TRIPLE 5

It was a somewhat belated question. Thinking he might have wanted to ask it, Siyeon spat out the answer he had already prepared in his mind.

“I didn’t exactly jump in… it was more like a bit of an accident.”

“An accident?”

“A dog… no, a dog was chasing me, so….”

The nuance was a bit different, but since it was true that I ended up like this because of that damn dog of a Chief Kang, I didn’t think it was entirely a lie.

As Siyeon trailed off appropriately, I could see the man’s eyes widen in surprise.

“By any chance, were you trying to save a puppy back there?”

It was trying to avoid the son of a b*tch, Chief Kang, but I decided to just go along with it.

As Siyeon, feeling embarrassed, furtively avoided his gaze, the man seemed to take it as a confirmation.

“You could really get into big trouble. It’s nice to care for animals, but what would you have done if you’d been hit by a car doing that?”

The man lectured Siyeon in an impassioned tone. He even added that from now on, even if it’s an urgent situation, he shouldn’t step in personally but use an animal rescue center instead.

“…You know a lot about this, don’t you?”

“Well, yes. Because I’m interested.”

“In animals?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

The man gave an ambiguous answer with a face that seemed to want me to ask him something more.

However, since the destination was near, we arrived at the hospital immediately, and the conversation between Siyeon and the man ended there.

“We have arrived.”

As soon as the driver finished speaking, the man got out of the car to support Siyeon. Looking at the fact that it was enclosed on all sides, it seemed to be a private parking lot.

“Let’s go, we can go in through the back.”

“Wait a minute, isn’t this a university hospital?”

“It’s a hospital run by an acquaintance. You can get treated most comfortably here.”

“No, that’s not the problem right now….”

Siyeon insisted that he didn’t want to go, but the man put his arm around my shoulder, telling me not to worry.

“Lean on me and get out carefully.”

“I… I’m okay….”

“What do you mean you’re okay? You can’t even walk properly.”

I had followed him here by chance, but right now, the only thought in Siyeon’s head was: at what timing should I run away?

While I was agonizing over what to do about this, thankfully, I was immediately stopped by the driver who had followed him out of the car.

“Mr. Actor, I will support that person.”

“No, I’ll go, so Mr. Ji-hoon, please stay in the car for a moment.”

“…You’re going yourself, Mr. Actor?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to?”

“It’s just… well….”

The driver looked around as if he were in a difficult spot. Because the manager’s face was so full of distress, even Siyeon felt worried.

“hyung, it’s a hospital. And it shouldn’t matter if we go through the VIP passage, right?”

“You were photographed in front of that place last time, too…. It was really hard blocking the articles then.”

“Isn’t that what the agency is for?”

The man began to insist that he would be the one to support Siyeon. However, because the driver was begging him to please just go inside, he eventually seemed to give up on taking Siyeon in personally, albeit reluctantly.

“What should I do? I wanted to go with you….”

“No. I’m really okay.”

I’m grateful for the ride here, but let’s never see each other again. Siyeon said a complete farewell to the man, at least in his heart, and racked his brains for ways to escape.

“Go ahead. If you’re getting treated, I’ll follow up after.”

The man, unaware of Siyeon’s inner thoughts, added an unexpected comment.

“I’m Chae Yoonoh.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You said you’d be my fan now. You should at least know my name.”

As Siyeon turned to look at him, the man reminded him once more.

“Keep it in mind.”

Siyeon, having heard an unexpected self-introduction from the man, felt his body stiffen for a moment. Chae Yoonoh. It wasn’t a common surname, nor was it a familiar name, but it felt strangely recognizable.

While I was repeating the name in my mind as one I remembered, something suddenly flashed through my head.

‘Chae Yoonoh. Chae… Yoonoh. Wait, Yoonoh? If it’s Yoonoh, by any chance, that….’

I desperately hoped it wasn’t true, but alas. If Siyeon’s memory was correct, Chae Yoonoh was a major character in 『The Alpha’s Trap』. One of those shameless Alpha couples I didn’t want to run into at all!

‘I knew it….’

It was as if the energy of the entire universe was struggling to make Siyeon and the Alpha couple meet. I guess I shouldn’t have overlooked that this was a makjang novel with broken logic. At this rate, wasn’t I just walking into a tiger’s den to avoid a fox?

Siyeon made a resolution that, treatment or not, he had to run away from this place immediately.

But unlike his desire to get away, even the slightest pressure on his foot caused a stinging pain.

“Ugh….”

I hadn’t been able to check my physical condition in detail because I was in such a rush, but looking at it now, my right ankle, exposed below the hem of my pants, was swollen and dark red.

It wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t walk at all, but it was a state where pushing it wouldn’t be good. It looked like treatment was urgent at a glance, so I was in a bind.

