MW 22

The hourly wage was the highest, so he was satisfied, but it wasn’t as if there were no other jobs available. If he were to meet Yoonchan again tomorrow, there was no telling what might really happen to him then.

He moved his fingers diligently without rest, but his hands trembled, causing continuous typos. After several attempts, he finally typed the message and let out a murky breath as he looked at the text sent to the manager.

“Haah. Haah.”

The outside world was still too scary a place for him. Yijae swallowed his tears, his breathing ragged.

“It’s scary. So scary, really….”

His chest began to heave erratically, and streams of clear tears flowed from between his closed eyes. Overwhelmed by the chaotic situation and the thoughts in his head, Yijae could only hug himself tightly.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

“Hey, Kang Jaeha! Over here!”

Jaeha, with a look of displeasure at Chaekyung for daring to call him out on a weekend, approached his friends.

“I told you not to call me on weekends.”

“The chairman is probably asleep by now anyway.”

Chaekyung, who knew that Jaeha went to his grandparents’ main house during vacation, handed him a glass of whiskey, then said, “Oh, wait,” and continued.

“Or were you with that person you’ve been seeing lately?”

At those words, the person who immediately came to mind was Yijae. Jaeha’s lips broke into a smile as he recalled the image of Yijae’s flustered, reddened face after eating wasabi during their meal together.

“Look at him grin. You must really like them, huh?”

Haeshin, a cigarette in his mouth, looked at him with one eyebrow raised as if finding it fascinating. At that, Chaekyung let out a faint laugh and spoke up.

“I thought Kang Jaeha was impotent all this time. How can you be 24 and not have dated a single person?”

“It’s because I’m not a player like you.”

“Hey!”

It was then. Jaeha’s sensitive sense of smell caught a familiar scent. His gaze immediately shifted in that direction, and his eyes landed on a man he had never seen before.

“Ah yeah, so I ran into him right at my workplace.”

“Wow, fuck, if that’s the case, isn’t it like heaven giving you a chance to fuck them at least once?”

“Heh heh, why wouldn’t it be. Hah, so if it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be having a good time right about now.”

Jaeha turned his head away from the low-level conversation with an indifferent face, but for some reason, the uneasy feeling wouldn’t go away. He turned his head again and thought to himself as he looked at one of the men’s faces.

‘Why can I smell Yijae’s pheromones on that person?’

“Hey, Kang Jaeha! So when are you moving?”

At the voice that roused him, Jaeha turned his gaze to Chaekyung.

“Can’t you hear me?”

“I can. I’m moving right away next Monday.”

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and continued speaking, as if finding it strange that Jaeha would dutifully go stay at the main house during the break.

“You really are a devoted son. But you’re leaving earlier than expected this year, aren’t you? Isn’t the chairman sad to see you go?”

“He is. It’s just that my rut is coming up soon, so I left early for that and other reasons. I can just visit the main house often on weekends.”

“Ah, it’s that time already?”

Haeshin, who suddenly chimed in as if he understood at the word ‘rut,’ nodded his head. Chaekyung, who was next to him, picking at the fruit served as a snack, shuddered and opened his mouth.

“Ugh, don’t even think about approaching me when you guys are in rut. It’s gross.”

Unlike Jaeha and Haeshin, who were Alphas, Chaekyung had presented as an Omega and would tremble from the overwhelming pressure he felt whenever they were in rut.

“So when are you going to introduce them to us?”

“We’re not at that stage yet.”

Juice dripped down from below the corner of Chaekyung’s mouth as he mumbled with his cheeks puffed out with melon. Haeshin shook his head, pulled out a tissue, and wiped his friend’s face.

“Thanks. So you haven’t even confessed yet?”

“Well….”

“Wow, Kang Jaeha, you fucking suck!”

Chaekyung burst out laughing with a phat and shouted at his dumbfounded-looking friend.

“What’s the use of an Alpha with no fucking guts! If you like someone, huh? You should just go for it, either confess ‘I like you, let’s go out!’ or kiss them, one of the two.”

