By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won, having safely arrived at Song Hae-seop’s house, let out a deep sigh of relief. When he had spotted Kwon Tae-hee in front of the old apartment building, he had thought everything might be over, but thankfully, it wasn’t.
“I guess I was tense. My shoulders ache from crouching too much. Are you alright, Jeong-won?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for helping me, Hyung.”
“It’s nothing. But, Jeong-won, don’t you have a license? In case… in case there’s a moment when you need to drive.”
Seo Jeong-won nodded at the casual question, smiling awkwardly. He had been too busy living to get around to it, and before he knew it, he still hadn’t. Explaining it would sound like such a lame excuse, so he quietly shut his mouth.
“Well, I guess it would be a bit much to get a license when you don’t even have a car.”
“……”
“Let’s go in. Have you thought about what you want to eat?”
“I eat anything well. For the menu… eat whatever Hyung wants. I’ll pay.”
At Seo Jeong-won’s answer, Song Hae-seop laughed, saying it was like sucking the blood from a flea. He helped Seo Jeong-won out of the car, defending himself that he wasn’t so stingy as to let his younger brother buy him dinner.
“I don’t like being treated by younger siblings, not just Jeong-won. It looks bad. It’s not like we’re having a meal that costs hundreds of thousands of won.”
“Still…”
“It’s alright. It’s fun, so it’s really alright. I’ll be busy tomorrow disposing of the things I brought. Can you be alone?”
Seo Jeong-won felt grateful, apologetic, and suspiciously doubtful towards Song Hae-seop, who was so casually doing what he should be doing. Could he really help this much just for fun? Even though he had already had a serious conversation with him, a corner of Seo Jeong-won’s heart still felt uneasy.
“What’s wrong?”
Yet, the fact that he had to believe him was rather sad. Song Hae-seop was like a straw to him now. He was barely clinging to it, desperately not letting go. If he had just two or three good adults by his side who could offer advice or help, wouldn’t he be better off than he was now?
“Jeong-won?”
“…Ah, I think my stomach is a little upset.”
“It’s because you’re anxious, because you’re anxious. I told you I’ve helped a few kids who ran away, right? They were like that too. They couldn’t sleep for days because they were scared. They’d wake up with a start in the middle of the night, screaming.”
“I’m… anxious too. I feel like Executive Director might suddenly come looking for me.”
Seo Jeong-won completely left out his anxiety about Song Hae-seop, simply nodding in agreement with his words. He was upset that he couldn’t relax even while seeing his bright smile. He felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was doubting him, who was going to such lengths for him, who had come to him out of the blue.
“Please let me buy dinner. I feel like I have to do at least that.”
At the voice that was more than serious, even solemn, Song Hae-seop nodded as if resigned. He pretended not to notice the anxiety and suspicion in his clear face, and lightly patted his thin shoulder.
“I don’t like being treated by my younger brother, but if you say so much, then fine. Let’s eat chicken. Let’s order as soon as we go in, and I need to shower. It’s so cold, but I’m all sweaty? I was so nervous earlier, I thought I was going to die.”
Chuckling, Song Hae-seop tagged the card key on the entrance of the villa and rattled on to Seo Jeong-won.
“Ah, Jeong-won, how long have you lived in that house?”
“I think it’s been over 10 years.”
“No wonder. The appliances were all really old.”
Seo Jeong-won nodded at his words with a smile. Most of the appliances and furniture in that house were what his aunt and uncle used to use. They didn’t break down, and even though the sound of the fan turning was loud, they worked normally, so he couldn’t even think about replacing them and was just using them out of habit.
“Old products are sturdy, though.”
“I think so. They don’t break down.”
“The ones in my house break down after 2 or 3 years, as if they’ve made a promise. Replacing them is a chore too. They’re good, but they’re too expensive. The rent is no joke either.”
Seo Jeong-won didn’t even really know what it meant to rent appliances, but he nodded along, guessing correctly. Song Hae-seop didn’t shut his mouth until he got on the elevator and entered the house. He felt a will not to let the silence settle.
“Half and half?”
“Yes? Ah, yes. Half and half is good.”
After he ordered the chicken, he said he would shower first and headed to the bathroom, and only then did the surroundings become quiet. The sound of water, like white noise, calmed his mind.
“Hoo…”
It was a hard day, like climbing a high hill. Yet, the end was not yet in sight, and he just felt like he was sitting on a bench that was set up in between to rest for a while.
