The eldest hyung sided with noona.
“There has to be something definite you’re gaining from going there. What, did noona’s savings bank acquisition process speed up? That alone isn’t enough. Where else is there that’s as definite externally for changing the image as a gallery director business card?”
When that was lightly brushed off too, this time the second hyung stepped up.
“Okay well, let’s say you’re right about it being insufficient and definite. But why do you have to do it?”
“Then who should do it?”
“There are three siblings already involved in society. Anyone could do it, so why do you want to do it yourself?”
“What good are three? Noona, the savings bank acquisition isn’t something that’s done just by doing it, that’s when it starts. Do you have the capacity to start a new business? And hyung. You’re honestly satisfied with your current work. You have no thought of dabbling elsewhere just because it’s highbrow. Is eldest hyung any different? Right now resolving the site issue…”
He was in the middle of lengthily saying that even if Joomyeong gave them a fully-made gallery, the only person with free hands currently was him—when Young suddenly stopped talking.
He was about to say that eldest hyung had no leisure to pay attention to other things while resolving Joomyeong Bio’s site issue. It was because a question suddenly rose up as he was about to say that.
“But what’s the problem with that site that it’s still dragging on?”
At the piercing question, eldest hyung took something out from inside his clothes.
It was an e-cigarette. As if just thinking about it gave him a headache, he habitually took out the e-cigarette, then became aware of Young’s presence and put the device back in his clothes.
He exhaled a sigh as if exhaling cigarette smoke.
“That site is really suspicious.”
“Why?”
“It’s a wide open field with nothing but a not-even-large container as a building, but the money being charged monthly as rent is no joke. Naturally both the person giving and receiving the money are all fronts. But what laundering, what laundering. I don’t know how much they’ve circulated, but the real owner still hasn’t emerged.”
“So it’s not even land being actually used, but they won’t sell it and don’t appear?”
“Someone’s cultivating money there.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to resolve?”
“Well, it’s almost…”
The eldest hyung, who had been faithfully answering Young’s pointed questions, suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His brow, which had been relaxed and gentle in front of his youngest sibling, furrowed deeply.
“But why. Did that family make you marry into this just to handle it, and now they’re coming after you because it’s dragging?”
If that were the case, he looked ready to storm into Joomyeong headquarters right then and there. The eldest hyung’s body was already half-floating off the sofa.
Young made a gesture of pressing down the air, signaling him to calm down. Then he shook his head.
“I just happened to hear it. That the land issue isn’t being resolved easily. So I was just asking.”
That was really all there was to it, and there was no harassment or unfair treatment. Only after he sent out a look conveying that meaning did his hyung settle back down on the sofa.
He seemed relieved for now that there was nothing to worry about, but as he became aware that the longer the work took, the more difficult it could become for Young, his heart grew increasingly anxious.
“Should we send more people?”
The second hyung, who had grown serious along with him, asked.
“It’s not something that gets solved with more heads.”
The eldest hyung shook his head, his face showing determination to grab someone and definitely take them down.
It seemed his worry that his preciously raised youngest might be looked down upon surpassed all other concerns. Noona and his hyungs began putting their heads together on how to approach the actual owner more quickly.
They seemed to have already forgotten the fact that their so-precious youngest had suddenly stepped forward saying he wanted to work. Young looked at his siblings with fascination as they instantly became absorbed.
He had completely forgotten why Kyung-heon had made the same expression as his family when he said he’d decided to take on the gallery.
***
Once he’d made up his mind to accept Chairman Joo’s proposal, others’ opinions didn’t matter. His family expressed concerns until the end, but Young didn’t care. He confidently contacted Chairman Joo and expressed his intentions.
Chairman Joo seemed to have been waiting only for Young’s acceptance. The moment he just said he’d give it a try, the business progressed in an instant.
The gallery’s scale and location were already decided. From the beginning, the intention was to give Kyung-heon’s spouse a proper business card, so even without lifting a finger, a perfect art museum would fall into Young’s hands just by letting time pass.
However, Young decided to be directly involved in many aspects. It was natural since he wanted work that could fill his days diversely, not just a simple title.
— The wall sample you mentioned is ready, so I’m calling.
“Really?”
The effect was good. Even though he left all the complicated paperwork to the professionals, there was still a mountain of things to do. If he focused on the tasks given to him each time, there was no time to just wait and wait for Kyung-heon wondering when he’d come.
Well, let’s keep it a secret that there were still moments when he’d suddenly think of him, realizing ‘So this is why he didn’t have time.’
— Would you like to see it at the office? If I leave now, I can arrive within an hour.
At the enthusiastic vendor representative’s words, Young hesitated for a moment. Normally he would have welcomed them with open arms, telling them to come right away. But somehow, today those words didn’t come out easily.
“Ah, well…”
Young dragged out his words while deliberating. It didn’t take long. He slowly closed his eyes and opened them, then spoke like a breath.
“Today will be difficult. Let’s meet next time.”
It was a condition issue. Maybe it was because he was doing something he hadn’t done before, but his body had felt off since he opened his eyes this morning.
Headache, back pain, muscle pain. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. Should he say it felt like his brain was melting down? From his head to his toes, his whole body felt droopy and listless.
In the end, he finished the call saying they’d reschedule later. After confirming the completely disconnected screen, he immediately left his desk. Since he’d decided to have a job, he’d forced himself to go to work thinking he could endure a little poor condition. But he felt he couldn’t anymore.
His hand was quick as he grabbed the car keys he’d left in the corner of his desk. Young left the office almost as if fleeing.
***
“Wow. I almost died.”
He must have been so unwell that even his judgment had become clouded. If he didn’t have the strength to sit in the office, he should have called a driver or taken a taxi. But he’d just grabbed his car keys out of habit and almost died on the road.
It felt like he’d poured all his remaining stamina into driving while desperately holding onto a screw that was one step away from falling out. Young, who had returned home, approached the sofa almost crawling and collapsed onto it with a flop.
He wanted to at least drink a glass of water because he felt so awful, but he absolutely didn’t have the energy to make it to the kitchen. Now that he thought about it, it seemed like a fever was slowly rising too. His already drooping body became even heavier with the heat.
Home. That is, was it because of the relief of entering a comfortable and safe space? It felt like his condition was getting worse, unable to control himself as the tension released.
Even though notifications were going off from the cell phone in his pocket, he didn’t have the presence of mind to take it out and check. What was even one finger? With the surging heat, it was difficult to even keep his eyelids properly open.
Now his whole body was hot like a fireball, and even his breathing became labored. Only then did Young recall with his half-hazy consciousness.
Heat cycle.
The surrounding environment had changed rapidly, and recently he’d been living frantically trying to do something he’d never done in his life, so he’d completely forgotten. He hadn’t anticipated at all that his cycle was coming around.
He should take suppressants even now… Ah, but where were the suppressants? Did he even bring them to this house?
He tried to find a solution through his increasingly clouding consciousness, but it was insufficient. He thought he should somehow go to the room and search for whether the suppressants were there or not, but his body, already dominated by the heat, wouldn’t listen.
“Ah… haa…”
A moan flowed from between Young’s teeth as he writhed alone on the sofa. The breath that leaked out with his groaning was unbearably hot.
Now even the reason that had been recalling suppressants faded, and only the instinct craving an alpha’s pheromones remained. Young, who had been struggling on the sofa, suddenly sat up. It was the moment he detected the alpha pheromones his body so desperately desired.
It was as if the way his limbs had been drooping like water-soaked cotton was all a lie. Young left the sofa with his eyes half-unfocused, as if possessed by something.
