“…But I did tell you. It was a promise made a while ago, too… I can’t just stop seeing Seunghyun because I have to look out for you guys…”
“Then I told you to wait. That I would come myself.”
Kang Taeyun answered in a gentle tone, smiling in a sweet, affected manner.
It was a formal smile that felt intentionally artificial.
“…I know the two of you don’t get along, so how can I meet with you both together? That’s why I avoided it. I was worried you would fight again.”
He bit his lip, stating he didn’t want to create an uncomfortable situation.
Moon Dowon threw the apple into the trash can and approached.
Even without doing anything, his presence felt overwhelming, causing his shoulders to involuntarily flinch.
“…Can’t we talk in there?”
He backed away slightly, completely terrified.
Noticing his fear, Moon Dowon frowned, stopped walking, and took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands.
Since things had come to this, he figured he might as well be completely honest.
“Fine. I purposely left my phone behind… But Kim Seunghyun and I are not in a dangerous relationship, not like you think… The feelings I have for Kim Seunghyun are different from the feelings I have for you.”
“…”
“I can’t help it if you still don’t believe me. But I wish you wouldn’t be so wary and frightening every time I meet Kim Seunghyun. Maybe you guys might be a better match for Kim Seunghyun than me.”
At the last remark, Yoo Joohwan abruptly stood up from the bed.
He looked enraged.
“What are you saying right now? Who is a better match for whom?”
“Omega and Alpha. If you ask anyone on the street, they’ll all know that they’re a pair, right? No, even a child knows that fact. So who should be feeling insecure? Isn’t it me?”
“And, have you ever been insecure because of us? Have you ever contacted us first, asking what we’re doing or if we’ve eaten? You don’t even suggest meeting first. Don’t you think it’s awfully easy for you to meet with Kim Seunghyun?”
Yoo Joohwan clenched his fists tightly, staring at him with an intense gaze.
By now, they should have noticed that he didn’t like them.
Were they truly ignorant, or were they pretending to be?
He wished they would just be the ones to break up with him.
With his emotions exhausted, he just tightly gripped the doorknob and muttered quietly.
“I’m a Beta. You only like me because you are who you are; other people don’t like me. Who would like an ordinary Beta like me?”
It sounded like self-deprecation, but it was the truth and reality.
He understood that they were obsessed with him and trying to restrain him, but it wasn’t enough to warrant this level of overreaction.
If he hadn’t messed up the original story, they wouldn’t have liked him either.
“Try meeting Seunghyun—”
“Seo Siho.”
The enraged Yoo Joohwan sharply cut him off.
He glared at him with terrifying eyes without moving any closer.
His look dared him to say one more word.
“Stop bringing up other bastards’ names unnecessarily. Unless you want to see me completely lose it.”
“…”
“Who doesn’t know that Omegas and Alphas are a pair? So is there a problem with me dating a Beta? You knew that and still agreed to date me, didn’t you? No, when were you chasing me and stalking me, saying you liked me? And now you’re telling me to try dating someone else? Am I a caught fish, then?”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“You are truly wicked. That is the least appropriate thing to say if we are dating.”
Everything he had avoided and pushed away seemed to boil up as disappointment, and a torrent of unfiltered words poured out of Yoo Joohwan.
Being the quick-witted person he was, Yoo Joohwan must have noticed that he wasn’t passionately devoted to them as before.
He couldn’t understand why they were maintaining this relationship despite knowing that.
“Then I’ll ask you, too. Do you guys like me?”
“What?”
“You said it was curiosity at first. That you got interested after watching me because I didn’t chase after you. Wasn’t that it?”
It had clearly started that way.
While being with them, he could tell their feelings had grown beyond simple interest, but he wanted to hear it directly from them.
“Yes, Siho is right. Curiosity. That’s all it was.”
Kang Taeyun, who had been listening quietly, muttered softly with an innocent face.
He spoke as if it wasn’t a wrong statement, but his composed lips seemed to want to ask something.
“Did that upset you? If it did, why didn’t you say so? The feeling now is completely different from the start.”
“…”
“If you wanted to know what we feel, how we think of you, you should have asked.”
