By Zephyria 
“I see you’re aware of the ‘shame.’ Why on earth did you raise your children like this? You’re from such a great hosan family, yet somehow there isn’t a single decent Alpha. Instead of bringing honor to the name after they die, they just keep pouring out bad deeds even in death.”
I truly cannot understand why the personalities of the children are so ruined when he sired a line of great Alpha sons in such a prestigious family. I wouldn’t expect exemplary character, but shouldn’t they at least be average?
These are just low-class trash to the point where they couldn’t even present a business card anywhere. It’s a relief they died early. That alone was a contribution to humanity.
“Marijuana and meth are basic, one dies stupidly from drugs, another kills someone with a car and pins it on someone else, and the one who took the fall is so terrified thinking it was his own fault that he hides it in a panic. They really lived complicated lives.”
“Cha Soo-kyung!”
I didn’t lie, nor did I exaggerate. I’m speaking based entirely on facts, so I don’t know why he’s so angry. It’s like the one who farted is the one getting angry; his own children committed all the wrongs, yet he’s coming after me.
“Since you’re so angry, I’m scared, so I should go.”
“What… do you want.”
It’s a phrase I’ve heard quite often yesterday and today. Yesterday, Chief Bae asked Kwon Yi-kang the same thing. What do you want? Whether it’s the Alpha father or Chief Bae, the words that come out in a second without a thought—likely because they’ve spent so much time cleaning up messes—are the same. In a way, they were pitiful, and in another, pathetic humans.
“I don’t want anything. Don’t you remember? When I left this house, I even left my underwear behind. If I were greedy, I would have taken some property with me somehow. My eldest brother seems to have houses and second women all over the place, but seeing as I left even the underwear I was wearing, the outline is pretty clear.”
I winked at the sister-in-law and crossed my arms as if boasting. I have no greed, I have nothing, so I don’t particularly want anything.
The so-called preemptive strike.
Tapping my crossed legs, I stared intently at the Alpha father. What are you going to use to shut my mouth? Even so, there are two of us—me and Kwon Yi-kang—so you’ll have to shut both of us separately.
“The school board chairman… won’t work because he doesn’t have a degree. General operation of the affiliated facilities… no, not that either.”
He’s talking to himself and then saying no. I haven’t even asked for anything, yet he’s trying to break my spirit. As I watched to see how far his spite would go, Father tentatively started, “You.”
“I’ll provide a space for you on the first floor of the hospital.”
“Am I supposed to roll out a mat and sleep there?”
“Whether you run a cafe or open a bakery, I’m saying do something.”
“Forget it. Even if I do business, I won’t do it in a hospital.”
What kind of favor is he trying to do by giving me a tiny piece of land inside a hospital? The direction of his preemptive strike is all wrong. I thought about telling him to settle the inheritance early, but then I figured what kind of unearned income is in my destiny, so I gave up. Even if I got something this way, it would probably feel unpleasant.
“But… what’s the point of just shutting my mouth? We both have to give statements. Putting me aside, what are you going to negotiate with Kwon Yi-kang?”
When I asked with a smirk, Father cleared his throat. What, did he expect Kwon Yi-kang to align his story with mine if I just went and spoke vaguely? Running a hospital is a business in its own right, yet a man who does business is trying to get everything for free. Even to me, who doesn’t know the first thing about business, he looks like a total highway robber.
“Let’s make it easy. I don’t like talking about my family’s shames elsewhere, and if I extort something from my parents over this, I feel like I’ll become similar to my brothers whose character education was failed. Just let us get married.”
As I let it slip lightly, as if talking about someone else, a denial came back instantly: “No!” He is certainly firm in his firmness.
“Why? Are you worried about Grandfather? Do you think you’ll never get his permission for the marriage even if you die?”
The reason this household is in this state is that he’s still being dragged around by Grandfather’s whims. Father can’t stand tall because of Grandfather’s pressure, and since the highest elder of the house is like that, what did the grandchildren grow up seeing?
“I don’t particularly need anything, and it seems Father doesn’t have anything suitable to give, so just pick one of two. Either let us marry with a joyful heart, or… open up visitation for the hospital’s VIP room.”
“…What?”
“Shall I explain this in detail too? Right here, in this spot?”
Shall I explain in detail right here, where the Omega father and sister-in-law have their ears perked up? As I asked while staring at him, Father’s face distorted like a demon.
“One of two. It’s easy to choose. Either 1 or 2. Considering Father’s position, I recommend 2 over 1. As long as a few overlooked visitations don’t reach Grandfather’s ears, it’s a win-win for everyone. If marriage comes up, it’ll be noisier than it is now. Let’s go peacefully.”
“You, you!”
