From Divorce to Dusk Chapter 6.4

「I will handle this matter.」

「No. I will handle it.」

As Director Ji reached out to take the documents, Han Taesuk collected them first and placed them by his side.

「How do you plan to handle it?」

「We’ll see. But no harm will come to the family. It is better that I handle it to ensure that doesn’t happen.」

「Do as you wish. I trust your work. I would appreciate it if you handled it as quietly as possible. Above all, that professor is still someone I need. I hope you keep that in mind.」

「I am aware.」

She was a person who cared about the family’s pride and the eyes of others. She was someone who calculated profit. Someone who would achieve what she wanted even if it meant sacrificing someone. Incidentally, Han Taesuk resembled the woman before him more than he did his father.

「I shall be going now.」

「Yes.」

Director Ji stood up and put on the coat that Secretary Oh brought to her.

「Is the imprinting certain?」

「Yes.」

「About the administration of that drug. Does it have no effect on pregnancy?」

「As I mentioned, since he is becoming closer to a Beta… pregnancy might be impossible.」

「That… is a problem. Then wasn’t the imprinting done in vain?」

Director Ji frowned upon realizing things weren’t unfolding as she desired. What she was saying was simple. She was implying that she could discard Park Jaekyung now. It was only natural. She needed a successor to carry on the family line, had constantly demanded one from Park Jaekyung, and even had a prenuptial agreement signed. If he couldn’t get pregnant, it was a clear breach of contract. The problem was the imprinting.

On the surface, the imprinting could simply be undone, but that was also no easy task. It was best to undo it at least a year after imprinting to end it smoothly without side effects. That meant even if there were something wrong with Park Jaekyung’s body, the imprinting could not be undone for a year.

「For now, keep getting hospital checkups, and I will look into it in detail as well.」

「Yes.」

「Then, I’ll be off….」

Director Ji opened the study door and was startled to see Jaekyung standing in front of it. Jaekyung stood there blankly. Seeing Director Ji, he smiled and nodded his head in greeting.

「I heard… that you had come. I came up to say hello.」

He was speaking as if nothing were wrong, but his voice was trembling. The color was gradually draining from his face….

「Ahem.」

Director Ji cleared her throat once and looked at Jaekyung with an indifferent face.

「I heard you were unwell. How are you feeling?」

「…I-I’m fine. I am….」

「Then that’s a relief. Rest from the gallery for the time being. Focus on getting healthy first. You haven’t forgotten what you need to do, right?」

「…Yes.」

「Good, that’s enough then. I’ll be going. You don’t need to see me out.」

Director Ji walked out of the house confidently, with a face that looked as if absolutely nothing had happened—as if whatever conversation had taken place here was no big deal. Jaekyung watched her back as she left, and as soon as he heard the front door close and the sound of the lady seeing her off, the trembling he had suppressed broke free, and his face hardened like a sheet of white paper.

Dragging his weak legs, he slowly entered the room where he had been lying. The lady or Secretary Oh tried to support Jaekyung, but he did not want their help. Everything in this house was so terrifying that he wanted to run away. But he had no strength. How could he run anywhere when even supporting himself on his two legs was this difficult?

Jaekyung bit his lip, entered the room designated as his only sanctuary, and sat on the bed. Then, feeling a surge of nausea from deep within his chest, he ran into the bathroom, opened the toilet lid, and vomited. Since he hadn’t eaten anything, only gastric juices came out. It wasn’t this that he wanted to throw up. He wanted to vomit out and forget this suffocating feeling blocking his chest and everything he had just heard.

However, the lump in his chest settled in even more firmly, pressing down on Jaekyung so hard he couldn’t breathe. After vomiting like that for a long while and wiping his mouth, he stood up shakily and returned to the room, but there was still nothing in the room except the heavy air and the clock ticking away indifferently. Jaekyung suddenly looked at the door. There was no sign of it having been opened.

No one, nothing was there. Did they think I wasn’t worth an explanation? Did they intend to tell me nothing? Just what… was everything he had heard? Slumping right there on the floor, Jaekyung cried. He tried to hold it in, but a sound escaped. Even though it would surely leak out past the door, he couldn’t help it. It was so hard. But even as he cried like that, no one came in. Not even the pheromones of the Alpha he was imprinted with.

◆

「Oh my, are you awake?」

Jaekyung blinked at the lady’s voice, which was filled with worry. The ceiling… it was a familiar ceiling. One he had seen many times… ah, it’s the house. But why is my head so foggy? Jaekyung blinked once more and, feeling a sting in his arm, tried to pull it.

「You shouldn’t do that while you’re on an IV drip.」

An IV drip? Jaekyung’s gaze shifted slightly upward. Indeed, there was an IV drip in the shape of a plastic pack hanging there.

「Why am I….」

「You were found collapsed this morning. Oh dear….」

He remembered lying face down on the bed and crying yesterday. But at that time, it was around 3:00 or 4:00 PM. But if it’s this morning, it means almost a whole day—just when did he collapse, and had no one cared about him until then? I suppose that’s only natural.

「Please excuse me for a moment.」

Perhaps the primary doctor hadn’t left yet. He opened the door at the perfect time and examined Jaekyung.

「Doctor. Why did I collapse?」

「Your physical strength hasn’t fully returned yet. So it seems you lost consciousness for a moment. You must do nothing for about three days, eat well, and rest well. If you collapse one more time, you will have no choice but to return to the hospital.」

「I see….」

「Then, I shall be going now.」

「Oh, thank you. I’ll see the doctor out.」

As the lady took the doctor out, Jaekyung just blinked his eyes while lying there, then closed them. He tried desperately not to turn his gaze on purpose. He tried not to look at Han Taesuk, who was leaning against the door. He hoped he could just fall asleep like this. But soon, feeling Han Taesuk’s pheromones creeping in, Jaekyung jumped up from his seat in a fright. And as he pulled out the IV needle stuck in his arm, he screamed.

「Don’t do it! I don’t need it! Your pheromones!!」

「Is that so?」

His voice is cold, and his gaze is sharp.

「Yes! I don’t need them. I’ll be fine once I finish the IV.」

「Hmm.」

Han Taesuk shrugged and withdrew his pheromones. Only then did Jaekyung realize that the only reason he could sit up like this was because of his pheromones. Once the protective shield surrounding his body vanished, his body collapsed in an instant and he tumbled back onto the bed. But he hated begging that man for pheromones so much. Why on earth did he do something like imprinting? If it weren’t for that, he might have been able to do something even with other pheromones, but now he was stuck—it had to be that man’s pheromones or nothing!