KISS THE SCUMBAG Chapter 43

“Since it seems like there’s nothing left to say, could you please leave now? My child is sleeping.”

As Yujin pointedly glanced toward Angela, Winston shifted his gaze in the same direction. Seeing that Yujin was covering the ears of the still-sleeping child with both hands, Winston wore a menacing expression.

“Come out. We aren’t finished talking yet.”

Perhaps because of the child, his voice came out low and quiet. It was clear he was suppressing his emotions, but Yujin still didn’t budge.

“I said come out before I drag you out. Now.”

Winston spat out the words, grinding his teeth. His eyes turned a golden hue as he spoke. Just as Yujin felt chills run down his spine, Angela twitched in surprise and slowly opened her eyes.

“Daddy?”

As Yujin turned his gaze down in surprise, his daughter was pushing herself up, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“My, Angie.”

Yujin stuttered, not knowing what to do with his hands, which had been covering the child’s ears until that moment. Angela, who had tilted her head to look around, happened to make eye contact with Winston.

“Angie, um, well, that person is.”

Flustered, Yujin opened his mouth to try and explain, but nothing came to mind. In his desperation, he just mumbled vaguely.

“Um, Angie. That person is the owner of this house. You should say hello. Say hello to Mr. Campbell. Go on, hurry.”

Just as he was about to hug the child’s waist and attempt a slight bow, Yujin realized Angela’s reaction was strange.

“Angie?”

Before he could even ask what was wrong, Angela suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into Yujin’s arms.

“Daddy, Daddy, waaah!”

“Angie.”

He rushed to pull her into a hug, but unexpectedly, Angela gripped Yujin’s body and moved behind him.

Huh?

In this unforeseen situation, Yujin tried to pull the child forward to embrace her, but Angela resisted with all her might, trying to hide behind Yujin while crying even louder. Why on earth was she acting like this? Troubled, Yujin hesitated as he tried to soothe his daughter again. The child, hiding behind his waist, was staring at one side while trembling violently.

The direction of her gaze was clear. When Yujin slowly turned his head, he met eyes with Winston, who had a clear look of bewilderment on his face. He, too, realized it. The child was crying because of him.

“Get out. You’re scaring the child.”

Yujin said in a stern tone. Deep wrinkles creased Winston’s brow, but he did not retreat.

“I said get out! Close the door and disappear right now! Hurry!”

When he forced his voice up to shout, Winston let out a breath as if he were dumbfounded, then finally spoke.

“We aren’t finished. We’ll talk again soon.”

Saying this as if warning him through gritted teeth, he turned and grabbed the door handle. He had been worried, but fortunately, the sound of the door closing was very soft and peaceful. Yujin felt grateful just for the fact that Winston hadn’t taken his anger out on the door.

Once the two were finally alone, Yujin turned his arms to pull the child, who was still clinging tightly to his shirt, toward him.

“He’s gone now. You can come out.”

When he coaxed the child with a voice gentler than usual, she came out easily this time.

“Daddy.”

“Yes.”

Angela called to Yujin in a voice still tinged with sobs and wrapped her arms around his neck. Hugging the child and patting her back as if to say it was alright, Yujin asked cautiously.

“Why did you do that all of a sudden? Did you have a scary dream?”

“No,” the child shook her head.

“The smell…”

“Hmm? The smell?”

When he asked his daughter, who was mumbling and drawing out her words, Angela finally pulled her body away and looked into Yujin’s face.

“Couldn’t you feel it, Daddy? There was an incredibly sweet scent. It wasn’t the smell of snacks, and it wasn’t cake… it was a veery sweet smell. I think it was coming from that, um, Mr. Campbell from earlier.”

Pheromones.

Yujin immediately realized the identity of the scent. Even though he couldn’t smell it, Angela had no such issues, so she had clearly picked up the fragrance.

But to be so scared and trembling like this.

Perhaps because Yujin was an Omega, he hadn’t felt scared at all when he smelled Winston’s scent in the past. If anything, his scent had made Yujin feel so pleasant that he had even thought he wanted to smell it a little more.

Then why?

Something suddenly came to mind. When exactly did Angela wake up?

When Winston’s eyes turned gold.

Only then did Yujin realize. Angela had woken up, startled by that scent. Pheromones can seduce an opponent, but they can also threaten them. Winston’s scent, filled with rage, must have surely instilled fear in the child.

If only I could smell it, this wouldn’t have happened.

He was frustrated with his own dullness. Why didn’t he think of that? He had clearly seen his eye color change. Even if he couldn’t smell the scent, he could see it with his eyes. You idiot, you fool!

“It’s okay, Angie. Nothing will happen now.”

He was frustrated that those were the only words he had to soothe the child, but nothing would change. As for Yujin, all he could do was hold her tight until his daughter calmed down.

It was toward the end of that afternoon when the butler came to their room and told them to move their luggage.

“Move rooms? Why? Where to?”

When a bewildered Yujin asked one question after another, Angela, who was in his arms, clung to him tightly in fear. Yujin, too, hugged Angela’s body even tighter. Seeing them clinging to each other as if they were the only two people in the world, the butler replied with an expressionless face.

“It is Mr. Campbell’s order. He also said that this room should no longer be used and should be closed off.”

Hearing this, Yujin’s face turned pale in an instant. A flurry of thoughts passed through his head in a split second, but he couldn’t voice any of them. He swallowed hard, chose his words carefully, and opened his mouth.

“Then, we… where are we going?”

They might be moved to a room even worse than this one. He was fine, but he was worried about the child.

If push comes to shove, I should ask for a nice room at least for Angela…

Fear surged as he thought about standing up to Winston, but he decided to steel himself. If he avoided it, who would protect Angela?

To Yujin, who was looking at him with a determined expression, the butler said nothing more than, “This way,” and turned to leave. At that sight, Angela clung even tighter to Yujin.

“Daddy.”

“It’s okay, Angie. Daddy is here.”

Seeing the terrified voice, Yujin forced a brighter smile and kissed the child’s cheek. Angela nodded, “Okay,” but wouldn’t loosen the strength of her arms. Yujin also hugged the child as hard as he could and followed the butler’s lead. The butler, who naturally headed toward the central staircase, glanced back every now and then as if to check if Yujin was following well, but he walked ahead at a consistent speed without ever hesitating or stopping.

…Huh?

The moment they reached the top floor of the mansion, Yujin blinked in confusion. From what he had gathered, most of the rooms here were bedrooms or similar resting areas. Was there a room for us to use in a place like this…?

“This is the room.”

Just as his anxiety was snowballing because he couldn’t make sense of the situation, the butler suddenly stopped and turned toward them. Oh, he let out a silent exclamation of wonder. The room the butler opened was the one right at the very end—the room next to Winston’s.

No way, surely not…

Yujin walked forward hesitatingly, still feeling like he couldn’t believe it. He still felt dazed as he passed the butler, who had opened the door and stepped aside, and entered.

“Wow!”

The strength left Angela’s arms, which had been clinging to Yujin’s neck with all her might until then. The exclamation of joy she let out with wide, wonder-filled eyes brushed past Yujin’s ears.