Correction Chapter 58

Kim Joohwan sent a car right to his front door. Why on earth is he making such a big fuss? After about a 30-minute drive, they arrived at a hotel situated with a clear view of the Han River. He wondered if he had come to the wrong place, but seeing the secretary guide him, it seemed that wasn’t the case, so Jungmin temporarily set aside his suspicions and followed.

When they reached the suite located on the top floor of the hotel, the elevator doors opened.

‘Uh….’

There was no one there. But he could feel a strange atmosphere. A heat so intense it felt like it could burn some part of his body.

“Is this the right place?”

Jungmin asked.

“Yes, it is.”

The secretary, after that short reply, closed the elevator doors and went back down. Left all alone, Jungmin had no idea what was going on and just scratched his head. The man who had actually summoned him, Kim Joohwan, was also nowhere to be seen. Jungmin pressed the call button.

─Yes, sunbae.

“I’ve arrived. Where are you?”

─Please come inside.

“Inside?”

─Yes, if you come straight down the hallway, there will be one open door. You can come in through there. I’ll be there soon too.

What on earth is he talking about? Jungmin hung up and walked down the hallway as Kim Joohwan had said. The entire floor was a suite, so there were quite a few doors. And when the open door at the end of his line of sight caught his eye, Jungmin’s movements stopped.

‘No way….’

His heart was pounding. No, this wasn’t his heart. It was ‘anxiety’ that was pounding. Why. Why could he feel Ji Soohan’s pheromones?

And they were pheromones full of desire… pheromones from Ji Soohan that he had never once felt before. But it wasn’t just his pheromones.

Jungmin clenched his fists tightly. It’s not true. It can’t be. Thinking that, he slowly took one step at a time.

“Ah…. Ah!”

The closer he got, the more he heard an unfamiliar moan. He just wanted to run away. Then he could convince himself that it wasn’t true, that he was mistaken, and it could become something that never happened. But… he had already stepped inside the open door, and upon seeing the figures tangled on the bed, Jungmin couldn’t help but hold his breath.

“It feels so good!”

“Ah…”

An omega in heat was crying, repeatedly saying how good it felt. The Alpha on top of him, who had been diligently moving his hips and spewing out desire, momentarily stopped his movements and slowly turned his head toward the door. His pupils trembled, as if he couldn’t believe Jungmin was here.

“Jungmin…”

The omega’s heat pheromones were suffocating.

“Jungmin… ah…”

The Alpha’s pheromones, which had gone into rut along with the omega’s, were becoming suffocating.

“Jungmin…. No… it’s not… this is….”

“Ah, don’t pull out. Keep going. It feels so good.”

As Soohan moved his body, the omega wrapped his arms around his waist. He enveloped his body with sweet omega pheromones and guided his movements. Jungmin could feel him constantly fighting between instinct and reason. He reached a hand out toward Jungmin. But there was nothing Jungmin could do.

So this was it. This was Kim Joohwan’s bet.

It was a cruel bet. A bet that should never have been made. It would have been better if he had just spread his legs for Kim Joohwan himself.

Just as a tear was about to fall down his cheek, a large hand from behind covered Jungmin’s eyes, and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

“Stop looking.”

It was a gentle and warm voice, but to Jungmin, it was like the voice of the grim reaper. No, it was the voice of a horrible monster that shouldn’t exist in this world.

“sunbae. Don’t cry. Why are you crying. Over a bastard like that. Your tears are too precious.”

Kim Joohwan whispered in Jungmin’s ear and kissed it. Goosebumps erupted all over his body, and at the same time, his mind snapped into focus. Jungmin felt an unbearable rage. He slapped Kim Joohwan’s hand away, turned around, and swung a fist at him. With a ‘thwack’, Kim Joohwan staggered and took a step back.

“Haha, that actually hurts.”

He said, rubbing his own cheek and jaw once.

“You son of a bitch!”

Jungmin grabbed Kim Joohwan by the collar and shoved him against the wall. Kim Joohwan’s eyes stared directly at Jungmin. Without avoiding each other’s gaze, one looked on with rage, the other in a state of nothingness (無). What should he say. How should he say it. How on earth… should he explain this situation.

