Ido washed up really quickly as he said. Wookyung, who had returned after smoking one cigarette he’d wanted to smoke so much during that time, silently left the building with him. Perhaps his legs were trembling, as Ido couldn’t walk quickly. Wookyung subtly grabbed his arm every time he swayed.
Because it was early, there weren’t many people. Only people who had to go to work early in the morning were sitting alone, one at each of a couple tables.
‘Team Leader.’
‘What.’
‘…Thank you.’
Ido bowed his head deeply.
‘I think I made an unreasonable request to you, Team Leader, in a state where I was too tired and hungry… and out of it… Thank you so much for readily coming with me like this.’
He, stammering out words of apology, looked much calmer than before. Usually there was no one who comfortably said such things to him, so he’d thought he was a rather bold kid for saying such things audaciously. However, the child sitting before his eyes now looked a bit more docile and mature than he’d thought.
‘It’s fine. I’m eating breakfast together too, after all.’
‘Thanks to you… I really wanted to eat it… and now I can.’
Saying that, he bowed his head once again. The omegas who were President Park’s possessions couldn’t go outside the organization without bodyguards. It meant that if Wookyung hadn’t accompanied him, Ido wouldn’t have been able to come here even though it was right in front of the building. Understanding the meaning of Ido’s words, Wookyung silently smiled slightly.
‘Enough. Eat well.’
Just then, hot earthenware pots were placed before the two of them, one each. Looking at the soup rice steaming profusely, Ido’s eyes sparkled. Wookyung picked up an egg from the basket placed beside them and looked at him, asking.
‘Want me to add an egg?’
‘Yes! …I’d like that.’
At his excited-looking face and voice, Wookyung picked up the egg and cracked it. After carefully putting it into Ido’s earthenware pot, he also put one in his own.
‘I’ll eat… well.’
‘Yeah. Eat a lot.’
The hand holding the spoon trembled finely. Deliberately turning away from that sight, Wookyung also took a big spoonful and put it in his mouth. The hot soup completely relieved his stomach. Even though he hadn’t drunk alcohol, he thought it was perfect for relieving a hangover.
‘It’s delicious.’
‘Yes… it really… is delicious.’
He eats well with those slender fingers. As his red lips moved, the faint sound of bean sprouts crunching could be heard. The back of his hand and wrist picking up the salted seafood were covered in bluish bruises. Wookyung frowned without realizing it. That old man, what refined tastes he has.
‘…If you wanted to eat it that badly, you should’ve asked the president.’
Out of spite, he blurted it out without thinking. Ido’s eyes widened. Soon after, his lips curled into a self-deprecating smile that looked lonely. Seeing that smile, Wookyung cursed himself inwardly for saying something unnecessary.
‘I… couldn’t possibly… say something like that.’
‘…Yeah. I misspoke. …Eat your food.’
‘Yes.’
Slurp, making sounds that weren’t excessive as he ate his meal deliciously, Wookyung found himself staring at him without realizing it.
How old was this kid again? Twenty-one, or was it twenty? What was I doing at that age? Going to college, exercising, drinking… I’d come to places like this with friends to cure hangovers. Back then, I didn’t know how precious that ordinary daily life was, even when it sometimes felt boring.
At an age when he should be enjoying such an ordinary life to the fullest, in a place like this, taking an old man… Wookyung frowned. An omega with not a penny to his name, only debts. His future was obvious. President Park would play with him, break him somewhere or get bored, then send him down to an establishment managed by Daneum to make more money.
Watching Ido innocently eating his bean sprout soup, his chest ached for some reason. Even though he’d seen omegas go through that process more than once or twice.
‘…From now on, if there’s something you want to eat, tell me.’
‘Yes…?’
‘I’ll come eat with you from time to time.’
So, he made that promise.
Ido blinked as if he’d heard something impossible, then smiled brightly soon after. It was a very radiant smile. Like the rose scent he was giving off.
‘Thank you. Team Leader-nim. There’s something I’ve been thinking on my own… and I think I was right.’
‘What kind of thing?’
‘Team Leader-nim looks a bit scary but… I actually thought you might be a warm person.’
