Chapter 5
“And think about it, Yoo Cheong-yeon. The marriage between a conglomerate’s dominant alpha and a commoner’s recessive omega. This is truly legendary.”
“But… will Moon Do-heon come to get me before the video hits ten million views?”
Cheong-yeon muttered, crunching on a radish kimchi. Do-heon wasn’t the kind of person to let such a video circulate in the media. Whether it was due to his complex about being a bastard or his personality, he hated being exposed in the media.
“That’s true.”
Kim Ji-han shrugged as if it was a shame. Fortunately, he didn’t encourage Cheong-yeon to shoot the video any further. It seemed he valued his life too.
“By the way, did you not even get a meal at that house? Why are you eating so desperately? At this rate, you should do a mukbang.”
Ji-han looked Cheong-yeon up and down in disbelief as he endlessly tore into the chicken as if possessed.
“They don’t let me eat this kind of stuff there.”
“Then?”
“The lady who works in the kitchen fries it for me.”
“Why? Isn’t it faster to order?”
“They don’t let me order delivery food often because it’s bad for my health.”
“Eek! They don’t let you order at all?”
Ji-han’s eyes widened in disbelief. Cheong-yeon was silent for a moment, pondering how to respond.
“…It’s not that they completely forbid it. I just voluntarily stopped eating it halfway.”
“How bad can it be for your health? It’s not like it’s poisoned.”
“I just had to live like I was barely there. I didn’t want to act out. As you know, I’m no match for Moon Do-heon…”
“It’s tough to survive anywhere.”
“Yeah. But I thought it was better than when I was an idol, so I endured it.”
“Damn, I just thought the same thing.”
Both of them chuckled simultaneously.
“But why does your story sound sadder the more I hear it? Take this opportunity to order as much delivery food as you want without worrying about anything.”
“That’s what I’m going to do.”
Cheong-yeon replied as if he would devour all the chicken on the table right away. Only after finishing all the side dishes they had ordered did the two of them get up to throw away the chicken bones and trash.
After filling their stomachs and regaining some composure, Cheong-yeon searched for his name on a portal site. Fortunately, the news of the divorce hadn’t spread yet, as it was quiet.
He knew that no articles would come out, but he was still anxious just in case. Even though he was from a failed idol group, he didn’t want to be the talk of the town due to divorce issues with Do-heon.
Even when he married Do-heon three years ago, there was some talk, but it seemed that JT Electronics had taken care of it, as even the few articles that had come up were quickly deleted. Perhaps the fact that he had gotten married had been erased from people’s memories.
Maybe it was ridiculous to worry about divorce articles for a celebrity who was never known to the public in the first place.
“What should I do to make a living now?”
Cheong-yeon muttered absentmindedly.
“Can’t I just not go home?”
Ji-han asked, sipping on an iced Americano he had bought for dessert.
“…For my little dad, no news is good news.”
Cheong-yeon replied in a gloomy voice.
Cheong-yeon’s parents were both male, an alpha and an omega. His omega little dad favored his brother who was in medical school and was ashamed of Cheong-yeon, who was from an unpopular idol group. His big dad, who was Do-heon’s bodyguard and passed away three years ago, was the same.
His little dad was the kind of person who thought that marrying Do-heon was Cheong-yeon’s only advantage. If Cheong-yeon confessed that he had divorced Do-heon, he would surely force him to go back and beg for forgiveness.
“I’ll contact my little dad once I settle down a bit. Anyway, he’s not interested in me because he’s busy supporting my brother.”
“Yeah. Do as you please.”
It was a situation that only made him sigh. Feeling his mouth was sticky, Cheong-yeon headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. While squeezing toothpaste onto his toothbrush, he suddenly wondered if his pheromones were leaking out too much.
Fortunately, his heat cycle was still far off, so his omega pheromones were very faint. As long as he kept his wits about him, he could manage without suppressants.
It was strange. He had been so out of control and leaking pheromones only when he was around Do-heon. Had he been so conscious of Do-heon that he couldn’t control himself?
