The Tiger’s Baby Peach 45

45

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll immediately—”

“Forget it.”

Arguing here would just be a waste of time.

After contacting his driver, Kim Seongchae, to prepare the car, Seunghyeok got on the elevator. He felt his blood running cold. When he tried calling Junghyun’s phone, there was no answer. Clicking his tongue impatiently, Seunghyeok bit his lower lip, got into the waiting car, and told Kim Seongchae to drive straight home. Kim Seongchae started the car without a word.

As Seunghyeok was about to call Junghyun again, he slammed his head against the seat backrest hard enough to make a thud.

Junghyun wasn’t answering his phone.

He wouldn’t answer no matter how many times Seunghyeok called.

So this action was unnecessary.

His mind had frozen like an idiot’s. Seunghyeok sighed and skillfully navigated through his phone screen. After staring at the screen, his face now more composed, he called Jeong Taejun.

-Is Lee Youngsun there?

“Who’s this?”

-What?

Jeong Taejun seemed to quickly understand what Seunghyeok’s question meant. After a moment of silence, Jeong Taejun spoke.

-I found out who’s been digging into your background. The people involved in the middle are crazy, and the one at the end is even crazier.

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me.”

-Lee Youngsun is the middleman. Connected to Junghyun’s adoptive parents. At the end is fifth-term Congressman Woo Cheolgon.

“Woo Cheolgon?”

Seunghyeok’s brow twitched.

He had heard of Woo Cheolgon’s name before.

“…That bastard is involved?”

His voice unconsciously lowered.

Being in this line of work, whether he liked it or not, he heard various information. And Woo Cheolgon’s record that had reached Seunghyeok’s ears was quite impressive.

Woo Cheolgon was a Beta. And the National Assembly had about 80% Alphas and Omegas with charisma incomparably stronger than Betas. He was a skilled operator who had achieved five terms despite various challenges in such an environment. But it was clear that the path hadn’t been smooth for him as a Beta, and in the process, he had developed one secret and ugly preference.

The veins on the back of Seunghyeok’s hand stood out white. Thinking of Junghyun, his mouth went dry.

Jeong Taejun continued speaking.

-Yeah. The guy who hit us with the foreign car is also connected. It was a well-maintained new car, and it was suspicious that he rammed into us without slowing down, so we looked into it and found he had even borrowed from loan sharks to pay his car installments. Woo Cheolgon has some shady business, but I need to investigate more to see if he could set up something like this. There might be others cooperating.

When Jeong Taejun spoke like this, it meant there was something more.

To begin with, the reason Jo Yeongung and his wife adopted Junghyun was solely because he was a recessive Omega.

Also, Jo Yeongung and his wife had covered their tracks so well that even a veteran like Jeong Taejun had difficulty finding them. Seunghyeok thought it would be impossible without someone’s help.

If Woo Cheolgon was involved, it would explain everything.

It wasn’t hard to guess what the price had been.

But that wasn’t the end.

It seemed Woo Cheolgon wasn’t the only one involved. The execution was too clean for that.

The person who had brought in Lee Youngsun, Seunghyeok’s subordinate, to make things go smoothly.

“…”

Seunghyeok thought he knew who Woo Cheolgon’s collaborator was. Though he had no concrete evidence, all his senses were screaming it. It was almost intuitive.

If what Seunghyeok suspected was correct…

Seunghyeok felt his eyeballs burning hot with anger and pressed his fingers firmly against the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.

-But it’ll take about 30 minutes to find out where Junghyun went.

“I know.”

-What?

“I said I know.”

Jeong Taejun was silent for a moment.

-Don’t tell me you… installed location tracking on his phone? Does Junghyun know?

“Of course not. Don’t say anything to Junghyun about this. He’ll be scared.”

-…You’re really crazy, aren’t you?

Jeong Taejun’s voice had relaxed considerably compared to earlier.

“Bring the guys to the address I’ll send.”

-Got it. Don’t go in first, wait.

“Are you worried about me?”

-Who? I wouldn’t worry about you. I’m worried about the other party.

Jeong Taejun retorted as if Seunghyeok’s words were absurd, and Seunghyeok ended the call without further response. Finding Junghyun’s location wasn’t difficult. If he set his mind to it, it wasn’t a problem at all. But the issue was not knowing what might happen to Junghyun during the time it took to find him.

