* * *
“Jin Siwon. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, hyung! I was worried something had happened. You didn’t reply to my messages or answer my calls! I came to check if you were alive or dead.”
“You’re meddling too much.”
Siwon looked relieved as he glanced at Junhee’s damp hair, fresh from the shower.
“Don’t just stand there, come in. You’re so big, you’re making my tiny entryway feel even smaller.”
Siwon, being a physical education major with a large build, made the small entryway feel even more cramped.
Despite Junhee’s invitation, Siwon hesitated.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, can I really come in?”
“Then just keep standing there.”
Even speaking was exhausting, so Junhee turned and walked back inside, leaving Siwon to follow him hesitantly.
“You don’t usually like letting anyone into your place, hyung. You even flat-out refused when the guys wanted to have a housewarming party. I thought I wasn’t allowed to come either.”
“Well, now that you know, don’t come uninvited next time.”
Junhee walked through the combined kitchen and living room and collapsed onto the couch. Siwon placed a paper bag on the table.
“What’s that?”
“Isn’t this what you ordered, hyung? It was in front of your door.”
Siwon asked, genuinely puzzled.
Junhee, who had been lying down for three days straight, couldn’t have had the energy to order anything.
Curious, he reached out and started unwrapping the package, which was still warm.
“Did you drink again, hyung? Why on earth would you order hangover soup?”
“…”
The package contained hangover soup as the main dish, along with some side dishes and rice, all neatly packed.
When he emptied the contents, he found a sticky note at the bottom of the paper bag.
“Negligence of duty.”
That was all it said, but Junhee immediately knew who it was from.
The choice of menu and even the note—there was no one else it could be but Ki Taeryu.
“Wow, this smells amazing. You’re going to eat this now, right? Let me set it up for you.”
A sudden sense of unease washed over Junhee.
Ignoring Siwon’s words, he quickly hurried into his bedroom and grabbed the phone lying by his bed.
[26 missed calls]
A sigh escaped Junhee’s lips.
He was surprised he hadn’t noticed all those calls, but it also meant he had been really out of it.
However, contrary to his expectations, there was only one missed call from Ki Taeryu, eight from Siwon, and the rest were from work colleagues.
Worried there might be an emergency at work, he checked his messages, but there was nothing noteworthy.
On the surface, it seemed like they were just concerned about his sudden sick leave or needed to ask about urgent tasks.
But what bothered Junhee more than the work messages was what Ki Taeryu had called him about.
“Please feel free to contact me if anything urgent comes up.”
It was the last thing he had said before parting ways.
Could something urgent have really happened?
He had a bad feeling about it.
‘How does he even know where I live?’
Junhee had never told him.
Was this another VVIP privilege?
Feeling uneasy, Junhee considered calling Ki Taeryu back but decided against it.
When Junhee returned to the living room, the table was already set with food.
“Hyung, let’s have some hangover soup?”
Siwon, smiling brightly, handed him a plastic spoon.
“…I’m fine. You eat.”
“Why? You look so pale right now. How much did you drink last night? You’ve been overdoing it lately, hyung.”
Junhee didn’t feel like explaining, so he stayed silent. Siwon, refusing to be ignored, pulled him down to sit at the table.
With no energy to resist, Junhee slumped into the chair.
“Hyung, you need to eat more. Don’t skip meals just because you’re busy. When I get my next paycheck, I’ll take you out for some meat. But no beef.”
“You’re trying to get blood from a stone.”
Junhee knew all too well how little Siwon earned from his part-time job while attending school on weekends.
How could he let Siwon treat him?
“Thank you for the meal!”
Even though Junhee hadn’t bought it, he watched as Siwon began to devour the hangover soup.
“Why aren’t you eating? Should I get you some ginseng tea?”
“I’ll eat it myself.”
Of course, Ki Taeryu probably didn’t buy it directly; he likely sent a servant.
Nevertheless, there was a lingering discomfort.
Seeing Siwon eat heartily, however, did make Junhee gradually lose his appetite.
Feeling burdened by the thought of eating side dishes on an empty stomach, he finished only half a bowl of rice with some soup.
Siwon, who had been watching with concern, put down his spoon and asked,
“Are you really okay? Did you go to the hospital?”
“Hospitals are unnecessary.”
“If you’re sick, don’t suffer alone; go to the hospital. Are you some kind of invincible?”
“Finish up and leave. Let me rest a bit more.”
“Oh, come on. You’re older, but you’re really like a child.”
Siwon grumbled as he took out some items and handed them to Junhee.
