#60

 

“Remove it.”

 

“……yes.”

 

The main character of chopsticks was Joo Tae-kang. Did he like shrimp? In front of the table with very little seafood, Joo Tae-kang was eating squid and fried shrimp exceptionally well.

 

Chairman Seong asked Joo Tae-kang while chewing the head of the shrimp fry.

 

“I heard you’re the one who sneaked a peek at Chanyoung.”

 

“Cough.”

 

Krugh. Joo Tae-kang spat out some rice that he had in his mouth in an ugly way. Unfortunately, Chae Yoon-chan, who was nearby, was mutilated.

 

“Ah! Hey, Joo Tar-kang! Hurry up and wipe it!”

 

“……I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

 

“I know it, so hurry up and clean it up!”

 

Chae Yoon-chan huffed and threw the tissue, which was nearby. While Joo Tae-kang pulled out a tissue and wiped it with the clatter of chopsticks, Chairman Seong’s attack continued.

 

“How funny is that every time you were grumbling about Chan-young following and bothering you, you turned out to be doing the same thing? What was it like to switch your positions?”

 

“……I’m sorry.”

 

“If you wanted to apologize, you shouldn’t have done something like that. Shouldn’t Chan-young be eating comfortably now?”

 

Certainly, my rice in the bowl had not been able to scoop out more than a few spoons. I was afraid I’d get indigestion, but I kept my mouth shut.

 

However, it was annoying that Joo Tae-kang saw this house.

 

“………you did?”

 

“He did. If you look through your memory, there must have been something strange.”

 

“Oh, I felt a strange energy on the way to bring General from the hospital.”

 

The energy that I thought I felt wrong was Joo Tae-kang. I was surprised to see the general enjoying the food. Not only my gut feeling, but the general’s reaction told me they came and went. Including the footprints.

 

“It must have been an alpha pheromone. I thought it was a strange spy to spray it on purpose.”

 

Chairman Seong put pressure on Joo Tae-kang as he sipped beef and seaweed soup. In the end, Joo Tae-kang couldn’t stand Chairman Seong’s momentum and stepped down under the pretext of going to the bathroom.

 

“And you were the one who gave me the information, Yoo Yi-seo, the out-of-wedlock son of the Yoo family.”

 

The next target was Yoo Yi-seo. Yoo Yi-seo merely continued eating with a sly face as if he knew nothing.

 

“Did I?”

 

Yoo Yi-seo, who completely denies the accusation that he dug behind me with a bright smile, poked at the food I wanted to eat with his skillful chopsticks. Just that act was like a fox, I was embarrassed by him.

 

“I don’t know how you handled it, but you didn’t leave a single piece of evidence clean. But your stepmother, who hates you, handed me the information.”

 

“……Aha.”

 

Yoo Yi-seo’s eyes changed as soon as he heard the word ‘stepmother’. He seemed to have changed from a sly fox to a polar bear ready to reveal its teeth and bite its prey. The ferocity flowed through the pheromones.

 

“So that woman blew it.”

 

“You aren’t even denying it?”

 

“The moment I heard the word ‘stepmother’, I would have already been convinced that it was true. Whatever you say, I’ll say it’s right.”

 

“So, it’s not you who found out about Chan-young?”

 

“No comment.”

 

“I see.”

 

If they close their mouth at a disadvantage, they are usually the culprit. I glared at Yoo Yi-seo and took away the chicken leg he was going to take.

 

“That’s what I was going to eat.”

 

“I had my eye on it first.”

 

I prepared enough chicken legs, but I didn’t want to hand them over to Yoo Yi-seo. If he was really the one who tracked me down, I couldn’t give him a chicken gutter, not even a chicken leg!

 

‘If it weren’t for you, I would have been happily eating chicken and beer by myself……. And going for a walk with the general every day.’

 

Even if I glared at him with spite, Yoo Yi-seo was calm. Rather, I got goosebumps when he winked at me.

 

“It’s nice to see you’re full of energy. Seong Chan-young ssi.”

 

This is provocation, right?

 

Chairman Seong was also angry when he saw it.

 

“Give it up, you out-of-wedlock child. Our Chan-young won’t like a guy like you.”

 

Wait a minute. Why is the story splashing out there? Is this the sadness that you feel because it’s an omega?

 

“Grandpa. Even if I wake up from death, I don’t have to talk about marriage with those alpha guys.”

 

“I know, but he looks at you like that!”

 

“No way! Seo Eun-soo is here!”

 

Ah, even if he mutated into Alpha, can’t you somehow love him just for his face and personality?

 

“He’s an alpha! You think they’re going to react to alpha?”

 

It’s a statement that would be infuriating to those who support Alpha X Alpha and Alpha X Beta couples. Love transcends borders and races, not just between omega and alpha.

 

‘No, but why am I arguing about this one by one?’

 

This is why I should have stayed away from this topic. Oh, my God. I’m so stupid.

 

“Excuse me? I think Seong Chan-young just called us alpha guys.”

 

“Be quiet, Yoo Yi-seo ssi.”

 

“It’s just my imagination, so don't hold on to each horsetail and hang on ^[1] 말꼬리 잡고 늘어지지 마라 means don’t pick at everything I say. . How unlike a man.”

 

While I, the flagship, was arguing with Chairman Seong, Yoo Yi-seo murmured something, but we ignored him cleanly.

 

“Chan-young ah, you are so pure that it is a problem. Why would the alphas come all the way down here?”

 

“Um…… It’s true that I have something to do, and they keep asking me if I’m sick.”

