KTS 108

“Ahem.”

Yu-jin cleared his throat for no reason to break the awkward silence. Winston’s gaze fixed on him. Feeling inexplicably uncomfortable, Yu-jin avoided his eyes and spoke awkwardly.

“Um, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to have dinner?”

Winston slowly straightened his body and spoke deliberately.

“I should.”

Despite saying that, he made no move to stand up. Under a gaze that seemed to ask why he had bothered coming here, Yu-jin hesitated before speaking.

“Um, there’s something I want to talk about… we can do it over dinner.”

As Yu-jin tried to subtly step back, Winston glanced at the empty seat opposite him and made another suggestion.

“Shall we talk over a drink? Why don’t you sit?”

Belatedly, Yu-jin noticed the whiskey and glasses on the table. Extreme Alphas hardly ever got drunk no matter how much they drank, so strong liquor wouldn’t matter to them, but Yu-jin was different. If he got drunk, he would simply miss his chance.

But to just talk without it…

After a moment of deliberation, he nodded. Creating a good atmosphere before the conversation was a decent strategy. Besides, alcohol would certainly give him courage. Dinner could be postponed. Even if he got too drunk to speak, there was always tomorrow.

Not that he felt like things would go smoothly in this atmosphere anyway.

Having made up his mind, Yu-jin sat opposite him. He waited for Winston to pour the drink into the empty glass, and as he lifted it with a “thank you,” he reflexively frowned. Even before tasting it, the pungent scent of alcohol hit his nose. Yu-jin barely moistened his lips before setting the glass down. He watched as Winston drained half the glass in one go without hesitation.

Did he always drink that much…?

A thought suddenly occurred to Yu-jin. Even if he didn’t get drunk thanks to his secondary gender, he was drinking too much. He was already taking painkillers strong enough to be unimaginable for an ordinary person; wasn’t this excessive?

“Um…”

Yu-jin started to speak but stopped. He felt like he was meddling unnecessarily, and the words wouldn’t come easily. Although the atmosphere had improved quite a bit lately, it didn’t feel like their relationship had reached that point yet. Winston looked at him silently, as if telling him to speak if he had something to say. After hesitating, Yu-jin eventually lowered his hand and murmured, “It’s nothing.”

Ah, that was my chance to speak.

The moment he realized it, the opportunity returned immediately.

“Did something happen today? You seem to be in a good mood.”

Yu-jin’s ears perked up at Winston’s question. Every day when he returned home, Winston would ask if anything had happened, but the answer was always that there was nothing special. What kind of grand event could possibly happen when he spent all day at home with Angela?

But today was different. Perhaps it showed on his face, as there was a slight change in Winston’s questioning tone. Unable to suppress the smile that naturally formed, Yu-jin covered his mouth with both hands and let out a small, stifled giggle.

“Yes, something did. Something very good.”

A blush naturally rose to his cheeks, and his eyes sparkled. This was the first time Yu-jin had looked so lively since returning to the mansion. Winston gazed at him blankly for a moment.

“What happened?”

At Winston’s slow inquiry, Yu-jin giggled again. Was the alcohol from earlier finally hitting him? He couldn’t stop smiling. With a happy expression, Yu-jin said,

“It’s a secret. Guess.”

Suddenly, he wanted to tease him. If Winston grew curious and pressed him, maybe he’d tell him while pretending to give in. After watching him chuckle again, Winston, who had been silent for a moment, spoke.

“You went out today, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

Yu-jin let out a blank sound, then quickly realized. Everything that happened inside the house would be reported to him. He probably already knew that Yu-jin had gone out alone, leaving Angela behind.

Still, he wouldn’t have any clue why he went.

Yu-jin puffed out his chest confidently and nodded.

“Yes, I went out.”

“To a members-only French restaurant.”

He only just found out it was members-only, but that wasn’t a particularly important issue. Yu-jin gave a mischievous smile and said, “Yeah.”

“You’ve never once taken me to a place like that.”

I went there on my own. By invitation from the publishing house editor-in-chief, to talk about work.

Every following word was beautiful. Seol Yu-jin, I’m so proud of you! Fireworks exploded loudly in Yu-jin’s head. Watching him, Winston narrowed his eyes.

“So you looked for another man? Someone to take you to a restaurant like that?”

“Uh…”

He wasn’t entirely wrong. It was a fact that he had met such a person through his own abilities. Of course, he hadn’t targeted the restaurant from the start.

Unfortunately, Winston’s words didn’t mean that, but Yu-jin, intoxicated by his own mood, failed to realize it.

“You probably can’t even imagine it.”

A smile naturally broke across his lips. Unable to hold it back, Yu-jin covered his mouth with both hands and laughed again. Winston simply watched him, who was overwhelmed with joy.

“Sweetheart, unfortunately, you’re right.”

Eventually, he spoke in a sweet voice.

“Who could have imagined that after I dealt with you every day, it still wasn’t enough and you’d go out to fish for another man.”

Yu-jin’s smiling face froze instantly. What did I just hear? Perhaps due to the alcohol, his brain wasn’t functioning properly. Only after blinking slowly did he finally make a sound.

“…What?”

To Yu-jin, who let out a bewildered exclamation, Winston spoke with a cold sneer.

“Have you now decided to sell your body openly? What on earth are you dissatisfied with? You can spend as much money as you want. I thought you’d been quiet for a few days, but you just can’t stand that wicked habit of yours, can you?”

Yu-jin just stared at him blankly. His mind couldn’t process the reality, which was so different from what he had imagined. Meanwhile, Winston’s verbal abuse continued.

“To think you managed to seduce the youngest of the Grant family in the meantime; I really can’t leave you alone for a single moment. I treated you like a gentleman for a while, but I suppose that wasn’t enough to satisfy you? I should have treated you according to your true nature from the start—though I suppose that’s something only suited for a chaste partner.”

“Are you saying I went out to sell my body?”

Yu-jin managed to squeeze the words out. The happiness he had felt until now was shattered, and the smile that had filled his face vanished without a trace. His strained voice trembled violently with anger. But Winston only mocked him further.

“Do you want to tell me I’m wrong? Don’t lie; someone saw you receiving a check from that man.”

Unfortunately, that ‘someone’ had clearly not heard any of their conversation. Then again, even if they had heard and reported it correctly, would this man have believed it so easily?

In that moment, Yu-jin realized. No truth would ever work on this man. Because a deep-rooted distrust of Yu-jin had already taken hold, he would never be swayed no matter what he heard. To him, Yu-jin would forever be a man-crazy slut.

If that’s the case, what’s the point of telling this man the truth?

At that moment, Yu-jin abandoned all expectations of him. It was all meaningless. He didn’t have the energy to waste on useless things. Wouldn’t that be the real waste of a life?

Yu-jin simply shut his mouth. Under his cold gaze, Winston drained the rest of the whiskey in one gulp. Leaning back against the sofa, he asked in a chilly voice,

“What was this ‘something’ you wanted to talk about?”

He had managed to remember what Yu-jin said at the beginning. But it was already too late. Yu-jin opened his mouth, but the words that came out were a bombshell declaration, entirely different from what he had prepared.

“I’m pregnant.”