Wind leaked through the gap in the door. The surroundings were so quiet that the sound of the wind could be heard clearly.
Wrapped in red silk, Doha knelt on the floor, looking up at the man he had loved.
“…Your Majesty.”
The man he had always looked at steadfastly throughout his time in the palace. The man who commanded the world, cared for his people, and implemented various policies. Yet now, this man who had never shown his heart to Doha was looking down at him while sitting with another concubine.
In this main hall where he discussed state affairs with his officials each morning, on this aged floor where officials stood, Doha showed no signs of getting up.
“…I have never slandered the Noble Consort.”
Tears flowed down Doha’s white face. It was a sight so beautiful that the title “The Most Beautiful in the World” seemed fitting. Doha’s black hair fell across his face.
Nevertheless, the man standing before Doha remained unmoved.
“I suppose not. Bin has always said so.”
His tone was cold, as if he wasn’t facing someone who was crying. From his voice, Doha realized the man’s heart had already left him.
Doha’s once steady voice began to tremble slightly.
“Also… I have never manipulated state affairs, nor have I killed anyone.”
“…Go on.”
Doha’s eyes turned toward the man. Though filled with tears, they also contained anger and venom.
“I have never pushed the Noble Consort, nor have I harassed him.”
“More…!”
“No matter how many times I denied it… Your Majesty has never listened to me.”
The Noble Consort, Seowoo, seemed startled when his eyes met Doha’s and hid behind the man’s back. Feeling Seowoo’s trembling body, the man firmly held Seowoo’s hand.
Doha’s gaze fell on their clasped hands and then away.
“…No matter what the outcome, I will resent Your Majesty.”
“…”
“I will never say that it was all my fault, or tell you to forget me and live happily.”
“…”
“I will pray to the gods of heaven and earth that we hate each other until the moment of death.”
At that moment, the Noble Consort’s lips curved upward as if he had heard something amusing. Unfortunately, only Doha noticed that smile. As if to remember it until his dying moment, Doha took in the faces of the man and the Noble Consort.
His eyes burned. They felt like they would burst at any moment. Doha wanted to cover his eyes with both hands, but he didn’t.
“Is that all?”
The voice carried no emotion. This was the man Doha had loved. Where had he found such a wretched man to love?
As Doha let out a hollow laugh, the man glanced behind him.
The guard warriors standing behind grabbed Doha by both hands and pulled him. The red silk dragged along the floor. It was silk that had shone brightly at the wedding ceremony.
Doha bit his lip and watched the man until the end.
“You said you cherished me… you said you loved me…!”
He could see the Noble Consort embracing the man’s waist. Before the door closed completely, the Noble Consort looked at Doha.
“I won.” Doha noticed the Noble Consort’s lips silently forming the words. Dragged outside Sajeongcheon, Doha whispered.
“…I should not have trusted.”
The doors of Sajeongcheon closed. The innermost door closed, the middle door closed, and the outer door closed. As if nothing could intrude, Sajeongcheon was completely sealed off.
Doha sank to the floor and bowed his head. Tears dripped onto the floor. His appearance was so sorrowful that no one dared approach him.
The wind blew, and Doha’s red silk fluttered.
“Cut!”
“Good work everyone!”
As soon as the director gave the cut sign, Doha’s manager rushed over. Until his manager helped him up, Doha could only continue to shed tears.
“…Are you okay?”
The manager looked at Doha with worried eyes. Doha nodded, but his face remained pale.
“I… need to go… to the waiting room…”
“Yes, yes! Let’s go to the waiting room.”
Leaning on his manager, Doha slowly walked forward. With each step, a subtle pheromone wafted around him. At the sweet scent, the heads of the alpha staff naturally turned toward Doha.
Tears that had not yet dried crossed his white cheeks. When tears gathered at his sharply defined jawline, the sound of someone swallowing could be heard from somewhere. The sight was so heartbreaking that neither the staff nor the director could take their eyes off him.
“…Wow… Damn. Kim Doha is unbelievable in person.”
