want to cry in this urgent situation, and he didn’t want to appear like a child, so he swallowed it down again and again.
“So this is where you were.”
Unwelcome footsteps were heard. Soon, Ji Taehwa appeared alone.
“The cruise ship is quite large, so it took some effort to find you.”
Ji Taehwa looked up at Taemin. There was a sense of desperation, as if he was in unrequited love.
“Taemin, why are you doing this? Don’t do this. Okay?”
“…”
Taemin stared at his grandfather without answering.
“Idam is already carrying my child. I have to take responsibility.”
“You can make that baby again with another omega. It might be an extreme heat omega anyway, right? You shouldn’t marry such an omega. You need to be with an omega with better traits. That’s the right destiny.”
“It’s absurd to hear that from someone who has already gone against destiny.”
“What?”
“Grandfather, you ignored the laws of nature and committed a taboo that shouldn’t have been bred, resulting in genetic diseases. Like a curse.”
“What are you talking about… That was a small mistake.”
Taemin laughed bitterly at Ji Taehwa’s excuses.
“Is a genetic disease passing down for three generations a small mistake? This is punishment from heaven. What will you do if you don’t accept this and commit an even greater sin?”
“…”
“The extreme heat omegas appeared to save us who are cursed like this. They are not tools or cures, but saviors themselves.”
Ji Taehwa frowned at Taemin’s assertion, as if he couldn’t understand. Eventually, his gaze turned to Idam behind Taemin. A light more cruel and selfish than blood-red glimmered fiercely. Ji Taehwa put his hands behind his back. Then he pulled out a sharp syringe from his back pocket and gripped it. But his expression was as sorrowful as if he was bearing the sins of the world.
“Alright. Taemin… Hah…”
Then he knelt down.
“Taemin. I cherish and love you very much. Even more than Hyeongman.”
“…”
“Yes, this genetic disease will continue. Like a wheel that can’t stop even if you try to stop it. So if that’s your wish, I’ll try to change my mind too.”
Taemin looked suspiciously at Ji Taehwa, who had suddenly changed his attitude. He wasn’t someone who would be persuaded so easily. Moreover, he had been a cold person who had never shown remorse to anyone until now. Taemin tilted his head and slowly approached Ji Taehwa.
That’s when it happened.
Ji Taehwa pushed Taemin away and quickly moved towards Idam. Then he raised the hidden syringe, targeting Idam’s nape.
“Idam! No!”
Realizing the danger, Taemin immediately followed Ji Taehwa. Meanwhile, Ji Taehwa came right in front of Idam. The syringe was aimed at Idam’s neck. At that moment, Taemin blocked in front of him. Simultaneously, the needle pierced Taemin’s left chest, and its contents were injected.
In the midst of this, Taemin grabbed Ji Taehwa’s neck and strangled him.
“Haa… Hukk.”
Ji Taehwa’s face turned pale. His gaze was fixed on the syringe stuck in Taemin’s chest. His eyes were the embodiment of despair.
“Taemin… You’re crazy… An extreme heat omega… What… To this extent…”
Gradually, Taemin’s complexion also darkened. At the same time, the strength left his hand that was holding Ji Taehwa’s neck, and he collapsed. Gloomy pheromones leaked from him as if going berserk.
“C-CEO!”
Witnessing this scene, Idam limped towards Taemin. Meanwhile, Ji Taehwa separated from Taemin and ran off somewhere.
“Haa… Haa…”
Taemin breathed roughly. His limbs were trembling as if he had been electrocuted. Idam hurriedly removed the syringe stuck in Taemin’s chest first. Then Taemin’s arms embraced Idam tightly.
“I love you… Idam.”
“C-CEO…”
“I love you…”
At this moment, his confession of love was so sad. Idam felt like his head was about to explode, not knowing what to do. Idam first pulled out the syringe stuck in his chest. Then a thin liquid mixed with blood started leaking out.
“Haa… Ugh.”
Taemin groaned as if in more pain. There was clearly something fatal in this syringe, but how could he provide first aid in this situation?
