Divorce Contract C43

Chapter 43

 

The voice was too terrible. At the question asked in a voice that had sunk all the way to the floor, Na Seonwoo closed his mouth. He had no answer he could give to Go Igyeol. After telling him never to come again, he wanted to immediately grab hold of Go Igyeol, who had hurriedly chased after Seo Dohyeon, and beg him to leave this place. But between the two of them, there was nothing—no relationship he could claim. Remembering the sound of Go Igyeol’s voice saying he was making him uncomfortable, Na Seonwoo couldn’t hide his bitterness and had no choice but to turn away.

Go Igyeol hurried up the stone steps and glanced back. Na Seonwoo had turned away limply. His slumped shoulders looked pitiful, but Go Igyeol wasn’t in a position to think of others, and so he quickly forgot it. Seo Dohyeon had already gone into the house.

The moment he stepped off the last step and entered the yard, he saw Kwon Heekang, standing pale blue with fright behind a small pine tree. He was shaking, anxious, asking what to do. To him, Go Igyeol said he could leave work for today and grabbed the doorknob of the front door.

“Because of me, unnecessarily…”

“…No. Please don’t say that. If only I hadn’t gone out, this wouldn’t have happened. I feel like I’ve caused you trouble instead.”

“Oh dear, what have I done… I just… I don’t even know what to do, I feel so sorry. The executive director seemed very angry. Could you… maybe…”

Kwon Heekang trailed off, but Go Igyeol already knew what he was asking. He nodded. He wasn’t sure if he’d have time to explain on his behalf later, but for now he gave his word.

“I’ll… speak with him properly. Please get home safe.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With an apologetic expression, Kwon Heekang shifted the full weight of responsibility onto Go Igyeol and crossed the yard. The urgent patter of his feet echoed as he hurried down the steps. Go Igyeol waited until he heard the sound of the front gate closing before letting out a long breath. Even as he tried to calm down, his heart pounded like it might burst. He didn’t want to go inside. But he couldn’t ignore him and just leave, knowing that being dragged back again later would be worse.

“Haa, hoo, huu…”

He tightened his grip on the doorknob and opened the door. The house was silent. Even as he took off his shoes and slipped into the slippers, Go Igyeol strained for any sound from Seo Dohyeon. He even held his breath at times. Passing through the hallway, he soon reached the living room, but it was empty.

Not knowing where he could be, Go Igyeol looked around until he noticed the bedroom door slightly open. Through the narrow crack, he could see Seo Dohyeon’s back. When he opened the door fully and entered, Seo Dohyeon turned at the sound.

“Well… so, this is how it happened, I mean—”

“I kept thinking about it. All the way here.”

“…Pardon?”

“I kept thinking… what if, just like you said, I misunderstood?”

At the sound of the indifferent voice, while unloosening his tie, Go Igyeol flinched and shuddered. Perhaps the reason he came home earlier than usual was to have this very conversation. If not for this… what other reason could there be?

“Seo Dohyeon, I truly—”

“To think I came all this way while wondering if maybe I misunderstood… makes me feel like such a fool.”

“If you just give me the chance to explain, I can tell you everything. Truly…!”

“I found this myself. What you tried to run off and sell for cheap. I tracked it down the very next day.”

Seo Dohyeon picked up something he had placed on the bed and held it out toward him. With a soft snap, the jewelry box opened, revealing the necklaces, bracelets, and brooches Go Igyeol had sold. Seo Dohyeon approached slowly. Trembling, too rattled to properly check what he was holding, Go Igyeol shut his eyes. Then, everything Seo Dohyeon had once given him was hung around his neck, clasped on his arms.

“You said your husband cheated on you.”

“……”

“And that every time he got caught, he bought you something new to appease you.”

As he fastened the fourth necklace, Seo Dohyeon spoke. Go Igyeol’s lips moved weakly.

“But in truth, you were the one having the affair.”

“……”

“I don’t even feel angry anymore. I guess I’m starting to get used to this absurd situation.”

The low laugh that seeped into his ears sent goosebumps crawling over his skin. Go Igyeol shivered down to his toes and tried to retreat, but Seo Dohyeon caught hold of him and shoved him roughly down onto the bed.

“Where do you think you’re going? To chase after Na Seonwoo?”

“That’s not it, it’s not that at all—”

“Na Seonwoo said it himself. That it was better you got caught by me. Why are you the only one so desperate to deny it?”

