By Zephyria 
“Fuck, I’m still weak.”
Even after waking up, my physical condition was still poor. Fortunately, my hole had closed up safely, but the inner walls still throbbed as if they were bruised.
“I can’t even go home. I missed all my classes today, and I doubt tomorrow will be any different. My body is useless now.”
“Leave it to me.”
“I don’t want to.”
Whenever I sat up, the pressure on the inner walls caused pain. Despite me grumbling and half-crying while lying on the bed, Kwon Yi-kang looked strangely amused as he tended to me.
“I have to go home. I feel like I’m going to get caught in a big way and get kicked out at this rate.”
“It would be ridiculous to kick out a grown child just for staying out overnight.”
“Didn’t you once warn me not to wander around too much for an Omega, lest I suffer a terrible fate?”
“I said that because you couldn’t manage your pheromones.”
The bastard has a great memory. He pretended not to hear my huffing words as he took the empty water glass.
“I want to go home. I should leave before I spend another night here.”
“Eat dinner first.”
“Is it dinner time already?”
Come to think of it, although the curtains weren’t drawn, it was pitch black outside the window. I felt a sense of despair that I hadn’t noticed it had become this dark.
“I’ll eat at home. Even if the atmosphere feels like I’ll get indigestion, I need nutritional supplementation. I’m eating a home-cooked meal.”
“Eat a home-cooked meal here.”
“What do you mean, home-cooked? I need restorative food right now. I’ll collapse if I keep eating nothing but soup. I feel like my entire soul has been sucked out. Because of you.”
“You were the one who started it. Let’s be clear about that.”
That attempt definitely had a reason. The problem was Kwon Yi-kang, who threw the reason in the trash and just greedily took the essence.
With a bright smile and not a hint of guilt on his face, Kwon Yi-kang made a phone call. After a brief greeting, he finished the call with a single request for restorative food.
“I don’t want delivery. I’m going home to eat.”
“I asked them to make it and bring it here. It’s a home-cooked meal.”
“From where?”
“From the main house.”
“Hey, it’ll take half a day to get it from there to here.”
“It’s only six o’clock. You’re not starving right now, so you can wait. Anyway, by the time you wash up, get dressed, call a driver, and go home, it’ll be about the same as the time it takes to prepare the meal at home.”
“Stop forcing it.”
“Stop being stubborn. Why is our Soo-kyung so irritable? Is it because you’re still in pain?”
He’s the one being stubborn. Calling my name affectionately, Kwon Yi-kang approached, turned me onto my stomach, and began to massage me, pressing his palms slowly from the nape of my neck, down my back, to my waist. A groan escaped me instinctively at the touch, which applied just the right amount of pressure without causing pain.
“Even if you do something nice, it’s already too late. You did dozens of things wrong today.”
“Dozens?”
I asked, pretending to be surprised, but when I glanced back, Kwon Yi-kang’s lips were curved into a smooth arc.
“You got angry at me, spoke to me coercively, suspected me of sleeping with another Alpha, overworked my hole… and you ignored me when I asked to break up.”
“You like me. I wasn’t being sincere.”
“I was sincere.”
I was incredibly sincere, and you’re the one who ignored it. I countered strongly, but he simply pressed both thumbs into the nape of my neck, rubbing in slow, heavy circles.
“Ah, there was something I had to give you.”
“You’ve already given me plenty, so you can stop. The amount of grief you gave me today is already a whole box.”
“Then it shouldn’t matter if I give you a few more boxes.”
Kwon Yi-kang got up from the bed and left the bedroom, returning with a few boxes. The three boxes of different sizes were actually luxurious velvet cases, so much so that it felt wrong to call them boxes.
“Here.”
“…What is this?”
“A gift. Open the biggest one first.”
Why a gift all of a sudden? I can buy everything I need. Since I’d never received a gift before, I felt somewhat awkward.
As I leaned back against the bed, Kwon Yi-kang placed the largest case on my thigh and gestured for me to open it. Fiddling with the corner of the case, I opened it carefully to find a yellowish lump.
“…What is this?”
“You said you like gold bars. But giving just a gold bar seemed too plain.”
Hmm, so he made it into a shape. Is this a frog or a toad? Looking at how ugly it is, it must be a toad.
“This is, I mean…”
“A toad. They say it brings good luck.”
I see. It was a toad after all. Three fist-sized toads were lying side by side, staring at me. When I picked up one of the heavy things, it even had detailed front paws. If it weren’t gold, it wasn’t a look I would have liked.
