#06
“Gasp.”
Yeoul’s body stiffened. To encounter Eun Sajun like this when he thought he’d never see him again…. Why on earth was he here? It felt like the peace he had barely found was crumbling. Eun Sajun also seemed unexpected, his eyes wide open.
“Why are you here….”
Yeoul’s heart pounded as if it would burst. Having run away with just the ring right before the contract, he was in an awkward situation. Tension rose throughout his body and he slowly stepped backward. Eun Sajun, perhaps noticing Yeoul’s footwork, closed the distance.
“Do you know how surprised I was when you suddenly disappeared last time? You have no idea how worried I was when I couldn’t contact you for a week.”
“Ah…. Ah….”
Since he had run away leaving fake personal information, it was natural that contact was cut off.
“I’m glad we can meet like this. What brings you here?”
“No…. Well….”
Yeoul was troubled, not knowing how to answer. His mouth was dry and his tongue felt rough. Only thoughts of wanting to avoid Eun Sajun and run away dominated his mind.
Should I just stab his eyes and run away?
A bizarre gleam circled in Yeoul’s eyes again. At the same time, strength entered his index and middle fingers.
“CEO-nim.”
Then a man who appeared to be a secretary in a neatly worn suit approached Eun Sajun. At the same time, the madness circling in Yeoul’s eyes melted away and disappeared. Yeoul felt regretful at the same moment. He wondered what he had been thinking for an instant. Yeoul shook his head busily as if coming to his senses.
Meanwhile, Eun Sajun was having a conversation with the man who appeared to be his secretary. Naturally, Eun Sajun’s attention also moved away from Yeoul. Thinking it was an opportunity, Yeoul slowly stepped backward and then ran to the opposite side of the lobby. Fearing that Eun Sajun might follow, he ran looking only forward, running and running again.
Thus Yeoul quickly left the hospital and arrived at the bus stop. Just then, the bus he needed to take was entering the stop, so he quickly got on. The bus departed immediately.
“Haah… haah….”
Yeoul caught his breath and settled in the back seat of the bus. His hands and feet were still trembling. He hadn’t expected to encounter him here. He thought Seoul was smaller than he’d imagined.
Surely this kind of thing won’t happen again. He sighed automatically at the hopelessness.
* * *
“Hello. I’m Geum Yeoul.”
Yeoul bowed to the middle-aged man. The man facing Yeoul also responded with a smile.
“I’m Manager Kim Jinhwan. First, change into work clothes. The changing room is here.”
Yeoul headed to the changing room. The luxurious interior caught his eye. It seemed like a fairy tale prince might exist there.
Yeoul’s new part-time job was as a cleaning assistant at a French restaurant. He would clean the store or dispose of food waste, and the hourly wage was considerable. He was even more confident since he had done similar work before.
Even though the private debt was now settled, he still had to work to survive. He planned to increase his part-time jobs in the future. Once things stabilized somewhat, he planned to start studying again, beginning with the GED exam. Although he had to quit school due to family circumstances, he had great attachment to his studies.
After changing into navy work clothes in the changing room and receiving guidance from the manager, he stood in front of the warehouse. There were three other men besides Yeoul. They all seemed to be betas and appeared to be around Yeoul’s age. From talking with them, it seemed they were all starting work today.
The manager opened the warehouse door.
“There’s a food ingredient truck at the back door right now. Move those to this warehouse.”
“Understood.”
Yeoul moved the cargo along with the other part-time workers. Today the temperature was low and the wind was quite strong. In contrast, the work clothes were on the thin side, but he sweated from exerting himself.
Before long, the warehouse was packed with food ingredients, looking like fortress walls had been built.
The last thing to do was to check whether the quantities matched by comparing the paper chart the manager gave him with the actual quantities that came in. But the food ingredient names were displayed in strange numbers.
Like 35544, 55322, 55677. There was no consistency, the numbers weren’t sequential either, and he wondered why it was like this.
After finishing all the checking, evening had come and today’s work was completed. Yeoul headed to the changing room with the part-time workers. He could see the magnificent hall they had passed earlier.
“Huh?”
Yeoul doubted his eyes. Dark black hair, a solid but elegant body line. Eun Sajun was at a table.
Hic. Why is that person here?
Yeoul was bewildered by the devilish coincidence. Moreover, the person dining with Eun Sajun was a man with refined features. At a glance, he appeared to be an omega of dominant class or higher. Why was Eun Sajun having a meal with such an omega?
Yeoul felt his chest tightening for no reason but barely calmed down. He hurriedly escaped from there quickly. He was afraid of encountering him again like at the hospital earlier.
* * *
“Huh?”
