2.2 Trajectory of Light (2)

“Me? Ah, I never really thought about it anyway. Unless it’s some kind of illness….”

Geum Seoul was truly nonchalant. Honestly, he had never even considered such a thing. Occasionally—very occasionally—he saw Gemstones coming in while pregnant, or Gemstones leaving because of pregnancy. But he had never imagined it would happen to him. The life he had lived was overwhelming enough on its own, and he had nothing worth passing down to a child. That was why he felt a slight sense of relief at the mention of infertility.

“…Aside from the fact that pregnancy is impossible due to a receptor issue, there are no other abnormalities.”

“Then it’s fine.”

After his plain answer, he returned to being simply nonchalant. Only Oh Ga-on had a face full of questions. To be fair, Gye Do-hyeop was a guy who was usually called things like ‘Gye-trash’ or ‘Gye-bastard,’ so it was understandable that he didn’t care about bad news, but at the very least, the person involved should have been surprised. Yet, his expression was truly indifferent.

“That’s a relief,” Gye Do-hyeop said listlessly.

“Who would I give this blood to? I’d rather kill it myself.”

Unaware that he had unconsciously spat out the conviction that if Geum Seoul were to carry a child, it would absolutely be his, Gye Do-hyeop turned his head. He whispered something into Seoul’s ear right next to him, causing Seoul to flinch his shoulders and mutter, “That’s…,” as his face flushed bright red.

Watching the two of them, Oh Ga-on felt as if a part of his brain had gone missing. He was starting to wonder if these two were strange or if he was the strange one.

Center Director Oh Ga-on’s father had been in charge of the secondary gender management for Gye Do-hyeop’s grandfather. He had also mentioned seeing Gye Do-hyeop’s father and his Omega husband a few times. Due to the nature of a Dominant Alpha’s traits and the specifics of the Gye family, all of his data had to be kept strictly confidential, so a single primary physician had always been in charge, and now Oh Ga-on had inherited the role.

He had heard that both Gye Do-hyeop’s grandfather and father had only ever taken one partner. In other words, when a member of the Gye family brought someone home, it usually meant they were a lifelong partner. There was a high probability that Geum Seoul was Gye Do-hyeop’s future husband—even if the man himself looked like he had no idea.

Regardless, since that was the case, it was only natural that Gye Do-hyeop—who was pouring lewd words into his ear even after hearing that pregnancy was [stolen content]difficult—seemed like a complete, crazy, swindling lunatic. Along with that, Geum Seoul, who flinched and unauthorized copytried [Read on Read BL Novels]to shake his ear off, seemed surprisingly unaffected, leaving Oh Ga-on alone to shake his eyes in confusion.

“What the fuck, are you sleeping with your eyes open? Finish speaking.”

“Ah. Ah…. Yes. First, there are no other peculiarities…. Based on today’s test results, all I can tell you is that numerically, Mr. Geum Seoul is a Dominant Omega, and that pregnancy is impossible.”

Gye Do-hyeop smiled a bit more intensely, to the point where deep dimples formed at the corners of his mouth. Even the fact that Geum Seoul couldn’t get pregnant was perfectly to his taste.

Gye Do-hyeop had not a shred of desire for procreation. When his Rut approached, he chose injections mixed with contraceptives. He had no intention of passing down this wretched bloodline to anyone. Since there wasn’t a single good thing about it, if a child did something he disliked, he might easily kill them with his own hands. A small human who resembled him, weak and with absolutely no reason to be kept alive. It was better to have nothing from the start than to deal with the headache of filicide.

“They say you’re a Dominant Omega.”

“…Yes. I heard.”

To an outsider, his voice sounded nonchalant, but it was a reaction born from the fact that none of it had sunk in yet. Geum Seoul was actually more confused by the fact that he was a Dominant Omega than by the fact that he couldn’t get pregnant. He was chewing over the thought, needing time to process it, but Gye Do-hyeop’s next words forced him to be genuinely surprised.

“And this guy’s Gemstone grade suddenly jumped by 8 levels. Explain that too.”

“8 levels?”

