Love Born of Pity Chapter 85

“When the living room light is on, you can see in really well from outside. So I was surprised when you weren’t there.”

“Ah, I went to the bathroom for a bit to wash my face……”

“So you saw it? It’s totally amazing, isn’t it? There are people who have never slept here, but there’s no one who has slept here only once.”

“I saw it. It’s really cool.”

Seeing his smile, it seemed he knew just how amazing the view from there was.

“Running a pension business with just this one house didn’t really work out. As you probably know, it’s hard to get to and from the island. My grandpa always regretted spending good money on building it, but now we have more and more guests who come back every year because they can’t forget the night sky here. My grandpa is really happy about it too.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to forget it. It seems like a lot of people would come to the pension if it were promoted well.”

“He says he doesn’t want too many people coming. His moods are so, I can’t even describe it. I don’t know what’s on my grandpa’s mind either.”

Ha Seongho chuckled and headed to the kitchen. He familiarly opened a cabinet to take out a pot and brought out a bottle of water from the utility room.

“Should I make it spicy?”

“Sounds good.”

“This might be the most delicious ramen you’ve ever had.”

Ha Seongho, who was measuring the water, turned only his head to meet Kwon Jiho’s eyes.

“I guarantee it’ll be in your top three.”

Kwon Jiho finally burst out laughing at his overly confident attitude. For that moment, he forgot his worries.

“You’ll know how delicious it is once you try it. Don’t ask me to make it again. Because I might actually make it for you every single day.”

He was confused whether he was being told to ask for it again or not. Kwon Jiho, not wiping the smile off his face, hovered around asking if there was anything he could do to help.

“There’s nothing to help with, just sit down.”

“……About fishing tomorrow, I’ll go too if that’s okay. But I…… probably won’t be of any help.”

“What help is there in fishing? Anyone can do it if they just know how to cast. Just don’t ask me to put the bait on. I hate it too because it’s gross.”

Kwon Jiho said he would try it himself if Seongho showed him how to bait the hook. Ha Seongho nodded with a doubtful look, as if wondering if he could really do it. He didn’t bother to mention that the bait was earthworms, afraid that Jiho might say he wouldn’t go if he knew.

As they chatted idly, the spicy smell filled the entire house. Kwon Jiho didn’t like spicy food, but for some reason, his mouth kept watering, which was a struggle.

“Should I add pepper?”

“If it tastes better that way, then yes.”

“Oh? I didn’t bring it. Looks like I have no choice but to make it for you one more time. Ah, really. I have no choice. Really.”

His casual manner made him wonder if he had intentionally not brought it, but he was so hungry that the thought that he could do without a side ingredient like pepper was dominant. The ramen was placed on the table. It wasn’t the ordinary ramen he usually ate, but one filled to the brim with seafood.

“It’s so good that even if I died while we were eating, you wouldn’t even notice and just keep eating.”

“……Please don’t die.”

“Well……. Yes. It was just an expression. I won’t die.”

Ha Seongho, who had scooped a large amount of noodles into a deep bowl, cut the abalone and octopus with scissors for him. He cut them as small as possible to make it easy for Kwon Jiho to eat. When the bowl filled generously with ramen was placed in front of him, Kwon Jiho’s mouth fell open.

“You eat first. Ah, wait a minute.”

Ha Seongho ladled a generous amount of broth as well.

“Hurry up and eat before the noodles get soggy.”

“Thank…… thank you for the food.”

His queasy stomach was as calm as a tranquil sea. In fact, it was clamoring for him to put food in it.

Ha Seongho, watching Kwon Jiho put the noodles in his mouth with a satisfied look, also served himself some ramen. Then he picked out a shrimp and peeled off its shell. He neatly deveined it and offered only the meat to Kwon Jiho.

“You’re not allergic to this kind of thing, right?”

“No. I’m not. You don’t have to give it to me, it’s okay……”

“I eat it every day. I had soybean paste stew with all these ingredients today too.”

Ha Seongho, seeing Kwon Jiho feeling burdened by a mere shrimp, stained his fingers red and joked around.

“I’m good at peeling shrimp, right?”

Kwon Jiho nodded at the boastful question. He added arrogantly.

“I can peel this in 5 seconds. When I get a girlfriend later, do you think this could be something to brag about? A boyfriend who’s good at preparing seafood. What do you think?”

“That’s cool.”

“I’m going to practice so I can peel it even faster. I’m going to feed her nothing but seafood three meals a day.”

At his determined expression and tone, Kwon Jiho became serious as well.

“But won’t it be weird if I brag about something like this?”

“It’s not weird at all.”

Perhaps gaining confidence from Kwon Jiho’s answer, Ha Seongho dismantled the seafood even more diligently. The cleanly deveined meat piled up high in Kwon Jiho’s bowl.

♬⋆.˚

Do Yeonjae opened his eyes long after the night had deepened. Without fully understanding the situation, he blinked blankly before his mind seemed to clear and he shot up.

