“Seo-yul hyung.”
The hand that had been gently patting his back came to a halt as I cautiously called out to him. No response came.
I quietly looked down at Seo-yul, whom I was holding in my arms. As expected, he was fast asleep.
He must have been exhausted. His body was already frail, and being cooped up in this cramped car the entire time must have taken a toll on him.
Loosening my arms around him, I deliberately lowered myself to match his eye level. Watching him sleep, even for a short while, had become the highlight of my day. I usually arrived earlier than when he woke up just to catch a glimpse of his sleeping face. But now, I could watch him without any worries.
‘He’s so beautiful.’
Seo-yul always told me I was beautiful, almost like a habit. But I thought differently. The truly beautiful one wasn’t me—it was Seo-yul. Unlike me, whose appearance was only passably attractive, Seo-yul had a heart that was just as beautiful as his face.
From the moment that dark, cramped warehouse door swung open and light spilled in, my entire world had become Seo-yul. Sometimes, I found myself wishing that this world would just collapse, leaving only the two of us behind.
Of course, Seo-yul, with his soft heart, would surely be horrified at the thought, so I kept it buried inside. If he ever found out about these frightening fantasies, would he push me away?
‘I don’t know.’
Seo-yul was weak when it came to me. And I knew that better than anyone. I wasn’t sure whether it was because he found my face as beautiful as he always said or if he simply pitied me.
Whatever the reason, I was the only attendant in the mansion whom Seo-yul called by name and kept by his side. For now, that was enough. Though I knew that as time passed, my greed would only grow, for now, I could be content.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
I called out to him in a small voice—not because I expected an answer, but simply to confirm that he was still asleep.
Listening to the soft, rhythmic sound of his breathing for a moment, I slowly leaned in closer to the sleeping Seo-yul.
There had been a fleeting moment when our lips had touched while he was awake. I wasn’t sure if something so brief could even be called a kiss, but that impulsive instant had been enough to ignite a fire inside me.
Conflicting emotions clashed within me. I wanted Seo-yul to open his eyes and look at me. But at the same time, I wished he would stay like this, eyes shut, forever unaware.
Unable to choose between the two, I merely inched closer—until the tips of our noses nearly touched.
His breath brushed against my cheek, stirring the fine hairs on my skin. I let out a quiet, sigh-like breath, as if releasing the air I had been unconsciously holding in.
Seo-yul’s delicate eyelashes trembled faintly as he slept.
“Seo-yul hyung.”
With every breath he took, the sweet scent of him filled the space between us. It was a fragrance reminiscent of cocoa, rich and warm, yet it made my mouth feel dry.
Just as Seo-yul always said, eating something sweet can leave your mouth parched. And right now, this unbearable thirst was driving me insane.
Only the last thread of my sanity held me back.
If not for that, I would have already lost control.
“Ah…”
Vin let out a small sigh and lifted his dazed gaze. His eyes lingered on Seo-yul’s lips, but he didn’t have the courage to press his own against them. Instead, he simply wriggled closer into Seo-yul’s sleeping embrace.
At some point, he had grown so much taller than Seo-yul that curling into his arms required him to scrunch up his body.
‘I don’t want to grow.’
An Omega’s growth stops the moment they fully present. That meant Seo-yul would remain as he was—small, delicate, forever looking younger than his actual age. But Vin had no choice but to keep growing.
And he hated it.
To stay by Seo-yul’s side, he had to be weak and pitiful. That was why Seo-yul had reached out to him in the first place.
If he hadn’t been locked in that warehouse… If he hadn’t been weak and pitiful… Seo-yul wouldn’t have looked at him twice. He would have been just another nameless servant among the countless others in the mansion, someone whose name Seo-yul wouldn’t have even cared to learn.
The other attendants, especially those his age, were all curious about Seo-yul. The young master, whom the master of the house cherished so dearly, was breathtakingly beautiful—so much so that just looking at him made people happy.
But Seo-yul was distant, never easily giving his attention to the servants. Unable to approach him directly, they could only whisper endlessly about him from afar.
“Our young master must be like this, must be like that.”
Vin would listen to their speculation, feeling the difference between himself and them with every passing moment. But what if he had been just another nameless servant that Seo-yul never even glanced at?
‘That would be unbearable.’
The mere thought of it filled him with a suffocating sense of despair, like the ground beneath him was crumbling away. Shaking his head to rid himself of useless thoughts, Vin pressed himself closer to Seo-yul.
He took in the sweet scent surrounding him, breathing it in deeply before closing his eyes.
“Good night,” he murmured softly, offering a quiet farewell to the sleeping Seo-yul.
