“…”
“Seongho may raise his voice in front of me, but he can barely lift his head in front of others.”
“You, you, you…!”
Seo Myeongyoung turned pale with shock, stuttering and trembling her jaw.
It was true that Yeonwoo received support for his father’s hospital bills and his own living expenses. However, that didn’t mean he wanted to hear comments about his fertility at what was essentially a sales meeting disguised as a matchmaking opportunity. Though he knew Lee Jonghoon had brought him in to exploit his status as a superior omega, Yeonwoo still felt this was going too far.
Looking down at Myeongyoung, whose face had turned white then blue, Yeonwoo spoke.
“I know saying this is meaningless, but I didn’t choose to be born as Lee Jonghoon’s son. My father probably didn’t want to have me either. Still, he took responsibility and raised me well for twenty years instead of getting rid of me.”
“…”
“If my father hadn’t fallen ill, I wouldn’t have accepted this situation. It may be called matchmaking, but I’m essentially being sold as a breeding omega. I understand that. I’m not ignorant. But please, don’t make it so obvious you’re selling me off.”
“…”
“And please stop Seongho from suddenly coming to see me. A few days ago, he hit me, and I got a large bruise on my face. I have a medical certificate for that.”
After listening to Yeonwoo for a while, Myeongyoung took a deep breath and pointed at him with trembling fingers.
“You pretend to be docile in front but are so cunning behind my back…!!”
“You brought me here to sell me off for a good price, right? But who would want me if I showed up with a beaten face? Who knows, rumors might spread that Lee Jonghoon abuses his illegitimate child.”
“How dare you say such things?!!”
“I need to speak up if I want you to be a little more careful.”
His mouth seemed to move more freely than usual. When he met Myeongyoung last year, he couldn’t even open his mouth in front of her and just kept his head down. He must have become much tougher in just a few months. Yeonwoo continued.
“If you want things to go well, please don’t speak so rudely to me or my father. We’re in the same boat now. You’ll need my help to get what you want.”
“…”
“If you want me to stay quiet at the next matchmaking meeting, please control Seongho and don’t suddenly show up like this. Don’t take your anger and frustration out just on me—go confront Lee Jonghoon or your son.”
Even though they were his own words, Yeonwoo felt quite brazen.
He thought that he could have just stayed quiet, gotten grabbed by the collar, and taken a few hits to end the matter, but instead he might have escalated the situation. Nevertheless, Yeonwoo didn’t want to be more miserable here. If not the best life, he at least wanted to live like an ordinary person.
If he had to be sold to someone, he hoped it would be someone who liked him at least a little.
And at that moment, a face appeared in his mind, causing Yeonwoo to shut his eyes tightly. Why did Ho Munbeom’s face come to mind? And just then, Myeongyoung struck Yeonwoo’s head with all her might. Though quite painful, Yeonwoo calmly looked back at her.
Seeing Yeonwoo’s unwavering gaze, Myeongyoung’s face contorted. As she raised her hand again with a “You—,” Yeonwoo spoke calmly.
“Many hospitals are open on weekends.”
“W-what?”
“If you hit me, I’ll get a medical certificate.”
This time she slapped his cheek. Slightly more painful than the head strike, Yeonwoo grimaced. Watching Myeongyoung’s arm rise high, poised to strike again, Yeonwoo began, “If I get married—”
“You’ll receive compensation in some form. That would cover the living expenses you give me and my father’s hospital bills. So why are you doing this?”
“…”
“One way or another, you’ll benefit from me, so I don’t understand why you keep acting this way.”
Yeonwoo had intended to repay what he had received. But these people seemed to resent spending money on him and wanted to hit and insult him whenever they saw him. What would they do if he was treated well where he was sold? If, as they said, he bore children well and was praised for being good and dutiful, what would they do then?
Thinking such thoughts after being hit, Yeonwoo sighed softly at his own pitifulness. At that sigh, Myeongyoung’s face became even more distorted. Though she seemed eager to strike Yeonwoo a few more times, she tried to calm herself with deep breaths. Finding it difficult, she glared at Yeonwoo again.