 

I couldn’t say anything embarrassing about how I came to identify the complex emotions I had. My words shadowed Chairman Seong’s face.

 

“Sick….. Are you okay?”

 

‘What’s this noise?’

 

Not only did they misunderstand, but Chairman Seong was also firmly mistaken that I was suffering from a disease.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“Don’t say that. Why did no one sneak out of the hospital when a child who wasn’t sick got sick from a seafood allergy? I was so worried then.”

 

“That’s why grandfather……I thought you came because you didn’t like me. It was all my misunderstanding to see you treat me warmly.”

 

Doctor Kim was right. At that time, I decided that I couldn’t trust anyone and moved out of the hospital immediately, but Chairman Seong was still sorry for Seong Chan-young, that he couldn’t even dare to visit me.

 

“Even so, moving in would not have changed.”

 

I was told so many times that I was sick that I needed to correct it. I wanted to stop listening to this topic. I felt like I was going to get a scab in my ear.

 

“I’m really fine. I didn’t come down here because I was sick. As I said, I came because I wanted to be free.”

 

“Really? Can I be relieved of this even if you don’t go to the hospital and get tested?”

 

“It’s true. If you’re really worried, I will go to the hospital for an examination.”

 

Chairman Seong rejoiced at my words without a hint of lies and shed tears around his eyes.

 

“…Grandpa?”

 

“Sob, I really. I really knew you were going to be like… this….”

 

He cried out loud while eating the food I had prepared. Honestly, it was so funny.

 

“I told you it’s not true. I’m fine!”

 

“Yes. And I didn’t trust you. I was worried that you had an incurable disease because it changed so much in one day.”

 

“……Then, was it out of sympathy for the sick that you tried to be nice to me until now?”

 

“How can you misinterpret the heart of a grandfather who is worried about his sick grandson!”

 

Chairman Seong’s words, which are nothing short of positive, hurt my heart. Because I’m no different from the real Seong Chan-young I’ve been sympathizing with.

 

‘It was really pathetic to keep comparing myself with Seong Chan-young.’

 

Instead of the guilt accumulated so far, embarrassment poured out.

 

‘What did I expect?’

 

The memory of being sick was lonely and forlorn. No one expected anything from me, and I just prayed that it wouldn’t hurt more.

 

– Will I be able to do something even if I’m all better?

 

The mere thought of it made me depressed. Even if I got better, I was a person who fell behind in many ways. The time I missed in pain did not return, and I had to grow up to be a dim human being.

 

I was conceited that I was wearing Seong Chan-young’s body. If what Chairman Seong was giving was compassion for his sick grandson, I didn’t want to receive it.

 

“Never. Even if it wasn’t for this case, I would have wanted to be on good terms with you again.”

 

“When was that?”

 

“…….”

 

I was sad to see Chairman Seong, who was speechless. In the original work, Chairman Seong was indifferent to Seong Chan-young throughout the whole story. If I hadn’t said that I was suddenly going down to the countryside to farm, I wouldn’t have thought of taking care of Seong Chan-young.

 

“You’re all mistaken that it’s time for me to die, and that’s why I’ve changed, right?”

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

No one could answer, and the taste of the food I was eating felt like I was chewing stones.

 

‘I worked so hard on the food…….’

 

The treatment of the original characters, which was not different from the previous one, made me cry. I was angry that even if I struggled hard, I couldn’t receive it more than being treated as a patient.

 

I put down the spoon with a bang.

 

“……Thank you for the meal. I’ll go in first.”

 

It was fortunate that I had a lot of rice left because I thought I would have an upset stomach. If I had eaten a lot, I would not be able to digest it and would have eventually vomited in the end.

 

“Chan-young ah!”

 

“Grandpa, the room you are going to stay in has been left empty and cleaned, so stay there. I’m tired; I’ll see you later.”

 

I heard more calling me from behind, looking for Sung Chan-young, but I ignored them.

 

‘Everyone was looking for me because they thought I was sick.’

 

I guess they thought I was a terminally ill patient. I now understand the psychology of the gongs. It bothered me that they were treating me so coldly, and I stuck with them with the thought of giving them a good fight, but I should have kicked them out a long time ago.

 

“Woof! Woof!”

 

General followed me. Normally, I would have hugged general and kissed him on the forehead, but now I didn’t have the energy to do that.

 

I went into my room, put the blanket over my head, and fled to sleep.

 

“Whines.”

 

“I’m sorry, General. But I’m so tired right now, so I don’t think I can sleep with you tonight. I’m sorry.”

 

“Whineeees.”

 

General went to my feet and curled up when I lay down with my whole body wrapped up like a caterpillar. It seemed like he was going to sleep with me without leaving my side.

 

‘What did I do…….’

 

Although it broke away from the flow of the original work, I was dejected that people changed simply because of the misunderstanding that I was about to die.

 

Feeling like all my efforts had been denied, I wanted to regurgitate everything I ate.

 

When I finally fell asleep with a depressed heart, I saw a strange scenery in my dream.

 

– Chan-young ah, don’t die!

 

The sound of my mother’s pleas I heard a lot when I was young. The sound of dad praying to the sky. I heard my brother and sister crying.

 

‘Is this from the past?’

 

When I was young, I passed the crisis of death many times, so I was insensitive to such a scene. Maybe it was because it was so hard at that time, but it didn’t matter.

 

‘……Huh?’

 

But this time it was a little different. I was not young on the bed that was covered in a haze.

 

‘Isn’t that a grown-up me?’

 

A scene that I had no memory of was seen as a dream.

 

• 1. 말꼬리 잡고 늘어지지 마라 means don’t pick at everything I say.