Chapter 82
A silence fell over the house. Walking leisurely to the kitchen, cutting through the quiet, Do-heon took out a cup and drank water from the purifier.
There was nothing unnatural about this series of movements.
What exactly is wrong with him?
Cheong-yeon looked suspiciously between Do-heon and the employee.
“Director, that’s…”
“Why are you here without saying anything? I don’t remember inviting you.”
Do-heon cut off the employee’s explanation and asked Cheong-yeon. His normally even-toned voice was lower and raspier than usual. It sounded slightly hoarse.
“Are you really asking why I came here without knowing?”
Cheong-yeon didn’t like how Do-heon was pretending not to know anything despite him having explained while knocking on his door earlier. He folded his arms and stared up at Do-heon intensely.
“Have you been drinking?”
“Is that important?”
Though Cheong-yeon hadn’t even approached him, Do-heon moved further away from him, raising one eyebrow. He seemed to be thinking about something for a moment before interrogating the employee.
“Who opened the door for him?”
“He opened it and came in himself.”
Do-heon clicked his tongue. But Cheong-yeon had his own excuses.
“I didn’t change the passcode, so I thought you were inviting me in.”
What was I supposed to do when it opened with my usual code? Cheong-yeon shrugged his shoulders brazenly.
“I’m pretty sure I said we shouldn’t see each other this week. Did you suddenly miss me?”
“Not seeing each other is fine, but everyone I ask tells me something different. You’re comfortably resting at home like this, but they tell me you’re on a business trip far away, or that you’re at the company. Don’t you think your excuses are too flimsy?”
Cheong-yeon shot back without hiding his sarcastic tone.
“You could have just honestly said you didn’t want to see me. Why lie about it? It’s not like you’re playing games with me.”
“I don’t have any obligation to be completely honest with you, nor do I want to have a long conversation with someone who isn’t in their right mind. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave as soon as you sober up.”
Do-heon’s confident attitude despite being caught in a lie was infuriating. Was he not even going to try to explain himself? This wasn’t a joke; it was their contract.
“Besides, if we’re talking about lies, you must have told plenty yourself. Over the past three years.”
Moreover, Do-heon turned the arrow of blame toward Cheong-yeon. He inhaled sharply, upset.
“Back then, I lied for your sake—no, because I wanted to look good to you. But now…!”
“But now?”
Do-heon raised his chin as if daring him to continue.
“…”
Cheong-yeon realized a beat too late that he had said something unnecessary. It was awkward and outdated to bring up his own pathetic past feelings in front of the employees.
“Now I don’t need to try to impress you, so I don’t lie. Of course, there’s also the contract…”
Cheong-yeon bit his lower lip, trailing off.
“Anyway. Explain properly why you’re acting like this. Don’t think you can brush this off. This avoidance—are you perhaps getting married to someone else…?”
“Next time. Not today.”
Do-heon cut him off, putting his empty cup down on the table with a thud. Then, with an expression that said he didn’t want to hear any more, he nodded to the employee standing behind him like a shadow.
“He’ll probably continue this drunken rant for a few more hours before falling asleep, so please prepare a room for Yoo Cheong-yeon.”
“Yes, Director.”
After giving his instructions, Do-heon’s gaze returned to Cheong-yeon.
“Don’t make any more noise here. Stay quietly until morning, and when the driver arrives for work, take the car home.”
“You called me an intruder before, so why are you suddenly telling me to stay overnight? Why is the Director deciding this? I’ll leave on my own even if I’m not sober.”
Cheong-yeon snorted at his fickleness.
“It’s my house, so I decide. Know that you won’t be able to take a single step outside this house until you’re sober.”
Perhaps because his voice was deeper than usual, his words sounded ominous. Cheong-yeon’s lips twitched in confusion at his authoritative directive.
“No, what… Who are you to stop me from taking a single step outside? Are you planning to tie me up?”
“You think I can’t?”
Do-heon retorted in a warning tone. His expression was more cynical and sharp than ever before. At a glance, he seemed angry.
“…”
“Or are you deliberately acting like this because you want to be locked up?”
This was the first time he had ever intimidated him like this, and Cheong-yeon froze in place facing him. He could feel that this wasn’t simply a joke.
The employees who had been holding their breath listening to the conversation also seemed surprised, and a gasp could be heard from around them.
“Make absolutely sure that Yoo Cheong-yeon cannot leave before sunrise. Understood?”
“…Yes, Director.”
While Cheong-yeon remained frozen, Do-heon coldly surveyed the people standing motionless, then went back upstairs to his room.
Feeling the intense silence permeating the living room, Cheong-yeon finally regained his senses and swallowed dryly.
