At the End of That Memory Chapter 33

“…”

I blinked slowly in bewilderment. No matter how well-positioned he was, I couldn’t listen to someone addressing me as ‘hey’. When I closed my mouth wondering what this meant, Kwon Yijung subtly twisted the corners of his mouth.

“You’re Kwon Yido’s that, right?”

“…”

It couldn’t have been a completely absurd expression. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what he meant, but it was too rude for him to use such an expression with someone he just met. Kwon Yido also spoke bluntly, but I never felt this way.

“Wow, I never thought we’d meet in a place like this.”

Kwon Yijung smiled, squinting his eyes as if he was really surprised. He had a soft appearance, just like his father, but it was the first time I realized that he could look so rude. He was criticized in the media for being the epitome of a chaebol, to the point where I thought it might not be for no reason.

“Hey, why are you so quiet? Don’t know me?”

“…No, I know.”

First of all, I could barely move my lips, which did not move calmly. I still felt a sense of rejection for no reason, but it wasn’t difficult to pretend like nothing was wrong. I smiled with a kind face and softened my voice.

“It’s an honor to meet you. Representative Kwon Yijung. I am Jung Sejin, former Director of Haeshin Financial Group.”

It wasn’t my role to shake hands. So I just greeted him politely, but Kwon Yijung narrowed his eyes as if he had just heard something interesting.

“Ah…Did they instruct us to act like strangers today?”

“…”

“Okay, then. This is Kwon Yijung, CEO of Myungsung Hotel. I’m sorry to meet you in such squalor.”

As if he had never spoken informally before, he quickly adopted a refined tone. His unusual accent and pronunciation were similar to Kwon Yido’s, but unlike him, he was extremely annoying. He put both hands in his pockets and smiled.

“However…Can an Omega come into the men’s bathroom?”

The gaze slowly scanning gave me goosebumps. Kwon Yijung looked at me as if making an open review and lightly shrugged his shoulders. I lost my appetite.

“No, technically…If you’re an Omega man, what if I run into an embarrassing situation while doing something next to you? Opening your pants in such a place is a bit….”

A dirty pheromone slowly flowed towards me. There was more than one point to point out, but I couldn’t say anything and just clenched my fists. Not because I heard something insulting, but because it felt like those pheromones were grabbing my throat.

“…”

To be clear, it wasn’t a strong enough presence to have an impact. I was dominant, and he was the only recessive one among the three siblings. This meant that no matter how much pheromones he sprayed, I might not even blink. But I didn’t know why I felt so tense that I couldn’t breathe.

“Ah…Or was that what you expected? Are you hoping to meet an Alpha by chance? Mr. Jung, is that so?”

Kwon Yijung’s words buzzed in my ears. It didn’t matter why he was acting like this or why he kept trying to provoke me. I couldn’t breathe well, and my mind was becoming blurry to the point where my vision was blurry.

“You’re not dumb, why haven’t you answered me since earlier? Hey, Sejin Jung. Am I talking to myself now?”

“…”

I felt like I was going to break into a cold sweat at any moment. If I let go of the tension just a little bit, I felt like I would lose my mind. That feeling of anxiety worsened as Kwon Yijung’s pheromones became stronger and as he came closer to me.

“Director.”

“…”

Suddenly, I raised my head. This is because someone else’s voice, not Kwon Yijung’s, penetrated between us. As my gaze slowly shifted, I saw Lee Taeseong entering the bathroom entrance.

“I’m sorry for interrupting while you were talking, but I think you’ll have to hurry.”

“…Ah.”

I felt like I could breathe freely. It would have been the same even if there was someone else rather than Lee Taeseong. I felt like my blood was pumping just because I came out of a situation from where it was just the two of us.

“What, you’re an Omega and you bring a bodyguard to the bathroom?”

It didn’t matter what Kwon Yijung said with her unpleasant face. I took a deep breath and smiled, which was already a habit. When I gently opened my eyes, Kwon Yijung raised his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, Mr.CEO. I will greet you formally next time. It must have been inconvenient since I was here, but I hope you can go about your business comfortably now.”

I bowed slightly and left the bathroom before Taeseong Lee. Lee Taeseong also bowed to Kwon Yijung and followed me closely. I had been walking with my mouth shut, but as soon as I stood in front of the empty elevator, I stumbled greatly.

“…!”

Lee Taeseong was startled and grabbed my arm. Normally I would have declined and said it was okay, but I just couldn’t do that this time. My fingertips were shaking, and if it weren’t for him, I would have collapsed on the floor in disgust.

“Are you okay?”

“…Oh, it’s okay.”

