By Zephyria 
Eun-myeong walked with heavy steps, like a sinner. His eyes were fixed firmly on the scattering sand. The man’s face shimmered before him like a mirage. …The bright red handprint had been so vivid against his darkly tanned skin.
Eun-myeong had peeked in on him several times in secret, even in the early hours of the dawn. For some reason, his own heart felt a sharp, stinging ache. He wanted to gently stroke the mark out of pity.
“…Haa.”
But he feared the Boss might wake up and accuse him of begging for love again, and since that would hurt his own feelings, he couldn’t do it. He had merely been stealing glances cowardly.
If left alone, it might turn into a deep purple bruise. He wanted to apply a cold compress; perhaps he could grab some ice after finishing work at the shop and bring it over….
He was lost in these thoughts when he noticed someone standing crookedly in the middle of the path at the far end of the beach. Staring intensely at Eun-myeong.
“Yong-hee.”
It was none other than Yong-hee.
Eun-myeong bit down on his plump lower lip and quickly approached. With every step, a tingling pain shot through his buttocks. He clenched his teeth and pushed through it.
“Wow, ah…. Look who it is?”
Yong-hee stood with both hands shoved deep in his pockets, a look of utter dissatisfaction on his face.
“It’s the damn expensive Lee Eun-myeong, huh?”
Normally, he would have run toward Eun-myeong, waving his arms wildly, but today he only glared fiercely. Knowing the reason, Eun-myeong couldn’t bring himself to meet his eyes.
“Seriously, how can a human be like that?”
The reprimand came instantly.
“I’m sorry, I lost my cell phone….”
Eun-myeong found it truly difficult to hold his head up. This was the first time they had seen each other since their last parting.
Moreover, a series of incidents had occurred after the holiday. He had sneaked into the director’s office, smuggled out medicine to deliver to Jjangja, and ended up taking that medicine himself. Furthermore, the man had come, and he had even become an Omega that day.
He hadn’t been in the right headspace to come to work. Even while his body was wrecked, he had sent a rushed text.
[Yong-hee I’m sorry…]
[I think I have to take a break from mending nets for a bit starting tomorrow..]
After sending that, calls and texts rained down on him, but he couldn’t answer them because he was mindful of the man’s presence.
[I told my dad]
[That Hyung is sick as an excuse.]
[Come out whenever you can]
Gratefully, Yong-hee had replied like that for the sake of his rude friend. Eun-myeong felt truly ashamed. It was behavior completely unbecoming of a mature adult.
While continuing to pile up guilt in his heart, it was only two days ago that he cautiously contacted the captain via the shop’s phone. Telling him he would come out to mend nets today.
“I’m asking you again, what exactly is your relationship with that old fossil I saw?”
The gaze flying toward him was sharp. Eun-myeong had previously tried to brush it off. That he was the CEO of a company that supplies goods to their sashimi restaurant…. Despite the cold sweat he had broken out in then, Yong-hee didn’t seem to believe it for a second.
Then again, Eun-myeong couldn’t blame him. The dark suit, the dangerous aura emanating from his entire body, and the way of speaking that dripped with raw instinct despite the luxurious packaging. To anyone, the man looked like someone from ‘that’ side of the world.
Eun-myeong answered hesitantly.
“My noona got a job at a capital firm, Gangseong Capital, and he’s the CEO there.”
It was a company that any Korean would have seen on television or in an advertisement on the street at least once.
“Gangseong? So, a loan shark business?”
“…Yeah.”
Eun-myeong murmured with a small nod.
“You really do it all, don’t you?”
Yong-hee immediately jerked his head upward, his tone incredulous. Damn, he knew the guy was rich, but if it was Gangseong, wasn’t that a place where the real power players operated? A surge of irritation hit Yong-hee, and he ruffled the back of his hair violently.
“Then who are those thugs?”
Yong-hee jerked his chin toward the back with wary eyes. Eun-myeong’s head instinctively followed. There were two hulking men pretending to smoke while keeping a close watch on them. Eun-myeong let out a deep sigh.