He must be a shameless kid after all. He’d never seen a kid say something like that with such a demure expression, smiling shyly without being brazen. Wookyung thought this and continued using his spoon, neither confirming nor denying. That kid’s smile that had bloomed like a flower somehow stuck in his heart, remaining there for a long, long time until he returned to his room in the building and fell asleep.
*
After that, Wookyung often ate breakfast with Ido. They mainly went to eat bean sprout soup, but occasionally visited other restaurants around the building.
Since it wouldn’t be good for them to be seen together—President Park’s omega and him—they usually ate quickly and parted ways. Even so, it was only about 30 minutes. But strangely, he found himself waiting for that time again and again. As he listened to Ido’s labored moans coming from outside the door all night long, there were more and more days when he thought he hoped morning would come quickly so Ido could be comfortable.
Ido smiled well in front of Wookyung. He chattered away about himself. While he kept his mouth tightly shut in front of others, in front of Wookyung he showed his fragile inner self as it was.
‘Team Leader-nim.’
Ido still called him that. The voice calling him while gazing quietly sounded shy. Every time he looked at him with that clear face, Wookyung somehow couldn’t look him straight in the eye. When they walked together, his steps felt light as if walking on clouds.
Wookyung found him adorable. There was definitely a pheromonal attraction too. He couldn’t say his appearance wasn’t his type either. He thought he shouldn’t open his heart to him—his boss’s property, like a younger brother—but his gaze kept going to him, and he kept thinking he wanted to take care of him.
That day too, it was a morning after he’d helped Ido’s battered body, ravaged all night by President Park, back to his room.
‘…Thank you. Team Leader-nim.’
‘Yeah. …You had it rough. Rest.’
Wookyung was about to turn around and leave the room as is, but hesitated for a moment and put his hand in his pocket. The two ointment boxes he’d bought last night at the pharmacy after hesitating dozens of times were in his grasp. Since he’d imagined taking them out and handing them to Ido so many times, the motion was without excess.
‘…And this.’
‘What’s this?’
Seeing Ido, who had been lying powerlessly on the bed, suddenly raise his head with sparkling eyes, Wookyung chuckled. He placed the ointment in his outstretched white hand and added an explanation.
‘Medicine. This one is for bruises… and this one you apply to torn wounds.’
Ido’s eyes widened. Then he grinned mischievously like a prankster.
‘Wow. Team Leader-nim… you bought these on purpose for me, didn’t you?’
‘…What. I get hurt all the time too, you know? I bought some for myself and accidentally got two.’
‘Liar. This is for omegas to use, you know?’
Wookyung snatched the ointment from Ido’s hand with a flustered face. No matter how much he read it, it only said “anti-inflammatory/antibiotic,” and he couldn’t see any such words.
‘…Where does it say that?’
‘Of course I was lying. Where would something like that exist?’
He lightly tapped the head of Ido, who was giggling. With a small thunk sound, Ido scrunched up his face and held his head.
‘You little… now you’re comfortable with me.’
‘Ow. How can you hit me with those pot lid-like hands?’
‘Was that hitting? I just tapped you.’
‘Anyway, you did buy it thinking of me, right?’
Avoiding the face of Ido who was smiling with his eyes curved again, Wookyung turned his body to leave. But at that moment, a hideous mark barely covered by the blanket caught Wookyung’s eye. Seeing Wookyung’s gaze sharpen instantly, Ido slyly tried to pull up the blanket to cover the back of his thigh, but Wookyung’s hand was faster.
‘…What is this.’
‘……’
‘I’m asking what this is.’
‘…The president…’
He was at a loss for words. ‘That old bastard, going completely insane, goddamn…’ Cursing inwardly, Wookyung yanked back the blanket. On the thin, white legs were bruises turning purple, covering them in blotches. There were also torn wounds. Where injuries had formed last night, blood had seeped out and scabs were hastily trying to form.
‘He does this kind of thing now?’
‘…Yesterday… he bought some kind of whip or something new… and said he wanted to try it…’
No wonder the screaming was especially loud last night. Wookyung forcibly swallowed a sigh and ran his dry palm over his face. For some reason, his chest was boiling with fire.
‘Lie down on your stomach. I’ll apply the medicine for you.’
