* * *

“…If I’d really wanted to treat you like a slave, I could have given you some meaningless title and controlled you as I pleased.”

Doha spoke quietly, exhaling a heavy sigh as he carefully grasped the edge of my coat.

“You even said you didn’t want a demanding role like Director Secretary. If my goal was to control and use you however I wished, I wouldn’t have bothered listening to those little comments.”

One day, a staff member in the secretary’s office asked me, “With everything you’re handling, shouldn’t you be promoted and receive a higher salary?”

To that heavy question, I jokingly replied:

“That would mean more work, wouldn’t it? I’m happy just to serve the CEO.”

“How did you know that…?”

“Don’t leave.”

Doha’s voice, heavy with unshed tears, trailed off.

Startled by the rawness in his tone, I looked up and found myself momentarily lost for words.

“Don’t leave… Please stay with me.”

Tears that had been welling in his eyes finally spilled over, trailing down his cheeks, dripping from his chin onto his shirt.

His eyes, faintly flushed, looked vulnerable, unable to hide the emotions that were spilling out.

He blinked slowly, as if every tear that slid down his cheeks made his heart ache more deeply.

“I did my best, didn’t I? I did everything I could… What else should I have done?”

Suddenly, he stepped closer, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist, pulling me into him.

He buried his face in the side of my neck, curling up like a child in my arms.

Staring up at the ceiling lights, I closed my eyes, trying to shut out the sight.

Doha, as if terrified, continued to breathe shallowly, his breath trembling with each exhale and inhale.

“If I hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have stood a chance…”

His neck was flushed, his back quivering as if holding back tears.

For all his size, he looked like a vulnerable, scared child.

“I had to hide you. Every time your scent started to show, I sprayed pheromone-neutralizing perfume. I did everything to keep your pheromones from revealing themselves each month.”

Each month?

When did he ever shield me from that?

Then it struck me—the monthly drinks we’d shared, after which I would work from home the next day, savoring the small pleasure of a day off.

“You wanted to keep being seen as a Beta, so I did what I could. You wanted to work without trouble. You wanted an ordinary life. You knew better than anyone what my father would do to you if he found out you were an Omega…”

“What…?”

“You think I should’ve told you everything, without consideration, just to survive day by day? What would you have thought? That I was trying to threaten you? You’d have kept enduring this miserable job, forced to stay and endure, until one day, you’d throw it all away and jump from a bridge into the Han River.”

Tears trickled steadily from his flushed eyes, his face twisted in anguish and guilt beyond words.

This man who was always either laughing or annoyed—I had never seen him like this before, in tears.

“Forcing down harsh suppressants just to get through each day, barely holding on… You think I could have told you I knew all of that? I couldn’t do that. It was easier to wait by your side, holding on to the small hope that one day you’d see me, even if just for a day.”

He sounded almost as if he were confessing his love. I could barely breathe.

Carefully, Doha clung to the sleeve of my coat, unable to bring himself to grasp my wrist directly.

Watching his trembling hand, I looked at his tear-streaked face and asked,

“You only ever met Betas.”

“You always wanted to be seen as a Beta.”

“…”

“That night at the hotel when you had a heat cycle… I couldn’t let that moment slip. Because it was you. It was always you.”

It was as if he were wringing every last drop of moisture from his body; tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping from his chin to the cold marble floor with a heavy sound.

“Because it was you, I had to take whatever chances I could. Otherwise, you would have gone your whole life without ever knowing me.”

“…”

“I had to do something. Anything… I couldn’t let you go.”

He pressed my hand to his cheek, rubbing against it as if to keep me close.

I could feel the damp warmth of his tear-streaked face under my palm.

Doha blinked again, sending fresh tears trailing down, his brow furrowed, and his lips trembling.

As his eyelids closed, another tear escaped, pooling in my palm before dripping to the floor.

“I did the best I could.”

Those words echoed the advice I’d given him one day: if he wanted someone’s heart, he had to do his best.

