It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand. I worked too, and I knew there was no way to handle sudden ergencies. A launch event was, in truth, nothing significant, and it wasn’t a situation where I had any right to feel hurt because he hadn’t co.
“...But you could have at least called.”
And yet, that was what slipped out of my mouth. Our gazes missed each other, pointing in different directions. I fiddled with my tie as I spoke, like it was to myself.
“I waited. You said you’d co even if it ant overexerting yourself.”
I knew saying this to him might burden him. It was a kind of childishness, and if Yido disliked it, I couldn’t complain. Just a few months ago I never could have dread of saying such words, but once spoken, they poured out in a stream.
“So I kept looking for you, but you never showed up till the end.”
Why did I keep thinking he had deliberately stayed away? Why did it feel like “busy” was nothing but an excuse, and that there was another reason? Whether he ca or not was entirely up to him, and yet shaless thoughts kept surfacing.
“...I’m sorry.”
Yido apologized slowly. Since I had entered his house, I had heard him apologize more than once. Though he had told never to feel sorry for anything, “sorry” seed to co so easily to him.
“......”
“......”
We looked at each other in silence. Our eyes were fixed on one another, but what they were chasing wasn’t the other person. His apology didn’t feel false, yet I thought he was concealing his real thoughts.
“First... I should thank you.”
I broke the silence, loosening my tie. Was “sorry” really what I wanted to hear from him? The fact that I didn’t feel satisfied made it clear it wasn’t.
“I launched the brand. Thanks to you, Yido-ssi.”
If only I could have said those words at the event. If only I could have told him proudly in front of everyone. Even if I couldn’t reveal our relationship, I had vaguely hoped I could at least thank him openly.
“The response was good... and the articles were positive.”
“......”
“The revenue should be good too.”
The first button had been fastened well. It was a respectable beginning, better than I had expected. Even if Yido hadn’t been part of the process, the outco was successful.
“It’s all thanks to you.”
“......”
He gave no reaction. Only looked at with those dark eyes, silently. And in the endless quiet, I realized sothing.
“...I thought this was what you wanted.”
I must have wanted him to congratulate . Since I had accepted everything he gave, I wanted to see him pleased. To stand proudly before him, even if only as “President Jung Sejin,” the title he had given .
“That’s right.”
But his reply ca with an unreadable expression. His low voice was too flat, too calm to sound like affirmation. Slowly blinking, he spoke words I could barely catch.
“That’s what I wanted.”
I could never read him. He said so, but his face told otherwise. Dissatisfaction... no, unease—that was closer. Sothing in his gaze struck with déjà vu.
“Jung Sejin-ssi.”
“...Yes.”
Today, the way he called my na felt strangely unfamiliar. He curved his lips slightly as he spoke.
“I bought roses for you.”
The more I looked, the more gifted he seed. He was smiling, but it didn’t look like a smile at all. His delicately drawn eyes held a sorrowful glow.
“But I can’t give them to you this ti.”
I couldn’t ask why not. Couldn’t even ask what he’d done with them. He ended it unnaturally, masking himself with his usual composure.
“Rest. You must be tired.”
He turned his back to , walking away without once looking back. As he grew distant, I thought I caught a familiar scent. The faint sweetness of his pheromones mixed with sothing that reminded of the diffusers at the event.
***
Because the company dinner had been just the night before, the staff all ca in a few hours late. I had intended to as well, but I couldn’t sleep, so I went in at my usual ti. The sleeping pills, as always, had no effect, and when I did drift off, it was only into nightmares I couldn’t even rember clearly.
'I’ll be late today.'
That was what Yido had said to at breakfast. He hadn’t even looked in the eye when he said it. Was he angry? My worry was undercut by how tender his next words were.
Be careful on your way to class.
Sothing felt off. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but Yido had seed different since last night. His expression unreadable, his face closed off. Without knowing exactly what was wrong, it was hard to ask.
