Hidden Vice 46

I’ve been frequently witnessing the younger brother drinking late at night when everyone else is asleep.

Tonight, too, I was coming in late, carefully climbing the stairs with muffled footsteps, when I noticed a bright light on the opposite side of the staircase. Thinking he might have fallen asleep with the lights on, I headed toward the younger brother’s area and found him sprawled on the sofa in the small living room, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle.

“Sneaking around like a stray cat. Like you’re in heat or something.”

The younger brother snickered at me with unfocused eyes. It’s not like we can’t afford the electric bill—I should have just ignored him and gone to bed.

As I was silently swallowing a sigh, the younger brother waved his hand, beckoning me over. Knowing that nothing good would come from being near him, I reluctantly approached and sat on the furthest end of the sofa from him.

“Looks like you’ve been rolling around again today? That pungent smell stings my nose.”

Is this sexual harassment extending from the “night flower” scent comment? This bastard criticizes me as if he’s never fucked anyone. An onlooker might mistake him for a parent managing his child.

“What kind of guy are you meeting to smell like that? Do you have some weakness he’s exploiting to drag you around?”

“No, I don’t.”

“If you’re sticking to him voluntarily, you really have strange tastes. Though I could tell that from when you started doing crazy things.”

The younger brother chuckled as he poured whiskey into a glass and pushed it toward me. At his commanding “Drink,” I silently stared down at the glass.

By the way, do I really smell strange? Do Alphas and Omegas emit a distinctive odor after sex? Given how often he points it out, either there’s something wrong with his nose, or I really do have a strange smell. I should ask Kwon Yikang about this later.

“A few days ago… I heard Father yelling angrily. His voice echoed quite loudly.”

“That’s none of your business. Know your place, you fucking bastard.”

When I casually brought it up, the younger brother reacted more sensitively than I expected. He furrowed his brow intensely and glared at me as if he would devour me. I leaned back comfortably on the sofa, hiding my rising smile.

“Yes, I know my place very well. I think of myself as someone completely unrelated to this family or the hospital.”

“Good to hear you think that way. You should just stay quiet, take whatever small portion of wealth Father gives you, and quietly leave. Don’t drool with greed. Like your father does.”

“What greed could my father have? He’s not just sitting at home staring at Father the hospital director; he runs an art gallery. He must have his own wealth to some extent.”

“Don’t make me laugh. It’s obvious what your father is trying to do with our father, and you’re pretending not to know? If he had no greed, there’d be no reason for him to grovel before Grandfather like that. I know the dark intentions of you two.”

He’s definitely infected with the demon of suspicion from his inferiority complex and victimization mentality. That’s why he barks at my Omega father and me too.

“Why do you think my father still holds onto the art gallery? It would be comfortable to just stay home and do nothing, so why would he bother going out to work? Since he doesn’t expect anything to fall to me, he’s probably planning to pass that down to me at least.”

I actually have no fucking idea why the Omega father runs an art gallery, but I just spouted whatever came to mind. It’s not like the younger brother would go ask the Omega father for confirmation anyway.

“And if I was greedy for the hospital, why would I have gone to art school? I would have gone to medical school. So don’t suspect innocent people and just relax, hyung. …Isn’t there someone else you should be concerned about instead of me or my father?”

The person you should be focusing all your energy on is the eldest brother. Not the Omega father or me who are just on the periphery. Don’t get distracted, focus on one person and bark at him. Running around here and there is just a waste of effort.

At my words, the younger brother gulped down his drink as if he was thirsty. Watching him, I felt somewhat amused and picked up the glass in front of me, taking a sip.

Fucking hell, he’s drinking this strong stuff like water. The crazy one isn’t me but this bastard.

I barely managed to swallow the liquid I almost spat out, taking a deep breath as my throat felt like it was on fire. I needed fresh air before I could breathe fire.

“Well, anyway, the eldest brother probably doesn’t care at all. He likely thinks it’s natural that he’ll become the hospital director.”

“Shut up!”

“Just look at him during family meals. See if his gaze toward me differs from his gaze toward you, the younger brother. To him, both the younger brother and I are less than insects…”

“I said shut up!”

The younger brother screamed as he threw his drinking bottle in my direction. His bloodshot eyes were glaring at me as if they would kill me.

Yes, get excited. Get more agitated and act like a dog. It’s your insides that are rotting away anyway.

