Chapter 34
“In the lower grades of elementary school, there was a rumor that I lived with only my mother without a father, so I hardly ever got to mingle with the other kids.”
“Huh?”
Surprised by this unexpected story, Cheong-yeon’s hand stopped midway as he was about to grab another snack.
Even for elementary school students, that seemed too harsh. Do-heon had mentioned living with his mother until he was ten, but judging by his admission to a private school, their circumstances must have been decent even then. It was shocking that elementary school children would already discriminate against a single-parent family. Cheong-yeon was amazed that they were so judgmental at such a young age.
“But it wasn’t like that until graduation, right?”
“No, it wasn’t. My father came for me when I was ten. Things turned around when I became the heir to JT Group. Suddenly, everyone became friendly.”
*What’s wrong with these kids? How can they be so inconsiderate? Judging people and moving according to their self-interest even from such a young age? Seriously.*
Despite Do-heon’s peers being six years older than himself, Cheong-yeon was mentally criticizing his classmates he’d never even met.
“Well… that’s… If you didn’t have problems with the other kids afterward, that’s good… No, not exactly good. Anyway, the situation improved. I imagine you could have wasted plenty of time on trivial things like dating from then on.”
Seeming to have lost interest in the movie, Cheong-yeon turned his body completely toward Do-heon.
“Unfortunately, the next problem was my mother.”
“Your mother?”
“She disappeared right after handing me over to my father.”
Do-heon had also turned his head toward where Cheong-yeon was sitting. Their gazes quietly intertwined in the dimly lit room.
“Oh.”
“I didn’t know at the time, but she probably received an adequate sum of money to disappear. With my mother suddenly gone and my environment changed, I’d say I never had such childish concerns until I graduated middle school.”
“…”
*Does that mean he dated in high school?* This wasn’t the moment for such thoughts, but contextually irrelevant assumptions cluttered Cheong-yeon’s mind.
Well, it didn’t make sense that someone as exceptional as this Dominant Alpha had never dated. Plus, as he’d just discovered for the first time in three years, he was good at sex too… Wait, no! Yoo Cheong-yeon, what are you imagining right now?
Cheong-yeon shook his head slightly to rid himself of these inappropriate thoughts.
“That must have been really heartbreaking for you.”
Having no way of knowing what Cheong-yeon was thinking, Do-heon draped his arm over the back of the sofa and continued.
“I learned something more significant than that.”
“What was it?”
“That money can both keep and abandon a biological child.”
Cheong-yeon studied Do-heon’s impassive face. Despite what must have been a painful past, he spoke about everything too calmly, as if he felt nothing. Like he was reading an instruction manual for an electronic device.
“…Is it okay for you to tell me these things?”
“You asked, didn’t you?”
That’s true. Cheong-yeon quickly acknowledged.
“Didn’t you miss your mother?”
“I missed her for the first year. But after that, I was solely focused on developing my abilities, so I soon forgot.”
*What should I say to this?* Cheong-yeon fumbled for words, unable to find an appropriate response. Somehow, it felt presumptuous for him to comfort Do-heon. He wasn’t even sure if comfort was what Do-heon wanted.
Even though Cheong-yeon hadn’t been raised with unlimited love from his parents either, their situations were completely different, so he couldn’t readily speak up.
Silence filled the living room for a moment. Both naturally turned their heads back to the TV screen and focused on the movie.
The protagonist in the film had already grown up and entered high school. The language of the children was rougher and more explicit than during elementary school. Words like sex, drugs, and parties flowed continuously through each scene.
And as it happened, the protagonist’s Omega friend, whose manifestation was later than his peers, experienced his first heat cycle symptoms at school and got into trouble. Though the foreign film was somewhat exaggerated, it wasn’t entirely unrealistic, so Cheong-yeon sincerely sympathized and focused on the dialogue between the protagonist and his friends.
“Are such incidents common?”
Do-heon, who had been silently watching the movie, suddenly asked. Cheong-yeon nodded as if it were nothing special.
“Very common. There’s probably at least one student like that every year at school.”
“It looks too dangerous.”
“Didn’t this happen at the school you attended?”
Do-heon spoke as if this was a completely new situation to him, which made Cheong-yeon give him an incredulous look.
“Not even once.”
