MW 51

Turning his head with an indifferent gaze as if he had expected Dohae’s reaction, he walked forward and said.

“The chairman has asked you to come to the main house.”

“Father? Why?”

It was his father and mother who had cast him out to a hotel like a piece of baggage for weeks. For them to suddenly summon him, and at this timing of all things. Dohae bit his lip, feeling anxious.

“You’ll find out when you get there. We don’t have much time. If we delay any longer, the chairman will become even angrier. Will that be alright?”

Secretary Oh’s attitude had strangely changed. Dohae, chewing on his lip, got into the back seat of the car and closed his eyes as if to ignore his anxiety.

The car left the main road and entered a familiar alley. When the car stopped, Dohae opened the door and got out. He looked at the mansion he had lived in his whole life but had never once felt comfortable in, and took a heavy step forward.

“You called for me, Fath- ugh.”

Having been away for only a few weeks, he could smell an unfamiliar scent. Dohae, who opened the tightly shut front door and was heading for the living room, was startled when something sharp suddenly scratched past his cheek.

“How on earth are you handling things?”

Turning his gaze to where the voice came from, he saw Chairman Gu glaring at him with a face full of anger.

“What do you mean by that? Handling things?”

“Come and see for yourself. See what the Kangmyung Group sent over!”

Dohae felt as though his heart would drop at the roar that echoed through the house. With heavy steps, he approached the spot Chairman Gu pointed to, picked up the documents, and examined their contents.

“W-what is all this? Calling off the engagement, why, why!”

Even though his relationship with Kang Jaeha had gone awry, the reason this engagement was possible in the first place was because of a promise made between the founding chairmen of Kangmyung Group and Sejin Group. They couldn’t just break that long-standing promise unilaterally.

His mind went blank. Dohae gathered the pile of documents, which were as white as his own face, and looked up.

“This, is, is ridiculous. An engagement isn’t some child’s play, this can’t happen. Father, say something. Mother!”

Dohae’s body trembled as he looked back and forth between Chairman Gu, who was watching him from a distance with his legs crossed and a pathetic look on his face, and Mrs. Lee, who was staring at him oppressively with eyes full of contempt.

“Don’t even call me father. I’m going to remove you from the family register soon.”

“What? W-why are you suddenly doing this! It was all my fault… hic, I’ll try to persuade hyung Jaeha somehow. Please? Mother, don’t abandon me. hic, I’ve d-done everything as you’ve told me until now. I can even become a dominant omega now, Father…!”

At the thought that he could lose everything in an instant, Dohae prostrated himself on the floor and began to beg. Even as he wailed and pleaded for them not to abandon him, not to cast him out, the two of them turned their heads away as if it had nothing to do with them.

“Just one chance, hic, please give me just one more chance! Please? I’m begging you!”

“It seems the Kangmyung side found out you’re not of the Gu family’s blood anyway, so there’s no reason to keep you in this household any longer, is there.”

The Kangmyung Group knows everything? Dohae, who looked up with a dazed expression, met Chairman Gu’s coldly sunken eyes and realized there was no hope left for him.

“I hope we don’t see each other again. Out of consideration for having raised you, I’ll let you pack your things and leave. If it were up to me… Hah, Secretary Oh. You take care of wrapping things up, and let me know when you’re done.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Is this the end? Dohae watched the two of them turn their backs and disappear, then slumped to the floor.

Secretary Oh approached Dohae, who was sitting there blankly with a vacant look on his face. At the touch on his shoulder, Dohae slowly raised his gaze and clenched his teeth as he saw the man with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Help… me.”

“I can’t hear you very well, young master.”

“…Please, help me… I’m, asking you.”

Dohae, bruising his lips, knelt down, grabbed Secretary Oh’s legs, and bowed his head. He couldn’t end things like this. He had lived his entire life as the second son of the Sejin Group; if he was kicked out now, he had nowhere to go. He had lived here his whole life, where was he supposed to go all of a sudden?

With trembling hands, Dohae looked at the only person who could help him now and said.

“Secretary Oh… If you help me just this once, from now on, I’ll do anything you want. Please? You can do it, Secretary Oh.”

“Hmm… You can do, anything I tell you to.”

Muttering as if mulling over Dohae’s words, he felt a strange sense of pleasure at the desperate face looking up at him. Secretary Oh, who couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the person who had always stood at the top, acting as if he alone were noble, fall to the very bottom in an instant, rubbed the corner of his mouth and said.

“You did say for certain that you would do anything I tell you to, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I’ll, do it all. Don’t you abandon me too, Secretary Oh, okay?”

At his reaction, which showed a glimmer of hope, Dohae’s head snapped up, and he tightened his grip on Secretary Oh. The man slowly bent his knees to meet Dohae’s gaze, a wide grin spreading across his face as he spoke.

“Well then, becoming a complete omega would be the priority, wouldn’t it? Will you be able to do that?”

He had to become a dominant omega for it to be worth taking this risk, whether it was to get him engaged to Kang Jaeha of Kangmyung Group again, or sell him off somewhere else.

“I’ll do it. I can become a dominant omega.”

Watching Dohae eagerly nodding his head while clutching his legs, he patted his head as if to say ‘good boy.’ Secretary Oh stood up again and said with a smile, feigning benevolence.

“Then I will try my best to persuade the Chairman and Madam, so in the meantime, live as if you are here and not here, stay hidden from their sight.”

“Wh-where…”

He had no money, no cards, not even a car. Where in the world was he supposed to stay? Dohae, who urgently grabbed Secretary Oh, moved his lips as if flustered.

“Whether you stay at a friend’s house with what means you have, or you sleep on the streets, that is something for you to figure out, young master.”

His expression changed in an instant. He furrowed his brow as if annoyed and shook off Dohae’s hand.

“Then wait quietly until I contact you.”

With those last words, Secretary Oh disappeared. After he left, Dohae was startled by the sound of movement from inside and looked around.

He had to find a place to hide before Mrs. Lee, Chairman Gu, or any of the household staff found him. Clenching his fists, Dohae hurriedly got up and left the main building. His eyes fell upon an old, dilapidated storage shed. The same trashy house where Seo Yijae had lived until just a short while ago.

⁺₊❆₊⋆

Yijae’s steps were light as he left the business administration building after finishing his last exam, marketing management. He ran as if he would float away like a dandelion seed, and upon spotting Jaeha, he smiled brightly and opened his mouth.

“Sunbae-nim!”

Yijae ran to him without stopping and wrapped his arms around Jaeha’s waist. A gentle breeze blew, and the face that felt like soft white fluff against his chest looked up.

“Did the exam go well? Was it not too difficult?”

“I wrote everything down. But I’m not sure about the score. Still, a lot of what I studied with you came out.”

Yijae was lovely as he added, “Thank you,” and snuggled into his arms. He was now expressing himself more often, and his expression had brightened. This side of him suited him very well.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Jaeha said, lacing his fingers through Yijae’s and pulling him along. Even during the car ride, he gave no information about their destination. The place he stopped at was a restaurant.