Salt Society Chapter 53

Kihyun cut the guy off. He could feel Cho Yeonoh take a sharp breath. An irritable air clung to Yeonoh’s cheeks, making his face look haggard.

Cho Yeonoh looked anxious. He also looked uneasy. It seemed he was both. While the dark circles under his eyes couldn’t diminish the admiration his features usually commanded, it was true that his complexion was worse than before.

He probably hadn’t slept. Cho Yeonoh hadn’t been able to come to So Kihyun’s apartment yesterday or the day before. Cho Yeonoh’s insomnia was long-standing, and even knowing that, Kihyun felt less pity for him than usual.

The guy hesitated for a long time before finally opening his mouth.

“Why are you quitting the hospital?”

It was a mystery when that news had been delivered already. Judging by Bumhee’s reaction, she wouldn’t have said anything. Unlike with Team Leader Lim, it was fascinating how fast he was with hospital news, but Kihyun did not answer.

As if irritated by the lack of a response, Cho Yeonoh took another step closer to Kihyun.

“So Kihyun, why aren’t you answer—”

“Right. Now that I think about it, I’m sorry for that.”

“—What?”

At Kihyun’s sudden greeting, Cho Yeonoh looked at him with a furrowed brow. He seemed more flustered than angry. Kihyun pulled back his gaze, which had been scanning the guy’s brow.

Seeing his face up close was not pleasant. He was about to tell him to take the clothes left at the house since they had run into each other, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to say anything today. At least for today, he didn’t have the strength to face him.

However, the apology to Cho Yeonoh was sincere. He was a guy who had struggled, claiming he would set up and manage a hospital he had never cared about just because of him. How could he not know that sincerity? Kihyun was always grateful to Cho Yeonoh.

“I mean I’m sorry for making you go through the trouble of acquiring a hospital and all that when I was just going to quit like this.”

“What the fuck kind of bullshit is that, Kihyun?”

The guy, his brow heavily furrowed, replied with one corner of his mouth tilted mockingly. His temper seemed quite twisted.

I understand. Wasn’t it me who declared a break-up in front of a guy who had gone as far as pretending to date just to somehow maintain the bond between two people who were only friends? And twice at that. Kihyun understood Yeonoh.

“You’re right now, fu—. No, forget it. Why did you come here at this hour?”

I wanted to ask why he was here too, but Kihyun kept his mouth shut. This was because he couldn’t answer that he had something to confirm.

As if waiting for an answer, the guy examined Yeonsin Kihyun’s face. It was uncomfortable to feel his gaze sticking to his cheeks, his temples, the nape of his neck, and his chest. It was a tenacious and stubborn gaze. He looked as though he wouldn’t back down unless he was given an answer.

Hesitating over what to say, he opened his mouth.

“I left something behind before I resigned.”

“……What?”

Perhaps the excuse he managed to pull out was too flimsy, as the guy asked as if letting out a hollow breath. That single-word retort was so stiff it felt foreign. Kihyun, who had been avoiding his gaze the whole time, turned his head without realizing it. The moment they locked eyes, Kihyun’s eyes widened in surprise. Cho Yeonoh’s expression was frozen frighteningly.

“……”

Kihyun’s brow furrowed reflexively at the sight of a face pale as if he had received a shock. Their gazes entangled in the air, but no words followed. Cho Yeonoh watched Kihyun with estranged eyes, like someone who had encountered something impossible in an unexpected place. Standing frozen without being able to spit out a single word was unlike him.

“……”

Their gazes entangled once more. Cho Yeonoh’s complexion was still pale. It felt as though he was seeing him uniquely speechless more often between yesterday and today than ever before in his life.

Then, he began to wonder if something was wrong with him. Feeling concerned that a guy who would never be like that was acting particularly strange, Kihyun was about to take a step toward him, but he hesitated, feeling ridiculous for doing so after telling him to end the friendship. Then, with a sigh, he said.

“……I’m going first.”

The cell phone he was holding was lighting up. The reply from Bumhee must have arrived. He wanted to hurry to Bumhee’s house, explain the situation, and be introduced to a decent pheromone internal medicine clinic or an omega-specialized OB-GYN.

It was the moment he was about to turn around.

“You say you’re quitting, but do you have lingering feelings? Or what? It’s not like you came because your ankle hurts. Even if it hurts, go to another hospital. I’ll introduce you.”

Before those words could be fully understood, Kihyun’s brow furrowed. It was a reflexive reaction. He even felt that he shouldn’t listen to Cho Yeonoh’s words. He felt his brain warning him to just move his feet and leave this place right now.

However, the blade held by Cho Yeonoh’s tongue was faster than Kihyun’s clumsy ankles.

“Ah, was it uncomfortable to come when people were around, so you’ve been sneaking in and out like a rat in the middle of the night?”

