By Zephyria Unable to even breathe properly, he was crushed by an immense sense of tension. Barely managing to exhale the heavily suppressed air, Yu-jin looked at him. The darkness cast perfect shadows on his sharply defined face, making it impossible to see his face properly. In contrast, Yu-jin’s expression was fully revealed by the moonlight. The thought that Winston was scrutinizing his face made him even more uneasy.
However, he couldn’t rashly push the man away. The weight of the gun pointed at his temple clearly reminded him of reality. The man had loaded the bullet. If he moved rashly and accidentally pulled the trigger, everything would be over. The image of his child being left alone flashed before his eyes. He couldn’t put Angela in the same situation as himself. Yu-jin lay motionless and opened his mouth. His mouth was parched, making it difficult to make a sound. The voice he managed to let out was hoarse.
“…What are you doing right now?”
At the difficult question, Winston let out a laugh that sounded like air leaking.
“Well, that’s what I want to ask. What are you doing in my bed, darling?”
The word ‘darling’ bothered him belatedly, but it wasn’t the time to argue about such things. Yu-jin focused on the latter part of the sentence.
“Your bed? What are you talking about? This is, your room?”
“Puh-huh,” Winston laughed again. It was a somewhat nervous and self-deprecating laugh. He leaned his upper body as if to pounce and looked into Yu-jin’s eyes from close enough that their breaths touched.
“Darling, you should have practiced more. That was too clumsy.”
Only then did Yu-jin realize why the room door hadn’t been locked.
Because it was already in use.
It wasn’t just about separating him from his child. Their methods were much more vicious, and Yu-jin was still a step behind them. A sense of despair chilled his chest, but this wasn’t the time to be flustered. The gun pointed at his temple clearly reminded him that this was reality.
“Don’t call me darling.”
Yu-jin spat out in a tense voice. His whole body was stiff, making it difficult to move even a finger, but somehow his voice came out as usual. Although he actively expressed his refusal, Winston said without paying any attention, “Then what should I call you? Male prostitute? Slut?”
Winston shrugged and laughed, but Yu-jin didn’t find it funny at all. Every time he made a joke that only he found funny and laughed, the gun pointed at his temple shook slightly. Yu-jin was terrified that he might accidentally pull the trigger and couldn’t even get angry.
“Darling, what were you expecting?”
Winston asked in a voice still full of laughter. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Yu-jin could now see his expression dimly.
“Were you expecting me to go crazy and hold you if you filled the whole room with pheromones and lay naked?”
“Keu-keu-keuk,” Winston said, giggling as if he couldn’t help himself. His face, covered in disgust, was twisted horribly.
“Your pheromone smell makes me sick.”
This man still hates me.
Yu-jin vaguely recalled. Of course, have you forgotten how cruelly he denied you back then? There’s no way this man has changed.
But he didn’t know he would still hate him this much.
“I didn’t know, I…”
Yu-jin barely managed to continue speaking in a trembling voice.
“Think about it, how would I know this was your room?”
He argued with a reasonable reason that many would find convincing, but of course, it didn’t work for Winston.
“You didn’t know it was my room when it’s full of my pheromone scent?”
Yu-jin flinched and stiffened at the immediate ridicule. This man doesn’t know that he hasn’t been able to smell any specific scent since that day. Yu-jin’s mind wasn’t working properly because he was so focused on the gun, but he managed to think of one thing.
“I could have mistaken it for Harold’s room, right?”
Extreme alphas distinguish their own pheromones from those of others. But the pheromones felt by others are all the same. His, and his father’s, are all the same scent to Yu-jin. And that hit Winston directly. Seeing his face stiffen for a moment, Yu-jin felt a small sense of pleasure. But that didn’t last long either. Winston, who soon returned to a smiling face, tilted his head. Winston, who stopped close enough that their breaths touched, opened his mouth.
“Like back then?”
Winston, who sneered in a low whisper, slowly shook his head. Frowning, he continued in a gentle voice as if trying to soothe a child.
“No, no. Darling, you must have known. Like back then. Just like when you went to Father’s room on your own two feet back then, you must know now whose room this is. You can’t be wrong, because your purpose is always clear.”Yu-jin didn’t say anything. No matter what he said, Winston wouldn’t believe him anyway. He just let him rant as he pleased, hoping this moment would pass quickly. Winston, as usual, took the silence as he wanted and muttered mockingly.
“Too bad. Now you can’t go in and out of Father’s bedroom as you please. Because Father is dead.”
His voice was full of contempt. It was impossible to tell if it was directed at his father or at Yu-jin. Perhaps it was both. Winston tilted his head and asked in a voice full of childlike curiosity.
“You’re not thinking of following him to the grave, are you?”
“Of course not.”
As soon as he denied it, Winston laughed out loud.
“I knew it. You loved Father’s money, not Father himself.”
The gun was still fixed on Yu-jin’s temple. Yu-jin was terrified and felt like he was going crazy. He barely suppressed his trembling breath and spoke.
“Winnie, no, Winston.”
He accidentally used the nickname he used to call him in the past and quickly corrected himself. After confirming that Winston had no reaction, Yu-jin squeezed out the words.
“Don’t do this, let’s talk like adults, rationally. Put the gun away, it’s dangerous.”
It gradually turned into a plea, but Winston’s gun didn’t move from its spot. Yu-jin couldn’t help but want to cry and clung to him with a desperate face.
“There’s no need to go this far, it was my fault. Today was really a mistake. It’s the truth, even if you don’t believe me. I just came into the room I was guided to, washed up, and fell asleep.”
He pleaded, hoping he would believe him. Even though he knew that he would never believe Yu-jin.
Looking down at Yu-jin’s distorted face, Winston slowly raised the corners of his lips. And a low voice, like a whisper, flowed from his mouth.
“Naked?”
Yu-jin was momentarily flustered but soon realized. The gown he had been wearing to sleep had opened wide, revealing his bare body.
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
Yu-jin barely squeezed his vocal cords to get the words out.
“I told you, it was the room I was guided to. I really didn’t know. Think about it, if I knew it was your room, why would I have done this? It’s the same for me, I didn’t want to see you again.”
“Well, you may not want to see my face, but you’re willing to spread your legs, aren’t you?”
Winston sneered mercilessly. With the gun pointed at Yu-jin’s temple, he muttered.
“You’re a slut.”
Even after hearing the humiliating words, Yu-jin couldn’t argue. More than anything, he was so terrified that he couldn’t even get angry. He forced saliva into his dry mouth and opened his mouth.
“It’s true that I came for the money, but…”
The gun pressed against his temple. Instantly startled, Yu-jin was terrified and blurted out urgently.
“I have a child.”
Unable to control his trembling voice, he ended up sobbing and begging.
“My child is sleeping in another room. Please, I can’t die here.”
Yu-jin desperately hoped that there was even a tiny bit of compassion left in his heart. A long time ago, Winston was a very compassionate person. Enough to talk to and fall in love with an abandoned child who was ostracized by the entire family.
Looking up at him with his last hope, Yu-jin paused. For the first time, the expression on Winston’s face, who had been constantly mocking and insulting Yu-jin, had disappeared.
“…A child?”
Winston muttered in a voice completely devoid of laughter. A suffocating silence followed.