While the Center Director was surprised again, Geum Seoul snapped his head around as if his ears had perked up. Gye Do-hyeop grinned and lightly pressed his cheek. He didn’t like that the hat obscured his eyes.

“It was pink.”

“What? Me?”

Huh? No, I’m white… Geum Seoul shook his head slowly, thinking it was nonsense, but Gye Do-hyeop flicked the hat with his index finger.

“Then who was the one dripping fluids and dropping a gemstone on my sofa a few days ago? No one else would dare leak like that in my house but you.”

At the words flowing clearly, albeit in a low voice, into his ear, Geum Seoul covered his mouth. Not his own, but Gye Do-hyeop’s. His cheeks, which turned crimson in an instant, were stained with horror as if he couldn’t believe the words.

“See. It is you.”

Gye Do-hyeop laughed, his voice muffled by the palm of Seoul’s hand. Startled by the soft lips, Geum Seoul quickly pulled his hand away and glanced tentatively at the Center Director. The Director was already pressed close to the screen, having shut out his ears.

However, regardless of the Center Director’s presence, Gye Do-hyeop spent a bit more time making Geum Seoul understand.

“When did you get your gemstone verification?”

“A long time ago, as soon as the CEO came to the neighborhood. He said it was a really poor D-grade.”

“D-10. But after you came and came in heat at my house, it became D-2.”

Geum Seoul’s mouth parted slightly. Although he had lived in a deserted village his whole life, it had already been several years since he started entering gemstone auctions following Park Gil-pyeong, so he knew quite a bit about gemstones. He might not know how people in Seoul lived, how they spent their time, how much money they had, or where they spent it, but he naturally knew what grade a gemstone of a certain turbidity would be, what the usual market price was, which colors were popular, and what types existed.

But he had never heard of such a thing. Jumping 8 levels.

“That can’t be. Something like that, never once—”

“You’ve never heard of it, right? That’s why it’s fucking peculiar.”

“…….”

He was silent now, but Geum Seoul was still bewildered. Of course, if one managed their condition, the detailed level could rise to some extent. Especially from Grade B onwards, a difference of one or two levels caused a significant difference in value, which was why Rini was always excluded from the building’s menial chores. It was only natural. But how could I suddenly jump 8 levels? Seoul blinked blankly, his gaze fixed on a humidifier emitting white steam.

“It’s certain. I did the component test yesterday.”

But he had no choice but to believe it. The man in front of him was the Deputy Director of the NSSD. He might even own several of those incredibly expensive gemstone appraisal machines that Park Gil-pyeong had struggled for years to acquire. He was a very powerful person. He couldn’t be wrong.

Knock, knock.

“It’s Yoo Jeong-ham.”

The sound of knocking broke the brief silence. Yoo Jeong-ham entered. The Center Director, looking at Geum Seoul who now had two guardians, quietly began to cycle through the data in his head.

“Could it be….”

Oh Ga-on wanted to solve this problem well. It was a matter between two mutually beneficial families, but it was also a strong curiosity as a doctor who had spent his life researching secondary genders. After quickly scouring the mental archives, he tapped the keyboard a few times and voiced his hypothesized theory.

“Hmm…. Although it is very rare, there are cases among Dominant traits where the body instinctively adjusts its levels for the sake of survival. If that’s the case, it explains the numbers from earlier.”

He then quickly tapped the tablet to bring up a screen. Having struggled [visit our site]to [visit our site]find it at first, he searched several more times before zooming in on several research paper pages, saying, “Here it is.”

“As you can see, there is a case where a Dominant Alpha’s pheromone levels dropped significantly while held as a hostage by an enemy army during wartime, temporarily becoming a beta. And here, there is a case of a Dominant Omega whose secondary gender completely shifted after their village was wiped out by bombing.”

“Hostage? Bombing?”

Of all things, the few available comparison groups were like that. Bombings, wartime. Environments where one’s life was threatened and it wouldn’t be strange to die tomorrow. It meant that Geum Seoul’s blood had perceived his situation as such. That in the face of the threat of death, it had to limit the pheromone response to protect itself. Gye Do-hyeop rose from the sofa.

