Correction Chapter 109

“What- what are you doing? Aren’t you driving?”

“I’m at a red light.”

As he said, the traffic light for going straight was red.

“Still, look ahead.”

“Yes, yes. Are you making good use of all the things I had delivered?”

Ah, right.

“Seriously, what did you send so much for?”

“Why? I still bought and sent everything carefully according to sunbae’s taste. Think of it as a wedding gift.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Even as a concubine, I should have brought what I was supposed to bring, but I was too complacent. Please accept it.”

“You’re not going to take it back even if I say I don’t need it, are you?”

“Sunbae, please accept it for the sake of the global environment.”

“Haaah…”

The very idea that I could win an argument against this guy was my first mistake. Giving up, Jungmin sank back into the seat.

“Have you eaten?”

“You’re sending me three meals a day. Aren’t you getting reports on it anyway?”

“Ah, you caught me.”

At this point, all he could do was laugh. Both himself, who knew everything but pretended not to, and Kim Joohwan, who pretended not to know everything.

A thought suddenly occurred to him that if they could just continue to live like this… just as they were now, it might be enjoyable at times. That a day might come when he could truly laugh. Was that why? The words wouldn’t come out easily. He had to say something….

“Kim Joohwan.”

“Hmm, it scares me when sunbae says my name so seriously like that.”

“…Can’t I get the shots a little more often?”

At those words, Kim Joohwan suddenly slammed on the brakes. Due to the abrupt stop, the car behind them honked its horn loudly. Seeming to decide this wasn’t the place for this, Kim Joohwan clicked his tongue and started driving again.

He was so startled that he was about to say something to him, but seeing the way Kim Joohwan was gripping the steering wheel, he couldn’t say a word. Jungmin knew it too. That he had just made a mistake.

He knew it would turn out like this.

“…I’m not angry, sunbae. So you don’t have to walk on eggshells like that.”

Even though he said that, the force in his hands hadn’t lessened.

“Why would I walk on eggshells around you?”

“That’s true. Is sunbae the type to walk on eggshells around me? Hmm… are we going to sunbae’s house today?”

“Then whose house were you planning to go to?”

“You’re stating the obvious.”

Kim Joohwan said, smiling playfully again. But as if to prove it was a fake smile, his face slowly hardened again.

“Right, let’s go to my house. I have to see the things you bought and put in there too.”

Jungmin nodded, and the two of them said nothing more until they arrived home.

✽✽✽

As soon as they got home, Kim Joohwan meticulously inspected every single thing he had ordered, one by one. Even though Jungmin told him several times that the people he sent had checked that everything was fine and had installed it all perfectly, he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and examined each item.

Seeing that, he thought that the people under him must have a pretty hard time, but at the same time, he wondered if that was why the company was continuously growing.

In the end, it was only after they had brewed and drunk two cups of coffee with the coffee machine that Kim Joohwan’s inspection(?) was finally over.

“So, what did you mean by what you said earlier?”

He didn’t expect him to get straight to the point as soon as he drank the last sip. Jungmin set his cup down on the table.

“It’s just… I felt like I couldn’t just let time pass by like this forever. I wanted to reach a conclusion so I could make some kind of decision.”

“Didn’t sunbae’s conclusion have no other option than becoming an omega? The fact that there could be another conclusion… does that mean you’re giving up on becoming an omega?”

“That’s…”

There was no use lying; it wouldn’t work on Kim Joohwan. He wouldn’t let him get away with a clumsy excuse either.

“That’s not it. My conclusion is always the same.”

“Then how can there be two conclusions? Could it be deciding between becoming an omega quickly or becoming one slowly? A decision on these two things? If you become an omega quickly, you’ll go to Yoo Shinwoo, and if you become one slowly, are you going to break up with Yoo Shinwoo or something?”

Since when was it? No, for a very long time, Kim Joohwan had seen through his every move. It was the same now. No matter how he beat around the bush and put up thick walls, he would quickly grasp the most important core and render everything useless.

“That’s not it, is it, sunbae.”

He crossed over from the other side of the table and sat down across from Jungmin.

“What did Yoo Shinwoo say?”

“What?”

“Whenever sunbae loses his reason and spouts nonsense like this, that bastard is always involved.”

“Hey, you’re talking about my sunbae.”

“He may be sunbae to sunbae, but it’s been a while since that bastard stopped being my sunbae.”

“Let’s talk about this later.”

As Jungmin tried to get up from his seat, Kim Joohwan grabbed his wrist.

“I heard that Yoo Shinwoo asked if sunbae was still taking the medication. It must be related to that.”

Ah… Shinwoo hyung, so you knew and still asked. His stomach churned.

“Did Yoo Shinwoo tell you to become an omega quickly? Did he ask when you’ll become an omega, to hurry up and take more of the drug?”

“Hyung didn’t say it like that.”

“Fuck! Then what did he say?!”

