HYDP C14

Chapter 14

Minseok suddenly flushed and hurried out of the pawnshop. Smiling awkwardly, Sanhong popped a piece of tangsuyuk into his mouth and chewed. The chewy texture suited his taste. Pulling himself together, he picked up his phone to help his digestion along and called Hui-gang.

[So you’re alive? With no contact, thought you were dead.]

“Sorry. Something came up.”

[Enough. Don’t creep me out with apologies. It’s nothing serious, right?]

“Yeah. Nothing big.”

He asked after him and chatted about the kids at the same time. Thankfully, they were doing better than expected.

[There’s already a kid in their kindergarten showing a designation. That’s all they talked about all day yesterday.]

“Already? Kids these days are really fast… So what did they say? Were they jealous?”

[They didn’t say much, just kept saying it was cool. At that age, everything’s amazing.]

He had a habit of writhing inside whenever this topic came up. If, one day, they ever tried to find their dad, there would be nothing he could say.

He first met Cheong and Hong—born into the world—around the age of twenty-seven. Before carrying the children, he had been about to quit the bureau, when, right before that, he manifested as an Omega. He was already twenty-five at the time.

It was too late an age to call it a manifestation. And yet—

“There are, on occasion, those who manifest late like this. It can happen due to physical conditions or hormonal influence; Yeon Sanhong-ssi, yours is a special case.”

“Ah…”

Having lived his whole life as a Beta, the initial period after manifesting as an Omega was extremely rough. The sudden change in daily rhythms began to savagely wreck his life.

An Omega manifesting in the mid-twenties was rare, and even socially it caused confusion. Perhaps because of that, his pheromones were faint, and due to a “olfactory” side effect, he couldn’t properly detect an Alpha’s pheromones. On the flip side, scents that weren’t very pleasant, he could smell with uncanny accuracy.

A prime example was Seo Kang-jo. The worse it was, the more fiercely he took his medication.

The very first thing he did after becoming an Omega was to quit the bureau.

“Team lead, I’m going to resign. Thank you for everything up to now.”

“What? You’re joking, right? Why all of a sudden?”

“I just want to stop. I want to live an ordinary life.”

“……”

It was during the period when Baek Cheon-jung cherished him most.

Which made it all the more impossible to let go. The organization had survived thus far because of him. Hearing the notification of resignation brought a flood of mixed feelings. He couldn’t let him go just like this.

“Sanhong, let’s think it over a bit more. Is it because you’re exhausted? Then I’ll file a leave of absence for you…”

“I’ve manifested as an Omega.”

“…What?”

“So I can’t work anyway. There are too many variables once you manifest as an Omega. And if the target’s an Alpha, I can’t do the job at all.”

Speaking calmly, he announced the change in his designation, returned everything, and walked out of the bureau—except for a single decoy tracker he had made up for cover. What came back was the bureau’s betrayal. With people suddenly moving to eliminate him, he had no choice but to feign death. They likely thought he was dead, at least until his location pinged.

After that, what he learned was “pheromone bottling.”

It was something one had to master alone, but with little time, he paid under the table and underwent several weeks of intensive training. The partner for his first heat cycle ended up being a middle-school classmate.

Though it had been a long time, they became close again without awkwardness and got through the first heat cycle as if nothing. Even while relieving needs with him month after month, he insisted, almost obsessively, on using condoms without fail. But an unforeseen situation arose.

Pregnancy.

He told Hui-gang first. He stopped smoking mid-drag, hurriedly flicked the butt to the floor, crushed it under his foot, then tossed the mangled butt into the trash and finally pulled his head together.

“That bastard poked holes in the condoms?”

“No.”

“Then what? If you wore them properly, how did you get pregnant?”

“Must be fate. Fate.”

“…God, that’s so frustrating.”

Considering this too to be his fate, he walked over to his classmate sitting off in a corner, looking like he’d lost his words. Then he handled it cleanly.

“You wanted to study abroad, didn’t you. I’ll fund it. Go—and don’t come back to Korea.”

“…What?”

“I’ll raise the child well. So let’s not get in each other’s way and just live our own lives.”

