Chapter 137
Cheong-yeon lowered his voice and whispered, but Han Iram seemed to struggle even with regulating his breathing and exhaled a long breath instead of answering.
“Han Iram?”
“Yeah. But the timing doesn’t seem… to match up. Ah, shit.”
He cursed quietly. His response mixed informal and formal speech, as if he wasn’t thinking clearly.
A moment later, the locked stall door opened. When Cheong-yeon pulled the door, he saw Han Iram hunched over while sitting on the toilet lid.
Omega pheromones already filled the entire stall. If an Alpha had walked in instead of him, it could have been a serious situation, considering how Han Iram was struggling to maintain his composure.
Cheong-yeon considered what he could do immediately. Going back to the BBQ restaurant to ask for help was out of the question. The public didn’t know his true trait.
If it became known that he was an Omega, he would face various troublesome situations, just as Cheong-yeon had. It wouldn’t be good for his image either. Han Iram must have hidden it for that reason.
“Han Iram. Did you come with your manager? Maybe we should call your manager and move to the car…”
“No. My manager doesn’t know I’m an Omega either.”
Han Iram gasped for breath, shaking his head vigorously.
“Then, how about calling your family?”
“That’s even worse… Ha… If my family sees me like this, they might never… let me work again, so just… Haa.”
It ultimately meant he had no one to call for immediate help.
Cheong-yeon looked down at him with a troubled expression. So the reason he had been unusually quiet at the table and cold to the other actors who tried to be friendly was because of his heat cycle.
“Can you walk?”
“Probably… difficult on my own.”
“I’ll help support you. Do you have your car keys? Tell me where they are.”
“What, what are you trying to do?”
“Quickly! I’ll go out and bring the car to the front of the building, so just wait a moment. I’ll come back for you.”
“……”
“Then you can go to your home or a hotel, right?”
Cheong-yeon shook Han Iram’s shoulder. He raised his head, sweating profusely.
“Get yourself together. If someone comes in, they might discover you. Do you have a car or not?”
“In the right pocket of my pants…”
Han Iram, still hesitant and suspicious, finally mumbled reluctantly, seemingly having concluded there was no other option.
“What’s the license plate number?”
Cheong-yeon urgently asked after retrieving the car keys from his pants pocket.
*
The next day.
Before heading to his acting lesson, Cheong-yeon opened his script to check the lines he had memorized in advance. He still had about thirty minutes before his departure time.
Thanks to Do-heon’s overseas business trip, he no longer needed to take contraceptives, and with only taking suppressants recently, his condition had improved considerably. Even the intermittent headaches that had been annoyingly persistent had completely disappeared.
Was that nosebleed really caused by the medication? He had thought it was a coincidence, but taking suppressants and contraceptives simultaneously was indeed bad for his health.
While reading the script and rolling a pen in his hand, Cheong-yeon underlined lines he found confusing. Just as he was about to make a note about emphasized pronunciations, his phone rang with an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“—Is this Yoo Cheong-yeon’s phone?”
“Yes, it is. Who is this?”
It was a strangely familiar voice, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Cheong-yeon put down his pen and perked up his ears, trying to recall who the voice belonged to.
“—It’s Bae Seah . We met at the company dinner yesterday.”
The caller identified herself before Cheong-yeon could figure it out.
“Ah! Sunbae-nim. Did you get home safely yesterday? How did you get my number…?”
“—There are ways to find these things out. I got home fine, but did you? You disappeared without saying anything, which was surprising.”
“Well…”
Cheong-yeon trailed off, recalling what happened yesterday.
Han Iram, hiding in the bathroom, had worsening heat cycle symptoms as time passed. Without telling anyone, Cheong-yeon had supported him to his car and safely taken him to his apartment where he lived alone.
At the time, he was so focused on getting out of there that he didn’t have the energy to say goodbye to the other actors and staff.
After dropping Han Iram off, he was completely drained and just returned to his officetel and collapsed—that was his last memory.
“Something urgent came up suddenly, and I ended up leaving without saying goodbye. I’m sorry.”
“—You must have been in a hurry? Your manager was looking all over for you.”
Fortunately, Bae Seah ‘s voice sounded cheerful, suggesting she wasn’t upset.
“I didn’t get to tell my manager beforehand either. Though I did contact him later.”
“—Is the urgent matter resolved now?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine now.”
“—Ah, I see. I called because I was concerned when you disappeared without a word.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll prepare well and see you on shooting day.”
She called just to ask about that? Cheong-yeon tilted his head, finding it a bit unusual.
“—By the way. You were once married and then divorced JT Electronics Director Moon Do-heon, right?”
“…Pardon?”
Just as he was about to end the call, Bae Seah brought up an unexpected topic.
