Pheromone Off Chapter 2

“Have you eaten?”

Hajin first checked the large refrigerator inside. As his hospitalizations became more frequent, Chairman Kwon’s appetite had grown incredibly small. It was at the point where Hajin had to personally boil the abalone porridge he liked and force-feed him for him to eat at least a little.

“Don’t think about taking care of a completely old man, and pay attention to your own skin-and-bones face instead.”

Chairman Kwon chided Hajin, who was checking on his meals as soon as he arrived, and pushed himself up further.

“No. I have to manage myself.”

“Manage what.”

“They say management is life if you want to become an actor.”

“An actor, seriously or whatever, are you really planning on doing that thing where you sell your face?”

Chairman Kwon knitted his brows and asked testily.

“Why? Your grandson does it too.”

Hajin shot back with a faint smile. After graduating from high school, Hajin had been seriously looking for something he could do to become independent. He didn’t have a skill he could learn right away, and he was racking his brains because time was too short to succeed through studying when someone scouted him on the street. Asking if he had any interest in trying out being a celebrity.

At that moment, he thought it wouldn’t be bad. He wasn’t the type of personality that liked standing out in front of people, but he was twenty now, and since he had become an adult, Hajin wanted to become independent from that house. Solely by his own ability. Though he didn’t know the first thing about acting, it was quite fun when he took on extra roles or minor parts as a part-time job.

“That punk Sabin is an exceptional fellow since he was a kid, so that’s why.”

Unlike him, who had just started out all alone, the youngest of the Kwon family, Kwon Sabin, was different. They said that even though he was a Dominant Alpha, all the adults mistook him for a Dominant Omega when they saw his face at birth because he was so beautiful. Even after growing up, his appearance was pretty for a man, to the point where everyone around him was in an uproar because they couldn’t get a piece of Kwon Sabin.

His mother, who suffered headaches because of that pretty face, routinely received inquiries for him to enter the entertainment industry or modeling proposals multiple times a day, so she ended up letting Kwon Sabin debut when he was young. Because all the high-and-mighty companies without exception took note of Kwon Sabin and aimed for him, his mother had given up in disgust. But they weren’t the only ones who aimed for him. When he was young, with a face prettier than female Omegas, attempted kidnapping incidents occurred several times. Thinking that it would be less noisy and less dangerous for Kwon Sabin’s fate if he became a public figure and sold his face instead, his mother ultimately had no choice but to give her permission. Thanks to that, Kwon Sabin had already appeared in many places from modeling to movies at a young age, and his fame was tremendous.

“Even if I’m not as much as him, I want to grow enough to earn my own keep.”

“Why are you looking to earn your keep there, you punk. You have this grandfather.”

“Is that why you did it?”

Hajin asked back with a vague smile. Sitting on the temporary chair near the bed, he organized the items Grandfather had left cluttered step by step.

At Hajin’s out-of-the-blue question, Chairman Kwon shut his mouth for a moment. Ahem, he let out a loud cough to clear his throat, and then continued in a deliberately subdued voice.

“It is all for you.”

“…Still, it makes no sense, Grandfather.”

“What do you mean it makes no sense. In any case, your marriage was destined since before you guys were born.”

He had heard that often enough to know. The fact that the two previous chairmen had blindly promised a marriage before their grandsons and granddaughters were even born.

“You know Sayoung hyung is dating Yeonwoo hyung.”

“Those two are mistaken. They naturally thought the destined marriage was between the two of them and made a fuss ahead of time.”

“Grandfather.”

“Hajin.”

At the sight of Hajin feeling burdened, Chairman Kwon grabbed Hajin’s hand. Chairman Kwon had especially cherished Hajin since he was young. It was because Hajin’s mother, Yu Gyeonghui, was a person who was no different from Chairman Kwon’s adopted daughter. She was a person Chairman Kwon, who had no daughters, cherished like a daughter, and since Hajin was the child such a Yu Gyeonghui gave her own life to give birth to, he couldn’t help but adore him. Moreover, since he was unfortunately born a Beta and was in a situation where he was despised and ignored from all sides, Chairman Kwon couldn’t help but feel exceptionally affectionate toward Hajin. All the more so when he saw him coming in today as well with half his face swollen up, checking on his grandfather’s meal first at the young age of twenty.

“Lately, this grandfather has been thinking of Gyeonghui quite a lot.”

“…Of my mother?”

“Yes. Seeing that my body isn’t like before either, it seems I don’t have that much time left.”

“What do you mean by that. Did they say your blood pressure is bad again? Could it be a complication…”

“Before worrying about a completely old grandfather, worry about yourself first.”

