Secretary Park merely checked the rearview mirror and pretended he had heard nothing. There was something unusual about Seung Jae’s behavior today. It might have had something to do with what happened that morning.
“Clear my schedule.”
Recalling the date of the exhibition advertised on the billboard, Secretary Park swiftly checked Seung Jae’s calendar.
“It looks as though you may have about two hours available on the sixteenth—”
“No. Clear my schedule this evening.”
As Seung Jae spoke, the sedan stopped before Myungjun Group’s towering headquarters. Secretary Park stepped out from the front passenger seat and opened the rear door.
He did not ask Seung Jae twice.
No, he could not. Whenever he met Seung Jae’s eyes, his mouth instinctively closed.
People bowed as Seung Jae emerged in a dark suit. As he cut through them, something suddenly caught his attention.
A man arguing with employees in front of the revolving doors turned around.
“Director Han!”
He rushed over and thrust out the stack of documents clutched in both hands.
“Please read this!”
He must have carried them around for a long time. Their edges were curled and crumpled. He spoke frantically, as if someone were chasing him.
“Once you read it, you’ll know I’m not talking nonsense. Please, just give me one chance to explore for natural gas!”
“What are all of you doing?”
Secretary Park stepped forward and blocked the man. Several employees seized him and forcibly dragged him away.
After entering the building, Seung Jae brushed the sleeve the man had touched with his palm.
Accepting the employees’ greetings, he stepped into the elevator. Secretary Park followed. The doors closed, leaving the two of them alone.
“Why does everyone beg me to trust them and help them? None of them ever thinks to prove they’re trustworthy first. Don’t you agree?”
Secretary Park stared tensely at the elevator doors. Watching Seung Jae’s displeased face reflected in them, he answered cautiously.
“Yes, I agree.”
Yi Kyung stepped out of the shower stall and reached for a towel.
He thoroughly dried himself with the long towel, then slipped both arms into a robe. After looking down at the fabric wrapped around his calves, he walked away, loosely tying the belt around his waist.
The shower seemed to have cleared his head, if only briefly. The oppressive sensation had also lessened now that the lingering traces of Seung Jae’s white agarwood pheromones had faded from his body.
Part of it was due to Yi Kyung’s small frame, but the white agarwood scent emanating from Seung Jae was particularly overwhelming.
It brought home once again that The World of Omega was a society governed by powerful alphas. Since an alpha’s standing determined an omega’s position, omegas in particular were at the mercy of pheromones.
Yi Kyung approached the painting on the wall. He stared at the dense trees lining the dark river—the same picture he had seen that morning.
“Hmm...”
No matter how long he looked, he could not make sense of it. He examined it up close, then stepped back as though trying to appreciate it from a distance.
He felt nothing.
“I can’t tell whether this painting is good or bad.”
Yi Kyung knew nothing about art. Even so, he tried to understand the tastes of the other Seo Yi Kyung, the man who shared his name.
Knock, knock.
At the sound, Yi Kyung gave a brief reply.
“Yes, you can come in.”
The door opened, and Butler Do entered carrying a tray.
“You missed breakfast this morning.”
Still wearing his bathrobe, Yi Kyung walked over and sat at the table. Butler Do placed a glass of orange juice and a plate of bread before him.
He watched Yi Kyung pick up the bread with his hand and begin eating, then asked a question.
“Are you all right?”
Yi Kyung looked up with one cheek puffed out. Crumbs clung to the corner of his mouth.
“What do you mean?”
“Well...”
Butler Do trailed off. It was difficult to say anything with certainty, but something about Yi Kyung’s behavior and manner of speaking seemed different.
“I meant your wrist. I acted rashly this morning.”
Yi Kyung understood that he was not the only person in this household who had to remain mindful of Seung Jae’s moods. He could also understand Butler Do’s desire for him to adapt better than anyone else and blend seamlessly into this family.
As though acknowledging those unspoken feelings, Yi Kyung gave him a faint smile. Then he raised his arm to reveal the wrist concealed beneath the robe. The piece of bread in his hand dangled loosely.
“I don’t think it’ll bruise.”
