Heavy Rain Chapter 26

Haejin fiddled with his arm where it had been held and took a step back. For a moment, the afterimage of the kid vanishing behind the curtain flashed before his eyes. Right now, he was even releasing pheromones that displayed an overt sense of rejection, which provoked him further.

To think he actually skipped his meal that day.

“We are going together.”

“…”

When he answered with a stubborn, annoyed tone, dissatisfaction immediately welled up in Haejin’s eyes. A sensation different from when the kid acted as if he had lived his whole life with those empty eyes invaded Lyle.

“Let us go.”

The secretary, who intervened appropriately, looked at Haejin while pointing to one side. Looking toward where the car was, the gazes of the mansion’s servants directed at him were sharp enough to pierce.

Under the weight of those uncomfortable stares, Haejin had to climb into Lyle’s car. As always, it would have been a command, not a suggestion.

Lyle looked at Haejin, who was letting out silent sighs, with a gaze that was almost a glare.

Since the moment they got into the car, the kid had been staring out the window the entire time. Pheromones thick with rejection drifted around him. It was practically as if he were flaunting his emotions at Lyle to an irritating degree.

For a while now, Lyle’s chest had felt tight as if his lungs were clogged. To point out those dense pheromones, Lyle took a deep breath. Then, a sudden, curious thought brushed through Lyle’s mind.

Were Haejin’s pheromones always this thick?

In the first place, the reason Haejin had stayed in his mansion for so long was because his pheromones were naturally very faint. Thanks to manifesting late even for an underdog Omega, Haejin did not seem to have a large quantity of pheromones to begin with. That was why, even though he was clumsy at controlling them like that, he had never grated on Lyle’s nerves until now.

Lyle frowned at the presence that had suddenly become strong. The moment he thought it was strange, he could no longer feel things the way he used to. The pheromones, growing increasingly thick, acted as if they would seize his lungs.

Because they were rushing toward winter, the temperature was dropping day by day. Yet, for some reason, Haejin was wearing a worn-out jacket.

Seeing that it was a cheap item Lyle wouldn’t even handle, let alone fit the season, it was likely clothes he had brought himself. Even the hem of the trousers seemed slightly short, exposing his scrawny, white ankles.

Lyle, who had been observing that appearance slowly while being submerged in the kid’s pheromones, creased his brow. It was a look where a rebellious spirit could be clearly felt, just like when he had closed the window before.

Is he holding a protest right now, acting as if he’s been kidnapped?

“Are you intentionally avoiding the clothes provided to you?”

Lyle knew it was a situation where one might have complaints. He had simply ignored them. Because that vivid rejection had begun to bother him more than anything else.

At the out-of-the-blue remark, Haejin, who had been staring blankly out the window, turned his head. Lyle was looking at him with a face that was extremely displeased.

It was unexpected, as this was the first time he had been criticized for his attire. However, Haejin soon countered calmly. Unfortunately, Haejin no longer had any reason to cater to his whims.

“They aren’t my belongings anyway.”

Pheromones that felt like a distinct wall conveyed more to him than a single word. It took only an instant for Lyle, who was already in a foul mood, to become even more perverse.

He recalled how the kid hadn’t even spared a glance at the compensation in the contract. As if anything he gave was meaningless.

“If they were provided, they are yours, so what kind of nonsense are you talking? Are you putting on a display of useless pride right now?”

“…Pride. No way.”

Haejin instinctively let out a bitter smile at Lyle’s words, which were no different from nonsense. Did Haejin have anything left that could be called pride? What remained in him now was simply the struggle to hold on. A faint stubbornness to at least not collapse again in this mansion and to walk out on his own two feet.

It wasn’t that Haejin wanted to look miserable by wearing clothes like this. It was just that from the day he ignored the servant’s theft of his clothes, the wardrobe began to empty. It had reached the point where, by this morning, all the thick clothes suitable for this season had disappeared.

Was this the price for ignoring the butler when he approached him with a forced smile, or was this also Lyle’s tacit approval?

“That is exactly what useless pride is. Wear what you are given.”

Whether he knew the circumstances or not, from Haejin’s perspective, it could only be an unpleasant matter. Why did Haejin have to listen to such accusations here?

He did not expect that things would change by tattling or anything of the sort. That was why Haejin did not bother telling Lyle about the contract violations that had been ongoing since the past. The experience of being thwarted the moment he tried to speak had broken him down every time.

But right now, he only wished for Lyle to shut his mouth. Inevitably, Haejin informed him of his situation dryly.

“There was nothing worth wearing in the wardrobe.”

Lyle, who did not know the circumstances, thought even in this moment that Haejin was simply rejecting him. It wasn’t long ago that he had told the butler to personally fill Haejin’s room. Since Haejin was speaking of things that could not exist within his common sense, only the thought of rebellion he had earlier kept swirling in his head.

Especially in a situation where Haejin was releasing such strong pheromones of refusal.

“Why. Were there no clothes worth selling this time?”

He asked Haejin, not hiding his mockery. Because he had even heard from the butler the fact that Haejin used to sell off the things he provided.

He had wondered how the kid managed without any living expenses, and now he felt like he could see the answer. Then again, no matter if food, clothing, and shelter were taken care of, wouldn’t it be difficult without money in hand? Recalling how the bank balance had been in that state, it was clear that even that had been a poor bit of resourcefulness.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I heard you sold off the clothes provided previously as well. Well, there were circumstances, so it isn’t as if I don’t understand.”

“I have never done such a thing.”

He had tried his best to understand his situation, but the face feigning innocence with such a flat expression was loathsome. In the end, unable to overcome his annoyance, Lyle frowned and pressed Haejin. Just how far was he supposed to play along?

“You’re being a nuisance and acting proud again. I’ll turn a blind eye, so cut out the pathetic excuses.”

Only after he finished speaking did Lyle click his tongue inwardly. It was because the thought flashed through his mind that it would have been better to just keep ignoring him as he had been.

If Haejin showed a sorrowful face again here, it was obvious that things would become cumbersome. He was repulsed by this very situation of having to soothe someone. As expected, he shouldn’t have included the clause in the contract saying it could be terminated at any time.

Haejin’s gaze, which had been about to return to the window, flew straight at Lyle. However, it was with a face so endlessly empty it seemed it could hold even the rain within it.

Suddenly, the thirst he had felt on some other day assailed him. Pushed by an unpleasant and unfamiliar emotion, Lyle chose the side of provoking Haejin more. Thinking instinctively that it would be better if the kid just got angry instead.

“Do you want to make more excuses?”

Watching Lyle, who had been displaying an incomprehensible fit of rage for a while, Haejin fell into thought.

He had felt it when Lyle sent that strange food through the butler, but it was clear that Lyle knew a certain amount about Haejin’s situation. Things like the fact that he couldn’t eat his meals or that his clothes were insufficient.

But that was all. Lyle had no intention of listening even if Haejin put the truth into words.

In the first place, it was natural to trust the words of the butler who had been loyal to him for a long time over Haejin’s. Haejin knew that too.

If so, who was it that made that butler act so harshly toward Haejin?

Haejin really did not want to resent Lyle. The emotion of resentment was too large and heavy for the current paper-thin Haejin to carry. So he just hoped Lyle would be thoroughly indifferent and not provoke him, but just let him go quietly.

For now, he wanted to keep the somehow convenient Haejin by his side, but he hoped Lyle would soon realize that it was different from before when he unconditionally endured. He hoped Lyle would naturally end the contract, saying that looking at it again, it wasn’t just convenient.

However, toward Lyle, who kept raking through the wounds he was trying his best to forget with harsh words, Haejin had no choice but to ask.

Could it really be that it wasn’t Lyle’s fault that the servants acted that way?

“My treatment in the mansion; did you personally command the butler to do that?”

“…You’re stating the obvious.”