—Finally.
She answered.
A low, elegant voice murmured softly, almost like speaking to herself. Haon immediately realized who had called him. In truth, he had already been expecting it.
— You’re at Inho’s hospital right now, aren’t you?
Tightening his grip around his phone, Haon recalled Inho’s mother, whom he had only met once before.
“…Yes.”
He suppressed the urge to ask how she knew. Instead, he stretched out one arm.
Carefully avoiding the IV line, Haon wrapped his hand around Inho’s. Unlike the searing warmth of the night before, Inho’s hand was now cold.
— Let’s meet at the café on the first floor of the hospital in an hour.
She added that she wouldn’t take much of his time and told him not to mention it to Inho. Though her tone wasn’t overtly forceful, there was an unmistakable pressure behind her words. Haon inhaled deeply, squeezing Inho’s hand firmly.
“He’s still unconscious.”
— That’s even better. Don’t be late.
The call ended abruptly.
Haon slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding and set the phone down. He stared at the pitch-black screen for a moment before pressing a hand against his left chest.
“Inho-ssi.”
Gently rubbing the spot where his heart pounded, he spoke to the sleeping Inho.
“I’ll just step out for a little bit.”
Cupping Inho’s cold hand between both of his own, Haon breathed warm air onto it. Inho had always had cold hands and feet, but today, they felt even chillier than usual.
“It won’t take long.”
He tried to warm Inho’s hand with his own tepid body heat, but instead, Haon’s hands simply grew just as cold. Even so, he refused to let go.
***
Haon left exactly at the time Jang Eun-young had specified. He neither dragged his feet nor rushed.
The café on the first floor of the hospital’s main building was open to the public. Haon, staring at the café sign visible from afar, straightened the hands he had been clasping in front of him.
Maybe because it was evening, the area around the café was quiet. There were more medical staff stopping by to grab coffee and snacks to go than actual customers.
As a group of them exited with takeaway cups in hand, the inside of the café came into clearer view. Thanks to that, the woman standing at the center of the café in a beige dress immediately caught his eye.
Sweeping back her voluminous, wavy black hair, she took her seat. Though her dress was in a muted, inconspicuous color, she still drew the gazes of everyone around her. In that way, too, she was remarkably similar to Inho.
At that moment, Haon’s eyes met Jang Eun-young’s just as she finished taking her seat.
She sat still, quietly watching Haon as he approached from a distance. When Haon paused and bowed his head slightly, she showed no response. Her pitch-black eyes simply roamed up and down, scanning his thin frame.
“I went ahead and ordered for us. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Haon uttered a polite thanks as he pulled out a chair and sat down. Right then, Jang Eun-young’s personal assistant arrived, carrying two mugs filled with black coffee. It was a drink Haon didn’t usually touch.
“Drink up.”
Jang Eun-young, dismissing her assistant with a nod toward the car, gestured with her chin. Though she told him to drink, she herself didn’t touch her cup.
Out of courtesy, Haon took a small sip and quickly set the mug back down. The bitterness that spread through his mouth snapped his senses awake. He was glad he had taken a sip.
“Haon-ssi, have you thought about going to college?”
The question came out of nowhere. Haon, who had been gathering saliva to wash away the bitterness, lowered his hand under the table. Thinking he wouldn’t be able to get his voice out properly, he just shook his head.
“Then do you have anything you want to do? No, anything you plan to do?”
Though it didn’t seem like she meant to criticize, every word stabbed like a dagger. Haon placed both hands neatly on his thigh.
“I grew up in the countryside. I was planning to help out with farming.”
Seong-gu hyung had always said that if Haon didn’t have anything he wanted to do later, they could raise cattle together. Besides, in the countryside, where there weren’t many people, if you looked around, you could always find some kind of work. It was the kind of small village perfect for someone like Haon, who didn’t harbor many ambitions. At the very least, he could live without going hungry.
“Then, what could I offer you, Haon-ssi?”
Tilting her head slightly, Jang Eun-young’s gaze softened. She looked at Haon as one would observe an object, not an equal human being.
“I’d like for you to want something.”
“I…”
“Otherwise, it’s harder for me to ask you for a favor.”
Cutting off Haon’s hesitant words, Jang Eun-young smiled thinly.
She scrutinized Haon’s face, pale enough to blend into the white wallpaper behind him. Looking closely, there was still a soft down of baby hairs on his skin.
Was he twenty-one? That immature age suddenly crossed her mind, and the corner of her lips twitched upward.
“You don’t have to give me anything. I don’t want anything at all.”
Taking a small breath, Haon spoke as calmly as he could.
“I’m sorry, but even if you contact me in the future… I won’t answer.”
His voice grew smaller as he pleaded for her to refrain from contacting him anymore. Unable to withstand Jang Eun-young’s piercing gaze, Haon hid his hands under the table once again. Though he was clearly trying his best not to tremble, he couldn’t completely mask his stiff expression.
Crossing her legs, Jang Eun-young raised one corner of her mouth.
“Is that all?”
She looked at him as if she had just watched a child’s clumsy performance.