Really, there was no reason for me not to be okay. I just heard a few one-sided words, and it wasn’t anything that made me angry. It was just because I was so nervous that I couldn’t understand myself.

“It’s okay… Let’s just do this for a moment. I don’t have much strength in my legs.”

“…”

He supported me from behind without much effort. When the elevator arrived at the lobby floor, he carefully lifted me and placed me inside. It was a separate elevator used only by guests, so there was no one inside.

“…Haa.”

I sighed softly and touched my cold forehead. As I leaned back a little more comfortably, Lee Taeseong flinched and opened his mouth.

“Sorry. I hesitated because I thought it would look strange if I followed right in.”

“…What does Lee Taeseong have to be sorry about?”

It was not like I was harmed, and could bodyguards even follow people into the bathroom? Lee Taeseong would have recognized Kwon Yijung’s face, so it would have been even more difficult for him to come in right away.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I avoided a difficult situation.”

I forced my legs and straightened my body. Lee Taeseong was still holding my arms tightly. I was about to say that he could let me go now, but he spoke in a more subdued voice.

“What you heard in the bathroom…I hope you don’t take it to heart.”

“Did you hear what we were talking about?”

“…”

“I heard.”

I laughed for no reason. Perhaps Lee Taeseong deemed me as a weak person who could be swayed by a few words. So, he must have quietly observed my thoughts and added an excuse.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“Well…It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t such a big deal.”

“…Does this happen often?”

“More than what you think?”

There were a lot of people, not just Kwon Yijung, who spewed insults just because I was an “Omega.” I couldn’t say anything because of my social position and I also knew that unspeakable rumors were being exchanged behind my backs. To begin with, didn’t even my father and Minjae use a lot of crass language that others would frown upon hearing?

“It might be strange for a man to be an omega.”

Ding, the elevator door opened. Lee Taeseong only then let go of my arm. It looked like he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, as soon as I took a step, I heard someone calling me.

“…Jung Sejin?”

I felt a familiar scent of perfume. Slight aroma and artificial scent such as hairspray. It wasn’t an unpleasant kind, but the scent was a bit unpleasant to breathe because it was mixed with many artificial things.

“Jung Sejin, you…”

It was Minjae.

* * *

Myungsung Hotel had a total of three halls, each with a different constellation name. The place where the banquet hall was located was Libra Hall, which means Libra, and as the name suggests, there were lights on the ceiling that looked like embroidered stars. I took in that beautiful sight with my eyes and tried to ignore the looks that followed my face.

“…”

Minjae, whom I met in front of the elevator a little while ago, glared at me with angry eyes to the banquet hall. He looked like he was dissatisfied, but I couldn’t understand why he was giving me this look. The last time I saw Minjae, hadn’t we parted ways somewhat peacefully?

Lee Taesung followed Minjae and me from afar. From the moment we first met, Minjae looked at Lee Taeseong with a sharp gaze. Since that was not a boundary that could be seen by a mere bodyguard, he honestly couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed.

“Jung Sejin, Jung Minjae. I will show you to your seat.”

Lee Taeseong waited at the entrance, and we headed to the round table in the center under the guidance of the hotel staff. I thought there would be other family members, but they must have left for a moment, so there were only empty chairs left. I chose a suitable seat and sat down, and Minjae also sat down next to me.

“…”

“…”

There was another awkward silence for a while. When I couldn’t stand it anymore and looked at him, Minjae was startled and avoided my gaze. He looked exactly like my mother, decked out luxuriously from head to toe.

“…The clothes suit you well. It’s definitely better to have black hair.”

I spoke to him in a friendly way before he could express his dissatisfaction. If Minjae got angry in a place like this, it would be a bit troublesome. Minjae raised his eyebrows and then spoke crookedly as usual.

“The clothes you wear…so lame.”

Still, there seemed to be an awareness that this was a public place. If I looked at the way he changed his words in a hurry instead of trying to swear. Of course, it was a bit too much to call my clothes lame.

“More than that, Minjae, why were you walking around alone? What about other family members?”

“…”

As soon as the word “family” came out, Minjae raised his eyes again and closed his mouth. He lowered his voice in an extremely serious tone.

“Where and what the hell are you up to?”

“What am I up to…”

It was a very strange question. Kwon Yido and I always stayed at home. Anyone else might know, but there was no reason for Minjae to say something like this, as there was no way he would not know the situation.

“Well, you seem pretty well-off? You’re wearing a really expensive watch again. Are you happy because you eat and live alone well?”

The sudden outpouring of criticism was more like a complaint than a sharp one.

