Maybe the heavens had heard him swear off getting tangled up in any of it, because for the next few days he didn’t cross paths with either of them. The days passed quietly.
Tonight, though, after dinner, after washing Euni and getting all the way through her bedtime storybook without a hitch, he opened a drawer to sort the laundry and found a bankbook.
“What’s this?”
Seojin checked the balance out of idle curiosity, and his mouth fell open.
“What the... how many zeros are there after that two?”
He counted back carefully from the end, and when he confirmed there were nine of them, he blinked several times, unable to believe it.
“Two billion won?”
For Seojin, whose bank balance had never once in his life climbed into the tens of millions, it was a truly alien number.
“Honestly, Noona...”
A house. An adorable daughter. A job with reliable hours. And now, on top of all that, a bankbook with two billion won sitting in it.
They hadn’t shared a single drop of blood, and all they’d had between them was a few years together in a hospital. The unexpected gift she’d left behind warmed him through and, at the same time, pricked somewhere deep and tender.
Seojin pushed the bankbook to the very back of the drawer and stacked clothes neatly on top of it until it was hidden.
I should keep this safe and spend it on Euni.
It wasn’t money he needed right now anyway, and it was a precious gift from his noona. By the time he’d finished the laundry and cleaned up the kitchen and the living room, it was well past eleven.
Pressing at the back of his neck, Seojin went into the bathroom, showered quickly, and lay down on his bed. The moment he closed his eyes, for some reason, what surfaced was Yoon Haegang’s gaze, fixed steadily on him.
Please, point that interest at Shin Seyoung instead of me.
Things were quiet now, but the two of them had already met twice before the original story had even properly begun. So he could only hope Haegang would pay more attention to Shin Seyoung than to a secretary with barely any page time.
Hold on. In the original, what happened once Yoon Haegang took a liking to Shin Seyoung?
The first thing was the location-tracking app. Haegang hadn’t ordered it himself; Manager Kim had let something slip, and the secretary had handled it entirely on his own.
That was how the secretary arranged for Yoon Haegang to keep bumping into Shin Seyoung.
But the main top found out about it later, came storming in to confront Haegang, and the whole thing exploded into a shouting match.
The second was the debt. Loan sharks burst into Shin Seyoung’s home, and they belonged to the organization Yoon Haegang had once been part of.
Haegang went over using a gift as an excuse, ran into them there, and the main top arrived too late and misread the whole scene, which only deepened the rift between the two men.
At this rate it honestly feels like Yoon Haegang just gets dragged through the mud so those two can have their romance.
Seojin folded his arms neatly on top of the blanket and let out a sigh.
No. Get a grip. Yoon Haegang isn’t just some sub top. He’s the great and terrible sub yandere top.
He was the man who would eventually use his pheromones to abduct Shin Seyoung and lock him away. It was the single scene that had drawn the most fury from readers.
And meanwhile the secretary torments Shin Seyoung out of jealousy, and all of it gets pinned on Yoon Haegang too. Yeah, I’m definitely better off not getting involved.
That way Haegang would have one less sin on his tab, and Seojin could just read the room and resign at a decent moment. Wasn’t that the safest possible way to part ways?
Lying there running his brain in circles chased his sleep clean away. No matter how much he tossed and turned, his head only got clearer, and as he wondered what to do, the thought of sharp, fizzing carbonation and alcohol drifted into his mind.
Should I have a drink?
Beer. He’d cut it out completely after he got sick. Surely it was fine now.
Seojin grabbed nothing but his phone and headed out. Having a convenience store right below the building was a wonderful thing.
He came back home with a six-pack of beer in hand. Worried the sound of the front door might wake his daughter, he shut it carefully and turned around.
“Daddy, what’s that?”
Euni, who had left for dreamland ages ago, was standing right there rubbing her eyes.
“Uh, well, this is... just a drink for Daddy.”
Too embarrassed to admit he’d gone out and bought alcohol, Seojin mumbled his way past it and headed for the kitchen.
“Why’s Euni awake?”
He’d said it to subtly steer her attention elsewhere, and instead walked straight into a corner.
“Mmm... I was thirsty. Euni wants a drink too!”
With his daughter gazing innocently up at him, hand outstretched, how was he supposed to keep lying?
“This isn’t something Euni can drink.”
“Why?”
“Well, this drink is what they call alcohol, and only grown-ups are allowed to have it.”
“Why?”
