By Zephyria “That person from earlier… at the restaurant. I don’t know who… he is.”
Ryu Jeong, hesitant as he spoke, was asking about Lee Gyu-hyeon as expected. Lee Do-hyeon sighed deeply, feeling a sense of dismay, as he never wanted Ryu Jeong to know about Lee Gyu-hyeon if he could help it. But even so, he readily gave an answer.
“He’s my Hyung.”
“…Your Hyung?”
“Yes. I think I mentioned it before.”
Do you remember? Ryu Jeong nodded at the subtly questioning tone. It was a story that wouldn’t do any good to spread, but Lee Do-hyeon readily continued.
“He’s three years older than me, and his name is Lee Gyu-hyeon.”
After speaking calmly, Lee Do-hyeon chuckled.
“Isn’t it cruel that they gave a name with the same character to an illegitimate child who came rolling in?”
It was a question he didn’t expect an answer to, as this time he twisted his lips into a self-deprecating smile. Ryu Jeong blankly looked up at Lee Do-hyeon, who pulled the blanket over him. Lee Do-hyeon, who had barely taken off his uncomfortable jacket, quietly composed himself and continued.
“The younger sister you saw before is a full-blooded sibling. I know there are a few more illegitimate children besides the two of us, but the only reason the two of us could be registered in the family registry was because we manifested as Alphas. The reason Hyung and I don’t get along isn’t just because we have different mothers, but…”
Lee Do-hyeon trailed off, saying that it would be easy to guess from here, and briefly explained the power struggle for the succession of the Younggang Group.
“…I lost. I was outnumbered. My mother… Hyung’s biological mother, influenced the board of directors, and because of that, I couldn’t get a majority of the votes. And half of the directors who were on my side were cut off.”
The fact that she had been pulling strings from behind meant that it was a fight worth fighting.
“If you say half, what about the rest…?”
“I saw many heads rolling, there’s no reason for them to stay.”
Lee Do-hyeon shrugged his shoulders with a cheerful laugh. It was a calm statement as if it were nothing, but Ryu Jeong couldn’t bring himself to laugh along.
“As a result, Lee Gyu-hyeon is now the Vice Chairman. I’m still the President of the construction company, with the same position as before.”
He decided to keep it a secret that he had been using hired thugs, and sometimes moving himself, to clean up the messes that Chairman Lee Kang-sun, Kim Mi-hee, or Lee Gyu-hyeon had made. No matter who the other person was, even if it was Ryu Jeong, it was not a good thing to be known, and above all, it was a past he didn’t want to reveal because the other person was Ryu Jeong.
“……”
Ryu Jeong, who had been listening while fiddling with the blanket that covered him up to his chin, rolled his eyes.
That person I saw earlier is the Vice Chairman of a large company. It might be a narrow-minded judgment, but he couldn’t feel the dignity of the next-generation leader who would lead a company from him at all. The way he unreservedly spewed vulgar curses in front of many people, and arbitrarily touched and harassed the employee’s body, made him doubt his basic humanity.
What bothered him most was the blatant hostility towards Lee Do-hyeon. The attitude of deliberately provoking Lee Do-hyeon and not stopping was by no means the attitude of a winner. Rather, he seemed like someone who couldn’t admit that he had lost.
Even though he must have been seething inside, Lee Do-hyeon’s attitude of remaining expressionless and ignoring him to the end seemed even stronger. He even thought that the one who really won might be him.
“But, President…”
“Yes.”
Ryu Jeong, who opened his mouth as if possessed, took a moment to compose himself while meeting the black eyes looking at him. Somehow, it felt presumptuous for him to add a word, but he felt like he had to say it right now.
“What’s wrong with a… rolling stone?”
“…What?”
Lee Do-hyeon frowned at the incomprehensible words. Ryu Jeong clenched the hem of the blanket with his fingertips and slowly continued.
“That stone must have rolled because it knew how to roll… Isn’t it rather the stone that’s just stuck there that’s incompetent…?”
Ryu Jeong, who couldn’t bring himself to meet his gaze, mumbled while looking elsewhere, and couldn’t finish his sentence and closed his mouth. He didn’t know if he was just thinking whatever he wanted, but that’s how he felt. Even though it was an already finished fight, he didn’t like the side that won by using cowardly tactics, and rather, Lee Do-hyeon, who didn’t know how to give up, seemed much more admirable.
His heart was beating fast, perhaps because he was nervous that he would be scolded. Ryu Jeong bit his lower lip tightly and pretended not to notice, but when he found it strange that the silence was getting longer, he carefully raised his eyes.
Their eyes met immediately, as if he had never taken his eyes off him for a single moment. But the eyes that were always straight were shaking precariously. Ryu Jeong, surprised, quickly sat up.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
Ryu Jeong was flustered and didn’t know what to do, not that tears were welling up in his eyes, nor that he had said anything else. Lee Do-hyeon smiled softly at his pure heart.