“So.”

Things he hadn’t been able to understand at the time. The fact that he appeared as a Common Omega on a simple kit, and the way he would gag when smelling the pheromones of a Common Alpha. Gye Do-hyeop muttered lowly as he finished organizing the pieces.

“Since just breathing was fucking miserable, the pheromones automatically pretended to be a Recessive Omega. Even lowering the gemstone grade.”

“For now…. there is no other way to explain it.”

“Hah.”

Gye Do-hyeop, who had been fitting the puzzle together, closed his mouth.

Did you think you’d go back? Geum Seoul had believed without a doubt that he would leave him in that neighborhood. As soon as he found the ledger chip, which was the goal, he had handed over the money without any lingering attachment. So, not even because he had been fully rested, but simply because he had been kept under an air conditioner for a few days, and because he had been held close while being sprayed with pheromones that were pleasant to receive—with just that much of a break, he had climbed eight steps. This admirable, tiny, cute little brat.

Normally, curiosity, euphoria, or calculation for various reasons should have come first. But an unknown grain of irritation crawled through his internals.

Geum Seoul, who was easily pushed aside by Park Gil-pyeong’s large palm. Geum Seoul, who spent every day with makeup tools smeared with adhesive on his body. Geum Seoul, who boiled food for others in front of a hot fire. Geum Seoul, who said he would take even stolen contentspoiled kimbap. Geum Seoul, who barely [unauthorized copy]managed to make a few hundred won [Read on Read BL Novels]by hanging laundry under the scorching sun in a place no one else looked at. Geum Seoul, who lived in hell, stubbornly clinging to his lifeline.

Thump.

Gye Do-hyeop leaned down in front of Geum Seoul, who was now sitting with a straight back. As one knee touched the floor, his face, which had always been above Geum Seoul’s, suddenly aligned at a slight angle. Geum Seoul was startled by that alone, but Gye Do-hyeop reached out regardless. He took off the hat that covered his face and lightly ruffled the brown hair. Naturally, the fair forehead looked much prettier when revealed. The slightly trembling brown eyes turned toward Gye Do-hyeop. Then, as if giving a compliment, he smiled.

“Geum Seoul.”

“Yes?”

“You heard, right? You’re a smart one, so you must understand what it means.”

“…Yes.”

Theoretically, he understood. Geum Seoul curled his fingers tightly, blankly observing the corners of the eyes of the man smiling before him. The smile suited him so well that Seoul felt a heat rising in his chest. As if reading his thoughts, Gye Do-hyeop smiled even more brightly. Thump, thump. His heart raced as if someone were forcing a door open. Lips that formed a gentle arc without any distortion produced a soft voice.

“Aren’t you curious? How much you’ll shine.”

The sentence was so beautiful that Geum Seoul remained silent, and Gye Do-hyeop continued to smile. Long fingers brushed through Seoul’s grayish-brown hair. The temperature of the skin rose as if a match had been lit at the tip of his index finger.

“I’m fucking excited. To see how much prettier you can get than you are now.”

Geum Seoul’s plump lower lip parted slightly, as if it might make a popping sound. Gye Do-hyeop, coming close as if to kiss him, whispered lowly.

“…….”

He felt as if he were being swallowed by those pitch-black eyes. Yet, for some reason, it felt somewhat pleasant. Goosebumps rose on Geum Seoul’s arms. Gye Do-hyeop pressed closer to Geum Seoul once more. Now, they were close enough for their breaths to mingle faintly.

“I’ll show you, so try it. Being brilliant.”

At the following words, the other two people in the room held their breath. First, they were shocked by words that were unbelievably romantic for someone like Gye Do-hyeop. In particular, Yoo Jeong-ham, who knew all too well that Gye Do-hyeop was a man who stood with a knife in his mouth and sliced things up, had his mouth hanging open as if his jaw had dislocated.

