Probably he himself had a similar face after talking with his small-grandfather.
So that’s why he comforted him saying it was hard.
‘Think that this too shall pass.’
Chaehun’s pedantic words were, ridiculously enough, the most realistic comfort. No matter how big an incident or accident, most fade with time. He eventually adapted to the near-death accident, losing his memory, and being unable to feel scent and taste.
But being pestered by greedy family and relatives right now was a headache. He couldn’t understand how Chaehun endured and put up with it.
[Waiting now.]
When he checked his vibrating phone, Chaehun had sent a message. It was already well past 6 o’clock, nearing 7. The sun was now slowly setting. He’d said he’d contact him if he was late, but he’d missed the timing. Seunggeon sent a reply.
[Just left now.]
[Got it.]
Unlike Chaehun’s kind personality, most messages were businesslike. Usually he didn’t think much about it, but today it particularly caught his eye. Seunggeon looked at the phone screen for a long time and wrote the next message.
[Wait a bit. I’ll arrive soon.]
[Okay.]
The reply was still short. Seunggeon found that a bit disappointing.
*
*
While crossing from Gangbuk to Gangnam, the sun had already completely set. The 8-lane bridge was unusually congested compared to usual.
Seunggeon frowned at the long line of red lights. Even with heavy traffic congestion, it was a place where you could pass through in one or two signals, but they’d been at a standstill for over 10 minutes.
“It seems an accident has occurred.”
Shim Jeongmin, who was sitting in the seat next to Seunggeon, checked his phone and explained the situation. An article had come out as breaking news that a 5-car pileup at the edge of the bridge had paralyzed traffic in both directions.
Seunggeon lightly clicked his tongue.
He knew it couldn’t be helped, but no one would welcome spending time idly on the road. The Saturday evening road congestion ate up much more time than scheduled.
Seunggeon looked for his phone while thinking of Chaehun. Normally he would have already arrived, but he was still on the bridge. It seemed he should send a message that he’d be late because traffic was backed up.
Originally, Seunggeon was sensitive about time appointments. That day when Chaehun got rained on and went back was unlucky in many ways. He hadn’t informed Chaehun about the business trip, the plane had a mechanical failure, and to top it off, his phone battery died. To make matters worse, Shim Jeongmin lost his phone, and as the apartment password changed, the situation got incredibly tangled. He realized then that it was better to inform in advance if there were any changes.
The moment he turned on the screen, a message came from Chaehun.
[I’m hungry.]
Speak of the tiger and it appears—that was exactly Chaehun. The thought that he couldn’t become a gentleman naturally arose.
[I think I’ll be late. Traffic is backed up.]
After typing and sending that much, Seunggeon attempted a call. The ringtone didn’t last long before Chaehun’s voice rang out clearly. Chaehun’s voice was on the clear side.
—Is traffic really backed up?
“There was an accident at the bridge entrance. We’ve been at a standstill for over 10 minutes.”
—Really? Are you okay?
“The accident scene isn’t even visible from here. There’s chocolate in the refrigerator. Eat that.”
—Oh, chocolate. But we’re about to go eat soon.
When Chaehun, who had been impressed, hesitated, Seunggeon smiled soundlessly. It seemed Chaehun was the type who didn’t eat snacks before meals.
“You said you were hungry. It’s not a full snack, so just eat a few.”
—Uh, yeah. But where did the chocolate come from?
“I received it as a gift.”
Seunggeon often received light gifts like snacks through various routes. Macarons made by a famous pastry chef, or chocolates from famous makers, and so on. Usually he handed them over to the secretaries, but after meeting Chaehun, he kept them himself. It was because he was curious about what they tasted like.
The returned sense of taste caught flavors sensitively. It was too sweet, smelled fishy from eggs, tasted like flour. So he hadn’t properly eaten any.
Chaehun scolded him saying his palate was too picky. Still, because it looked good to see Chaehun eating deliciously, Seunggeon didn’t forget to keep the snacks he received as gifts. The chocolate he received yesterday was the same.
—Oh. I found it. This looks good. I’ll eat in moderation. Hanging up. Ah, right. Take your time coming. That place is open until late in the evening. If you’re really late, you can eat something else. Contact me when you arrive. I’ll take a number and go right down.
“Okay.”
The call ended briefly. And not long after, the phone vibrated.
[As delicious as it is pretty. Thanks.]
Along with a message mixing impressions and thanks, a photo of delicately packaged chocolate entered his view.
As soon as he checked the photo, Seunggeon couldn’t help but smile bitterly despite himself. The chocolate photo that should have looked appetizing somehow looked like a spirit photograph. Because it was taken standing with his back to the light, an overall deep shadow was created and the screen was blurry. It seemed Chaehun was definitely the type who was very bad at taking photos.