Seo Dohyeon stripped off the cardigan draped over his thin body and grabbed at his loose pajama top. Alarmed, Go Igyeol clung to him. But all he could do was repeat that it wasn’t true. Whether from panic or fear—or just knowing that nothing he said would be believed—his mind had gone blank.

“No matter how much you say otherwise, it won’t change the fact of who’s child is in your belly.”

“Huuh, Seo Dohyeon, please, please, I can explain—”

“So how did you manage to bring him all the way to the house?”

Rip—the pajama shirt flew open, buttons snapping off and scattering across the bed and floor. In shock, Go Igyeol grabbed at Seo Dohyeon’s hands, but the jewelry strapped around him clattered together as he moved.

“When I went out just now, it was only to tell him not to come again—”

“Oh, not to come again. And Na Seonwoo… did he agree to that? Funny, he told me he would take you away himself.”

Seo Dohyeon’s gaze as he spoke was utterly devoid of curiosity. Go Igyeol squirmed helplessly as his clothes were stripped away.

“If I were you, I’d just stay still.”

“Seo Dohyeon, please…”

“My mood is rotten. Seeing you come home after meeting some fresh little boytoy… it’s enough to drive me insane.”

“No, no! That’s not true! Please, it’s really not—”

The fact that Seo Dohyeon wouldn’t believe him made the tears well up again. The big drops that had been pooling fell freely after a few blinks. Rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands, Go Igyeol barely managed to cling to Seo Dohyeon’s wrist. That cold gaze drilled straight down into his hand.

“The doorbell rang, and when I checked, it was Na Seonwoo. I only went out to tell him never to come here again.”

“Oh, to tell him not to come.”

“Yes, yes. Never to, hic, never to come back again.”

“Because I mustn’t see him, is that it?”

At his words, Go Igyeol nodded desperately. But realizing it might have been taken wrong, he opened his mouth again—at which Seo Dohyeon yanked his arm away.

“I don’t want to hear another word. I can shut you up, can’t I?”

“Seo Dohyeon, wait, just—hngh, please wait, it’s not—”

Go Igyeol’s voice rose in panic. Seo Dohyeon pressed down on his thrashing body, yanked his tie loose, and shoved the balled-up fabric into his mouth. Then the pajama hanging off his shoulders was stripped down and used to bind his hands behind his back.

“Ughh, mmph, nghh—”

Go Igyeol’s face turned pale as he struggled. The soft cloth gagged him, muffling his speech into incoherent whimpers. Seo Dohyeon sighed down at his swollen belly. Go Igyeol had been wasting away day by day, while he himself had grown less and less sane the closer the due date came.

“If I could, I’d kill someone. But I can’t even tell—is it you, or Na Seonwoo, or that bastard in your stomach? I don’t know which.”

“Mmph! Nngh, mmph—!”

Go Igyeol shook his head violently. Maybe he was trying to deny it, but Seo Dohyeon only laughed, unable to tell what exactly he meant wasn’t true. He thought perhaps he should have looked into hospitals the moment he dragged him back here. There should have been at least one that could’ve carried out the procedure. His head grew hotter. Simmering heat boiled up from his brain and spread through his whole body. The sudden spike in heat reminded him he had forgotten to take his rut suppressants for dominant alphas that morning.

“Ha.”

The rut cycle he had been suppressing with medication burst forth at the worst possible moment—a catastrophe for Go Igyeol. Feromones he had never once released until now gushed out in a storm.

“Hhup, hhh…!”

Go Igyeol’s eyes flew wide. A moment ago he had been straining and struggling to get out from beneath Seo Dohyeon, but now all his strength drained away. As the Alpha pheromones crashed into him like a tidal wave, his body responded instantly. His sex, limp through all this time, stiffened with reluctant arousal.

“Hhh, nnnh….”

“Do you realize how cheap it makes you look? Knowing full well what’s happening to you, and still getting hard from it…”

“Huuh, nnghhh…”

“It’s a relief you won’t be the one raising your child with your own hands. Isn’t it? What could scum like you ever teach? There’s nothing worthy of being learned from you.”

Seo Dohyeon yanked his loose pajama pants and underwear down in a single motion. The exposed flesh beneath was filthy.

“Did you finish already?”

“…hnngh, hhhk…”

“How vulgar. Imagine how your child would feel, knowing this is the kind of person who gave birth to them. If it were me, I’d be ashamed to have someone like you as my parent.”

Go Igyeol couldn’t regain his senses under the relentless flood of pheromones he’d been denied for months. Listening to the cruel words poured out in that low, languid voice while his body burned against his will, he wished more than anything just to die.