It was scary. Having seen Minjae since childhood, I could tell. It wasn’t that he really didn’t want me to live well, but he was complaining that he couldn’t understand my feelings.

“Why, what happened?”

So I asked vaguely, but Minjae didn’t answer. He just pursed his lips and lowered his gaze. Then he stared at my fingers and muttered in a low, barely audible voice.

“What kind of engagement is this?”

Perhaps, I found a faint mark of a ring on my ring finger. It was just a guess, but I was sure he was told in advance not to announce my engagement. Only my family, excluding me, would know how that worked.

“Hear what’s going on directly from our father. That damn bastard made sure to keep our mouth shut.”

“…”

I reflexively looked at my surroundings. It was because the tone of ‘damn bastard’ was too loud. Minjae spit out his words roughly and turned his head to the other side as if he didn’t want to talk anymore.

Should I comfort him? Doesn’t he know that I didn’t get engaged to live well and that it wasn’t my will? Wouldn’t it be better to make him understand those things, apologize, and imitate a good older brother and a good son?

“…”

But my mouth did not move easily. Even that moment of hesitation was only a moment. A bigger question than the thought of having to comfort him lingered in my mind.

The damn bastard is probably Kwon Yido. What on earth does it mean that he silenced them?

Just listening to the nuances of what Minjae was saying, it seemed like something was going on other than the fact that we were engaged. However, the fact that the guy who had a loose mouth more than my father couldn’t speak meant that it was difficult to get an answer even if I asked my father. Minjae was the kind of guy who said things like ‘I was silenced,’ and my father was the type of person who couldn’t even say that.

The family barely showed up until the ceremony was about to begin. The hall was about to fill up but to be exact, only my mother and Seoyoung returned to the table without my father. When I saw them and stood up, my mother waved her hand telling me to sit down.

“It’s okay, people around you will look at you strangely.”

Actually, not many people were interested in us. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, so I just nodded. My mother sat down across from me and opened her mouth insinuatingly.

“Your face…It has improved a lot.”

I thought the red lipstick was a bit excessive today. The makeup seemed a bit heavy, but even so, my complexion was not very good. I looked at Seoyoung and Minjae once and answered calmly.

“Yes, well…They did such a great job.”

“…Okay, then I’m glad.”

“How are you, mother?”

“As usual.”

I felt a foreign atmosphere. They weren’t usually friendly people, but today was a little weirder. They were unable to make eye contact and awkwardly avoided my eyes. If they used to find me annoying, I should say that they find it difficult to deal with me now.

For example…Just like the employees at Kwon Yido’s house.

“…Where has father gone?”

When I asked her the most curious truth, my mother frowned instead of answering my question. Even though she was almost 50 years old, her face without a single wrinkle showed how much effort her mother had put in until now. After a moment of silence, her mother slowly pursed her lips.

“Your father…”

It was then. With a small mechanical sound, someone on the podium spoke into the microphone. The commemorative ceremony would begin soon, so guests were asked to remain seated.

I inadvertently turned my gaze to another doorway close to the podium. This was because not only the host on the podium but also the people sitting in front of him looked in that direction at once. In an instant, familiar faces appeared one by one in the crowd of eyes.

“…”

The Seonho Group family. Vice Chairman Kwon Sangmi, his children Kwon Yikyung and Kwon Yijung, and finally, Kwon Yido.

Sometimes, when I looked at people from a powerful family, I would get that kind of thought. The world was truly a series of absurd things. They had both wealth and fame, and they also had all the external elements that they did not need to have.

“I don’t know how they look so good…”

It was just as someone had muttered as if possessed. I blinked slowly and recorded their movements in my mind. To be exact, there was only one of them, my fiancé, Kwon Yido.

Is there anyone who looks so good in a monotonous black suit? It was a nondescript suit with only the vest buttons of a unique color, but it looked special just because the person wearing it was Kwon Yido. The way he walked confidently with his shoulders straight seemed like someone who existed in a different dimension than me.

I couldn’t believe I left the same house with that person this morning. I thought that maybe everything that happened to me was just a figment of my imagination. The way he took each step was more elegant than a scene from any famous painting.

He was someone I couldn’t become involved with unless there was a contract. That was the moment when I thought about it and tried to look away.

“…”

“…”

Our eyes met. No, I felt like I had encountered it. Even though we weren’t that close, he fixed his gaze exactly in my direction.

I looked at him blankly, not even able to breathe. I couldn’t even hear anything around me. He fixed his dark eyes on me and everything froze in place like a still image.

Something unbelievable happened. Kwon Yido, who was said to never smile, but who always smiled at me, gently curled the corners of her mouth. The sweet and kind smile was something that had never been shown to the public.