***
Early in the morning, Han Jae-hoon awoke, rubbing his sleep-heavy eyes as he made his way to the bathroom. He freshened up quickly before settling down with the morning paper and a light cup of tea. It was his usual morning routine, unchanged for years.
Once he had gone through his routine, it was about time to wake Seo-yul.
Under normal circumstances, they would have set off at dawn, but given Seo-yul’s condition, he had delayed their departure as much as possible.
It was frustrating.
There was still more than a week left on their schedule, and Jae-hoon worried whether Seo-yul would be able to endure it. But that wasn’t even the real issue.
Even if they made it to District 1, there was no guarantee that the doctor named Xenia, whom the physician had mentioned, was legitimate. On top of that, they hadn’t filed an official visitation request, meaning that if their presence was discovered, it could escalate into an all-out war.
Jae-hoon knew.
As a district leader, this was a reckless decision. But before he was a leader, he was a father.
Losing his wife had already cost him half of his world. He couldn’t afford to lose the other half.
“…I should go.”
Brushing aside his tangled thoughts, Jae-hoon stepped out of his room. The dimly lit corridor stretched long before him, its walls old and worn. Most of the discreet hotels near the district’s borders were in rundown conditions like this.
“Baby.”
Arriving at Seo-yul’s door, Jae-hoon knocked and waited. He had a key, but he wasn’t the kind of father who barged into his son’s room unannounced.
There was no response.
Maybe he was in a deep sleep. Jae-hoon knocked again, but still, there was nothing.
They couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Sighing, he finally retrieved his key and unlocked the door.
Click.
The moment the doorknob turned, he heard a thud—something falling from the bed.
Had Seo-yul startled awake and lost his balance? Concern tightened Jae-hoon’s expression as he pushed the door open the rest of the way.
“Baby, are you alri—”
The first thing Han Jae-hoon saw was a vivid flash of red hair.
When assembling the team for their journey to District 1, Seo-yul had specifically requested that the Shining be left out. So why was he here—of all places, in Seo-yul’s room?
Vin, who had been sprawled on the floor in shock, quickly scrambled to grab the wig and glasses that had been left on the table. But Han Jae-hoon was faster. He snatched them up before Vin could reach them.
“You’re going to need to explain why you’re here.”
Jae-hoon dangled the wig and glasses in front of Vin’s face as he spoke. Vin could probably snatch them back if he tried, but he was more concerned about Seo-yul, who was still fast asleep. In the end, he slumped his shoulders in defeat and answered in a sullen voice.
“I followed you in secret.”
“And why? Were you planning to run away?”
“No. I just didn’t want to be away from Seo-yul hyung.”
Vin didn’t bother to hide his irritation at the accusation. His crimson eyes burned fiercely as they locked onto Jae-hoon’s. The sheer intensity of that gaze made Jae-hoon instinctively recoil, his brows furrowing in discomfort.
Back when Vin had first been ‘processed’ and brought in, he hadn’t even dared to meet Jae-hoon’s eyes. But now, he didn’t flinch. Now, he could glare back without fear.
The words you insolent brat hovered at the tip of Jae-hoon’s tongue, but Seo-yul’s presence made him bite them back. Instead, he forced his voice to remain calm.
“You followed us because you didn’t want to be separated from Seo-yul?”
“Yes. You were the one who said I should always stay by his side, weren’t you?”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not. I’m not planning to run away.”
Vin’s voice was firm—unshakable. There wasn’t the slightest hint of deception in his words.
Jae-hoon let out a heavy sigh before tossing the wig and glasses back at him. If the boy wasn’t planning to escape, then fine. That was all that mattered.
Vin barely managed to catch them before shooting Jae-hoon another sharp glare.
The more Jae-hoon looked at him, the more unpleasant the resemblance became. Of course, it was only natural. Vin was his son, after all.
“You stand out too much. Never take off the wig and glasses when you’re outside.”
Vin gave a silent nod.
Jae-hoon glanced at Seo-yul, who remained undisturbed despite all the commotion, then ordered Vin to wake him before leaving the room.
Even after stepping out, those piercing red eyes still lingered in his mind. The Shining were always like this—unsettling. No matter what, they found ways to burrow into your brain and refuse to leave.
“Great. Ruined my morning already.”
Shaking his head, Jae-hoon made his way back to his room.
He considered finishing the morning paper he had set aside earlier, but the words on the page wouldn’t register now. Instead, he took a long sip of his now-cold tea, then turned his gaze toward the window.
The moon was still visible in the bright morning sky.
Unpleasant memories crept up again, unbidden.
Frowning, he pulled the curtains tightly shut, blocking out the sight.