At Chaekyung’s childish rambling, Haeshin’s expression soured. His face contorted fiercely, and he spoke with his jaw tight, as if in disapproval.

“Just what kind of bastards have you been dating all this time?”

“What do you mean, bastards! And my Minwoo hyung is different, you know?”

When Jaeha asked who Minwoo was, Haeshin replied with a sigh that he was the Alpha Chaekyung was currently seeing.

Jaeha found Yoo Chaekyung, who had dated non-stop from their school days to adulthood, regardless of whether they were Alphas or Betas, to be a curiosity. However, since Chaekyung had the most dating experience among them, his words kept bothering him.

‘No. Yijae is still….’

Yijae was different from Chaekyung. Jaeha recalled how he would blush and not know what to do at every little thing, from holding hands to making eye contact, and he smiled faintly, rubbing his lips.

“Jaeha hyung.”

Hearing a sudden voice call him, Jaeha’s gaze fell on Dohae. Dressed neatly, he approached Jaeha with a look of determination.

The bickering Chaekyung and Haeshin fell silent, and the atmosphere instantly grew cold. Facing Dohae, who was staring at him, Jaeha unconsciously glanced down at his hands. He grew angry at the thought that those hands had likely assaulted Yijae countless times.

“I’d like to talk.”

“Fine.”

He had to talk to him at some point anyway. Jaeha stood up as if he had been waiting and led the way.

Watching the two, Chaekyung narrowed his eyes with a curious expression and muttered to himself.

“The atmosphere is fucking deadly….”

“Be quiet.”

Chaekyung couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d seen Gu Dohae’s face somewhere before, even though it had been a while. It definitely wasn’t Gu Dohae. But he felt like he had met someone who looked just like him recently….

But he couldn’t remember who it was, and the feeling was frustrating. Sshii, Chaekyung loosened his tie and, unable to contain his vexation, downed the whiskey on the table in one go.

“Hey! Why would you drink that all at once.”

Haeshin yelled, seeing the instantly emptied glass. Reaching out, Haeshin snatched the whiskey bottle in front of Chaekyung and clicked his tongue as he saw his friend’s earlobes already flushed.

“That’s enough drinking.”

“Ah, why!”

“You’re a fucking terrible drunk.”

“Hah.”

Chaekyung glared at Haeshin with a dazed look, his eyes crossed, but Haeshin resolutely moved Chaekyung’s glass over to his side as well.

Meanwhile, at that moment. Jaeha, having stopped in a deserted hallway, turned to face Dohae. Dohae met Jaeha’s eyes, which shone with a particular brightness in the dark space. Seeing the hostile gaze within them, Dohae twisted his lips into a smirk.

“You know it’s been a while since we’ve talked like this, right, hyung?”

Grind.

He ground his teeth as he recalled the photos and videos he had received through the person he’d assigned to Jaeha, and he glared at Jaeha with bloodshot eyes.

“What do you have to say.”

Jaeha brushed a hand over his face as if tired and spoke bluntly, as if telling him to get to the point.

“Don’t see him.”

At those words, Jaeha looked down at Dohae with a sharp gaze. Dohae let out a heavy breath and his eyes widened in disbelief as he spoke.

“Are you acting like this because you don’t know we’re getting engaged soon? Hyung, what are you trying to do with someone who looks just like me….”

“Is that why you tormented Yijae?”

Ever since presenting as a dominant Alpha, Jaeha had never once made the mistake of losing control of his pheromones. However, even he could feel them leaking out of his agitated body. Dohae, reacting to the dominant Alpha’s scent, furrowed his brow and took a step back.

“Answer me. Why did you hit that child? Why do you keep tormenting him!”

“L-Let go of me!”

For someone who was supposed to be a sponsor for a child in need, his attitude towards him was far too irrational. Curious about the truth hidden within, Jaeha grabbed the arm of Dohae, who was trying to escape.

“Answer me, Gu Dohae.”

“I hit him because he deserved it. Happy now?”