Jehoon’s explanation continued.
“Fortunately, after a long period of personal research, I have found a way to detoxify this drug. In other words, there is an antidote.”
He looked back and forth between Joowon and the direction of Dojin’s hospital room as he continued.
“However, for CEO Cha Joowon… unfortunately, quite a long time has passed since he was addicted to the drug, so it appears that long-term, intensive treatment will be necessary. We cannot rule out the possibility of his pheromone glands being damaged during the treatment process.”
His voice was calm, but the content was far from light.
“But in Mr. Kim Dojin’s case, thankfully, it hasn’t been long since he was exposed to the drug, and action was taken quickly before he could become completely subordinate to another pheromone. If we begin treatment immediately, he should be able to recover fully without any major side effects.”
At Jehoon’s words, Yoonwoo glanced at Joowon.
Even in the face of the horrific possibility of permanent damage to his pheromone glands, Joowon’s expression remained unexpectedly calm.
Or perhaps, like someone who had let go of everything, his eyes were as dark and still as the deep sea.
Just then, Chairman Choi, who had been silent, slammed his hand onto the desk and stood up abruptly.
His face was flushed red with fury.
“I will never forgive them! Not content with kidnapping my only grandson, they tried to get him addicted to such a malicious drug! I will deal with that bastard Han Sangjin and his son, those two, with my own hands…!”
“That is exactly why I am telling you this, Chairman.”
Jehoon gently interrupted him.
“Join hands with me.”
“…With you?”
Chairman Choi looked at him with a skeptical expression.
“Yes. I, too, have long tried to expose the true nature of Han Sangjin and this terrible drug he created to the world. But I have failed time and time again due to his thorough media control and the powers that protect him. However, if you help me, it will certainly be possible. With the power of the media outlets you own, we will be able to pierce through any control and reveal the truth.”
Chairman Choi stared at Jehoon as if dissecting him.
His eyes shone sharply, as if trying to gauge Jehoon’s true intentions.
“Accepting your proposal is no problem, but… if we do this, H Pharmaceutical will likely collapse. Audits and investigations will come from all sides. You are an executive at H Pharmaceutical; are you really okay with that?”
At those words, the first microscopic crack appeared in Jehoon’s otherwise smooth, smug expression.
A cold, chilling smile rose to the corners of his lips.
“That is exactly… what I want, Chairman.”
His voice was a mixture of deep hatred and sorrow.
“It is difficult to tell you the details… but for a very long time, I have dreamed only of this moment. The moment I tear down everything my father has built with my own hands.”
His eyes were burning with intense vengeance.
Seeing his expression, Chairman Choi asked no more questions.
“…Fine. Looking at your eyes, I don’t think you would betray us. I understand. Let’s discuss the details further, just the two of us, at a later time.”
He stood up and walked over to Yoonwoo.
“I must return for company business. Let me know once Dojin wakes up.”
He patted Yoonwoo’s shoulder lightly and left the lounge.
Jehoon also stood up and said to the two men, “Please don’t worry too much about Mr. Kim Dojin. I will take responsibility for his treatment. And as for Han Jiwoon, I will let you know as soon as I have any new information.”
He left the room after a brief goodbye.
Only Yoonwoo and Joowon were left in the lounge.
An awkward and heavy silence fell. Yoonwoo looked at Joowon, who still looked pale, and asked carefully.
“Joowon… are you really going to be okay with the treatment? They said if you lose your pheromone glands… you might even lose your identity as a type…”
He couldn’t bring himself to finish the horrific sentence.
But Joowon actually smiled slightly and replied.
“I’m fine. Actually… I feel more relieved. I don’t want to be swayed by that dreadful pheromone anymore, and I don’t want to experience losing something precious because of it… ever again.”
His smile looked sad, yet at the same time, it looked as peaceful as if he had transcended everything.
Yoonwoo felt a twinge of pain in his heart at that relieved smile, but he forced himself to smile back.
Joowon stood up.
“It seems I’ll be quite busy with treatment from now on. So… we probably won’t have any reason to contact each other for a while.”
He slowly held out his hand to Yoonwoo.
Yoonwoo looked at the hand extended toward him for a moment before taking it.
His hand was as warm as it used to be, but it stirred no emotions in Yoonwoo anymore.
