The Sleepwalker’s Mansion Chapter 1

“Doeon, we’re out of rice.”

Mister Seonhee, who had opened the rice container in the kitchen, called out to Doeon as he was entering the kitchen. Surprised by the unexpected words, Doeon asked with wide eyes.

“Already?”

He was sure they had gone grocery shopping not long ago, but to think they were already out of rice. When he made rabbit eyes, Mister Seonhee shook his head and began to speak.

“What do you mean, already? It’s been over four weeks since we bought rice.”

“Has it been that long?”

“Of course. We bought 10kg of rice then, so after four weeks, it would have been gone a long time ago.”

“Ah….”

So it had been over four weeks since they went grocery shopping. To think his sense of time had become this faint. Lately, he had been living without even knowing how the days were passing. Doeon launched the household accounting app on his phone. Mister Seonhee was right.

It was exactly four weeks ago. There was a record of an expense totaling 153,450 won for items like 10kg of rice, olive oil, 30 eggs, pancake mix, tofu, roasted grain powder, green onions, cabbage, and so on. He let out a small sigh and this time, launched his banking app.

-Main Transaction Preferential Checking and Savings Account

20,853 won

The balance was devastating. He had to wait another ten days for the pension of just over 1.5 million won to come in from the reverse mortgage registered under his mother’s name. Right now, he didn’t have the money to buy rice. Feeling helpless, he closed the app. It was hard to open his mouth in front of Mister Seonhee, who was preparing side dishes for lunch while looking into the refrigerator.

“Um… Mister.”

“Yes?”

“Should we maybe boil something like noodles? I think we have some thin wheat noodles.”

“Do you think your mother will be able to eat noodles?”

“Yes. I think it’ll be fine if we boil the noodles for a long time until they’re soft….”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

“Thank you, Mister.”

Five years ago, his mother collapsed from a stroke and became bedridden with paralysis. There wasn’t a treatment he hadn’t tried to help his mother recover.

However, his mother, who was a Dominant Omega, had an extreme aversion to hospitals and instead became engrossed in folk remedies called Dominant Omega-specialized treatments. But the director who led these folk remedies turned out to be a con artist, not even a doctor.

He sold sugar water for a large sum of money, claiming it was effective for the illness, and by preaching the effects of meditation therapy, he only instilled more distrust in hospitals. Thanks to that con artist, his mother’s illness grew much deeper, and as her illness deepened, her dependence on the con artist grew even stronger.

By the time a few victims collectively reported the con artist and that bastard went to prison, the inheritance from his maternal side had already been completely blown away. The only thing left was this mansion.

There were some ups and downs, but now they were able to receive help from a personal care assistant sent by the city for patients with mobility issues, at least for five hours a day. Mister Seonhee was the personal care assistant assigned to this house.

As he put the thin wheat noodles into the boiling water, Mister Seonhee glanced over furtively. He seemed to have something to say.

“Um… Doeon.”

“Yes?”

“Are you doing okay?”

“Me?”

“I’m saying this because I’m worried. You seem to get skinnier and skinnier every time I see you.”

“Ah… I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Doeon awkwardly scratched the back of his head. In Mister Seonhee’s eyes, the sight of a perfectly fine young man clinging to his mother’s care instead of having a social life must seem pitiful, but the reality was different. If he knew his secret, he would understand why he lived in hiding.

Bubble, bubble, the pot began to boil.

“At least eat your three meals a day properly at home. That’s how you’ll have the strength to care for your mother. Don’t skip meals just because you don’t have an appetite, okay?”

“I take good care of myself.”

“Oh dear, does your body look like you’re taking good care of yourself?”

Mister Seonhee clicked his tongue as he scanned his physique. His increasingly gaunt body these days might be due to an insufficient amount of food. But he couldn’t comfortably confide in the mister about their situation, about how they had to survive for ten days to be able to buy rice. If he did, he would just receive cheap pity. He detested receiving pity from others. Doeon forced a dry, brittle smile.

“I just have the type of body that doesn’t gain weight easily, even if I eat….”

“Really? Did you say you were a Beta, Doeon?”

“Pardon? Yes….”

“I think I saw on <Lively Info for Assistants> that Betas have a constant weight because they aren’t affected by pheromones. You’re blessed. I gain weight just by drinking water, goodness.”

“Haha, yes….”

While he laughed awkwardly and agreed, Mister Seonhee, who had been stirring the noodles, poured them into a strainer and rinsed them thoroughly in cold water. Then he added the noodles to the pre-made broth, drizzled noodle soup sauce, and topped it with side dishes from the refrigerator.

“Here, it’s all done. Take it to your mother.”

“Thank you.”

Doeon carried the noodles, which were set on a tray, and headed to his mother’s bedroom on the second floor. As he slowly climbed the spiral staircase, sunlight falling in fragments from the arched window illuminated his pale cheeks. Compared to the humble meal, the mansion was magnificent.

The 7,100 square foot mansion, with a fir wood frame and high ceilings, built by his maternal grandfather in a Victorian style, was a luxurious residence complete with a private swimming pool.

But who would believe that his bank account balance was only 20,853 won. It was a situation of all show and no substance. He wanted to go and kill that quack con artist who had ruined his mother’s health and entire fortune right this instant, but.

Beeep—.

Suddenly, a ringing sound filled his ears. Was it starting up again? His vision blurred. Doeon quickly turned around. Mister Seonhee was in the kitchen doing the dishes and wasn’t looking this way. Doeon hurriedly put down the tray, took out a medicine packet from his pants pocket, and gulped down a pill.

