Love Born of Pity Chapter 59

Kwon Yoon Taek shook his wet hands. He glanced at Kwon Jiho, who was slowly blinking, one more time and was about to leave the restroom when a strained voice stopped him in his tracks.

“Did you tell Heeyeon, Uncle…?”

“…What, what?”

“About me. About how I’m living like this.”

The weak voice cut through the silence. Kwon Yoon Taek cleared his throat and avoided Kwon Jiho’s gaze, which had risen sharply.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about? I just told her you were working hard. What did she say?”

“…”

“Anyway, I’m going. See you again soon, yeah?”

“Do you hate me, Uncle? Or… do you resent me? Or… is it both?”

At the question, finally asked with mustered courage, Kwon Yoon Taek responded with a cold stare and left the restroom. Kwon Jiho immediately went into an empty stall, grabbed the toilet, and threw up. However, only a small amount of clear liquid came out. He tried a few more times to expel what he had swallowed, but nothing came out.

“…I’m dizzy.”

His mother, widowed at a young age after losing her husband and younger brother on the same day, had tenaciously raised him until she met his father and remarried. It was a marriage that came about after his father’s persistent courtship. He was a good man, a good husband, and he had been a good father to Kwon Jiho.

Kwon Heeyeon was born after the remarriage. Though not wealthy, they were a harmonious family, and Kwon Heeyeon grew up as a lovely child. Kwon Yoon Taek was particularly fond of Kwon Heeyeon.

Before Kwon Heeyeon was born, he had been quite fond of Kwon Jiho as well. The fact that the prickly man visited often, bought him snacks, and even stayed for dinner meant he truly liked Kwon Jiho. Although the affection he had received shifted to Heeyeon, Kwon Jiho didn’t feel resentful or jealous. His father loved him so much that he didn’t have time to feel such resentment.

As time passed and he grew taller, he began to feel more clearly that his uncle disliked him. He was treated like an outsider among his close-knit family. That’s understandable. Kwon Jiho always thought that way. With his father’s protection and affectionate comfort, he could easily dismiss Kwon Yoon Taek’s discriminatory behavior.

When his parents passed away, and Kwon Heeyeon was left in a coma, and he alone woke up with a broken finger, Kwon Jiho clearly remembered the resentment and anger Kwon Yoon Taek harbored. After the accident that had befallen his entire family, he no longer hid his hostility towards Kwon Jiho. Even then, Kwon Jiho thought it was understandable. Natural, even.

While holding the funeral and enduring the uncertain wait for Kwon Heeyeon to wake up, Kwon Yoon Taek burdened Kwon Jiho with a large debt under the pretext of hospital bills. Kwon Jiho accepted it. He didn’t resent his uncle.

The kindness and affection he received from his father remained in his heart for a long time, and became the reason why Kwon Jiho couldn’t hate Kwon Yoon Taek. He couldn’t hate his uncle, who had the same eyes and the same habit of his lips curving up before he smiled, just like his father. He had to feel that way.

♬⋆.˚

As Kwon Yoon Taek had said, chills ran through his body as if he had a bad cold. Kwon Jiho sighed wearily and washed his face with cold water to quell the heat that had rushed to his cheeks. He splashed water on his face for a long time until his cheeks were numb, and while wiping off the water droplets on his clothes, he adjusted his disheveled scarf.

At that moment, the inside of his eyes felt hot. Nausea welled up again. Only after repeated dry heaves in an empty stall could he return to the academy.

The children were in a frenzy when they saw Kwon Jiho’s face, but at his words of reassurance and his usual demeanor, they slowly left for home, albeit with worried expressions. Only Hyunwoo remained, watching him disapprovingly.

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

“Even in the weekend dramas my dad watches, there aren’t people as tacky as those men.”

Kwon Jiho chuckled softly at the scathing criticism delivered with crossed arms. He felt dizzy, his head spinning, but he didn’t show it and replied that he hadn’t seen them, so he wouldn’t know. Hyunwoo took a lollipop out of his bag and offered it to him.

“You’re too nice, Teacher. Even your face is nice.”

“You said I wasn’t nice earlier.”

“…Didn’t they come last time too? They acted like they owned you. I don’t know much about adult matters, but is it about money or something?”

“Teacher will take care of adult matters, so go now.”

It was an inappropriate conversation to have with a middle school student. When Kwon Jiho went outside to see him off, Hyunwoo followed, pouting.