“If you have anything else you’ve prepared to say, go ahead and say it all.”
Haon’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily as he pressed his lips together.
Jang Eun-young quietly watched Haon’s easily readable reactions before seizing control of the conversation. She hadn’t even stated her real purpose yet.
“There’s no need for you two to break up.”
The voice that spilled from her red lips was calm to the point of being unsettling. The faint lilt of laughter in her tone made her sound, for a moment, almost kind.
“On the contrary, I hope you stay together for as long as possible.”
Jang Eun-young pulled out a palm-sized photo from her bag and spread it out before Haon.
“Just don’t go acting all clingy. He’s the type to get bored of things easily.”
“This is…”
The moment Haon saw the photo, his face twisted. His expression, painted with shock, made Jang Eun-young’s smile deepen.
“You recognize him, don’t you?”
The three photographs showed a man covered in blood. One photo was of his bandaged face, another of his gums, bloody and stripped of all teeth, and another showing his lower body fitted with a catheter.
It was the kind of gruesome imagery you’d only expect from a crime film, and Haon forgot to breathe as he stared. That man was the first person Haon had seen at the mart—the man whose real name he still didn’t even know.
“This is what Inho is like.”
“If you’re going to keep seeing him, you need to know the kind of person he is.”
Leaning back against her chair, Jang Eun-young gazed steadily at Haon’s ghostly pale face.
“Make sure nothing like this happens again. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”
It was a warning to behave appropriately. After meeting Haon, Inho’s violent tendencies, which had been dormant for a while, had started surfacing again. It was proof of just how much influence that young Omega was having over him.
“He’s very sensitive, so don’t provoke him, and definitely don’t stir things up just to cause trouble.”
Sliding the photos back into her bag, Jang Eun-young tapped the table lightly with her fingertips. She hadn’t even gotten to the real point yet, and already Haon’s eyes were losing focus.
Startled by the tapping noise from her long fingernails, Haon blinked. His long eyelashes fluttered prettily, almost annoyingly so. Jang Eun-young stared intently at the pitiful Omega who, other than his face, had nothing else to offer.
“If you think you can’t handle it, say so now.”
She watched as Haon’s small, fist-sized face moved side to side, indicating he was listening. Jang Eun-young tilted her chin up with a smile.
“For whatever reason, it seems like Inho’s completely fallen for you. I’m sure you can tell without me saying it.”
She continued, studying Haon’s pale face with a languid gaze.
“So I want you to persuade Inho. Get him to take over the company.”
Haon’s gaze, which had been drifting aimlessly in the air, finally settled on her.
“He’s surprisingly simple when you get down to it. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince him.”
She casually tossed out a few suggestions that would likely trigger Inho. Haon remained silent, merely clenching his fists.
“There’s no need to overthink it. I’m not asking you to stop seeing him. It’ll be good for you too, so I’m asking for your cooperation.”
Jang Eun-young wore a pleasant smile, the kind that suggested she was certain there could only be one answer from Haon.
“You can manage this much, can’t you? For Inho’s sake.”
As the silence dragged on, Jang Eun-young let out a snort, as if she found it absurd.
“What else could you possibly do for Inho from now on?”
She leaned her arms onto the table, lazily tracing the rim of her warm mug with jewel-adorned fingers.
“Other than warming his bed, you’re useless, aren’t you?”
Haon’s already pale face flushed red. Watching him with amusement, Jang Eun-young tilted her head slightly to the side.
“Right now, Inho looks like he’d slit his own wrists if you asked him to. What about you, Haon-ssi?”
She asked as if genuinely curious.
“Can’t you even help him inherit the company?”
In her mind, it was an obvious duty. If Haon hoped to be the lover of her precious son, the future head of Hansung Group, then the least he could do was cooperate with something this simple.
“Make sure I hear some good news before the year’s over. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Unable to stand Haon’s stifling attitude any longer, Jang Eun-young rose from her seat first. Before leaving the café, she shot him a final, cutting remark, sweeping her gaze up and down him.
“And for God’s sake, change your clothes. You should at least care about appearances.”
The bloodstained shirt caught her eye—and not in a good way. On top of that, the sight of him wandering around in slippers with bare feet thoroughly displeased her.
Sensing her sharp gaze, Haon instinctively tucked his feet under the chair, as if hiding them would make them invisible.
Jang Eun-young was about to exit the café when a faint voice made her pause and glance back.
“Inho-ssi…”
Haon’s hoarse voice trailed off as his eyes stayed fixed on the table. His bloodless face looked so fragile, it seemed like he should be wearing a hospital gown himself.
With the lingering bitterness of coffee on his lips, Haon wet them with his tongue before raising his head.
“Aren’t you even curious… if he’s okay?”
He stared after her departing figure, catching the derisive smile that flickered across her face, and listened to the sharp clack clack of her high heels echoing away.
Even after Jang Eun-young had disappeared, Haon couldn’t bring himself to get up from his seat for a long time.
The sounds around him felt distant, as if coming from another world. Even the pounding of his own heart seemed muted and far away.