Kang Taeyun carelessly dropped the phone he was holding onto the side of the bed.
Even that action was elegant and graceful.
“But how long are you going to stand there?”
He wanted to enter, but looking at the aura emanating from the three men, he couldn’t summon the courage.
Moon Dowon and Yoo Joohwan were scary, but the scariest was Kang Taeyun, who wore an unreadable smile.
Thinking of the moment Kang Taeyun let out a harsh expletive, he didn’t want to face him alone.
“You’re high maintenance, Siho.”
It was the very moment Kang Taeyun was about to stand up, asking if he needed to go fetch him himself.
With a sudden boldness, he wanted to run away from the three of them for the day.
Even if he was caught, the situation would improve once they had calmed down.
He swallowed hard and gripped the doorknob tightly.
Telling himself to act as rationally and calmly as possible, he quickly glanced at the three men and immediately started running at full speed.
He didn’t look back even as he ran down the steep stairs and out the main gate.
His breath hitched, and breathing was difficult, but he strained to run.
Just then, a black car appeared beside him.
The car, following him at his running speed, belonged to one of the three men.
“…Ha, seriously. They don’t give me a break.”
Perhaps they hadn’t failed to find him when he was with Kim Seunghyun, but rather, the three men simply weren’t there, and someone was reporting his movements.
In the end, experimenting with them by leaving his phone was pointless.
Seeing how easily he was caught, he realized that any escape plan would need to be cunning and meticulous enough to truly catch them off guard.
He slowly decreased his speed, bent over, and gasped for breath.
Two men in black suits got out of the car and approached him.
“Please get in.”
He lifted his head and looked up at the two men.
Suddenly, he recalled the scene in the original story where Seo Siho was dragged away by men after meeting Kang Taeyun, just before he finally disappeared.
Only one person would mobilize men like this.
Without asking, these were the men sent by Kang Taeyun.
“…Were you on standby?”
“We are servants of the young master.”
That meant they were waiting in the car for Kang Taeyun, not him, but upon seeing him run out, they received a call from Kang Taeyun and chased after him.
‘Still, why was I caught so quickly?’
They didn’t give him any chance to escape.
Just a few seconds after he got into the car, they reached the front gate.
He got out of the car with a disheartened face, and the man followed him out.
He opened the gate with defeated eyes and saw Yoo Joohwan sitting on the rooftop railing.
Yoo Joohwan, sitting on the railing, looked terrifyingly calm, as if he wasn’t afraid.
His unsmiling face created an instinctive sense of dread.
As he stared up, Yoo Joohwan jumped down.
Even from the height of the second floor, he could have easily been hurt.
Perhaps Alphas had some superhuman ability, but Yoo Joohwan landed lightly and walked towards him with heavy steps.
“Such a scaredy-cat.”
Yoo Joohwan spoke concisely and gestured to the men behind him to leave.
The man simply gave a slight nod and exited through the main gate.
He wished the man hadn’t left, as a chilling silence settled in the space where the man had disappeared.
“It took you exactly four minutes to get back here.”
“…”
“I gave you plenty of time, didn’t I? Four minutes is a lot.”
“…Is four minutes a lot?”
“If I had moved myself, it wouldn’t have taken even two minutes.”
Goosebumps rose at Yoo Joohwan’s heavy voice as he spoke plainly.
His unsmiling face remained cold, and the way he stared with wide, round eyes was frightening.
He realized how terrifying a calm, emotionless gaze could be, like someone whose pupils were unfocused.
“So, did you run as much as you wanted to?”
“…”
“Why don’t you answer? I asked you. How did it feel to run?”
“Joohwan.”
“I let it go until now because it didn’t seem like you were planning to run away. But seeing you today, it looks like you have a little bit of an escape plan, doesn’t it?”
Following his dry voice, Yoo Joohwan reached out and softly touched his ear.
He involuntarily held his breath at the clearly spreading sensation.
As he nervously chewed his lip, Yoo Joohwan’s eyes curved in a way that suggested he had completely lost his mind.
“How about getting a cast on your leg right now? I think I can certainly help you with that.”
“…Are you crazy?”
“Do you prefer the left one? Or the right one?”
