“Seunghyun!”
“Oh, Seunghyun is here.”
As he entered the lecture hall, his classmates all brightened up and looked at Seunghyun. After being away for a week, Seunghyun gave an awkward smile in the lecture hall.
After the post on the university community board, Seunghyun’s relationship with his classmates became awkward for a while when they found out he was dating Suhwan.
But that only lasted a few days. The classmates who had been acting awkwardly soon approached Seunghyun naturally again. They probably wanted to pretend like nothing had happened. And that was what Seunghyun wanted too.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m much better.”
Seunghyun nodded in response to Chanwoo’s question. Eunchan, who was standing nearby, spoke in a puzzled tone.
“You’ve never missed school because of your heat before, so this time must have hit you pretty hard.”
“Right. You’ve never taken a whole week off before.”
Gahyun also chimed in with a worried expression. Since Seunghyun, unlike other omegas, had never missed school or shown signs of his heat cycle, they sometimes forgot he was an omega. That was also why Seunghyun could naturally blend in with the beta group.
“My body chemistry has changed a bit, so the medication didn’t work well this time.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
The beta classmates found it difficult to imagine why an omega’s body chemistry would change. So they just accepted Seunghyun’s explanation. Gahyun pulled out a folder from her bag and handed it to Seunghyun.
“Here are the lecture notes and materials from while you were gone.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, we’re friends.”
Eunchan looked at Gahyun’s hearty laugh with an incredulous face and said,
“Anyone would think you prepared it all by yourself. Our notes are all in there too.”
“That’s right. Are you taking all the credit?”
“Hey, Chanwoo, you barely took proper notes. Do you have any conscience?”
“No, probably not. In that spirit, give me a copy of the notes too.”
“You’re crazy.”
Seunghyun smiled as he watched his classmates bickering as usual. Then his eyes met Heeyoung’s, who was staring at him.
“What is it?”
“…”
There was something uncomfortable about Heeyoung’s dark eyes. Seunghyun frowned, not understanding why he felt that way.
“By any chance…”
“Hmm?”
She had her lips tightly shut, so it seemed like she wouldn’t speak, but taking advantage of the other classmates chattering amongst themselves, Heeyoung cautiously opened her mouth. However, she hesitated for a while longer. When Seunghyun looked at her curiously, Heeyoung reluctantly continued.
“Is… Senior Suhwan doing well?”
Seunghyun’s mood immediately soured at the sudden question about Suhwan’s well-being. He couldn’t help but respond with a sarcastic attitude.
“Why are you asking about that?”
Thinking about it, this wasn’t the first time Heeyoung had shown interest in Suhwan. He remembered when she unexpectedly sat next to Suhwan during a previous lecture. At that time, Heeyoung had flatly denied that it was what Seunghyun was thinking, but people’s feelings can change. Seunghyun’s eyes narrowed.
“Just, since he hasn’t been coming to school lately, I was curious.”
“Curious?”
Meeting Seunghyun’s fierce gaze, Heeyoung unconsciously trembled slightly. She looked at Seunghyun in disbelief. Seunghyun glared back at her and emphasized each word firmly.
“That kind of interest makes me uncomfortable. He’s my boyfriend, you know.”
“…”
“It’s not something for you to worry about, Kwon Heeyoung.”
It might have been too harsh a thing to say between friends. And Heeyoung might genuinely have been concerned about Suhwan without any ulterior motives. But Seunghyun simply couldn’t suppress the emotion rising from within.
“So, it has become like that after all.”
“…?”
Seunghyun gave a puzzled look at Heeyoung’s quiet murmur. Heeyoung’s voice was too soft to understand what she had said.
He was about to ask again, but the professor had already entered the classroom. Clicking his tongue, Seunghyun decided to focus on the lecture first.
And for a while, Heeyoung watched Seunghyun with anxious eyes.
***
“You called for me, Father.”
Geonyul tensed up under the cold gaze that was looking at him.