“Ah! Mr. Soohan…. Ah…”

The room was still the same. Even after seeing him, Ji Soohan was still having sex with the omega. Kim Joohwan smirked.

“Did he not see you, sunbae? Is that why he’s still out of his mind like that?”

“Knot me…. Knot… I want to have your baby. Aah!!”

With the omega’s shriek, the Alpha thrust his hips up one last time, and then the knotting began. I don’t want to hear it.

I don’t want to hear it anymore.

“My, my…”

Kim Joohwan clicked his tongue. His voice was slightly excited.

“Are you enjoying this?”

Jungmin laughed hollowly and slowly loosened his grip on Kim Joohwan’s collar. As he staggered slightly, Joohwan caught him from behind.

“Let go…. I’m leaving….”

“Jungmin… Jungmin…”

He could feel the Alpha inside calling his name and crying. Unable to move because he was knotting, he could only flail about, searching for Jungmin; there was nothing he could do.

Hyung…. what am I supposed to do? Should I hold your hand while you’re knotting? Should I comfort you, saying it’s a pity you’re having sex with that omega?

“Tsk.”

Kim Joohwan closed the door to the room. In that gap, Jungmin broke free from Kim Joohwan’s grasp and staggered away on his own. Then, as his knees gave out and he was about to collapse, Kim Joohwan rushed over and caught him again, but what he got in return was a punch. After being hit by Jungmin once more, Kim Joohwan laughed as if in disbelief and watched Jungmin walk away.

“You should be thankful I made you realize reality. It was going to happen someday anyway.”

After walking a few steps, Jungmin stopped at Joohwan’s words and lifted his head.

“I don’t think… hyung cheated. I don’t think he was two-timing me, and I don’t think he was playing with me. He’s not that kind of person. So let me ask. What the hell happened? What was the bet? What did you want?”

“It was nothing special. It wasn’t much of a bet, nor was it something I did.”

“I’m asking you what it was!”

Jungmin screamed. Yet, he still didn’t show his face to Joohwan.

“I was having a drink with Mr. Ji Soohan. That omega joined us later. He seemed to like Mr. Ji Soohan. No, should I say he was aiming for him from the start? He asked me to let him be with Mr. Ji Soohan. As you said, sunbae, Mr. Ji Soohan isn’t that kind of person… so he rejected the omega at first. But, sunbae. An Alpha is for an omega, and an omega is for an Alpha. That’s the way of the world. I just left the two of them alone for a moment. That’s what I did. I didn’t do anything. Me.”

“So you’re saying… you didn’t do much of anything, but hyung was alone with an omega and it ended up like this?”

“Well, the omega did say he was in heat. Ah, since he knotted today, he’ll get pregnan-!”

Jungmin’s fist flew at Joohwan’s cheek again. Staggering for a moment, Joohwan spat and looked at Jungmin. He thought he would be crying, but Jungmin wasn’t crying. He was just clutching his chest tightly with one hand, breathing heavily.

“You son of a bitch-!”

It’s stirring.

“Just like you said, an omega is for an Alpha, and an Alpha is for an omega. Right! You won that bet. Must be nice. So, since I lost, what should I do for you? Or is it all meaningless now.”

“Shin Jungmin.”

“Don’t say my name. Do you think I asked for your help because I trusted you! Because I had expectations! It was because even a rotten rope is still a rope, so I tried to grab it. But I shouldn’t have grabbed it. As expected, what’s rotten is just rotten. I…”

Jungmin’s voice was strained with anguish.

“In the end, I dug my own grave, so I’ll take responsibility for this. But Kim Joohwan, I’ll never see you again.”

“……”

“Get lost.”

As if to say, if you don’t get lost, I will, Jungmin walked forward. His heart hurts. He can’t- breathe. That’s to be expected, because something just shattered inside his heart.

And the anxiety he had hidden away so carefully sprouted.

Yes. He didn’t know what Kim Joohwan was aiming for, but he had succeeded. The reason he had hesitated to leave with Soohan, which was hidden deep down, had pierced through his heart.

The anxiety that because he wasn’t an omega, Soohan might one day choose an omega. Just like Shinwoo did….

“Hk, heuk…”

Jungmin went into a random emergency exit, slumped to the floor, and cried, covering his mouth. The hourglass full of anxiety had finally shattered, and its fragments scattered.