“Father, you’re not at an age where you’ll pass out from shock, so take it easy. Time is ticking, so choose quickly. We need to align our stories before going to the police station, so please prepare a script.”
I intentionally didn’t look at Kwon Yi-kang. It was partly because I couldn’t guess what face he was making or what he was thinking after hearing my words, and partly because what I had just said was without any prior consultation with him.
“What will you do? Time is passing. Is this such a difficult problem? You’re agonizing so much over choosing between two. You should have agonized this much while raising your children.”
I kept blurting things out, urging Father to decide quickly. In truth, the answer was practically decided. The only problem was that Father was holding out because he didn’t want to bend his pride.
“I see now that you approached him on purpose. Right? You touched my son and planted a seed of…!”
“Father. I’m not a balloon that inflates just because you plant a seed. Save the conspiracies for when you watch movies, and put away those strange thoughts. Stop stalling like this and stop shifting the point.”
“A brat who can’t even recognize his parents. Do you like that Alpha so much? To the point of rebelling against your parents?”
“Yes.”
In the four or five months I’ve lived as Cha Soo-kyung, the person closest to me, the kindest to me, and the one who cared for me the most has been Kwon Yi-kang. What could Kwon Yi-kang possibly lack compared to these people called parents, whom I’m seeing for the first time? They aren’t my real parents anyway.
At my firm reply, the Alpha father let out a hollow breath.
“If you keep stalling like this, I’m really leaving. The police might get a strange misunderstanding. I don’t want to be misunderstood for no reason, so I’ll just go and tell everything honestly as it is. Actually, that’s the right thing to do.”
I said it, nodded to myself, and stood up from the sofa. As I grabbed the arm of the still-sitting Kwon Yi-kang and pulled him along, Kwon Yi-kang stood up, lifting his heavy backside.
“We’ll be going now. In the future, if you’re going to tell someone to come and repeat things they’ve already said, you’d better just tell Chief Bae to carry a voice recorder.”
He’s making people come and go just to hear this. If your own time is precious, other people’s time should be precious too. Moreover, I didn’t come alone; he dragged Kwon Yi-kang along as well.
Irritated by Father’s indecisiveness and stubbornness, I didn’t hide my annoyance, and the Alpha father’s gaze pierced my face.
“I’ll open up visitation for the VIP room.”
“Give me the script if it’s ready.”
Father, in a powerless voice, called Chief Bae and ordered him to accompany us. I glanced at Chief Bae, who was waiting at a distance for us to leave, and then turned my gaze back to Father.
“Don’t change your word later, saying you changed your mind after this is settled. I may not be the best among Father’s children, but I have plenty of motivation to cause an accident that’s just as hard to clean up as my brothers did. I hope no noisier incidents happen here either.”
“That brat, until the very end!”
“When is Hyung’s funeral? Won’t the drugs show up in the autopsy? You’ll be busy cleaning that up, won’t you?”
“….”
“It’ll be this weekend, Young Master,” the sister-in-law whispered, as if sharing a secret, since the Alpha father had shut his mouth in protest. Even so, she wasn’t that close, and since I was sitting on the edge of the sofa, if I heard it, everyone else heard it too.
“I’m leaving. I’ll see you at the funeral.”
I grabbed Kwon Yi-kang’s sleeve and trudged out of the house. Chief Bae quickly led the way down the stairs. Just as the top of his head disappeared from view, Kwon Yi-kang, who had been walking led by me, came to a sudden halt.
“…What were you thinking when you brought that up.”
“What do you think I was thinking? I was thinking of you.”
“Cha Soo-kyung.”
Looking up, Kwon Yi-kang’s face looked like he was angry, but at a glance, he also looked sad. I reached out, pulled his handsome face down to hug him, and whispered a small “It’s okay,” just as he had done for me.
“I… honestly don’t understand. I don’t understand myself or my situation, but I find it hard to understand other people’s actions too. I haven’t lived a blameless life either, but I can’t understand people who live by hurting others. And you, you tell me to do whatever I want, yet you’re the one who can’t do anything.”
What are you afraid of, and what is blocking you, that you live so sadly?
“Did Father set some condition for you? What did he say he’d do for you if you kept your mouth shut about this?”
“He said I’m an unrelated person, so he just asked me to listen to you.”
“See. You have too little greed. In times like this, you have to grab a huge chunk of something. This is a household that has nothing to do with you.”
Anyway, if it’s something our house can give, there’s probably nothing Hwang Seong couldn’t obtain. Still, there’s a difference between paying for it yourself and having someone else give it to you.
Instead of saying you won’t associate with such a filthy household, you should live with the mindset of stripping such a household clean this time. In a way, Kwon Yi-kang is too soft. He’s so kind and gentle that it worries me sometimes.