‘What do I do….’

I have no choice. Let’s just get treated quickly and bolt. Siyeon had no choice but to head to the examination room, crying as he ate mustard.

“Ah, walk properly.”

As Siyeon staggered, unable to walk properly, the manager, who had taken over guiding me instead of Chae Yoonoh, gave a light reprimand. Seeing him get temperamental over something trivial, it seemed the manager wasn’t pleased with the current situation either.

I understood. A moment ago, because I had jumped into the road, the vehicle he was driving almost had an accident. It wasn’t the manager’s fault, but since he had been severely scolded by Chae Yoonoh because of the earlier incident, it was only natural for him to be in a bad mood.

Siyeon reluctantly watched the manager who was supporting him and recalled the contents of the original work.

‘Now that I think about it… if it’s Chae Yoonoh’s manager….’

In the story, after the manager Park Ji-hoon received a one-sided notice of dismissal from Chae Yoonoh, he harbored a grudge and switched the herbal medicine that Omega Hong Siyeon was taking.

Because of the switched medicine, the pregnant protagonist faced a terrible situation, even reaching a crisis of miscarriage.

Of course, it wasn’t something that stupid bastard did on his own; it was done under the instigation of several villains intertwined with Chae Yoonoh.

‘Started off on the wrong foot.’

I wish I didn’t have to run into him again, but you never know what will happen in life. Since he was a guy with no future, I thought it would be best to leave as little bad feeling as possible.

Siyeon pondered for a moment before apologizing to the manager first.

“…I’m sorry about earlier.”

“What?”

“I felt like you were put in a difficult spot because of me for no reason.”

As the manager answered sharply, Siyeon lowered his eyes, putting on a mournful expression. Originally, even when someone is furious, if the other party bows and enters first, their anger is bound to subside, right? Since I’d long ago thrown my pride away, this much acting wasn’t exactly difficult.

Sure enough, just as I thought the manager was glancing back, he reached out toward Siyeon, who was following behind him with an awkward posture. When I looked up at him as if asking what that meant, the manager scowled.

“Grab on. Don’t keep wobbling.”

I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be supported by the manager, who was doing it reluctantly… but since I’m going to run away right after getting treatment, I’ll stay quiet for now.

Siyeon pretended to be shy and took his hand.

“Thank you. You’re kind.”

As Siyeon folded his eyes beautifully toward the manager, the manager, who was facing Siyeon squarely, showed a slightly surprised expression. Closely examining Siyeon, he tilted his head and asked a strange question.

“I’m asking just in case. Are you an aspiring celebrity?”

“Me? Hey, no way… how could I do something like that.”

“What, I’ve been in this industry for over ten years. I can tell the size just by looking.”

The manager leaned in, peering at Siyeon’s face under the cap as if suspicious. Siyeon, realizing his mistake, replied that it wasn’t so and bowed his head deeply.

‘It is an eye-catching face.’

I keep forgetting that the beauty of the shell I’m using is outstanding. I just didn’t want to leave any bad blood with the manager who might become a future villain; I didn’t want any attention beyond that.

All I wanted was to get treated and leave this place without my face or name being discovered, regardless of whether I was a celebrity or not.

“Hmm… if it’s not like that, then fine.”

As Siyeon just smiled as if he were in a bind, fortunately, the manager didn’t press Siyeon any further. I was glad he wasn’t the type to be persistent, but….

For a long time after that, Siyeon felt uncomfortable as we passed through the private passage attached to the private parking lot and headed to the examination room without a word.

It was because the path to the private hospital room was more complicated than expected. It wasn’t easy to memorize, as we passed similar-looking places several times.

‘Will I be able to escape safely later?’

Thinking back to the original work, entry into the VIP area was only opened with an encrypted reservation code and a dedicated key card.

Furthermore, there was an episode where the protagonist failed to escape because they didn’t know that the access log was uploaded to the central server every 10 minutes.

While a worried Siyeon was retracing the path he had come, he arrived at the VIP-only waiting lounge, his destination.

“If you wait here, the dedicated medical staff will come soon.”

The manager, who had sat Siyeon down in the lounge, immediately left the room, saying he would go and smoke a cigarette.

Click—

As soon as the door closed, Siyeon looked around the inside of the VIP lounge.

It was a private space with a luxurious interior reminiscent of a hotel, but after seeing the engraving plate that said “Beomyoung” on one side of the wall, Siyeon’s heart became extremely anxious.

If it were “Beomyoung,” I certainly knew something about it.

It was because it was a world-class company often mentioned in 『The Alpha’s Trap』, and the company inherited by Beom Yisu, who was Chae Yoonoh’s husband and one of the other Alpha couples.