“Well, there are circumstances, so they’re following me. They’re like bodyguards.”
He quickly added the explanation. That despite how they looked, they weren’t people who would cause harm, and that he would make sure they never interfered with work.
“Still, if it feels uncomfortable, you can tell me honestly. I’ve already caused you too much trouble….”
Yong-hee looked as if he had a mountain of things to say. Eun-myeong continued with sincerity.
“I won’t take my daily wage for today.”
Then he whispered, “I’m really sorry.”
“Giving up money? Hyung, you’re really unfamiliar. Who are you?”
Yong-hee looked at him with a complicated expression, as if dealing with an irrepressible prankster.
“Whew…. Haa.”
Yong-hee put the electronic cigarette hanging from his neck to his lips and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. An aroma scent wafted out.
Honestly, Eun-myeong thought he wouldn’t have a choice but to be sent back, but Yong-hee stepped forward, telling him to follow.
“What are you doing? We have to get the boat started.”
Eun-myeong, who had been staring at the sand, snapped his head up.
“…Oh!”
Feeling the distance widen quickly, he hurried to catch up.
A small boat carrying the three of them cut through the undulating night sea. Upon reaching the spot marked with fluorescent tape, the actual fishing began.
“Alright, let’s finish this quickly and brilliantly and head back with a full load!”
The green net was wound by the machine and pulled up. In the meantime, they had to pluck the fish from between the nets and toss them into the fish hold.
Eun-myeong moved nimbly. Though he was bundled up in a thick padded jacket, his movements were swift. With a sharp gaze, he skillfully sorted the fish and threw them without even looking at the hold. Splash! A cheerful sound echoed.
“This is huge, absolutely huge.”
The captain’s grin reached his ears. Today was a veritable feast of fish. Flounder, turbot, and monkfish were caught one after another. A few with roe sacs were also caught, making the hold very plentiful.
“Wow, I guess they all flocked here after hearing Eun-myeong was back for the first time in a while. We hit the jackpot, we really did.”
His mouth was open so wide that his uvula was visible. It was a bright smile Eun-myeong had never seen before. He kept laughing heartily, like a man who had just gained a youngest child.
In truth, there had been many days where more fish were caught than today. Rather, it was thanks to the thick envelope he had received from the thugs following him. At first, the captain had been wary, asking if they were from a competing boat, but once the men handed over the envelope, he began steering the helm with great gusto.
“What jackpot? Since when do you make big money catching fish, Dad?”
In stark contrast, Yong-hee had a deep scowl on his face the entire time. He kept grumbling, as if wanting someone to hear.
“We should hurry up and go collect some loan payments too.”
There was a sharp edge to his words, so Eun-myeong had to walk on eggshells even while working. If there was one silver lining….
Eun-myeong glanced at Yong-hee’s forearm. He was wearing a familiar-looking arm warmer. It was the one Eun-myeong had given him as a birthday present. Seeing him wear that, it seemed their relationship hadn’t reached a point of no return. He let out a small sigh.
After working for a long time, they boiled ramen for a snack, adding plenty of unusable crabs.
“Eun-myeong, eat a lot.”
The captain squeezed Eun-myeong’s shoulder.
The weather was unbearably cold. There was no delicacy quite like slurping up hot noodles with chopsticks. While it would have been nice to warm his lower abdomen with the hot broth, Eun-myeong only ate a few strands.
Eventually, he put down the paper cup and wooden chopsticks. Yong-hee also seemed to have no appetite, picking at his food.
“Upsa-upsa, I’m feeling good.”
Only the captain enjoyed the ramen with loud slurps. Saying he needed a post-meal smoke, he went back to the helm with a cigarette in his mouth, and now only the two of them remained.
A chilly atmosphere somehow flowed between them.
“…….”
The sea breeze swept across their spines. As Eun-myeong shivered from the cold wind—
“It’s because Hyung grew up in an orphanage, so you don’t know what’s right and wrong.”
Yong-hee suddenly threw a jab. The sharp fishhook snatched at Eun-myeong’s mind.
“What…?”
