MW 18

Jaeha’s mouth, which had been speaking as he flipped through the documents, snapped shut. He looked at Yijae’s photo on the very last page and rubbed the prominent brow bone that stuck out.

The ominous premonition he had suspected had crept one step closer, revealing its clear presence. Letting out a hollow breath, Jaeha compared the photos of Yijae and Dohae and asked.

“Don’t you think they look too much alike to be completely unrelated by blood, Gu Dohae and Seo Yijae.”

—Yes. But on paper, they are confirmed to be complete strangers. Both the time and place of their births do not match. Gu Dohae’s birthplace is New York, USA.

Jaeha, who was considering the possibility that he was adopted immediately after birth, listened intently to Secretary Choi’s next words.

—According to past records, the reason he started sponsoring the adoption agency where Seo Yijae was is said to be because he looked so much like Gu Dohae.

Despite Secretary Choi’s continuing explanation, Jaeha still felt a nagging and uncomfortable feeling. It was as if everything was a perfectly sculpted puzzle, designed to artificially create a situation.

—Although their appearances are very similar, there are no other particular points of interest. Gu Dohae and Seo Yijae’s secondary genders are also different.

“Did you just say secondary genders?”

As far as he knew, Gu Dohae was a Dominant Omega. However, in the warehouse that day, he had definitely sensed pheromones from Yijae as well. If their secondary genders were different as Secretary Kim said, then Yijae shouldn’t be an Omega.

“Hoo. Alright, I understand for now. Oh, and what happened with the CCTV footage I asked for last time?”

—I’ve put it on a USB drive along with the documents.

“Ah, I’ve found it. Okay. Thank you for your hard work, Secretary Kim.”

Jaeha found a black USB drive inside the document envelope, ended the call with Secretary Choi, and then stood up and headed to his study.

No matter how much he thought about it, Yijae’s reaction was too strange to just let it go. Both when he first found him in the warehouse, and Yijae’s attitude as if waiting for someone, and even today, the way he held onto him to prevent him from leaving, were all too questionable.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave him behind when he was clinging to his hand with a tearful face, but he had no intention of just staying still. Jaeha played the video, recalling the numerous wounds on Yijae’s body. He had to see with his own two eyes who it was that had hurt him.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

Having been told to eat breakfast before leaving, Yijae finished getting ready and entered the kitchen, only to flinch and take a step back when he came face-to-face with Dohae, who was drinking water. As expected, flames ignited in Dohae’s eyes the moment he spotted him. Dohae slammed the water glass he was drinking from onto the table with a loud noise and approached Yijae.

“Hey, you fucking…”

“Gu Dohae.”

Yijae reflexively closed his eyes at the raised hand. However, he slowly lifted his eyelids at the voice that came from right beside him.

“I believe I told you to stop bullying Yijae.”

“……”

“Sit down quietly if you don’t want your car keys and cards taken away.”

“Dad!”

“Yijae, are you alright? The wound didn’t get infected, did it?”

Yijae’s eyes darted around at the situation where Chairman Gu, who had always been a bystander, was taking his side and stopping Dohae.

Last night, he couldn’t sleep a wink. He was afraid it was all a dream. Or that Chairman Gu would change his mind and kick him out of the house at once. If it weren’t for his throbbing forehead, he might have thought he was just having a nice dream.

However, even when morning came, he wasn’t kicked out, and Chairman Gu, as promised yesterday, stopped Dohae and even took his side.

“I-I’m fine. Thank you.”

“Ha! That little!”

“If it hurts by any chance, tell Secretary Oh. I’ll make sure you can get treated at the hospital. Ah, speaking of which, Yijae, you’re an adult now, so you must be short on pocket money. Here, take this.”

Yijae’s eyes widened at the card in Chairman Gu’s hand. The glare from Dohae, who was standing right next to him, grew even fiercer.

“What are you doing, not taking it quickly.”

At the scolding tone, Yijae extended his hand without thinking. Staring down at the card in his palm, he froze on the spot, not knowing what to do with it.

“Use this whenever you need something. Don’t worry about the money. Understood?”

“Yes, yes. Thank you.”

However, he felt he would probably never use it. The card in his hand felt heavier than a boulder.

After the suffocating breakfast ended, Yijae was heading out the front door when he lost his balance and fell to the floor as someone pushed him from behind.

“Ngh.”

A throbbing pain erupted from the palm he had injured yesterday. He habitually bit his lip to swallow a groan and pushed himself up at the voice coming from above his head.

“Seo Yijae. Are you happy?”

“……”

“Grinning like an idiot, happy without knowing a thing. You stupid bastard.”

‘Without knowing a thing…? What does that mean?’

Yijae slowly raised his gaze and stared intently at Dohae.

“Fuck, get your face out of my sight.”

“……”

Dohae frowned at Yijae, who remained silent with his lips pressed firmly together, and then walked past him and left the house. Yijae watched Dohae’s retreating back and got up.

“Master Yijae, I will take you to school.”

“Pardon?”

“The Chairman has instructed me to drive you from now on.”

Yijae stood there blankly, staring at the black imported car that Dohae rode in, before being startled back to his senses by the next voice.

“Hey, what are you doing. Are you going to take responsibility if I’m late because of you?”

“Ah, ah.”

He shook his head from side to side and scrambled into the back seat that the driver was holding open for him. Dohae, who was on his phone inside the car with his long legs crossed, looked at the gauze stuck squarely on Yijae’s forehead and spoke.

“Are you advertising that you got hit somewhere? Take that off.”

“Ah, s-sor, ngh!”

Perhaps because he had been talking a lot more lately, he almost answered without thinking. Yijae, having inhaled sharply, glanced cautiously at Dohae and tucked his lips into his mouth.

“Hah… Hey, did you snitch to Dad that I told you not to speak?”

Dohae ruffled his hair in annoyance and continued speaking while biting the inside of his cheek.

“Haa, I’m sick of getting nagged by that old man, so just do whatever the hell you want. Talk or don’t talk. No, just try not talking from now on. You’ll be dead. Got it?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Dohae tore his gaze away from Yijae and looked out the window with his headphones on. As he was told, Yijae quickly peeled the gauze off his forehead.

The skin seemed to have been torn, as it stung a little when he washed it, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore, so he thought it would be fine. Yijae closed his eyes, feeling the texture of the gauze in his hand.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“Seo Yijae.”

How did he get here. Yijae’s face lit up with a happy smile at the sight of Jaeha at the end of the hallway. Jaeha, who was looking at the curve of Yijae’s lips, noticed the long cut on his forehead and strode towards him with a hardened expression.

“What happened to your face.”

Only then did Yijae realize that Jaeha’s gaze was on his forehead. With a look of ‘oops,’ he brought his hand to the spot, but Jaeha grabbed his wrist and spoke with a chillingly calm face.

“Who did this again.”

What do I do.

Seeing his very angry-looking face, Yijae tormented his poor lips. Things were different now. Dohae wouldn’t hit him anymore, so he didn’t want to make Jaeha worry unnecessarily over something that wouldn’t happen again. After a brief moment of deliberation, Yijae put on an awkward smile and took his palm.

I fell down the stairs.

“……”

Yijae watched as he just stared straight into his eyes for a long time without answering, and then wrote something down once more.

It doesn’t hurt at all. You don’t have to worr…