The veins on his thighs bulged as he clenched his fists.

His mind was boiling with impatience and anger.

Seunghyeok cursed under his breath.

* * *

Junghyun sat upright in the back seat, staring blankly at one spot.

Recalling what Seunghyeok’s subordinate had said, he unconsciously closed his eyes as he felt a sharp pain in his heart. Breathing was difficult.

He couldn’t help but remember what happened when Lee Youngsun came.

‘Huh, no. The CEO… approved this?’

‘That’s correct.’

It was unbelievable. But Lee Youngsun didn’t seem to be lying either.

Yet it wasn’t something to just accept. As Junghyun picked up his phone to call Seunghyeok, Lee Youngsun pushed his phone down, stopping him.

‘The CEO hates troublesome matters. I think my presence here is explanation enough. He asked for the house to be vacated immediately.’

In Lee Youngsun’s hand was the entry key to the place. There was no way Lee Youngsun would have it unless Seunghyeok had given it to him.

Junghyun couldn’t say anything.

Sweat made his phone keep slipping in his hand. The pounding of his heart grew louder and louder.

It felt like his heart was being crushed. Like an invisible hand was tearing his insides into pieces.

It was strange, he hadn’t actually been hit by anyone. Junghyun was too busy enduring pain that made it hard to breathe, and the others pulled him along. When he came to his senses, he was somehow in a car with his parents, led by their hands.

And now here he was.

Seunghyeok had said he liked how Junghyun tried to see the world positively, but right now, he couldn’t think at all. His mind was just blank.

In a futile thought that it might be a dream, he pressed his fingertips with his nails. It hurt.

Of course, it couldn’t be a dream.

Junghyun bit his lip firmly.

It felt like tiny feet were stomping on his chest, his heart. He tried not breathing to see if it would feel better, but it was in vain. Even sitting still, he felt a stabbing pain.

Though he hadn’t actually been assaulted, it hurt this much.

When he closed his eyes, Seunghyeok’s face came to mind. When he heard the story from his parents, he couldn’t imagine what face Seunghyeok had made when he told them to take him away, but now it vaguely appeared in his mind. That made it even more painful. It was hard.

The conversations they’d shared, the warm body temperature—all still so vivid.

Junghyun bit his lower lip.

Don’t imagine.

Don’t resent.

At least while Seunghyeok was with Junghyun, he had treated him well. He was kind and warm. They ate together, and he comforted Junghyun with gentle hands. Junghyun wanted to believe that those moments were sincere. If he concluded that even that was a lie, he would feel too pitiful.

Now, he couldn’t know what Seunghyeok was thinking when he brought Junghyun home.

But whatever his purpose had been, the fact that Junghyun was happy in those moments remained unchanged.

That should be enough.

His feelings then weren’t a lie.

So, isn’t that enough?

While living with Seunghyeok, he had learned the joy of eating with someone and discovered the pleasure of cooking. He had learned the satisfaction of someone enjoying the food he made. These were emotions he might never have known in his lifetime if it weren’t for Seunghyeok. But thanks to Seunghyeok, he had been able to feel them.

So he should be grateful.

Yes, that’s right.

He slowly retraced the current situation.

There was nothing to be sad about.

Thanks to Seunghyeok bringing him home, he hadn’t had to do hard labor. He had lived comfortably in a luxurious house, not shivering from cold, not suffering from hunger, just waiting for Seunghyeok to return. Even when his pheromones had abnormally accumulated and nearly caused a big problem, it had been normalized thanks to Seunghyeok.

All of that was because Seunghyeok had taken Junghyun into his home.

It had been happy, joyful, and sweet, if only briefly.

If viewed negatively, it was an undeniably bad situation, but from another perspective, hadn’t he experienced things he might never have in his lifetime, thanks to Seunghyeok?

Seunghyeok wasn’t bad.

He had just done his job. And he had shown Junghyun a bit of kindness. If he had wanted to, Seunghyeok could have pushed Junghyun into harsh labor, but he hadn’t.

He could have been unable to sleep properly, let alone rest, due to hard labor. Wasn’t it fortunate that he hadn’t had to go through that?

So it’s okay.

And now his parents were by his side. Both of them had come to find him.

Everything was going back to how it was before. He would live as if nothing had happened.

Being grateful for that fact should be enough.

He shouldn’t be greedy for something that wasn’t his, nor should he have lingering attachments.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus