Salt Society Chapter 71

“That is…. It seems he is the type to experience some side effects, but it is not a problem with the fetus; there might just be a slight issue for Mr. An Dangchan. It is nothing seriously painful, but his dizziness accompanied by anemia might worsen. I will prescribe some iron supplements, so please take them consistently.”

He had heard that male pregnant expectant parents rarely need to take separate iron supplements because they have more musculoskeletal mass than female bodies despite the difficulty of childbirth, but it seemed something was wrong because of the pheromone supplements.

Still, since it was not bad for the baby, he nodded and left, heading toward the pharmacy. After handing over the prescription and receiving the prepared medicine, he pulled out a 50,000-won bill to pay, and the pharmacist asked if he wanted a cash receipt. That was the one thing he absolutely should not do right now, so he shook his head.

Walking toward the scooter parked in the public parking lot, he saw a local elementary school student running by while eating a rice cake skewer, and he felt a wave of hunger. Suddenly, he wanted a rice cake skewer so badly that he couldn’t see anything else.

“I am going to become a pig.”

Kihyun muttered in disbelief, and as he approached a nearby snack bar, sure enough, they were selling something that looked exactly like the rice cake skewer the student had been holding. The owner said welcome, so he ordered four rice cake skewers, one serving of tteokbokki, one serving of sundae mixed with innards, two fried seaweed rolls, and two empty dumplings, asking for them to be tossed in the sauce.

“Oh my, the weather is hot, so come inside and eat.”

“It is okay. I will eat quickly and go.”

He replied while ordering a cider. Just as Kihyun predicted, the tteokbokki, sundae, and fried snacks were gone in no time. Kihyun, who had quickly finished the three rice cake skewers the owner gave him before slicing the sundae, reached out for the last remaining rice cake skewer and then lowered his head at the gaze staring intently at him. Two elementary school students were looking up at Kihyun.

“Excuse me, Mister, are you filming an eating show?”

“No.”

Kihyun shook his head. Then, in one bite, he pulled off and ate the three rice cakes stuck on the skewer. The elementary school students questioned him again as if they didn’t believe Kihyun’s words.

“But why are you eating so much? You get in trouble if you eat too many snacks before dinner.”

Pulling off the last remaining rice cake on the skewer, Kihyun retorted.

“Mister can eat this and still eat a lot for dinner, so I do not get in trouble.”

“Aww….”

The children made a pff sound as if telling him not to lie. Whether they did or not, Kihyun threw the skewer in the trash and paid.

“Owner, please give these kids a slushie each.”

When he even paid for the cola-flavored and Fanta-flavored slushies for the kids, the children went “Uh-oh” in surprise.

“They told us not to eat things given by strangers!”

“Do you not know the owner here?”

“We know her!”

“The owner is giving it to you, not me. It is someone you know giving it to you.”

Then, with a smile, he took the change from the owner’s hand, stuffed it into his pocket, and headed toward the parking lot again.

The way home was the same as always. Because the greenery had become more lush with the rain, Kihyun occasionally thought of the garden at Cho Yeonoh’s house that he had visited when he was young. …Now that he thought about it, he had come down without even saying goodbye to Yeongwon, the fellow’s mother. Since he received kimchi from her every season, she would surely wonder if he didn’t take any. Even if he didn’t go to get it himself, he had at least offered his greetings every time he received it.

It was obvious she would be upset if she tried calling and it said it was a disconnected number, but it couldn’t be helped.

Vroom, the scooter with its lackluster speed ran along the country road where the yellow center line remained like a trace.

“Oh, Yeonoh.”

The reason he hesitated and stopped instead of just passing by was that lately, he had been unable to sleep and his nerves were sensitive, so he realized there was a record of him receiving treatment at the hospital Yeongwon had practically begged him to go to.

The diagnosis the doctor gave was severe insomnia and relapsed depression. Since he already had the diagnosis in hand, it meant it was perfectly fine to claim mental and physical weakness even if he threw a punch at his cousin’s face. He was getting tired of hitting a punching bag, and it seemed his grandfather wouldn’t say much even if he beat Cho Yeonsin, who appeared as if he had dropped from the sky, into a pulp.

His grandfather’s nagging was all fucking annoying, but being bothered was the most fucking annoying of all. Last time, when he was called and asked why on earth he had caused such a riot in Cho Seongheon’s hospital room, he said it was a pity to just skip Parents’ Day so he was teaching him golf swing motions, and he got slapped a couple of times.

Dealing with the rich madams who came to spend money while his lip was burst was quite awkward, so he left the painting sales only to the curator, which caused sales to plummet, making him feel pretty bad in various ways.

So, he only slightly curled the corners of his mouth and laughed.

“Oh, hyung, I see you here? But you have eye crust.”

He watched with a grin as Cho Yeonsin smiled faintly and pretended nothing was wrong while touching the inner corner of his eye, and then added a word.

“The other side.”

Only then did Cho Yeonsin’s face turn uncontrollably red. Even watching that sight, he didn’t feel refreshed. Lately, the provocations happening around Cho Yeonoh tended to have a dry, tasteless quality like this.

He had accepted the greeting with the intent to hit the person, but sensing that it would be equally withered whether he hit him with words or fists, he already wanted to give up on the conversation.

He would have done so if it weren’t for Cho Yeonsin’s next words.

“You, lately…. I guess you do not hang out with that friend from back then?”

Hmm, no. It seemed okay to hit that guy a bit today. Cho Yeonoh shrugged his shoulders. It was as if he had finished preparations to throw a punch at any moment, loosening his stiff neck muscles.

“Why are you asking that, hyung? If your lower body is bored, call some players. Whether you eat them up, get eaten, or play a train game, do it on your own.”

“No, just….”

As if he hadn’t aged in vain, Cho Yeonsin answered well with a smirk. He thought that not showing signs of being insulted was indeed better compared to other male cousins whose heads were filled only with fertilizer. Even so, his unnies must be much more outstanding than Cho Yeonsin, but because they were recessive Alphas, his grandfather was giving Cho Yeonsin a bit more power. Even so, Cho Yeonsin was also an ambiguous existence stuck between dominant and recessive Alphas.

“Just wondering if your friend is doing well….”

The sight of him smirking was more like Cho Seongheon than his own father, Cho Seongcheol, which completely ruined his mood. There needs to be a justification to hit him when the opponent accepts the provocation, but since he just laughs, his temper flares for no reason. There seemed to be a reason for him lingering around, and since he clearly looked like he was trying to probe for something, he was too bothered to deal with him further.

Anyway, he was just about to go home after being dragged to a seat called by a congressman who had bought a painting at a bargain price last month, asking to have a meal once.

Nine times out of ten, when Naban Gallery lets go of a painting at a bargain price, it is for a bribe to be offered to the other party. It is to cover the cost of the painting through betting golf or Hwatu with several thousand per point, and then have them purchase a famous artist’s painting with that money.

After issuing a receipt and delivering the painting to the house, if the cost of purchasing the painting is also included in a wine box as a gift, one hundred percent of them would stick out their tongues and pant in front of Cho Yeonoh, asking for more food.

However, those who had eaten the country’s bread ignored him as just a merchant even if he was from a chaebol family, and subtly asserted their pride, so they were very tricky to handle until they were tamed with bait.

Today as well, he was out at a fine dining restaurant attached to a hotel to attend to the congressman, asking for a law revision related to patent rights.

After living out of his mind for a while, Cho Gyudeok had finally started threatening him using Yeongwon.

—Do not do things that make your parents suffer. Would she want to bow even to the doorframe of this house? Is she not working hard and living all for your sake.

When he brought up such words as if to advise him, he got annoyed, and his grandfather shouted at him to get lost as he didn’t even want to see his face. As he left, he grumbled to Cho Gyudeok’s secretary.

—I wonder if his hearing aid is broken since he was screaming at someone who can hear well; please take him to the otolaryngology department. Is it not a waste to pay health insurance premiums every month? How much could it possibly cost to change that….

Then, an ashtray flew toward the vicinity of the door once more. This time, it was an ashtray made of crystal. Oops, I guess he hears well, he thought, and as he was about to leave the house, his grandfather screamed with rage until the end.

Anyway, it was a seat he came to because he was tired of all the threats held over his mother. For the past ten days, Cho Yeonoh had a total of six meals and slept for about 34 hours, and spent the rest of his time sweeping and wiping his own house, So Kihyun’s Seoul apartment, and the Ilsan villa.

His mental health was in a significantly bad state. From the position of serving, he had to rub his palms until his fingerprints were all worn out, but there were many difficulties. It was a tiring task even in a sane state, but it was very bothersome that the other party brought an Omega and sat them down, saying he would introduce someone or whatever.

—But is the old man really fucking strange? No matter how much I rattle my balls in front of the old man, is he telling me to do that show even in front of a person I am meeting for the first time? This is, fuck, looking at me too much like a pushover.

—Hey, why is Director Cho’s speech so harsh. This is our youngest. Since Director Cho said he would buy something delicious, I brought the kid who was at home; is it so hard to set one more set of silverware?

Cho Yeonoh had brought the ginkgo nut skewer sewn with pine needles to his mouth, and then smirked with only the pine needles bitten between his lips. You’ve gone fucking crazy, holy shit. If it were truly the congressman’s child, there is no way he wouldn’t know.