“—No, I just thought I heard something like that somewhere.”
Cheong-yeon’s lips moved silently, unsure how to respond.
From the beginning, the JT Group had thoroughly monitored the media, and articles about the two of them had been removed long ago, so few people remembered.
Even if someone did remember, they would gossip behind his back rather than ask directly. Except when he was auditioning to restart his acting career.
“That’s… not related to me anymore.”
“—You’re quite talented, Cheong-yeon. Alright, I just asked because it crossed my mind. See you on shooting day.”
Bae Seah , with her characteristically lively tone, abruptly ended the call.
It was a peculiar conversation. While saving Bae Seah ‘s number in his contacts, Cheong-yeon mulled over their somewhat unsettling exchange.
He tried to focus on the script again after putting down his phone, but his attention was already scattered, and the words wouldn’t register.
Just then, a KakaoTalk message came in from Min Hye-rin.
[Min Hye-rin: Oppa!!:) Did you get home safely yesterday?]
[Min Hye-rin: I heard from manager oppa but I was still worried hehe]
Cheong-yeon immediately replied.
[I got home fine. Sorry for leaving without saying anything ㅠㅠ]
[Min Hye-rin: It’s okay! But oppa, yesterday]
[Min Hye-rin: Nothing happened, right???]
Cheong-yeon quickly touched the screen in response to the suspicious question.
[Hm? What do you mean?]
[Min Hye-rin: No, it’s just that there’s a sighting report about you……]
[Min Hye-rin: The content is so absurd]
[Min Hye-rin: Just checking ㅠ.ㅜㅎㅎㅎ]
[Min Hye-rin: Someone went to the trouble of writing nonsense]
[Min Hye-rin: saying a dating scandal might break soon]
“What now.”
Cheong-yeon muttered dismissively.
Sighting reports often included many fakes, and even the real ones usually went unnoticed, so it wasn’t something to worry about. People didn’t tend to believe them anyway.
Besides, a dating scandal? He wasn’t dating anyone, and Do-heon wasn’t even in Korea, so there was no way a dating scandal would arise from some dubious sighting report.
[No. Nothing happened ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Min Hye-rin: Okay>_< Have a good day!]
[You too!]
*
“Actor, are you going straight home after today’s schedule this evening?”
It was the day of the meeting with Team Leader Kwon Hye-na. After several hours of complicated discussions, the manager who had been waiting outside approached during a short break and asked.
Cheong-yeon checked the clock on the wall. It was already well past five in the afternoon. Moreover, today was Friday.
Though he hadn’t contacted him, Do-heon was probably still abroad. So there was no need to keep his evening free.
“I don’t mind going straight home, but how about a team dinner together? I left early at the drama dinner last time.”
“Ah. We were really surprised when you suddenly disappeared back then. Haha.”
“A friend suddenly contacted me about a personal matter… I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance.”
After safely taking Han Iram home that day, Cheong-yeon hadn’t received any further contact from him. Well, they weren’t acquainted enough to exchange pleasantries, so he wasn’t offended.
Having watched him take suppressants before lying down on the bed, Cheong-yeon assumed he would be fine.
“That’s okay. Just make sure to let us know if you leave next time. And if you’re up for a team dinner, we’d love it! Hye-rin and Seonju will be thrilled.”
The manager smiled knowingly, as if the staff’s reaction was predictable. Then he made a note in the scheduler he always carried.
Cheong-yeon rolled his eyes and sneakily peeked at what he was writing.
—Team seafood dinner.^^
“……”
He briefly considered correcting the spelling but decided to keep quiet.
As he was about to discuss with the manager what to eat, the manager’s phone began to ring.
“Excuse me for a moment, Actor.”
The manager checked the caller ID and immediately answered the phone after excusing himself to Cheong-yeon.
As he left the conference room saying “Yes, CEO,” it seemed the call was from CEO Kim Kyung-seop.
Do they contact each other often?
While idly rolling a pen on the table to kill time, the manager soon returned to the conference room.
“Actor. The CEO wants to speak with you.”
“With me?”
When Cheong-yeon pointed to himself inquiringly, the manager held out his phone instead of answering.
“Hello?”
“—Cheong-yeon. Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
“Did you call me? My phone is in my bag, so I didn’t see it.”
“—I called several times. Anyway, have you read today’s article?”
Kim Kyung-seop abruptly brought up an article without any explanation.
“What article?”
“—I’ll send you the link right away, so check it out.”
“Ah, why? What’s going on?”
Kim Kyung-seop’s voice was more serious than ever. Cheong-yeon stood up to retrieve his own phone.
“—You had dinner with the drama team recently, right? Who did you meet there?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
