-Taeseok had always been someone I imagined would eventually find a partner, and I thought the two of them would go around together, chatting about this and that and having a wonderful time. But… it really is lonely, isn’t it? I thought having someone new in the family might bring a little more life into this house, but instead, the person who came in has taken away even the little liveliness we had left….
-Don’t ever go around looking like that. Anyone would think our family was mistreating you. I don’t want to become a pathetic mother-in-law who makes her son-in-law suffer, so you’d better conduct yourself properly.”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
-“The tea is delicious. Could you give me some more?”
At Director Ji’s words, the middle-aged woman who had been quietly watching from the kitchen was about to move, but Jaekyung quickly shook his head. He got up himself, prepared a fresh cup of tea at just the right temperature, and set it down in front of Director Ji.
Director Ji looked pleased as she savored the tea’s aroma.
-“Come to think of it, it would be impossible for that news to have reached me already….”
That news…?
-“When was your last heat cycle?”
Ah. That news….
Jaekyung immediately realized what she was talking about.
“It was before the wedding.”
-“How long is your cycle?”
“It’s irregular, but… almost once every six months….”
-“Six months?”
“Yes.”
-“I suppose that’s because you’re a recessive omega. Six months… You should get hormone injections…. Wouldn’t the family be more settled if you had a child as soon as possible?”
“Yes….”
-“Ah, if you imprint, the chances are lower than during a heat cycle, but you can still get pregnant… You two have imprinted, haven’t you?”
Ah… How am I supposed to answer that?
It wasn’t just that we hadn’t imprinted—I hadn’t even seen Han Taeseok’s face for more than an hour at a time….
I wanted to tell her that even a person I merely shared a house with probably wouldn’t be this difficult to see, and that I honestly didn’t know whether he and I could even be called husband and husband. But I knew perfectly well that I couldn’t say any of that.
Besides, I had no idea what answer Director Ji wanted to hear.
The answer she wanted…
Only a few seconds passed. Yet I had to calculate all the possibilities within that brief span, and my head was spinning.
Then, just at that moment, the doorbell rang.
Jaekyung looked up. The middle-aged woman hurried out, checked the intercom, and quickly pressed the unlock button.
-“It’s Director Han.”
Huh? It was already eight in the evening. The number of times he had ever come home at this hour could be counted on one hand… No, actually, it had never happened at all.
And yet, he had come in at exactly the right moment….
Jaekyung let out a silent sigh of relief.
With a delighted expression, Director Ji abruptly stood and reached the front door before Jaekyung could.
Soon, Han Taeseok opened the door and stepped inside. Director Ji rushed out to greet her son and threw her arms around him.
-“My son~ Welcome home.”
-“You’re here?”
He gave his mother a warm hug, greeted her affectionately, then lifted his head and looked at Jaekyung.
“You’re home?”
It had been a long time since they had exchanged a greeting like this.
Taeseok usually came home after Jaekyung had already fallen asleep, then left for work around the time he woke up. Because of that, even something as simple as greeting him felt strangely unfamiliar.
“You said you were busy today. What brings you home so early?”
-“I heard Mother was coming, so I wrapped things up at work and came home. It’s the first time I’m seeing her since the wedding, after all.”
-“Do you even realize that? What a heartless boy. Come on, let’s go inside.”
Director Ji took Han Taeseok by the hand and led him into the living room, settling him onto the sofa. Jaekyung stood quietly beside them.
Director Ji looked at Jaekyung as though she found him utterly hopeless.
-“Aren’t you going to take Taeseok’s coat?”
Ah.
-“I’ll go change.”
-“All right. Go ahead.”
Han Taeseok got up and headed toward the dressing room, and Jaekyung, unable to withstand Director Ji’s stare, quickly followed behind him.
It was painful having to choose between the two, but at least Han Taeseok didn’t try to intimidate people with his eyes.
When Jaekyung entered the dressing room, Taeseok was loosening his tie and hanging his jacket on a hanger.
It was the first time Jaekyung had ever seen even this side of him. He had no idea what he was supposed to do or what he should say.
Strangely, whenever he was around these people, he felt as though he became stupid and foolish. As though he forgot everything he knew.
Ah, but…
There seemed to be a pleasant scent coming from somewhere. A subtle, refreshing fragrance, almost like the smell of the sea….
Could there be some kind of scented sachet around here?
The scent was exactly the kind Jaekyung liked. He blinked, trying to locate where it was coming from, until his gaze came to rest on one particular place.
Han Taeseok.
This was his pheromone.
It was the first time Jaekyung had ever smelled his pheromones. Taeseok always kept his pheromones suppressed, so Jaekyung had never properly caught his scent before.
So this is what a dominant alpha’s pheromones smell like.
-“Do you have something to say to me?”
His voice came without warning, snapping Jaekyung back to reality. In the same instant, Taeseok’s pheromones disappeared, and the oppressive weight that had been pressing against his body seemed to close in again.
“Pardon?”
-“If you’re going to stand there in front of the door like you’re making a statement, I can only assume you have something to say.”
“Ah… I was just wondering if there was anything I could do for you…”
-“There isn’t.”
“Have you had dinner?”
-“I ate before I came.”
His clipped answer cut him off so cleanly that Jaekyung could feel the conversation being shut down before it had even begun. Taeseok’s cold, decisive manner left no room to push any further.
There was no reason to force a conversation with someone who clearly didn’t want one.
