By Zephyria “This concludes today’s general meeting.”
As the moderator finished speaking, Chairman Choi Seung-gil rose from his seat. With all the employees standing, the Chairman left with his secretary, and Choi Tae-seung approached Choi Ji-seung, who was sitting next to him, and pointed to Choi Won-joon sitting across from them.
“Hyung. Did you see Won-joon’s face?”
“Yeah.”
Their precious, sculpture-like youngest brother had shown up with a scab on his face, specifically on his lip. From the start of the general meeting, rumors had been circulating among the executives because of it.
“Did he get it from kissing?”
“From experience, it looks like he was bitten.”
“Who by?”
“How would I know?”
They knew very well that Choi Won-joon might be the baby of the family at home, pampered and cherished, but he wasn’t the type to get beaten up by anyone outside. Who would dare? Who on earth had dared to leave such a mark on their precious youngest brother’s face?
“Doesn’t it seem suspicious?”
“Why don’t you go and subtly sound him out?”
“You think he’ll tell me with his personality? He’s grown up now, and he hates it when I pry. Last time, he completely ignored me.”
“What does Director Lee say?”
“He’s predictably playing dumb.”
Even as the executives were leaving, Choi Won-joon was leaning back in his chair, looking at his phone. They waited for people to disappear before approaching Won-joon. They sneaked up behind him to see what he was doing and saw that he was watching the news on his phone. A scene of someone being dragged away in handcuffs appeared.
“What’s this?”
Choi Won-joon turned off the screen and just moved his head with a nonchalant expression.
“Why are you guys sneaking up on me like that?”
Seeing the wound up close, it was quite severe. The Hyung couldn’t hide their dismay as they sighed, and Won-joon waved his hand dismissively at them, looking annoyed.
“Just go. Your secretaries are waiting.”
“Choi Won-joon. Tell me honestly. Who did this to your face?”
“Did you get hit? Who hit you?”
“Which bastard was it? Tell me, quickly.”
As the two took turns grilling him, the eldest Hyung, Ji-seung, pointed to the murderer Lee on the screen. Could this bastard have done that to you? Looking closely, the screen showed a news report from a year ago. Suddenly, they both wondered why Choi Won-joon was watching news from a year ago.
“Mind your own business.”
Won-joon got up, grabbed the jacket hanging on his chair, gestured for them not to follow, and walked towards the front door of the conference room. But his eyes couldn’t leave the screen. One of the detectives holding the criminal on either side was Kim Yi-eum, and his face was fully exposed.
―Detective on the left, I love you ―Do they pick detectives based on their looks these days? He puts actors to shame.
―Should I pretend to be crazy and hug him and go to jail?
―Oppa, you’re so handsome it brings tears to my eyes.
―You’re a criminal. A thief who stole our hearts All sorts of cheesy comments were posted below the video. Kim Yi-eum, who was slightly visible, was expressionless. Well, it wasn’t a good thing, so he wouldn’t be smiling. Realizing that he was no different from when he looked at him, his mouth felt bitter.
He smiled wryly as Director Lee approached. Won-joon turned off his phone and put it in his jacket pocket.
“The Chairman wants you to come up for a moment.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Let’s go.”
The two got into the elevator for executives only, and Director Lee pressed the button for the top floor and continued the questioning.
“Why is your lip like that?”
“Kim Yi-eum bit me.”
“Do you perhaps… like him?”
“Who?”
“Detective Kim Yi-eum, I mean.”
“I told you, he’s a human sleeping pill. He’s a human I need.”
Director Lee was silent. He had a look that asked if that was all, but Won-joon didn’t answer. Actually, he couldn’t say he had no personal interest. Watching him get angry and lash out every time he provoked him was more enjoyable than he thought.
But today was different. The moment he discovered another guy in Kim Yi-eum’s house, he felt a surge of anger. Should he call this mere curiosity? Or had it risen to a level of affection without him knowing?
“Should I just kill him and embalm him? How about sleeping with him like a Dutch wife?”
While he was making scary jokes nonchalantly, the elevator arrived at the top floor. He got off and went to the Chairman’s office, where the secretaries stood up and greeted him and reported to Chairman Choi. When he went inside, there was an unexpected guest.
“Sit down.”
Won-joon went to the opposite side of the guest. Who is this? A face he’s never seen before. The other person was an Omega, and his face was quite familiar. Won-joon averted his gaze and looked at Chairman Choi.
“Keep it short. I have an appointment.”
Chairman Choi clicked his tongue and picked up his teacup.
“Honestly. Such bad manners. Hee-min, this is him. He hasn’t changed a bit since he was a kid, has he? Do you think you can fix him and live with him?”
The man sitting as a guest smiled. Ah, Won-joon belatedly remembered who he was. The second son of a certain group, whom he had often seen at family gatherings when he was young. And he had also heard from his eldest Hyung not long ago that his father was considering Lee Hee-min as his partner.
