#98
“Why… why is this happening?”
Although his pheromones had been released occasionally before, it had never been this quiet, as if a faucet had been turned off. It was troubling. Even if Taemin didn’t like him, he needed a reason to stay by his side… But… His crumbling heart became depressed, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Amidst all this, his stomach felt strangely hot. Something in his body was clearly malfunctioning.
“Ugh…”
Idam thought he should go see the attending physician. But since he didn’t know where the doctor was, he decided to ask an employee first. He quickly left the bedroom, went through the corridor, and down the stairs.
The employees were often in the kitchen, so he headed there. The kitchen door was always open due to ventilation issues, and he could hear murmuring voices.
“What? The Chairman arranged a matchmaking meeting for the CEO?”
Huh? What was this about? Idam stuck to the wall like a criminal, observing the scene. Female employees were huddled together. Sujeong was among them.
“Yeah. From what I heard the Chairman’s secretaries saying, that’s the case.”
“Who’s the match?”
“Do you know Go Heewon?”
“The heir of Daeil Corporation? Isn’t that person a dominant omega? Isn’t the CEO still suffering from rejection syndrome? Why is he suddenly introducing an omega?”
“Maybe his rejection syndrome is cured?”
What? Idam’s heart sank.
“Then… what happens to the madam now?”
Sujeong’s face had turned pale. In contrast, the employee’s expression was nonchalant, as if this was a common occurrence.
“What do you mean what happens? She’ll be discarded by the CEO.”
“What? Why?”
“You know the CEO dislikes omega pheromones, right?”
“Yes.”
“Actually, the CEO’s family has a genetic disease called pheromone rejection syndrome. What was needed to cure that disease was a compatible omega. The young omega the CEO is keeping now was compatible with him. That’s why they’ve been giving that omega the title of madam until now.”
Although he already knew his situation, hearing it from their mouths made it feel even more miserable.
“If the CEO’s rejection syndrome is indeed cured, that child will disappear.”
“Disappear? Won’t she just resign?”
Sujeong’s voice was trembling like an aspen leaf, so shocked was she.
“Well… From what I know, the Chairman also suffered from rejection syndrome before and kept an extremely hot omega by his side in a similar way. And when the Chairman recovered, that extremely hot omega disappeared without a trace. After that, he married the current madam, who’s a dominant omega.”
“By disappear… you don’t mean… murder or something, right?”
“Well, we don’t know about that.”
The employees answered this way, but it seemed they were avoiding saying the truth outright.
“Oh my God, what kind of mess is this? How can they do such a thing to a person?”
“The people in this family aren’t normal to begin with, so don’t try to understand them.”
It seemed the employees had initially reacted like Sujeong, but had become numb after seeing it happen repeatedly.
“Sujeong, just swallow this fact. Don’t create unnecessary trouble.”
“Remember, a former employee who found out about this and confronted the Chairman was fired and then lost all contact.”
Idam’s heart felt like it was about to shatter.
He knew Taemin was suffering from a genetic disease and needed his pheromones. But he didn’t know the outcome would be this miserable.
“What are you all doing?”
As Lady An entered the kitchen, the gossip ceased.
Idam returned to the bedroom with a heavy heart. The shocking news had drained him of the energy to seek out the attending physician.
Tears welled up in his round eyes and flowed down his cheeks. He didn’t know when Taemin would return. He shouldn’t be crying like this, but he couldn’t control his emotions. Finally, Idam went into the bathroom as if hiding. He quickly covered his mouth and cried and cried.
He wanted to get married.
Because he could exist as a normal omega in front of Taemin, this desperate hope grew day by day.
But…
‘What should I do? I don’t like Idam. We’re just in a contractual relationship.’
He had clearly drawn the line.
After that, when his rut cycle came, he whispered love, but he doesn’t even remember it.
“Hah…”
Idam felt completely drained. His chest was hot and painful.
“Why… am I… always like this…”
He couldn’t do things that other people took for granted. He could only dream about them.
According to the employees, Taemin’s rejection syndrome was now fully cured, and he would soon disappear from this world. Moreover, his pheromones weren’t even coming out anymore.
Fear was rising, driving him crazy. Tears flowed once more, and he cried his heart out. Then suddenly, he realized this wasn’t the time to just be sad.
He needed to run away.
In the past, he had once chosen death due to his pheromone disorder, but he had barely pulled himself together and lived on. His late mother’s wish was also for Idam to live happily. If he met such a miserable end now, he wouldn’t have the courage to face his mother in the afterlife.
Steeling his resolve, Idam wiped away his tears. After washing his face, he entered the bedroom.
He needed to pack his belongings and leave this villa before Taemin returned. First, he needed his phone. Idam quickly approached the bedside table and picked up his phone. Perhaps because he hadn’t paid much attention to his phone for the past week, the feeling of touching it felt strangely unfamiliar. He expected there to be many messages from Hayun.
“Ah… right…”
Hayun was currently staying at the job and apartment that Taemin had provided. If Idam ran away now, Hayun would most likely face retaliation. He needed to inform Hayun of this situation first and find a way to respond.
Idam opened the app to send a message to Hayun. But something was strange. He should have had many messages accumulated since he hadn’t checked his phone for a week. But there was nothing. Upon closer inspection, the chat room itself had vanished.
“What’s this?”
He felt like his mind was tangled like a ball of yarn. There was no way the chat could have disappeared overnight. Moreover, Hayun wasn’t in his friends list, and his phone number was gone too. So he tried to send a text to Hayun’s number that he had memorized. But it wouldn’t send.
“Why… is this happening…”
With his phone not working on top of everything else, he felt like he was going crazy.
Knock knock.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. For a second, he thought it might be Taemin and his heart shrank. But then he remembered there was no reason for Taemin to knock. Then, was it an employee…? Idam barely pulled himself together and opened the door. It was Sujeong.
“Um… Madam…”
Her complexion was very poor. It reminded him of her face when she was empathizing and feeling sad for him as the employees were talking about him earlier.
“I know it’s not my place, but you saved me, so I couldn’t just stay quiet.”
Sujeong had a serious expression. Idam, reading her current state of mind, spoke up.
“Is it because I’m about to disappear from the CEO’s side?”
“Huh? How… how do you know?”
“I overheard the employees talking about it earlier.”
“What? You were in the kitchen?”
“Yes… somehow…”
Idam trailed off. Sujeong’s pupils were shaking violently, not knowing what to do. A precarious silence fell between them for a moment. Idam felt heavy-hearted that Sujeong had unnecessarily found out about his situation.
Bzzt.
At that moment, Sujeong’s phone vibrated.
“Ah, what’s this.”
She took her phone out of her apron pocket, tapped the screen, and put it back. It seemed she had received a message. Come to think of it, while his own phone wasn’t working, hers was. Idam looked at Sujeong with desperate eyes.
“Can I borrow your phone?”
“Huh? Is your phone not working, Madam?”
“No…”
“Oh? Here you go.”
Sujeong placed her phone in Idam’s hand. Idam quickly sent a message to Hayun’s number, identifying himself.
A reply came in less than 30 seconds. It seemed as if Hayun had been eagerly waiting for Idam’s contact. Feeling a surge of relief, Idam hurriedly continued the conversation.
Idam’s heart raced even more at Hayun’s reply. The employees’ words from earlier echoed in his mind. But why was Hayun sending such a message? He seemed to clearly know about Idam’s situation. But how?
While Idam was lost in a sea of confusion, he heard the sound of the door opening. Then Taemin appeared.
“What are you doing now?”
