Chapter 73

Manager Yoo, his heart heavy with apprehension, prepared to peek inside the residence but quickly averted his gaze.

“Good call,” Yeon-oh remarked drily. “What good would it do for you to look around anyway? It would only put me in a fouler mood.”

Completely shirtless and leaning against the doorframe to block the view inside, his trousers unbuttoned at the waist, Yeon-oh absently scratched his arm as he accepted the heavy duffel bag of clothes and the tablet PC from Manager Yoo. The bag was substantial; having been informed Yeon-oh planned an extended stay, Yoo had packed aggressively.

Yeon-oh inspected a faint red mark on his bicep where he had been leaning against the frame. He had discarded his silk-blend, two-button suit jacket, his monogrammed dress shirt, and his silk tie, exposing a torso heavily armored in intimidating muscle. He didn’t look like a chaebol heir; he looked like a high-end escort or a high-ranking gangster who preyed on chaebol heirs. Inheriting his mother’s delicate, striking beauty did nothing to soften the crude, vulgar curses currently spilling from his mouth.

“Fuck, there are so many goddamn mosquitoes here. I’ve already been bitten five times.”

“…Should I buy you some mosquito repellent, sir?” Yoo offered.

“Isn’t mosquito repellent bad for pregnant people?” Yeon-oh replied in a bored tone. “You should know these things.”

Vigorously scratching his thick bicep with his short fingernails, he left harsh red welts across his skin. Despite possessing a remarkably pale, flawless complexion, his entire physique radiated an aura of pure menace, resembling a lethal weapon. The aggressively swollen pectorals and the collarbones that looked like steel pipes only amplified the intimidation.

With his massive frame entirely obstructing the doorway, there was zero chance of seeing inside, leaving Yoo to wonder why Yeon-oh was being so aggressively territorial. He’s probably worried about Gi-hyeon, who just tried to escape him, Yoo deduced, swallowing a quiet sigh.

“…Shall I contact the hospital to inquire? It would be beneficial to know exactly what is harmful, sir.”

“That would be great.”

Yeon-oh’s nonchalant response left Yoo struggling for a proper reaction. He felt deeply responsible; failing to uncover Gi-hyeon’s pregnancy was a massive intelligence failure on his part while tracking the man’s movements.

Perhaps sensing the manager’s silent self-flagellation, Yeon-oh glanced at him.

“Did you look into those fucking bastards?”

“Yes, sir.”

That issue weighed just as heavily on Yoo’s conscience. This time, the guilt wasn’t rooted in an operational failure, but in genuine sympathy for Gi-hyeon. Yoo had known about Gi-hyeon’s bad ankle for a very long time. He had always assumed it was the result of an unfortunate training accident; discovering it was actually the result of a vicious, coordinated assault was deeply disturbing.

“…I’ve compiled the details on the tablet PC, sir. Given the late hour, the investigation is still in its preliminary stages, but I have confirmed a violent hazing incident occurred within his unit during that specific year.”

“…”

Yeon-oh remained silent, his eyes fixed on the tablet with a chilling stillness. Despite the suffocating pressure bearing down on him, Yoo didn’t dare utter another word. Only when Yeon-oh finally lifted his head did the crushing atmosphere dissipate enough for Yoo to breathe.

“It’s late. You should head back.”

It was a dismissal for the night. Yeon-oh had granted Yoo a strict two-week deadline to complete the investigation.

While the general public assumed a chaebol could execute any whim instantly, operating from an ambiguous, precarious position within the succession hierarchy like Yeon-oh imposed severe restrictions. His father, who should have been his primary political shield, had lived as a degenerate drug addict and was now functionally dead as a vegetable.

If Yeon-oh showed even a moment of weakness, his rabid cousins were waiting like a pack of starving jackals to tear him down, while his grandfather hovered above them all, sniffing out vulnerabilities like a demon.

The environment was a perpetual minefield, yet mere survival wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy an Alpha of Yeon-oh’s immense caliber and ambition.

Consequently, rather than utilizing brute-force, straightforward methods, he frequently operated through convoluted, untraceable channels. Matters concerning So Gi-hyeon were exclusively handled with this extreme paranoia.

