Chapter 69

Sniff, sniff.

Gwichang lowered his torso, pressing his nose close. Burying the tip of his nose against the curve of Geum Seoul’s neck beneath the medical dressing pads, he rubbed gently until he could detect the faintest trace of the boy’s subtle pheromones.

Rustle.

Tucking Seoul’s stray hand back beneath the duvet, Do-hyeop turned his attention back to the floating terminal displaying an overwhelming backlog of pending intelligence files.

“Shall I proceed with the debrief, sir?” Yu Jeong-ham asked over the feed.

“Go ahead,” Do-hyeop grunted.

With that clipped assent, Yu Jeong-ham initiated file transfers while breaking down the situation.

‘You crazy bastard! Do you have any idea that shutting down the capital without cause is grounds for immediate dismissal?!’

Director Noh Pil-gyu had flown into a hysterical rage the moment Do-hyeop crossed the threshold of headquarters.

‘If you step aside while I butcher Gwak Chun-young, I’ll pretend I never saw the ledger,’ Do-hyeop had replied.

‘Where the hell is this ledger?! Produce it right now if it exists!’ Noh had screamed.

Noh Pil-gyu had blustered in front of Gwak Chun-young, carrying on about who would end up groveling behind whom now, but in truth he was no old man to be taken in so easily. With no idea how the ledger was to be opened, nor what had been destroyed in the blast, he had flown into a fury, roaring that if it wasn’t shoved right under his nose, the ledger simply didn’t exist.

The political stalemate ended lukewarmly. Gye Do-hyeop intended to bury Gwak Chun-young permanently, but Director Noh stood stubbornly in the breach; conversely, Gwak had anticipated walking free within forty-eight hours, yet Do-hyeop’s immovable presence made release impossible.

Ultimately, Gwak Chun-young was charged with simple trespass and obstruction of official duties rather than the threat against a government agency—the compromised result engineered by Noh Pil-gyu after suppressing the evidence submitted by Do-hyeop’s team.

Knowing that without cracking the ledger he could never lock Gwak away in one stroke, Do-hyeop negotiated with Noh Pil-gyu by stacking every aggravating element—accompanying bodily harm, group action, use of a deadly weapon—for the heaviest possible sentence. Being barred from throwing Gwak into the basement like the others and carving up his limbs at his leisure made Do-hyeop’s neurosis flare, but reducing the man’s private fortress to cinders had to suffice for now.

Gwak’s sprawling country estate had burned completely, and the gallery at the heart of the property was left nothing but pitch-black ash. Gwak seemed to have built chemical agents into his security systems so that, in an emergency, even the hardest gemstones would oxidize.

Yu Jeong-ham asked over the comms, “By the way, Deputy Director, how did you deduce that the gallery featured an automated self-destruction system?”

Though Do-hyeop had ordered reconnaissance on Gwak’s vault architecture previously, acquiring complete schematics had proved impossible given the clandestine contractors and Director Noh’s watchful eye.

Do-hyeop, however, had described Gwak’s hidden security protocols in exacting detail and hit the mark on every point. When the order first came down, Jeong-ham had gone dizzy imagining what fresh catastrophe his superior intended to create. Yet once again, the lunatic had been right. Burning the collection meant they lost any chance of stealing the A-grade gemstone, but it also guaranteed that both Noh Pil-gyu and Gwak Chun-young would be forced to tread carefully for a while. Noh’s vulnerability had been exposed, and Gwak had now experienced Do-hyeop’s particular brand of madness firsthand. Both men would have to rethink their entire board.

“Try using that brain of yours for once,” Do-hyeop remarked dryly.

His dark eyes remained fixed on the tactical reports rather than Jeong-ham, the insult sounding routine by now.

Do-hyeop added, “Look at the ledger. His fundamental wiring is ‘I’d rather destroy it than let anyone else touch it.’ Would his precious jewels be any different?”

“Ah,” Jeong-ham murmured.

The deduction made logical sense in hindsight, yet acting on that premise to detonate a billionaire’s mansion remained breathtakingly insane. Had the calculation wavered by an inch, Gwak would have walked free while Do-hyeop faced criminal indictment. On this planet, only Deputy Director Gye had the nerve to pull such an asymmetric gamble.

Do-hyeop inquired, “What about the personal effects?”

“No A-grade jewels were mounted on his personal rings, sir,” Jeong-ham reported. “It seems the stone was genuinely stored in the vault. The suspect appears halfway out of his mind from shock…”

The sole contingency Do-hyeop had weighed was the possibility that Gwak kept the primary jewel set in his signet rings, which would have fallen into agency custody upon arrest anyway. Securing the A-grade jewel would have been ideal, but expecting such theatrical luck in a single strike was unrealistic.

Click.

Reclining lazily in the single-seater armchair, Gye Do-hyeop tore his gaze from the terminal and retrieved a silver cigarette case. The wire band stripped from Seoul’s knuckle lay on the coffee table alongside an e-cigarette casing, yet Do-hyeop reached for a hand-rolled cigarette and a match. Just as he pushed himself up—

A faint murmur escaped Seoul’s lips. “Mmm…” Right at that moment, the sleeping boy smiled.

“……”

Do-hyeop’s brow furrowed in astonishment.

The boy who had rested motionless for twenty-four hours slowly curled the corners of his lips, blooming into a breathtaking expression like someone intoxicated by pure happiness.