Although what he had just heard was shocking, he was also worried because Do-heon didn’t seem well. Concerned, he stared up at the second floor, and an employee approached him.
“I’ll prepare the first-floor guest room for you to rest comfortably. The Director said not to go to the second floor, so I’m afraid you can’t use your usual room today.”
She spoke as if trying to comfort Cheong-yeon. Snapping out of his daze, Cheong-yeon grabbed the employee’s arm.
“Ma’am, come here for a moment.”
“Yes?”
Without any explanation, Cheong-yeon took the employee to the utility room. Then he stared at her intently, to the point of discomfort.
“Please be honest with me. Is Moon Do-heon seeing someone else? Is he preparing for marriage recently…?”
“What? No! How could you say such a thing! Absolutely not!”
Before Cheong-yeon could even finish his question, the woman jumped up and vehemently denied it. As if Cheong-yeon had said something inappropriate. However, she remained silent about what exactly was wrong with Do-heon.
“…”
As always, Moon Do-heon and the people working in this house wouldn’t tell him anything. That’s why Cheong-yeon felt like an isolated island whenever he was among them.
It was consistently an unpleasant place.
“Then let me ask one more thing. Is Moon Do-heon sick?”
“I can’t speak freely about matters related to the Director.”
“I found this while looking through the utility room earlier.”
Cheong-yeon took out the prescription he had discovered by chance while looking for garbage bags. It listed various medications prescribed to Do-heon.
“Ah, why is this here…”
He had considered asking Do-heon directly, but Cheong-yeon judged that it would be easier to persuade the employee to find out what was going on than to interrogate him.
However, the employee lowered her voice and shook her head firmly.
“This is something I cannot speak about. You know it’s the Director’s personal information.”
“You can’t tell me because it’s personal information? But why were you freely talking about it before?”
“Before? What are you talking about…?”
“When I was discharged from the hospital and confined to my room.”
Cheong-yeon brought up past events he’d rather forget to pressure the employee.
“You had no problem gossiping with others here, did you? Talking about how Moon Do-heon had dinner with another Omega, or speculating about how I became infertile. All that chatter.”
“Mr. Cheong-yeon, that was…”
“You know I was lying in bed groaning for ten days after my infertility diagnosis, right? Back then, you all gathered in the living room and talked freely, so why can’t you speak now? Am I that easy to walk over?”
The employee, understanding what Cheong-yeon was saying, struggled to find a response and just moved her lips without speaking.
After a moment, having organized her thoughts, she cleared her throat and spoke with difficulty.
“That day… that was my mistake. If I had known you were listening, I would never have spoken that way. …I’m sorry.”
“You know what? I divorced because of what you said that day.”
“…”
“I wonder if Moon Do-heon would stay quiet if I told him about this?”
It felt uncomfortable to corner someone much older than himself like this, but he had no other option at the moment.
“Mr. Cheong-yeon. I truly made a mistake then. But this time…”
“I’ll pretend I don’t know about it for the rest of my life if you just tell me what’s going on with Moon Do-heon, ma’am. Is he sick from overworking? Or is it accident aftereffects? Insomnia?”
The employee seemed deeply disturbed by the mention of causing the divorce, but she still couldn’t readily answer Cheong-yeon’s question.
“Or should I go upstairs right now and tell him the truth?”
“It’s a rut cycle imbalance.”
At that moment, a woman named Seyoung, who had been listening to their conversation from a distance, suddenly interjected.
Cheong-yeon turned his head toward Seyoung, having never heard this unfamiliar term before.
“Rut cycle imbalance? What’s that?”
“Ms. Kim Seyoung!”
The employee urgently shouted, putting her finger to her lips, gesturing for her to be quiet. However, Kim Seyoung protested as if she felt wronged.
“If I don’t speak now, we might all get fired!”
“Tell me more about it. Is it serious?”
“Well, we’re Betas so we don’t know much… but according to the doctor who visited recently, the Director has developed an abnormality in his pheromone function because he’s been suppressing his rut for three years.”
“…”
“Others say there’s no need to tell Mr. Cheong-yeon, but honestly, I think if anyone should know about this, it’s you.”
“Ms. Kim Seyoung! That’s enough presumptuous talk. This matter will not be overlooked.”
“Ma’am, I’m really sorry, but you know you don’t have the right to say that right now.”
When Cheong-yeon quietly rebuked her, the employee closed her mouth and avoided his gaze.
Meanwhile, Cheong-yeon seriously considered Do-heon’s rut cycle.
Come to think of it, had he ever witnessed Do-heon’s rut? He had always worried about his own pheromones and heat cycles but had never considered his cycle. Not even once.