Ju Seonghyuk. The chairman of Hansung and Geonyul’s father. His eyes examined Geonyul’s rigid face.
“Sit down.”
“Yes.”
Geonyul nodded and sat down in front of Chairman Ju. Not even a simple greeting was exchanged between the austere father and son.
Tap, tap.
Chairman Ju’s fingers tapped the edge of the chair. It was just one of his habits, but Geonyul always felt a strange pressure from it. The inscrutable black eyes stared intently at Geonyul.
“I hear that the Jin Hwalyeon representative will soon take over as chairman.”
“…!”
At this casually delivered statement, Geonyul’s eyes widened. Chairman Ju continued dispassionately, watching Geonyul’s surprise.
“Well, that was an inevitable event, whether sooner or later, so let’s set that aside.”
“…”
“The HS matter has produced very poor results. And you were so confident.”
“I’m sorry.”
Geonyul bowed his head deeply towards Chairman Ju. The chairman’s face, looking down at him, was ice-cold.
Chairman Ju sank deep into his leather chair. Tap, tap. Once again, the meaningless sound echoed in the room.
“The Hwalyeon representative has been digging into the HS matter.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Chairman Ju nodded and rubbed his chin with his finger. His face, usually unmoved by ordinary matters, was slightly distorted.
“I think it might be because of his cousin who is engaged to Lee Seunghyun.”
“…!”
At the mention of Seunghyun’s name, Geonyul unconsciously gritted his teeth. Chairman Ju observed this silently without commenting. It was natural for an alpha to be obsessed with an omega they desired. He had been through something similar in the past.
Either possess them thoroughly by any means necessary, or if that’s not possible, ruin them so no one can have them. That was Chairman Ju’s principle. And Geonyul, who inherited his blood, was an alpha who resembled him most closely in this aspect.
“If things had gone as you said, that omega would be in our hands by now. Isn’t that right?”
As he had done in the past, Chairman Ju had planned to deal with the HS brothers who were trying to develop a new drug. But it was Geonyul who had prevented that by suggesting a different approach. Chairman Ju had shown great interest in Geonyul’s proposal.
First, use Jin Suhwan to break Seunghyun, then make the new drug itself belong to Hansung. It was an excellent plan that would make past events part of a bigger picture.
Interesting. Chairman Ju, who usually showed only mechanical reactions, had displayed a fairly human response.
But it had failed spectacularly. Who would have thought Seunghyun would choose the foolish Jin Suhwan? Geonyul felt as if his own plan had backfired.
“We still have a chance, since the drug hasn’t been developed yet, Father.”
“Hmm.”
“We need to secure the new drug before Hwamyeong gets it.”
Currently, Hansung and Hwamyeong were major corporations standing shoulder to shoulder in Korea, but mysteriously, Hwamyeong was always one step ahead in every field. Chairman Ju seemed to find that unbearably irritating. Geonyul pressed on this point further.
“If we can just secure HS’s new drug, Hansung can definitely surpass Hwamyeong. Even if the Hwalyeon representative becomes chairman.”
In the past, HS had been good prey for Hansung. The foolish owner, who had talent only in drug development, couldn’t properly run the company and was severely shaken by a little interference. And later, they brilliantly destroyed it by withdrawing investment funds that had been fronted through ghost companies. The drug developed at that time brought tremendous profit to Hansung for years with slight modifications.
The collapse of HS Pharmaceuticals was the doing of Ju Seonghyuk, the chairman of Hansung. He had used HS as a stepping stone to grow Hansung, and there was also some personal animosity. Geonyul knew the reason too.
Kim Suyeon. She was the lady of HS and an omega woman whom Chairman Ju had once courted. Kim Suyeon chose not the stoic Chairman Ju, but HS’s Chairman Lee Taehyun, who treated her warmly.
If you can’t possess it, then thoroughly destroy it. Chairman Ju’s obsession instantly destroyed the thriving pharmaceutical company. The young Geonyul couldn’t understand why Chairman Ju went to such lengths, but now he could fully empathize. He would have done the same.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
