Pheromone Off Chapter 31

“You are going to marry Sayoung.”

“…”

“Sayoung is now a director at the HK Group headquarters. And you are that director’s spouse.”

“…That’s…”

“Instead of staying quiet, what on earth are you doing? An aspiring actor?”

As the atmosphere grew colder and colder, Hajin had no choice but to keep his mouth shut even tighter.

“Why don’t you go to college instead? I will give you as much financial support as you need.”

Hajin was completely pinned down under Madam Shim’s displeased gaze. Not knowing what answer would be the correct one, Hajin subconsciously glanced at Kwon Sayoung.

“He’s bad at studying. When he was in school, he was second to last.”

“…Hey…!”

Hajin urged Kwon Sabin in a whisper, as Sabin kept tossing out unnecessary information.

“And the one at the very bottom was me.”

At the added remark, Madam Shim glared at Kwon Sabin with eyes that asked if that was something to brag about.

“Then, I will make a position for you at the company—.”

“I have already spoken about that matter first.”

The moment Madam Shim started to speak again, Kwon Sayoung, who had been staying quiet, cut her off.

“What?”

“He is still young. Please let him do what he wants to do.”

“What are you saying too? Are you protecting him already because he’s your person?”

“Since Haesung is part of the company, it will be fine. I have instructed them to manage him well, so there won’t be anything in particular that will bring shame to our faces.”

Kwon Sayoung recited fluently with an expressionless face, as if he had expected this kind of reaction. Hajin looked up at him with a somewhat flustered face.

“If he were famous from the start like Sabin, that would be one thing. Why on earth would someone from our family do that kind of work out of desperation? If the Chairman finds out, it will be a disaster, so before that…”

“Ah, he already knows.”

This time, Hajin managed to speak up with difficulty. At that, Madam Shim’s face stiffened even further.

“…He knows?”

“Yes. …I told him.”

“And he gave his permission?”

“…Yes.”

“Ha.”

Madam Shim let out a cold, hollow laugh, turned her gaze away, and stared into space for a moment as if lost in thought. “He truly has amazing favoritism,” Madam Shim muttered lowly as if talking to herself, and then rose from her seat. Hajin, who had been watching her every reaction, reflexively stood up along with her.

“…If your father-in-law permitted it, what use is it for me to say anything. Act carefully so there is no noise. Don’t think that because I’m saying this, I have permitted it. I think it would be better for you to just stay home and support Sayoung as his spouse. Rather than doing that kind of thing.”

Madam Shim evaluated ruthlessly and threw her words ruthlessly. It wasn’t sharp, but it was chilly. They were words taken for granted as Kwon Sayoung’s partner, fiancé, and the person he was going to marry.

“Are you targeting me too?”

Just as he was about to shrink back even more, Kwon Sabin, who had been leaning deeply against his chair, suddenly threw out a question.

“What?”

When Madam Shim asked back with an uncomfortable face at the out-of-nowhere remark, Kwon Sabin countered with a nonchalant face.

“You called it ‘that kind of thing.’ Your youngest child is doing ‘that kind of work’ too, isn’t he?”

“You are different. You only started because everyone around you was making such a fuss for you to do it!”

“Either way, it’s the exact same thing as being a mere entertainer.”

“You were the main character as soon as you started. You were a star. The whole neighborhood, every household, everyone was only talking about you.”

Madam Shim got angry, telling him to compare things that were actually comparable.

“Well, that’s true. People around me were making a huge fuss, asking why I wasn’t becoming an actor, why I wasn’t becoming a celebrity.”

In the midst of that, Kwon Sabin spoke toward Hajin as if bragging. Hajin let out a hollow breath at his behavior, not knowing whether to call it thoughtless or childish.

“But how can anyone compare you to that child—.”

“Mother.”

When Kwon Sayoung called out in a low voice, Madam Shim cut off her excited tone, and let out a short sigh—huu—. Then, she continued speaking calmly again.

“In any case, behave yourself carefully. You heard what the Chairman said earlier. Be careful so there is no noise at all.”

Hajin nodded with a completely frozen face at the warning directed at him.

“Yes. I will be careful.”

“…Right. We will leave before lunchtime tomorrow, so come out on time.”

Having finished her business, Madam Shim spun around. The servant who had prepared the wine followed behind her. Only after she disappeared did Hajin let out a deep breath. He felt so uncomfortable that his stomach was turning, if not completely upside down. And suddenly, he glared resentfully at the very culprit who had brought up the topic of this conversation.

“What.”

What do you mean, what.

Hajin tightly pursed and bit his lips in displeasure.

“I think it suits him quite well.”

Just then, Kwon Sahui, who had been sparing her words and eating until the end, brought up an unexpected comment. Everyone looked toward Kwon Sahui as if asking what she meant.

“Hajin. Doing acting.”

“Him?”

“…Really?”

