* * *
Ding.
The elevator that had stopped briefly began moving again.
“So what’s your name, hyung-nim? How old are you?”
“Are you an actor? If not, what kind of business does your family do?”
“Spray some more pheromones. I think you’re my type.”
“You came here to have some fun, right? I can tell just by looking.”
“…”
Going up, the elevator announced.
Looking at the screen panel, it hadn’t even reached the 5th floor yet.
Looking at his watch, it was 9:54 PM. He’d deliberately arrived just in time for the 10 o’clock that Baek Jeongwoo demanded…
[Me: I’m here]
[Where are you]
[I said where]
The messages he’d sent a while ago still had no reply.
That bastard who drained his battery every day with useless messages was quiet at times like this. When they meet, he should give him at least one punch.
“Wow, I’m an alpha too, but this is so unfair? Your shoulders seem almost twice the size of mine.”
“What do your parents do?”
“Sniff, your smell is really different from how you look. But that’s the charm.”
“You don’t like me? Why are you ignoring me? I’m not someone who should be ignored like this.”
“…”
With blank eyes, he looked at the white porcelain artwork placed inside the elevator.
The elevator was golden and even the white porcelain was gilded. At this point, it shouldn’t really be called white porcelain but gold porcelain.
Right below the gold porcelain, in small Gothic font, it read: <Please do not touch. Please appreciate with your eyes only.>
“Wow, shit, even your hands are big. They say if your fingers are long, that’s big too—is it true? Ahaha!”
“Please do not touch.”
“Huh?”
When he finally spoke a word to the man who kept frantically grabbing his forearm after holding back, everyone except him opened their eyes wide and shut their mouths.
The atmosphere turned cold, but this was actually better.
Just when he thought they might quietly go up now…
“His voice is killer.”
“Crazy, fucking sexy.”
…He should have just kept quiet.
“I thought you lived abroad! Why are you so tight-lipped?”
“What does your father do?!”
“Do it with me—!!!”
Having lived with ‘Baek Gunho’s’ face and body for about 20 years now.
There were occasionally blind omegas who made aggressive advances, but this situation where four young men—whether alpha, omega, male, or female, he couldn’t tell—were simultaneously sending suggestive gazes… how should he accept this?
‘Ah, these sprouts who will be responsible for this country’s politics and business world… are on the same level as Baek Jeongwoo or even worse.’
He could only lament the bleak future of the Korean Peninsula.
More than anything, they were sticking too close and the smell was nauseating. Thinking that dozens, hundreds of these guys would be packed on the top floor made his vision go dark.
Just as he was about to hold his breath as much as possible and close his eyelids to turn away from reality—
“Guys. Let’s keep it moderate.”
Some man reached out his hand to stop the Baek Jeongwoos.
It was a young man who had been standing in the corner of the elevator quietly watching this way.
“Can’t you see this person is uncomfortable?”
“Ah, why, Gojun hyung. We’re just making small talk.”
Unlike the somewhat perplexing fashion of Baek Jeongwoo A, B, C, and D, the man looked relatively normal, neatly dressed in semi-formal wear.
Just then, a ding was heard and the elevator doors began to open.
“Now, you guys go see your friends.”
“I want to play with this person though…”
“I told you to go, didn’t I?”
When the man pressed in a firm voice, A, B, C, and D flinched and shut their mouths.
“Fine. You’ll introduce us later, right?”
“What a waste…”
Gone was the momentum from charging in like wild boars just moments ago—the four of them grumbled but scurried away like they were fleeing.
With that, only two remained in the elevator. The man smiled as if relieved and spoke to him.
“Are you newly invited? The kids were too rude, weren’t they?”
‘Yes.’
I barely held back from reporting them to the police for sexual harassment.
…Instead of answering immediately,
“Not at all.”
He responded roughly while equipped with a business smile and left the elevator.
At this, the man smiled generously and followed close behind him.
“When you come to parties often, every face becomes the same face, so seeing someone new, everyone couldn’t contain their curiosity. I apologize on their behalf.”
Curiosity? Do they know the saying that a frog dies when hit by a stone thrown in curiosity?
“Moreover, they’re kids who just became adults… It’s just youthful indiscretion, so I’d be grateful if you’d look at it generously.”
Just became adults yet trying to drag someone to a hotel room. There’s a limit to being cheeky.
“By the way, you seem like someone I’m meeting for the first time too. By whose recommendation did you come?”
“…”
“Don’t you have anyone with you?”
He hesitated for a moment.
Would it be okay to mention Baek Jeongwoo’s name here?
But he decided to keep his mouth firmly shut.
As far as he knew, Baek Jeongwoo was Baekil Group’s scoundrel famous even on the internet. He was also a first-class troll with SNS followers in the 10K range.
Among the people invited here, there wouldn’t be anyone who didn’t know Baek Jeongwoo.
If they found out he had a connection to Baek Jeongwoo, it would naturally be exposed that he was also part of Baekil Group… and perhaps even the secret of his origins might be dug up.
He mustn’t forget his purpose.
He didn’t come here to make friends. He’s someone who came just to show his face so as not to upset the scoundrel’s mood.