As he chuckled looking at his phone, he felt the gaze of Shim Jeongmin sitting next to him. Seunggeon ignored it. He knew grinning alone wasn’t like himself, but he couldn’t help the laughter that came out.
Even the guy who seemed like he’d be good at everything had weak points. He knew he was bad at ball sports, but he didn’t know he was bad at taking photos too.
“Chocolate, huh.”
Having looked at the spirit photograph one more time, Seunggeon muttered quietly. The sweets with sweetness that seemed to melt his tongue resembled Chaehun somewhere. Sugar temporarily stimulated the human brain and made one forget life’s hardships. To him, Chaehun was such an existence.
A remedy that returned the pleasures of the world.
Seunggeon evaluated Chaehun’s utility. When he was with him, the taste and scent of the world returned. He could feel the complete pleasure of sex. When he pulled Chaehun’s solid body into his arms, dug deep inside, and reached climax, he even felt like he understood what sex addiction was.
Naturally thinking of Chaehun, Seunggeon felt thirsty. It was a thirst that couldn’t be solved just by drinking water.
Perhaps because he’d always had sex when meeting Chaehun over the past 4 months or so, his body reflexively reacted. But for being sexually excited, his heart was beating fast. Seunggeon didn’t just pass over the abnormal symptom and took his own pulse. It was faster than usual and he felt heat.
Seunggeon frowned. The preliminary symptoms of low fever, excitement, and rapid pulse pointed to many disease names. Along with overwork, cold, infection, and so on, there was also rut.
It’s not rut time.
Seunggeon’s rut was very regular. Once a year. Late October, when the accident where he lost his memory occurred. It was also another piece of evidence of how much that damned accident was affecting his life.
It was much longer than the average alpha’s rut cycle, but since it wasn’t unprecedented, he didn’t particularly worry. Rather, being dominated by hormones only once a year was an advantage. But suddenly the rut cycle was trying to advance. And at a time when there were still half a year left.
Seunggeon still couldn’t gauge whether this was a sign of rut, or whether he was excited, or if it was a cold.
As he was wondering what to do, the phone rang again. The caller was Chaehun, and this time it was a voice call instead of a message.
“What’s going on?”
—Well. Some person came to the apartment and got kicked out.
Suppressed anger dripped from Chaehun’s voice. However, the summary was too short to guess what had happened.
“That’s too short. Tell me in detail. Are you hurt anywhere?”
—The door opened so I thought you came back quickly, but it was a man I didn’t know. I don’t know his name. We didn’t exchange names. Anyway, he suddenly barged in without giving me a chance to stop him…… Hah. I told him to leave and held out, but I got grabbed by people who looked like bodyguards and kicked out.
“Geez.”
He was so dumbfounded that a hollow laugh came out. Seunggeon was angrier because he had a rough idea of what had happened.
—I’m going back. No, I’m in the process of going back. You handle the rest yourself.
“I’ll book a nearby hotel, the H Hotel we met at before, so go there. Director Shim will send you a message.”
Seunggeon gestured to Shim Jeongmin sitting next to him. Quick-witted as he was, he quickly picked up his phone and moved. But Chaehun didn’t respond.
—Do I have to see you?
“Kang Chaehun.”
—I know it’s not your fault. Ah, really. I feel a bit… let’s just not see each other today.
At Chaehun’s weak voice, Seunggeon realized something was wrong.
“Don’t tell me, are you hurt?”
—No. I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m hanging up now. Don’t contact me. I won’t answer the phone.
Chaehun unilaterally hung up the phone. It was proof that his mood was extremely bad. Seunggeon frowned and glared at his phone screen where the call duration was flashing.
“What will you do?”
Shim Jeongmin asked cautiously from the side. Seunggeon suppressed the irritation surging up. Controlling emotions was something he had done since childhood. Anger had to be expressed quietly.
“Book a hotel and send Chaehun a message. I’ll go to the apartment first. Call the bodyguards nearby too.”
Having made a quick decision, Seunggeon continued trying to contact Chaehun. However, Chaehun didn’t answer the phone as he had said. He seemed to be properly angry.
Seeing Chaehun was for later. First, he had to kick out the uninvited guest who came to his home.
* * *
The traffic jam cleared only after another 10 minutes had passed. It took another 15 minutes to the apartment. The bodyguards had already arrived near the apartment and were waiting. Seunggeon moved with not only Shim Jeongmin but also all seven bodyguards.
It was the head of security who opened the apartment’s front door. As soon as the door opened, the scent of an omega’s pheromones rushed in. And it was the pheromone scent of an omega in heat.
Nothing’s changed.
