Pheromone Off Chapter 25

Among them, the absolute best was Seong Yeonwoo. Seong Yeonwoo was the precious, dearly cherished second son of the Seongsan Group, and he was that rare dominant Omega. In addition, his appearance was beautiful to a degree that couldn’t be compared with any of the prominent Omegas out there, and he even had a glamorous and respectable profession as the most famous pianist in the country. Was that all? As time passed, he would inherit the art center, which was one of the core lucrative businesses of the Seongsan Group, and he was a person who would receive more than half of the Seongsan Group’s shares as an inheritance alone.

Therefore, he was naturally a necessary figure to Kwon Sayoung, and he also had a fitting amount of affection for that partner. Since they had watched each other and lived like that for so long, it would be strange for it not to develop. And since he was a dominant Omega, their sexual compatibility was, of course, top-notch as well.

Due to the friendship between their families, he had also known long ago that promises of marriage had been tossed back and forth since childhood. Similar conditions, similar ages. If it were to happen, he expected that it would naturally be Seong Yeonwoo and Kwon Sayoung himself. Because Kwon Sayoung also thought of him as a not-bad partner, they had been getting along well straight through.

But to think that expectation would go astray like this. An illegitimate child of the Seongsan Group, not Seong Yeonwoo. Let alone the fact that he was the child of a concubine and not a dominant, his very trait was a Beta, which was entirely different. In Kwon Sayoung’s memory, Seong Hajin was nothing more than the ugly duckling of that house, the abused underdog of that house. To top it off, he was a fresh, young kid who had only just become an adult.

He knew his grandfather cherished him, but he never dreamed he would cherish him to the extent of forcing a marriage with himself. Unexpected events occurred in succession. Pushing aside Seong Yeonwoo, who was a perfect marriage partner by anyone’s standards, to take in the youngest of that house, who was absolutely nothing. Because of that, he thought his grandfather viewed him, who was trying to strike down and rise above Kwon Sahui, as a thorn in his eye. Otherwise, there was no way he would push aside that grand marriage partner and put forward that insignificant kid instead.

Kwon Sayoung looked down unpleasantly at Hajin, who was sleeping curled up as much as possible on top of the single-sized bed. He had explicitly told him to use the room next to the main bedroom. When he opened it, no one was there, so just in case, he went up to the second-floor guest room, and sure enough, he was sleeping there like a stranger.

Whether he should call it stubborn, or call it frustrating. Or whether it was all of the above.

‘I’ll come out soon, just wait a moment.’

A peaceful day. It was when he dropped by Seong Yeonwoo’s house to match the time they received tutoring together. While Kwon Sayoung was spending his time leisurely waiting for Seong Yeonwoo, who was still in the middle of preparing, a strange presence that got on his nerves was heard from somewhere. It became quiet right away, making him think it was an illusion, but feeling the inkling once more, he stood up from his seat and moved his steps toward the direction of the sound.

Due to his sharp nerves, Kwon Sayoung felt someone’s presence like a ghost. Crossing the empty living room, he walked deep into the hallway. As he drew closer toward the back door of the kitchen used by the employees, the presence was heard yet again. The space where he came to a stop like that was a place where a single adult woman could barely fit inside. A place where miscellaneous cleaning tool cabinets were kept. Kwon Sayoung, with his brow furrowed, opened the door with a click, just in case.

‘Gasp….’

There, a kid who was still far too young was squatting on top of a trash can. Covering his mouth with both hands, he was holding his breath with all his might.

‘What on earth is this…’

Would he be about ten years old now? But he looked much smaller and thinner than his peers. On top of that, he was crouching his body and shivering violently, completely terrified.

‘I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

The child bowed his head and apologized blindly with trembling eyes, without even knowing who the opponent was. Unable to hide his flustered look, Kwon Sayoung wiped down his mouth.

‘…Just what are you doing here.’

‘P-Please, please keep it a secret.’

Unsure of what was so horrifying, the young child scanned here and there while grabbing Kwon Sayoung’s leg and pleading.

‘On the first floor… I’m not supposed to come down to the first floor, but…’

‘…’

‘Because I was hungry… because I was hungry…’

He had heard that there was an abused underdog at Seongsan. He had only heard of it by word of mouth; Kwon Sayoung was seeing him for the first time. He did know that there was a fellow whose well-being his grandfather occasionally asked Chairman Seong about. The child of the woman who was no different from Chairman Kwon’s adopted daughter, Chairman Seong’s illegitimate child. The one Seong Suhyun would chew out with curses whenever he opened his mouth.

‘I won’t come down ever again, I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I’m sorry.’

To an opponent he didn’t even need to beg forgiveness from, to an opponent he didn’t even know, the young child was apologizing blindly. Like a habit. Seeing this sight, it was obvious.

‘You don’t need to be sorry to me.’

Detaching the child’s hand, Kwon Sayoung quietly continued his words.

‘My… it seems they treat you quite viciously.’

Seeing the wounds that were present even on the scrawny legs, Kwon Sayoung let out a short lament. He knew Seong Suhyun’s personality well enough by reputation, but he didn’t know he would act so mercilessly even toward a young kid like this. He felt like he understood at least a little bit of the reason why his grandfather cared.