The former was Kwon Sabin, and the latter was Hajin. Kwon Sayoung didn’t open his mouth, but he looked at her as if he couldn’t understand those words.

“Yeah. He’s handsome. Even though he’s neither an Omega nor an Alpha.”

At the compliment, which he was hearing for the first time, Hajin’s lips twitched. He had been treated poorly many times for the reason that he wasn’t an Alpha or an Omega, but this was the first time he had been complimented.

“He’s not pretty like Yeonwoo, but he’s a bit… what should I say. Mysterious. Should I call it sexy?”

“Pardon…?”

When Hajin looked at her with a startled face at the sudden evaluation, Kwon Sahui, who was remarkably carefree for someone who had just said such a thing, laughed refreshingly and added to her words.

“If he even had pheromones, he would have made many Alphas and Omegas cry.”

Kwon Sahui let her words drift lightly and jumped up, as if all her business was done.

“Even if our mother acts like that, she’s the coolest among the wives of her generation. Don’t worry about it too much.”

“…Ah…”

“Since you’re doing it, do a good job. Sayoung, you give him plenty of backing. You’re close to Haesung anyway.”

Haesung was the CEO of the agency, Nexon. It seemed that the truly cool one was none other than Kwon Sahui. Kwon Sahui was the only person who threw out compliments he hadn’t heard his entire life and offered comfort as if it were no big deal.

“Th-thank you.”

Hajin bowed his head deeply and greeted her. At the thanks that welled up from the bottom of his heart, Kwon Sahui laughed heartily, said goodbye ahead of them, and walked sluggishly out of the dining room.

“…He would make many cry?”

As if Kwon Sahui’s evaluation was questionable, Kwon Sayoung’s doubting gaze turned toward Hajin.

“Hey, sexy my foot. Has that noona gone crazy?”

Kwon Sabin glared at Hajin, sounding dumbfounded to the point of stuttering. Under the gazes of the two men scanning him, Hajin quietly pulled his body back. Not wanting to receive their gazes, which were always cold to him, he stood up from his seat as the next runner.

“…Thank you for the meal.”

And after bowing to the servants who were waiting to clear the table, he left the place first.

࣪˖ ִֶָ🍇་༘

Because of the lunch appointment with Madam Shim, Hajin woke up and moved from early morning. Waking up early, he washed thoroughly and set his hair with more care than usual. Then, he dressed in his best clothes for going out and checked the mirror.

Hajin took the words Kwon Sayoung had said yesterday as advice. Even though he felt a bit upset, they weren’t wrong. No matter how miserably he had lived, as long as he remained his partner, it was right to behave according to his level. It was a part he hadn’t thought about. He had only thought that what appeared to others was important, and hadn’t expected that he would care about his financial situation or the minute details of his behavior. He was quite a meticulous man. But he could have said it a bit more softly.

Recalling the image of him pushing him into a corner, Hajin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Nothing was ever easy. While checking the mirror, Hajin carefully examined his own face as he stood there with an awkward expression. Today was a spot where he would see his mother outside, the three of them together. Realizing that there were many more parts he needed to pay attention to in various ways, Hajin practiced a smiling face in front of the mirror. As someone who supposedly dreams of being an actor, how could he not even do this? Hajin repeated smiling softly, then smiling with his eyes.

“Hyung.”

He tried calling out affectionately,

“…Hyuuung.”

And he also tried calling out with a bit of cuteness mixed in, as Hajin pondered for a moment. In any case, it would be good to show a somewhat affectionate appearance… but overdoing it too much might also look excessive…

“Sayoung-hyung. Sayoung hyung. …Sayoung-ah.”

Hajin called out several times while immersing himself, and at the informal speech that popped out, he let out a faint laugh by himself. Just as he turned his body around, letting out a dumbfounded breath at what on earth he was doing, he almost fell backward in shock.

“I suppose you want to talk to me on equal terms?”

Before he knew it, the bedroom door was halfway open, and he was leaning against the gap of that open door, watching him. Hajin stared at him with wide eyes.

“Wh-when did you—”

“Since before you cheekily started throwing around my name without honorifics?”

“Ah…. That was just while practicing… I’m sorry.”

Hajin hid his face in embarrassment and bowed his waist deeply to apologize.

“I like the second one though.”

Pardon…?

At the out-of-nowhere answer, Hajin thought with a temporarily bewildered face, when suddenly the image of himself calling him with cuteness mixed in came to mind. Ah, he saw it…. Hajin nervously scratched his fingertips with a face that grew even redder.

“Ah… th-that is.”

“Just a joke.”

At the sight of Hajin being noticeably embarrassed, he laughed lightly and brushed the situation off. Hajin fiddled around his face to cool down the slight heat that had risen, and awkwardly changed the subject.

“…But why are you here…”

“How long are you going to stay in here?”

At his business, Hajin let out a brief lamentation.