Chairman Choi looked at Won-joon’s face with displeasure.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
“Are you curious?”
“Did you fall?”
“I got bitten while kissing.”
Chairman Choi frowned at the unexpected words, and Won-joon added fuel to the fire.
“Anything else you’re curious about?”
Chairman Choi pressed his temple and glared at the ashtray in front of him. He felt like throwing it at that guy right now if there weren’t a guest. But he absolutely couldn’t. Because Choi Won-joon had a mother who was more supportive than anyone else.
Won-joon got up from his seat nonchalantly.
“I’ll be going.”
“Sit down. We still have things to talk about.”
“Do it later. I’m busy. I have a mountain of work.”
“You even called a guest!”
“He’s your guest, not mine. I’m leaving.”
He came out as he was, and he heard voices from behind. That son of a bitch. You have to understand him. He’s been spoiled rotten. But he’ll change once he gets married, right? It’s okay. I understand everything. It can’t be helped that he’s busy if he’s doing business.
Wow. The two of them are really in sync. Won-joon snorted. Marriage, my ass. Don’t even dream about it, Father. I don’t have the slightest intention of doing anything like that.
❖ ❖ ❖
Yoo Seol-ah returned from New York. She looked like she was dying when she was only dealing with patients, but she found life in her face after a long time. She nodded as she looked at the results.
“Hmm, nothing has changed from before.”
Only after hearing her words did Lee-eum finally feel relieved. He had been restless for days after being kissed by Choi Won-joon in the parking lot. Why did he get an erection? Had his constitution changed? Was it simply a reaction to the pheromone? If so, why was he only reacting to Choi Won-joon?
“You’re saying you had consecutive heat cycles? Without any trigger?”
Lee-eum pondered. He should be honest with Yoo Seol-ah, even if he couldn’t tell anyone else. Wasn’t she the only one who knew he was an Omega? He needed to find the cause to find a solution.
“I think I… took a Catalyst…”
“A Catalyst?”
“You know, those drugs that make you go into heat cycle.”
“How did that happen?”
“Well, it just happened….”
As he trailed off, Yoo Seol-ah gave him an incomprehensible look. He thought about explaining the whole story in detail, but he knew that Yoo Seol-ah wouldn’t let it go easily with her personality. She might blame herself for it happening because she went on a trip. She looked cold on the outside, but she was more sensitive than anyone else.
“Seol-ah.”
“Yeah.”
“I slept with an Alpha.”
She just blinked.
When she asked if it was a man or a woman, and he told her it was a man, her mouth dropped open.
“You have seizures just from touching Alpha pheromones….”
“It was okay this time.”
Yoo Seol-ah stroked her chin. Was it because of the Catalyst…?
“Did you go all the way?”
Lee-eum shook his head at the relatively detailed question.
“Then just foreplay?”
【I sucked your dick and licked your hole.】
As a few scenes flashed through his mind, Lee-eum’s face turned as hot as if it would explode. Yoo Seol-ah, who had been watching silently, made a humming sound.
“Was it good?”
“Are you asking as a friend? Or as a doctor?”
“Both. It’s a very important issue.”
“It wasn’t good.”
“Did he force you?”
It was hard to say it was forced since he had clung to him anyway. But Choi Won-joon was the one who caused it. If it wasn’t for the drug, he wouldn’t have clung to that man. Then why did he get an erection when he kissed him a few days ago? The symptoms had completely disappeared by then. Seeing his complicated expression, Seol-ah slowly began to explain.
“Actually, I think your rejection is largely due to psychological reasons. Your body rejects it because your mind rejects it. I don’t think that it disappeared all at once just because you took the Catalyst. The reason I’m asking these questions is that you might have had feelings for that person without realizing it,”
“Not at all.”
“If you think about it carefully,”
“Absolutely not.”
Yoo Seol-ah looked expectant, but Lee-eum strongly denied it again. There’s no way. Affection? For that man? As he denied it with disgust, Seol-ah continued the questioning.
“Was his technique bad?”
Lee-eum opened his mouth like an idiot at the sudden question.
“Huh?”
“I’m asking as a friend.”
Scenes flashed through his mind again like a video. Sucking, licking, and kissing. As he failed to manage his expression, Yoo Seol-ah silently took out a suppressant from the drawer and placed it on the desk.
“Since you never know what will happen, should I give you birth control pills too?”
“What are you talking about!”
“Congratulations. Anyway, it’s a good sign that you don’t have a rejection.”
“That’s not it! I missed the timing to say it because I was distracted.”
The more he explained, the more Yoo Seol-ah smiled unpleasantly, and Lee-eum gave up and didn’t argue anymore. Fine, think what you want. But it’s really not like that. I swear!