“What should I wear?”
“Just borrow something of mine for now. Wear that.”
“Really?! Thanks, Eddie. If I get it, I’ll treat you!”
Seohan, buzzing with excitement, bounced around flipping through the few clothes hanging in the wardrobe. Eddie watched him quietly for a moment, then let out a small sigh and asked with a worried look.
“But are you really going to be okay?”
“With what?”
“I mean, even if you get it — isn’t that its own problem?”
Eddie handed over the one and only suit in the wardrobe, but he couldn’t bring himself to say congratulations so easily.
He was worried about Seohan, who had no idea how the world worked. Common as this kind of arrangement may be, a contract for pheromone release was ultimately a matter of giving up your body.
Even as his friend, Seohan struck him as excessively naive. Having grown up with no schooling, living only within the confines of a small room — it couldn’t be helped, really. Which was precisely why it weighed on him.
This was someone who, even when he’d been cheated or conned, didn’t realize it had happened to him. If he were at least a little sharper it would be less of a worry — but Seohan’s natural personality was about as far from shrewd as it got.
People from District 2 were generally fastidious and exacting. Cesare Herald in particular was known for being thorough. Meticulous and merciless — that was his reputation.
Was it alright to let someone timid and indecisive, someone who got pushed around every which way, get tangled up with a man like that? Wouldn’t a real friend put a stop to this right now?
“It’ll be fine……! If I pass the interview, I’ll buy us meat!”
But Seohan straightened his shoulders with a bright, carefree smile, as if to say there was nothing to worry about. If anything, that smile only made Eddie more anxious — but he settled for simply picking out a necktie and letting that be his answer.
* * *
He’d gone through it once before when submitting his résumé, but getting into District 2 was no small ordeal.
The reason District 4 residents faced discrimination wasn’t simply because they came from a slum. The biggest reason was that District 4 shared a border with the Quarantine Zone.
After the Era of Chaos, humanity had set out in search of the last uncontaminated land, eventually converging on the current continent.
But the virus that had driven the world into catastrophe had never been fully eradicated. Contaminated materials, mutated plants, and mutated animals all had to be gathered and contained — and the place where all of that was dumped was the Quarantine Zone.
There were said to have been survivors inside it at one point, but now it was unclear whether any living creatures inhabited it at all.
District 4 was located at the far eastern edge of the continent, on a strip of land that jutted out like the toe of a shoe. And at the very tip of that toe — the leftmost point on any map — where it met District 4, was the Quarantine Zone.
In other words, District 4 served as a buffer between the Quarantine Zone and the rest of the districts. To make matters worse, a mountain range cut across the continent between District 4 and the other districts, like a dividing line.
The Quarantine Zone had never even been assigned a district number, and was lumped together with District 4 when named. The people of the Graven Federation collectively referred to them as the edge of the world.
Given this, anyone from District 4 who wanted to travel to another district was required to pass through a quarantine checkpoint without exception. No new virus infections had appeared in decades, but the checkpoint remained in place as a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.
The checkpoint was located at the foot of the mountain range. The government managed it, but the Federation still lacked any properly established order or system. Because of that, the checkpoint’s operating hours were entirely erratic.
Which meant Seohan had to queue in front of the checkpoint from the crack of dawn and wait. For Seohan, who had spent his entire life within District 4, the process was exhausting. Just getting out of the district drained him.
“That took six hours.”
He’d left home at five in the morning, but by the time he arrived in District 2 it was past eleven. Even that had only been possible because the bus hadn’t broken down midway. Fuel was always in short supply, fares were expensive, and the old buses rarely performed reliably.
“Haah.”
Setting foot in District 2, Seohan checked his reflection in every glass pane he passed. In the glass stood a young man looking thoroughly deflated.
He forced his sagging shoulders up and tried to smooth down his disheveled hair, but the look of someone hopelessly out of their depth refused to go away.
District 2 was the wealthiest district in the Graven Federation. Most of the handful of alphas and dominant omegas in the country lived here. Unlike District 4, where beggars were a fixture on every corner, the streets of District 2 were spotlessly clean.
It felt as though every person he passed was staring at him. He’d picked the most presentable outfit Eddie owned, and yet standing here, he felt like he was wearing rags.
“Haah.”
Standing in front of the Herald Financial building, Seohan drew in a long, deep breath as if bracing himself. Even Seohan, who got lost at the drop of a hat, had no trouble finding the Herald Financial building. All he had to do was head for the tallest one.
“……”
After several rounds of deep breathing, Seohan edged nervously into the lobby. Almost immediately, he felt the security guards cutting glances at him.