“I know everything, you know. Anyway, your family is so weird, Teacher. How can they not resemble you at all even though they’re family?”

“They don’t resemble me because they’re my uncles. Hurry and go.”

“Even uncles resemble you to some extent. You share blood! I resemble my grandfather. Were you perhaps picked up somewhere, Teacher?”

“Hurry and go. Put your phone in your bag, and look ahead when you walk. You’ll fall.”

Hyunwoo stared at Kwon Jiho, who was waving his hand in the air, sighed deeply, and walked away. Only his muttering voice, saying, “Teacher, your face is red,” remained, echoing in Kwon Jiho’s ears.

Heat spread like a mirage before his eyes. He felt frustrated because he didn’t know if it was because of the drug he had been forced to take or not. He was already an omega. He didn’t need to take any kind of presentation drug.

“It’s hot.”

While locking up and tidying the academy, he repeatedly lowered the air conditioner temperature. Still, the burning sensation in his body didn’t subside. He drank ice water in succession and washed his face again, but his cheeks only grew redder, as if he had applied medicine. His overly flushed face looked strange even to him. It wasn’t just from the heat, it was like…

“Ha…”

He dropped the mop. He leaned against the glass wall of the counseling room and then slid down, crouching. Kwon Jiho pressed his cheek against the wall, seeking the welcome coolness, and closed his eyes. He shivered and groaned from the chill.

“Hot… cold…”

He had a fever, his forehead drenched with cold sweat, but his body shivered intermittently from the chills. He wanted to smell something, a scent he couldn’t quite define. Kwon Jiho instinctively removed his scarf, seeking Do Yeonjae’s pheromones.

He said he’d come to pick him up; he wished he would come quickly. Consumed by the sudden heat, Kwon Jiho yearned for Do Yeonjae. Just thinking about him made his lower abdomen tingle. He was scared he might end up masturbating at the academy, but at the same time, he wanted to relieve the rising heat.

How long had he endured this conflicting feeling? There was a rattling sound. Kwon Jiho opened his eyes to see Do Yeonjae tapping on the glass, wondering why the door wasn’t opening.

“Ah, Director.”

Kwon Jiho jumped to his feet, staggered from a momentary wave of dizziness that turned his vision black, but then steadied himself. He ran the short distance and unlocked the door. As the door clicked open, Kwon Jiho rushed out and hugged Do Yeonjae tightly.

He couldn’t have been more pleased by the cool, firm body. “Director.” Do Yeonjae chuckled, enjoying the sound of the wet voice, and hugged back the hot body nestled in his arms.

“Why so enthusiastic?”

“Just… I missed you.”

Do Yeonjae cupped Kwon Jiho’s face. He didn’t seem to have been crying, but his eyes and face were strangely red. Did he rub them? The skin under his hands was hot. Do Yeonjae traced his slender neck and round forehead, checking if he was sick due to the unusual heat.

“Ah, I’m not sick. I don’t have a fever.”

“You’re hot.”

“I want to… go home. With you, Director.”

At the pleading voice, Do Yeonjae’s gaze focused intently on Kwon Jiho’s face. He hadn’t been able to check on Kwon Jiho’s day because he was busy preparing for a sudden business trip, so he didn’t know what had happened to him. He had watched the recorded video on his way, but even at the fastest speed, he only had time to skim the beginning. Had something happened?

“Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

“Yes, yes. Director.”

Do Yeonjae’s gaze traced a line downwards. With small, white hands, Kwon Jiho was clutching his clothes tightly enough to make his veins bulge. As if something terrible would happen if he let go. The shirt wrinkled under his grip. Kwon Jiho never crumpled Do Yeonjae’s clothes like this outside of the house. He was usually the one who acted as if something terrible would happen if his own clothes got wrinkled.

He couldn’t check what had happened here in the short time it took to get home. It seemed he would only be able to figure out what had happened after putting Kwon Jiho to sleep.

“Did someone come by?”

“…Yes?”

“Kang Gyumin? That bastard can’t come see you anymore. Then who else is there? Your sister? Or Kwon Yoon Taek?”

Kwon Jiho, who hadn’t reacted to the names listed one by one, flinched at the last name mentioned, his uncle’s. Really, that parasite-like man kept coming to bother Kwon Jiho. Acting like his pimp, he brought along some pathetic bastard and every time he ran out of money, he would clean out Kwon Jiho’s pockets.