To think Gye Do-hyeop would say such things. With such a tender and sweet voice. If he had heard this from someone else, he would have slapped them for spreading such absurd rumors. However, Yoo Jeong-ham had to close his mouth immediately. This was because he smelled the pheromones spreading very faintly through the space. He knew instinctively.

It was the Omega, Geum Seoul.

“…….”

It was a deep blue scent he had sworn he had never smelled before. Not a scent commonly found in roadside weeds, but something deeper and cleaner…. In an instant, a surge of heartbeat and a powerful pulse. His pupils narrowed, and the instinct to gauge this faint body odor more deeply took over.

Whoosh.

The languid flow was abruptly cut off as if by scissors, and a sense of unpleasantness pierced deep into his lungs. Since it was undoubtedly Gye Do-hyeop’s pheromones, the Center Director and Yoo Jeong-ham had to gasp. The Dominant Alpha pheromones intended as a warning were so potent they made the posterior nerves tingle, and thanks to that, Yoo Jeong-ham, snapping back to his senses with a frown, led the Center Director out through the attached door. Thanks to that, the distance between them and the two men widened considerably.

“It won’t take long, right?”

So fucking admirable. Gye Do-hyeop, who maintained a brazen expression even after deliberately releasing pheromones in front of others, only smiled while massaging the reddened rim of Geum Seoul’s ear. He knew that the faint flicker of pheromones was the answer. Even as he moved his hesitating lips, his eyes still did not deviate from Gye Do-hyeop’s gaze.

When he first saw him in the neighborhood, his gaze had been wandering everywhere, but in a short time, stolen contenthe had learned how to hold onto him quite visit our sitesteadily. With a very satisfied [Read on Read BL Novels]face, Gye Do-hyeop gripped and rubbed his soft cheek.

It might be a momentary whim, but for now, he wanted him. It didn’t matter how much potential Geum Seoul had. The reason he wanted to strip Geum Seoul naked right now and suck him all over until his body burst wasn’t because he was curious about what grade of gemstone would be shed in the process, but because Geum Seoul, who leaked pheromones at the words ‘let’s see how much prettier you get,’ was seriously beautiful. He knew it was a more certain answer than any words.

“Seoul. The Deputy Director is asking, aren’t you going to answer?”

It was an urge. And Geum Seoul, his massaged cheek turning even redder like a peach, said,

“…I will.”

This time, that fair cheek was swallowed by the gap of Gye Do-hyeop’s lips.

A man with curly hair slightly covering his nape, half of which was roughly tied back, fiddled with the rings filling all ten of his fingers while staring at a gemstone displayed in a glass tube. The gemstone in the center was at most the size of a pinky nail, but the cubic glass tube covering it was huge. This was because of the multiple security sensors haphazardly layered inside. Unlike the classical music that echoed grandly throughout the space, the man had a rather displeased expression.

Ssh.

Unrolling the pitch-black leather that had been coiled, he plunged a needle into the crook of his arm. At the same time, he took a very deep breath. A faint scent floating in the air stung his sense of smell.

“Huummm.”

Gwak Chun-young, pulling out the empty syringe, made such a sound. His father, who had passed down the hobby of gemstone collecting, had once told him before leaving home, ‘You shouldn’t just wear one just because it’s pretty.’ The problem was that he had despised the man and hadn’t listened to a word. Even if that bastard had cheated filthily, he was practically a senior in gemstone collecting, so he should have taken that as a helpful piece of advice. Regretting it now was no different from mending the barn after the cow was stolen.

He considered himself a great romanticist. His collecting habit—gathering everything beautiful, whether people or gemstones—was a context that perfectly pierced through his aesthetic standards and sensibilities.

Leaning back deeply on a high-saturation brown sofa, Gwak Chun-young lifted a transparent cylindrical cylinder in his hand to eye level. Inside, two unauthorized copyround eyeballs were submerged in a transparent solution. The only difference from normal eyeballs was that instead of the brown color average for East visit our siteAsians, a vivid green, like a gemstone, was embedded. The eyes of a gemstone after life had vanished were this beautiful.

“He was just the right amount of good.”