“Grandfather.”

“If I die, who do you think will look after you. Even while I have my two eyes wide open, they are the bastards who make your face like this.”

Chairman Kwon continued, glaring fiercely at his cheek that had been hit by Seong Suhyun.

“Once this old man disappears, the world is full of bastards who don’t know what they’ll do to you.”

“…Surely, what would they do. At most, it would be kicking me out.”

Hajin knew it too. The Beta child of a deceased second wife. Even though they had no need to hold onto him by force, the reason they at least put him on the family register, fed him, and housed him at the main house was all thanks to Chairman Kwon. Chairman Kwon watched over him with his eyes wide open to see how they treated Hajin, as if he were Hajin’s maternal grandfather. It was a fact known to both families that he especially adored Hajin.

“Fat chance. It’s because you’re still young that you don’t know. As soon as I die, they might sell you off to some rich perverted old man right away. Calling it a marriage business or whatever.”

Hajin blinked his eyes at the unexpected words.

“Ay, surely… not.”

“I hate everything about the way those Seong bastards behave and act, but the reason I’m watching over them is all because of your deceased grandfather and Gyeonghui.”

“…”

“So if I’m not around, shouldn’t someone protect you?”

“…It’s not like I’m a child or anything…”

“Besides, you, didn’t you like that fellow Sayoung?”

“G—Grandfather!”

Hajin hurriedly shook his head with wide eyes. It wasn’t because it was an absurd statement, but because he was shocked that he knew it, causing him to have a fit, but he shook his head violently as if it weren’t true.

“N—No. What are you talking about!”

“What do you mean no. Do you think this grandfather wouldn’t know that you’ve been hiding and watching Sayoung secretly since you were a kid?”

Chairman Kwon narrowed his eyes as if half-teasing and stared slyly at Hajin. Chairman Kwon was a man with amazing business acumen and solid capital power that raised a small mid-sized company into a major corporation. He was the very person who grew that industry alone and possessed great decisiveness; business-wise, he was an extremely strict and cold-headed human being who made even his own bloodlines compete from a young age.

Such a man acted exceptionally friendly like neighborhood grandfathers in front of Hajin. And for good reason, Hajin was a good-natured child who came to visit every time he was hospitalized and played baduk with him or read books to him so Grandfather wouldn’t be lonely. He even used to come diligently on Parents’ Day when he was young to pin flowers on him. On top of that, he was a young child who had just turned twenty, and Chairman Kwon knew very well what kind of abuse and cold treatment that young child had received while growing up.

“It is all a matter for your sake, so follow along without a word.”

Chairman Kwon added, as if persuading him.

“…Still, changing the will like that is…”

The reason the household was turned upside down was the news that Chairman Kwon had changed his will. But what was more surprising than that was the changed content.

The news that when his grandson Kwon Sayoung marries Seongsan Group’s Seong Hajin, he would be promoted to the position of director, of course, and inherit a 7% stake in HK Group. If it was a 7% stake, it was an enormous condition that could catch up to Kwon Sahui, who had surged ahead overwhelmingly in the current succession structure. In a word, the succession structure, which was as good as confirmed for Kwon Sahui, was being completely flipped over. With Kwon Sahui and Kwon Sayoung establishing a neck-and-neck succession structure, who would become the next chairman of HK Group would fully emerge to the surface.

Kwon Sahui was five years older than Kwon Sayoung, and because she was so outstandingly capable, even Kwon Sayoung, who was called a genius, could not easily catch up to her. That was a big weakness for Kwon Sayoung, and until Chairman Kwon changed his will, even Kwon Sayoung had not doubted that Kwon Sahui was the next successor. However, transferring that much of the group’s stake meant Chairman Kwon was giving Kwon Sayoung a chance to challenge for the position of chairman as well.

In other words, it was an opportunity given only if he married Hajin. It could only be a condition that Kwon Sayoung would covet.

Bang!

At that moment, the hospital room door burst open. Just as Hajin was hesitating and unable to say anything, a man who looked somewhat agitated appeared. Hajin temporarily lost his speech at the sight of the man who appeared out of nowhere. Coming in urgently, the edge of his coat fluttered. His styled hair was also a bit disheveled, and along with the sound of his ragged breathing, his deep voice cast downward.

“Chairman.”

It was a face Hajin knew well. At his characteristic cynical gaze, Hajin ended up tensing up without realizing it. He was that kind of existence. Someone who made him tense up by his existence alone. A sharply defined jawline, a coolly slashed mouth, deeply set eye sockets—he was a person born with an appearance that drew admiration, as well as an aura that bewitched people by his existence alone.