* * *
Taeseong watched Junhee huffing for breath and then suddenly let out a light laugh.
“Alright, alright. Calm down, kid. My bad. I was just trying to turn my little brother into a decent person.”
“And you think just saying sorry is enough?”
“But Junhee, you’re not an idiot. Didn’t you already know?”
“…”
“You just didn’t want to admit it, did you?”
At Taeseong’s words, Junhee found himself recalling all the moments that hadn’t quite sat right with him.
The gray phone Taeseong had left him.
The job he landed at Leeum almost immediately after.
The mysterious app that let him build a career strong enough to earn the company’s top employee award.
And that wasn’t even the strangest part.
The bizarrely convenient navigation system, the overseas developer who was on a first-name basis with the CEO—none of it could be chalked up to coincidence.
Taeseong, watching Junhee piece everything together, struggled to hold back a grin.
“…You knew everything, so why did you do this to me? And what about your brother? What did he ever do to deserve this?”
“He’s innocent. I’m the guilty one.”
“What?”
“You get it now, don’t you? What Taeryu really wants.”
“I thought I did… but now, I’m not so sure.”
At one point, Junhee had believed it was all about revenge.
That Taeryu was trying to take down Hong Yeonggyeong and Ki Buseong, eliminate his competitors, and become the heir to Taesan.
But then, Taeryu didn’t seem to care about that at all.
At one point, Junhee even wondered if he wanted to destroy Taesan entirely.
But even that explanation didn’t feel right.
Taeryu acted like he wasn’t afraid of anything.
Despite having so much to lose.
And just as Junhee struggled to find an answer, Taeseong handed it to him.
“He wanted to fall.”
“…What?”
“He wanted to bring Taesan down with him and crash all the way to rock bottom. To roll in the filth and let it all end there. A crazy bastard who wanted to destroy himself completely. And well, I just… I wanted to give him a reason. Something to hold onto while he looked for me.”
“…”
“But honestly, it was the same for you back then, wasn’t it?”
Junhee couldn’t deny it.
If Taeseong hadn’t shown up when he did, he would have let go of everything.
His savior—the one who appeared in his life when he had nothing left.
Junhee felt the anger that had surged to his head begin to scatter like dust.
“But now, you’ve both found new reasons to live. So, I think it’s fine.”
Taeseong met Junhee’s eyes and smirked.
No bruises.
No blood.
And yet, for some reason, he looked just like he had that day.
Junhee had always thought Taeryu and Taeseong had nothing in common.
But looking at him now, maybe they weren’t so different after all.
Still, Junhee wasn’t about to let himself get fooled again.
“So, what? That makes me your sacrifice?”
“It’s not like we’re passing a baton.”
One appears, another disappears—so until a new sacrifice is found to replace Junhee, is he supposed to just keep running away?
“Well, the choice is yours, Junhee.”
Ki Taeseong shrugged nonchalantly, irritatingly.
“Can I hit you? Just once, really hard?”
“Oh, but not the face. What if Snow doesn’t recognize his daddy?”
“…Are you sure this cat even exists?”
A suspicion crept in—had he fabricated this nonexistent cat just to lure Junhee in?
At this point, Junhee couldn’t trust anyone.
“Snow’s at the dorm right now.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So, you gonna let it go now?”
“No.”
“Haha. Alright, then. I’ll just brace myself.”
Junhee clenched his fist and stared at Ki Taeseong’s face for a long moment.
In the end, he let go of the tension in his hand.
“…Forget it. I’ll just count it as if I hit you.”
“Seriously? No take-backs.”
Seeing him so amused made Junhee want to punch him all over again.
But throwing a fist wouldn’t change anything now.
As Junhee lowered his head, Taeseong asked,
“How do you feel now?”
“What do you mean?”
He turned his gaze to the endless sea below.
“Do you still want to die? Like back then?”
“…”
“Did you come up here to end it?”
Junhee swallowed his answer.
He stared in the same direction as Taeseong before muttering,
“Are you insane? Why the hell would I kill myself?”
“Good. That’s all that matters. Besides… you’re not even a recessive omega anymore.”
Junhee’s head snapped toward him.
“What… What did you just say?”
“A continuous pheromone shower from a dominant alpha. On top of that, imprinting. What do you think happens then?”
“Imprinting…? That’s something only married couples—”
Like a marriage certificate, a binding contract of mutual devotion.
“This has already been actively researched overseas. Dominant alphas are rare, and for generations, they’ve built their own world. They’ve hardly ever gotten involved with recessive omegas. But this? It’s even published in SCI journals.”
Junhee felt his scalp tingle, his mind reeling.
