Chapter 104
“Do you even realize what you’re saying?”
“…”
“You want to reveal that we, no, that hyung and I lived together under the same roof? I’m an alpha, and hyung is an omega. Even if my dad knows everything, do you know how your parents would take this? Are you asking me this without considering that?”
At those words, Hyeon-woo lowered his head and bit his lower lip. Ju-on had precisely hit upon the point that had been tormenting him all night.
“I’m sorry.”
“…”
“But I couldn’t think of any other alternative.”
“Hah.”
“…”
Ju-on sighed deeply once more before reluctantly opening his mouth.
“Let’s say my roommate was there too. Not just hyung and me under one roof, but the three of us, including my roommate.”
“…”
“Let’s make my roommate a beta. We’ll say you always spent your heat cycles on suppressants, and since I’m a recessive, I never once smelled your pheromones. No, let’s say I didn’t even know you were an omega.”
“Okay. Let’s do that.”
“…”
“Thank you for being considerate.”
Ju-on’s feelings were complicated as Hyeon-woo thanked him. To think he was participating in such a cheap con. What have you come to, Kwon Ju-on? As he inwardly clicked his tongue and lamented his situation, Ju-on suddenly remembered something and hurriedly pulled out a white pill bottle from his pocket.
“Have you been watching the news?”
“…”
“I told you to keep up with it, didn’t I? It’s a historic moment where human civilization is changing in real-time.”
“…”
“I said you, especially, need to watch it.”
“I watch it sometimes.”
For some unknown reason, Ju-on was unusually insistent about the new drug Taeryeong Pharmaceuticals was developing. When Hyeon-woo asked why he had to keep up with it, Ju-on firmly replied, ‘Just watch it when I tell you to.’
This time too, knowing Ju-on would persistently urge him, Hyeon-woo reluctantly lied that he watched it sometimes. Ju-on looked at Hyeon-woo with a displeased expression and spoke.
“You know about Taeryeong Pharmaceuticals’ situation, right?”
“…”
Hyeon-woo remained silent and lowered his gaze to the floor. It was hard not to know, given that all media outlets were racing to cover news about Taeryeong.
One of the suppressant ingredients was ruled unconstitutional, seemingly putting them on the defensive, but then they started developing a new drug at an incredible speed with the government’s full support. There were even rumors that suppressants would be designated as necessities, causing all of Taeryeong Group’s life science-related subsidiaries to hit new stock price highs again.
“This is the new suppressant that will be released this year.”
“…”
“It’s not yet commercialized due to approval procedures, but its safety has been fully verified. You can trust it and take it.”
“…”
“…Tae-geon hyung asked me to give it to you.”
Ju-on held out the white pill bottle to Hyeon-woo. Hyeon-woo stared at the bottle for a moment, then reached out to take it from Ju-on and stood up.
“It’s cold, let’s go inside.”
Ju-on’s gaze was complex as he watched Hyeon-woo’s retreating back. He had deliberately dropped Tae-geon’s name to gauge a reaction, but there was no emotional change in Hyeon-woo’s voice. This fact made Ju-on’s feelings complicated, but he silently followed Hyeon-woo.
*
Experts were unanimously praising Taeryeong’s new drug. Hyeon-woo, sitting on the sofa, picked up the remote and turned off the TV. The noisy house instantly fell into silence.
He took out the white pill bottle from his pocket. It was the suppressant Ju-on had given him. Hyeon-woo’s eyes sank into darkness as he stared at it.
Is this also goodwill? Perhaps because they were once friends.
Hyeon-woo bit his lower lip. This person was no longer related to him. Whether it was goodwill or pity, it was none of his business.
He got up from the sofa and headed to the water purifier. His body had been feeling sluggish since morning, and now a hot sensation was quickly spreading throughout his body. It was a precursor symptom. It felt somewhat surreal that the suppressant the whole world was loudly talking about had come into his possession at such a perfect timing.