That night, Song Hae-seop ate chicken and drank four cans of beer. Before he could even marvel at the fact that all that beer had gone into his small stomach, the drunk Song Hae-seop urged Seo Jeong-won to sleep in the bedroom. He didn’t properly understand his words of refusal, and then took out a bundle of blankets from somewhere and dragged them out. Then, he went into the bedroom without saying he was going to sleep and fell asleep as if he had fainted.
Seo Jeong-won cleaned up neatly and put the leftover chicken in the refrigerator. If he ate it for lunch tomorrow, he could finish it all without leaving any. He took the thin pad and thick blanket that Song Hae-seop had taken out and put on the floor, and neatly folded the rest and put them back.
He turned off all the lights and closed his eyes, but he couldn’t fall asleep and stayed awake until dawn. He only pretended to be asleep when the alarm rang on Song Hae-seop’s phone.
He couldn’t see it directly because his eyes were closed, but he moved quite busily. He wondered how long he should keep his eyes closed, and then lifted his eyelids when he came out to the living room about three times.
“Hyung… Are you going to work now?”
Song Hae-seop was so surprised by the sudden voice that his body trembled. He had even lifted his heels to walk quietly, but it seemed he had woken Seo Jeong-won after all.
“Uh, yeah, I have to go now. I’m a bit busy today. Did I wake you? Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I was about to get up.”
“Don’t do that, go back to the room and lie down. Even if you don’t want to eat, have breakfast and lunch, okay? If you open the refrigerator, there are side dishes and instant rice, okay? If you don’t want rice, order something. I wanted to have lunch together, but I think I need to hurry because I need to dispose of things quickly, like I said yesterday.”
He was planning to sell Kwon Tae-hee’s belongings in the afternoon. He was short of 24 hours a day because of Seo Jeong-won, whom he had suddenly taken on.
“I’ll make sure to eat. Have a good day.”
“Yeah, rest. You’re not going anywhere, are you?”
It was a meaningless question, but Song Hae-seop was worried that he might suddenly disappear. In his current state, he clearly wouldn’t be able to last even a few days on his own. If he had at least given him the money from selling the things, he wouldn’t be worried even if he left without saying a word, but right now he only had about a million won.
“I’ll be at home.”
“Yeah, I’m going?”
“Yes, drive safely.”
Even after hearing that he would be at home, he was anxious until the moment he left the front door. But taking him with him was also a problem. Unless he was skilled at controlling his Pheromones, they would pour out in bursts whenever he became unstable, and he could clearly picture the scene of Seo Jeong-won and him being troubled.
Song Hae-seop looked at Seo Jeong-won, who was standing awkwardly until the moment the door closed, and then shook his head slightly. As soon as he got on the elevator, he groped in his mind for a place to send Seo Jeong-won.
It wasn’t like he was completely fine with having Seo Jeong-won with him. To be honest, taking in a runaway Omega, especially one who had run away while pregnant, was a nerve-wracking thing no matter who the other person was. Moreover, in Seo Jeong-won’s case, wasn’t the Alpha who had impregnated him Kwon Tae-hee?
“Ugh.”
He hadn’t heard anything yet, so nothing had happened, but if he found out that he had come to him…
“Ugh, that’s terrible.”
He shuddered just imagining it. Song Hae-seop took out his phone to shake off the increasingly deep imagination. He quickly left the villa’s communal entrance and stopped abruptly in front of the car he had parked last night.
“I don’t know if this Noona still does this.”
He muttered to himself as he searched for the number and pressed it. It was too early to make a call, but Seo Jeong-won didn’t have much time, so it couldn’t be helped. It was the moment he opened the driver’s seat door while listening to the dial tone.
“It’s been a while.”
A neat hand that stretched out from behind him closed the door that had been opened with a gap. He was so surprised that he lost strength in his hand. The phone he was holding to his ear fell to the floor with a thud. The screen shattered with a crack.
“I guess you slept well. I couldn’t sleep all night.”
“……”
“Let’s say hello later and move to a quiet place first.”
Song Hae-seop nodded without even looking back, listening to the sinister voice spreading from behind his head. Only after confirming that the presence was moving away a little did he take a hasty breath that he had been holding. He clasped his trembling hands together and turned his head, and Kwon Tae-hee, who had not become thin at all, was standing there with a soft smile.
“You’d better come quietly. If you want to stay as the CEO of that cafe.”
“Why… I mean, it’s been a while. How did you… come all the way here?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? If you did, that’s surprising in its own way.”