Listening to the phone conversation, Minho held his breath. Apparently, the scheme Lim Moojin had laid out was much bigger than he’d thought. He hadn’t prepared to hit President Park alone relying only on Wookyung. He had also joined hands with Yeodan, though he didn’t know since when.
“…Then please return just the one omega named Yoon Ido.”
Lim Moojin’s voice attempting negotiation could be heard. Rarely, he was bowing down to the other party. Though he didn’t know how much support he had received from Yeodan, just from listening to his voice, one could tell that Lim Moojin was in the inferior position.
“…Imprinted with Wookyung’s pheromones…?”
With a sigh, Lim Moojin swept his hair back, visible through the door gap. Even though he was standing with his back to the door, Minho could clearly picture his face scrunching up.
“…Ha… You know well that Choi Wookyung just… did what President Park told him to do. For my sake at least, please let this one slide. That omega… I promised Choi Wookyung I’d protect him as a condition for taking down President Park this time.”
It seemed President Kim still harbored resentment because of when Wookyung had hit him together with President Park at the arcade. From what he heard, he had suffered quite a serious injury that even made movement difficult.
If the person who had betrayed from within Daneum and smuggled the omegas to Yeodan had known about the relationship between Wookyung and that omega, President Kim’s kidnapping of the omegas might have been for that reason. To get personal revenge on Wookyung.
After arguing for a while, Lim Moojin roughly hung up the phone. From his fierce expression, it seemed the negotiation had broken down. Minho tried to turn around hastily, but it was a bit faster that he made eye contact with Lim Moojin whose eyes were gleaming sharply.
Looking straight into Minho’s wavering eyes, Lim Moojin slowly approached and stood before Minho.
“You heard everything.”
“…Executive Director…”
“Kim Minho-ssi, you’ll have to help me out.”
“What… do you… mean?”
With fear-stricken eyes, Minho looked up at him.
“What else.”
An eerie voice settled quietly in the office. The alpha before him emitting fierce pheromones slowly pointed at Minho’s lips with eyes that looked ready to devour him at any moment.
“Sealing this.”
“……”
“I already know that Kim Minho-ssi and Choi Wookyung are close.”
Despite being in a position where his secret had been discovered, he was relaxed. His footsteps pacing around Minho didn’t look anxious at all. Even though Minho had already caught him holding the worst hand, he was acting as if he had another hidden card.
“Which would be the choice for Choi Wookyung, me.”
With his slow tone, he slowly pressed Minho’s chest firmly with his finger.
“And for Kim Minho-ssi, think carefully.”
Along with those words, the condition Lim Moojin offered was truly absurd.
He would disguise to Choi Wookyung that the omega named Yoon Ido had died, so keep your mouth shut about him being dragged to Yeodan.
Lim Moojin’s voice was dark, threatening, and gloomy. Like someone who had stayed long in the organization, he was someone who could accurately target and grasp an opponent’s weakness. Just as Wookyung’s weaknesses were his family and that omega, Minho’s weakness was also his family remaining outside.
However, Lim Moojin didn’t only threaten. What he offered along with the harsh whip was a sweet-as-honey reward. His voice saying that Choi Wookyung would soon be appointed as executive director of the newly reorganized Daneum, and accordingly Kim Minho, who had been just a security team member, would become his executive secretary, was as cunning as a snake offering forbidden fruit. He wouldn’t have to use his body like before but just manage his schedule, and the compensation would be incomparable to before.
Lim Moojin elaborately persuaded the still-hesitating Minho.
“Think carefully. At this point, it’s already impossible to extract that omega who went to Yeodan. Then wouldn’t it be better for Choi Wookyung to just think he died swept up in this chaos and live on? It’s not like we can go to war with Yeodan at this time over one omega.”
Kim Minho couldn’t give a different answer to Lim Moojin, who added that if Wookyung found out about this now, he might meet his death trying to storm into Yeodan to extract that omega.
Thinking it was to protect his own precious things, and… consoling himself that this was truly the path for Wookyung’s sake, Minho finally nodded to Lim Moojin’s threat-like proposal.
How long could he lie to Wookyung? Was this really right?