To think the monumental first gift from someone who is technically my lover is gold toads. I let out a low groan from my throat.
“Is this gold too?”
“99.9% pure gold.”
“…It’s… totally… cool. Were toads always this handsome? The paws are so cute.”
The weight felt similar to a one-kilogram gold bar. I wondered if the price would drop when selling it later because of the craftsmanship. Since it’s gold, as long as the purity doesn’t drop, the shape shouldn’t matter whether it’s a toad, a frog, or a tadpole.
I lifted them one by one, turning them over, and carefully placed them back. So that’s why the box was so big and heavy. Pride seeped into Kwon Yi-kang’s face as he watched my satisfied expression.
“I didn’t think you’d like it this much.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever received a gift. Wow, so this is the joy of receiving a gift. I could buy it myself, but it feels different from when I buy it.”
Indeed, the emotion felt subtly different from when I swiped my card to buy a gold bar. It felt like I’d gained something for free. Like the feeling of finding a ten-thousand won bill on the street. It was a bit different from that, but regardless, it made me feel that good.
Moreover, wasn’t it a gift that perfectly matched my taste? To remember what I like and show the sense to include craftsmanship without straying too far.
“Have you given a lot of gifts? How can you give something that fits so perfectly?”
“It’s not that… but I’m glad you like it. Actually, everyone tried to stop me, so I was a bit worried…”
“The other people lacked sense. I love it. I absolutely love it.”
Closing the lid and setting it aside, I obediently held out my hands, asking for the next one. Smiling, Kwon Yi-kang placed the medium-sized case on my cupped palms.
Perhaps the heart-fluttering feeling of receiving a gift comes from the anticipation of not knowing what’s inside.
This one wasn’t that heavy or large. I wondered what was inside. With a racing heart, I opened the case.
“What’s this?”
This time, I asked because I truly didn’t know. The round object was palm-sized, but I couldn’t tell its exact purpose.
“Is this a car key?”
I felt like I’d seen one a few times, but since I’d never seen one up close or touched one, I asked, and he nodded.
“Hmm. I already have a car I ride in.”
“That’s just for riding; you can drive this one. It’s a [number]-seater. I think it would be nice for dates, don’t you?”
Kwon Yi-kang added a few more words to my lukewarm reaction, but I still wasn’t interested.
“I don’t even have a license.”
Since I didn’t even have a house, I didn’t have the luxury to think about a car; cars were never an object of interest in my life.
When I saw a flashy car, I’d admire it and barely manage to guess the brand by the emblem, but I wasn’t the type to rattle off the release year, fuel efficiency, or price like other people.
My thoughts just flowed like: This car is a piece of junk, this one is an import. The owner of this car must have a fat wallet.
“It’s a Benz?”
A Benz is in a price range that makes you gasp. I still found it hard to understand why people buy expensive cars when they could just comfortably take a taxi with that money. Of course, I’d understand the price if it were made with reinforced glass, a reinforced body, or airbags powerful enough to save your life in an accident, but still, a car costing hundreds of millions is a bit much.
“I guess you’re not fond of cars. Is that why you didn’t get a license?”
No, it’s because I didn’t have money. I thought I’d get one someday, but I died before that ‘someday’ came. After becoming Cha Soo-kyung, I had a chauffeur, so I had no reason to drive and felt no need to get a license.
“No, just… since I don’t have a license, I have no reason to drive, and because of that, I didn’t develop an interest in cars. Just use this to drive around and give me a ride once in a while.”
“I’ll have to get you a license first. I should make time to teach you how to drive.”
“Perfect. I won’t even have to try; the words ‘let’s break up’ will come out of your mouth first.”
There’s a reason people say you shouldn’t learn to drive from family. You have to be paid for it to feel like a job so you can endure and teach, and you have to pay for it to learn diligently.
Money clearly played an important role not just in solving the basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter, but also in a person’s mindset.
“No way. I’m confident that I’m as good at teaching as I am at learning.”
“Learning well and teaching well are different things.”
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing I can’t do.”
Kwon Yi-kang always had a peculiar confidence. Whether it was the leisure of the privileged or if he truly could do everything as he said, I couldn’t tell, but thinking back, I’d never seen him be particularly bad at anything. He must have been born with genes that are good at everything.
“What’s the last one?”
“Guess.”
Inside the small case was a key. The problem was what this key fit. It didn’t look like a padlock key; it looked like a door key. As I frowned and stared intently at the key, Kwon Yi-kang brought over a rolled-up piece of paper and unfolded it in front of me.