Finally, I arrived.
One of the country’s five-star hotels, Baekil Hotel.
The first thought that hit me the moment I stood in front of it…
“The smell is insane.”
Go in and I die.
That was the only fact.
“There must be Alphas crawling all over this place.”
Goosebumps ran over me, but there was no path to run.
But I’m a little different from usual today.
Because I chewed seven pills at once on my way here!
My adoptive mother warned me not to overuse them since I could develop tolerance, but what choice did I have.
Thanks to taking the maximum dose the researcher barely approved, my sense of smell was far duller than usual.
Even so, the pressure weighing down my whole body couldn’t be helped.
At least believing I wouldn’t have to worry about throwing up, I forced myself to take a step forward.
“Where is my adoptive mother? She’s not answering.”
Maybe they booked out the whole place; the hotel interior was empty of guests.
While I stood and glanced around, some people—hotel staff or maybe the group’s employees—approached me.
“Hey. You can’t just walk in. We’re not taking guests until tomorrow—”
They trailed off and ran their eyes up and down my outfit.
Then they snorted and shrugged.
“Ah. It’s that, that.”
“Hey. If you got the call, you should go up to the room and wait. What are you doing loitering here?”
“A call?”
No way. Were they saying the kind of “call” I was thinking of?
“Everyone’s got stamina for days. They keep coming in one after another.”
“Looks like that one’s an Alpha, yeah? What kind of play are they into, calling in even that?”
“Orgy party. The young masters here go crazy for it.”
Right on the nose.
Being treated like a male prostitute for the first time in my life made my head reel.
“No wonder my adoptive mother finds this disgusting…”
The meeting time was near. I had no time to deal with them.
I walked past them.
“Hey, the elevators are that way—”
“Where’s the banquet hall?”
I took a card from my pocket and showed it.
“Show me the way.”
“Th-this!”
“Th-that’s the one only clan members receive.”
Behind the two who’d tucked their tails, I spotted an entrance spilling bright light.
“Is that the banquet hall? I’ll find it myself.”
Leaving the flustered babblers behind, I walked straight on.
Guards in sunglasses with in-ear mics were posted at the door.
One of them blocked the entrance and warned me.
“If you’re not authorized personnel, you can’t enter.”
The commotion out front made a few people inside the hall look this way.
Judging by all the eye-wateringly expensive brands they were wearing, I’d at least found the right place.
I wanted to slip in quietly like answering roll call for someone else in a college lecture, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen.
Since I already had everyone’s attention, I decided to make my identity clear.
“Yeon with a Yeo, Hee with a Hee.”
Yeonhee Baek.
The moment that name rang out, the room went silent as if doused with ice water.
“I’m her son, Geonho Baek.”
“…”
“May I come in?”
A heavy silence fell in an instant.
After a beat, people began to murmur.
…That one?
Yeonhee Baek. The eccentric.
Why is he here.
Outside child. Lowborn.
An orphan of unknown origin…
Sharp words pricked my ears.
So the child adopted by direct-line Yeonhee Baek really was famous in the group.
What now.
I was standing there like a post at the entrance when—
“Hey, you that Geonho Baek?”
Some guy suddenly slung an arm around my neck.
“I’m Jeongu Baek. Nice to meet you?”
He was a tall young man who looked about my age.
“Sir. I’m taking him in, okay?”
“Y-yes, sir, of course. If you say so, Mr. Jeongu…”
Calling himself Jeongu Baek, he informed the guard and dragged me into the hall.
Thanks to him I got in without much fuss… but I had no idea what this guy’s intentions or identity were.
Still, given the circumstances he’d helped me, so I should thank him.
“Um. Thanks for letting me in—”
“Ssssss.”
But—
The words caught in my throat.
“Haaa…”
He suddenly buried his nose in the nape of my neck…
and inhaled as hard as he could.
“What is this pale scent. Not bad, though.”
“…”
“From your looks I figured you were Prime, but you’re recessive?”
Fuck.
A curse almost jumped out.
“…Just Alpha.”
“What? Then why are your Pheromones like this?”
Like I’d know.
Gooseflesh crawled up my neck where someone else’s lips had touched.
I immediately peeled Jeongu Baek off and pressed a hand over my nape to shield it.
“You’re not suppressing like those Omega rent boys, are you? Go ahead and spray more. If you don’t show off how big your thing is now, when will you?”
“How big my thing is…”
The cheap metaphor left me speechless.
He glanced at my crotch and snickered.
“Play humble here and they’ll only look down on you.”
God, this isn’t easy.
We hadn’t even started and I already wanted to go home.
“How old are you?”
“…I’ll be in my third year of middle school.”
“Third year?! Pff! You’ve got an old face.”
“My adoptive mother… when are you coming…”
I wanted to land a straight to the philtrum and run, but I couldn’t move rashly.