He’d gotten the same looks when he’d come to drop off his résumé. The kind of stare that said they were weighing whether to report this suspicious person or let it go. Caught in the middle of it, Seohan shrank his shoulders in as far as they would go.
The lobby had tables and chairs set out for visitors, but sitting down in one of them felt like it might come with a fine. After some cautious observation, Seohan shuffled to the edge of the room and positioned himself beside a pillar.
“Yi Seohan?”
He’d been waiting for some time when a man with a neat appearance, dressed in a tidy suit, appeared before him. In his hand was the résumé Seohan had submitted at the desk the day before, slightly crumpled.
“Y-yes! I’m Yi Seohan.”
“My name is Colin. I’m Executive Director Herald’s secretary.”
“Hello.”
Seohan gave an awkward smile and accepted the business card. He’d been fine right up until leaving the house, but the moment he stepped into the building, his nerves had gone haywire. Probably because the building was just so imposing.
“This way, please.”
“Yes.”
Seohan gripped the strap of Eddie’s crossbody bag as though it were a life vest, and followed Colin. Each step on the smooth marble flooring felt strange, his shoe soles slipping almost imperceptibly with every stride.
Soon, Colin stopped in front of a certain door. He pressed a button, and the door slid open on both sides to reveal a small enclosed space. Seohan’s feet stopped without thinking.
“Are you not getting in?”
“Hm? Oh…… I, I’ll get in. Thank you.”
So this is what an elevator is.
He’d heard about them plenty of times, but this was his first time actually riding one. District 4 had no buildings tall enough to warrant an elevator, and power cuts were a common occurrence besides.
“Are you alright?”
He’d tried to look composed, but the moment the elevator began to move, he plastered himself flat against the wall. As the floor seemed to slowly rise beneath him, he grabbed the handrail with both hands — and Colin asked with a look of concern.
“Yes, yes. I’m fine.”
Embarrassed for no good reason, Seohan shook his head vigorously and answered in a voice barely above a whisper.
He squeezed his eyes shut, and by the time he opened them, the elevator had stopped at the eighth floor. Following Colin’s guidance, Seohan stepped inside.
“Oh——!”
He’d barely taken a few steps when his feet stopped on their own. The ceiling was absurdly high. One entire wall was floor-to-ceiling glass, and beyond it spread the whole cityscape of District 2.
The view from this height was something entirely unfamiliar to him. It felt like he wasn’t standing on the same ground he’d always known. The transparent glass with the drop visible all the way down unnerved him, and he walked as close to the interior as he could.
Indirect lighting ran along the walls, and the furnishings were placed without a single unnecessary piece. Nothing clashed, and yet each piece carried a weight to it that gave the whole space a sense of understated luxury.
And at the far end of this lavish space, a man was seated. Even without Colin needing to tell him, Seohan knew at a glance that this was Cesare Herald. He had never once in his life seen a man this handsome.
“Wow……”
Seohan couldn’t take his eyes off those sharp, striking features. The keen, deep-set eyes with their indifferent, settled gaze beneath them. The high bridge of the nose and lips pressed together with cool disinterest — not a single element out of place.
It was a decadent impression that might have come across as dissolute, but no one could deny that this man’s appearance was simply exceptional.
Leaning back at an angle against the sofa, he looked both imposing and at ease. That languid quality felt so natural that the whole space seemed designed with him alone in mind. And it likely had been, in truth.
“……”
Seohan lowered his head without thinking. But the moment he felt the man’s gaze settle on him, his spine straightened on its own. That cool, sharp gaze didn’t let up even as Seohan drew closer and came to a stop before him.
“You may sit.”
“Oh, yes, thank you——”
He gave a quick nod at Colin’s prompt, but it was only after a long hesitation that Seohan managed to actually lower himself onto the sofa.
The table in front of him, the sofa, even the carpet beneath his feet — everything was so immaculately refined that he genuinely wasn’t sure he was allowed to sit.
“Even worse-looking than the photo.”
A quiet, derisive laugh slipped from those handsome lips. At the cold response, Seohan couldn’t help pulling his neck in. The hand in the leather glove looked like it might reach out and close around his throat at any moment.
“Oh, I…… I’m sorry.”
Should I just leave now. With his confidence thoroughly crushed by the man’s sheer presence, Seohan bowed his head and fidgeted with his fingers.
When he stole a glance, Cesare had his brow heavily furrowed, as if deeply displeased about something. For someone calling him worse-looking than a photo, he was scrutinizing Seohan’s face with an intensity that made cold sweat bead on Seohan’s forehead.
The interview’s probably over just like that. He was already bracing himself to be thrown out, picking at the tips of his fingers — when it came.
“Release your pheromones.”
