By Zephyria 
==
Before clocking out, Eun-won finished cleaning the convenience store and walked over to the trash can by the door to empty it, removing the lid.
“…….”
He noticed a crushed, unopened pack of cigarettes, the plastic wrap torn, thrown inside.
‘I saw your face today, so I’ll go.’
The face of the man, who had spoken in such incomprehensible riddles, filled his mind. He was used to customers who suddenly spoke informally—it wasn’t even annoying anymore—but it had been quite a while since he’d encountered a customer who spoke such mysterious words.
‘I’m coming again tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure we don’t miss each other.’
…Why is he coming again tomorrow…?
Between abruptly asking what time he worked until and announcing his return tomorrow, it was clear the man was no ordinary customer. If he had to categorize him… he seemed closer to the “perverted nuisance” type—the kind who would show up every day in a hoodie, ask to eat dinner together, and subtly try to touch his hand while asking for his time.
“…….”
He was certainly a first-time customer. He hadn’t seen him when he worked here previously, nor since he had returned to the job. If he had seen him, he definitely would have remembered. After all, who could possibly forget a face like that?
It was the first time in his life he had seen someone so tall and handsome. His appearance was so surreal that Eun-won had spent a long time staring blankly back at the man, who had been gazing at him intently without saying a word.
Furthermore, the man emitted a scent that kept drawing his attention. At first, he wondered if it was perfume, but seeing how his gaze was pulled and his heart fluttered, it seemed more like a pheromone scent than perfume.
The man’s pheromone scent was very heavy. It was a scent he had never encountered before, yet it had a strange addictiveness. It was only natural for an omega to be drawn to an Alpha’s pheromones—a providence beyond one’s will—but regardless of that, the scent was impressive enough to be etched into his mind as the “perfect” fragrance.
Would it feel like that if one ate very, very rich vanilla ice cream in a forest filled only with trees?
Imagining the man’s pheromone scent, Eun-won quickly shook his head. He didn’t know why he was indulging in such useless thoughts.
If he really comes again tomorrow and acts strange or scary, I’ll report him.
Giving a small nod and making a practical resolve, Eun-won pulled the drawstring of the trash bag tight over the crushed cigarette pack and stepped outside.
After throwing the tied trash into the large bin behind the store and finishing the recycling he had set aside, he was about to head back in when a car pulled up. As soon as he saw the large, expensive-looking car—a rarity in this alley—Eun-won recalled a few days ago. The day someone had been sent to him in Baekdam-dong.
“…….”
Since then, the Madam had been contacting him several times a day, asking how he was and inquiring about his daily life, but Eun-won still hadn’t been able to process his thoughts properly. It felt similar to how he felt six years ago when he first heard that his father was the Chairman of ‘Baum,’ a man with immense power in the construction industry.
He accepted it because it was the truth, but… it was such an overwhelming fact that it felt like someone else’s story, lacking any sense of reality.
“You’ve grown a lot. I think you were much smaller back then.”
The person who stepped out of the driver’s side door was someone he had only met once, but was not easily forgotten. Eun-won stared blankly at his father, who strode toward him, then quietly bowed his head in greeting.
“I heard your work ends around this time.”
“…Ah…. I have about ten minutes left.”
“I see. Finish up slowly and come out.”
“……Yes….”
He didn’t bother asking what was happening or why he had come. He could guess without asking. Eun-won bowed his head again and went back inside the convenience store.
“…….”
After meeting the Madam, he had anticipated that he might meet his father in the near future, but he hadn’t expected his father to seek him out personally like this. He felt flustered and even a bit overwhelmed.
Covering his rapidly beating heart with his hand and gently stroking it, Eun-won returned behind the counter and sat blankly on the chair. While he could guess what he might hear, part of him felt as if he knew nothing at all.
“Eun-won!”
Just then, the door opened and the CEO entered with a smiling face. Eun-won stood up, stepped out from behind the counter, greeted the CEO who patted his back and told him he’d worked hard, and headed toward the store’s storage room.
Even while changing clothes, and even when he stepped outside with his bag to see his ‘father’ still waiting in the same spot, the feeling of unreality persisted. His sense of reality hadn’t slipped this much when he met the Madam, but it was severe when facing his father.
“There is something I want to talk about, um… could you spare some time?”
“Ah…. Yes, I have time….”
“Alright, then get in.”
Seeing his father point to the passenger seat and head toward the driver’s side, Eun-won cautiously climbed into the car. The sound of the driver’s door opening and closing echoed, and shortly after, the car began to move.
Until the car drove down the road and arrived at a destination, Eun-won faced a suffocating awkwardness, endlessly fidgeting with the bag on his lap. In reality, it was a short ten-minute trip, but Eun-won perceived those ten minutes as two hours. That was how uncomfortable and difficult the situation was.
The destination was a cafe. As the car stopped in front of the door, a man in a suit who had been waiting there opened the car door for him. Eun-won bowed his head and followed his father into the cafe.
“…….”
It was a fairly large cafe, but there wasn’t a single person inside. Not even a staff member was visible.
The blinds on the glass front were all drawn, and among the numerous tables, there were two cups placed on only one table. His father went there and invited Eun-won to sit. After seeing his father sit first, Eun-won cautiously sat opposite him.
“Since it’s late, I thought coffee wouldn’t be a good idea, so I asked them to prepare tea. I should have asked what you like before having them prepare it; I’m sorry.”
“Ah, no. Anything is fine….”
While they exchanged a brief conversation about the tea, the man who looked like a bodyguard inside the cafe stepped outside, leaving the surroundings completely silent. Amidst the tension and awkwardness, Eun-won blew on the tea—not even knowing what it tasted like—and took a sip to moisten his dry lips.
“After hearing that you needed time to think, I wanted to come find you immediately, but I felt I was being too hasty, so I waited a few days.”
“…….”
“I know that me coming to find you unilaterally like this again might not be welcome, but still… I felt that if I hesitated any longer, I would regret it.”
He knew this man was his father, but perhaps because he had never had a father close by, the very fact that he was facing his father felt incredibly foreign. Unable to even look at his father’s face, Eun-won simply fidgeted with the warm cup.
“Six years ago… I was too cowardly.”
“…….”
“I was afraid that if I accepted you, my company and my family would be shaken…. Since I didn’t know the details, I thought I could just keep pretending not to know and live my life. I also knew that you and your mother wouldn’t cling to me.”
“…….”
“Everything went as I wanted, but from then until today, there hasn’t been a single day where my mind was at peace. I thought your mother and you were stains that held me back… but I was wrong. It was my own ugly and cowardly behavior from six years ago that had been holding me back.”
At the low, flowing words, Eun-won finally gathered a bit of courage and lifted his gaze. Seeing his father in the light for the first time in six years, he looked different from back then.
He wasn’t looking at him with a cold, disgusted gaze as if seeing something from the bottom that could never mix, nor did he look contemptuous as if he wanted to run away immediately.
“As you may have heard, after your Hyung passed away first, you weighed even more heavily on my heart. While a dead child must be buried in one’s heart, I couldn’t bear the guilt and apology of ignoring and neglecting you while you were perfectly alive.”
“…….”
“It is far too late, but, Eun-won.”
His father’s hand reached across the table toward Eun-won. The hand that wrapped around Eun-won’s hand, which had been gripping the cup, was large and warm. Eun-won stared silently at his father’s hand touching him.
“I am truly sorry. I won’t be able to apologize enough even if I spend my entire life doing so.”
“…….”
“Will you give me a chance to make up for this? I want to become a father, a parent, that you can rely on for the rest of your life.”