“That’s why.”
He continued.
“The most harmless beta in this world. A beta that ‘we’ would have absolutely no interest in. That’s what I need right now.”
The man in the white hat grinned and watched for his reaction. Gu Jongyeol stared at him for a long moment, then answered.
“Fine.”
Bang!
“Ugh!”
“What the—!”
He kicked the door open with everything he had, and the woman and man lying in the bed shot upright. Gu Jongyeol, dressed in a black suit, stared blankly at their naked bodies, then strode straight toward the bed. He extended his right arm — gloved in black — and grabbed the head of a man who had his face buried in a pillow.
“Ugh!”
“Young Master, time to get up. The sun’s already high in the sky.”
“Fuck…… Jongyeol hyung…… That hurts.”
“It’s supposed to hurt. I heard you gave the Chairman a massive middle finger yesterday? What am I supposed to do when you pull this kind of shit the one day I’m away? Can we please have some peace and quiet, yeah?”
The eyelids of the blond man lying face-down slowly opened. He looked up at Gu Jongyeol who’d grabbed his head and gave him a lazy grin, then parted his red lips.
“Get your facts straight, hyung. It wasn’t because you weren’t there — it’s because you weren’t there that it happened. So why did you leave me alone?”
Yeah, that’s on me. I must’ve lost my mind too.
Gu Jongyeol swallowed the words that had risen all the way to the tip of his tongue.
“Babe, who is this guy?”
“Oppa, are you bringing him in too? All four of us, this early in the morning?”
Gu Jongyeol had been talking to the blond when he noticed the two — a naked man and woman — who had sat up in the same bed. He looked at them for a moment, then gave them a pleasant smile.
“Get out. Right now, unless you want to die.”
Something in those chilling words must have hit them, because the two scrambled out of bed and frantically grabbed their clothes. At least they have some sense. Gu Jongyeol gave a few nods toward the subordinates who had been watching them. After confirming that a few of them followed the pair out, he turned back toward the blond — only to find him grinning, which made Gu Jongyeol’s brow furrow.
“Get dressed first. The Chairman is asking for you.”
“Ugh, that old man. Such a pain in my ass!”
“Well, who told you to blow off the matchmaking meeting and run away? Even if you hated it, you could’ve at least shown up and made an effort.”
“Jongyeol hyung. Would you have gone to that thing if you were me? I’m only twenty-two! I haven’t even hit a thousand rounds of sex yet! I can’t get married until I’ve fucked every omega in this district!”
Crazy bastard.
No wonder the Chairman had to arrange a matchmaking meeting just to try to settle him down with one person.
Gu Jongyeol let out a sigh, then opened his mouth.
“Either way, get dressed first. Please.”
Gu Jongyeol coaxed the blond who was practically protesting out loud, then picked up the underwear and clothes scattered across the floor and threw them at him. There was a click of the tongue, but he didn’t pay it much mind. Gu Jongyeol turned around and walked out of the room.
“Sir.”
“Those two?”
“We’ve made sure they’ll keep their mouths shut. They won’t be coming anywhere near the Young Master again.”
“Good. Well done.”
“The Young Master……”
“He’ll be dressed and out soon, so take him home and get him cleaned up. God knows how much he went at it — the smell of cum is no joke.”
“Ah, yes, sir. Understood!”
At Gu Jongyeol’s orders, the subordinates stepped forward without missing a beat and took up their posts in front of the bedroom door. Gu Jongyeol let out a sigh, stepped out of the hotel room, and stood in front of the elevator.
I’m genuinely exhausted today.
The immediate fire was out, so for now he’d head home, get some sleep, and then figure out what to do from there.
[I can’t get married until I’ve fucked every omega in this district!]
The Young Master — who was supposedly a bloodhound when it came to sniffing out omegas — still hadn’t noticed the change in Gu Jongyeol, who had gone from beta to omega. Which meant that for now, his omega manifestation wasn’t serious enough to be an immediate problem.
[T-there won’t be any immediate changes. But symptoms will appear gradually. Cases of betas shifting into omegas due to environmental hormones have been occurring more frequently lately — but a secondary gender shift happening after your thirties…… is uncommon. So, patient Gu Jongyeol, would you please consider undergoing a more thorough examination? A far more detailed assessment than a standard health checkup would be — w-wait, just a moment! Please don’t just walk out!]
No matter how many times he thought about it, this was genuinely fucked up.
Gu Jongyeol stared at the elevator display counting down from fifty and scrunched up his face.
“Hello.”
It was just as the number passed forty-three.
Drowning in the exhaustion that had seeped into every part of his body, Gu Jongyeol turned his head at the sound of someone greeting him.
There, smiling at him, was a man with a fairly familiar face. Gu Jongyeol responded the way he always did — flat and unbothered.
“Oh. It’s you.”
“Have you been well, Jongyeol hyung?”
The Young Master, whom Gu Jongyeol had been looking after since he was seventeen — right up to this very day — was a dominant alpha, well-known in this area, even among alphas.
The Young Master went around meeting omegas, riding on his handsome face and the power of a family that controlled the underworld. It was no exaggeration to say he had gotten into bed with every halfway pretty omega in the vicinity — and every single time, it was Gu Jongyeol who cleaned up after him.
And the man standing before him now was that Young Master’s friend.
They say you become like the company you keep — this one’s probably no ordinary person either. As far as Gu Jongyeol knew, the Young Master’s friend was also one of the rare dominant alphas in the world. He looked up at the dark-haired man who was grinning at him.
“Yeah. You doing well too?”
“Always, same as ever.”
“I see.”
This is incredibly uncomfortable.
Gu Jongyeol felt a vague nausea rising for no particular reason.
And it made sense — the Young Master’s cagey friend was exactly the type Gu Jongyeol found difficult to deal with.
His Young Master was thoroughly simple and instinct-driven, so if you were direct with him, you got an equally direct reaction — but this guy was only twenty-two and already so dark inside that you couldn’t begin to read him.
On top of that, this one……
Gu Jongyeol was about to look back at the elevator display when he stole a sideways glance at the young man beside him.
Sure enough — the Young Master’s friend was smiling at him. His dark eyes clung to Gu Jongyeol like they were dragging themselves across every inch of him, slow and stubborn, refusing to let go. Damn it.
Irritation flared, and Gu Jongyeol finally spoke.
“Hey. You gonna quit staring at me with those creepy fucking eyes or not.”
At that, the Young Master’s friend — who had his gaze fixed on Gu Jongyeol — let out a small, soft ah.
— Thirty-fourth floor.
Gu Jongyeol stepped into the elevator as soon as the doors opened, then spoke to the man who had gone still.
“You, fucker — look at me like that one more time, and I don’t care if you’re the Young Master’s friend. I won’t let it slide.”
I’ll kill you on the spot.
“Haha. Jongyeol hyung.”
Gu Jongyeol was glaring at him as he let out a low laugh as if to say that’s not what I meant — and reached to press the close button.
“But I can’t take my eyes off you.”