Eun-myeong blinked. Yong-hee, who had grown up as the carefree youngest in a happy family, occasionally poked at uncomfortable Achilles’ heels without a second thought. Eun-myeong felt slightly hurt.
“I mean, fuck, does having a lot of money make everything okay? That bastard is an Alpha, right? I bet he has five or six hidden Omegas.”
This time, it felt like salt was being rubbed into an open wound.
It was entirely possible that the man had other Omegas. He had never seen someone with such strong stamina in his life. Naturally, Eun-myeong was always the first to collapse; the worry that the man might seek someone else if he wasn’t satisfied remained like moss in his heart.
Just thinking about it made his stomach churn and felt like a spark had dropped in his lower abdomen.
“That crazy bastard probably has beads implanted in his cock. A friend showed me a picture once and I almost died of disgust. What the hell is a ‘sunflower’ supposed to be.”
Yong-hee tilted the kettle and poured mix coffee into a paper cup. Warm steam rose. While handing it to Eun-myeong, he continued to chatter away.
“I’m telling you, he looks like a fucking alien.”
He didn’t have anything like that implanted. Eun-myeong swallowed the words that lingered on the tip of his tongue. These were words that must never be uttered here.
“Doesn’t it even hurt, fuck.”
Behind Yong-hee, Eun-myeong could feel scary eyes glaring this way. The thug uncles had followed along in a small motorboat. Yong-hee glared back at them fearlessly.
“Anyway, people like that have no loyalty; they’re a social evil, a social evil. What are the police doing, not arresting people like that.”
As the gossip continued to unravel like a net, Eun-myeong murmured faintly.
“I know.”
“…What?”
“I know he’s a bad person.”
He was a man with no ethics, to the point of laying hands on an Omega who had a lover. His personality was the absolute worst. He mocked him, ridiculed him, and condemned his heart….
And yet, his heart ached when he thought of the palm print on the man’s cheek.
Eun-myeong clenched his fist. The sweet mix coffee in the small paper cup wavered.
It might be nothing to others, but a storm was brewing inside this small cup. It was a tempest, a typhoon. Because it felt just like his own heart, Eun-myeong kept his mouth shut.
The work went well and they caught a huge amount of fish, but the whole day had been a mess. His heart was a jumbled mess like porridge. Eun-myeong cast his eyes down gloomily.
“I mean, seriously….”
Yong-hee sighed deeply. He was about to ask what kind of connection he had to be entangled with such a bastard, but he soon shut his mouth.
The morning glow was slowly rising. At this hour, the sea was dyed entirely in gold. Within that, Eun-myeong’s white face glowed pale, like the white foam of the waves.
“…….”
In truth, Yong-hee had been stealing glances at Eun-myeong throughout the work. Even knowing it was an idiot’s errand, he couldn’t stop.
It felt as if Eun-myeong’s aura had changed strangely since he last saw him. Should he say he looked strangely pathetic, as if he had been dealt a blow somewhere? Should this be called pure, or sexy?
There was something subtly erotic that made his heart flutter.
Yong-hee felt conflicted. If he was going to act like a fool, he shouldn’t have been so damn purely beautiful.
Feeling stifled, he wanted to smoke real cigarettes instead of an electronic one. He wanted to fill his empty chest with acrid smoke.
Whether he knew these feelings or not, Eun-myeong only stared blankly at the sea. Was he perhaps spacing out and thinking about that thug bastard? Just the thought made him irritated. Yong-hee wanted to turn Eun-myeong’s attention toward himself. So, in a fit of impulse, he spoke.
“Hyung, there’s someone I like.”
“Someone you like…?”
Eun-myeong turned his head. As he looked up, Yong-hee’s heart swelled with warmth as usual.
He had always seemed out of it, but this time his eyes were sparkling. He had finally caught his attention. Yong-hee felt a surge of emotion.
See, Hyung, you’d rather be with a young chicken like me than some old fossil, right? He spoke, full of anticipation.
“You’ve probably already noticed, but….”
At Yong-hee’s following words, Eun-myeong blinked. Noticed what…?