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The saying “Birds hear daytime talk, and mice hear nighttime talk” is an old proverb meaning one should always be careful with their words. And now, Heejin was realizing the lesson of this proverb once again.
The additional information Heejin had asked to look into earlier was whether that child was in the elevator at the same time. Although they couldn’t be 100% certain because all CCTV footage from that time had been erased, based on the record of when Junjae collapsed in the elevator, Jeonggwan’s discharge time from the obstetrics department, the distance to Won Hospital, and the admission time, there was over an 82% probability that they were in the same elevator at that time. Heejin, thinking her hypothesis was correct, called the researcher in charge at the time.
“Then, could that child have a direct connection to our Junjae’s dominant manifestation? Remember back then, when our Junjae woke up and suddenly started looking for bread? The doctor joked that the omega present at the scene might have been the source of that pheromone. We only checked the child’s parents’ traits then, and they were all betas, so I missed…”
“…”
“…I’ll call you back.”
Through the gap in Heejin’s gallery office door, she came face to face with Won Seongje, who was standing there holding a bouquet of flowers. Seongje would often come to Heejin’s gallery unannounced, carrying potted plants or bouquets, trying to pick up even the smallest rumors about Junjae. But lately, he had been busy traveling around and hadn’t come, so Heejin had let her guard down.
“…Given your new mother’s personality, she wouldn’t have lied about being recessive from birth.”
“…”
“It must have been father, right? But with our father’s personality, he could have just remarried and had a dominant child. Why did he bother raising a recessive child while pretending they were dominant?”
“…Seongje.”
“…So the problem was on father’s side.”
This was something everyone had lived in silence for decades, deliberately trying to hide it. Although there were only about five people who knew, all five of them had lived as if they had erased it from their memories. But due to a single moment of carelessness, this fact was revealed to the one person who should never have found out.
“…Damn it, it wasn’t our mom who was the problem,”
“…”
“It was father who was the problem.”
Heejin turned her head away, avoiding Seongje’s gaze as he muttered in disbelief. Heejin could have coldly denied it here, insisting it was his mother’s fault, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Because not only was her son a victim of long-term abuse, but Seongje was as well.
Won Youngjae had a lot of affection for his first child, Seongje. Even though he was born recessive, he still loved the child quite a bit. However, when Junjae was also born recessive, that’s when he started to realize there might be a problem with himself, and his mind began to twist. He would tell Seongje every time he saw him, as if brainwashing him, that he was born recessive because of his mother, that his mother was useless. He wanted to deny himself, who had always lived a perfect life but could only have recessive children.
But when a father who doesn’t live with you says he loves you more than your dominant half-brother, but tells you not to cross the line because you’re recessive, Won Youngjae probably didn’t realize how cruel it was to tell a child that being born recessive was because of the mother he lived with. Won Seongje lived his whole life hating his mother. Thinking that it was because of his mother that he couldn’t gain his father’s approval, that he was recessive because of his mother. He had said many hurtful things to his mother who was always unconditionally on his side, but in fact, it was all his father’s fault.
Seongje’s eyes reddened. He wanted to go confront and yell at his father right now, but in the end, it was he who had always blamed his mother, wanting his father’s approval, so he could only breathe heavily. However, he couldn’t contain this sense of injustice and anger, and like Won Youngjae, Seongje also felt the urge to shift the blame.
“That omega you mentioned earlier is that pig, right?”
“…You,”
“We’re both his sons, so maybe I could become one too.”
“…Seongje!”
He was also Won Youngjae’s son, and just as Won Junjae had manifested from recessive to dominant, he too might manifest as dominant. The bread smell, it must have been that pig. Seongje roughly opened the gallery door and stormed out.
* * *
It had been a while since Jeonggwan had arrived at work on time and prepared to leave on time. Having spent half the week in a haze, he felt so embarrassed coming to work today. The employees looked at him with expressions that seemed to ask, “What have you been up to lately, coming late or not showing up?” But he couldn’t tell them he’d been spending hot nights with his boyfriend, having drinking parties with friends, throwing up, and recovering from hangovers, so he just smiled politely like the well-mannered cat meme.
“Why isn’t the managing director here today?”
“Oh, he went on a business trip to Japan today.”
