The sky is so damn clear.
Unlike the gloom weighing on Gu Jongyeol’s heart, a cloudless, brilliantly blue sky fills his vision.
Normally, when the protagonist of a tragic romance goes through something unbelievable, rain pours down relentlessly from the sky. But even when something earth-shattering happens to Gu Jongyeol, he’s no more than an extra in this world — so the blazingly clear sky carries on without a care. What a shit situation.
“Jongyeol hyung.”
Gu Jongyeol, his mind in turmoil, turned his gaze sideways — and a familiar face came into view. With every step Yeo Mujin took toward him, he drew the eyes of the countless men and women entering the hospital. Gu Jongyeol parted his lips with a brief “Ah. It’s you.” and started walking again.
“What did the doctor say? Because of what happened yesterday…… did he say something else came up with you?”
Yeo Mujin, who apparently never went to school and had gone from hovering at his side to outright trailing after him, asked with unmistakable worry. Gu Jongyeol felt a sigh rise up at Yeo Mujin’s question, the concern on his face unrelenting.
Something else, huh.
A very troublesome problem had come up indeed.
A headache pulsed through him.
[The symptoms from the accelerant…… are likely temporary. You said it felt similar to heat, but the fact that it subsided this quickly, along with the pheromone levels showing no particular anomalies, is reassuring. That said, given that anyone nearby could detect your pheromones, I’ll have to definitively revise my earlier prediction that heat would come in about a year.]
Kim Juwon, whose both eyes had been turned into black bruises courtesy of Gu Jongyeol, looked down at Gu Jongyeol’s chart and exhaled deeply. When Gu Jongyeol’s discomfort didn’t ease — his expression making it plain he had no idea what that was supposed to mean — Kim Juwon scrambled to explain.
[Gu Jongyeol, heat could come for you at any time now. In short…… you’ve essentially become a time bomb that could go off anytime, anywhere.]
[A time bomb?]
[By any chance, do you have a mate?]
[Doctor. Cut the bullshit. It’s only been a few days since I became an omega — where would I get a mate? Do you actually want to die?]
[Ha, haha. Right, of course.]
[……]
[Haah, really. Alright. I understand you can’t quite follow why I’m saying this, so let me be frank.]
[……]
[I’m…… very worried about you. Your pheromone levels are on the lower end, but based on what you’ve told me and the results of the examination, regardless of those levels, the quality of your pheromones seems to be a little out of the ordinary.]
[Out of the ordinary?]
[That…… to put it plainly, even in trace amounts, your pheromones are potent enough to entice perfectly composed alphas. You mentioned you work at a company with a lot of alphas, yes? By any chance…… have you ever considered changing jobs?]
Gu Jongyeol scratched his head roughly as he recalled the words of Kim Juwon, who had looked at him on the verge of tears.
“Mujin. Want to go grab a drink?”
He was craving straight soju today of all days.
* * *
“This is such bullshit, seriously.”
Without a single side dish to his name, Gu Jongyeol tipped the contents of his shot glass straight into his mouth. Watching him, Yeo Mujin spoke.
“Hyung, stop drinking.”
“Mujin. Do I look like I’m in any state to stop?”
Gu Jongyeol snapped his head around and glared at Yeo Mujin. When Yeo Mujin said nothing back, Gu Jongyeol poured the soju into his glass again with a glug. He knocked back the freshly filled glass and said:
“Isn’t this the most fucked-up body imaginable? So what the doctor’s basically telling me is — I’m now a body that could get mounted by an alpha at any moment, so I should just sit tight and wait my turn. Isn’t that right?”
“Hyung……”
“What kind of world is this. I might as well just drop dead, or what.”
Damn environmental hormones! As Gu Jongyeol was spitting curses, he scowled at Yeo Mujin suddenly grabbing his wrist. Yeo Mujin hurriedly let go of Gu Jongyeol’s subdued hand and said:
“Please don’t die. Being an omega isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a rare trait, just like being an alpha, and it comes with its own social standing. Things will work out somehow. So please don’t give up……”
Gu Jongyeol ended up chuckling at Yeo Mujin’s words, which were so sincere they bordered on profound.
That’s easy for you to say, you little alpha bastard.
He had been about to spit out the words rising all the way to the tip of his throat, but instead he simply stared at Yeo Mujin.
[Jongyeol hyung. We’re almost there. We’re almost there, so…… just hold on a little longer.]
Last night, at the executive dinner gathering KK Corporation held at a bar in Gangnam, Gu Jongyeol had nearly gone into heat because of the accelerant that bastard Kang Yeonkyu had slipped in.
If this good-natured alpha younger brother hadn’t arrived at just the right moment to rescue him, Gu Jongyeol’s legs would probably have been pried wide open by the other employees who had been pounding on the bathroom door.
Gu Jongyeol gave Yeo Mujin, who looked subdued, a faint smile. Then he spoke.
“Mujin. Did I say it?”
Yeo Mujin looked puzzled, so Gu Jongyeol said it again.
“Thank you. I owe you again.”
“……Hyung.”
“I, Gu Jongyeol as a human being, never forget a debt — so I’ll pay it back somehow. Thank you for helping me.”
Gu Jongyeol set down his glass and bowed his head toward him, and Yeo Mujin said “Hyung, you don’t have to do this,” trying to stop him. Gu Jongyeol smiled faintly, then tried to pour soju into his empty glass again.
“Hyung. Are you perhaps…… scared to go back to the Construction Division?”
Gu Jongyeol faltered.
“Because other employees might get affected by the pheromones you gave off yesterday…… Is that what you’re worried about — gkk!”
Yeo Mujin’s words didn’t continue.
Because Gu Jongyeol had seized Yeo Mujin by the collar in an instant and slammed his head down onto the table. Gu Jongyeol’s eyes gleamed with a brutal light.
“What the hell are you talking about? Scared. Who’s scared? Do you think I’d be scared of something like that?”
I’m scared as hell.
Actually, I feel like I might just die from fear.
And for good reason — because what it means is he might have to watch the loyal little subordinates he’d been laughing and joking with turn on him in an instant.
[Ha, but this…… what the hell is that smell?]
[An omega? Wow, that’s no joke? Is the Young Master getting laid again?]
[A scent like this, even I’d want a piece. The Young Master always keeps it to himself, every time.]
Last night, in that godforsaken bathroom, Gu Jongyeol had heard it all with perfect clarity.
The horrific words those alphas loitering outside the bathroom had exchanged. And he had realized.
I mean, me.
I’m a little…… no, quite a lot in danger, aren’t I?
“Jongyeol hyung.”
Gu Jongyeol, who had been clenching his jaw with a hardened face, snapped back to his senses at the voice coming from below. From somewhere far off, he could hear the staff at the Korean BBQ restaurant not knowing what to do at the sight of two men suddenly fighting — but Gu Jongyeol’s eyes were fixed solely on Yeo Mujin, who had turned his head slightly and was staring right back at him.
Yeo Mujin looked at Gu Jongyeol with a calm, unshaken gaze, then opened his mouth.
“Then why don’t you come to the Apparel Division instead?”
Gu Jongyeol heard Yeo Mujin’s words, furrowed his brow, and then released the tension in his grip. Freed from Gu Jongyeol’s hold, Yeo Mujin slowly straightened up, and Gu Jongyeol, having returned to his seat, said:
“Mujin. Are you offering me a job transfer right now?”
Yeo Mujin nodded.
“Yes.”
Well, well.
As the heir to Jinjupa, he surely wasn’t unaware of the long history between Ganghopa and Jinjupa — and yet Yeo Mujin was perfectly unruffled.
I LOVE STRONG MCS