“You’re someone who could leave at any time if I don’t hold on.”

Shortly after I first moved into this house, Doha had asked about my luggage when he noticed a single suitcase in the closet.

“Is this…all your belongings?”

When I confirmed, his expression became heavy, almost troubled.

He knew, perhaps too well, that as long as I had that one suitcase, I could walk out anytime I wanted.

Doha wept openly, pleading with me. His tear-stained face was heart-wrenchingly beautiful, almost painfully so.

“So… don’t go. Please, don’t leave. I’ll do better.”

“…”

“Stay. Even if it’s with anger, even if you hate me… just stay by my side.”

I wanted to wipe away his tears, to apologize, to admit that maybe I was more at fault.

“I… I mean…”

My head was spinning. I didn’t know what to say or do.

Struggling with my own confusion, I gently pried his hand off me and took a step back.

From the start, our relationship had been wrong, buttoned into the wrong hole from the very first.

There was no way to reset it.

If we’d never been close, if we’d remained distant and indifferent, I could have cut ties cleanly…

But now, I couldn’t.

I closed my eyes tightly, biting the inside of my cheek, lost for a way forward.

Yes, we need distance. If I get away from him, maybe these tangled feelings will eventually fade.

“I understand, Mr. CEO.”

I kept my gaze lowered, trying to suppress any emotion from creeping in, afraid that looking at him would shatter my resolve.

“I’ll submit my resignation tomorrow. Thank you for everything.”

I turned away, grabbing the suitcase from my room and heading straight for the entryway.

Just before rounding the corner, I caught a glimpse of Doha, slumped and trembling.

But I didn’t look back.

---

---

Aimlessly wandering through the night streets, my steps led me back to where my old home used to be.

The empty lot, tidily cleared, showed no sign that a house once stood there.

Gazing quietly at the vacant ground, I was startled by a light tap on my back.

“You there, young man, what are you doing here?”

It was the elderly pharmacist who ran the small pharmacy in the neighborhood.

She was much kinder than the strict pharmacist I encountered once downtown, who insisted on seeing my ID.

She had never once asked me about my identification. I nodded awkwardly in greeting.

“Hello, ma’am. Uh, well… I wonder, too—why am I here?”

“So, you used to live here, huh? Oh my, we were all so shocked when it was demolished out of the blue. We even thought they were redeveloping the area.”

“……”

“When you disappeared for a while, I started to worry… Tsk, tsk. I’ll admit this now, but I used to just give you the meds without charging, and when they told me there was no need to do that anymore, I was quite concerned.”

“You used to just give me the suppressants?”

There’s no need to anymore, huh?

Was Doha involved in this, too?

Suppressing the urge to let out a loud exclamation, I managed to ask quietly.

“Only for me, you say?”

“Of course! I knew you had your difficulties, so I gave them to you. Not because of the occasional extra tip or anything… Oh my, look at me, I left the gas on! I’ll see you later!”

With a gasp, she hurried away faster than one would expect for her age.

Watching her retreat, I slumped to the ground.

“…That bastard.”

Han Doha—he had to be insane.

There’s no other explanation for how deeply he’s been meddling in all of this.

And I never noticed, never even thought to question anything.

It all seemed so natural, like breathing.

A chill ran through me.

Why?

Why would Doha go to such lengths?

I know well enough how feelings fade.

I learned that brutally and expensively through my parents, who left me—their beloved son—to face the world alone.

My mind felt too tangled to think clearly. With a sigh, I got to my feet and called Cha Chiyeon.

“Let’s go get a drink.”

Could Chiyeon be involved in this, too?

I hoped not.

If my only friend had also taken part in this messed-up play, I might start thinking there wasn’t a single person left in the world worth trusting.

The smell of grilled pork belly in the air lifted my mood, even if only momentarily.

I poured a drink for Chiyeon across from me, filling her glass with soju while I had beer.

* * *