#50

Slipping into my slippers, I moved my heavy legs toward the kitchen. I took out a glass and pressed the cold water button on the purifier. Shin Ho-jae was still standing there, staring at Jung-hyun.

Trickle. The sound of the water falling was refreshing. After drinking, Jung-hyun pressed the button once more and asked.

“How much of it did you hear?”

His claim that he hadn’t heard anything had to be a lie. In reality, they hadn’t been in the middle of a meeting, nor was there any reason for him to be wearing earphones.

“…From when the shouting started.”

Shouting? When was that? His mother had been making a scene since she was waiting outside the front door.

Well, that wasn’t what mattered.

“Thank you for telling my mother you didn’t hear anything. And for lying for me. Do you want some water?”

Shin Ho-jae gave a small shake of his head. Jung-hyun emptied the second glass of water and placed the used cup in the sink.

Based on their patterns so far, it was obvious that Shin Ho-jae would keep his face stiff and demand to know exactly what the previous conversation had been about.

The pheromone extraction, which he had clearly refused, would likely be the first thing on the chopping block. From Shin Ho-jae’s perspective, it must feel unpleasant to know that a stranger was aware he was undergoing pheromone extraction.

The arguments with Shin Ho-jae, which happened almost every time something similar occurred, were never easy on the mind. Especially on a day as exhausting as today.

“Earlier—”

“My mother…”

Just as Jung-hyun opened his mouth, Shin Ho-jae spoke as well. Then, they both fell silent at the same time.

Hadn’t this happened before? Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Jung-hyun gestured for him to speak first. Shin Ho-jae gazed at Jung-hyun blankly and slowly spoke.

“Is your mother… always like that with you, CEO?”

“…….”

Always like that? What did he mean?

Always that hysterical? Or always dividing people by rank and vulgarly calling them “bitches”?

Or was he asking if she was anxious that her son might accidentally get a woman pregnant, completely unaware that he was seeing a man?

Belatedly, the shame of having shown such an unsightly side of himself washed over him like water splashing at his ankles. However, Jung-hyun smiled. It was a deep smile, one that felt as if dimples were carving into the skin beneath his lips.

“It seems my mother had a bit of a bad day outside. She showed a side of herself that isn’t very pleasant.”

“Just because she had a bad day outside doesn’t mean there’s a law saying she can take it out on her child. Your mother is currently—”

“Could we just pretend not to notice and move past it?”

Jung-hyun cut him off mid-sentence.

Jung-hyun knew those righteous words better than anyone; he didn’t need to hear them from him.

However, the relationship between him and his mother was not something a stranger could carelessly judge. No one could ever truly be in their shoes.

Ho-jae remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

“…I suppose your mother is the person you want to live up to the expectations of.”

“Yes, she is.”

Suddenly, he felt utterly exhausted. He wanted to be alone. He wanted Shin Ho-jae to just go home.

It was just as he looked up with that thought. Jung-hyun’s eyes widened slightly. Before he knew it, the man had stepped closer, standing right in front of him.

“Do you have medicine?”

“…What?”

A bewildered voice escaped his lips. Instead of answering, Shin Ho-jae reached out. His index finger lightly touched Jung-hyun’s left cheek.

The finger pulled away quickly, but heat spread from that spot as if a button had been pressed. A belated stinging sensation flared from the wound he had forgotten about. Jung-hyun managed to maintain a smiling face.

“Something like this will heal on its own if left alone.”

“…….”

However, Shin Ho-jae simply looked down at Jung-hyun with an unreadable expression.

His steady eyes felt as if they were peering deep into Jung-hyun’s inner self.

His cheek burned. Even though it shouldn’t be possible, he felt as if his meager pride and trivial sense of superiority were being completely exposed.

Suddenly, Shin Ho-jae turned around and left the room. The sound of a zipper opening and closing echoed from the living room, and when Shin Ho-jae returned, he was holding something in his hand. It was a small bandage.

“…….”

With his large hands, Shin Ho-jae peeled off the bandage’s packaging one by one. Jung-hyun wanted to ask what he was doing, but strangely, his throat felt tight.

The rough hand holding the bandage approached his face. The bandage was placed directly over the small wound. Unable to look at him head-on, Jung-hyun’s gaze dropped.

He saw the wrinkled sleeve of Shin Ho-jae’s t-shirt. It was because it had been crumpled beside the bed for several hours. Come to think of it, what time was it? Two hours must have passed long ago.

Then, Shin Ho-jae’s hand left his cheek. Two or three remaining bandages, folded together, were placed neatly on the island table.