Most people in the hall were sending their gazes this way.
More precisely, at me.
“Staring like I’m some weird life-form.”
Whether their reluctance to come near was a good sign or a bad one, who knew.
Since anything could happen, I decided to watch for now too.
“Hey. Put your number in.”
Then Jeongu Baek tossed me his phone.
“Come quick when I call, yeah? This cousin will show you a good time.”
With empty eyes I was about to key in a fake number, when he flicked the fingers holding the phone and pushed his face in.
“Cut the games and write it for real.”
…Busted. Uselessly quick on the uptake.
I sighed inwardly, and then a name fell out of Jeongu Baek’s mouth.
“Keep this up and what was the name again? Seolho Baek? Seolheon Baek?”
I lifted my head and stared quietly; Jeongu Baek grinned.
“I’ll go play with your little brother.”
“…”
“How’s that. Heart drop into your shoes?”
Yeah, it dropped.
Not for the reason you’re thinking, though.
“You stuck your neck in here because you want a seat at the table, didn’t you. Orphan brat with big ambitions.”
“…”
“Still, I kind of like you. The spirit to scrounge up the crumbs after the pigs have torn into the feast. Respect.”
He pointed around the hall at the assembled faces and chuckled.
“Hang with me and this hyung will cut you in on a lot of tasty things. But if you blow me off? Well, then I’ll have to go play on the little brother’s side.”
There’s an old saying about ink staining what it touches.
In the novel, the warped path of the crazed attacker Uheon Baek surely had something to do with guys like this.
You think I’ll let Seolheon hang around with a punk like you?
“Ha. My brother’s still really young. Will my number do?”
“See, you should’ve come out like that from the start. Don’t bolt like an Omega rent boy.”
I want to hit him once.
No—beat him to a pulp.
What are the prosecutors, police, and courts even doing. Why isn’t this criminal’s brat in a cell already.
Right when I felt like I really would punch him, I forced the corners of my mouth up into a smile—then someone approached.
“Jeongu Baek. Pick your toys with a little discretion.”
A middle-aged woman in red lipstick, and a taciturn man.
Keeping her eyes on me, the woman spoke to Jeongu Baek.
“Come make the rounds and greet your elders. Not spend time on the eccentric’s pet.”
The eccentric’s pet.
My brow knit on its own. I wasn’t annoyed for me, but because it was an insult aimed at my adoptive mother.
“My mother is—”
I was about to say something when—
“That’s too much, sister-in-law.”
The person in question arrived.
And she wasn’t alone.
“S-sister?! And Father, too…!”
“Don’t call me sister. Use the word you all prefer. Eccentric.”
“Oh no, who would say such a thing? Hoho.”
Still smiling awkwardly, the woman grabbed Jeongu Baek by the back of the neck and hurried off.
My adoptive mother snorted and grabbed my hand.
“I’m sorry, Geonho. I’m really late, huh? I didn’t think you’d be inside already.”
“Yeonhee.”
Just then, a domineering voice cut her off.
“What are you doing. No introductions?”
A large man radiating a heavy, overwhelming presence stood behind my adoptive mother.
“…Father. This is Geonho.”
With clear reluctance, she stepped aside to show me to the man.
“My eldest son.”
She declared I was her son, boldly.
That… tickled my chest all over again.
But there was no time to get emotional.
“So you’re that Geonho.”
The man fixed his gaze on me and watched in silence.
Even at a glance, a frame over one-ninety and dark blue eyes without a glint looked down at me; cold sweat trickled by itself.
“That man… Chairman Baek of Baekil.”
The very head of Baekil Group.
I swallowed hard, tension peaking as I waited to see how he’d come out.
Suddenly, Chairman Baek broke into a goofy grin.
“Oh ho, you said you wanted to talk with this grandpa, right? Good, good. Let’s go upstairs to the restaurant and take our time chatting.”
“…?”
“Anything you want to eat? Say the word and I’ll buy you whatever.”
The face of the stern conglomerate chairman… turned into a kindly, doting grandpa from the neighborhood.
“What do young folks like these days. An old man like me doesn’t know the trends, so you pick whatever you want, Geonho. The head chef here’s got decent skills, so he’ll make you anything.”
As Chairman Baek fussed over me like I was his beloved grandchild, the Baek clan collectively freaked out. Including me.
A few people jumped up to block the old man.
“F-father! Where are you going?! What about our gathering…!”
“And to take along that… low… creature! What if he does something awful to you!”
“Everyone shut up.”
Chairman Baek’s low voice vibrated through the hall.
He swept the room with a gaze as cold and sharp as it had been warm to me.
Black hair. Navy-blue eyes. A cutting stare.
At that face and voice, I couldn’t help but see a certain boy overlaid.
“Come on, then. Let’s go, Geonho.”
Chairman Baek and Seolheon looked alike.