The Sleepwalker’s Mansion Chapter 4

“Ex, excuse me…!”

Doeon desperately called out to the person who was about to hang up unilaterally. His tongue tensed, fearing the call would be disconnected.

—Yes?

“I, I’d like to leave a number.”

—Shall we call you back at the number you’ve just called from?

“Pardon? Yes….”

—Understood.

After the call ended, his jaw began to tremble. Doeon wiped the cold sweat from his palms onto his thighs and leaned his back against the wall.

The memorial altar was completely empty. Guests of Mister Seonhee, who felt a sense of debt over his mother’s death, would come and fill the empty seats for a while and then leave, but they couldn’t fill his empty heart.

Just then, Funeral Director Shim and Mister Seonhee, who had been coming and going, saying it wasn’t right to leave Doeon alone, entered the memorial altar.

“Doeon, did you contact your father?”

That must have been what Mister Seonhee was most curious about. Doeon nodded his head.

“Yes. I contacted him.”

“What did he say? Did he say he’s coming?”

“It was a company number. I asked them to pass on my contact information.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. You should have asked to be put through to your father right away.”

Frustrated by Doeon’s lukewarm attitude, Mister Seonhee beat his own chest. But Doeon was inwardly hoping that his father wouldn’t come to the memorial altar. Now that he had delivered the obituary, his younger brother would also find out. He thought that holding the funeral quietly without any commotion was the last thing his mother would want in this world.

But Mister Seonhee’s thoughts were different.

“I heard Doeon’s father’s family is a very successful Dominant Alpha family? And it turns out that, what was it, Theogra company is also Doeon’s father’s company? Why didn’t you say so? So that’s why you were living in such a flashy mansion?”

Somehow, the story about his father seemed to have reached Mister Seonhee’s ears. Doeon lowered his head with an embarrassed look.

“Ah, no….”

The mansion was his mother’s property, but the mister was mistaken, thinking he had been enjoying the luxury of living in a large mansion thanks to his father. It was just an old, hollow mansion. But Doeon didn’t have the energy to clear up the misunderstanding.

“But why did only you and your mother live together? Was your mother kicked out? I know I shouldn’t say this about someone who’s passed, but Doeon’s mother had quite a personality….”

“Sister Seonhee. You’ll say anything in front of the kid. What do you mean, kicked out! Stop it, really.”

“Oh my, me too…. I’m sorry, Doeon. My words slipped out.”

“It’s alright, Mister.”

The funeral director stopped Mister Seonhee, but he couldn’t hide his curious gaze and looked at Doeon. It was a story that gossips would be curious about.

But Doeon didn’t know the details either, so there was nothing he could tell him. Only that his parents had him and his brother in a youthful impulse in their teens and separated when they were young. He could only surmise that although there was opposition from both families, they clashed more because they were both Dominant types with strong pride.

He plopped himself down at the entrance of the memorial altar as if he were about to launch into a full-blown conversation and chattered away.

“You know my neighbor Haseon’s cousin? She recently got divorced and came back to her parents’ house, and I wondered what the reason was, but it turns out both her first and second child presented as Recessive Omegas. Not just one, but both of them being Recessive means double the suppressants during heat cycles, and besides the cost of medicine, if they go into heat at the wrong time, oh my, how are they going to handle that. Her husband’s family is also an Alpha family for generations, and I guess they said they couldn’t accept it and asked for a divorce.”

“Both children are Recessive Omegas? Of all things, to be a Recessive Omega that no one would want, that family’s luck has run out.”

“Oh my, to say ‘no one would want’ in front of a child!”

Mister Seonhee waved his hands in dismissal at Funeral Director Shim’s words. Mr. Shim nonchalantly bit the end of his cigarette.

“What use is a Recessive Omega anyway. They’re not rabbits, but they go into heat all the time. Can they even work a normal company job? To live with someone who can’t function as a proper person, if it’s a poor family, it’s easier to just push them into the nightlife.”

