DG 33

“Haa……”

Lee Do-hyeon, whose cheeks were touched by dried tears, sighed deeply and washed his face roughly. He was fine when he was actually doing it, but seeing Ryu Jeong sleeping with his traces all over him, all sorts of thoughts swirled in his head. The self-loathing that came from doing something impulsive, unlike himself, the guilt of touching an Omega much younger than him. And some worries that Ryu Jeong might resent him or regret the situation itself when he came to his senses.

Accepting Ryu Jeong, who couldn’t tell the difference between front and back because of the Heat cycle and rushed at him, was, to be honest, something he shouldn’t have done. But he didn’t regret it. Ryu Jeong would be shocked to hear it, but Lee Do-hyeon thought the Heat cycle had come at the right time. Because he could completely confine Ryu Jeong, who had invaded his daily life so strangely, within his boundary through this incident.

Sitting by the sleeping Ryu Jeong’s head and quietly looking down at his clear face, Lee Do-hyeon sighed again and got up. He seemed to have gone crazy from the pheromone. He was having sadistic thoughts, beyond impulsive ones, so he didn’t feel like himself. He felt like he needed to smoke a cigarette right away.

He roughly put on his clothes and rummaged through his jacket pocket. He was about to go out with his cigarette case and lighter when he noticed something.

On the low small table that wouldn’t even fit his knees, two or three pieces of paper folded twice and ambiguously spread out caught his eye. Even he, who hadn’t visited often, knew that Ryu Jeong was the type to keep even a shabby and small house clean, but for some reason, leaving it carelessly like that was unlike Ryu Jeong.

Lee Do-hyeon glanced at Ryu Jeong, who was sleeping without moving, bent down and picked up the paper. He flicked the stiff paper corner with his fingertip. Lee Do-hyeon, reading the words written on the paper with indifferent eyes, tilted his head as if he didn’t like it.

“What is this…….”

A bewildered question spread into the air. The person who would know what it was, Ryu Jeong, was still motionless as if he couldn’t hear anything. Lee Do-hyeon, standing tall and silently watching Ryu Jeong, took the paper in his hand and left the room.

Lee Do-hyeon, sitting lightly on the porch, immediately brought a cigarette to his mouth. He held the burning cigarette in his mouth for a long time, then unfolded the paper and read it line by line.

Revision of Terms and Conditions. It was about some terms and conditions that had changed regarding a bond that was about 10 years old, and there wasn’t a single passage from beginning to end that didn’t make him laugh absurdly.

The number, which was already close to the legal maximum interest rate, was going to jump far beyond that percentage in the future, but the problem was that they had notified him only two weeks before the implementation. The remaining principal was a whopping 500 million. The accumulated interest was 1.8 billion. A total of 2.3 billion. Even Lee Do-hyeon, who had seen and touched much larger sums of money, was getting a headache.

‘But I have to make money…….’

‘I need a lot of money.’

‘Just a lot…….’

Was the reason he was working on an impossible schedule, giving up sleep and meals, all because of this debt? He had vaguely expected there to be a reason, but he had never imagined that he would have this much debt at his age. Moreover, the principal was 500 million. Ten years ago, he would have just been wearing a school uniform, and lending a minor a large sum of 500 million wouldn’t make sense, even for an illegal loan shark.

But Ryu Jeong’s name written next to the debtor was written too neatly. Was it true that the parents, as Chief Yoon said, had passed on the debt to their child? Lee Do-hyeon, lost in thought for a moment, put down what he was holding for a moment and picked up his cell phone.

“Hello?”

The person who answered the phone was Chief Yoon. Even though it was early in the morning when the bluish energy of dawn was just fading away, there was no trace of sleepiness in Chief Yoon’s voice. Instead, there was a panting sound mixed in at the end of his words. Lee Do-hyeon, feeling suspicious for no reason, narrowed his brows.

“What are you doing?”

“I was exercising, what’s wrong from the morning?”

“Ah, exercising. Um… it’s nothing, I was just wondering if you could look into something for me.”

“Tell me.”

A beeping sound was heard from the other side of the receiver. Chief Yoon, who seemed to be running on a treadmill, caught his breath. Lee Do-hyeon, who felt unpleasant for some reason, took a puff of his cigarette and roughly held the paper with the terms and conditions and rolled his eyes.

“The name itself smells illegal, Seomin Custom Capital.”

“Seomin… Isn’t that an illegal loan shark? Like personal money, something like that.”

“That’s right. Anyway, there’s someone named Ryu Jeong among the debtors here, so look into that debt.”

“Ryu Jeong, you mean….”

“Yeah. Wolhyeon-dong.”

Lee Do-hyeon, who put out the cigarette he had finished smoking in a portable ashtray, took out a new cigarette and lit it. The other side of the receiver was silent, wondering what he was thinking. He could roughly guess what Chief Yoon was thinking. But Lee Do-hyeon didn’t bother to bring it up. Because then he would have to say everything that didn’t need to be said.

“And know that I can’t go to work today.”

“Yes. …Yes? No, are you refusing to go to work now?”

“I’m not saying I’m not going, I’m saying I can’t go. The reason is a bit difficult to say, so call the center. It’s a bit difficult today, I’ll go tomorrow or the day after.”

“Ah, are you not feeling well? Haa… the schedule is a bit tight… I can’t help it. I’ll try to adjust it as much as possible.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Chief Yoon probably assumed that he was in rut, or that his physical condition was not good due to pheromones even if he wasn’t in rut. In fact, neither was true, but Lee Do-hyeon didn’t bother to point it out and correct him. Sometimes it was better for each other to just let things pass without knowing.

He was sure that what he had told Chief Yoon to look into would come into his hands before the day was over. Whether it was a debt created by Ryu Jeong’s parents, whom he didn’t even know the face or name of, he had impulsively decided that he would have to check it with his own eyes first. What was he going to do after finding out? He asked himself this question, but in fact, he didn’t know what he wanted to do either.

Was he going to pay it off for him now? In fact, Lee Do-hyeon could solve it himself with that much money. But the problem was what kind of feeling this action came from. It was uncomfortable to call it a simple act of charity…….

“Haa…….”

The discomfort that had settled deep in his heart did not disappear even after several cigarettes. Lee Do-hyeon sighed and exhaled the hazy cigarette smoke, then went back into the room where Ryu Jeong was sleeping. The Heat cycle was not over yet.