MW 2

Blinking, Yijae’s eyes darted around familiarly as he surveyed his surroundings, his body shivering in the cold air that was no different from outside. Outside, the weather was fitting for the cold wave advisory that was issued daily, but unlike the mansion, the storage shed had no proper heating system. He had to be thankful that at least the water pipes hadn’t frozen. He hurriedly scooped up the ice-cold water with a basin and splashed it over his body.

“Ah, ugh…!”

He had expected it, but it was too cold. The chill that pierced to his bones turned Yijae’s lips blue. His jaw chattered even when he stood still. Yijae reached out with a hand that was frozen and hard to move, and shook the upside-down bottle of body wash into his palm.

“Hoo…”

The body wash, bought for two blue bills because its expiration date was near, didn’t lather well, but its long-lasting scent made it one of Yijae’s cherished items. But even that had been showing its bottom for a while now.

No matter how hard he squeezed, the body wash that collected in his palm wasn’t even the size of his pinky nail. With no other choice, Yijae, his eyes dark and sunken, poured water into the empty bottle and shook it.

Bubble, bubble. As foam peeked out from the opening, he poured out a tiny bit of the faintly scented water and rubbed it on his body. His fingertips held a desperate wish for the dirty smell to disappear.

“Achoo!”

After finishing his shower, Yijae came out and bit his trembling lips with his white teeth once again. Perhaps because he had turned on the stove and electric blanket before washing, he could feel a warm heat. Standing in front of the stove with his frozen feet, he rubbed his dripping hair with a towel.

It had been a long time since he’d had a haircut, so Yijae swept back his hair which fell long below his eyes, and crouched in front of the stove.

Crackle, crackle. As he stared at the stove spitting sparks, drowsiness began to creep in. It was then.

CRASH!

The sound of the thin glass door cracking, screech, pierced Yijae’s ears like a scream. Startled, Yijae shot up from his spot as Dohae roughly opened the door and stormed in.

Although it was a space Yijae had diligently swept and wiped, Dohae’s expression was one of disgust just for setting foot inside. His face crumpled, Dohae approached him with his shoes still on.

“Hey.”

The low, rumbling voice, as if something had twisted him up inside, was what Yijae feared most. His heart dropped at the sound of his voice, and Yijae slowly lifted his head. In front of him, Dohae stood with a chillingly hardened face, a twisted smile on his lips.

“Fucking bastard. You’re lucky, aren’t you?”

“……”

Furious, Dohae clenched his fist and shoved Yijae’s shoulder hard. Even though he fell from the force, Dohae began to mercilessly stomp on the back of Yijae’s hand, which was dotted with scars.

Pain shot through him each time Dohae’s foot pressed down with force. Even so, Yijae, unable to even let out a groan, curled up further. Hiding his lips inside his mouth, he swallowed his tears against the surging pain.

“Not going to answer?”

It had been three years since Dohae first told him he would kill him if he opened his mouth. At those words, which were offered instead of a greeting every time they met, Yijae had developed a habit of keeping his mouth firmly shut. The relentless violence inflicted whenever he made a sound had made it difficult for him to speak even when he was alone.

But now, tears streamed down his cheeks because Dohae was being violent, saying he wasn’t answering.

“Haa… shit.”

Even seeing the pale face grow terrified with his every word, Dohae’s mood didn’t improve in the slightest. His eyes fixed on Yijae, whose head was bowed low, Dohae raised his hand above his head.

SLAP!

SLAP!

Yijae’s body swayed back and forth under Dohae’s hand. The harsh blows made his cheeks swell, and since he hadn’t eaten all day, his head spun.

Yijae braced his legs, which felt like they could give out at any moment, and endured by biting the inside of his cheek.

Even if he fell to the floor, Dohae wouldn’t stop. In fact, he’d be lucky if Dohae didn’t kick him for ‘putting on a show of being weak.’

“You fucking beggar.”

“…Ugh!”

“Idiot. College? And the same one as me?”

At the lack of reaction, Dohae’s attention turned to Yijae’s few belongings. Dohae threw and kicked whatever he saw—the small desk, the stove, a glass cup—and after his rampage, he panted heavily.

“Haa, hah. You should know your place. A bastard like you, going to college? Am I wrong?”

Only after taking in the sight of the wrecked room and Yijae standing in the middle of it did a satisfied smile pull at Dohae’s lips.

Facing that sneering face that scanned him up and down, Yijae felt a pain as if someone were squeezing his heart. He had lived the past five years being treated worse than an insect, but today, Dohae’s gaze seemed to pierce his heart with particular sharpness. Feeling himself fall into an endless abyss, Yijae’s eyes wavered greatly.

“Seo Yijae, aren’t you going to answer?”

Normally, Yijae would have immediately said he understood, but for some reason, he kept his mouth tightly shut. A wrinkle formed on Dohae’s forehead as he raised his voice louder.

“Hey. I said, are you not going to answer!”