Joowon looked straight into Yoonwoo’s eyes and said in a sincere voice.
“…Thank you so much for loving someone as lacking as me for eight years, Yoonwoo. And… everything I did to you… I am truly sorry.”
For a moment, the kind, gentle smile that Yoonwoo had once loved so much appeared on his face. But the smile was brief, and he soon turned and left the lounge.
Yoonwoo watched his retreating figure for a long time.
He had a premonition that after today, he would not be able to meet him for a very long time.
He whispered a final goodbye to Joowon in his heart.
‘Goodbye, my first love. And my final regret.’
He slowly turned and headed toward the hospital room where Dojin was waiting.
When Han Jiwoon threw Kim Dojin into that shabby motel room, there was only one thought in his head: to watch Seo Yoonwoo, that damn beta, lose something precious.
But his plans were ruined again by the arrival of Seo Yoonwoo.
He felt suffocated by the surging rage toward him.
‘Seo Yoonwoo, how dare you… how dare a piece of trash like you interfere with me again? I will never give up. Even if it means my own ruin, I will make sure to destroy you.’
He gritted his teeth.
However, separate from his anger, the reality was cold.
He had spent almost all his remaining money on the Alphas he mobilized to kidnap and imprison Dojin.
Even his emergency funds were hitting rock bottom.
Furthermore, someone was continuously tracking him.
With the intuition that he would never have a good ending if caught, he spent several days and nights drifting between narrow, dirty inn rooms where bugs seemed likely to appear, subsisting on convenience store triangle gimbap and cup noodles.
The image of the once-promising rookie designer and the youngest son of H Pharmaceutical was nowhere to be found.
In the mirror stood an emaciated, unfamiliar man he could barely recognize, with disheveled hair he hadn’t managed properly in days and eyes staring into space without focus.
‘I can’t end it like this.’
He began to rack his brain.
Cha Joowon?
He had already abandoned him.
His father?
That cold-blooded human would never forgive someone who failed his plan.
It would be a miracle if he didn’t throw him out like excess baggage.
He hadn’t expected help from his older siblings to begin with, and he would rather die than ask them for help.
Just then, one person’s face came to Jiwoon’s mind.
His mother.
The woman who sat every day in the deepest room of the mansion, in an old rocking chair in front of the window, staring at the world outside with empty eyes.
She had never given him a warm look, but she was still the mother who had given birth to him.
Perhaps… perhaps she might help him.
A tiny spark of hope began to burn in his heart.
Yes, wasn’t she also someone abandoned by his father, just like him?
Perhaps she would help him out of a sense of shared misery.
For several days, he lurked near the house, waiting for the day when his father and siblings would all be away.
When that day finally came, he snuck into his old home under the cover of darkness.
His walk as he passed the familiar hallway toward his mother’s room was full of anxiety.
Creeeak.*
The door to his mother’s room, opened after a long time.
She was sitting in the rocking chair, staring blankly out the window as always.
Jiwoon cautiously approached her and knelt in front of her.
“Mother… please help me.”
His voice spilled out desperately.
“You’ve never… never played the role of a mother to me properly in my entire life. So… just this once, please help me just this once. Money… if you just give me a little money, I’ll take care of myself, run away, and live quietly. I won’t ever appear before you again. Please…”
He put on the most pitiable and pathetic expression he could, appealing to her sympathy.
His mother turned her head very slowly, creaking like a machine, to look at Jiwoon.
There was no emotion in her hollow eyes.
A long silence followed. Jiwoon’s heart beat wildly.
Finally, she asked in a very small voice.
“…How much…?”
Jiwoon brightened and answered hurriedly.
“One billion won…! Please give me one billion won, Mother! Then I will really never appear before you again and live as if I’m dead!”
His mother was silent for a long time again. Then, she nodded very slowly.
“…Account number…”
Jiwoon barely managed to hold back a shout of joy as he hurriedly tried to take his phone out of his pocket.
Right at that moment, a medicine bottle containing the white pills rolled out of his pocket and fell to the floor.
It was the exact medicine his father had given him, the one he had used on Dojin.
For a split second, a flash of intense fire sparked in his mother’s previously empty eyes, but Jiwoon, blinded by his desperation, failed to notice it.