Though not exceptionally beautiful, Lee Hee-jung had been, as he said, a ‘just right’ partner. A quick wit as much as he was moderately pretty. A moderate acting skill and a moderate amount of jealousy shown at the right time. He was an incomparable partner who would even step forward to lure other targets when collecting gemstones, but once a green gemstone of a similar level was brought into the house, his pettiness crossed the line. If it had been a request for confirmation of affection that could be reasonably accommodated, he would have overlooked it, but he gradually became crooked and eventually ran off with the ledger.

“We could have done better. Why did you do that?”

He spoke calmly, his voice tinged with regret, as if he were conversing with the eyeball inside the cylinder. His cheeks, sunken to a point of appearing gaunt, and the countless scars scattered across his body seemed to reflect a harsh past.

Gwak Chun-young wore a truly pitiful expression. In truth, if it weren’t for this one thing, he was more than willing to keep Lee Hee-jung by his side. In many ways, the man wasn’t bad. It would take a long time to find another subordinate who could use his head and scheme as moderately as he did.

Knock, knock.

Through the gaps in the loud classical music, the sound of a heavy iron door being knocked echoed. He lowered the volume slightly with the remote. A man standing at the door bowed his head in greeting. He could not enter the room; this exhibition hall was a space accessible only to Gwak Chun-young.

“CEO, even while drugged, he keeps saying the same thing. He really doesn’t seem to know the name.”

“Hmm.”

Gwak Chun-young hummed and turned the volume back up. The ornate violin melody pierced deep into his complex thoughts.

‘He really doesn’t know the name. There were just several men, and they said they were from Iljang Trading. They said they were looking for a certain gemstone.’

The village he had gone to after killing Lee Hee-jung was a stolen contentdeserted settlement, difficult even to find. As is common in ruined towns where criminal activity thrives, that place survived on illegal [Read on Read BL Novels]auctions, stolen contentand Jewel Omegas gathered on the second floor of the central building.

According to the man he had captured, a man named Park Gil-pyeong, who controlled the neighborhood, had disappeared the day before they raided. The people who took him were apparently a group that had introduced themselves as being from Iljang Trading. Who dared to impersonate me? How did they know the ledger was in Lee Hee-jung’s hands and find it before I did? Given their boldness, they are no ordinary fools.

Gwak Chun-young had brought out three Jewel Omegas who were stranded in that village. Two of them were mere shells who knew nothing, but one seemed to know a fair amount. Her name was Bun-hong, if he recalled. In a cheap auction house where real names were unnecessary, it was common to be called by the color of one’s gemstone.

‘Lin said they were buying gemstones, and also, it seemed like they were making Geum Seoul do this and that!’

Before the drugs were injected into her arm, Bun-hong had spoken in an urgent voice. Lin. Geum Seoul. Both were Omegas he had failed to bring back, and he was told that the one called Lin had escaped separately. Gwak Chun-young focused on the latter name. A three-syllable name, not a color.

A fast-tempo orchestra resonated grandly through the exhibition hall. Humming a familiar melody, Gwak Chun-young set down the cylinder in his hand. Beneath it lay documents regarding Park Gil-pyeong and Geum Seoul. The section on Park Gil-pyeong was long and detailed, but Geum Seoul’s was a mere single sentence: ‘An errand boy staying at Park Gil-pyeong’s auction house.’ The only photo was a low-quality CCTV screen of the two of them visiting a nearby city; as the description of an errand boy suggested, Park Gil-pyeong was empty-handed, while Geum Seoul’s arms were full of various things. They had emerged from a nearby junk shop.

“They said both Geum Seoul and Park Gil-pyeong disappeared the day before, right?”

“Yes. They consistently said that Park Gil-pyeong tried to rape Geum Seoul. Then that group raided and seemingly took them both.”

“Hmm. You said they came to look for Lee Hee-jung? Then why did they suddenly reappear and take those two instead?”

Gwak Chun-young leaned back, burying the back of his head into the sofa’s headrest and closing his eyes. Within his pitch-black vision, a viola scratched out short notes, over which a woodwind instrument added another melody. Imaginations began to form one by one. Did the ledger fall into their hands? Why did the group that first sought Lee Hee-jung return to that village a few days later to take two other people instead of him? Was the purpose of that action definitely the ledger? Did Lee Hee-jung hide the ledger in the first place he visited?

