PAO 36

It wasn’t like he could blame him for not answering the phone when he said he was sleeping.

‘If that’s really true.’

“Huh? I didn’t do anything at night.”

“What kind of thing… Never mind.”

At Junghoo’s attitude of taking everything as a joke, Seowon felt it was useless to press him.

“You didn’t collapse, did you?”

“I just closed my eyes and when I opened them, it was morning?”

“Then that’s fine.”

He had nothing more to say and was about to follow Seong Hangyeol when Junghoo suddenly grabbed his arm.

“Why the long face?”

“What about it.”

His body half-turned by the force, Seowon’s eyes met Junghoo’s. Junghoo’s tone was worried as he looked at his expression, and Seowon answered nonchalantly.

“You’re pale.”

Seowon looked at Junghoo’s face, which had lost its playfulness. He had a surprisingly sharp side to him.

“It’s because I’m hungry.”

Seowon slightly raised the hand Junghoo was holding to shake it off and started walking. He ignored the sound of footsteps following behind him and the body heat he felt at his back. It felt like their relationship kept getting tangled instead of resolving, and he didn’t know where to start unraveling it.

Just what is wrong with you?
Were you really in your room last night?
If you didn’t collapse, did you really not answer my call because you were asleep?

Questions flooded his mind, but not a single one could be easily asked.

“The wind was blowing a lot while I was sleeping.”

“You should close the window tight when you sleep.”

“Did you close yours tight?”

“Of course.”

“And you fell asleep listening to the sound of the waves?”

Seowon said to Junghoo as he looked at the artworks hanging in the hallway.

“Yeah. Of course I heard it.”

“How was it?”

“I…”

Junghoo’s voice trailed off slightly. He seemed to be thinking about the sound of the waves he had heard all night.

“It was loud. The sound of waves when you’re half-asleep is really not good. It keeps you from falling asleep.”

Seowon let Junghoo’s answer go in one ear and out the other. Then, as Seong Hangyeol entered the restaurant first, Seowon turned his head toward Junghoo. In truth, he was looking at the sea reflected behind Junghoo.

“I see. I slept with the window closed, so I didn’t hear anything.”

The hotel soundproofing is good.

Seowon ignored the frozen Junghoo and went inside.

Han Sucheol sought out Yoo Younghan for the first time in nine years.

“It’s been a long time, Chairman.”

“It really has been a long time.”

As he shook hands with Yoo Younghan, Han Sucheol noticed his own frayed sleeve and gave an awkward laugh.

“I must look a mess.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what you look like. Have a seat.”

Yoo Younghan waved his hand as if to say not to worry, and Han Sucheol also lowered the hand that had been stroking his sleeve and sat down.

“Was that matter handled well?”

At ‘that matter’ Yoo Younghan was referring to, Han Sucheol couldn’t hide his bitterness. Han Sucheol and Seowon had lived diligently. Although he didn’t have the luxury to care about his own clothes, he wanted to build a company to show for it and take good care of Seowon. But life wasn’t so easy. The co-CEO had run off with the development funds.

“I came to express my gratitude.”

“There was a kid who came to offer similar thanks not long ago… The father and son are still the same.”

Yoo Younghan smiled and switched to informal speech. As his tone returned to how it was when they used to drink together often, calling each other brother, Han Sucheol also relaxed his throat.

“Seowon came by?”

“He did. He thought it was money I gave him, so I told him it wasn’t.”

“You told him it wasn’t?”

“That’s Junghoo’s money. He saved it very frugally.”

Yoo Younghan grinned and lifted his teacup. At Yoo Younghan’s satisfied reaction as he smelled the subtle scent of chrysanthemum rising, Han Sucheol also followed suit and drank his tea.

“Since it’s money Junghoo saved, it’s up to him to lend it. I merely watched.”

Yoo Younghan drew a clear line for Han Sucheol, just as he had for Seowon.

“If anything, I’d like to help too.”

“It’s alright. This is enough.”

“Why is that? Even if I say I’m helping because there’s something I want?”

At Yoo Younghan’s words, Han Sucheol put down the cup he was holding.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your son… he presented as an Omega.”

At Yoo Younghan’s words, Han Sucheol’s expression darkened. Han Sucheol knew better than anyone that Seowon didn’t readily reveal his secondary gender.

“I had no choice but to say it, knowing it’s rude.”

“It’s not something he can hide forever, so it’s fine.”

Han Sucheol cut him off, saying he didn’t need to say more. It wasn’t something Seowon had to hide at the risk of his life anyway, and he had anticipated this to some extent from the moment he got involved with Junghoo again.

“Since you put it that way, I won’t hesitate any longer either. I heard Seowon did pheromone training when he presented?”

Rather than how he knew, Han Sucheol couldn’t understand why there was a sense of urgency on Yoo Younghan’s face, so he waited without a word.

“I was wondering if maybe, later on, Seowon could help our Junghoo.”

“Just what in the world happened to Junghoo while we haven’t seen him.”

“He’s not well. He’s not well, and no matter how many avenues I explore, I can’t find a cure.”

Yoo Younghan also let out a regretful sigh. He had poured all his energy into treating Junghoo until now. He spared no support for the hospital and sought out renowned professors. He was even in the process of developing a new drug, but that wasn’t something that could be done in a short period. In a situation where none of Yoo Younghan’s efforts had seen any light, Junghoo had reached his limit. In fact, he was now like a ticking time bomb, with no telling when something might happen.