He had suspected it.
But hearing it confirmed—it was completely different.
“That bastard—no, Director Ki Taeryu imprinted on me? Are you sure?”
“There’s no other way to explain your secondary gender shift. But hey, believe what you want.”
How the hell could someone engaged, practically married to someone else, imprint on him?
And Junhee wasn’t even anything more than a casual bed partner.
“It’s up to you now. Do whatever you want.”
“…I never imprinted on him.”
“I figured.”
“What happens with a one-sided imprint?”
“Why are you asking a beta like me?”
Junhee turned his glare on Ki Taeseong.
The playful glint in his eyes, holding back answers he clearly knew, made Junhee’s grip tighten once more.
“Damn, scary. Loosen up, before ghosts start appearing.”
“Just answer me.”
“Well… If that happens, the alpha won’t be able to bond with another omega. His pheromones will only work on the one he imprinted on. Unless he tracks them down and breaks the imprint—”
For life.
The casual remark left Junhee feeling sick.
“So now, the choice is yours.”
“…”
“You get to decide who gets fucked over.”
“…I don’t know.”
Junhee had never been given a choice before.
His whole life, he had been pushed around, swept along by others.
Making a decision… was terrifying.
“…I don’t know the answer.”
What should he do?
What was the right choice?
Ki Taeseong simply shrugged and gave his response.
“There is no answer.”
His voice blended with the sound of crashing waves.
“Life isn’t a test, Junhee. There’s no answer key. Just do what you feel is right. It’s your life.”
The dam he had desperately built inside himself suddenly crumbled.
There was no answer.
…There was never an answer.
“You little shit! Have you lost your mind?!”
Chairman Ki’s furious roar shook the walls of Hyeonwol Hall.
His veins bulged, his voice thunderous, as he shouted at Ki Taeryu, looking as if he might devour him whole.
“I did enough for you, didn’t I? And yet, you still don’t get it?! Do you expect me to clean up after you even in my grave?! Grow the hell up, already!”
“I never asked you to clean up after me.”
“This brat and his damn mouth—!”
CRASH!
A porcelain vase flew past Ki Taeryu’s head and shattered against the lacquered cabinet.
“I told you to lay low, but no! You had to go cause trouble again, messing with gangsters of all people?! Do you have any idea how close you were to making front-page news tomorrow? If I hadn’t shut that reporter down, you’d be ruined, you little bastard!”
Ki Taeryu watched the chairman’s trembling figure with nothing but exhaustion in his eyes.
“It was mutual. What’s the big deal?”
“Mutual?! Mutual?! You ungrateful little—”
“You’re just insulting yourself at this point.”
Ki Taeryu chuckled, and that was the last straw.
The chairman grabbed him by the collar.
“I don’t want to see your damn face! Get out of my sight! And don’t even think about coming back to Taesan until this blows over!”
As if he had been waiting for those words, Ki Taeryu turned on his heel without an ounce of hesitation.
More objects flew behind him, but he didn’t bother dodging.
They hit his back with dull thuds, but his body was already sore all over—what difference would a few more bruises make?
“…Director, are you alright?”
As soon as he stepped out of the house, Yeo Daeyun approached, waiting for him.
“Do I look alright?”
Daeyun didn’t respond. He simply studied Ki Taeryu’s appearance.
His lips were split, his eye was cut, and dried blood crusted over various scrapes on his once-handsome face—he looked no better than a back-alley thug.
Even someone like Ki Taeryu couldn’t come out unscathed after getting surrounded by gangsters.
“…I’ll take you home.”
Truthfully, Daeyun wasn’t in much better shape himself, having taken quite a beating while trying to stop the fight.
‘Sigh… Ki Taeryu, you brought this on yourself. But Daeyun, what the hell did you do in your past life to deserve a boss like this?’
‘…’
Kim Daeheon, dressed in a white coat, had clicked his tongue at them earlier.
Now, sitting in the car, Daeyun cast a sidelong glance at Ki Taeryu.
For the first time, his expression held something close to resentment.
“We’ve arrived, Director.”
Ki Taeryu didn’t respond as he stepped out of the car.
Daeyun followed, pulling out a suitcase from the trunk and handing over a ticket.
“Someone from the hotel will be there to greet you when you land.”
Ki Taeryu studied Daeyun’s face before asking,
“…What about you?”
“Ah, but the one who was punished with probation was you, Director—not me.”
“What?”
“Take care. I’ll be going now.”
Even as Ki Taeryu called out to him, Yeo Daeyun ignored him and stepped on the accelerator, shutting the car door.
* * *
