By Zephyria 
With my shoulders slumped, I entered the family room located on one side of the funeral hall.
I expected a room where I could just close my eyes, but my slumped shoulders jumped at the interior, which was decorated similarly to a decent hotel.
In the space that looked like a reception room, there was a spacious sofa, a dressing table, a television, a refrigerator, and even a computer. Opening another door inside, it was a bedroom with a wide bed.
Wow, damn. I could live here. Who brought a whole house into a funeral hall?
Closing the bedroom door and opening the door next to it, it was the bathroom. There was even a bathtub, making it hard to distinguish if this was a funeral hall, a hotel, or a motel.
I stripped off my clothes and stood under the shower. I lathered up with body wash, scrubbed my body hard, and washed my hair again.
Maybe it’s because I washed haphazardly in a hurry when leaving Kwon Yi-kang’s house. Still, I did everything, from soaping to shampooing. I have no idea what smell he’s talking about. I don’t even know if washing again like this will make that smell go away.
I washed until I felt squeaky clean, rinsed off the bubbles, and scrubbed my body with a sponge once more. Then, it suddenly occurred to me why I was doing this.
I mean, it’s not a lie that I rolled around with my lover, and it’s not something to be pointed at, nor is it wrong for my man’s scent to be on me. What’s wrong with a bit of territory marking? Knowing that I’m the only one he ejaculates into, yet he stubbornly marked his territory—it’s actually just cute.
I tossed the sponge aside and rinsed my body. I’ve shown enough sincerity. There’s no need to scrub until my skin peels just because of other people’s gazes.
I turned off the water and dried my body with a towel. The thought of drying my hair again made everything feel tedious. While I was shaking out my hair with the towel, the sound of a conversation drifted in from outside the door.
Did someone come in?
As I wrapped my hair in a dry towel and picked up my clothes, an irritated voice reached my ears. Perhaps mindful of the people at the funeral hall, the voice was lowered, but because it was relatively quiet, it reached me in the bathroom without difficulty.
“What about that guy?”
Buttoning up my shirt, I listened to the voices drifting in from outside.
“It seems he’s gone underground. No one has seen him since he left the villa.”
“Then that brat knows as well. You said there were no such signs?”
“There were no particular signs when he left the villa. According to him, he just sat for a while and then left. He even left a message to send money once the young master woke up.”
“Then where on earth did that bastard go?”
It was Father, Chief Bae, and Choi Jae-kyung. It seemed they had been dragged up here from the villa. I wondered if everything over there had been settled.
“You piece of trash. I told you to keep an eye on Dong-hu, so how the hell have you been doing your job? Huh?”
A sharp, wet slap echoed. It sounded like a blow to the cheek. I wondered where the little one’s personality came from; it must have come from the bloodline of my noble Alpha father.
“I am sorry.”
“What on earth were you doing for it to get to this point?”
“……I am sorry.”
Despite the verbal abuse Father poured out, Choi Jae-kyung simply repeated that he was sorry.
What did Choi Jae-kyung do to deserve that? He should stop taking his anger out on others.
Do you really think a brat like that can be managed just because someone is told to manage him? As if he’d actually listen to a chauffeur. He was a guy who took drugs with his own hands and died from a shot he gave himself; what was Choi Jae-kyung supposed to do? He was half-mad, blinded by drugs—was he supposed to snatch them away and tell him not to do it? Before blaming others, Father should have managed his own children first.
“Find him, no matter what. Chief Bae, can you do it?”
“I will bring him back as quickly as possible.”
“Regardless of what he did or what he knows, bringing him back comes first. Driver Choi, keep your mouth shut.”
Since my name didn’t come up once in the conversation, it seemed Choi Jae-kyung really hadn’t said anything. It didn’t matter whether I was there or not, but that didn’t mean I understood Choi Jae-kyung’s actions in hiding me.
Zipping up my pants and holding my jacket in one hand, I opened the bathroom door. I met the eyes of my father, who looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to be inside.
“What’s with the ‘keeping mouths shut’? What are the three of you talking about? Is it about my little brother?”
As I asked, slowly shifting my gaze to Chief Bae and then to Choi Jae-kyung, Father cleared his throat.
“What were you doing in there?”
“I took a shower. I couldn’t wash up because I left in such a hurry.”
I draped my suit jacket over the sofa and sat at the vanity, drying my hair with a hairdryer. The whirring sound of the motor filled the quiet family room.
“Who is it? Who are you looking for?”
“It is none of your concern.”
“That’s too much. I’m always told I don’t need to know. I only found out my little brother died when I arrived at the funeral home. Am I not even a member of this family?”
“Given the location, just stay quiet.”
“When have I ever not been quiet? I’ve always been Father’s quiet son.”
Looking at Father through the mirror, I smiled, crinkling my eyes. At my beaming face, Father’s expression distorted beautifully.