That’s why he had to take large amounts of suppressants continuously while living with Do-heon. Do-heon and his family couldn’t stand the sight of him, a recessive omega, leaking pheromones all over the place.
It was fortunate that Ji-han, who he was living with, was a beta. He didn’t have to worry about pheromones separately.
Cheong-yeon took a shower while he was at it. The water pressure in Ji-han’s bathroom was weak, making it bothersome every time he washed. Moreover, there was no separate body wash, so he had to use soap for everything. There was no thick shower robe, and the ventilation was poor, so the mirror steamed up.
In many ways, there were many shortcomings compared to Do-heon’s house, but if he complained unnecessarily, he would surely be told to get lost, so he was using it without complaint. In fact, he was grateful just to have a place where he could stretch out his legs and sleep in his current situation.
After finishing his shower and drying his hair, Cheong-yeon started looking through job-seeking apps, applying the skincare products he had desperately packed when he left the house.
He debuted as an idol at the age of twenty-two and failed miserably. The following year, at the age of twenty-three, his big dad died. At the same time, he married Do-heon and now, at the age of twenty-six, he had the label of a divorced man. So, Cheong-yeon’s history was nothing more or less than that of a high school graduate with a lot of stories.
The reality before him was bleak. He had no academic background or career, and all he had was a pretty face typical of an omega.
Even the people at JT, who tried to ostracize him in every way possible at gatherings, acknowledged that fact. He had heard them whispering several times that they didn’t know Moon Do-heon would marry a recessive omega just to enjoy his pretty face.
In the end, it turned out as they cursed, and he ended up with an infertile ending.
Cheong-yeon sighed and entered keywords related to advertising or modeling to find a place to apply.
“What? The hourly wage is still this much?”
Cheong-yeon, who had been looking at the amount written in disbelief, counted the numbers with his hand.
It was money he couldn’t even buy a meal at a hotel with. He would have to work for two full days to barely afford a 7-course dinner with a glass of wine.
“Haah…”
Cheong-yeon sighed with a dazed expression. Originally, his family wasn’t well-off, and since both dads poured all their support into his brother who was good at studying, Cheong-yeon had lived frugally from a young age.
But after marrying Do-heon, he had no worries about money, so it became natural to consume only the highest quality, and his sense of reality had greatly diminished.
“I really seem to be living by sucking my fingers.”
Of course, it wasn’t that he had no money in his account. He had saved some from part-time jobs before marriage and had some emergency funds saved during his married life, but this was money to be used for finding a house.
So, for the time being, he had no choice but to make a living with part-time jobs and tighten his belt. It was not the time to talk about fine dining.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to an interview.”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
Ji-han, who had come in after smoking outside, asked in surprise. Cheong-yeon tidied his clothes and fixed his hair while looking in the mirror.
Looking at his shabby profile picture taken with his phone, there were a few places that contacted him to come for an interview right away.
“Yeah. They’re looking for a shopping mall model, and they told me to come now.”
“Is it okay to sell your face?”
“Otherwise, should I live by sucking my fingers without money? I have to do something. I’ve been lying like a corpse for days, so now I’m going to earn my keep.”
“Why don’t you ask Moon Do-heon? Why bother to buy and suffer?”
“…Forget it. I really don’t want to get involved with that guy anymore.”
Cheong-yeon muttered in a subdued voice. If he went to him and begged for help, he would get financial support, but he didn’t want to do that even if he had to roll on the streets.
Cheong-yeon recalled the day when his health was at its worst and he was diagnosed with infertility. It was indescribably desperate and sad. At the same time as the sense of loss that his usefulness had completely disappeared in this cruel family, he was afraid of what kind of reaction Do-heon would show.
At first, he expected that Do-heon would come to him after getting angry and ask if he was okay, even if it was just once.
But Do-heon never came to Cheong-yeon even after ten days since he was discharged from the hospital. He had no interest or feelings for him from the beginning.
He was angry at himself for waiting for him for ten days without knowing that. He should have left there right away. Whether he ran out or struggled to please Moon Do-heon’s heart, he realized too late that Do-heon had no interest in him at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