“You know this doesn’t help you, right? It only makes people compare you more to the eldest brother. I have no lingering attachment to this family’s wealth or the hospital, but… how about you? Do you really have no attachment? Are you okay with the eldest brother taking everything?”

Actually, I do have some attachment to this family’s wealth. I’m not interested in the hospital since it’s not something I can cash out. Nevertheless, I smiled innocently like someone telling the truth.

“Look for your opportunity.”

I got up from the sofa after watching the younger brother breathe raggedly.

“The eldest brother is off guard because he doesn’t even consider you as a rival, let alone an obstacle. Wait for that one opportunity and seize it.”

Whether that snake-like eldest brother will give such an opportunity, I don’t know.

I don’t know if the opportunity will arise, if the younger brother can seize it if it does, or if what he thinks is an opportunity is actually one… but if the younger brother starts a dogfight with the eldest, that would be good enough for me.

There’s nothing as entertaining as watching a dogfight, and as long as it doesn’t harm me, I couldn’t care less about these two dog-like brothers fighting.

Cha Sukyung, right?

You would also enjoy looking down from heaven, watching those who disrespected you fighting like dogs.

∞ ∞ ∞

I belatedly realized that family meals weren’t a frequent occurrence. Since there was no reason for them to make an effort to gather for my discharge, even that first meal together was probably just a coincidence upon coincidence.

“Wow, it’s just the three of us today? Only our diligent eldest brother comes straight home after work, while the rest seem to be running late.”

“If you’re going to eat, sit down quietly.”

The large table was awkwardly filled with the eldest brother, his wife, and me. I glanced at the sister-in-law who was primly lifting her spoon without even looking in my direction, then shifted my gaze to my brother.

“Is that gathering by invitation only? I heard you’ve been meeting since childhood. Did people on the list get together and become close?”

“Initially it was just for socializing, but we changed it to a membership system to prevent random people from mixing in.”

“Why don’t sister-in-law and the younger brother attend?”

I asked while pretending not to know, scooping rice into my mouth. The eldest brother’s face became slightly uncomfortable, and his wife answered as if making excuses.

“It’s not good for a married Omega to go out too much. The public perception isn’t good either.”

“Why? Aren’t Omegas people too? Is there a rule that married Alphas can go out but married Omegas can’t?”

“Uneducated Omegas who go out like that often experience unpleasant incidents. Since your father works at the art gallery and spends a lot of time outside, you might not have noticed, but generally, Omegas who work outside are not viewed favorably.”

Ah, so this is how she’ll criticize me indirectly.

I couldn’t understand why people would view Omegas working outside negatively, even as we discussed it. It’s just that people see it negatively, and Omegas who work outside are supposedly uneducated. I couldn’t even begin to find the words to counter such baseless conviction.

“I see. I saw an Omega there. She must be an unmarried Omega. You know, that person. I arrived a bit late, and she was coming out of what looked like a private room with you, hyung.”

The sister-in-law’s expression sharpened. The eldest brother kept his mouth shut and continued eating, though his chopstick movements seemed to quicken slightly.

“But that’s a gathering, right? It’s different from working outside. Can’t Omegas even attend gatherings?”

“It’s not that they can’t attend; they usually avoid it on their own. I’ve never seen an Omega who attends such gatherings being praised for proper conduct.”

The sister-in-law’s voice had an edge to it, but I nodded as if grateful for her answer.

“Then what about the younger brother?”

“That gathering isn’t for just anyone. I hope you appreciate that the young master accompanying you there shows how much consideration he gave you.”

“But the eldest brother goes there too. Aren’t the younger brother and eldest brother the same?”

I purposely didn’t include myself. The point here was the younger brother. At my words, the sister-in-law narrowed her eyes and snorted.

“You can’t compare Donghu young master with my husband. My husband is destined for great things.”

Great things, what nonsense. At most, he’ll inherit the hospital. How many hospitals are there in Korea? Inheriting just one hospital doesn’t make it some great achievement. It’s not even funny.

“It didn’t seem like a carefully selected gathering to me. It looked like anyone could join? The eldest brother is just a doctor. Doctors are dime a dozen at Hosan Hospital, and the younger brother is a doctor too. Is the eldest brother some representative figure in the medical field that I don’t know about? He introduced me to people there, but none of them mentioned their own professions. Just someone’s son, someone’s daughter, someone’s child, someone’s grandchild. Are they all unemployed?”

“Young master!”