Chapter 28

For some inexplicable reason, Gi-hyeon found himself sharing breakfast with Jo Yeon-oh. Despite his supposedly packed schedule, the bastard was sitting there clutching a butter knife with a dark scowl, complaining that Gi-hyeon’s dawn stroll had completely ruined his ability to sleep. It was utterly absurd.

Instead of heading down to the restaurant, the meal was served directly in their suite. Before Gi-hyeon could even question the arrangement, the doorbell had rung, and Yeon-oh personally wheeled in a trolley loaded with fresh seasonal fruit, assorted breads, omelets, various jams, crispy bacon, and a stack of pancakes waiting for syrup.

Gi-hyeon had expected hotel staff to set the table, but Yeon-oh meticulously transferred every single plate himself. Dressed in fitted golf wear, the Alpha’s physique was on full display—broad, sturdy shoulders and a thick torso tapering down to narrow hips. Because the athletic clothing clung to him far more aggressively than his usual tailored suits, Gi-hyeon felt compelled to throw out a deflective barb.

“Fix this pathetic habit of not being able to sleep without me. Are you a goddamn toddler?”

“It’d be a pretty big problem for a toddler to share a bed with his lover, wouldn’t it?”

Bullshit. You literally just sleep, more innocently than an actual child. Gi-hyeon wanted to retort, but lacking the energy for a prolonged argument, he simply pressed his lips to a thin crystal glass filled with apple juice.

“Orange marmalade? Or strawberry?”

“Marmalade.”

Accepting the freshly baked bread slathered in butter and marmalade, Gi-hyeon chewed with an intensely apathetic expression. If he was going to eat bread, he much preferred a greasy deluxe burger meal from the fast-food joint next to the clinic. Even the pancakes sitting on the room service tray tasted fundamentally different from what he was used to.

“Make sure you eat your protein, too.”

“Yes, Mr. Dietitian.”

Despite Gi-hyeon’s intensely irritated sarcasm, Yeon-oh merely chuckled as if it were a hilarious joke and gently pushed the omelet closer. Considering the table was perfectly round and anything within Yeon-oh’s reach was equally within Gi-hyeon’s, the excessive coddling felt completely unnecessary.

“Worry about your own food. Didn’t you say you had a rounding session today? Manager Yoo must be dying of anxiety out there.”

“You think I treat Manager Yoo like garbage just because I’m his employer? He’s far worse than me. The man is a total venomous survivor.”

Gi-hyeon strongly considered agreeing, but held his tongue. After all, the grueling, homicidal schedule Yeon-oh was forced to endure was entirely orchestrated by Manager Yoo. The secretary was the very first ‘gift’ bestowed upon Yeon-oh by his grandfather, designed specifically to mold Yeon-oh into the most dazzling centerpiece of the Haeseong conglomerate within a few short years.

“He’s not my person, so you be careful too. Don’t go blindly trusting every word that sly fox bastard says.”

Dropping his butter knife onto the plate, Yeon-oh delivered the warning with profound indifference. Impeccable table manners perfectly contrasted with incredibly vulgar speech. He was the living embodiment of a paradox. When will I ever be able to escape this contradiction? Swallowing a heavy sigh, Gi-hyeon replied.

“How is he a fox? Manager Yoo is just a regular office worker. One who has the supreme misfortune of serving a superior with a garbage personality like yours.”

“I told you to listen to your hyung.”

“Stop acting so high and mighty. Give me my New Year’s allowance first if you want to pull rank.”

“Fine. Give me a proper, deep bow next Lunar New Year. I’ll shower you with so much allowance you’ll drown.”

You bow first. No, you do it. You crazy bastard, I’ll bow to you twice. When I become a ghost, I’m going to haunt you. Bickering like children, the argument inevitably devolved into them viciously kicking each other under the table. Between the two grown men, only one ended up with teary eyes from the stinging pain.

“Fuck— You always kick for real, don’t you?”

Rubbing his bruised shin, Yeon-oh scowled in pure irritation. Gi-hyeon merely shrugged.

“You kick me too, then. Who’s stopping you? Is it my fault your lower body strength is severely lacking?”

Ugh, this little—. Choking back what was undoubtedly a string of vile curses, Yeon-oh abruptly shot up from his chair—rattling the entire table—and aggressively ruffled Gi-hyeon’s hair with both hands. Ignoring the assault, Gi-hyeon kept chewing on his omelet, and the rough hands eventually softened into a gentle caress.

“…Don’t go anywhere today and just stay here. Or go swimming. I already had them clear out the private pool.”