Kim Joohwan yelled, shooting up from his seat. As soon as his eyes met Jungmin’s, he forcibly suppressed and controlled his surging anger.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t yelling at sunbae.”

Even in the midst of that, he didn’t let go of the hand holding Jungmin’s arm.

“Right… I know. For now… calm down. Sit. Let’s sit down and talk.”

When Jungmin calmly sat down in the chair, Kim Joohwan also sat back down at the table.

“That’s not a place to sit. Sit over there on the sofa.”

“It’s fine. I want to talk while looking at sunbae’s face.”

He honestly wished he would let go of his hand… but there seemed to be no sign of that happening, so Jungmin gave up.

“First, I’m telling you this because I think you’re misunderstanding, but hyung… didn’t say anything to me. All he did was ask if I was still taking the medication.”

“Then why do you suddenly want to use more of the drug?”

“He seemed to be having such a hard time… I wanted to be of help.”

“Aren’t you two dating?”

Dating…? Ah, right. We are dating. Right. Jungmin laughed to himself. He had thought he was the only one with a one-sided love all this time, but when he thought about it, they were in a relationship.

“But I don’t understand why sunbae is the only one making sacrifices.”

“Sacrifice? Don’t use such a grandiose word. This is just my own greed.”

“That is a sacrifice, sunbae. Don’t deny it. Right now, sunbae is holding onto his own lifeline and changing his trait for Yoo Shinwoo’s sake. But what is Yoo Shinwoo doing? Let me ask just one thing. When Yoo Shinwoo talked about sunbae taking the medication… has he ever told you to stop?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if he’s ever told you to stop. That changing your trait because of him doesn’t make sense. Because you’re an alpha! That it’s right for you to live as an alpha. So stop. Has he ever said that to you?”

Jungmin couldn’t say anything. He just kept his mouth tightly shut. Even if he said he had, Kim Joohwan wouldn’t believe him, and to say he hadn’t, he felt somehow too sad to speak.

Why was it? He had never once felt self-pity. He was the one who shamelessly should have cherished himself the most, yet he was the one who had neglected and abandoned himself. So how could he feel pity? That was a luxury. Something he shouldn’t do.

When Jungmin couldn’t say anything, Kim Joohwan looked up. He felt like he wanted to drop a bomb on the floor above them right this instant. He was so angry he wanted to charge up there and break his neck, but right now, his priority was to embrace the hurt person in front of him rather than his own anger.

“You think there’s no change in sunbae’s body? It’s already been ruined so much. It’s obvious, isn’t it? It would be strange if it wasn’t ruined after pumping it full of drugs that change your trait and DNA. The fact that you’re enduring it now is because you’re pulling from your future lifespan, and it’s only possible because you’ve been healthy until now. So we can’t increase the medication any more than this. So sunbae, don’t get any foolish ideas either.”

In fact, today, Kim Joohwan had been planning to persuade Jungmin to reduce the medication. But he was a step too late. At this rate, there was no other way than to weaken the drug’s components in secret, just as he had told Jungmin’s lead researcher.

No, that’s not right. More than that… he had an idea that he should switch the medication. To something good for the body that had the same shape and color. Why hadn’t he thought of this? It was obvious that Jungmin would be furious when he found out later, but he didn’t care. It was better than you getting sicker and chipping away at your lifespan, and better than you becoming an omega and going to Yoo Shinwoo.

If he could just stay with him like this and slowly occupy the space by his side. Whether it’s 10 years or 20 years, you have to live, and he would do anything to make that happen.

“Okay, I get it. I know my life is precious too. There are a lot of things I want to do. So I won’t overdo it.”

Jungmin nodded. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Jungmin looked up. At that, Kim Joohwan let go of Jungmin’s hand and stood up.

“Ah, looks like it’s here.”

“What? Don’t tell me you bought something else?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“A bed.”

“What?!”

“Because sunbae’s bed is uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m not uncomfortable! Why do you just do as you please!”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Kim Joohwan had already finished talking with the management office and let the people in. Soon after the door opened, a crowd of people came in, started dismantling the existing bed, and began assembling a new one.

As it neared completion, Jungmin was dumbfounded. The original bed was a queen, but the new one was a large king size. It was the same size as the bed in Kim Joohwan’s house, but the brand was the top-tier version of the same brand as Jungmin’s original bed. Once the bed was assembled, new bed sheets and a duvet arrived, and then even more people came to arrange them, sweeping through the place in a whirlwind before leaving.

Kim Joohwan was looking at the bed with a satisfied expression. Jungmin, now in a state of resignation, thinking he might as well do as he pleased, brewed coffee again and scanned the inside of the house. Because all the new things had found their places so well, as if they had been there all along, there wasn’t the slightest bit of awkwardness. Even Kim Joohwan, standing in front of the bedroom, seemed as if he had always been in that spot; everything was natural.