How does Beom Yisu even know to come here?
Siyeon’s body went rigid at the appearance of someone he hadn’t expected. Not Chae Yuno, whom he’d run into through a ‘chance encounter’ — but the other one showing up instead. How had the main character and the alpha couple first met in the original story……
“I know that face……”
Judging by the low murmur, Siyeon wasn’t the only one who’d recognized the man. In that instant, a flicker of calculation crossed Manager Kang’s eyes.
“Aren’t you that guy — the CEO of Beomyeong or whatever.”
Sure enough, it didn’t take long to recognize a face that made the news. When Beom Yisu’s eyebrow twitched, his expression otherwise impassive, Manager Kang pressed him again with even more confidence in his voice.
“What brings someone important like yourself to a place like this?”
“All land in and around Nakwon-dong is under Beomyeong management. It seems like you’re the one who crossed a line without permission.”
“Ah, so the landowner came to check on his land. Then why not get back to what you were doing — why stick your nose into something that’s none of your business.”
“This is my business today.”
At the pointed prod, Beom Yisu’s gaze swept over Siyeon’s split lip and swollen ankle in turn. Cross-referencing the VIP ward access log with the payment trail, the security team had flagged a CCTV camera in Nakwon-dong catching someone in a hoodie matching what the omega had been wearing — and after a fruitless search, he’d finally come face to face with his target.
He just hadn’t known there’d be a pest like this mixed into the picture.
“Wait your turn. I’m in the middle of dealing with the little shit who ran off with my money — do you have any idea how much this one borrowed.”
Sure enough, Manager Kang — with his sharp nose for money — began sniffing around for whatever he could squeeze out of the situation. Beom Yisu seemed to read exactly what was going through his head and furrowed his brow.
“How much.”
“Five hundred million, principal alone. Interest is separate, of course.”
Upon hearing the figure, Beom Yisu let out a short, contemptuous scoff — as if to say, all this fuss over that kind of pocket change.
“Dragging someone by the hair over a mere five hundred million…… I see what kind of person you are.”
“Those are hurtful words. Our representative here may not have to worry about money — but Hong Siyeon’s situation is different. The interest alone has already exceeded the principal.”
Manager Kang curled his long, narrow eyes into a smirk and yanked the fistful of Siyeon’s hair upward. The sight of him handling Siyeon so roughly seemed to get under Beom Yisu’s skin — a hairline crack appeared on his otherwise expressionless face.
“I’d advise you to let go, while I’m still asking nicely.”
“Why do you keep sticking your nose in. Have you two gotten cozy while I wasn’t looking, hmm? You answer me, Hong Siyeon.”
Manager Kang slapped Siyeon’s cheek a couple of times, his head wrenched back at an angle. It was a threatening move — but rather than panicking, Siyeon was busy weighing whether to take the bait or play meek. Right now, the gaze that concerned him more was Beom Yisu’s, fixed on him without blinking.
Is it because of the pheromone match.
After he’d fled from the hospital, the reason Beom Yisu had come looking for him was obvious. Just as the Beom Yisu of the original story had been fixated on the main character’s pheromones, it was that same match rate drawing him here now.
Couldn’t avoid it in the end.
At this rate, it was clear he’d end up following the wretched path of the original — but if there was no escaping the original route through some inexplicable logic of the story, then rather than blindly refusing and running, he needed to calculate what options were actually available to him.
For now, it was either get dragged off by Manager Kang and end up in a bad situation, or go along with Beom Yisu.
He had to pick the lesser of two evils.
“Say something. Not going to answer?”
“……Whether we’re cozy or not — what does it matter.”
Manager Kang’s crude insinuation had been meant to probe the two of them — but Siyeon gave a deliberately vague response and shifted his gaze toward Beom Yisu. Despite being under threat, Siyeon’s composed demeanor seemed to catch Beom Yisu off guard.
In the space of a split second, something passed between their eyes — and sensing the charged undercurrent, Manager Kang’s own eyes snapped in fury.
“What the f——, Hong Siyeon, have you already been f——ed?!”
“H — hey, let go of me! Damn it……”
“You little — I should’ve sold this one off before the value dropped.”
The first time with a dominant omega was worth whatever price you named. Manager Kang, who’d had plans to make a profit off that body, was now channeling every ounce of his rage at the damaged collateral straight into violence.
“This is why you never go easy on omegas.”
“When did you ever go easy on me?!”
“Mouthing off like a little slut.”
When Siyeon snapped back, Manager Kang — unable to contain his fury — raised his hand. But before that vicious blow could land, the large figure was shoved backward. In an instant, Siyeon was snatched up by a firm grip and buried deep into a chest as solid as cast stone.
A dry, woody scent brushed his nose.