“It’s just, I’m happy that you’re taking my side.”
It wasn’t a fancy modifier, but rather a simple word, but the word filled with heart touched Lee Do-hyeon’s heart directly. The pheromones that had been fluctuating anxiously also gradually stabilized. The feeling of being on edge because of the sudden encounter with Lee Gyu-hyeon was gradually fading away.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t expected Ryu Jeong’s existence to be discovered someday. It was just that the timing was earlier than he thought. He was planning to dig into the Younggang Art Museum, which was like Kim Mi-hee’s vault, at the same time as starting the shovel in Wolhyeon-dong, but it seemed that the timing also needed to be moved up.
The next thing to do was to expose all of Lee Gyu-hyeon’s dirty secrets. Lee Do-hyeon’s ultimate goal was to throw the two mothers into the mud, making it impossible for them to recover.
Once he had cleared away everything that would be an obstacle to Ryu Jeong and himself, he would walk hand in hand with Ryu Jeong on a smooth road without any stumbling blocks. At that time, he was planning to not just hide it like now, but to proudly reveal that he was his person.
He should start preparing a ring. Lee Do-hyeon thought indifferently, raising the corners of his lips as he looked at Ryu Jeong’s still empty hand. He had only imagined it, but his heart was at peace as if everything had already happened.
“We have a rare weekday off, shall we go on a date?”
“A date…?”
“Instead of watching at home, shall we go to the movie theater? There probably won’t be many people on weekdays. Ryu Jeong, is there anything you’ve wanted to do?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who got out of bed first, reached out his hand as if to help Ryu Jeong up. Ryu Jeong, who somehow became shy, was about to shyly take his hand.
“President…?”
Lee Do-hyeon, who had been smiling, quickly hardened his expression, and then staggered and fell forward. Fortunately, he didn’t fall painfully to the floor, but his condition was not normal.
“President. Why, what’s wrong?”
Ryu Jeong, flustered, kept talking, not knowing what to do, but Lee Do-hyeon couldn’t answer. He just clenched his teeth so hard that they made a cracking sound, and gasped for breath while tightly clutching the hem of the blanket. An unbearable heat soared from deep inside his body, and then cooled down as if sinking to the bottom. His whole body drooped as if someone was grabbing his ankle and pulling him down.
“Wait… Ryu Jeong, I’m sorry, but…”
I’m sorry, but can you go out and get my cell phone? The words that he should call Chief Yoon right now, or call an ambulance and go to the emergency room or center, were already up to his chin, but Lee Do-hyeon couldn’t continue speaking. The pheromones that had already accumulated were exceeding the critical point.
Sweat poured down like rain in an instant. His heart repeated speeding up and slowing down. He had always endured it with suppressants and drooping, so he was dizzy from the raw rut he faced for the first time in about 20 years since his manifestation.
“Get out of here quickly… ha…”
He waved his hand to tell him to get out quickly, but in reality, Lee Do-hyeon’s hand was only rummaging through the blanket. He thought that he should leave the place himself while he still had some reason left. Lee Do-hyeon, who barely raised his upper body, was about to put his foot down from the bed to leave, when Lee Do-hyeon, who suddenly opened his eyes wide at the sweet scent that permeated the tip of his nose, quickly raised his head.
Eyes filled with embarrassment were right in front of him. Eyes that had widened as if surprised by the sudden event were trembling, following Lee Do-hyeon’s eyes that were flashing strangely. They were pitiful eyes that seemed like they would shed tears at any moment, but at that moment, Lee Do-hyeon didn’t have the mind to comfort Ryu Jeong.
“Ah…”
His voice trembled as much as his shaking eyes. Ryu Jeong forgot to even breathe at Lee Do-hyeon’s pheromones that quickly covered the wide room, and could only watch the changes in his body as he stood still.
Hot water gushed out from the hole that had never been wet on its own since the heat cycle. Ryu Jeong, embarrassed, curled his toes and tightened the muscles inside his thighs. It was an act to try to endure it in his own way, but as if mocking such efforts, his legs became wet again.
The situation in the front was not much different. A little strength was put into the genitals that had never been touched. This was clearly not his own will.
“President, why, suddenly…”
Unlike during the heat cycle when he felt his reason gradually fading, the feeling of excitement rising while his consciousness was still clear was quite embarrassing. Ryu Jeong barely moved his hand, which had no strength, and lifted the blanket as if trying to see the inside story covered by the blanket with his own eyes. Since he had already taken off his pants and underwear, the sight of it getting round and wet was reflected not only in Ryu Jeong’s eyes, but also in Lee Do-hyeon’s eyes.
“Ah, fuck…”
Ryu Jeong’s eyes widened at the clear curse that came out of Lee Do-hyeon’s mouth. But that was only for a moment. At the same time as the pheromones of the Alpha in heat covered his whole body, his body fell backward.