“……Ah, huh? CEO-nim, are you alright?”

“Why, here.”

His low voice was cracked in several places. Displeased by the grating, metallic sound, Do Yeonjae cleared his throat, ahem, and looked around. He checked the clock on the wall and let out a foul curse. His sharp gaze moved along the IV line connected to his arm. As if he couldn’t waste any more time here, he pressed the call bell on the bedside table.

“You suddenly lost consciousness right after getting off the elevator, so we brought you here.”

“Kang Gyumin, have you contacted him.”

“No, he’s still not answering. I sent people to the hotel while you were lying here, but they said he hasn’t come yet. The same goes for his family home. I think he might be staying somewhere else.”

“And Kwon Heeyeon.”

Chief Kim swallowed dryly at the question asked as soon as he regained consciousness. He bowed his head to hide his trembling pupils and barely managed to open his moving lips.

“Well…… her whereabouts are unknown.”

Even though it wasn’t his fault that Kwon Heeyeon had vanished, Chief Kim felt apologetic.

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you see this. I’m so angry my hands are shaking.”

Do Yeonjae, with a murderous glare, held his hand up in the air and glared at Chief Kim before squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. The events of less than a day ago already felt like they had happened several days ago. Time passed excruciatingly slowly. It was strange that it wasn’t even past midnight yet.

All because Kwon Jiho was gone. All because only Kwon Jiho was gone.

Who on earth should he blame? Kwon Jiho, who seized the opportunity to bolt? Kang Gyumin, who helped him leave safely? The incompetent Chief Kim, who couldn’t even trace his whereabouts? Or himself, who had pushed things to this point? He couldn’t find a wrong answer among the options that came to his mind, and the back of his neck was throbbing.

“And… there’s one more thing you need to know.”

“I don’t think I’d be surprised no matter what I hear. What is it.”

Do Yeonjae, sweeping back his messy hair, stared at Chief Kim.

“We’ll need to do a detailed examination to be sure, but they say the symptoms you’re showing are similar to those of an alpha who has imprinted.”

“……I did what? Imprinted? On who?”

“They say it’s highly likely to be an omega you’ve had close contact with, so wouldn’t it be Mr. Kwon Jiho? The doctor’s opinion was that you should move to another hospital as soon as morning comes to get a detailed examination.”

Do Yeonjae was flustered. Imprinting. Was that even possible? Just the generation above his considered imprinting a romantic vow to each other, but as times changed, it was now often seen as a relic of a bygone era.

It wasn’t an era where marriage was taken for granted anymore. Alphas and omegas wanted relationships where they didn’t have to be responsible for each other. As a result, breakups became more common, and even when people dated, it wasn’t blind.

Relationships between alphas and betas, betas and omegas, alphas and alphas, and omegas and omegas were no longer something to be hidden. Above all, Do Yeonjae considered imprinting an act he had only learned about during his secondary gender education. It wasn’t completely unheard of even now, but the fact that he had done it was so absurd it was baffling.

He had imprinted? On Kwon Jiho?

“……So you’re saying.”

“You’ve been overworked lately, so it could be that you fainted from stress. The rejection of omega pheromones… could also be related to that. We won’t know for sure until we run the tests and get the results, so please don’t jump to conclusions……”

“That I imprinted on Kwon Jiho. What about Kwon Jiho? Did Kwon Jiho imprint on me too?”

“Ah……. No, as of now, it’s presumed to be a one-sided imprint.”

Do Yeonjae was shocked by the fact that only he had imprinted on Kwon Jiho. Although they said he wouldn’t know for sure until the test results came out, he was certain.

The yearning that went beyond obsession for Kwon Jiho, the desire to hold him in his grasp and control him as he pleased, the satisfaction that swelled with the thrill of acting as if he owned him, the psyche that found Kwon Jiho adorable no matter what he did, and the revulsion he felt towards all other omegas except Kwon Jiho. Looking back, it couldn’t be explained by anything other than imprinting.

“Ha.”

“……CEO-nim.”

Did he like Kwon Jiho that much? It was true that he was strangely obsessed with Kwon Jiho, but… even now, Do Yeonjae couldn’t be sure if he liked Kwon Jiho or just wanted to possess him. Could the feeling of going crazy if he wasn’t by his side be called affection?

No matter what he did, no matter what he said, there was nothing he had cherished as much as Kwon Jiho. He had never been so interested in any person or thing. But as he had told Kwon Jiho, cherishing someone wasn’t the same as liking them, was it?

“Are you saying I like Kwon Jiho enough to one-sidedly imprint on him?”

“……Pardon?”

“So only I, did it to Kwon Jiho.”

It was a shocking fact no matter how he thought about it. But it didn’t feel bad. In fact, it was quite alright. Do Yeonjae decided to think of it positively. He had planned to make him his anyway, and he was even carrying his child. It was a problem that would be solved if the Kwon Jiho he brought back imprinted on him too.