“Gh — ugh……”
Thwack! Manager Kang, struck clean in the abdomen, went tumbling down several steps. Beom Yisu kept Siyeon shielded behind him and, his face utterly blank, landed two more kicks in Manager Kang’s direction without ceremony.
“You should have listened when I was still being civil. So we didn’t have to deal with this ugly business.”
Beom Yisu’s low, cold voice echoed down the steps. Manager Kang, breathless before the force of a dominant alpha, staggered and crumpled down the stairs. Siyeon watched his retreating figure and muttered inwardly.
That’s not someone who’d take a beating lying down like this.
The Manager Kang of the original story was no simple villain. He was someone who dug at vulnerabilities relentlessly, cornering the main character from every angle. The over-the-top aggression just now had, in all likelihood, been a deliberate provocation aimed at drawing a reaction out of Beom Yisu.
He’s sizing up the value of his collateral and looking to pocket something off this, that slimy bastard.
“Have the hospital bills sent here.”
Beom Yisu pushed his hair back and tossed down a business card. The card, bearing the Beomyeong logo in bold, dropped squarely onto Manager Kang’s chest.
In the meantime, Siyeon was mentally calculating the timing to slip away — but the thick hand that locked around his wrist told him escaping easily from this man wouldn’t be an option.
“I’d like a moment of your time. There’s a proposal I’d like to make to you, Hong Siyeon.”
“And if I said no — would I have a choice in the matter?”
Instead of answering, Beom Yisu turned his head and looked toward the crumpled Manager Kang. Right — there’s no such thing as a free favor in this world.
“Come to the car first.”
“Ugh, what are you — I can get there on my own.”
“You’re injured, aren’t you? If you go down like this, it’ll only get worse.”
Beom Yisu, with hands sheathed in leather gloves that seemed oddly out of place in this weather, lifted Siyeon clean off the ground. Even with the layers of clothing preventing any direct skin contact, the tips of his fingers trembled — just briefly.
“I made it all the way up here on my own. There’s no need to——”
Even after that, Siyeon kept up his verbal protests — but in the end, he let himself be held quietly in his arms. Knowing full well that there had never been a choice to begin with. The fact that he was being taken away like this by the very person he’d fought with everything he had to avoid — the injustice of it made him bite down hard on the inside of his lip.
“And yet you haven’t asked me why I came to find you, Hong Siyeon.”
“Should I be curious?”
“If you’ve already figured it out, the negotiation will go considerably more smoothly.”
At that remark cutting straight to the point, Siyeon fell momentarily silent. Should I have at least pretended to be surprised, — the belated regret swirled around in his mouth. Perhaps because his heart felt so heavy, the view of Nakwon-dong from within Beom Yisu’s arms no longer looked the least bit peaceful.
In the original, he would have trembled without even being able to meet his eyes — but I’m different.
After all, he wasn’t the one who needed a deal. So for now…… there was no reason to hesitate when facing him.
After lingering in his thoughts for a long while, Siyeon breathed out a suppressed sigh and opened his mouth.
“……Isn’t it because of the pheromone match that was done at the hospital?”
“The fact that you got it right away tells me you’ve had a compatibility test done before.”
“No. It’s not that…… Dominant omegas get caught up in this sort of thing often. So I just assumed that’s what it was.”
To be precise, what had come to mind were the filthy, exhausting situations the original main character had been put through. Either way, as long as he inhabited this body, that unavoidable burden wasn’t going to change.
“As you anticipated, the match rate came out unusually high. It was necessary to meet and confirm it in person.”
“……So then, what exactly is it that you want from me.”
At the question cutting straight to the heart of the matter, Beom Yisu stopped walking. Siyeon seized that moment to slip free from his hold and leaned against the wall. Beom Yisu’s expression hadn’t shifted — but in the brief silence, Siyeon could sense him working out how best to approach this.
“I’d like to make a proposal. If you accept, I’ll give you more than enough to make it worth your while.”
At that moment, a line that was familiar yet somehow different drifted into his ears.
“I have a proposal. It’s an amount well beyond what that body of yours is worth.”
Beom Yisu’s manner of proposing was subtly different in tone from that scene in the original — where he had spoken purely from the position of absolute power. But the essence was the same, so he couldn’t let his guard down. No matter how he dressed it up in courtesy, it would ultimately amount to coercion — one that left no room for refusal. As Siyeon narrowed his eyes, Beom Yisu continued.
“Actor Chae Yuno, whom you encountered before — he is my spouse. As we are both alphas, we cannot have a child together.”
At the words that followed calmly, Siyeon’s expression hardened.
Beom Yisu, seeming not to miss the shift, quickly arrived at the point.
“To get straight to it — I would like you, Hong Siyeon, to bear a child for us.”
