Pheromone Off Chapter 4

Because of that, the atmosphere in the house was truly freezing cold. Each time Jo Hwayeong, his father’s legal wife, ran into him, she would look away with a look of contempt or gulp down cold water as if her insides were burning up, and his father, Chairman Seong, would scan him up and down with a complicated face. And everyone was busy reading Seong Yeonwoo’s countenance. However, Seong Yeonwoo’s demeanor was not all that menacing. Whether he was trying to hide his distressed heart or his trust in Kwon Sayoung was steadfast, there was no way to know, but even in this kind of atmosphere, he went about his daily life as usual without being bothered.

But Hajin, for his part, could not help but feel vaguely uncomfortable. He was already distant and uncomfortable with the people in the house to begin with. Hajin felt so uncomfortable around Seong Yeonwoo that he even thought Seong Suhyun—who was transparent in the way he flew into violence and held contempt for him—was easier to deal with. Perhaps because he considered him the most precious existence in this household, an existence one must absolutely never offend, Hajin was particularly careful with his conduct in front of Seong Yeonwoo.

And he had no choice but to tense up at the subtle attitude with which he treated him. He didn’t openly dislike or hate him like Seong Suhyun, but there were things he could feel from the gaze that occasionally swept over him. The sense of disdain felt behind the smiling eyes. The fact that a gaze as if looking at something wretched was always underlying everything.

Yet, in front of other people, he acted like someone without discrimination. Of course, he didn’t lay hands on him like Seong Suhyun or pour out colorful vitriol, but it wasn’t at all that he cherished him as if caring for a younger brother in front of people either. Because of that double-sided image, Hajin found him even more uncomfortable. But due to this incident, that uncomfortable relationship evolved one step further.

“I heard you went to see Chairman Kwon a while ago.”

If you pass through the main gate, which is like the entrance of a sanctuary, at the Seongsan Group main house located in Pyeongchang-dong, you can encounter a total of three buildings. One is Jinhyunjae, a three-story building where Chairman Seong and his wife stay and live, then Yujeongjae, where the Seong twins and he stay, and finally, the slightly detached annex building was Seohyeonjae, a secretive building that Dominant Alphas and Dominant Omegas had continuously used. That place was somewhere the ancestors had used generation after generation, existing for the heat cycles that Alphas and Omegas go through. A place where pheromones were completely blocked so that no one would know whatever happened inside.

At any rate, because he was a child, he was staying in the same building as Seong Suhyun and Seong Yeonwoo, but he had been living almost like an invisible person. Quietly, so as not to catch their eyes. The twins’ bedrooms were on the first floor, and he was using a room at the very edge of the second floor. However, to head to the second floor, he had to pass through the central living room on the first floor, and of all things, Seong Yeonwoo was sitting in the seat of honor there, having a drink.

“What did you go there and say again?”

Seong Yeonwoo asked him once more when he didn’t answer. Hajin, who had been standing frozen, hesitated and quietly spoke up.

“…I told him to please withdraw the will.”

Hajin chewed on his lower lip. This moment, where he suddenly felt like a villain, was painful. On top of that, this situation where he had earned intense hatred from a person he absolutely must not offend was deeply uncomfortable.

“And?”

“…”

“Is he withdrawing it?”

Seong Yeonwoo, who had been tilting his glass without even glancing over this way, slowly pushed his body up. Then, carrying the glass filled with alcohol, he slowly approached Hajin. The closing distance felt burdensome, but for some reason, due to the threatening atmosphere, Hajin couldn’t move an inch.

“I’m still… persuading him.”

Hajin habitually shrank back. It was a habit that formed while living as quiet as a dead mouse in this house. Even though he had done nothing wrong, standing before Seong Suhyun and Seong Yeonwoo made him shrink automatically. While it was partly because he had been exposed to violence for a long time, the aura emanated by those so-called incredible Dominant Alphas and Dominant Omegas was on a completely different dimension from other ordinary people.

“Chairman Kwon called me today.”

At his words, which made him a layer more tense, Hajin looked at him with startled eyes for a moment, and then Seong Yeonwoo drew a faint smile.

“He told me to stop playing house with Sayoung….”

He muttered lowly as if talking to himself and couldn’t stop laughing as if it were absurd.

“Actually, I thought he would break his stubbornness soon.”

“…”

“Because the Chairman Kwon I know is that kind of person. A person who thinks highly of continuing the lineage. An old-fashioned person who puts all his effort into the marriage business for his child’s future, starting from the bloodline that carries on the lineage… how did such a gentleman… I really can’t understand this matter. No matter how much he adores you….”

As he continued speaking as if deep in thought, Seong Yeonwoo’s gaze, which had been blankly scanning the surroundings, landed precisely on Hajin. The instant a gaze filled with murderous intent and hostility flashed, swish! he swung the glass containing the alcohol. It was but a brief moment for the strong, bitter liquid to drench his face.