Dohae looked at Yijae, who flinched and cowered, and his gaze fell on his tightly sealed lips. Realizing what that meant, Dohae’s lips twisted cruelly.

“You really want to die today, don’t you?”

Thwack.

Dohae’s clenched fist once again struck Yijae’s body without mercy. Thump, thump. Despite the countless blows landing on his frail body, he clenched his teeth and suppressed his emotions.

“Say you won’t go.”

“……”

“Tell Dad you won’t go to college!”

“…N-no.”

Yijae, his eyes brimming with tears, hastily dropped to his knees. He grabbed Dohae’s ankle and spoke with trembling lips.

“I’ll, I-I’ll attend quietly. I’ll be quiet, like I’m not even there… Please let me go to college.”

It was the first freedom and learning he had been permitted since coming here. He couldn’t miss the opportunity given to him. Yijae prostrated himself at Dohae’s feet, bowing his head low.

“Please? Dohae. I’m b-begging you like this…”

“Then can you do whatever I tell you to?”

“……”

He didn’t know what else Dohae would make him do. As Yijae looked up at him with a frightened face, Dohae let out a short laugh, pfft, and turned away. In that moment, Yijae felt he couldn’t let Dohae leave like this. He hastily reached out and grabbed Dohae.

“I-I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you say, so just this once…”

“Then write this down.”

Dohae rummaged through Yijae’s desk haphazardly, found a piece of paper and a pen, and nudged it with the tip of his foot.

“I, Seo Yijae, promise to grant Gu Dohae whatever he desires. Write.”

Yijae hesitated at Dohae’s voice, which emphasized the word ‘whatever,’ but soon, he gripped the pen and wrote down the words one by one.

“You idiot. Let’s do well from now on, okay?”

“Okay…”

Snatching the paper Yijae had written on, Dohae made an expression filled with some unknowable meaning and left.

“Haa…”

Dohae’s kicking had completely wrecked the shabby but neatly organized room. A cold wind blew through the cracks in the broken door, and the stove that should have warmed him seemed to be broken, as it wouldn’t turn on.

Yijae looked at the ruined room, then silently got up again and began to tidy things up one by one. Too much had happened over the years for him to cry over Dohae’s actions. With a weary face, Yijae let out a long sigh and moved his body again.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

After that day, Yijae stayed hidden in the annex, holding his breath. He grew tense at the sound of an unexpected knock on the door. He was terrified that Dohae might have come for some reason.

“Coming in for a moment.”

He heard the voice of Secretary Oh, Chairman Gu’s secretary. Whew. Yijae let out a sigh of relief and opened the door himself. As Secretary Oh stepped inside the annex, he frowned at the cold air, which was hardly different from outside.

“You know you have a hospital appointment tomorrow, right?”

At Secretary Oh’s words, Yijae turned his head and stared blankly at the calendar on the table. A whole month had already passed by. Just the word ‘hospital’ made him feel a phantom pain, a tingling sting at the nape of his neck. Yijae nodded, thinking of the pain he would have to face again.

“We’ll be leaving right after breakfast, so be ready.”

After his brief message, Secretary Oh left the house. Once again left alone, Yijae sat blankly for a while, then felt relieved that the appointment didn’t overlap with his heat cycle. He pulled the blanket up over his body. The blanket, worn out over a long period of time, couldn’t fully do its job.

But under the darkness of the blanket, Yijae blinked his eyes, imagining a world where no one could find him. Left alone in the world like that, Yijae closed his eyes and prayed for March to come quickly.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“We’re all done.”

“…Thank you.”

Yijae, who had his omega fluid extracted in an examination room separate from Dohae, offered his thanks in a small voice. The moment he stood up, his vision wavered like a heat haze, and the world in front of him turned black. The doctor, surprised to see him stumble, grabbed Yijae’s shoulder.

“Mr. Seo Yijae, you shouldn’t get up so suddenly.”

“Ah… s-sorry.”

“Please get plenty of rest here before you go back.”

“Yes, I will…”

Yijae had no choice but to lie back down on the bed, his head pounding and covered in a cold sweat. It was a procedure he had been undergoing for five years now, but no matter how much time passed, he never got used to it.

The reason Dohae and his adoptive parents had sought him out at the funeral that day was for none other than a ‘pheromone fluid transfusion.’

<Yes. I can tell just by looking at you. You’re the dominant one.>

Chairman Gu and his wife, who introduced themselves as Dohae’s adoptive parents, made Yijae a proposal. If he would transfuse his pheromone fluid to Dohae—who was lacking in it and had a high chance of turning into a beta in a few months if things continued—they would support his mother’s medical expenses.

<It doesn’t seem like a bad deal for you, either. You have your mother’s medical bills, and on top of that, the debt your father left, right?>

Without a moment’s hesitation, Yijae had nodded. The private loan his father, who had fallen into gambling after his business failed, had taken out, his mother’s medical bills, and himself, still only 15 years old.

This was the only thing he could do for everyone, so there was no reason to refuse their offer.