Interpreting his silently unresponsive attitude somehow, the man requested a handshake.
“Oh, excuse me. My name is Yu Gojun. Right now I’m learning the business under my father… and embarrassingly, I’m doing small work in publishing.”
At those words, he had no choice but to stop walking for a moment.
Publishing? And with the surname Yu, there was only one company that came to mind.
“Yurim Culture?”
“Haha. You must like books. That’s correct.”
To use the expression ‘small’ while running the country’s largest publishing distributor.
He felt some intention in the attitude disguised as modesty.
“Those kids from earlier… you don’t need to pay much attention to them. There’s a high possibility you wouldn’t know them even if I told you. Haha!”
He certainly seemed polite and friendly, but there was something strangely uncomfortable about him.
First, there was that subtle gaze as if appraising him.
“So what might your name be?”
“It’s not a name worth telling.”
“Oh? My. Are you going with a mysterious concept even with me?”
And, above all.
“That’s nice. I was bored anyway, shall we play twenty questions?”
That bastard’s way of speaking is quite irritating.
What’s with that slick attitude? Does he think he’s some arrogant third-generation chaebol from a drama or web novel… no, he actually is one.
Come to think of it, the Baekil people who tormented him before were also cookie-cutter villain characters—does that mean chaebol dramas weren’t fantasy but thorough historical accuracy?
“The entrance is this way.”
While lost in thought, Yu Gojun naturally began guiding.
Even wanting to avoid him, there was only one path, so it became a situation of accompanying him regardless of his will.
“It’ll be a bit noisy.”
After walking a few steps, they quickly reached the door.
Through the gap in the door came lukewarm air, the sound of noisy chatter, loud music, and the scent of hundreds of mixed pheromones came rushing in.
At the heavy presence incomparable to the first floor, cold sweat formed in his hands.
‘…So this is the real entrance to the demon castle.’
Yu Gojun placed his hand on the doorknob and smiled.
“Shall we go?”
But why is he taking the lead like it’s natural? Irritating.
* * *
“Fuck! Why isn’t he coming?!”
Hanguk High School, 3rd year, Class 5, Bang Geunhyuk.
He who had been touching his hair and caring about styling once every three minutes was now messing up his hair and shouting.
“Damn it, this fucker! Is he even coming properly…?!”
For an hour now he’d been biting his nails and spinning in place, and the styling he’d painstakingly received for over half a day was miserably collapsing.
The group watching from a distance burst out laughing, “Pahaha!”
“Bang Geunhyuk, I told you that bastard’s pathological lying acted up again, didn’t I?”
“Ugh. I’m the idiot for believing nonsense and coming.”
“I was curious who the young master from Baekil Pharmaceuticals was. He’s really not coming?”
A spacious room decorated with glass windows and marble.
Half the people were chugging alcohol in swimwear, and the other half were groping pretty men and women’s bodies while smoking cigarettes.
“Hey, Geunhyuk-ah! So when is that Cheon Eunwook lookalike coming? Will he arrive maybe tomorrow?”
“Shut up! He’s coming soon!”
“Real soon.”
When Bang Geunhyuk acted irritably toward the giggling man, several women put on outer garments over their swimsuits and gathered their bags.
“I’m leaving. Fucking wasted my time.”
“N-noona! Wait! He said he’s really coming!”
“You’re gonna get beaten later. Let’s go, guys.”
“He’s really coming!”
Just when Bang Geunhyuk’s cry—whether a scream or shriek—echoed throughout the room—
Click, the door opened.
“…!”
As the door gap widened and a figure revealed themselves, Bang Geunhyuk ran at the speed of light.
“Yaaaa! Baek Seolheon!”
Ah! At the appearance of the long-awaited figure, Bang Geunhyuk let out an exclamation mixed with relief instead of curses.
“You slug bastard! You’re only coming now?! I thought I was gonna die waiting… I thought… I was…”
However, he couldn’t finish his words.
“Bae, Baek… Seolheon?”
The figure before his eyes definitely had Baek Seolheon’s face.
But everything else was different.
The Baek Seolheon that Bang Geunhyuk remembered was an annoying bastard who wore his school uniform neatly, covered his forehead with bangs neither too short nor too long, and always wore an indifferent expression.
His physique was larger than most adult alphas, but he did look young.
…However.
Now, with part of the bangs that had covered his forehead swept back, wearing a dark gray tone suit without a single bit of dishevelment—
Baek Seolheon didn’t look his age at all.
“…”
The women who seemed about to leave any moment stopped in place, and the hands of those who had been indulgently groping the person next to them froze.
No one dared to think of opening their mouth first.
They were preoccupied with admiring the appearance of this stranger, whether an uninvited or invited guest.
After a moment, a low, deep voice rang through the room.
“Guide me.”
At that voice, Bang Geunhyuk, who barely recognized that the man before him was Baek Seolheon, opened his lips with difficulty.
“Gu-guide? What…”
“You said it yourself. To come if I wanted to know.”
Baek Seolheon’s navy blue eyes gleamed coldly.
“Who’s the bastard that leaked stories about my hyung?”
