Love Born of Pity Chapter 66

“Ah, you’re here? Shall I prepare your meal?”

“That won’t be necessary. What is going on.”

At the appearance of Do Yeonjae, Kwon Jiho turned around with a hardened expression. Startled by the early return, Kwon Jiho awkwardly bowed his head. It was hardly a welcoming gesture.

“Has our Mr. Kwon Jiho lost his tongue?”

“……”

“The owner of the house is here, and that’s how you greet him.”

The hand holding the spoon tightened, then quickly relaxed. Kwon Jiho twisted his stiff lips into a vague smile and averted his gaze.

“I told you to greet me. Can’t you hear?”

At the sharp-edged voice, Hwang Gicheol nudged Kwon Jiho’s arm. “A greeting, a greeting,” he muttered softly, demonstrating a bow. Only then did Kwon Jiho rise from his seat.

“……Welcome back, Director.”

“You may leave for the day.”

A cold gaze, fixed on Kwon Jiho, shifted towards Hwang Gicheol.

“……I haven’t cleared the table from his meal, so if I could just finish this, th- uh, yes. I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hastily gathering his belongings, Hwang Gicheol bowed deeply to Do Yeonjae. As he left the dining room, he glanced back at Kwon Jiho. A sense of guilt washed over him, wondering if he shouldn’t have insisted that he eat more.

Tap, tap, tap— Once the sound of receding footsteps completely vanished, a familiar silence settled in. Do Yeonjae just stood there, staring at Kwon Jiho, and Kwon Jiho, not knowing what to say, kept his mouth shut.

“If you keep refusing to eat like this, you’ll end up eating through your ass.”

“……”

At the low murmur, Kwon Jiho raised his head and stared intently at Do Yeonjae’s lips. It wasn’t a small voice, but the problem was that he was standing to his right. He couldn’t hear his voice properly.

“Understand?”

With no idea what the question had been, he had no choice but to answer the lips that had moved briefly before closing.

“……Yes.”

“You’re good at answering. Not so good at actually doing anything.”

Do Yeonjae scoffed, grabbing the arm of Kwon Jiho, who had turned his body awkwardly, and headed for the bedroom. As he was dragged back to the place where he had spent the entire day, Kwon Jiho braced himself for another grueling time.

♬⋆.˚

Time passed mercilessly. Kwon Jiho only realized that autumn had deepened by looking at the scenery outside the window. It was impossible to sense the seasons inside the house, where the temperature and humidity were perfectly maintained. Perhaps because he was confined. As the days went by, his appetite dwindled and he slept more.

Whenever he was alone and sensed Do Yeonjae’s pheromones, an illogical sexual desire would inexplicably surge and then subside, over and over. Kwon Jiho, who had lived his entire life as a Beta, had no idea why his body was acting this way. No, in truth, he wasn’t curious.

The feeling of his body temperature rising one degree at a time was familiar, yet before he had a chance to find it strange that he was hotter today than yesterday, Kwon Jiho’s heat began.

Groaning alone in the dark bedroom, Kwon Jiho peeked out from under the blanket he had pulled over his head. Strands of hair, soaked in a cold sweat, stuck to his pale forehead, and his cheeks and lips were bright red.

His panting breaths were hot. Lying naked and buried in the blankets, the nape of Kwon Jiho’s neck glistened, slick with cold sweat. The slightest brush of the bedding against his skin made a pained sound escape from his sensitized lips.

It was hard to tell if he was in pain or aroused, but the symptoms were similar to a bad cold. Being overworked without clothes from early evening until dawn every day and then passing out, it would have been strange not to get sick.

He cupped his cheeks with his limp, heavy-feeling arms, then tapped them as if to get a grip. He had planned to briefly borrow Hwang Gicheol’s phone today before Do Yeonjae got home. He had a premonition that it was too late to even try.

“Haaah……”

It felt as if a tickling sensation spreading from below his navel was radiating throughout his entire body. Before he was even properly aware of it, his hand moved downwards. He touched his penis, which was stiffly erect without any stimulation, and his startled shoulders immediately flinched, padeudeu. Tears began to well up in his wide, bewildered eyes.

“This, why……”

Pulling the blanket he was about to throw off back up to wrap his body tightly, Kwon Jiho looked around the empty room. His trembling pupils darted down to check his penis again under the blanket, and he let out a low moan. Every time he blinked, tears streamed down his face.