A staff member who had started work that day muttered. His words echoed through the set, but no one contradicted him.
* * *
Kim Doha. He was a skilled actor known not only domestically but also internationally. Every show he appeared in not only ranked first in viewership but also attracted an enormous amount of corporate advertisements and sponsorships.
There was a certain immersion in his acting. Anyone who watched his performance once couldn’t take their eyes off it until the end. Part of it was due to his handsome appearance and atmosphere, but more than that… he had something that captivated people.
On one hand, there were opinions that Doha had secured his position by exploiting his omega qualities, but Doha silenced these opinions by making every project he appeared in a success each year. The contempt and injustice he suffered for being an omega became his driving force that kept him moving.
This position was one he had reached by overcoming grief and dismissal. As a guaranteed success, calls for him came from both the film and drama industries, but Kim Doha himself wasn’t confident in handling multiple projects.
“…Doha! Kim Doha!”
That was because he could only act through method acting.
“Sniff… I can’t… stop crying either…”
As Doha wiped his eyes with tissues, his manager paced back and forth in front of him. Seeing the sweet scent stinging his nose, it seemed he couldn’t control his pheromones either. The manager hurriedly took out medicine from his bag and placed it on the dressing table.
“It would be a disaster if your face swells up tomorrow…”
“Do I have a lot of schedules tomorrow?”
“Yes, it’s packed.”
Tomorrow and the day after were packed with photo shoots and advertising schedules, but this Kim Doha didn’t know how to stop crying. The area around his eyes was already turning red.
“Damn… this is driving me crazy.”
Doha roughly rubbed his eyes. He had removed the red silk and makeup, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Just thinking about the man still made his heart ache and feel like it was tearing apart.
“…Sniff.”
For Doha, the scenarios of all dramas and movies were reality. Once he took on a role, that role became completely his own.
When he played a cold-blooded assassin, he didn’t smile even once during the entire filming, and when he played someone missing an eye, he actually kept one eye closed. Because of this, there had been controversies about his personality.
“Ha… shit… should I retire…?”
“What?”
“I can’t live like this forever.”
Being swayed by scenarios and characters was something he absolutely hated. Especially at times like this when tears wouldn’t stop, he was also troubled in his own way. Not being able to control his pheromones was a given, and he had been rumored to be in relationships multiple times because he reacted sensitively to alphas’ pheromones more than usual.
“Hoo… I feel like I’m going to die from crying.”
He had already used up a whole box of tissues, and no matter how much he reached in, he couldn’t grab any more. His manager, noticing Doha’s discomfort, quickly brought water.
“You need to drink water. You’ve been dehydrated six times just this month.”
“That’s because I’m just pouring out tears.”
The manager looked at Doha with an incredulous expression.
I really should retire.
Doha thought, gasping for breath. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t live like this. Especially in this project, perhaps because the character had the same name as him, he couldn’t break free from the character.
This drama, set in the fictional country of Shinguk, had a scenario written with Doha in mind, so even the character’s name was Doha. As a result, Doha was being called Doha both in the drama and outside.
“Such an unpleasant name…”
Just as he was seriously considering retirement, his manager took out tissues from inside the dressing table, handed them to Doha, and said:
“Drink your water. I’ll go out and bring more drinks.”
“…Okay.”
“Try to control your pheromones until I get back.”
After the manager left, the waiting room was filled with the sound of Doha’s breathing. Doha looked at the mirror on the dressing table. From all the rubbing, his eyes were already red and swollen.
“Damn, I have to shoot a commercial tomorrow.”
He raised both hands to cover his eyes. The warm sensation transferred to his eyes. Perhaps because of this, Doha’s head started to feel dizzy.
“Oh no…”
Wobbly. His body tilted. Doha tried to open his eyes quickly, but they wouldn’t open as he willed.
Everything moved in slow motion. His slowly tilting body leaving the chair and touching the floor happened in an instant. However, there was no sound of his body hitting the floor.
I really should have retired.
In that brief moment, Doha thought.
* * *
When he opened his eyes again, he was in the scenario.
“Your Highness, did you cough?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