Minho, who had been holding his head while agonizing, opened his eyes wide at a sound as faint as a thread.
“…Ugh…”
Sitting by Wookyung’s bedside, he jumped up and stared at Wookyung’s face wearing an oxygen mask.
“…Ah…”
He could see Wookyung’s parched lips moving slightly. Minho pressed the call bell with wide-open eyes. Soon nurses and a doctor rushed in to check Wookyung’s condition. Meanwhile, Minho called Lim Moojin.
“Executive Director Lim! Team Leader Choi has woken up.”
*
Lim Moojin arrived at the hospital room immediately. Just as he had instructed to contact him as soon as he woke up, he truly looked like someone worried about Wookyung’s well-being. His disheveled clothes and slightly flushed face clearly revealed that he had come in a hurry.
“Team Leader Choi!”
“…You’ve come.”
Wookyung, who had regained consciousness in the meantime, answered calmly. Seeing Lim Moojin, the medical staff bowed their heads and left the hospital room. Having ordered that Wookyung be hospitalized in the VIP ward to receive intensive care while he couldn’t wake up, he couldn’t be more glad to see Wookyung awake.
“You just woke up. How’s your condition?”
“I’m fine. Except my head feels a bit… heavy…”
A hoarse voice came out low. Watching Wookyung frown slightly, Lim Moojin roughly swept his hair back.
“Of course. You couldn’t wake up for over a week. I was so worried about what would happen to Team Leader Choi….”
Trailing off his words, he roughly tugged at his tie. Minho examined Lim Moojin’s appearance, clearly showing signs of agitation. His selfish order to participate in deceiving Choi Wookyung while saying he was his person and would take him to the end crossed his mind once more.
“…I’m fine now.”
Watching Wookyung frown while barely managing to speak, Lim Moojin’s expression crumpled more fiercely. Firmly shaking his head, Lim Moojin held down Wookyung’s body as he tried to get up with difficulty.
“Stay lying down. Don’t try to get up.”
“…Executive Director.”
Wookyung’s stinging gaze turned toward Lim Moojin.
“The child I told you about… where is he now?”
For a moment, Minho and Lim Moojin’s gazes tangled in the air. Watching their complex expressions, a question rose on Wookyung’s face, then gradually distorted with anxiety. In an instant, the heavy pheromones that had been settled in the hospital room surged.
“Kim Minho.”
“……”
“You tell him.”
Wookyung’s voice calling Minho’s name was lower than ever. At his fierce voice, Minho couldn’t answer and stared at Lim Moojin.
A moment of silence passed, and Lim Moojin spoke heavily.
“Team Leader Choi. President Park’s omegas…”
“……”
Watching Lim Moojin unable to continue easily, Wookyung’s hardened face distorted further. Minho swallowed dry saliva and clenched his fists tight.
“…While Team Leader Choi was hitting President Park… our guys… made a mistake.”
“……”
After those words fell, time like eternity passed. During that time, no sound could be heard in the hospital room except the sound of the humidifier running.
There was a sound of rough breathing exhaled with a gasp. A heavily hoarse sound came from Wookyung clutching his chest.
“…Right now.”
With a devastatingly distorted expression, Wookyung barely opened his mouth.
“…What are you… saying? Don’t tell me that… that child…”
“I’m sorry.”
Lim Moojin rarely turned his gaze away from Wookyung. Unable to face his appearance, Minho bowed his head. He felt like he would suffocate from the thick pheromones flowing from Wookyung. Wookyung’s messily distorted hands were painfully clutching his left chest.
“It’s my mistake. I should have protected that omega well as promised…”
At that moment, crash! With a loud sound, the humidifier that had been emitting steam fell to the floor and shattered. Blood droplets spurted into the air as he roughly tore out the IV needle stuck in the back of his hand.
“Team Leader!”
Screaming, Minho hugged Wookyung’s waist, but it was not enough. The huge body heaving with anger wouldn’t budge.
Shaking off Minho in one motion and approaching Lim Moojin closely, Wookyung growled and glared at him with eyes that looked ready to kill him. His thick fingers instantly grabbed Lim Moojin by the collar.
“This is different from, our promise.”