Even while dying in a drug-induced haze, Lee Hee-jung had said he ‘threw away’ the ledger.

‘I really adored you.’

‘You adored me. You never loved unauthorized copyme. Since you weren’t mine, stolen contentyou just wanted to have a weakness to hold over me.’

Because those final words happened to touch his heart, Gwak Chun-young had shed tears of emotion and killed him beautifully without digging further. It was a mistake. He should have found out, even if it meant torturing him.

“Did you check the cameras to see where they went?”

“That is… they weren’t caught on the cameras at the nearby IC.”

Gwak Chun-young opened only one eye, squinting.

“What the hell does that mean? Then where did they go? Did they fly into the sky?”

Though he knew the subordinate disliked the answer, the man couldn’t elaborate. It was literally as stated. They must have exited somehow, but no matter how many cameras at nearby checkpoints or roads were hacked and searched, nothing was visible. People who left the village the very next day were captured from all directions, but only that specific group was missing.

“Are there no other routes? A helicopter?”

“It seems no one heard anything.”

Helicopters are usually incredibly loud. Not only when landing nearby, but the moment they get close to the ground, the villagers couldn’t possibly miss it. Especially in such a cramped place.

“Then where could they have gone? Did they walk? Did they crawl? Did they dig a hole?”

General Manager Lee Ho-hoon, who had been standing by the door until his boss finished organizing his thoughts, responded to the clicking gesture of his hand.

“Yes, CEO.”

“What has Deputy Director Gye been up to lately?”

“There have been no special movements.”

Among all the conditions, the only man capable of taking those two and disappearing was that bastard Gye Do-hyeop. Gwak Chun-young closed his eyes again.

“Is he still diligently kissing No Pil-gyu’s ass?”

“Yes. When he’s busy, he stays at the official residence and doesn’t come out at all; his routine of returning home once every few days remains the same as before.”

The long scar on his cheek twitched slightly. Gye Do-hyeop was living as quiet as a mouse. Since his superior, No Pil-gyu, was on his side, there was no reason for him to exert any power. However, compared to his reputation for being outrageous—which had been rumored since his time in the Security Department, or even before—he had been excessively quiet recently.

At first, Gwak Chun-young wondered if he was intentionally keeping a low profile. He had attached people to him and set traps several times to uncover his intentions, but for a year, the man had remained silent without anything special happening. He was just beginning to conclude that the bastard was simply trying to save his own skin until No Pil-gyu lost all his teeth, and that he wasn’t actually that much of a threat.

“But no matter how I look at it, he’s the only one who would do something like this.”

The instinct of the seasoned Gwak Chun-young told him so.

Gye Do-hyeop was a man born with it in his blood. He was the only grandson of Gye Kyung-moo, the Minister of National Defense famous for internal military reforms. Even long after his death, the grandfather remained a titan mentioned in various media as a figure of national respect. Whenever people listed politicians they trusted, regardless of the context or opponent, his name always appeared. At the time, with overwhelming support and popularity, he was a figure whose victory in the next presidential election was almost certain, though he was also remembered as a tragic figure who eventually passed away after being attacked by many political rivals.

His son and daughter-in-law had died long ago, and he was the grandson the Minister had hidden and raised personally for over a decade. He had been so sheltered that his existence wasn’t even known until Gye Do-hyeop suddenly appeared and wandered the back alleys immediately after Gye Kyung-moo’s death.

The pity for him was short-lived; at some point, countless rumors began to spread that the grandson of the [visit our site]wonderful Minister was a trashy thug. Given the filthy state of the country, people figured he would just roll in the mud and die, and as everyone’s interest waned, visit our siteall [Read on Read BL Novels]talk of Gye Do-hyeop faded. The fact that he had joined the Security Department was known only to a few.

“General Manager Lee. Who was closest to Gye Kyung-moo during his prime?”

