<Chapter 4>
“The diagnosis indicates that the primary issue is psychological.”
“…….”
Lyle was seated in the sitting room attached to his bedroom, looking worn down. He did not even seem to have the composure to change out of his soiled clothes. Unlike his usual knife-sharp self-discipline.
The secretary, who had been observing his haggard state from the corner of his eye, spoke again.
“We were unable to conduct blood tests due to the severity of the rejection response, but… even visually, there are still clear nutritional concerns. In many cases, psychological distress leads to loss of appetite. It would be advisable to monitor that moving forward.”
Haejin was not in the hospital but lying in his room in the main building. Lyle had personally taken him to the hospital in a car that rushed over immediately, but the moment they arrived, Haejin had begun convulsing as if he were dying.
‘The hospital… no, I can’t….’
The pheromones saturated with terror had nearly suffocated Lyle. He had hurriedly summoned the doctor to the car instead to assess Haejin’s condition. Even then, Haejin had twisted his body, rejecting everything with every fiber of himself.
When the doctor said it was not a physical problem but a psychological one, they had no choice but to turn the car around and return to the estate.
After a slow examination by the physician who made the house call, signs of trauma were noted. Lyle described Haejin’s sudden episode in as much detail as possible. The question that came back was whether there had been any recent psychological shock associated with that particular place. Lyle could only swallow dryly.
‘……I’m sorry, I couldn’t go…….’
The words Haejin had uttered just before losing consciousness were painfully clear in their direction. It seemed that learning of his parents’ death late had been far more shocking than Lyle had imagined. Lyle himself only remembered moving busily after their deaths. He found that fact unsettling.
How could he look as though he were about to die at any moment like that.
Because Lyle had personally intervened, there were many external eyes that had to be covered. The secretary, dragged out at dawn as a result, delivered his report without a single complaint.
“It would be better if he received at least intravenous fluids, but he appears to have an aversion to needles.”
At the thought of Haejin’s pale face, a sharp pain throbbed near Lyle’s heart. Hearing the mention of needles made it feel as though he himself had been pierced.
It was not just needles. Haejin had nearly had a fit at the sight of the doctor’s white coat. As a result, the physician had to examine him in a way that avoided evoking the hospital as much as possible.
Unlike usual, Lyle had been acutely attentive to Haejin’s condition throughout. He fell into thought. The hand that had caught Haejin as he collapsed was still trembling faintly.
It was the same hand that had roughly dragged Haejin directly into that room.
He himself had thrown Haejin into the very center of that trauma.
What did it matter if the boy had grown a little thin? Why had he been that angry?
“…….”
Something seemed to rise suddenly in his throat. Lyle hurriedly covered his mouth. A quiet tremor crept along his skin and burrowed deep inside. He had to admit it now. Something was unmistakably wrong.
He had dismissed it as a fleeting impulse or a temporary abnormal reaction. Yet it had continued for this long. It was not temporary. He could no longer remain detached about Haejin’s condition. Especially when he remembered the last words Haejin had spoken.
The doctor’s question resurfaced—whether he had encountered an Omega with whom his compatibility was strong. For now, that was the most plausible explanation.
“If we terminate the contract at this stage, we will need to renegotiate compensation terms. Since there has technically been no full contract fulfillment, we could also claim a penalty fee. How would you like to proceed?”
Lyle, deep in thought, abruptly lifted his head. The secretary himself looked faintly guilty as he spoke.
“No, …no. Don’t.”
Answering hastily, Lyle closed his eyes. Something threatened to surge up again. Haejin’s pale face clung to the inside of his eyelids every time he closed them. His airway tightened once more. In the midst of confusion he could not articulate, Lyle finally identified a single emotion.
A dense fear.
It was not his.
It was Haejin’s pheromones lingering like an afterimage. What Haejin had emitted as he collapsed was fear heavily laced with despair. As if transferred intact to Lyle, that faint, faint pheromone clung stubbornly around him.
Because of that, the image of Haejin gasping for breath would not leave his mind.
“Ensure that there will be no legal action against Haejin moving forward.”
“Yes. And your pheromone discharge is also urgent, Chairman. The doctor conveyed that message.”