“I’ll leave a few. Put another one on if it gets wet.”

“…Shouldn’t you be heading out? The two hours passed a while ago.”

Jung-hyun barely managed to find his voice.

“I’ve received a lot of help in various ways today. Since a lot of time has passed, let’s consider it as using up next week’s portion in advance. You don’t have to come here next week.”

“…It’s not like that much time has passed.”

“No. I’m just too uncomfortable to let it slide.”

“…….”

“You didn’t leave anything behind, right? Get home safely.”

“Then, I’ll do that extraction thing next week.”

“What?”

“The pheromone extraction.”

Shin Ho-jae spoke again while standing blankly. His tone was casual, as if he were discussing the dinner menu.

“…If you’re doing this because you’re bothered by what my mother said, you don’t have to.”

“I’ve decided I want to do it.”

Jung-hyun stared at him, speechless.

Did he look pitiful? Himself, receiving pheromones while even lying to his mother.

However, it was a proposal far too tempting to refuse out of pride. In truth, there was a limit to deceiving his mother, and dominant pheromones were not something easily obtainable.

“…Alright. I’ll let the center know.”

“Okay.”

Shin Ho-jae nodded. He then slung his bag over his shoulder and walked toward the front door.

Jung-hyun followed slowly behind him. He saw the broad back. The man put on his sneakers one by one and grabbed the handle of the front door.

Before opening the door, their eyes met as he looked back indifferently. Jung-hyun suddenly felt a strong impulse.

Do you want to stay the night here today?

He almost said it. Then, he immediately snapped back to reality. He found it ridiculous that he was having such delusional thoughts just because the man had been briefly kind. The kindness Shin Ho-jae showed was likely nothing more than pity.

“Get home safely.”

“…….”

Shin Ho-jae looked at him for a moment with unreadable eyes, then nodded and opened the front door.

As always, Jung-hyun stood at the entrance and silently watched Shin Ho-jae leave the small garden. The gate opened and closed. He could no longer see him, but he could hear the footsteps slowly descending the hill along the path.

Jung-hyun stood in the same spot for a long time, and after smoking a cigarette, he slowly entered the house. While washing his hands in the bathroom, he looked up to check the mirror.

A plain, flesh-colored bandage was stuck across his left cheek near the cheekbone. He looked ridiculous.

I should take it off, his mind thought, but his hand showed no sign of moving. Instead, Jung-hyun gazed blankly at his own face in the mirror.

It was a face similar to usual, yet somehow strangely flushed. At the unwelcome sense of déjà vu, the expression slowly vanished from his face.

It was because the face in the mirror looked exactly like his face right after he had encountered Shin Ho-jae in Binghamton four years ago.

“…….”

Feeling inexplicably overwhelmed, Jung-hyun gripped the sink with both hands and dropped his head.

* * *

“Pheromone center?”

“Yes, Vice President.”

Kwon Ki-hyuk sat in the vice president’s office and opened the report handed to him by his secretary.

Attached were photos of his half-brother, Kwon Jung-hyun, entering a building with an expressionless face, and the testimony of an Omega woman who was a center employee.

“He’s receiving Alpha pheromones?”

“Yes, so they say.”

The corners of Kwon Ki-hyuk’s mouth curled up. A sneer, with no intention of being hidden, hung between them.

“Our little brother must be very anxious. To be doing something as pathetic as this.”

Pheromone injections. It was likely something suggested by his stepmother, who was consistently a bit twisted.

Kwon Ki-hyuk tossed the report onto the desk and crossed his legs, resting them on the desk. The report paper crumpled under the polished heel of his shoe.

Taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, Ki-hyuk put one in his mouth and asked.

“Does this stuff actually work?”

“It’s not that it has no effect at all. Though, that is only for adolescents during their growth period.”

Click. Lighting the cigarette with a lighter, Ki-hyuk laughed.

“Interesting. You may go.”

The secretary bowed and turned to leave. Kwon Ki-hyuk exhaled a cloud of white smoke into the air and then called the secretary back. “Wait a moment.” The secretary stopped and stood close to Ki-hyuk.

“I just thought of something even more interesting.”

“Yes, Vice President.”

“The Alpha pheromones our little brother is receiving…”

Ki-hyuk sucked on the filter and picked up the crumpled report again.

In the photo was the face of a man who looked like him, yet didn’t. It was that very face that always made Ki-hyuk feel something twisted.

Ki-hyuk narrowed his snake-like eyes and smiled.

“I wonder what would happen if we changed those to Omega pheromones?”

51 – Puck Drop