“It would likely be Han Je-gun or Assemblyman Lee Hak-hyung.”

Gwak Chun-young let out another long breath and fiddled with the ornate, thick rings on his fingers. Each ring was set with a gemstone of a different color.

“Set up a meeting. Let’s see if I can scrape up something interesting.”

“Yes, sir.”

Gwak Chun-young scratched the scar on his cheek with his nail. A deep interest surfaced on his face.

“Ah, put more people on Deputy Director Gye. It can’t be anyone but that bastard.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Hmm…”

“About five minutes ago, I received a call from No Pil-gyu.”

“Right.”

For now, a mere CEO of a trading company could not dare harass a Deputy Director of the NSSD, so his only option was to poke at the man’s superior. The reason he hadn’t told No Pil-gyu about losing the ledger was because of the man’s cowardly nature. He didn’t even want to see him trembling in fear, wondering if his life was now visit our siteforfeit. [visit our site]He would hide it moderately and scrape just enough to use him. He had no intention of ruining the blueprint he had carefully drawn. Gwak Chun-young turned off the classical music, waiting for the holograms to fully appear before him. Silence descended instantly.

“Sigh. Should I just kill everyone and become the President?”

“That is a wonderful idea.”

At his subordinate’s flattery, he revealed his teeth in a dangerous smile. Among those great members of the National Assembly, how many lived filthier lives than he did? There was no reason he couldn’t do it. The subordinate laughed along with the joke. As Gwak Chun-young left the exhibition hall, the iron door—as thick as a human body—closed automatically, turning the space into a perfect sealed room. It was part of a security program he had spent years perfecting.

Geum Seoul’s daily pattern was extremely consistent. Upon waking in the morning, he would stretch wide and diligently clean the room. Since it was a place he swept and wiped every day, when not a single speck of dust was visible, he would needlessly polish the sink to a shine or make the toilet bowl sparkle. He was as diligent as if it were an errand Gye Do-hyeop had assigned him.

‘Have Becksa put on a movie or something.’

Following Yoo Jeong-ham’s suggestion, he occasionally watched such things in the evening, but only for a short while.

Opening only a designated drawer among the countless cabinets in the house had also become a sort of routine. In truth, after being horrified to find that almost every drawer was overflowing with extra-size condoms, he had become afraid to open them recklessly.

He met people twice a day, when meals were delivered. It wasn’t just a matter of dropping off food; it was at a level where a full array of dishes was spread across the table.

Having grown up in poverty, there were many foods Geum Seoul was seeing for the first time. Lunch on his first day here was Korean food, and dinner was a delicious pasta and steak; Seoul took only as much as he could eat and stored the rest back in the refrigerator. However, by the next day, the leftovers were always gone. The refrigerator was always full of fresh fruit, eggs, and milk.

“Gone today too…”

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Seoul came to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, but as expected, the food from yesterday had vanished. Thinking that someone must be coming to clear it, he decided he should leave a note and headed toward the nightstand by the sofa. He remembered a square notepad being there.

Ting-long. Ting-long.

The pleasant sound of an instrument playing could be heard. After taking out a pen following the notepad, Seoul picked up the remote and turned on the power as he had been taught. The monitor on the wall flickered on, filling the screen with a handsome face.

For the past few days, Gye Do-hyeop had called at least once a day. While saying he had become busy and wouldn’t be able to visit for a while, he would show his face like this and ask if there was anything uncomfortable or if he was bored. Most of the time he had been in a car, but today he seemed to be indoors, leaning deep into a sofa.

“Hello.”

At the abrupt question, Geum Seoul slightly lifted the piece of memo paper in his hand.

“Ah. I put the food I ate yesterday in the fridge, but it disappears in the morning. I was planning to eat those side dishes today…”

“No. There’s too much food.”

Gye Do-hyeop truly did not understand ‘what the problem was.’ In the neighborhood where Geum Seoul had lived, almost everything was lacking, and the things that went into the mouth were especially scarce. That was why he brought plenty of food to show off, and he couldn’t fathom why that would be an issue.