Still, there was one thing they needed to settle.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
-“Go ahead.”
The answer came without hesitation. Taeseok casually undid the buttons at his shirt cuffs, his attention seemingly elsewhere, yet somehow making Jaekyung feel as though he was the one being scrutinized.
“…Before you came, Director Ji asked me about the imprinting. I didn’t know how I was supposed to answer her.”
Imprinting was something that could occur when two people spent the night together. After knotting, when they trusted each other enough to surrender themselves completely and looked into each other’s eyes, it became the ultimate proof that they had chosen each other as mates—that they had truly become husband and wife.
Once an imprint was formed, an omega could no longer smell the pheromones of another alpha, and an alpha could no longer smell those of another omega. Other alphas and omegas could not detect the pheromones of an alpha or omega who already had an imprinted mate, either.
In the entire world, there would be only one person to whom they could entrust their pheromones, their bodies, and everything that belonged to them.
Jaekyung had never spent a night with Han Taeseok, let alone imprinted with him.
Ever since the night Taeseok had returned from his business trip to the United States, he had been coming home regularly. But he slept in the small room adjoining the study on the second floor.
A relationship worse than strangers…
And yet they were supposed to say they had imprinted?
“For the sake of what comes next, I think it would be better to make a decision. If we choose to keep it hidden… if we’re careful about suppressing our pheromones and take inhibitors, we should be able to conceal it to some extent. I’m recessive, so it’s possible for me. Relatives can’t sense one another’s pheromones, so unless they have us tested at a hospital, I don’t think Director Ji or Chairman Han would ever know.”
-“Then do that.”
“What?”
-“Let’s say we imprinted, as you decided.”
He brushed past Jaekyung.
It sounded as though he had simply agreed to what Jaekyung had suggested.
But he hadn’t. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
That hadn’t been an opinion he was asking Taeseok to accept. It had been one possibility among several, something Jaekyung had brought up because they were supposed to discuss it together and make a decision.
Yet once again, Taeseok had cut the conversation short.
What am I supposed to do?
It had only been a month…
And already, it felt as though ten years had passed.
Jaekyung followed him into the living room. Director Ji had been giving the middle-aged woman a series of instructions, and before long, a tea and snack spread had been laid out.
-“I asked Secretary Oh, and he said you’d already eaten dinner, so I had them prepare some refreshments.”
-“Thank you.”
Jaekyung and Taeseok sat down together, with Director Ji seated across from them. She took a sip of tea, then set the cup down with a satisfied expression before looking at Jaekyung.
-“So, about what we were talking about earlier… You two did imprint, didn’t you?”
-“Yes. We did.”
Han Taeseok answered immediately.
Jaekyung was just about to respond when he stared at him in shock.
Taeseok remained completely expressionless, betraying not the slightest hint of emotion as he calmly drank his tea.
Director Ji let out a thoughtful hum at her son’s answer. Then she lifted her teacup again, savoring its fragrance. Just before taking another sip, she spoke.
-“I suppose I’ll be hearing some good news from you two soon. I’ll look forward to it.”
**
Sometimes, those years felt almost like a dream. There were moments when Jaekyung found himself thinking that this was how he had always lived….
Was this just escapism? Or was he slowly becoming accustomed to it?
He had thought about it before, but there really was no better medicine than time. That was why he wanted time to pass even faster. More than anything, Jaekyung wished for the day when he could completely separate himself from their world.
-“Here you go, Jaekyung. Your first paycheck.”
“Wow!”
A white envelope was held out to Jaekyung.
This was money he had earned through a full month of hard work. How could he not be happy?
-“I know I normally should just transfer it to you, but I heard getting your first paycheck in an envelope makes it twice as exciting, so I put it in here. Still, money tends to get spent when you’re holding it in your hands, so deposit it as soon as you can.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Jaekyung quickly slipped the envelope into his bag.
About one million won.
Compared to the assets Jaekyung had, it was hardly anything—a drop in the bucket. And yet, it felt more precious and significant than any money he had ever possessed.
The truth was, even when he had worked at Jaewang Group, he hadn’t gotten that job through his own abilities. He had gotten in through his family’s influence and connections.
People said that connections were a skill in their own right these days, but that was just a nice way of dressing it up….
-“By the way, Jaekyung, what are you doing tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? Since I’m off, I was thinking of going to see a movie for the first time in a while.”
-“Oh, so you don’t have any special plans?”
“No.”
Hmm. If the manager was probing this carefully, there had to be something she wanted him to do.
“Is there something you need me to do?”
-“Haha, as expected, Jaekyung, you catch on quickly. Would you mind helping me with the inventory tomorrow? When you helped me last time, we got it done incredibly fast. Of course, I’ll pay you extra.”
“I’m planning to see a movie around lunchtime and come in around six. Would that be okay?”
-“Of course!”
“Okay, understood.”
A little while ago, Jaekyung had noticed the manager struggling with inventory. She couldn’t use the inventory management tool properly and had been jotting everything down by hand, and on several occasions, another part-timer had made mistakes while entering the numbers, leaving her in a difficult situation.
So Jaekyung had made a simple Excel-based tool that she could use without much trouble.
Of course, the convenience store already had its own system, so in the end either another part-timer or Jaekyung still had to enter the information into it. Even so, the number of mistakes with the figures had dropped dramatically, which was a considerable benefit for the manager.