“My hair is always such a mess. Someone do something about my hair. Will you do it, Chief Bae? Or will my little brother’s driver do it?”
Perhaps because I had dried it haphazardly, it was more puffed up than when I first woke up. As I asked, tugging at the unruly strands with my fingers, Choi Jae-kyung, after a moment of silence, cautiously checked the mood and approached.
Blocking the mirror with his large frame and cutting off the other’s line of sight, Choi Jae-kyung looked down at me and rubbed some of the provided gel into his hands to style my hair. I turned toward Choi Jae-kyung and looked up at him, and he shook his head so slightly that only I could notice.
When I puffed out my cheeks to make a ridiculous face, Choi Jae-kyung clenched his jaw tight, suppressing a laugh. The eyes looking down at me curved softly.
“Come to think of it, where have you been?”
Father asked from behind Choi Jae-kyung. I peeked my head out from the side and smiled at Father.
“My lover’s house.”
“……Lover?”
“Oh? Father, you didn’t know? I’ve had a lover for quite a while now. Did the driver not tell you, or did Chief Bae not tell you? Did you really not hear, or did you just forget? Were you not paying attention, and now you’re suddenly surprised?”
Seeing that Chief Bae’s expression remained unchanged, it seemed he had already heard the news; I didn’t know why Father was so surprised now.
“An Omega, rolling around in bed without even a shred of shame?”
“Is there a distinction between Alpha and Omega when it comes to rolling around in bed? Even if an Alpha rolls around, the partner is an Omega anyway. If there’s an Alpha rolling around, it’s only natural there’s an Omega rolling with them, so why bring up ‘Omega’ all of a sudden?”
“You brat!”
“No, a grown son can date a bit, why are you getting angry?”
“I’ve even set up a blind date for you, and you’re behaving like that?”
“I never said I’d go on a blind date. I saw the profiles, and I didn’t like a single one. First of all, the looks are subpar. They’re too old, too. My lover’s quality is much higher.”
Indeed, for starters, the faces weren’t even comparable. I’d have to experience their personalities or their performance in bed to know for sure, but looking at their faces, I didn’t feel like experiencing their beds. As for personality, I was perfectly satisfied with Kwon Yi-kang. There couldn’t possibly be anyone with a better personality than him.
“What you like is not what’s important.”
“Then what is important? What Father likes? It’s not like you’re going to live with them. This is the person who will live with me, fuck me, and make babies with me, so they have to be to my liking.”
“You—you—you foul-mouthed!”
Father’s face turned bright red. It wasn’t out of embarrassment; he was simply that enraged.
“I will arrange a blind date soon. Break things off with the guy you’re seeing now.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Cha Soo-kyung!”
“What conditions must they meet to be to Father’s liking? A child from a prestigious family? Or rich? I guess in a capitalist society, money is the best, right? My lover said he’d buy me an island if I wanted one. Is that enough?”
“…….”
Hearing my words, Father fell silent for a moment. He was likely gauging whether I was telling the truth or bluffing. Seeing Father go quiet at the mention of money, I simply laughed.
“As I thought, money really is the best. Seeing as Father, who was about to get angry, is now speechless.”
“Hanging out with someone like that now is simply playing around. The intentions of such people are obvious. You must now choose someone to spend the rest of your life with. Stop talking and break it off. Break it off and go on the blind date.”
It seems he’s slightly swayed by the mention of buying an island? The proof was that he wasn’t speaking as firmly as he had a moment ago, despite pretending otherwise. People are so simple. It’s even funnier that he pretends not to be while revealing his greed like that.
“I don’t think this is the kind of conversation to have at a funeral.”
“As soon as the funeral is over, I will arrange the meeting. You just stay quiet and do as you’re told.”
“I’m not a doll, nor a dog; how can I just do as I’m told? That’s the most impossible thing given my personality. Let’s talk calmly later. I’ll head out first. Father, you should hurry up and find that person you’re looking for.”
At my remark, Father cleared his throat. He had the look of someone who had been caught in something awkward. I had a guess as to who the person he was looking for was, but I stood up, pretending not to know.
“I’ll be outside. If I stand my ground there, people will at least think I’m a child of this house. I need to show my face more so that when Father tries to sell me off later, he can ask for a slightly higher price. I have no intention of being sold, but it would hurt my pride if the price was too low.”
“That brat, until the very end.”
I put on the draped jacket neatly and straightened the collar. When I wiped the smile off my face and checked the mirror, Cha Soo-kyung, with a pale complexion, stood there. The grieving youngest son. Even just standing there, he had a timid and depressed face, so it suited him perfectly.
“I’m heading out. Come out after you’ve talked for a bit. Anyone watching would think you’re plotting a conspiracy.”
I opened the door leading to the funeral hall. Unlike the quiet family room, the bustling and noisy sounds crashed over me.