From Divorce to Dusk Chapter 2.6

That place is a prison.

Jaekyung slowly closed his eyes.

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The spacious living room was filled only with expensive furniture and a suffocating silence. What occasionally served as a reminder that this was a place where people lived was the clinking sound of a teacup.

「Right.」

Director Ji, the reason Jaekyung couldn’t breathe, spoke as she set down her teacup. It was the first time she had spoken in the twenty-odd minutes since she had sat down and started drinking her tea. Of course, to Jaekyung, those twenty minutes felt like an eternity.

「Now that it’s been a month since the wedding, it’s about time you start making your rounds to greet everyone, isn’t it?」

「Yes….」

A month, has it already been a month? He didn’t know how the time had passed. No… he knew very well how he had spent it. He just didn’t know how the time itself had flowed. What had he done for the past month? He had been trapped in this house, unable to move a muscle. Hadn’t the housekeeper gotten so desperate that she practically pushed Jaekyung by the back, begging him to please go out? Jaekyung wanted to go out too. But he couldn’t. He didn’t know where or how he might be watched, so he couldn’t leave rashly. The most terrifying thing was meeting Director Ji. At the very least, since Jaekyung stayed quiet and didn’t go out, Director Ji didn’t summon him either. He had just hoped that time would pass like that… but only a month had gone by. Director Ji held out a small notebook to Jaekyung.

「This has the contact information and birthdays of the family elders and the people you need to take care of. In our day, we only had notebooks, so we had no choice but to write things down like this, but nowadays you can add events to your phone calendar, so register them all and make sure to greet them without fail. Understand?」

「I’ll keep that in mind.」

Jaekyung took the notebook and quickly flipped through it. The inside was packed. He thought that since Han Taesuk was the eldest grandson and an only son, there wouldn’t be many relatives, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

「And start coming to the gallery from next week. Before you forget everything you’ve learned after all this time.」

「Yes.」

After Jaekyung replied, Director Ji let out a deep sigh and clicked her tongue. He couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eyes and kept his head down, which only made a sharper gaze pierce into him.

「I thought that once Taesuk had a partner, we would go places together, talk about this and that, and have a pleasant time… but this is truly lonely. I thought the house might liven up a bit, but instead, a child who sucks away what little life there was has come in…. Don’t look like that when you go out somewhere. People will think our family is tormenting you. I don’t want to become a wretched mother-in-law who gives her daughter-in-law a hard time, so you’d better conduct yourself properly.」

「Yes, I’m sorry.」

「The tea is delicious. May I have some more?」

At Director Ji’s words, the housekeeper who had been watching quietly from the kitchen started to move, but Jaekyung quickly shook his head and got up himself. He poured tea into a new cup with water at the perfect temperature and placed it in front of Director Ji. She savored the tea’s aroma with a satisfied expression.

「Come to think of it, it would be impossible to hear that news already….」
That news…?

「When was your last heat cycle?」

Ah, that news…. Jaekyung instantly realized what she was talking about.

「It was before the wedding.」

「What’s the frequency of your cycle?」

「It’s irregular, but it’s almost once every six months….」

「Six months?」

「Yes.」

「I suppose it’s because you’re a Recessive. Six months… you should get hormone shots… Shouldn’t you have a child even a day sooner for the family to be stable?」

「Yes….」

「Ah, if you’re imprinted, the chances are lower than during a heat cycle, but you can still get pregnant… You two have imprinted, haven’t you?」

Ah, how should he answer? They hadn’t even imprinted, he hadn’t even seen Han Taesuk’s face for more than an hour at a time… He wanted to say that even housemates probably wouldn’t find it this hard to see each other… that he didn’t know if he and that man were really a married couple, but he knew well enough that he shouldn’t. Besides, he didn’t know what answer Director Ji wanted. The answer she wanted…. Jaekyung was given only a few seconds. His head ached from having to calculate the many possibilities within that time. Just then, the doorbell rang and Jaekyung lifted his head. The housekeeper hurried out, looked at the intercom, and quickly pressed the open button.

「It’s Director Han.」

Huh? It’s 8 PM now. The number of times he’s come home at this hour could be counted on one hand… no, it’s never happened. But for him to come in with such timing… Jaekyung breathed a sigh of relief. Director Ji stood up abruptly with a pleased look on her face and stood in front of the entrance before Jaekyung could.

Soon, Han Taesuk opened the door and walked in, and Director Ji rushed out to embrace her son as if she were wearing traditional socks.

「Son~ Welcome home.」

「You were here?」

He hugged his mother once and greeted her affectionately before lifting his head to look at Jaekyung.

「You’re home.」

It’s been a while since we greeted each other like this. He always came home after Jaekyung was asleep and had already left for work by the time Jaekyung woke up, so a greeting like this felt very unfamiliar.

「You said you were busy today, what brings you home so early?」

「I heard you were coming, Mother, so I wrapped up my work and came home. It’s the first time I’m seeing you since the wedding.」

「So you do know? You merciless boy. Let’s go inside.」

Director Ji took Han Taesuk’s hand and led him to sit on the living room sofa. Jaekyung stood silently beside them. At that, Director Ji looked at Jaekyung as if he were pathetic.

「What are you doing not taking Taesuk’s coat?」

Ah, Jaekyung quickly reached for his jacket, but he shot up, took off the jacket, and slung it over his own arm.

「I’ll be back after I change.」

「Yes. Go ahead.」

Han Taesuk got up and went to the dressing room, and Jaekyung, unable to withstand Director Ji’s glare, quickly followed him. It was agonizing to have to choose between the two, but at least Han Taesuk didn’t crush people with his gaze. When he entered the dressing room, he saw him loosening his tie and hanging his jacket on a hanger. Even seeing him like this was a first, so he didn’t know what he was supposed to do or what to say. Strangely, whenever he was with these people, he felt like he had become foolish and stupid. As if he forgot everything he knew.

Ah, but… for a little while now, there seemed to be a nice scent coming from somewhere. A subtle and refreshing scent, like the ocean…. Was there a sachet or something like that? The scent was so much to his liking that Jaekyung blinked, trying to locate its source, until his eyes settled on one place. Han Taesuk… it was his pheromone. It was the first time he had smelled his pheromone. He always kept his pheromones under control, so this was the first time he had properly smelled them. So this is the kind of pheromone a Dominant Alpha has.

「Do you have something to say to me?」

Startled back to reality by his sudden voice, his pheromone vanished in an instant, and his whole body felt constricted by the heavy air again.

「Pardon?」

「Standing there by the door like you’re protesting, I can only assume you have something to say.」

「Ah, I was just wondering if there was anything I could help you with…」

「There is not.」

「Have you had dinner?」

「I ate before I came.」

His coldness, cutting him off so sharply, shut down the rare opportunity for conversation. There was no need to force a conversation with someone who didn’t want to talk. Still, there was something they needed to agree on.

「There is one thing I would like to discuss with you.」

「Carry on.」