Pheromone Off Chapter 35

“…Why are you being like this?”

“What am I doing.”

“Is something going on?”

“What are you talking about.”

“…Is it because of Hajin?”

It was a wild guess. Only then did Kwon Sayoung’s brow furrow nicely.

“What are you talking about.”

“Did you two sleep together?”

“Seong Yeonwoo.”

“Otherwise, why would you suddenly—!”

“Be quiet. Mother is inside.”

Kwon Sayoung warned him lowly. Seong Yeonwoo knew full well how fastidious Kwon Sayoung acted publicly out in the open.

“…Don’t make me feel hurt.”

“I told you. It will be hard.”

“It won’t be hard if you don’t act so complacent.”

“Is wanting to skip a cycle once really something to get that sensitive about?”

“Is an Alpha wanting to skip a rut a simple matter? Do you know how long it’s been since we last did it?”

Kwon Sayoung rubbed his face heavily, as if a bit exhausted by Seong Yeonwoo’s pressing.

“I don’t sleep with him.”

At his low words, Seong Yeonwoo’s anxiety-ridden face was swept over with absolute relief. But it was only for a moment.

“But I don’t sleep with you either.”

“…What?”

“Not until this whole thing is over. You endure it with medicine this time too. Or should I find you another Alpha? Just make sure the contraception is foolproof.”

“…Ha. You…”

Seong Yeonwoo let out a dumbfounded breath at his nonchalant words.

“It’s fine, since I don’t mind.”

“…Kwon Sayoung.”

“It’s not like it’s the first time.”

“…”

“It’s just like an estrus cycle that comes periodically anyway; if your eyes roll back, you can sleep with anyone. Just ensure there are no after-effects.”

“It sounds like you’re saying it doesn’t matter to you if I sleep with another Alpha.”

“I’m saying I’ll overlook it during your heat.”

“You need to treat me well right now. Even more than usual. Just now in front of me, you decided on an engagement outfit with my own brother, of all people. You acted tenderly. Do you know that?”

“I told you. It will be hard. So, if you want, I’ll let you go. I have at least that much of a conscience.”

Kwon Sayoung ran his hand roughly through his hair with a face mixed with annoyance. As the conversation grew increasingly heated, Hajin held his breath even further.

“…Hearing you say you’ll let me go so easily hurts me even more.”

Seong Yeonwoo’s fragile voice trembled faintly. At his hurt appearance, Kwon Sayoung let out a low sigh and quietly pulled Seong Yeonwoo into an embrace.

“…Ha.”

Seong Yeonwoo quietly buried his face in his chest. As he buried it, he resentfully pushed lightly against his chest over and over. It was a passive action of pushing away yet not pushing away. However, Kwon Sayoung did not back off and pulled him into a deeper embrace, taking advantage of the moment when no one was around. It was a hug that felt like a reluctant apology. Although Kwon Sayoung’s face looked complex, there was affection in that sequence of actions. It was an obvious thing, considering the time they had spent together.

Feeling a tight bond even while they bickered, Hajin couldn’t bring himself to step forward easily. From afar, he could see Madam Shim approaching after finishing her conversation. Hajin quickly hid his body. He had to keep hiding his body in front of those two. It felt like that was his role.

࣪˖ ִֶָ🍇་༘

“You drive Yeonwoo home.”

After confirming that everyone had come out of the restaurant, Hajin was also able to nonchalantly step outside. Madam Shim, who knew nothing, spoke casually while sorting through the inside of her handbag.

“She said she sent her driver back first because she followed us in our car.”

In any case, he had come in Madam Shim’s car, and since their direction back was the same, he had to move together with Madam Shim. Seong Yeonwoo was said to have sent the car back with the driver first while moving to the restaurant together with Madam Shim.

“No, Mother. I can just take a taxi.”

“A taxi, honestly. Should a child like you be roaming around carelessly by yourself.”

Seong Yeonwoo was no different from a public figure. He was a famous pianist, and before that, the second child of the Seongsan Group. Not only did he possess a rare dominant Omega trait, but he also had exceptionally striking beauty, so he was up and down in the media a lot, and most people recognized him. Because he could accidentally run into a bad Alpha, he always accompanied a driver or absolutely went around with a few bodyguards.

“…Right. I’ll drop you off, get in.”

Kwon Sayoung spoke nonchalantly, opening the rear seat door of his sedan, which a staff member had kept waiting in front of the restaurant. Seong Yeonwoo smiled as if unable to win, gave a polite bow to Madam Shim, and climbed into the seat.

“I’ll see you at home in the evening.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Kwon Sayoung replied lightly and threw a light eye greeting toward Seong Hajin, who was standing beside her. Hajin also met his eyes, smiling faintly as if he understood, and waved his hand heavily. Soon after, as he climbed into the opposite rear seat, the car departed with a smooth engine sound. Beyond the closing window, a subtle atmosphere that seemed to be the aftermath of the argument could be felt.