Though the thick drapes remained drawn, golden sunlight seemed to shatter across his pale features, only to dissolve back into stillness a heartbeat later. That fleeting rapture lasted only a second, the unlit cigarette slipping from Do-hyeop’s fingers to tumble onto the cushion.

“……”

For an endless stretch of time, Gye Do-hyeop remained transfixed, unable to tear his eyes from Geum Seoul. Though the smile had faded back to peaceful slumber, his gaze remained glued to those flushed cheeks and curved eyelashes.

Do-hyeop drew a sharp breath, only then realizing he had been holding his lungs entirely still. A dry, incredulous laugh bubbled from his chest.

“…You’re turning me into a fucking idiot,” he muttered softly.

Leaning forward, he lightly grazed Seoul’s earlobe with his tongue while his palm stroked the boy’s flat abdomen. The warm, supple skin felt delightfully soft beneath his fingers.

“Do it again,” Do-hyeop whispered, yet Seoul offered no response.

Thud.

Lowering his forehead, Do-hyeop buried his brow hard against Seoul’s shoulder—pressing with blunt force like driving a nail.

“Do it again,” Do-hyeop whispered.

Thud. Pressing his forehead down once more, he whispered, “Smile for me.”

Again, he pressed his forehead firmly against the slender shoulder. Yet Geum Seoul didn’t smile. Smile. Breathing out quietly while buried against him, Gye Do-hyeop slowly tilted his chin up.

Slide.

Gye Do-hyeop hooked a hand beneath the sleeping Geum Seoul’s chin and pried open the slack lips. Then his tongue pushed inside. He licked across the fever-hot, sensitive mucosa, parted the boy’s mouth wider, and deepened the one-sided kiss again and again. He kissed him, withdrew barely an inch, then kissed him once more. After drawing slowly over the dry edge of Seoul’s tongue, grazing his teeth, and tasting as far back as the molars and pointed canines, Do-hyeop finally pulled away on a long breath. Only then did he brush the disordered brown hair from Seoul’s forehead.

Rustle.

The duvet was pulled up to Geum Seoul’s shoulders. Gye Do-hyeop lingered, kneading that soft cheek and jawline for a long while.

Should I just kill him? The thought crossed his mind unbidden. Seeing Geum Seoul smile had done that to him. Even now, the lingering afterimage sent chills crawling over his skin. If I kill him with my own hands, no one else will ever see that smile again. No other bastard could ever shove a ring onto his finger either. His dark impulses crept inward like shadows. Gye Do-hyeop straightened his upper body.

“Hngh…” Geum Seoul whimpered faintly.

Whether he sensed the murderous intent or the timing was merely coincidental, Geum Seoul let out a soft noise, his body shifting slightly beneath the covers. Consciousness was finally returning.

Glide.

Sliding a broad palm beneath the nape of Geum Seoul’s neck, the alpha felt the boy’s feverish, smooth flesh adhering instantly to his touch.

“Open your eyes if you’re done sleeping,” Gye Do-hyeop said.

“……”

Pale eyelids twitched faintly, long eyelashes fluttering as though fighting to lift. When Geum Seoul’s hazel-brown irises were finally exposed under the dim lighting, Gye Do-hyeop’s lips curled into a smile. Flutter, flutter. Geum Seoul blinked as if his lids weighed lead. Yet the moment those eyes were half-open, Do-hyeop—who had been smiling—narrowed his own eyes and leveled a fierce glare at Geum Seoul.

Gye Do-hyeop let out a low breath. “…Right from the moment you wake up, huh?”

Pheromones were already rising from the omega, hazing the air in the room with thick, milky density.

“Deputy… Director…” Geum Seoul murmured, struggling to form the syllables.

Having barely regained consciousness after a whole day—before he could even lift his heavy eyelids all the way—Geum Seoul began pouring out a fragrance so intoxicating and horrifyingly dense that it verged on madness.

It was Geum Seoul’s very first heat cycle after breaking free of his recessive constitution.

Whether it was an instinctive biological rebound from brushing against death, his gaze remained entirely unfocused, yet within seconds, his pale cheeks flushed crimson, his limbs squirmed restlessly, and an aroma potent enough to wring the brain dry filled every corner of the room.

“I was planning to play the gentleman until you fully recovered,” Gye Do-hyeop murmured with a ragged breath.

But you’re the one who started it. Pressing the bridge of his nose against the scruff of the scorching neck, Gye Do-hyeop let out a low breath, “Hey.” His eyes sharpened murderously.

“Did you say getting pregnant was difficult?” he asked.

Geum Seoul let out a ragged moan, squirming against the sheets. “Hnngh…”

Pitch-black pupils gleamed violently, as though struck by direct sunlight.

“Seoul.”

Tap.

Gye Do-hyeop’s index finger tapped Geum Seoul’s flushed cheek. Tap. Tap-tap. He touched him two or three more times, but the young man could barely keep his eyes open as he gushed an obscenely lewd scent into the room.

“How about your deputy director works his ass off trying to make it happen?” Gye Do-hyeop whispered.

Almost simultaneously, Gye Do-hyeop’s pheromones detonated in an explosive rush, the base of his erection swelling furiously. It was the full-blown rut of a dominant alpha hit dead-on by the heat pheromones of a dominant omega. Gye Do-hyeop smiled brightly, licking his lips as his pupils constricted.