“That is a relief.”
Watching Butler Do relax visibly, Yi Kyung asked him a question.
“But are these all the paintings?”
Still chewing his bread, he looked around the room.
“I saw the ones hanging on the first-floor walls, but...”
“The paintings?”
“Yes.”
Yi Kyung’s pale eyes seemed to glimmer at Butler Do’s response. He had always looked happiest whenever the subject of painting came up.
Butler Do hummed thoughtfully as he watched him. Perhaps he had merely imagined that something felt different. After all, Young Master Yi Kyung had fallen ill after being placed in an unfamiliar environment.
As though something had occurred to him, Butler Do spoke warmly.
“Would you like to visit your painting studio? It has been set up in a room far larger than the one you used at the family home. All the equipment is new. Of course, I also brought everything you used before, so you needn’t worry.”
“...”
“Aren’t you pleased?”
Butler Do had expected him to say that he wanted to see it immediately. Contrary to those expectations, however, Yi Kyung seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head.
“I’ll look at it later. I’m a little tired today.”
Butler Do gathered the tray and left the room.
Once the door closed, Yi Kyung rose, walked to the bed, and collapsed onto it. Then he slowly shut his eyes.
The painting studio was where the original Seo Yi Kyung had spent his final moments.
That night, in the hours before dawn, he had stood alone looking at a painting before making his last choice.
What must it have felt like to press cold metal against his own head? It must have been chilling—and terrifying.
Seo Yi Kyung in the original novel had been gentle and kind.
But watching him had frustrated the current Yi Kyung. He could not even say when he disliked something. He simply yielded every time.
Yielding was the generous way to describe it. In truth, everything had been taken from him. He had always retreated one step and done nothing but watch.
What would I have done in his place...?
“...Young master. Young Master Yi Kyung.”
Yi Kyung opened his eyes. The room had grown dim. He must have dozed off.
Butler Do stood there with a troubled expression.
“There is a car waiting outside.”
“...?”
Still lying in bed, Yi Kyung merely blinked at him in confusion. Butler Do added anxiously,
“Director Han says he is waiting and has ordered us to bring you to him.”
After getting out of the car, Yi Kyung looked up at the towering building.
Butler Do hurried ahead, then turned back. He raised his wrist and checked the time.
“You must hurry.”
A considerable amount of time had already passed while Butler Do woke Yi Kyung, had him washed, and dressed him in a suit. Whether he understood Butler Do’s distress or not, Yi Kyung continued walking at a leisurely pace.
The two of them got off on the fifteenth floor. Secretary Park, who had been notified in advance and was waiting in front of the elevator, greeted them with a bow.
Unable to suppress his anxiety, Butler Do cautiously asked,
“How long has Director Han been waiting?”
In truth, they had merely been instructed to come to the appointed location. Butler Do did not know precisely when Seung Jae had arrived or how long he had been there.
But Seung Jae had clearly been in a foul mood that morning. If he had been kept waiting for a long time on top of that, would he not greet Yi Kyung with an even more displeased expression? Butler Do’s concern was hardly unreasonable.
Secretary Park glanced at Yi Kyung and chose not to answer.
“Let’s go.”
Faced with Yi Kyung’s innocent expression, he could not bring himself to admit that Seung Jae had been waiting for approximately an hour.
Perhaps it was better if Yi Kyung did not know.
Dressed in a cream-colored suit, Yi Kyung followed Secretary Park. He looked around, studying the people moving through the luxurious Chinese restaurant.
Then Secretary Park stopped.
“This is the room.”
He knocked and opened the door.
“He only arrived a moment—”
“Director Han!”
The instant the door opened, someone charged toward them from behind Yi Kyung.
Thud.
A man carrying stacks of documents in both hands slammed into him, shoving his body forward.
I’m going to fall...!
Before he could do anything, Yi Kyung staggered violently. His original body might have regained its balance, but this one was thin and frail.
He stared at the floor in horror.
Is this body made of paper?
At that moment, a long arm in a dark suit reached out and wrapped around him.
Yi Kyung’s bloodless face plunged against a firm chest.