As Jeonggwan finished cleaning up and was about to change into his uniform, Suki looked at her watch and asked curiously. The handsome misery wasn’t visible today. The handsome misery referred to Junjae, and this nickname wasn’t created by the cafe staff but by the employees of Won Electronics.
They said the managing director came down to the first floor to secretly watch again, a man who was watching the patissier in the middle make something turned back on his way thinking it was his lover and glared, he always goes there for breakfast and lunch and makes sure to hold hands at least once. It was a nickname given due to his seemingly obsessive behavior. But with the addition of his good looks, it became ‘handsome misery’. Of course, neither Junjae nor Jeonggwan seemed to know about this. If Jeonggwan had known, the name registered in his phone would have already changed.
“You must be disappointed not seeing him today-.”
“It is a bit disappointing not seeing the miracle of the peninsula we see every day.”
“Ah, where did that nickname come from now?”
Currently, Junjae’s name in Jeonggwan’s phone had changed from ‘Darling’ to ‘Miracle of the Peninsula’. Yesterday, while chatting with Jihoon and Juhwan at Junjae’s house, someone mentioned the miracle of the archipelago, the miracle of the continent, talking about handsome celebrities from various countries. While discussing who could be the miracle of the peninsula, ‘But I’ve never seen a celebrity more handsome than Junjae hyung.’
‘Come to think of it, Won Junjae is really unbelievable.’
‘…I’ve never seen a celebrity in real life.’
‘You’re already dating the celebrity of celebrities. Junjae hyung is the miracle of the peninsula.’
It was said that Junjae was the celebrity of celebrities, the miracle of the peninsula. Although he couldn’t compare since he had never seen a celebrity in real life, even Jeonggwan thought Junjae was such a beautiful person that one couldn’t develop immunity to his face. It wasn’t just once or twice that he would be startled when looking back at Junjae after glancing away for a moment.
So Jeonggwan agreed that Junjae was the miracle of the peninsula and immediately changed the name saved in his phone.
“Speaking of which, I should call him.”
Remembering Junjae’s words to call him when leaving work, Jeonggwan dialed as he headed to the changing room. Although it immediately switched to an international call since he was in Japan, Jeonggwan didn’t mind much because Junjae had set it up so that he would pay for the phone bills when he first opened the account, insisting that Jeonggwan should always call and answer even when he was abroad.
[Hello.]
“Hyung-. I’m done.”
[You’re done? I was just about to call you.]
“How’s Japan? Is it fun?”
[No. It’s not fun.]
Isn’t there a lot of delicious food? Why isn’t it fun? Jeonggwan, who had never been to Japan, found Junjae’s answer puzzling. Hyung, didn’t you eat takoyaki and cake? That’s why it’s not fun! Even as Jeonggwan rambled on about his own idea of fun and happiness, Junjae listened with a smile.
[Shall we go together next month?]
“Wow. To Japan?”
[Yes. Japan, Hong Kong. Everywhere.]
“Wow. That’s great! But I’ve already used two of my vacation days…”
Jeonggwan burst into laughter at Junjae’s clingy response, saying he’d beg Jihoon. Junjae was really different from his image before they started dating. The original image of Junjae that Jeonggwan had in mind was someone uptight and cold who might say, “I’ll threaten Jihoon.” But after dating, he surprisingly treated people around Jeonggwan with leniency.
[Jeonggwan-ah. Be careful on your way home, and I’ll call you right after the meeting ends.]
“Okay-.”
Although the short call ended because Junjae had to go into a meeting, Jeonggwan felt his body relax and his fatigue dissipate at the sound of that kind voice. However, that didn’t mean his actual fatigue was gone, so he thought he should hurry home, take a shower, eat, and take a quick nap as he changed his clothes and left the cafe.
“…Hey.”
“Huh.”
However, upon encountering a figure in front of the cafe, Jeonggwan immediately felt that he wouldn’t be able to go home smoothly.
Won Seongje, Junjae’s half-brother, was standing there as usual in a flashy suit with a tilted posture, but unlike last time when his face was full of mischief, today he looked quite gloomy as if he had been slapped somewhere. Jeonggwan took a cautious step back, thinking he should just ignore Seongje and go home if he tried to pick a fight again today.
“Oh…!”
However, Seongje approached Jeonggwan with big strides, grabbed his arm, and pulled him forcefully towards himself, bringing their faces close enough to touch.