“Here. This is headache medicine, this is cold medicine, and this one is… Oh! Hangover remedy. And… just in case, I also brought this.”
The last item Siwon took out was an Omega suppressant.
Junhee looked up at Siwon, gazing at him for a moment before saying briefly,
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Use me whenever you need. Think of it as interest and don’t feel sorry.”
Siwon was one of the few who knew Junhee was a recessive Omega. Since leaving the orphanage, Junhee had lived as a Beta.
Sometimes, he would get caught up in the illusion of being a Beta, but facing an unexpected heat cycle like this, with a body and mind sprawled out like a wreck, he would feel a profound self-loathing.
“Jin Siwon, you.”
Junhee couldn’t continue.
Maybe it was because he didn’t want to admit that Siwon might have come knowing Junhee’s condition from the start.
Even though they were both from the orpganage, Junhee was reluctant to talk about it, while Siwon, although not a dominant Alpha, was still an Alpha.
Because of this, Siwon had several opportunities for adoption.
But Siwon stayed at the Hanbit orphanage until he became an adult, with the absurd reason that the orphanage was made him feel more at home.
Although Junhee tried to persuade Siwon by saying that he wouldn’t be abandoned because of him being an Alpha, it was not something one could force a child who didn’t want to be adopted to leave.
“Just go. I want to be alone.”
“…Hyung.”
“My health is fine now, so don’t worry.”
It’s not that Junhee was angry at Siwon. He just dislike this kind of situation.
“Hyung, if anything comes up, please call me. Even if it’s just for an errand, that’s fine…”
“Go.”
His voice was so weak, it felt like he was being shooed away. As soon as the door slammed shut, he slumped down to the shoe rack, with his legs giving out.
“Damn it. Why am I taking my frustration out on a kid?”
The medication packet in Junhee’s hand was crumpled. He hated being an Omega, but maybe what he hated even more was himself.
Junhee found the heat cycles that came unexpected when he was almost forgetting them to be like a curse.
Tuesday, on the way to work.
After falling asleep overwhelmed by self-reproach and waking up, Junhee felt much clearer than the day before.
Thinking about catching up on tasks delayed by his sudden absence made his head ache again, but he couldn’t keep bothering the team.
‘……Get over it.’
Junhee, still sensitive to the smell in the subway due to the lingering heat cycle, managed to reach the office without throwing up.
“Ah? Assistant Yoo is here!”
“Assistant Yoo is here?”
“Assistant Yoo, are you feeling any better?”
As soon as he entered the office, the team members swarmed around his desk. It felt like he was some kind of pied piper.
“Are you feeling any better? Oh, look at your complexion. You must have been really sick.”
“……I’m okay now. Sorry for taking a sudden leave.”
“Oh, don’t mention it, Assistant Yoo! We owe you so much, this is nothing.”
It seemed that the team, known for being the most cohesive among the ten or so couple teams at the headquarters, was indeed true to its reputation.
The team members were as kind and caring as usual, even going out of their way to look after Junhee, who was subtly distancing himself.
Despite this, Junhee keenly sensed that something was wrong in their eyes.
“Thank you for your concern. By the way, was something wrong yesterday?”
“Oh, Assistant Yoo, it’s…”
As expected, Junhee’s bad premonition proved right. Bad feelings were always accurate.
The team members exchanged looks, none of them stepping forward.
Eventually, the representative who stepped up was Jihyun, who talked with me the most.
“Assistant Yoo, shall we discuss this inside?”
“Sure”, he said, and they went into the meeting room.
The worried gazes of the team members followed them in.
Junhee also had a hunch of what was coming.
The fact that Ki Taeryu sent the dried pollack soup to Junhee’s house meant that he had heard from someone about Junhee’s absence due to illness.
The person who conveyed this news was naturally someone from the company.
So, it implied that for whatever reason, he had reached out to Junhee through the company yesterday.
“Was it because of Director Ki Taeryu?”
Jiyeon looked a bit surprised by the sudden question.
“Well… in a way, yes, and in a way, no.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Junhee slightly furrowed his brows.
If it’s true, it’s true, and if it’s not, it’s not; vague answers were extremely unsettling.
“That is, well… the VVIP member who had a meeting complained strongly.”
“Are you talking about Member Moon Doyoung?”
“Yes. He came directly to the company on Monday and caused quite a scene. He was demanding to see the manager and accusing them of deceiving him…”
At that moment, Junhee began to piece together how things had unfolded.
* * *
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