“This fellow is saying such dreadful things. Doeon, you don’t need to listen to this, so cover your ears with your hands.”

“Pardon?”

“Hurry up and cover your ears. Nothing good will come from hearing it.”

Mister Seonhee pouted and took his hands, placing them over his ears, making it look as if he were being forced to cover them. But even without listening, he was already well aware of the discrimination against Recessive Omegas.

Even the inheritance law was like that. If an heir’s secondary gender was a Recessive Omega, their right to inheritance was not even recognized. Because of that gender law, Doeon had to pretend to be a Beta to inherit his mother’s mansion normally.

Even if his secondary gender were to be revealed later, if he became a legally married couple with a bonded mate, his inheritance rights would be recognized, but in his case, he had lived with only his mother, almost completely cut off from society, so he had no social interaction, and on top of that, he had narcolepsy and sleepwalking, making it even more difficult to find a mate. That’s why he was pretending to be a Beta, but he couldn’t keep up the act forever. It was a lie that would be found out someday.

“Still, it’s a relief. That Doeon is a Beta. What would you have done if you were a Recessive Omega with your mother gone too. Left all alone without even a mate. Do you think people would have left you alone?”

“…….”

Mister Seonhee said, gently removing the hands that had been covering his ears. Doeon couldn’t stop the twitching in his awkwardly smiling lips.

*

On the day of the funeral procession, Doeon went up to the main entrance of the funeral hall to transport the coffin carrying his mother’s body to the burial site. Mister Seonhee, who had worked hard all this time, stayed until the morning of the funeral procession and approached Doeon’s side.

“Doeon, your mother will go to a good place.”

“Mister, thank you….”

Doeon exchanged a brief glance with Mister Seonhee and bowed his head. He patted Doeon’s shoulder. The touch of another person was warm yet fleeting. Is death this empty? He felt empty and pained by his mother’s unbelievable death. It still felt as if she were alive in the mansion, in her room, lying in bed, waiting for him.

Calling his name, Doeon.

At the main entrance of the funeral hall, a hearse with its hood decorated with a circular flower arrangement was waiting. Doeon scanned the parking lot of the main entrance once. Until the day of the funeral procession, there was no news from his father and younger brother. Had he been hoping for something, even while wishing they wouldn’t come? Waiting for people who wouldn’t even show up is a meaningless act.

He regretted it. He shouldn’t have contacted them from the beginning. Breaking his promise to his mother weighed on his mind. It had always been just him and his mother, just as it had always been. Nothing would have been different. Was it his mistake to have contacted them because the existence of a younger brother bothered him?

As expected, he didn’t need anyone else.

Even until the very end.

“……?”

It was when he was about to get into the van that would follow the hearse. A black sedan glided into the main entrance of the funeral hall. Doeon stared blankly at the vehicle. The black sedan didn’t park in the main entrance parking lot but pulled up next to the hearse, turned on its hazard lights, and stopped for a moment.

Soon after, a man got out after opening the driver’s side door. He was very tall, dressed in a black suit like a messenger of death, and had a sad face as if he were about to cry at any moment. But his eyes were dry and brittle, as if all the tears had dried up. His desert-like, parched eyes slowly scanned the surroundings as if searching for someone, then stopped when they found Doeon.

“…….”

The strikingly handsome man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, stared at Doeon as if mesmerized. The man, with the buttons of his black shirt done up to his neck, had a very ascetic impression.

Doeon felt as if he would be swallowed by the man’s desolate eyes. He felt as if he would be chewed up in one bite like captured prey, and without realizing it, he swallowed, gulp. The man began to approach, his gaze fixed on him.

He wanted to step back, but he couldn’t move an inch. The man, with his fine hair neatly swept back from his white, well-defined forehead, was staring at Doeon.