Yeoul’s eyes widened as he left the restaurant and reached the bus stop. The food ingredient chart was in the bag he had brought. Had he unconsciously put it in after changing clothes in the changing room earlier? He was confused about why this was here.
“Ha…. This is driving me crazy….”
He thought about bringing it when he came to work tomorrow, but he remembered the manager saying he would check once more at night. Yeoul hurriedly turned around and headed back to the restaurant.
It was peak business hours and he didn’t want to disturb other employees. So he entered through the back door he had learned about earlier and went into the warehouse. He was about to quickly take out the chart, place it on the table, and leave when.
Thud thud.
He felt a presence along with someone’s footsteps. He thought it might be the manager. Though embarrassed, he was about to come out of the warehouse to exchange greetings when his body froze. Eun Sajun was walking this way. Startled, Yeoul hid his body again between the box maze.
Why…. Why is that person coming all the way here?
The devilish coincidence that had started again gave him chills. Moreover, wasn’t this a space only employees could access? First, since he didn’t want to encounter him at all costs, he concealed his body in a corner.
“Is this all the food ingredients that came in today?”
“Yes. Captain.”
He heard the manager’s voice answering Eun Sajun’s question. At the same time, Yeoul’s body stiffened more. Why was a mere restaurant manager calling Eun Sajun by the title “Captain”?
Soon rhythmic footsteps followed. Yeoul anxiously peered through the gaps between boxes. Eun Sajun was gradually approaching this way. Yeoul’s heart pounded as if it would burst and he sat on the floor, curling his body like a ball.
Soon the box positioned right in front of Yeoul shook slightly. The tense Yeoul swallowed his saliva and looked at it. Soon the box lid opened. Then Eun Sajun’s white, large hand suddenly went into the box and grabbed and pulled out a bright red apple.
“The apples are good quality.”
He elegantly praised it and took a bite. Crunching sounds followed.
“Quite sweet.”
“Since it’s something Captain likes, I put special thought into it.”
“It seems like it….”
Soon Eun Sajun, who had swallowed the apple, gently turned his head toward the manager. A strange light shone in his blue eyes.
“You know what?”
“Yes?”
“Really delicious apples are poisonous apples.”
At Eun Sajun’s statement, the manager looked puzzled. Yeoul also wondered what crazy thing he was saying now.
“According to Genesis, Adam and Eve gained wisdom by eating the forbidden fruit. They were intoxicated by the poison dwelling in that forbidden fruit.”
“Yes….”
“Five years ago, I discovered an apple. I tempted it for fun, but it didn’t fall for it. For some reason, that apple kept coming to mind, dominating my thoughts day and night, even tormenting me. While agonizing over what this emotion could be, I made one ‘decision.'”
Gradually Eun Sajun’s lips curled up and he chuckled. The focus created by his blue eyes was also not normal. It was as if a gale from hell was circling around him.
“May I ask what that decision was?”
Just as Eun Sajun was about to answer the manager’s question.
Bzzzz.
Then, cutting through the strange atmosphere, a phone vibration sounded. Eun Sajun naturally took out his phone from his pocket and checked the screen. A chill settled over his face, which had been full of smiles, and he began the call. However, his voice was quite affectionate.
“Yes…. I understand. I’ll see you there tomorrow.”
After ending the call, cracks appeared in his eyes. The manager also tensed up and watched his mood.
“Who were you talking to?”
“Baek Cheonhui, who had dinner with me earlier.”
“Ah, that extremely dominant omega?”
Yeoul’s heart sank with a thud.
The omega who had been with Eun Sajun when he left the warehouse earlier naturally came to mind. He had expected him to be an omega because of his refined and delicate features, but he hadn’t known he was extremely dominant.
“It seems I’ll have to make a contract with this omega. Father wants a second generation as soon as possible, so it’s quite bothersome.”
From what he heard, it seemed there was parental pressure behind his forcing of pregnancy contracts.
“How about just getting married?”
“That’s not appealing. I don’t have confidence in taking responsibility for one person for life either.”
Eun Sajun smiled self-deprecatingly and stared intently at the apple box. For a moment, Yeoul felt as if he had made eye contact with Eun Sajun and hurriedly lowered his head.
“Give me this apple. It suits today’s taste.”
“Understood.”
The manager picked up the apple box. Soon after, the two people went outside.
Yeoul, left alone in an instant, relaxed his tension thinking he had overcome one hurdle. It was fortunate that Eun Sajun had found an extremely dominant omega to make a pregnancy contract with, but he didn’t know why bitterness lingered thickly in one corner of his heart. But one thing that puzzled him was that while he was so active about pregnancy contracts to the point of finding other extremely dominant omegas, why did Yeojin say he had never made such a contract? It was confusing.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