After taking the suppressant with water, Hyeon-woo returned to his seat. His eyes caught the Boston bag placed next to the entrance. He had packed the necessary things the night before. Not much had changed from what he had brought when he left Tae-geon.
It felt strange to think that this long, seemingly endless relationship was now approaching its conclusion.
Sitting on the sofa, hugging his knees and absentmindedly recalling past memories, Hyeon-woo suddenly realized that the hot sensation that had been burning his entire body had completely disappeared. His underwear wasn’t wet, and there was no disgustingly strong pheromone smell.
In a condition so comfortable that it was hard to believe it was a heat cycle, Hyeon-woo strongly felt why the world had been so excited about Taeryeong’s new drug.
This was truly the end. He hadn’t forgotten his promise to leave on his own once he confirmed that the suppressant worked properly.
He put on his coat, went straight to the entrance, and picked up the Boston bag from the floor. After scanning the silent house with a bleak gaze one last time, Hyeon-woo turned away without lingering.
*
Hyeon-woo, barely holding back tears in his sobbing mother’s arms, finally burst into tears when he saw his father’s reddened eyes looking at him.
As Hyeon-woo struggled to open his mouth, feeling like he should make some excuse, his mother shook her head and said only, “You’re back, that’s enough.” That comfort, saying it was okay not to say anything, hurt his heart more than any reprimand could have.
He was bedridden for over ten days after that. Perhaps it was the sense of security from being in his family’s arms. All the accumulated fatigue hit him at once. His parents had him hospitalized, had him examined by a doctor, and diligently gave him medicine while he was deliriously sick with body aches and high fever. They must have naturally learned about his omega manifestation during this process.
That must be why they didn’t ask about why Tae-geon, who used to be inseparable from him, wasn’t visiting. They must know well that once he manifested as an omega, Tae-geon had no reason to keep him around anymore.
Although he knew the breakdown of the relationship wasn’t his fault, for some reason Hyeon-woo found it hard to look directly at his father’s face. The proud smile he had seen on his father’s face when they waited hand in hand for the car sent from Tae-geon’s house in his childhood remained like an afterimage in his mind.
His father had always maintained the same stance of getting along well with Tae-geon, even while having numerous conflicts with his mother. Hyeon-woo felt that the way his father looked at him now was somehow different from before. There was uncharacteristic regret and remorse in his father’s wrinkled eyes.
Even after he recovered, he spent all day lying in bed listlessly. It seemed as if he had exhausted all his remaining energy while being severely ill, and he lacked motivation for anything.
Knock, knock.
As Hyeon-woo closed his eyes waiting for sleep to come, he heard a knocking sound on the door. He got up and opened the door to find his father standing there with an awkward expression.
“Come in.”
Surprised by the unexpected face, Hyeon-woo stepped aside.
“…How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay now.”
His father, looking like he had aged ten years in just half a year, slowly nodded at Hyeon-woo’s answer and entered the room.
“Are you free this weekend by any chance?”
“…Yes, I am. Is something happening?”
“The weather is supposed to be nice, so I was thinking of going sea fishing. Would you like to come along?”
Hyeon-woo’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s at the unexpected proposal. He could imagine a golf course with green grass, but sea fishing with his father? It somehow seemed unimaginable.
Understanding his father’s intention to take him out somewhere, worried about him being cooped up in his room all the time, Hyeon-woo nodded, putting aside his awkwardness.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
*
His father’s car drove through the dark pre-dawn air. To break the silence, his father turned on the radio, and immediately an anchor’s voice reporting news about Taeryeong Pharmaceuticals came on. Hyeon-woo pretended not to notice his father’s busy hands quickly changing the frequency.
‘The culprit that ruined my son’s life.’
His mother’s resentment towards Taeryeong ran deep. She believed that if it weren’t for Tae-geon, her son would never have hated omegas, nor would he have left everyone, suffering from his manifestation. She even felt heartbroken seeing her son no longer able to love himself after becoming an omega.
Despite her objections, it was his father who had insisted on giving his son to Tae-geon, so his mother’s resentment towards Taeryeong naturally always ended up directed at his father.