At the obvious situation, Seunggeon sneered coldly. Putting an omega in heat into an alpha’s room was a classic tactic. Usually, it was used to catch an alpha’s weakness. If they got pregnant, even better. It could become grounds for marriage, or if not that, at least they could extort money.
He could have made the unknown guest wait all night. In fact, that would have been more convenient and moderate. But Seunggeon had no intention of leaving an uninvited guest emitting an unpleasant smell in his own home. He also had to find out who was behind this.
“It would be better for alphas to step back.”
The pheromones of an omega in heat paralyze an alpha’s reason. Watching two of the bodyguards step back, Seunggeon went inside.
On the sofa where Chaehun should have been sitting, he saw a man with a familiar face. He remembered his third great-aunt introducing him as her nephew’s son. Kim Juhyeon. The elegant and haughty-looking dominant omega had actively displayed his pheromones and appealed from the first time they met.
Seunggeon’s maternal grandfather had many siblings. And they were all very greedy.
They had shown active support for Seunggeon becoming the CEO of Taehwa Group. Strictly speaking, they could be considered on the same side, but their interests didn’t always align.
Seunggeon, who had emerged as the young heir of Taehwa Group, was tempting prey. Everyone was eager at the fact that if they caught him, they would become the mistress of Taehwa Group.
This world was originally a pandemonium of eat or be eaten. Committing illegal and inhumane acts against each other and silently burying them was commonplace. Still, this time they had definitely crossed the line.
He couldn’t stay still seeing strangers standing with dirty feet in his own home, which should be the safest place. Of course, they would think they had sent a precious dominant omega as a gift.
Next to Kim Juhyeon, two men who looked like bodyguards stood like folding screens. They were supposed to become witnesses and testifiers of what would happen here.
But what caught Seunggeon’s eyes wasn’t the omega in heat or the dark-suited bodyguards. It was a small chocolate that had fallen under the living room table, along with a black box and golden ribbon string sticking out of the trash can.
It was definitely the chocolate box Chaehun had sent him a photo of. And now it was in the trash can.
“You’re late.”
Seunggeon looked at Kim Juhyeon, the owner of the languid voice. The cheeks of the omega in heat were flushed red. But conversely, Seunggeon’s mood sank coldly.
“How did you get in?”
“There are ways.”
Seunggeon wasn’t particularly curious about how they got into the apartment either. He was just angry at the fact that security had been breached. Weeding out the insider informant would be a bothersome task.
“I don’t like having many spectators.”
With a deep smile, Kim Juhyeon stood up from his seat and approached Seunggeon.
Despite being an illegal intrusion, there was a reason Kim Juhyeon was so confident. There were few alphas who wouldn’t succumb to a dominant omega’s pheromones. Not to mention a dominant omega in heat.
But for Seunggeon, it was just futile nonsense. The pheromone scent filling the inside of the apartment wasn’t the scent of sweet temptation but a stench. Like the smell of cheap perfume that failed in fragrance mixing. Not knowing this, Kim Juhyeon smiled leisurely.
“You must have strong patience. Usually, people have trouble even standing properly. Isn’t it hard to endure?”
“I wonder?”
“You wouldn’t have done something stupid like imprinting. I don’t know why you’re so stiff? Hm?”
Kim Juhyeon’s white hand reached out to grab Seunggeon’s necktie. Seunggeon didn’t just watch but knocked the hand away.
“Ah! That hurts!”
Kim Juhyeon, who had never been rejected in his entire life, was flustered.
“Great-aunt is making things difficult for people.”
“What on earth— Kugh.”
Seunggeon grabbed Kim Juhyeon’s neck with one hand and lifted him up as he frowned. Kim Juhyeon was standing on his tiptoes and about to float in the air.
At the sudden situation, Kim Juhyeon’s bodyguards rushed in a beat late. But the bodyguards who came with Seunggeon blocked them. The living room became chaotic in an instant.
“Cra, crazy…… Let go! Kkeok. Hk!”
Along with the sound of choking, Kim Juhyeon tried to remove Seunggeon’s hand and eventually scratched wildly. But Seunggeon didn’t budge.
He didn’t particularly have killing intent. But he intended to clearly show that he was holding the other person’s lifeline.
“Tell great-aunt. She’ll have to cough up everything she has.”
After clearly conveying every last word, Seunggeon practically threw Kim Juhyeon down. With the merciless action, silence flowed through the living room in an instant. Seunggeon didn’t even glance at Kim Juhyeon, who was clutching his neck and coughing.
“Confirm their departure yourself. I’ll move with the two waiting outside.”
Having given orders directly to the head of security, Seunggeon turned around as he was. He had no intention whatsoever of remaining in an apartment that smelled disgusting.
Now it was time to go catch Chaehun.