“What? That’s impossible.”
How could there not be a single accident caused by rut cycles and heat cycles among spirited teenagers?
In reality, even though it might have been less severe than in the movie, Cheong-yeon could count at least ten incidents he’d heard about by the time he graduated.
*Maybe it’s a difference in status?* It occurred to Cheong-yeon belatedly that the society Do-heon belonged to was predominantly populated by Dominants and Betas, so perhaps the atmosphere was different from the regular high school Cheong-yeon had attended. Betas didn’t need to control their pheromones, and Dominants could regulate their pheromones more easily than Regulars or Recessives.
“When you say such incidents were common, does that mean you experienced something similar at school?”
“I… well. Fortunately, I didn’t have that much drama because my uncle was an Omega. I always went to school with suppressants just in case. Actually, my pheromones were much more stable back then than they are now…”
Cheong-yeon trailed off, recalling his school days. His pheromone control had become particularly difficult after marrying Do-heon.
At the time, he had been so preoccupied with hiding his pheromones that he hadn’t had the luxury to consider why, but looking back now, he thought psychological factors were probably the biggest cause. Being constantly worried about exposing his vulnerabilities while being around Do-heon for a long time seemed to have had the opposite effect.
Even now, Do-heon wasn’t completely comfortable to be around, but since they were completely separate people now and he didn’t need to impress Do-heon anymore, the tension that had caused his palms to sweat and his heart to race madly had largely disappeared.
Of course, he still felt nervous when they were very close, but this distance was tolerable. This alone was significant progress. Besides, they wouldn’t get any closer than this anyway.
The movie was heading toward its conclusion. At some point, Cheong-yeon began to doze off. Partly due to the strain on his body from yesterday and partly from emptying a bottle of wine in anger, he felt drowsy.
Cheong-yeon leaned heavily against the sofa backrest, blinking slowly as if he might fall asleep at any moment. The TV screen appeared to split into two and then merge back into one repeatedly.
Then his head drooped to the side, unable to stay upright. Coincidentally, it was toward Do-heon’s side, and the light from the screen illuminated Do-heon’s profile, capturing Cheong-yeon’s gaze.
His eyes were intense, perhaps focused on the movie. For an Alpha, he had long eyelashes, a straight jawline, and perfectly aligned features without a single flaw.
It was a face impossible to look away from. Too burdensome and dangerous to keep close to himself.
Cheong-yeon thought inwardly that this distance with Do-heon was appropriate.
He was a man too beautiful and too indifferent to be anyone’s possession.
Whether it was because he was so sleepy, Cheong-yeon felt no embarrassment about openly admiring Do-heon’s face. As he slowly rolled his eyes, Cheong-yeon suddenly spotted the painkillers placed next to Do-heon.
*Ah. So that’s what he went to get earlier. But I’m drunk now and don’t even feel the pain anymore…*
Like a heavy weight had been attached to his mind, his thought process gradually slowed. Cheong-yeon stopped his train of thought and closed his eyes completely. He could no longer resist the overwhelming drowsiness.
In front of the flickering light emanating from the TV, Cheong-yeon fell into a deep sleep.
*
When he woke up, the familiar ceiling and the bombardment of morning sunlight greeted Cheong-yeon again. He remembered watching a movie in the living room, but he couldn’t recall how he had returned to the bedroom.
*Do-heon probably carried me here and laid me down.*
Despite his nausea from the hangover, Cheong-yeon checked several times that he was properly dressed before finally feeling relieved. It was so typical of Moon Do-heon to bring his sleeping self to the room in such a presentable state, even after having intense sex just the day before.
He was a man who strictly separated public and private matters, a person without any fluctuations in his behavior. It’s the first time Cheong-yeon felt grateful for that. At least while with Do-heon, he didn’t have to worry about what might have happened while he was asleep.
Cheong-yeon blinked, staring at the bright ceiling. He wanted to linger a little longer in the wide, soft bed.
But the weekend had already passed, and now it was Monday morning. He had to go to acting school soon, and he needed to work his part-time job to earn money. Even if he didn’t have immediate work, he needed to consistently prepare for auditions.
Cheong-yeon sighed, rubbing his eyelids. As he got up from bed, hoping he would never have to return to this room again, his vision suddenly spun and turned upside down.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