“I-Idam… I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
As if reading Idam’s anxiety, Taemin tried to reassure him. However, his appearance was like watching a flower’s vitality withering away. Idam’s eyes became moist and tears poured out.
“No… You have to see our baby too… I like you so much… I love you…”
Idam didn’t want to let Taemin go like this. He wanted to wake up together in a bed full of morning sunlight and walk hand in hand along a walking path. What should he do? How…
At that moment.
‘An omega’s pheromones are said to be more effective than a miracle drug for alphas. So when they’re sick or injured like this, exposure to omega pheromones is said to alleviate pain.’
Taemin’s words from before came to mind. Gradually, his eyes started to close. Idam’s heart burned even more with urgency. He couldn’t live without him…
Why was he so weak? How good it would be if his pheromones would come out at a time like this.
“CEO… My Taemin… Honey… Stay with me… Huk.”
Idam hugged Taemin tightly, shedding tears profusely. Out of desperation and wanting to become one with him, he kissed him. As he felt the warm softness, Taemin’s gloomy pheromones gradually turned into a sweet scent.
That soul-stirring scent seemed to be knocking on Idam’s pheromone glands.
At that moment.
The precarious sunset faded and darkness descended. The lights on the deck turned on, and the wind blew. In the midst of the sea smell, it felt like flowers were blooming on his body. Gradually, a sweet fragrance was felt.
His whole body tingled as if electrified.
“Ah… Ah… H-How…”
Slowly, he felt his pheromones, forgotten for months, coming back to life. Idam’s pheromones, like flower petals dancing, enveloped Taemin.
“Wake up… We have to start our married life now…”
Idam kissed his lips once more. But even with their lips pressed together, his breathing couldn’t be heard.
“CEO… No… No…”
Idam tried to generate as many pheromones in his body as possible. It was like a flower rain falling. He hoped Taemin would open his eyes as quickly as possible. But his eyelids showed no signs of moving, and he remained silent. Was Taemin’s clock about to stop like this? Idam was terrified out of his mind.
Idam searched his pockets for a phone to call an ambulance. Then he belatedly remembered that Ji Taehwa had thrown it out the window earlier. With no choice, he was about to feel Taemin’s body to use his phone instead.
“CEO! Madam!”
Secretary Kang and other Baekwol Corporation employees came up.
“Why is this cruise ship so wide? We got a bit lost. Oh? CEO?”
Secretary Kang’s pupils dilated upon discovering the collapsed Taemin. The accompanying employees were the same. They hurriedly approached.
“C-CEO, what’s wrong?”
“Quickly… Please call an ambulance first…”
There wasn’t even time to explain the situation. Secretary Kang read the atmosphere and took out his phone to make a call, while some other employees went down to request help within the cruise ship.
“Oh no. CEO… Our tyrant CEO Ji Taemin! Don’t die.”
Secretary Kang cried, holding onto Taemin. The other remaining employees were also a sea of tears. This situation seemed to further signal Taemin’s end, making Idam’s heart feel even more eaten away.
Secretary Kang continued speaking between sobs.
“On our way here, we saw that Chairman Wang had fallen into the sea and rescuers were in a frenzy trying to save him. What on earth is going on?”
“Really?”
Idam recalled how Ji Taehwa had run away after doing this to Taemin. Had he attempted suicide out of guilt for doing something he shouldn’t have to his grandson…
It didn’t matter. Taemin’s life and death came first now. Idam held Taemin tightly and emitted as many pheromones as possible. While Secretary Kang was a beta, there were alphas among the other employees, so it was expected that they would suffer if they sensed his pheromones. But he couldn’t consider them now.
However…
There were no signs of them feeling disgusted or uncomfortable. For a moment it was puzzling, but now he focused solely on pouring out his pheromones as much as possible for Taemin.
Don’t leave me. Our married life was just starting to come into view… Please…
Idam’s large eyes were filled with tears. His small chest also felt like it might burst. Soon, paramedics came up onto the deck.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
