* * *
As the group settled in the living room, the servant appeared, neatly peeling apples and arranging them on a plate.
Watching her retreat like a palace maid from a historical drama, Taejoon bitterly reminded himself how absurd it was for someone like him—a nobody—to be friends with such an untouchable young master.
In Joseon-era terms, he’d be a commoner foolishly pining after a prince.
Feeling small, he stayed silent until Kim Minjeong handed him a fork-speared apple slice.
“Taejoon, thank you for keeping Woohee company.”
“It’s nothing.”
Her kindness, much like Woohee’s, almost made him believe he was someone special.
Despite being full, he nibbled at the apple, marveling at how the rich could even make fruit taste better.
“If it’s alright with you, I’d love for you to stay at the villa for a few days. I heard you live with your grandmother—we can arrange for her to be admitted to the hospital and have two professional caregivers look after her. I’ve been told she needs artificial knee surgery?”
Taejoon’s eyes widened.
The words I should go home rose in his throat but died there.
His grandmother always slapped pungent pain patches on her knees at night, groaning, “Aigoo, aigoo, I’m dying.”
He’d assumed her pain was just part of aging—he never knew it could be fixed.
The local clinic only ever drained fluid from her knees and prescribed painkillers.
Asking about the cost bruised his pride, but with no money to his name, he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and forced out the question:
“How… how much would the surgery cost?”
“You’re still young, so what are you worrying about so much? I asked Taejoon to come visit you, so of course you should let him in.”
Knowing full well that it wasn’t something to take for granted, Na Taejoon bit his lip.
He had already received the deposit for the rent from Yeo Woohee, but with his grandmother’s artificial joint surgery, hospital bills, and caregiver costs, he was drowning in debt.
Kim Minjeong looked at him as if she could see right through him.
“Taejoon, this isn’t a debt. It’s compensation. Compensation for becoming our Woohee’s friend and protecting him.”
Yeo Woohee had often wondered where Yeo Jinwoo’s madness came from, and now he realized—half of it came from here.
Just as Kim Minjeong wrapped her manipulation in kindness to make Taejoon do her bidding, Yeo Jinwoo had prepared sweet desserts to take Woohee for himself, on his own terms.
Blood ran thicker than water. Yeo Jinwoo wasn’t a mutation.
Even though he looked like Chairman Yeo, in the end, he was Kim Minjeong’s son.
After sipping her warm, organic rooibos tea, she rose from her seat.
The caretaker of the villa and his wife, who had been cleaning, hurried to the entrance.
Though they were hired help, their excessive loyalty likely came from Kim Minjeong’s gentle but firm control.
“Mister, Ma’am. Please take good care of our Woohee.”
“Yes, yes~. Don’t worry, miss. We’ll make sure the young master is as comfortable as possible during his stay.”
Everyone bustled out of the villa to see Kim Minjeong off.
The driver, who had been waiting while smoking an e-cigarette, quickly stashed it in his jacket pocket and opened the backseat door.
Kim Minjeong got in, lowered the window, and extended her hand.
She gently stroked Yeo Woohee’s cheek.
“Sweetheart, have fun.”
No one looking at this affectionate mother would believe someone was hiding away from her.
After the car left, the caretaker couple stepped forward to show Woohee around the villa.
The three-story villa had entertainment facilities on the first floor—living room, dining room, pocket billiards room, screen golf, bowling alley, and a home theater.
The second floor consisted only of bedrooms.
The guest rooms, which Kim Minjeong’s friends used when visiting, were large enough to rival those of a luxury inn.
The third floor was covered in white cloths to keep dust off canvases—it was clearly an art studio.
An old easel stood there, with wooden palettes caked in paint like fossils, and brushes of various sizes with sable bristles poking out of a metal tin.
Yeo Woohee wandered curiously.
He’d never seen Kim Minjeong draw, so the room felt mysterious.
“This was the studio of a friend Miss Minjeong had since childhood.”
Woohee didn’t ask where that friend had gone and why only the studio remained.
The Omega had married and even had a child, but after failing to bond with the husband, an incident had occurred with a servant.
He pulled off the white cloth covering one of the canvases.
There was a painting of Kim Minjeong smiling happily.
Every painting in the room had her as the subject.
The artist must have loved her.
And now, he was gone.
“Achoo.”
Woohee sneezed cutely from the dust floating in the air and rubbed his ticklish nose with his hand.
The caretaker quickly opened the window to ventilate and apologized, saying he should have cleaned more thoroughly.
Coming down from the third floor, Woohee picked one of the rooms on the second.
It looked like a former dressing room turned into a bedroom—the wall had a large mirror on one side.
It seemed perfect for having sex on the bed later.
He hoped Yeo Jinwoo would hurry and come for him.
He wanted to be humiliated in front of that mirror.
The caretaker couple told him to contact them anytime if he needed anything—they would be in the annex—and left him to enjoy time with his “friend.”
Woohee gave Taejoon an awkward smile.
“You worried a lot about me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. But I’m glad you’re healthy.”
In truth, they weren’t close enough to be staying together in a villa like this, so Taejoon used the excuse of being tired from the car ride and went to his room.
Then Woohee saw himself in the mirror and realized he was still in his pajamas.
The bottoms were stained with dried semen from an earlier leak.
He felt embarrassed, realizing he had been walking around like this.
To avoid going into heat, he took slow, deep breaths as he began unbuttoning his pajama top.
Once he undressed, his pale body was revealed, his pink nipples slightly swollen.
He grabbed his chest with both hands, then let go.
His chest had grown softer, probably from being handled by an Alpha.
On the other hand, thanks to working out to build stamina, the fat on his body had reduced so much that his hip bones stuck out, and his perineum looked even more sunken in by contrast.
He had unintentionally developed an erotic-looking pelvis.
Turning around, he spread his butt cheeks to inspect his hole in the mirror.
Dried semen had left white powdery traces, but the hole itself still looked bright and pink, like a spring flower.
No wonder Jinwoo had pounced on him first thing in the morning.
Grinning lewdly at his own reflection, he walked to the bathroom.
* * *