He had firmly believed, unconsciously, that unlike himself, Do-heon was a Dominant Alpha and therefore wouldn’t have any problems.
For such a Do-heon to have a pheromone imbalance issue? Was that why he made up lies and postponed their meeting?
Cheong-yeon recalled Do-heon’s face from earlier. His voice was cracked and he seemed somewhat sensitive, but he didn’t look terribly ill…
Why had he never once asked Do-heon about his rut?
Learning this unexpected news made him feel uncomfortable, as if a stone had been placed on his heart.
“Is it… a serious illness?”
Cheong-yeon moved his lips several times before finally speaking with difficulty. Kim Seyoung shook her head.
“We don’t know how serious this is either. The Director hasn’t told us anything…”
Thinking about it, Cheong-yeon had always considered himself the victim in their relationship. He had never imagined that Do-heon might develop problems from their marriage, so the shock was even greater.
Silently looking down at the prescription, Cheong-yeon eventually went back upstairs. He heard the employee calling him from behind, but he didn’t have the energy to respond.
Rushing straight to Do-heon’s room, Cheong-yeon mindlessly knocked on the door.
Bang, bang, bang, bang.
“Director. We need to talk.”
But once again, there was no answer from inside. Cheong-yeon urgently called Do-heon’s name several more times. The thought that he needed to immediately check if he was alright was foremost in his mind.
He had come outside normally earlier, so why was he so quiet once he went into his room?
His patience was eroding by the second as he felt increasingly unsettled. After anxiously calling for him, Cheong-yeon took a moment to catch his breath and glared at the door.
“If you don’t open the door now, I’m going to leave by myself and walk all the way home.”
Even though there was no guarantee that Do-heon would care about such a thing, Cheong-yeon declared it boldly. It was purely an impulsive threat.
“…”
It was still quiet beyond the door. Suddenly embarrassed, Cheong-yeon sighed. He had to accept that Do-heon had no intention of talking with him.
After loitering for a few more seconds, he was about to reluctantly retreat. That’s when the firmly closed door suddenly flung open.
At the same time, an intense pheromone unlike anything he had ever experienced before penetrated his body.
Cheong-yeon stared with a shocked face at Do-heon standing in front of the door. Though he couldn’t feel anything just moments ago, now the air was so saturated with pheromones that it was difficult to breathe.
“Uh…”
Just as Cheong-yeon opened his lips to say something, Do-heon wrapped his hand around his waist and yanked him into the room.
“Whoa!”
Before he could adjust to the sensation of his body being pulled by Do-heon’s strong arm, he heard the door slam shut.
Cheong-yeon looked up in confusion at Do-heon, who had pulled him into the room and pushed him against the wall.
“Director…?”
“I told you. To stay quiet until you’re sober and then leave.”
Do-heon muttered in a voice so low it was chilling.
However, Cheong-yeon couldn’t immediately understand his words. The Alpha pheromones were overwhelming, not just covering his skin but seemingly crushing his nerves. He felt immobilized, as if bound.
“Um, wait, Director, your pheromones are too…”
“It’s too late.”
Do-heon stared directly at Cheong-yeon with eyes clearly different from what he had seen in the living room. In his pupils, unsatisfied impulses dangerously rippled.
As he roughly ran his hand through his hair, Cheong-yeon tried to move away from Do-heon by stepping randomly into an empty space.
Do-heon didn’t let the confused Cheong-yeon go and followed closely. Even knowing that he was frightened, he showed no intention of backing off.
Instinctively backing away, Cheong-yeon caught his heel on something and plopped down.
“Ah!”
Fortunately, there was a bed behind him, and he landed on the soft mattress.
Do-heon exhaled a short breath and looked down at Cheong-yeon, who had helplessly sat on the bed of his own accord.
“Director, wait. Let’s talk… First, can you do something about your pheromones? This isn’t right.”
“You should have left quietly when I told you to.”
“I can’t breathe now. This is weird…”
“Bear with it. You brought this on yourself.”
Do-heon pushed Cheong-yeon’s shoulder with his fingertip. His body flipped backward like a fluttering piece of paper.
Cheong-yeon simply couldn’t muster any strength in his body. It moved limply, as if it didn’t belong to him. The Alpha pheromones were sapping his strength, compelling him to submit before the Alpha.
“Ugh… ah…”
Do-heon climbed onto the bed over Cheong-yeon, who had collapsed without being able to put up any resistance. He trapped his trembling body between his legs and looked down at him predatorily.
“I warned you before. That you can’t handle my rut.”
The ever-rational Do-heon was nowhere to be found, and only a voice seething with desire filled the room.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