“……What?”

Even though I heard what he said, I kept asking back. Kihyun stopped his steps and asked again.

“What are you saying right now—”

“I mean, isn’t it? Does someone, fuck, do business by digging up dirt? Is it enough to throw a resignation letter and leave after I even set up a hospital just to feed and support you?”

Only then did I understand what he was talking about. Cho Yeonoh, who was more ambitious about work than expected, could not understand people who worked half-heartedly. He meant something like that now. Kihyun replied with a sigh.

“Right, I’ve been saying I’m sorry for that since a while ago……”

“No, Kihyun.”

The guy smirked and rummaged through his pockets. Seeing what he was pulling out, it was a pack of cigarettes. He put one in his mouth after taking it out along with a Zippo lighter, and as he lit it, the flame illuminated half of his face while the rest remained submerged in darkness. I started to get annoyed, wondering what he was trying to do.

“I’m saying don’t make me think about the cost. Do you not understand me?”

“……What cost.”

“I’m talking about the cost of my efforts in setting up a hospital for the sake of a bastard who even threw away the common sense of working until his resignation is processed.”

He was right. However, Kihyun considered it a meaningless question as to who abandoned whom first between Cho Yeonoh and himself.

Cho Yeonoh, who told So Kihyun to break up after mistakenly thinking he had slept with another omega; So Kihyun, who declared they shouldn’t even see each other’s faces while hiding the fact that he was that omega. I thought only the dregs of unpleasant emotions remained between the two, but Cho Yeonoh was ridiculously talking about ethics.

Normally, Kihyun would have agreed that Cho Yeonoh’s words were correct. Because it was his fault for not showing up to work at the hospital immediately after resigning. That was a separate issue from breaking up with Cho Yeonoh.

But So Kihyun had heard too much today. Of course, that too was So Kihyun’s decision and responsibility. Sleeping with Cho Yeonoh and becoming pregnant with a child were both the results of his own actions.

However, the fact that So Kihyun had become an omega was entirely Cho Yeonoh’s fault. Thinking that far, there were no more words to share. Kihyun turned his body and walked away.

“So Kihyun.”

He heard the guy calling him from behind as if gnashing his teeth, but this time he did not stop. Perhaps anxious because the person who said he’d be back soon didn’t return, the man had gotten out of the car and was looking toward Kihyun and Cho Yeonoh.

Kihyun suppressed a sigh and headed that way. His ankles were as stiff as blocks of wood, but he thought it was better to limp in front of a stranger than to slow down, so he walked quickly.

“I’m not finished talking, Kihyun.”

His wrist was caught again. Kihyun couldn’t take it anymore and turned around to hit Cho Yeonoh’s chest hard.

“Don’t touch me, you son of a bitch.”

“What?”

“I told you not to touch me. Do you know how shitty I felt every time you touched me?”

Cho Yeonoh stood still and looked down at Kihyun. He had a blank face. Whether he did or not, Kihyun vomited out the insides he had suppressed for seven years. They were words that had festered inside and were giving off a stench.

“Don’t you remember treating a person like a dog in heat, saying if I’m frustrated while dating like it’s a child’s game, I should sleep with an omega? Do you, fuck, call that friendship?”

“……Watch your words.”

Kihyun didn’t stop the laughter that burst out.

“Do I have to watch my words and talk shit even at a time like this? Cho Yeonoh, tell me honestly. Pretending to accept me and doing that shit for seven years—wasn’t that just to screw me over?”

“So Kihyun—”

The guy, whose face had turned pale white, tried to grab his wrist again. Kihyun shook him off irritably and continued.

“You took your revenge right by my side.”

“……What?”

“You stayed by my side to get revenge on me for breaking the friendship you treasure so much.”

The guy froze in place. It was impossible to tell if it was the shock of having an aspect of himself revealed through another person’s mouth, or if he had been slashed by Kihyun’s words. Kihyun finally did not want to know anymore. Things like Cho Yeonoh’s circumstances.

—It probably went on for a long time. Whether unconsciously or consciously, an intense desire to make the partner his omega caused the beta to manifest as an omega. It is a rare occurrence. Most alphas lack the power for it, and even if they have such power, most lack the will.

The emergency room doctor’s words repeated in Kihyun’s mind. Those words were no different from saying that throughout his relationship with So Kihyun, Cho Yeonoh had wished for Kihyun to be an omega. Kihyun spat out toward Cho Yeonoh, who was just staring at him blankly, as if gnashing his teeth.

“It’s because you were so angry and felt it was so unfair that I dared to ruin your great friendship, so you held onto me under the guise of dating like children playing house. Wondering how it felt, thinking, dating isn’t much, right? It was better when we were friends, right?”