MW 42

Recalling the memories of that day, Yijae’s head shot up as he suddenly thought of what they would do in response to his actions.

“I, ha, have to go, m, my mom. Sob, if I, don’t go, my mom will…”

They might kill his mom. Since he had attacked Dohyeon, they wouldn’t just let it go. And it had been three days. Then his mom…

The moment his mind went blank, Yijae imagined his dying mother and buried his face in his hands.

“Sob, Mom, Mooom.”

“Shh. Yijae, it’s okay. Your mother is at Kangmyung Hospital right now.”

“H, how…”

Yijae, who was sobbing at the thought that he might truly be alone, lifted his head.

“Shh, it’s okay. I told you I’d help you.”

Yijae looked up at Jaeha with a wavering gaze, as if he couldn’t believe it. How could he have his mom…

“You are her guardian, so we were able to move her to our hospital. Yijae, you protected your mother.”

Then, at Jaeha’s words that he could go see his mom early tomorrow morning if he wanted to, Yijae’s eyes trembled faintly.

I can see my mom? For no reason? With no conditions? No. Jaeha might want something from him too.

“I, I don’t have anything I can give you. I, don’t have anything…”

What if, although it was unlikely, he wouldn’t let him see his mom? If he kicked him out because he couldn’t give him anything, and even discharged his mom from the hospital, what would he do then?

“I like you.”

Jaeha gently cupped the cheeks of Yijae, who was biting his lip at the bleak future, and looked him straight in the eyes as he spoke.

“Because I like you. I hate seeing you struggle.”

“I…”

“You don’t have to answer right away.”

He knew well how confused and scared Yijae’s situation and heart must be right now. That was why he had no intention of forcing his feelings on him. But he hoped Yijae would just know, even a little, that he liked him. Jaeha watched a tear fall, plop, onto the back of his hand.

“You’ve been scared all this time, haven’t you?”

“Hooo…”

“It’s all okay now. From now on, I’ll be by your side.”

Was it okay to take this hand? He was filled with nothing but misfortune, what if that misfortune transferred to Jaeha…

However, Yijae remembered Jaeha’s face as he had earnestly whispered for him to trust him. He was the one who had held out his hand to him until the end, despite his continuous turning away and rejection.

Looking at the hand that held his own firmly, Yijae made a resolute face and slowly took Jaeha’s hand in his.

Having decided to confess everything to Jaeha, Yijae took a deep breath and then parted his lips.

“The truth is, Dohae and I, we’re twins.”

“…I see.”

“…You knew?”

Yijae asked, seeing his unsurprised expression.

“I had a feeling. Though I thought it might not be the case.”

No matter how well the documents were hidden, Jaeha had not been able to erase his suspicion at the two’s strikingly similar appearances.

“I first went to Dohae’s house when I was 15.”

Parting his heavy lips, Yijae slowly confessed what he had been through.

Fifteen years old. His father who took his own life leaving behind a huge debt, his mother who collapsed in a drunk driving hit-and-run accident, and Dohae, whom he met for the first time at his father’s funeral.

As Yijae spoke, recalling the old memories one by one, his shoulders trembled faintly.

“I quit school and lived alone in a separate building, but there was no heating in the winter… I always had a cold.”

Even as he spoke, Yijae’s voice was choked as he slowly continued, and his eyes had become moist before he knew it. Yijae didn’t know it, but these were details Jaeha had already learned through the report on him.

Throughout the story, he could feel how lonely and difficult it must have been for him. Jaeha held his trembling hand and vowed to never let it go.

“And from then on, I gave Dohae my pheromone fluid.”

“Pheromone fluid transfusion?”

At the following words, Jaeha’s expression immediately hardened. He didn’t have extensive medical knowledge, but he had never heard of transfusing pheromone fluid. When Jaeha asked with a look of incomprehension, Yijae nodded and parted his lips.

“I didn’t know something like this existed either. But it does.”

With a faint smile on his lips, Yijae looked very tired. He scratched the heavily scarred area on his neck with his fingernails and made a bitter expression.

A hard scar, as if layered over a very long time, remained on his body. To think that the reason for this was the procedure. Jaeha shifted his gaze from Yijae’s neck to his eyes and asked.

“You were giving Gu Dohae your pheromone fluid. Why on earth?”

“Dohae… I heard his omega gland is congenitally unstable, so it’s difficult for him to produce the fluid. That’s why he needed my pheromone fluid to live as an omega.”

At those words, Jaeha recalled the promise made between his grandfather and the first chairman of Sejin Group. The reason Gu Dohae would go to such cruel lengths to live as an omega was probably to marry him.

“Fuck…”

This meant that he was also partly responsible for Gu Dohae making Yijae’s life difficult. Yijae, watching Jaeha frozen in shock, opened his eyes wide and spoke.

“I’m okay. Thanks to that, I could continue my mom’s treatment. And I could go to school…”

“How is that okay.”

“…”

“Those people used you. They knew you had no guardian, and they used the fact that they were in a position of relative power to do that kind of thing to you.”

A wave of revulsion for humanity, beyond anger, washed over him. Jaeha clenched his fists, thinking of them who had committed acts no human should for so long.

“…I guess you’re right, sunbae.”

Tears streamed down Yijae’s pale cheeks. As if an emotional dam had broken, the sobs he had held back all this time burst forth.

“The truth is, sob, I was never okay, not even once, but I had to be, so I guess I was deceiving myself like that.”

Instead of offering words of comfort, Jaeha quietly cupped Yijae’s cheeks and listened silently.

“I… was scared. It was really hard, and, sob, I was lonely…”

Seeing Yijae trembling so fragilely as if he would break, Jaeha couldn’t help but pull him into an embrace. Cupping the back of Yijae’s head, Jaeha held the sobbing Yijae tightly in his arms.

“I promise you.”

“…”

“I won’t leave you alone from now on, and I won’t let the people who did that to you get away with it.”

Stroking his trembling head, Jaeha repeatedly whispered those words to Yijae as if making a vow.

After crying for a long time, Yijae saw his reflection in the mirror and was belatedly overcome with embarrassment. He hung his head low, not wanting to show his swollen face to Jaeha, and his cheeks turned pink as he gazed at the hand that had never let go of his while listening to him.

Grumble.

A small sound echoed through the quiet house. Realizing the sound came from his own stomach, the red on Yijae’s cheeks became even more vivid.

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”