The same man who wouldn’t hesitate to bark at cabinet ministers across a hwatu table, ordering them not to touch the cards while he went to take a piss, approached anything involving Gi-hyeon with a caution bordering on passive timidity.

The reason was singular: absolutely nothing good would come from drawing Jo Gyu-deok’s attention to Gi-hyeon. And the current situation was directly tied to that exact nightmare scenario.

Gi-hyeon was pregnant.

A cold sweat prickled at the base of Yoo’s neck.

I never should have agreed to help him back then, Yoo realized with mounting dread. Gi-hyeon had been officially classified as a Beta since birth. The revelation that he had suddenly manifested as an Omega and conceived a child was catastrophic. Furthermore, the child is undeniably Jo Yeon-oh’s.

The realization made his stomach churn with anxiety. As he stood frozen, paralyzed by his throbbing headache, his employer, who looked exactly like a gangster the second he shed his bespoke suit, raised a single, challenging eyebrow.

“What are you still doing here? I’m going to give him a pheromone shower now. Do you want to stay and watch?”

“…No, sir.”

The warning was explicit, punctuated by a sharp smirk and narrowed eyes. What is he warning me against? Yoo wondered. However, he fully anticipated Yeon-oh’s paranoia to escalate exponentially from here on out.

When an Alpha claims an Omega as their mate, their territorial instincts become hypersensitized, even unconsciously. They effectively devolve into rabid dogs, baring their teeth and growling at anyone who merely walks past their territory.

Yoo knew he could absolutely never report this development to Jo Gyu-deok. Even if Yeon-oh currently harbored suspicions about his loyalty, overstepping now would guarantee his absolute destruction. Burdened by a rapidly growing list of lethal secrets, Yoo watched the front door firmly shut in his face.

Inside, the Alpha stood over the sleeping Omega.

“…”

The preliminary report Yeon-oh had just skimmed was a fucking joke. The ankle injury that had plagued Gi-hyeon for years, refusing to heal, hadn’t been an accident; it was the direct result of a targeted assault. Adding insult to injury, the brigade had systematically covered up the hazing incident, quietly discharging Gi-hyeon to bury the scandal.

“Which one of those bastards do you hate the most?” Yeon-oh whispered.

He asked hoping for a subconscious response, but Gi-hyeon remained deeply asleep. The first bastard Yeon-oh had encountered tonight, the junior officer, he had fully intended to permanently cripple in exactly the same manner, but the hyper-efficient Manager Yoo had already intervened, administering a tetanus shot to the man. Since the junior had desperately claimed he was merely the lookout, Yeon-oh had decided to temporarily suspend his execution.

Deciding how to slaughter the rest of them required careful deliberation. The sheer number of perpetrators was deeply fucking irritating. However, every single assailant had been Gi-hyeon’s junior in rank. A victim being forced into an early discharge over an insubordination assault was highly irregular; there was undeniably a mastermind orchestrating the cover-up.

Just how massive is your backer? Are they as powerful as me? Yeon-oh mused, feeling a genuine, morbid curiosity.

Just how untouchable was this mysterious sponsor to have completely obliterated Gi-hyeon without even bothering to verify who was standing behind him? If Yeon-oh hadn’t stumbled upon this truth tonight, he would have eventually tracked the mastermind down, exhumed their cremated remains, and physically dragged their ghost out of the urn for round two.

Tossing the tablet PC onto the small nightstand, Yeon-oh surveyed the room. Gi-hyeon’s new sanctuary was even smaller and more decrepit than the Ilsan villa he had initially fled to.

The property was registered under Yang Jisu’s mother. What exactly is their relationship for him to just hand over a house like this? Every time the thought surfaced, blinding jealousy twisted his guts until he felt physically sick.

“…”

Staring down at Gi-hyeon, Yeon-oh quietly stripped off his remaining clothing. Hooking his index fingers under the waistband of his underwear, he slid them down and stepped closer to the bed. Even in the darkened room, his completely naked, towering frame cast a heavy shadow over Gi-hyeon.

Looking down at the sleeping man, Yeon-oh gripped his semi-erect cock. And then, he began to stroke himself. Masturbation, a practice he rarely engaged in seven years ago, was now an agonizingly familiar routine. The mechanics were identical for everyone, but prior to dating Gi-hyeon, he had never needed to resort to his own hand; whenever the urge arose, he simply relieved himself with a partner.