“Yes. Because it’s much more than I can eat.”

All Geum Seoul had to do now was live with a peaceful mind. Eating food prepared by a famous chef nearby, living in a pleasant house where a silent circulator ran, and sleeping deeply under the most luxurious blankets on a mattress advertised to be as soft as a cloud. That was enough.

However, Geum Seoul could not enjoy that peace. Even when told that a cleaner would be sent, he refused, saying it was his job. He tidied the bedding first thing upon waking, and after a delicious meal, he always set aside portions to store. This was the daily routine Geum Seoul had chattered about.

Because the work No Pil-gyu had assigned was in its final stages, Gye Do-hyeop couldn’t finish work and go home to where Geum Seoul was, but he checked in on him every day via phone.

At that question, Geum Seoul gripped the pen he was holding tightly.

“I’m not sure how to do that.”

Geum Seoul puffed out his cheeks. Was he being told to just space out and do nothing? The very idea that such a thing was possible felt strange. How could a person just stay still? Was he really saying to just eat, sleep, and rest without doing anything?

‘Um, you said you’d give me errands, what should I do?’

On his first day staying in that house, Geum Seoul had asked that. Gye Do-hyeop knew that a man who had lived his whole life being diligent needed something to do. However, there was nothing to assign in the first place. Since he had insisted on cleaning himself, Gye Do-hyeop had already stopped sending a cleaner.

“Ah, yes. There’s everything here.”

That wasn’t even a fair comparison. Recalling the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements where he couldn’t even stretch his legs properly, Geum Seoul asked.

“Have you ever stayed somewhere uncomfortable, Deputy Director?”

“Not that kind of thing…”

At Gye Do-hyeop’s words, Geum Seoul put down the notepad and quickly stood up. Gye Do-hyeop lit a cigarette, waiting for Geum Seoul to reappear on the monitor. Somewhere uncomfortable. While chewing over the previous conversation, the internal circulator began to run.

“What happened with that?”

By the time he had taken a couple of puffs from the filter, Geum Seoul returned holding a small plastic bowl and a spoon. When asked what it was, he lifted the bowl slightly to show. Cereal was swimming in white milk. He even scooped up a floating red piece with the spoon and held it out, saying it was a strawberry.

Because he asked bluntly, the spark of [visit our site]life that had flickered visit our sitewhile visit our siteintroducing the bowl quickly died down.

“This is tasty… eating it with fresh milk is something I’ve always wanted to try…”

His spirit plummeted instantly at the comment. Gye Do-hyeop sat up slightly and scratched his eyebrow.

“Would you like to?”

This was precisely the difficulty Gye Do-hyeop had begun to experience in earnest after bringing Geum Seoul to the house. Having to put effort into his brain for every single word was more draining than he had expected. Until now, he had dealt with bastards who just said ‘yes, yes’ while scheming behind his back, or those who pretended to be hurt while remaining unchanged; talking to Geum Seoul, who would wither, shrink, and be startled by a single word, was incredibly frustrating.

“Really? I’ll make it exactly the same for you. There are lots of sweet fruits, so it’ll be delicious.”

Only then did Geum Seoul nod, his cheeks flushing slightly red. But the problem was, after seeing this sight, he didn’t actually hate it. Gye Do-hyeop exhaled a long plume of smoke and tilted his head. A spoon filled with white milk slid into Geum Seoul’s red lips.

At those words, he was startled again, his face becoming flustered. The milk sloshed as if it were about to overflow the bowl.

“No matter how I am…”

“…You were joking, right?”

He defended it that way in case the boy got any wild ideas, but in truth, Gye Do-hyeop saw ample possibility for Geum Seoul to climb up to Grade A.

Geum Seoul was special. Objectively speaking, he was a special case. Even for a Dominant, it was rare for the body to regulate the Pheromone Response Level on its own. Not only that, but the fact that the Gem Grade could change was something Gye Do-hyeop himself had never seen before. Even the Center Director, who had spent his life observing Trait-bearers, seemed surprised; since that day, he had continued to send related research results and thesis materials.

“Yes.”