While Yoo Younghan was contemplating how to explain Junghoo’s situation, Han Sucheol shook his head.

“Nothing will change even if you tell me. I will not force Seowon to do anything, no matter what it is.”

At Han Sucheol’s gentle but firm refusal, Yoo Younghan couldn’t hide his disappointment. The lifeline that might have been his last was cut short right before his eyes. In his emptiness, Yoo Younghan stared blankly at the chrysanthemum tea.

“However, if Seowon says he will help, I suppose I won’t be able to stop that either.”

Yoo Younghan slowly turned his head.

“You won’t… stop him?”

“Junghoo didn’t lend him the money with your permission, did he, hyung-nim?”

“That’s true.”

“Seowon will also make his own judgment. I will simply watch.”

At Han Sucheol’s words, Yoo Younghan drank the now-cold chrysanthemum tea. It felt as if the fragrance was blooming once more.

“What are you thinking about?”

Seowon, who had a brief moment of leisure before returning home, came out to the same place as yesterday. He had wanted to see the rest of the sea, but it seemed he had miscalculated. Seong Hangyeol, who had found him easily, struck up a conversation, and Seowon answered with a sigh of resignation.

“The sound of the waves that Junghoo heard.”

It wasn’t an answer he expected Seong Hangyeol to understand. He just said it because that’s what he was thinking about.

‘It was loud. The sound of waves when you’re half-asleep is really not good. It keeps you from falling asleep.’

At the time, he had dismissed it as a lie, but Yoo Junghoo’s expression hadn’t been like that. It seemed like he had really heard it and was talking about it, but where on earth could he have heard the sound of the waves?

“Does he hate the sound of the waves that much?”

As Seowon muttered while thinking of Junghoo, Seong Hangyeol gave him a peculiar look.

“Is that important?”

Seowon, who had been too busy thinking about Junghoo even with Seong Hangyeol there, turned his head. What did he just say? At Seowon’s gaze, Seong Hangyeol gave a business-like smile.

“Let me introduce myself again. I’m Seong Hangyeol, and I work at Hanbit Hospital. I was in the secondary gender medical department. And I met Junghoo at the hospital.”

The hospital again… He knew they didn’t meet because their families were well-off, but now it felt like he needed to know why Junghoo was sick.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

“Is that so? Then let’s be a little more honest. You have something you’re curious about, don’t you?”

At Seong Hangyeol’s direct question, Seowon couldn’t bring himself to shake his head. Of course he did.

“Why are you suddenly asking that kind of question?”

“I’ll answer one thing you ask me. In return, I have something I’m curious about too.”

Seowon immediately showed a wary look. The very act of proposing a deal right away was somehow suspicious.

“What if I say no?”

“If you hear me out, you won’t be able to just say no.”

Seong Hangyeol didn’t just back down; on the contrary, he closed the distance. It was when he grabbed his arm to push him away for freely entering a space he hadn’t permitted.

“I was right.”

At Seong Hangyeol’s laughter-tinged response, he momentarily forgot the thought of pushing him away. Seong Hangyeol tilted his head to meet his eyes.

“I thought I’d seen you somewhere, and I was right. We’ve met before. Do you know where?”

Strangely, his reaction seemed to have become more relaxed.

“I knew you looked familiar.”

Seong Hangyeol’s gaze swept over Seowon’s eyes, nose, and mouth, one by one.

“You’re a dominant Omega, right?”

Seong Hangyeol’s confident voice shook Seowon. His heart pounded at the sudden mention of his secondary gender.

‘Did he smell my pheromones? No.’

To smell his hidden pheromones, one had to be at least a dominant like him. However, Seong Hangyeol was not a dominant Alpha.

“I saw you when you went to see Professor Kim Pilsoo. I smelled your pheromones back then.”

Now there was no need to ask how he knew. When he presented, his attending physician was Professor Kim Pilsoo, and he visited the hospital regularly for pheromone training. So if he had seen him at the hospital, it was possible he had smelled his pheromones too. Seowon showed no change in expression even after learning that his secondary gender had been revealed to an unexpected person.

“So what?”

“What?”

Even if Seong Hangyeol had found out his secondary gender, Seowon was not greatly agitated.

“What does my being an Omega have to do with you, hyung.”

“Ah…”

Realizing that was the reason Seowon wasn’t agitated, Seong Hangyeol let out a hollow laugh.

“Since you put it that way, I’ll get straight to the point. You don’t seem to reveal your secondary gender much, so who all knows?”

“Why do I have to tell you that?”

The way he kept crossing the line from the moment he mentioned his secondary gender made Seowon uncomfortable.

“You might be offended right now, but you need to listen carefully to what I say. Otherwise, you don’t know what kind of danger you might face.”

“So why is a hyung who has nothing to do with me worrying about that.”

He wasn’t a three-year-old child; he couldn’t understand why Seong Hangyeol was stepping up and acting like this.

“Because my younger sibling was in danger. That’s why I can’t just pretend not to know and look away.”

“So what’s so dangerous about me being an Omega, and why is hyung trying to help…”

Seowon, who had been brushing back his hair in frustration, was speaking irritably when he noticed a person who had been blocked by Seong Hangyeol and paused.

“Yoo Junghoo?”

It wasn’t a passerby; it was Yoo Junghoo. Seeing him standing there with a blank expression, Seowon’s heart sank.

He was caught.

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence followed. Seowon looked at the silent Junghoo for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“Don’t just stand there, say what you want to say.”