“……I know.”
The secretary did not want to speak coldly in this situation. But he was, above all, the person responsible for handling Lyle’s affairs. Separate from any guilt he felt toward Haejin, he had work to do.
“Medical support for Mr. Bright will continue without any deficiency.”
“See to it.”
“And I will look for a new contractor.”
Having heard the general situation from both the doctor and Lyle, the secretary made an objective judgment. Forcing the contract on Haejin any further would truly be inhumane. The next step was obvious.
But Lyle seemed to think otherwise.
“……Let’s wait a little.”
“Chairman, Mr. Bright is currently—”
“I know. I’m not going to force Jin into anything.”
Rubbing his brow roughly, Lyle lowered his head. Only then did he become aware of his disheveled state. Since Haejin collapsed, he had not been himself at all.
The secretary’s reasoning was correct. His rational mind was shouting that if he wanted to maintain proper condition, he should set aside the aversion for now and find a new contractor immediately.
“Will you be alright?”
He would not.
Nothing was alright.
Weighing this incomprehensible bodily state, Lyle quietly closed his eyes.
Ever since Haejin had left this estate on his own two feet and returned, it felt as though many things had changed.
***
“Where is Jin?”
“……Still in his room.”
Just before going to sleep, Lyle hesitated, then summoned the butler to ask about Haejin.
It had already been two days since Haejin’s episode. Originally, he had intended to see him as soon as he woke. But Lyle realized that a strange hesitation was gripping his ankles.
He had never once been held back by uncertainty like this. For now, he chose to remain where he was. The short walk to see his face once felt trivial. Now it demanded caution.
He also had a convenient excuse. Knowing that Haejin was suffering to the point of trauma, Lyle bore responsibility. Separate from the contract, the secretary was drafting a new treatment plan and compensation proposal for Haejin’s future care. Lyle intended to bring it himself once it was complete.
But in truth, more than all those excuses, an odd premonition weighed on his steps.
As though the moment he saw Haejin’s face, many things would change.
“…….”
Lyle could no longer trust his instincts. When it came to Haejin, his judgment had always been off the mark. Was this truly something that required such deliberation?
If he faced Haejin, what would he even say?
“Make sure Jin’s meals are properly provided. Ensure there is no shortage.”
“……Yes, Master.”
In the end, he postponed the decision again. As he tried to untangle the emotions swirling inside him, Lyle failed to notice the subtle expression on the butler’s face.
***
“He didn’t eat again?”
“Yes, Butler.”
The tray that came out of Haejin’s room was barely touched. Seeing it, the butler swallowed a curse.
When Lyle said to ensure the meals were properly provided, the butler interpreted it to mean that he should make Haejin eat by force if necessary. This time, instead of simply placing the tray outside, he ordered the servants to bring it inside directly. They were to stand there and watch until the meal was finished. To prevent Haejin from attempting anything else.
The Omega behaved arrogantly at first, as he had when he drove the butler out before, but Lyle’s command took priority. There was no longer any reason to indulge such useless fuss.
After that, the Omega stopped resisting and ate. Though only small amounts, and clearly unwillingly.
“Damn it.”
The incident of Haejin collapsing spread through the estate in a strangely subtle way. By the time the butler received the call and rushed over, Lyle was already outside the building carrying Haejin in his arms.
They had seemed to be heading to the hospital, only to return unexpectedly soon after. And now, without even an IV attached, he had remained in bed for days.
Lyle had summoned only the butler and explained that it was due to trauma, but he could not accept it. If such trauma existed, then why had he returned to this estate in the first place?
Unaware that Haejin had effectively been abducted back, the butler reasoned that if the Omega truly suffered trauma from his parents’ deaths, he would not have been able to return here at all. The last traces of guilt he had once felt were long since rationalized away.
Under the butler’s tacit approval, rumors gradually grew flesh. As though Haejin were feigning illness to pressure Lyle.
The Omegas who had come to this estate before had tried all sorts of methods to pressure him. It was, to many, a natural assumption. Rather than stopping such talk, the butler’s visibly displeased expression only fanned the flames further.