Considering Yeon-oh was the exact reason he was trapped here in the first place, being ordered not to move was rich. Curious as to the sudden restriction, Gi-hyeon asked why.

“This place is crawling with trashy bastards, so don’t go wandering around.”

Gi-hyeon wasn’t physically weak. His ankle was slightly compromised, but he was more than capable of defending himself. Yeon-oh’s overprotective tone, treating him like a fragile Omega, grated on his nerves. He roughly swatted away the hand still lingering in his hair.

“I’ll live my own life just fine.”

“Ah, you’re so fucking rude and funny, Gi-hyeon.”

Opting not to reply, Gi-hyeon used his long, silver-plated fork to cleanly slice his remaining omelet in half. Despite having gone cold, the inside remained perfectly soft and runny.

Staring down at him, Yeon-oh issued a dark warning.

“And don’t go wandering around at dawn mixing words with Alpha bastards again.”

The blatant policing—exactly how an Alpha would reprimand their Omega—sparked a flash of real annoyance.

“I told you, I’ll handle myself.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Yeon-oh closed the distance in a single, terrifying stride. Gripping Gi-hyeon’s shoulder, he lowered his face dangerously close to the nape of Gi-hyeon’s neck and inhaled deeply, aggressively analyzing his scent.

“The guy who claims he can handle himself is walking around stained with some blind bastard’s pheromones?”

For some inexplicable reason, the accusation felt deeply humiliating. Gi-hyeon couldn’t tell if he was annoyed because Yeon-oh was implying only blind men would approach a Beta like him, or if he was furious at being treated like a clueless, helpless child.

Unable to pinpoint the exact source of his anger, Gi-hyeon simply clamped his mouth shut.

“…When are you leaving?”

“Right now.”

“When will you be back?”

“Who knows. After I finish the round of golf, even if I spend the entire time aggressively beating the dirt so badly I can’t tell if I’m golfing or shoveling shit, intentionally losing to those stubborn old men is never easy.”

If he couldn’t achieve his desired political leverage on the golf course, the battlefield would shift to the Hwatu table. Whenever the bribes disguised as golf wagers felt insufficient, Yeon-oh utilized poker or Hwatu cards. The older the politicians were, and the closer they sat to the core of government power, the more they seemed to prefer Hwatu over poker. The only person So Gi-hyeon—who had never lost a game of Hwatu in his life—could never beat was Jo Yeon-oh. And yet, the sole reason Yeon-oh had to sit at those tables every single day and pretend to be an absolute amateur was precisely to facilitate these bribery ceremonies.

Regardless of the method, it meant his schedule today would end excruciatingly late. Perfect, Gi-hyeon thought. That means I can just sleep the entire time. A faint spark of excitement at the prospect of lounging in the suite flared in his chest, though his face remained locked in its usual deadpan mask. Yet, as if equipped with a highly calibrated radar, Yeon-oh immediately scowled.

“You look fucking excited.”

“Not excited enough to sprout a dick. Having two attached would be a little gross, wouldn’t it?”

…Was that joke too sexual? Having blurted it out with total apathy, Gi-hyeon immediately regretted the vulgarity. The steady rhythm of his chewing slowed down considerably.

“Unbelievable. Gi-hyeon, I guarantee you are the absolute worst at telling jokes in your entire hospital.”

Actually, the athletes tell me I’m the funniest one there, Gi-hyeon wanted to argue, but swallowed the words. It was a trivial comment, but a sudden wave of misery washed over him. Why was he the only one walking on eggshells when Yeon-oh was completely unaffected? Was his pride genuinely that wounded? Gi-hyeon offered a vague, noncommittal nod.

…I definitely need to sleep more. Only severe sleep deprivation could cause this level of paranoia.

“…I’m going to sleep, so leave quietly. You woke me up in the middle of the night anyway.”

“That’s my line, Gi-hyeon. Why the hell were you running on a hamster wheel outside instead of sleeping? Are you a goddamn squirrel?”

Infuriated by the bastard’s smug, mocking grin as he spouted pure bullshit, Gi-hyeon flipped him the middle finger before retreating into the bathroom. Squeezing toothpaste onto his brush, he noticed a sudden, inexplicable prickle in his eyes. Why am I crying? Staring into the mirror, Gi-hyeon wiped away a single, unnoticeable tear with a completely blank expression. A quick smudge of his thumb, and it was as if he hadn’t cried at all.

Just like that, Gi-hyeon completely erased the tears from his memory. After all, it was nothing to get worked up over.

***