As the man approached, the thick scent of wood seeping into his nasal cavity was definitely a pheromone. An Alpha’s pheromone. Seeing how strong it was, was he a Dominant type? Doeon’s pupils wavered, unable to find their focus. His heart instinctively reacted to the pheromone and began to beat fiercely. He anxiously bit his lower lip.

The man standing in front of Doeon took his hand out of his pants pocket. His large-boned hand was white.

“Doeon. You’ve grown a lot.”

At the soft, low voice, Doeon lifted his head. He knew his name. His breath came in short gasps. Why was he so nervous? The man murmured in a voice that seemed about to shatter into small pieces.

“Dad… was very late, wasn’t I.”

“……!”

Dad. Dad? He stared blankly at the man’s face. He looked too young to be a father. He had said he was the same age as his mother, so his father’s age was probably only thirty-seven. Doeon, who had only seen his mother in her sickly state, was dazed by the healthy complexion and beauty of a Dominant Alpha.

Really, Dad…?

Finding it hard to believe, his voice came out broken and without confidence.

“Da, Dad…?”

“Yes. It’s Dad.”

Taeoh reached out and tucked Doeon’s fluffy bangs behind his ear. As soon as Taeoh’s fingertips touched him, Doeon had to hold his breath, gasp. His heart pounded wildly. He was his father, but he was an Alpha.

His body reacted sensitively to the Alpha’s touch. Flinch, he turned his head to avoid it, and Taeoh withdrew his hand with a feigned sad expression. He stole a glance at Taeoh, and he met his eyes and opened his lips.

“It seems there was a mistake by an employee. They mistook it for a prank call, so the report was late. I’m sorry for coming late.”

“Ah….”

“You’ll forgive me, won’t you?”

Somehow, it didn’t match his mother’s description. He thought he would be a tyrannical and scary person, but his first impression was not like that at all. The gaze directed at him felt affectionate.

So he was late because of an employee’s misunderstanding. If that’s the case, it’s okay. Doeon slowly blinked his gentle eyes and nodded his head. In any case, he came before the funeral procession. But….

Doeon looked past Taeoh as if searching for someone. Then Taeoh, as if he understood, crinkled the corners of his eyes softly.

“You’re curious if Doha came too?”

“…….”

“Of course, your younger brother came too.”

“Where… is he?”

“He’s in the car. Shall we get in the car together?”

“Yes….”

At the name Doha, his heart pounded, thump, thump. It was his first time meeting his younger brother. He followed Taeoh to the black sedan. He could see Mister Seonhee, who had already gotten into the van, plastered against the window and looking this way with an expression that said he was dying of curiosity.

He tried his best to look away from that direction and got into the back seat of the black sedan.

The inside of the car was filled with the thick scent of wood. Would it feel like this if he went to a recreational forest? Enveloped in the Alpha’s pheromones, his mind became hazy as if drunk. He was the only Omega here.

Doeon shook his head slightly to clear his mind. Taeoh, who got into the driver’s seat, tapped the shoulder of the man in the passenger seat. Then, the man who had been looking out the window took off his Bluetooth earphone and turned his head.

“What is it.”

“You should greet your hyung.”

“Hyung? Where do I have a hyung.”

He felt awkward at the somewhat sharp retort. He felt like an uninvited guest. Taeoh glanced once in Doeon’s direction and smiled gently as if to say it was okay. Then he spoke to Doha again in a placating tone.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Seo Doeon is your hyung. Say hello.”

“What’s with ‘hyung’ all of a sudden.”

Doha grumbled, holding the Bluetooth earphone in his hand. Then he turned his head and looked at Doeon. Sharp eyes with upturned corners took in Doeon.

“Nice to meet you for the first time, hyung.”

The dark grey eyes were strange. If Taeoh had an ascetic impression, Doha had a libertine one. A dry gaze that said he had no interest, contrary to his words, stared at Doeon. His attitude of having been forced to come along got on Doeon’s nerves.