“Ugh.”

“Unless you pulled some trick by his side, I utterly can’t understand this situation.”

Because of the liquid that seeped inside his eyelids, Hajin covered his eyes and groaned in pain. But Seong Yeonwoo didn’t care and added with an expressionless face.

“In the meantime, I have respected you in my own way.”

“…”

“Whenever Suhyun bullied you, at least I didn’t add a hand further, and I didn’t try to kick you out for no reason.”

“…”

“But not anymore. If Grandfather keeps being stubborn, I am also going to try with all my might from now on, Hajin.”

A freezing cold gaze settled down on him. Whether he felt that the situation was not getting better but rather worsening, Seong Yeonwoo was flushed and grew impatient. Wiping his eyes roughly with his sleeve, Hajin could not hide his aggrieved feelings and opened his mouth.

“I… I didn’t do that. I didn’t say anything to Grandfather either—.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t know that you held Sayoung in your heart?”

At the sudden words, Hajin’s speech ground to a sudden halt.

“Well, since you’re young, I thought you could admire a person like him, so I let it pass. Every time you ran into him occasionally, even when your face turned red, and when you stared blankly with a stupid face, I just let it be. Because Sayoung is a man of that caliber. Enough that even insignificant kids like you can’t control your gaze.”

“…N—No… It’s not like that…”

“But I didn’t know it would be to this extent.”

“…”

“The party involved would surely love it if he knew. It would be unpleasant enough just getting entangled with a kid like you, but how terrible it will be if he’s told that you pulled a trick because you liked Sayoung. Sayoung tracks down and considers kids who are gloomy and don’t know their place like you to be the most dreadful thing.”

Seong Yeonwoo poured out bitter condemnation without filtration with a peaceful face. Like a person who knew all too well which condemnation would hurt him, he laid out only fatal stories. At that moment, a vibration rang out in the silence. Seong Yeonwoo, the owner of the vibration, took out his cell phone with a noble posture as if nothing had happened and checked the sender. His gaze checking it paused, and then he stared at him mindlessly again. Soon, Seong Yeonwoo, who took the call with a bright smile, said in a voice raised by one tone.

“Yeah, Sayoung.”

Only then, Hajin, who was able to understand the gaze that had swept over him, instantly trembled with an anxious look.

“I didn’t know Grandfather hated me that much.”

With the malice that had poured the strong liquor onto his face just a moment ago nowhere to be seen, Yeonwoo continued the call with a bitter and fragile appearance.

“What on earth did he hear that he’s suddenly acting like this…”

Seong Yeonwoo trailed off, glancing at him. Hajin bit his teeth hard, his lips trembling. Leaving aside being wronged, he became thoroughly tense for fear that Seong Yeonwoo might say something useless.

“Hajin did like you since a long time ago, indeed.”

Unfortunately, whether the opponent had no intention to cut him some slack, he poured out reckless words. Hajin grabbed Seong Yeonwoo’s arm with horrified eyes. Shaking his head violently, signaling no, that it wasn’t true, he expressed his intent, but Seong Yeonwoo watched his hand gripping his arm with contempt. Right after, Seong Yeonwoo, who shook off his arm as if brushing off a bug, continued speaking as if nothing was wrong.

“You didn’t know. Every time you came to our house, he stole glances at you secretly and things like that.”

Hajin clenched his fists tightly, his hands shivering violently.

“Since talks of marriage between you and me came out… whether he felt anxious, or whatever.”

“…It’s not true….”

Hajin muttered lowly. No matter what, a story he couldn’t even bring out with his own mouth yet, a story he intended to hide tightly until he died if possible, being conveyed to the opponent in this manner was truly detestable.

“What kind of request he made to Grandfather, right after Hajin came back from seeing Grandfather, he summoned me right away.”

“…It’s not true—!”

Sourcing some kind of courage, Hajin snatched the cell phone that was in his hand. The moment Seong Yeonwoo was temporarily flustered and tried to push Hajin away, Hajin bent his body to catch his cell phone which had fallen to the floor. At that moment, his body tottered, causing Seong Yeonwoo to lose his balance and fall, and a sharp groan cut through the air.

“Aaah!”

“What is this—!”

Seong Suhyun, who stepped into the living room right at that time, witnessed this scene, and hurriedly rushed to Seong Yeonwoo to support him. He looked on pins and needles for fear that even a single scratch might have occurred. However, Hajin, who had temporarily lost his reason, groped around and found the cell phone that had fallen to the floor.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

When Seong Suhyun asked worriedly while supporting Seong Yeonwoo, Seong Yeonwoo massaged the wrist he bumped into when falling and implicitly looked at Hajin. It was a gaze that accurately informed whose fault it was. In an instant, Seong Suhyun’s gaze shifted brutally. In the midst of that, his cell phone came into the eyes of the groping Hajin, and he extended his hand. But even before it could touch, Seong Suhyun’s kicking rained down.