“……”

“Don’t be sorry, and don’t put on some show of spirit either.”

He patted the classmate’s head. Holding his face, pupils trembling, he gave him the final word.

“This kid isn’t yours, so don’t you dare carry any sense of responsibility or guilt. Got it? If you ever have a reason to come to Korea, tell me in good time. If you enter without a word, I’ll kill you. You know my personality, right?”

“Yeah. I know… your personality is killer.”

“If you know, then don’t come back. If you’re short on money, say so. I’ll transfer anytime.”

For the sake of the future, he decided to remove his classmate from the picture. He chose this method knowing there was no way the classmate would turn down a large sum.

“You sure you won’t regret this? Letting him run like that?”

“He’s not running. I’m sending him.”

“……”

“He isn’t in my future. So how could I tell him to stay here? Before it becomes a problem, send him far away.”

Seeing how earnestly he stated his position, Hui-gang had nothing left to say. When someone is set, persuasion won’t do it. So he hid himself alongside him. And when the bureau wouldn’t give up and kept chasing, he occasionally leaked evidence.

“Let them know I’ve got a memory problem.”

“What? Why that?”

“Just. So the ones worth believing will believe.”

The bureau took the bait from the materials Hui-gang scattered. From then on, they could no longer find or pursue his trail.

Drifting into old memories, he chuckled. Hui-gang, in turn, replied curtly, asking what was so funny.

“How did you end up following me and winding up like this?”

[What’s that out of nowhere? What about me.]

“You’re suffering because of me.”

[Hey. Don’t flatter yourself. You think I’m doing this for you? It’s because Cheong and Hong are adorable.]

Stop spouting nonsense in the morning and bring a lot of things the kids like when you come home.

With that, he unilaterally hung up. As the sudden quiet fell, he smiled and took the phone from his ear. Even though the bureau had learned this place’s location, he wasn’t greatly unsettled. If anything, he felt calm.

He just figured he should place a few more weapons all around, since one never knew when or where a surprise would come. He stood, picked up the empty tangsuyuk plate, and headed downstairs to return it.

When he stepped into Horang Ban-jeom across the way, it was mid-lunch rush; the hall was packed. He had to stand there holding the empty plate for a while.

“Oh, hyung!”

“Ah, Minseok.”

With a bright face, Minseok ran up to him. Handing the empty dish over, he tried to pass through the bustling hall and slip out, but Minseok quickly caught him.

“At least have a soda before you go. It’d be a shame to leave like this.”

He refused strenuously, but he couldn’t break Minseok’s stubborn insistence. In the end, he sat in a corner seat and downed the drink he handed over.

“You’re always in slippers. Will you wear slippers in winter too?”

“Yeah. My feet run a little hot.”

“……”

Sneaking a glance at his toes, Minseok hastily averted his eyes.

“You didn’t get hard from looking at my toes, did you?”

“…Hyung, do you think I’m some premature finisher?”

“Your face looks exactly like it does after you’ve come.”

“Please, watch your mouth in public!”

Finally, he clapped a hand over his mouth. To blush at a joke like this—still a kid, clearly. With a look of incredulity, he finished the soda and rose unhurriedly.

Horangyong-dong was still trash, but the weather was tolerable today.

He flicked a glance at his watch and opened the pawnshop door, curious to see what kind of person would bring in hot goods today. A few minutes later, though, the unexpected visitor froze his expression.

He was in the middle of drafting a pawn-loan contract for the previous customer when the door opened and a familiar voice floated in.

“Hey. Hi.”

“……”

Cheonguk.

Some time had passed, so the scars had faded a lot, but if you looked closely, the traces of that day were still there. He steadied himself; there was nothing to do but receive Cheonguk as a customer.

“Please have a seat here for a moment.”

“Okay. I will.”

He sat down on the sofa without fuss, pressing his palm around on the plush upholstery to feel the texture.

“Did you pick the color too?”

“……”

“Cute as hell.”

Though the way he blurted it out rubbed wrong, he didn’t react much. Then he refocused on the customer in front of him.