Just like the Director said, something must be wrong with my body. Kwon Jiho, who was rubbing his eyes with a balled-up fist, grew terrified that Do Yeonjae might see him like this. He pulled the tightly clutched blanket over his head and curled into a ball. Then, with an impulse to hide somewhere even smaller and darker than the bed, he staggered to his feet.

Wrapped entirely in the blanket, he headed for the dressing room. Unable to find a suitable spot, Kwon Jiho turned towards the bathroom and entered the shower stall in the very back. He squatted in the dark corner, still covered by the blanket. It was a relief. He could hide his vulgar and repulsive state even from himself.

♬⋆.˚

As Do Yeonjae pulled off his tie and strode out of his office, Chief Kim, who had been working, shot up in surprise. He hurried after him as he headed straight for the elevator.

“CEO, did I perhaps miss an appointment on your schedule?”

“No, I’m going home.”

“……Pardon?”

In response to the voice asking for confirmation, an irritated look was all the answer he received.

“Get some dominant omega heat suppressants and send them to my house.”

“Suppress— ah, yes. Suppressants. Understood.”

It was not an easy task to detect the heat of an omega who had no pheromones. Do Yeonjae, already accustomed to Kwon Jiho’s high body temperature, had failed to sense the heat fever. It was closer to the fact that he never even considered that Jiho’s constantly hot body would break into heat. With no suppressants prepared, Kwon Jiho was facing his heat all alone.

“Hah……. Fuck.”

Of all the fucking times. It was true that he had intentionally left him alone in this shitty situation, but he never intended for him to go through his heat alone. Do Yeonjae knew all too well how terrifying a first heat cycle could be for an Alpha or Omega. He hadn’t meant to be so cruel to Kwon Jiho, who had lived his entire life as a Beta. What the hell was this?

“He’s a recessive, and it’s his first heat, so it won’t last long. Clear my schedule for about a day.”

“As you are aware, sir, you have a lunch meeting with Director Kang tomorrow.”

“Try to postpone it, or you can go have lunch, Chief Kim. Isn’t it just a matter of going and eating, anyway?”

At the testy reply, Chief Kim bowed his head deeply. Thinking of the string of appointments he would have to adjust, he boarded the elevator with Do Yeonjae as it arrived.

“I’ll drive, sir.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Do Yeonjae, who had loosened the area around his neck, let out a sharp sigh. Nothing was going right lately. Fuck, he felt like his mouth was getting foul because he couldn’t stop swearing even when he tried not to.

“What about that group holding Kwon Yoon Taek? They must have identified that drug by now.”

“Ah, as a matter of fact, I just heard from Team Leader Kang. He said the drug they gave Mr. Kwon Jiho wasn’t an aphrodisiac, but one that induces presentation as an Omega. He keeps begging to see you, just once. He’s saying that if Jiho presented as an Omega, then they were of help, weren’t they.”

“Fucking help, my ass. Tell him I’m going to kill him at an opportune time, so he’d better write a good will. A deeply pessimistic one about his life. And tell him to write down everything he knows about Kwon Jiho before he dies.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chief Kim, having walked Do Yeonjae to his personal car, opened the driver’s side door for him.

“You should get back to your work too, Chief Kim.”

“Please drive safely.”

Even with a wave of his hand gesturing for him to leave quickly, Chief Kim took a step back and stood still. Only after confirming that Do Yeonjae’s car had safely exited the parking garage did he move. The expression on his face remained stern as he pulled his phone from his pocket to relay the instructions to Team Leader Kang.

♬⋆.˚

As soon as his car exited the garage and merged smoothly into traffic, Do Yeonjae checked his tablet intermittently. Seeing that Kwon Jiho was nowhere else to be found, it seemed he was still holed up in the bathroom. He was absolutely motionless under the blanket, and Yeonjae had no idea what he was doing.

Watching the round shadow hunched in the darkness, Do Yeonjae swore to himself that he would change the bathroom lights to motion-sensor ones immediately. He was going crazy with frustration, unable to see a thing.

The only thing an omega in heat would do was masturbate, but it was hard to associate that with Kwon Jiho. He was so sexually reserved, and lately, he’d even been feeling revulsion. And that was entirely his own fault.

“Hah, fuck.”

Touching his back, pleasuring his front—none of it connected with Kwon Jiho. Do Yeonjae pressed his temples hard and sped up. The only thought in his mind was to get home even one minute faster.