#27
With trembling hands, I held out my credit card, and the shop owner swiped it smoothly. Having tensed up with my neck stiffened, I sighed in relief when the payment processed normally.
“Our customer is very decisive. It’s been a while since I’ve had such a clean transaction all at once. Actually, when purchasing by the kilogram, we can buy cheaply from the factory, so we can sell at a lower price too. You won’t find anywhere selling cheaper than us if you compare. I don’t say this before the purchase because even if I say it’s cheap, people complain that I’m lying or that there’s something wrong with the product. Anyway, you made a good purchase today.”
I’m not sure if it really was cheap or not, but I was satisfied with the fact that I had purchased a one-kilogram gold bar. Trying to suppress my pounding heart, I nodded with a facade of calmness.
“Thank you. It would be nice to see you again next month.”
“What are you planning to buy next month?”
At the shop owner’s question, I pointed to the shopping bag containing the one-kilogram gold bar. A smile spread across the shop owner’s face, and I quickly left the store with the shopping bag.
Realizing I was done, Lee Gyeongjin brought the parked car, and only after getting into the back seat did I let out a big sigh.
“I never thought I could buy this with a credit card. I was really anxious about hitting the limit. I wonder what my card limit actually is.”
“I’m not sure about the young master’s card limit, but I believe the other young masters’ cards have no limit.”
“What? Don’t joke around.”
“I wasn’t joking, but shall we head home now?”
“…There are cards without limits? Really? Then is mine like that too?”
“If you buy gold bars all at once, won’t the family elders take some measures?”
Lee Gyeongjin seems to be gradually figuring out my intentions. I let my shoulders drop from their excited state and leaned back calmly.
“Driver Lee.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to tell Father about today?”
“…”
“Then when you tell him, could you say that I bought it because I wanted one? No, tell him that when he asked why I bought it, that was my answer.”
“I understand. …Then what should I say next month when you buy another one?”
“At that time… that I seem to have developed a hobby of collecting gold? Something like that should work, right?”
It’s a ridiculous excuse, but out of billions of people, you can’t guarantee that not a single person has a hobby of collecting gold. I could have developed such a hobby, and no one but me would know the truth.
“May I know the real reason?”
“I already mentioned it earlier. Because I don’t know what might happen to me later, I want to collect them instead of cash. Right now I have a credit card I can use freely, but it’s not actually my card. If my fathers freeze it, I can’t use it, and if by any chance my fathers go bankrupt, I’d have no means to survive. It’s not like I have a job and savings of my own.”
“Young master will never need to sell that gold to survive.”
Lee Gyeongjin reassured me with a small smile. In his eyes, I probably just look adorably like a younger sibling, but if he knew that inside was Min Jaehee who had wandered through back alleys, that thought would change instantly.
To Min Jaehee’s eyes, the house I currently live in and the credit card in my hand looked like a sandcastle. A sandcastle that could be washed away by waves and sea wind at any moment. That’s why I needed something tangible that I could hold in my hand. Something I could be certain was mine.
∞ ∞ ∞
“Young master.”
Following a polite knock, I heard a voice calling for me. The people in this house are incredibly polite even when knocking. For some reason, I feel like I should stand up to receive them.
“Yes, come in.”
The one who opened the door and entered was Director Cha. As always, she was neatly dressed with tidy hair and a calm face. She held out a tray she had brought.
“You haven’t taken your medicine, have you? After being discharged from the hospital, many things may be unfamiliar, but you must take your medicine.”
Hmm, I didn’t forget to take that medicine; I just didn’t need it.
It was quite an ordeal to pretend to take it and spit it out later every time Director Cha brought it to me. After a moment’s consideration, I decided to tell the truth.
“Director Cha. I don’t need to take the medicine anymore. That’s why I didn’t take it.”
“I understand how you feel after taking the medicine, young master. Your body feels sluggish and your head feels foggy, right? But you still need to take it. When you didn’t take it for a few days saying you were fine, that accident happened… I should have made sure you took it. So please don’t say you won’t take it.”