This was bad. The Why Offensive had begun. Worse, her curiosity was up and her eyes had gone bright as buttons. Sensing that one wrong move would scatter what was left of Euni’s sleep entirely, Seojin spoke up fast.
“Um, your daycare teacher said you have to eat well to grow big and strong, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Well, if you drink this, your head hurts and your tummy hurts, and the growing-tall fairy inside your body gets such a fright that she runs away.”
“Gasp!”
Euni’s eyes went round and she clapped both hands over her tummy. Seojin’s lips curled up at the sight, and he pressed on with even more enthusiasm.
“But a fully grown-up grown-up like Daddy has a fully grown-up fairy, so he’s allowed to drink it. So Euni’s going to have a nice warm cup of milk and go right back to sleep. Okay?”
Euni nodded, firm and businesslike. Relieved, Seojin warmed some milk and handed it over — and then.
“Daddy! That stuff’s bad for you, right?”
“Uh, y-yeah.”
“Then Daddy only gets one a day! Euni will give you one every day!”
She declared it with total conviction, clutching her milk cup in both hands, and she was so cute and so lovable that Seojin nodded hugely.
The next day, after putting Euni on the daycare bus, Seojin arrived at work and ran into, of all people, Yoon Haegang.
“Oh... good morning, President.”
Yoon Haegang flicked a glance at him and turned his eyes back to his phone. After that he paid Seojin no attention at all.
Which is a relief, I suppose...
The problem was that Manager Kim was out on business until lunch today, which left just the two of them in the office.
“Let’s go.”
“Sorry?”
Seojin, who’d been sipping his coffee while he went over the client files Manager Kim had left behind, lifted his head, not sure he’d heard right. Yoon Haegang was already out of his chair.
“I said let’s go eat.”
“Uh...”
It was the last thing he’d expected to hear, and while he sat there hesitating, Yoon Haegang twitched an eyebrow at him, impatient. In the end Seojin shut down his computer and got up.
They left the office and headed for the sundaeguk place Seojin had been to once before. It wasn’t even noon yet, and the tables were already packed.
He assumed they’d go somewhere else, but Yoon Haegang waited at the door for a table like he did it all the time. Well, what could he do? He’d just have to wait too.
“Come on in!”
After ten minutes of awkward silence, a table finally opened up. Yoon Haegang sat down first, and Seojin, face stiff, pulled out the chair across from him.
“One regular, one spicy, right?”
The owner appeared out of nowhere and set an earthenware pot down in front of each of them.
“A side plate too, please.”
Yoon Haegang caught her just as she was turning to go. She gave him a look that asked what for, and he jerked his chin at Seojin across the table.
“He’s a kid, apparently. Can’t eat anything hot.”
“Ahh...!”
He was clearly being looked after, so why did it feel so grating? He could’ve just asked for the plate. Why did he have to add that part about not being able to eat it like a child?
Still, thanks to that, Seojin could ladle out manageable portions onto the side plate and finish his meal at the same pace as Yoon Haegang.
“Done?”
“Yes.”
Yoon Haegang checked the empty bowl and stood. Watching him pay the owner in cash, Seojin couldn’t hold back his curiosity.
“Wouldn’t a card be better, for expense reports?”
“Why bother, for pocket change?”
And here I thought he was doing it to help her business. Apparently not. Seojin let it go and followed Yoon Haegang outside. That was when he spotted Shin Seyoung walking toward them.
What the... again?
Sure, the man lived close by. Even so, there was no reason for them to keep running into each other this often!
He glanced sideways at Yoon Haegang without meaning to. Haegang didn’t so much as look at Shin Seyoung. Only Seojin gave an awkward nod of greeting, and then meant to walk right on by.
“Huh?”
Seojin stopped in his tracks and turned around.
“What is it?”
“Ah, it’s just...”
Seojin stood there looking at Shin Seyoung, already far down the street.
Did I imagine it?
He was tilting his head over it when he noticed the red roses blooming prettily along the wall.
“Ahh, that must’ve been it.”
Then again, as far as Seojin remembered, it wasn’t yet the time for Shin Seyoung to be showing early signs of his heat cycle.
And there’s no way a dominant Omega like him would leak pheromones without realizing it.
Case in point, right now. He’d caught a sweet scent as they passed each other and taken it for Shin Seyoung’s pheromones, and when he turned around, there were roses in bloom.
Embarrassed at his own mistake, he swiped at his nose with an index finger and turned back around. And found himself face to face with Yoon Haegang, who was staring at him, hard.
