* * *

Chairman Yeo decided to believe that Jinwoo was still young enough for this issue to be resolved.

It had to be. If not, he would even consider sending Woohee to an orphanage to restore his son’s sanity as a perfect dominant alpha.

He didn’t know where this madness had begun, but there had to be a way to quell this overwhelming obsession and madness.

“Jinwoo, calm down. I won’t put Woohee on my lap again.”

“If I catch you doing it, I won’t let it slide.”

Jinwoo exhaled heavily, calming himself.

Yet, he should have noticed the concerned look in his father’s eyes.

If he had, he might have realized the weight of what was to come.

Perhaps he wouldn’t have been so brazen about his feelings from the start.

---

After elementary school let out, Jinwoo got into the car sent to pick him up.

But instead of heading home, it veered onto an unfamiliar road.

Thinking he might be kidnapped, he called Kim Minjung on his phone.

“Mom, I think I’m being kidnapped.”

His tone was remarkably composed for a child thinking they were being abducted.

It sounded more like he was announcing a casual visit to a friend’s house.

“Jinwoo, it’s not a kidnapping. Don’t worry. We’re just going to the hospital.”

“What? I’m not sick.”

“It’s just for a consultation. You’ll talk to the doctor for a bit, that’s all.”

When they arrived at the hospital, Jinwoo smirked at the sight of the mental health clinic sign.

He wasn’t crazy—not even a little.

The psychiatrist claimed that Jinwoo’s obsession stemmed from emotional wounds caused by the sudden appearance of a younger sibling.

He dismissed it as nonsense and returned home.

But Woohee wasn’t at the door waiting for him.

Jinwoo had told him to stand by the entrance so he could see him immediately after returning.

He reasoned that Woohee, being small and fragile, might not have been able to wait long.

He chose to forgive him.

After tossing his bag to the servant, he rushed to Woohee’s room.

Empty. Not in the bed, the wardrobe, or the bathroom.

He sprinted to his own room, thinking Woohee might be playing there.

But it too was empty.

“Where is he?! My precious baby! My tiny, adorable brother! The one I want to keep in my pocket and kiss forever!”

Panic overtook him.

He screamed and tore through the house, convinced his father had hidden Woohee.

Racing downstairs, his bloodshot eyes locked onto his mother.

“Where’s Woohee?!”

His pheromones, saturated with fear and possessiveness, leaked uncontrollably.

When his mother answered, her words left him shattered.

“I left him at the orphanage.”
Sshh. Hoo. Sshh. Hoo.

Yeo Jinwoo took deep breaths, striving to remain calm.

In a fleeting moment of realization, he understood: when he stopped hiding his true nature, his parents moved to take Woohee away.

They believed Woohee was disposable, nothing more than a one-night mistake from a servant.

Yeo Jinwoo masked his emotions and curved his lips into a smile.

Until he grew into an adult, capable of perfectly protecting and claiming Woohee, he couldn’t let his affection show.

The moment his feelings surfaced, he’d lose him forever.

That’s what his Alpha instincts told him.

“Oh, I see. Got it,” he replied, feigning indifference.

Although he wanted to scream at the top of his lungs to bring Woohee back, he held it in.

Clenching his fists tightly, he stepped into the elevator.

He couldn’t afford to appear desperate.

He needed to deceive his parents and bring Woohee back into the house.

To achieve that, he could pretend to be the older brother who wasn’t obsessed with his sibling.

Returning to his room, he opened the bag the servant had packed.

Sitting at his desk as if nothing was wrong, he worked on homework and solved practice problems.

At dinner, he went downstairs and ate quietly with his parents, who kept a watchful eye on him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing. You seem fine now.”

“What’s there to be upset about?” he replied nonchalantly.

After finishing his meal, he went back to his room and frantically worked through math problems to keep himself from thinking about Woohee.

Even the thought of losing him made his blood boil.

He wanted to set the mansion ablaze and kill his parents.

But he had to endure.

Only then could he get Woohee back.

His eyes turned dark, sinking into a pit of shadow.

With the dull gaze of a dead fish, he moved his pencil, writing down answers.

He couldn’t sleep.

It felt like being shoved into a fiery furnace, agony flowing through his veins like needles instead of blood.

He clawed at his throat, writhing in torment.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Tears trickled down the corners of his eyes.

Woohee, Woohee.

He didn’t understand why it hurt so much without him.

No, it made perfect sense.

Woohee was the half he’d lost at birth.

So, when he didn’t know he was missing, it didn’t matter.

But now that they’d reunited and he realized they were one, he couldn’t bear his absence.

Each night, he had fits, leaving his neck scarred and forcing him to wear turtlenecks.

He never let his parents see his struggle, nor did he ask about Woohee’s wellbeing.

In fact, they were the ones who asked if he was curious about his younger brother.

He said he wasn’t.

Even though it was the thing he wanted to know most in the world, he understood that he needed to feign disinterest to get what he wanted.

And so, he endured each day.

The fear that his parents might not bring Woohee back from the orphanage made him want to bite his tongue and end it all.

Yet, he gritted his teeth and acted composed for a week.

---

Woohee drank the tomato juice the butler gave him.

Looking back, it seemed the strong taste of the juice was meant to mask the sleeping pills.

When he opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar place.

As described in the novel, he had been abandoned.

Seven children were gathered around his sleeping form, but they quickly backed away when his eyes met theirs.

Woohee struggled to shake off the drowsiness from the drugs.

He realized how young he must have been when abandoned at the orphanage.

It gave him some insight into the crooked life “Woohee” had led.

This incident caused Woohee to never get along with his parents, even after returning to the Yeo family estate.

Kim Minjeong grew to despise Woohee, who openly antagonized her, and Chairman Yeo began to ignore the illegitimate child his wife loathed.

Only Yeo Jinwoo embraced and comforted Woohee.

It seemed inevitable that Woohee would grow so attached to his brother that he’d eventually become the villain.

Unfazed, Woohee stood up.

He already knew he’d return home.

“What’s this? Doesn’t he know he’s been abandoned?”

“Why isn’t he crying? Let’s go tell him.”

Three children approached him.

“Hey, you’ve been dumped at the orphanage. Get a clue.”

These kids… maybe they were on their second life too.

If Woohee weren’t a reincarnated college student, he wouldn’t have been able to handle this so coolly.

He was amazed at how these brats were already acting like trash at their young age.

Woohee looked up at them with wide, innocent eyes.

The kids coughed awkwardly and flushed.

They tried to mimic the older kids at the orphanage but found the new boy too adorable.

“What the—? He thinks he’ll get away with that cute look? Fat chance.”

“Yeah, act like a newbie, will ya?”

“Stand up. Attention! At ease!”

* * *