“No, I really don’t need to take it…”
But to Director Cha, all my words seemed to sound like excuses. Well, it made sense, since Cha Sukyung had caused a suicide incident after not taking the medicine for a few days, so there was a lack of trust.
“This is something I discussed with Father when I was in the hospital. Then let me get a definite answer from Father and tell you. I’m not lying; I really don’t need to take the medicine. I’m perfectly fine now.”
“Why don’t you take today’s medicine first, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow?”
I could see her determination to make me take the medicine no matter what. I guess it takes this kind of stubbornness to endure in this strange household. But it wasn’t helpful to me.
“Then I’ll go get permission right now. I’ll be back quickly.”
I left Director Cha and quickly exited the room. I wondered if I should have just pretended to take it and spit it out later. I briefly regretted my choice as I went down the stairs to the first floor.
After dinner, the family members had scattered, each shut in their own space and quiet. Neither of my fathers could be seen.
Are they in the bedroom or the study? Slowly recalling the complex layout of the house, I wandered around looking for my fathers’ bedroom.
Arriving at a wooden door carved with vines, I checked my appearance. They don’t like disheveled appearances and always nag about it, and being in a position where I needed a favor, there was no reason to invite criticism.
I dusted off my clothes to straighten them and was about to knock when voices leaked from inside the door. It seemed both of them were in the bedroom.
“Don’t do that. I still have a few documents to review.”
“I just want to hold you for a moment, is that not allowed? The few remaining documents can be handled tomorrow.”
“Then the work will pile up again. It’ll be more tiring.”
“We’ve barely done it lately. Just once, okay? Just once. Don’t be stubborn.”
“Let’s do it next time.”
“When is next time? You’ve been making excuses and postponing constantly. After Sukyung’s accident, you put it off saying you were worried. Now it’s work again? If that’s the case, quit the art gallery. I earn enough money for us.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. That was a slip of the tongue. Honey, are you angry? I’m truly sorry. Are you very tired? Let me give you a massage. Lie down here.”
I was planning to knock politely, but the nuance of the conversation was strange. This doesn’t seem like the right time to knock.
My fathers always appeared cold to each other, and I was a bit worried after hearing at the gathering that the chairman grandfather didn’t look favorably upon my omega father and me, but it seems my fathers’ relationship is actually good. What’s more unexpected was that the alpha father seemed to be more clingy to the omega father.
No, if he likes the omega father so much, why didn’t he visit me even once when I was in the hospital? Is his spouse and child separate matters? I felt inexplicably dissatisfied.
“You seem to have grown colder lately. Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m the same as always. It’s just your feeling.”
“Really? You’ve been acting prickly, constantly avoiding being intimate. Is that just my feeling too?”
“You know I’ve had things to worry about lately. I’m sorry about that. It’ll get better when the art gallery work calms down.”
“So you can’t spare even one night for me? I’m not paying for a night companion, we’re spouses! Are you saying your work is more important than me?”
It felt strange to be secretly listening to others’ private conversation, and it felt even weirder that those others were my parents. It felt like peeking at an adult magazine I shouldn’t be looking at.
Today is not the day. I was about to turn around and leave when my father’s hardened voice flowed from inside.
“Stop it.”
“You… are you seeing another alpha?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m asking if you’re fucking someone else behind my back! Is there someone at the art gallery? Huh? Otherwise, you couldn’t possibly treat me like this. Tell me straight, who is it?”
“Don’t say such nonsense.”
“Otherwise, there’s no way you would reject me like this. What have I done to you? I’ve given you everything you wanted, yet you reject me?”
Rejecting marital relations could lead to murder. I hope it doesn’t come to blows.
Feeling inexplicably anxious, I unconsciously pounded on the door with a loud bang. Any thoughts of a polite knock had been forgotten within a minute of intending it.
“W-what?”
“Father, it’s me. Sukyung. May I come in?”
“Tomorrow…”
“Come in.”
The omega father’s permission cut off the agitated alpha father’s words. I opened the door without hesitation and saw my two fathers awkwardly standing in the bedroom.
“What is it at this hour?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