But since the day he committed to So Gi-hyeon, he had relied exclusively on masturbation. He had chained himself to a lover he was entirely forbidden to touch.

Urp…

Even now, a wave of nausea hit him. He was violently aroused by Gi-hyeon’s scent, yet the paralyzing realization that it was So Gi-hyeon simultaneously made him want to vomit.

Despite the psychological revulsion, the slit at the tip of his swollen, engorged glans was twitching rhythmically, resembling the gills of a fish desperately gasping for air after being dragged onto dry land. It was visibly begging to be buried deep inside something warm and tight.

He had barely stroked himself a few times, yet he was already leaking pre-cum pathetically. Yeon-oh scoffed at his own degrading desperation.

Hah…

His breathing grew ragged. He rubbed his thumb in slow circles over the impossibly taut, fully erect head of his cock, staring fixedly at Gi-hyeon before slowly lowering his face.

“…”

“…”

Gi-hyeon’s soft, even breathing brushed against his cheek and earlobe. The sensation was so intensely arousing it made his dick literally ache. Very slowly, Yeon-oh reignited the pheromones he had been continuously releasing into the room.

He could physically feel the heavy, intoxicating wave of his dominant Alpha pheromones cascading directly over Gi-hyeon.

Ha, fuck…

A ragged sound, caught somewhere between a curse and a moan of pure lust, escaped his lips. Gi-hyeon’s scent was driving him absolutely fucking insane. It was a slightly sharp, intoxicatingly sweet aroma, reminiscent of vanilla blossoms soaked in aged rum. It felt bizarrely, inexplicably familiar.

“…Even your scent is exactly like…”

He was so breathless he couldn’t even finish the muttered thought. Clear fluid was dripping steadily from his urethra. Watching a drop land directly onto Gi-hyeon’s forearm nearly pushed him over the edge into orgasm. Operating purely on impulse, Yeon-oh brought his lips down toward Gi-hyeon’s cheek. The corners of his mouth trembled violently. The sensation of his lips pressing against the impossibly soft skin was devastatingly vivid.

Hah—! Ah, fuck… Ugh—!

Realizing he was a fraction of a second away from ejaculating right then and there, he desperately clamped a hand over his dick and violently jerked upright. In the next instant, he slapped his hand over his mouth, overwhelmed by a sudden, violent surge of nausea.

Unable to suppress the gag reflex, he bolted for the cramped, pathetic excuse for a bathroom and gripped the edges of the sink. Because he had consumed nothing but water during the frantic drive down, he only dry-heaved clear liquid. After retching violently several times, Yeon-oh slowly lifted his head, locking eyes with his own haggard reflection in the mirror, deep shadows bruised under his eyes.

“…Pathetic bastard,” he sneered at his reflection without a shred of hesitation.

Washing his hands, he stepped back into the bedroom. His erection had completely died.

Yeon-oh immediately released his pheromones again. From the bed where the incredibly appetizing Omega slept, the intoxicating scent of rum-soaked syrup wafted through the air. Saliva flooded his mouth, and his dick immediately began to stir again.

He gripped himself once more. Maintaining a high state of Alpha sexual arousal was the most critical component of administering a pheromone shower. Acting on impulse again, he buried his face into the nape of Gi-hyeon’s neck, intending to inhale deeply, but violently tore himself away at the last second. He was forced to simply stroke himself while raking his eyes over Gi-hyeon’s sleeping face.

Fantasizing about violently unloading his cum all over those pristine white vanilla blossoms. All the while, Gi-hyeon remained peacefully, blissfully asleep.

This agonizing, degrading cycle repeated itself endlessly throughout the night. He would stroke himself while staring at Gi-hyeon’s face, impulsively press a kiss to the back of his hand, or smear a drop of pre-cum across Gi-hyeon’s lips with his thumb, only to be overcome by violent nausea and sprint back to the bathroom to retch.

The entire dawn was consumed by this agonizing war between violently whipped lust and endless, suffocating self-disgust.

It was Omega So Gi-hyeon’s first pheromone shower.

***