“Let’s go as well.”

Soon after, Madam Shim’s car arrived. The waiting staff member hurriedly opened the door for her, and Hajin walked around to the opposite side and took his seat. The car departed, and Hajin quietly chased his car fading away toward the opposite side through the side mirror visible beyond the window.

“Don’t look at it with displeasure.”

Just then, out of the silence, she suddenly spoke up. She seemed to have read his gaze.

“There’s nothing that can be done since the time those two spent together is vast. They didn’t break up because they hated each other, so the emotional lumps won’t disappear right away.”

As if she already knew or felt the emotions he experienced in this spot, Madam Shim used a tone that implied she knew everything.

“Since the one getting married is you anyway, you have to bear at least this much. In the first place, you were the one who brought up the words saying you wanted to do this marriage.”

The incorrect information had already spread thoroughly as if it were the truth. Not only was it too late to deny it further, but his liking for him was real, so it wasn’t entirely wrong either. Since that was also the reason Grandfather had purposefully chosen Kwon Sayoung as the partner.

Already resigned, Hajin kept his mouth shut and waited for her subsequent words.

“Still, it seems Sayoung does look after you. When the two of you suddenly said you were getting married, I actually wondered if you were just pretending.”

Hajin’s heart thudded deep down, but he hid his expression as much as possible and only looked down at the floor. Successively, her voice rang out inside the car interior again.

“At least twice a week, the family absolutely has dinner together.”

At the suddenly brought-up topic, Hajin tilted his head briefly. Before he could ask back, her words continued again.

“Unless there are unavoidable circumstances, everyone attends. And on the elders’ birthdays, we absolutely invite close relatives and business-wise close family members to a hotel banquet hall. The spouse of the household usually prepares those kinds of family events. Every time there is an event like that, from now on, you and I will do it together. Watch and learn.”

On the first day, it was something he hadn’t heard when he entered Doseondang.

“When you get married, company shares will be officially granted to you. It means that even if you don’t do company work, you become a member of our group. The media or those above will keep an eye on you. So you must absolutely be careful with your behavior.”

It was talk of the household delivered as if he were truly going to become a member now.

“As for me, the shares…”

“It is an unwritten rule set by the Chairman. It is a small portion, but it will increase as time goes on. Depending on how you perform.”

“…”

“He is stubborn and has a single-minded side to him, but there is no one like our father-in-law. That kind of stubbornness naturally develops as one ages. What household would readily hand over shares to an outsider who came from the outside. Wondering what kind of hidden agenda they might have. They measure and measure again until right before they die, and barely divide it as an inheritance. He is someone who spares nothing for his family. He was utterly devoted to our late mother-in-law too. At that age, in that position, our father-in-law must be the only one who didn’t take a concubine.”

“…That’s true. He is a truly wonderful person.”

“It’s just that he acts uniquely harsh only toward Sayoung….”

Whether that fact weighed on her a bit after all, Madam Shim held a brief dark face and then turned the conversation back.

“The reason I am staying quiet like this regarding my son’s matter is entirely because of the Chairman. Because I believe there must be a reason why the Chairman is pushing forward like this.”

Trust. The trust she held toward Grandfather was solid.

“So let’s get along well from now on.”

“…Ah, …yes. Yes, Mother.”

With a flustered face, Hajin nodded his head formally and repeatedly.

“There will be a lot to learn, and there will be many difficult things, so brace yourself.”

Suddenly, Kwon Sahui’s words came to mind. The remark that she was the coolest among the wives of her generation. It seemed those words weren’t wrong. Seeing her purposefully tell him this when he didn’t have a single pretty corner, Madam Shim was not a bad person either. Everyone in this household, though there were difficult points, were not dreadful people.

They were people different from his own family.

࣪˖ ִֶָ🍇་༘

Somehow, it was a hectic day. As soon as Hajin returned home, he moved his luggage from the second floor. The room next to the main bedroom was even more massive in area than the second-floor guest room. He couldn’t understand why two bedrooms were attached on the first floor, but thinking about it quietly, it seemed to be the consideration of the mother who took charge of this annex’s interior. She had apparently anticipated that they wouldn’t use the same room right after entering.

While organizing his luggage, the image of the two individuals embracing came to mind subconsciously. Suddenly recalling his words refusing to sleep together, Hajin rubbed the back of his neck for no reason.

Could the reason he purposefully refused it really be because of what he had said not long ago? Had he granted his absurd request where he brought up manners and asked him not to sleep together? Or had he intended to do that all along? But back then, he had expressed his opinion as if he disliked it. Rather, he had provoked him, telling him to present an alternative plan. It felt a bit like he was teasing him too.