“Your benefit? What nonsense.”
“…”
“You’re just an illegitimate child and an omega who costs a lot of money. No decent alpha from a good family would live with someone like you. They would want a partner of matching status. So don’t dream. That meeting in Jeonju—that’s exactly your level.”
Myeongyoung twisted her lips upward, her entire face contorted.
“A family with money but with physical defects, mental issues, or barely functioning as humans. Do you know what kind of treatment you’ll receive in such a place? After bearing one child, you’ll either live as a maid or just satisfy sexual desires.”
“…”
“After you’ve been thoroughly used and that decent face of yours gets ruined with age, you’ll be divorced without receiving a penny. At least your father lived with you, but you won’t even be able to do that.”
Myeongyoung’s eyes were twisted. Despite her piercing gaze challenging Yeonwoo to resist like before, he remained still.
If he had talked back or looked down at her arrogantly, she could have reacted somehow, but his sudden passivity left her unsure how to respond.
Suddenly, Myeongyoung felt that Yeonwoo’s gaze was different from before. His calmer, more composed eyes seemed both detached yet focusing directly on her. As if coldly observing and memorizing this moment and situation.
“…”
She recalled when she first met Yeonwoo.
Though reluctant, she had agreed to bring Yeonwoo in at her husband Lee Jonghoon’s insistence, to resolve various complicated matters. Afterward, she had wanted to ignore his existence, but due to Seongho causing trouble, she had to meet him once.
Seeing him unable to raise his head properly, as if aware of his guilt, Myeongyoung had scoffed. He was just a kid who couldn’t even go to college and had nothing. Just a superior omega with a decent face.
Her husband said he would send Yeonwoo to a matchmaking meeting with Ho Munbeom, but she hadn’t thought it would go well. She had assumed they would just sell him at a high price to some nouveau riche family. Back then, she hadn’t hesitated to think that way, but now…
Just then, a loud trot song blared from inside her handbag. Startled, Myeongyoung quickly tucked the bag under her arm and snapped at Yeonwoo.
“I could cut off your father’s hospital bills, so don’t cause unnecessary problems and keep quiet like a dead mouse!!”
Myeongyoung fled the scene, and as Yeonwoo heard the loud sound of the door closing behind her, he tilted his head back. Fatigue suddenly overwhelmed him. Feeling tension in his neck, Yeonwoo knelt down and lay prone on the living room floor.
“…”
Knowing his physical condition wasn’t good, he didn’t try to move suddenly. While taking deep breaths, lying straight with his cheek against the cold floor, Yeonwoo reached into his pants pocket. Seeing the dead black screen of his phone, his hand moved automatically.
He went to messages and typed to a now-too-familiar number.
[Executive Director, I’m home now. Did you arrive safely?]
[Have you eaten? I just got home.]
[You must be tired from driving so long. If I learned to drive…]
“…What am I doing?”
Muttering to himself, Yeonwoo deleted the repeated attempts at messages and removed the number. Placing the phone face down on his chest, he stared blankly at the ceiling, noticing that the water stain on the wallpaper seemed to have spread larger.
Is water leaking? If the stain gets bigger, he should contact the landlord, but that would have to be done through Lee Jonghoon. Since he probably wouldn’t stay here long anyway, maybe he should leave it. His cheek was throbbing and might bruise. Should he apply an ice pack? Ah.
“I didn’t take the birth control pill.”
Though Munbeom always used condoms, when they moved from the pool to the sofa, he seemed to have entered without one. Although he knew pregnancy was unlikely unless the alpha was in a rut, he still needed to be careful.
“I’m fine with it, but he wouldn’t be.”
“…”
If, just if, his father had felt this way, Yeonwoo could understand why he hadn’t aborted and had given birth to him. And thinking about it, he didn’t believe his father had given birth to him out of genuine love for Lee Jonghoon.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