“Phew….”

The ringing in his ears slowly receded. Doeon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and picked up the tray again. Then, he needlessly turned his head to check on Mister Seonhee’s movements again. The mister seemed to be preoccupied with cleaning the kitchen.

Haa, what a relief.

He couldn’t let others find out his secret.

“Mom, I’m coming in.”

Arriving in front of his mother’s bedroom, he knocked, knock, knock, and then entered the room. Even though she was clearly ill, his mother was still beautiful. Lying peacefully in her white pajamas, she slowly lifted her dry, protruding eyelids at the sound of Doeon entering.

“…My son is here.”

“Have your lunch.”

He placed the tray on the bedroom nightstand and carefully helped his mother sit up by holding her shoulders. It scared him every time he saw his mother’s face, which grew more and more emaciated by the day. It was because it made him realize that the day he would be left alone was approaching.

His mother stared blankly at the bowl of steaming noodles and then spoke.

“Looks like we’re out of rice again, seeing as you’ve brought noodles.”

“That’s not it….”

“Still, you must never sell this house.”

A sudden strength entered her cracked and hoarse voice. His mother had an unusual attachment to the mansion. She had urged him again and again that, no matter what, he had to protect the mansion.

But Doeon sometimes found the 7,100 square foot house to be a burden. If they sold this house and moved to a slightly smaller one, they might be able to breathe a little easier and live more comfortably. Doeon unknowingly muttered without confidence.

“Mom….”

“…Yes?”

“Actually, you’re right, we are out of rice.”

“I see….”

“…Can’t we move? If we go to a smaller place than this… you could get more rehabilitation therapy, and it would be better….”

But a thunderous scolding fell upon him at once.

“I said no! This house is your mother! Are you going to sell your mother? Can you sell your mother?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. How can a house be a mother? I’m trying to talk about our reality….”

Doeon’s expression, facing his mother, crumbled sadly. But whenever the topic of the mansion came up, his mother was adamant, without a trace of being weary from her illness.

“Absolutely not! Just kill me instead! Kill your mother and then move!”

“Okay. Okay. Stop it…. Stop and eat your meal….”

“Don’t you ever say such things again!”

“Alright…. I won’t.”

Because she was flying into a rage, Doeon had no choice but to surrender. The noodles had become terribly soggy, but he still scooped a bite-sized portion onto a spoon to make it easier to eat, blew on it, hoo hoo, and held it to his mother’s lips. The corners of her mouth, hardened with anger, soon softened, and she opened her mouth without another word.

He was grateful that his mother was at least eating without complaint. It was because he had read somewhere that when a patient stops eating, that’s when they are truly entering the final stage of death.

His mother chewed mechanically, though she probably couldn’t taste anything at all. But she didn’t even realize that she was dribbling about half of it out of her mouth. Without even fully swallowing the food, she lowered her voice secretively.

“That man downstairs. He doesn’t know. That you’re a Recessive Omega, right?”

“He doesn’t know.”

“You must hide the fact that you’re a Recessive Omega from everyone.”

“…….”

“Do you have any idea how much people will look down on you if you’re not even a Dominant, but a Recessive? I cut ties with your father’s family because I thought they would drag me away and stone me to death if they found out you presented as a Recessive Omega!”

His parents had divorced when Doeon was three. He’d heard they separated due to personality differences. He had also heard that his father’s family was well-known in the business world, but he had never even seen their faces as they had no contact.

His parents had Doeon when they were fifteen, so it was like a child having a baby, and that’s why there had been extreme opposition from both families. The family opposition also drove a wedge between the young couple. The days they fought grew more frequent, and in the end, it led to divorce. They separated after agreeing that the mother would raise the first child, Doeon, and the father would take and raise the second child, Doha.

Since then, his mother had been extremely reluctant to engage in outside activities and avoided contact with people. The only person his mother trusted was that bastard con artist who advocated the Dominant Omega folk remedies.

According to his mother, his father’s family was a household obsessed with eugenics, one that didn’t treat you like a human unless you were a Dominant Alpha. That’s why, after occasionally sending his paternal family letters with updates and photos of Doeon, she completely cut off contact after Doeon’s traits presented as a Recessive Omega when he was fifteen. In reality, it was as good as being disowned.

‘If they find out you’re a Recessive Omega, they’ll call you a disgrace to the family, come to the mansion, and they’re the kind of family that wouldn’t think twice about burying you and me somewhere!’

That was his mother’s assertion. He didn’t know if it was true, but seeing as they hadn’t shown their faces to his mother and him even once so far, Doeon thought that what his mother said might be true.

No matter that they were divorced, for them to not even visit once when their son’s news had been cut off and the wife with whom they once had a child was sick, it seemed they were indeed a heartless tribe with no blood or tears.

On top of that, he had heard from his mother that the child, his younger brother, who was raised by that family, had presented as a Dominant Alpha, so it was obvious without even seeing him that he would be a narrow-minded and arrogant kid who looked down on Recessive Omegas.

It was his mother’s somewhat shrill voice that woke Doeon from his reverie.

“But what if, by some chance, that man figures out that you’re a Recessive Omega? What are you going to do if he runs straight to that household and tattles on you!”

His mother was having a truly absurd suspicion. As she stared wide-eyed and grabbed Doeon’s wrist, Doeon put down his spoon and let out a deep sigh.

“How would Mister Seonhee even know how to find our paternal family, Mom….”

“Then how did that man know how to find our house? Isn’t it strange, Doeon?”