‘Hey, what are you doing there?’

At that moment, Seong Suhyun, who seemed to have come down from the second floor, spotted Kwon Sayoung at the end of the hallway. At that instant, the child’s body convulsed like an aspen leaf. Letting out a short sigh, he covered the cleaning cabinet door and replied placidly.

‘To drink some water. Where’s Yeonwoo.’

When he turned the words around while pretending to be ignorant, Seong Suhyun answered as if it were no big deal.

‘He hasn’t come out yet? Ah, shit, but where did this bastard go.’

As if he had no further business, Seong Suhyun moved his body toward the entrance while chewing on a curse. Seeing that Seong Suhyun had vanished, when he opened the door for him again, the transparent pupils looking up at him were visible.

‘…He’s gone.’

As he tossed out the words casually, the child, with his lips trembling as if about to cry, dropped his head.

‘…Thank you.’

‘…’

‘Th… thank you.’

Just for pretending not to know once, that kid expressed his gratitude with all his heart. With a face brimming with tears, he delivered his sorrowful thanks.

It was a very distant memory. This was also a memory that had crossed his mind all of a sudden. Even after that, Seong Suhyun’s atrocities continued even as they aged, and it was the same even as the child gradually grew up. If they happened to cross paths once in a while, even then, that kid would become Seong Suhyun’s target, getting bullied or getting abused.

That kid was exactly the same even as he grew up. He didn’t rebel even once against ridiculous bullying. If he felt a mind close to sympathy when he was young, as he grew up, he merely thought he was stubborn. Why he acted so foolishly despite receiving that kind of treatment.

It was the same even now. Either way, if he had taken up the spot right next to him like this, he could just act arrogant on his own, and whether he ordered people around standing in his position or whatever, he could just act extravagantly. But even after a few days had passed, finding a trace of Hajin in this spacious house was like finding a needle on a sandy beach. On top of that, working because he needs money? Kwon Sayoung was so dumbfounded that words wouldn’t even come out. No matter how much of an abused underdog he was, he was the youngest of Seongsan, and no matter how much of a show they were putting on, he was a person currently living together with himself.

By all appearances, it seemed he didn’t know his position very well. Though accepting this fake show in the first place was a foolish choice. Everyone in the world knows his lover to be Seong Yeonwoo. Both sets of board members, and even the acquaintances connected business-wise. If all those countless people found out that the person who pushed aside Seong Yeonwoo was Seong Yeonwoo’s younger brother and a half-witted illegitimate child of Seongsan, all the arrows of criticism would completely go to him.

Letting out a short sigh, Kwon Sayoung pulled out a bundle of cash and a card from inside his wallet and placed them on top of the shelf next to the bed. Then, looking down once more at the opponent who was sleeping without letting out a single sound of breathing, he made a call somewhere.

“Secretary Jang, it’s me.”

The Secretary Jang he was speaking of yesterday was the attending secretary who served at Kwon Sayoung’s side. He was a person who took charge of the entirety of Kwon Sayoung’s household affairs and company work.

“Look into what company Seong Hajin belongs to. Look into the representative there and even the employee attached to Seong Hajin, too.”

Finishing the call briefly with only his business, Kwon Sayoung turned around. He didn’t know until when he would continue this show with that stubborn kid, but it felt like there wouldn’t be a moment to be bored.

‘You two… can’t you not sleep together…?’

The continuous occurrence of unexpected events was not over yet.

‘Ki, something like kissing… I won’t care about….’

Kwon Sayoung, who recalled the words Hajin brought up last night, let out another deflated laugh before heading out. To think he acts like a terrified colt right after being bold. It was hard to get a grasp on him. This is why kids these days….

Regretting shortly that he had let his guard down even for a moment thinking he was an easy opponent to control, Kwon Sayoung slipped out of the room.

࣪˖ ִֶָ🍇་༘

When Hajin woke up from his sleep, he was at a total loss for words at the change that had suddenly visited. First of all, the pile of cash and the card placed on top of the shelf was the first thing. Was it originally here? He pondered for a moment, but that wasn’t it. He knew full well that there was absolutely nothing there until yesterday, for certain. If so, there was only one person who would do this kind of thing. Did he leave it behind for him to use? In the first place, it was also puzzling that he had dropped by the room he was using on the second floor. He thought he would have absolutely no interest….

However, he didn’t have the audacity to use it brazenly, and since there were no separate words he had heard, he brought it back exactly as it was and placed it in his bedroom. Just in case he used it and the other could say something else later…. Seong Suhyun had done that kind of trick a few times before. When he used it because he was told to use it, the other treated him like a thief and locked him up in a room for several days. Of course, he knows that the person Kwon Sayoung wasn’t a person like Seong Suhyun, but…. With a lingering hope of anxiety in his heart, he had no choice but to bring it back and place it there.

The next thing was a phone call that suddenly came from the company.

While riding the subway and heading toward the filming set, the team leader who had recruited him into the company continued his words with a troubled voice.