So I simply pretended not to notice and left for work. As always, he stayed in the parking lot until my car disappeared, staring after it. Watching him grow smaller in the distance, I had thought he looked pitiful, like an abandoned dog.
Fortunately, work gave no ti for distractions. “Sejin” was only just beginning, and the tasks piled up were overwhelming. It was a relief I had brought Mr. Kim back. Without him handling the schedule, I couldn’t have managed.
After work, I rode with Lee Taeseong to my certification academy. Today was the final class; after the exam, I would receive my completion certificate. The test results would co in a few days, and soon after that, the license would be issued.
“I saw the brand launch.”
The instructor, who reminded a bit of Lee Heena, greeted kindly after the exam. Congratulated on my hard work, even joked that soday I should promote the academy. After a brief exchange and handing over a perfu sample I had brought, I finally left the academy for good.
Since it was midsumr, the air outside pressed hot and heavy. Ti had passed quickly—seasons made it clearest.
“Good work, President.”
Mr. Kim, waiting with Taeseong, spoke as I got into the car. His words carried such genuine warmth, like addressing an examinee. It made laugh faintly.
“It was nothing.”
In truth, what I had earned was only the most basic qualification. Two more levels remained, and if I wanted to go deeper, I could even enter a graduate program in the field. The instructor had ntioned it, if I was interested.
“There’s still a long way to go.”
Heena had been right. Turning the certificate in my hand, I thought again. Having results really did feel good. I liked that it was sothing I had achieved myself.
'If it feels like too much, just keep going until you earn the license.'
On the way ho, Yido’s words ca back to . If we had kept to the original plan, today I should be stepping down as President. The brief grace period was over. The deadline we had agreed on had co.
“Mr. Kim.”
“Yes, President.”
“How many years did I work at Haesin?”
“A little over five.”
“Five years...”
After university, I had gone straight into Haesin. I had started higher than most, but still, I had given half my twenties to it. It hadn’t been a short ti. And yet it had taken just one day to resign as division head, and I had never once regretted it.
So why was it so hard to let go of a company I had worked at only a few months? It wasn’t mine to begin with, but giving it up left a bitter taste.
Call it greed. For the company bearing my na, and for the certificate in my hand. Even for the fact that I was riding ho in a car driven by Taeseong.
“We’re here, President.”
The ride ho felt short. Lost in thought, I was back at the garage before I knew it. I thanked them both, said I’d see them Monday, and went upstairs.
As expected, Yido wasn’t ho. The emptiness of the house felt heavier than usual. When had I grown so used to soone’s presence? At the main house, in the officetel, there had never been anyone waiting for .
“When will he co...”
If he wasn’t too late, I wanted to have dinner together. Just as he had waited for , I could wait for him. After eating, we could talk as we always did, then finally fix our plans for tomorrow’s dinner out.
While waiting, I sank into the bathtub. The bath bomb the staff had prepared frothed sweet bubbles. The scent was too sugary, but it wasn’t bad for soothing fatigue.
Afterward, I thought I’d read in the greenhouse until he returned. With the lights installed, it would be fine even in the dark. If I stayed there an hour or two, surely he would co ho. It was a spontaneous plan, but I liked it.
But even after I returned from the greenhouse, ate dinner, and went to bed, Yido still didn’t co ho.
***
'Sejin-ah.'
In my sleep, I heard soone calling . A voice tender enough, but relentless, continuing until I answered. I wanted to ask why, what he wanted, but no sound left my throat.
'Sejin-ah.'
I knew what nightmare this was—the one that had worsened recently. The sa dream I’d had on the eve of the engagent. The sensation of soone seizing my hair and wrenching my head back.
'Act like a whore.'
Humiliation and sha were long familiar. Even the forced intrusion past my lips wasn’t strange anymore. Adaptation didn’t an the pain had dulled, though.
“Mmmpf...”
'Open your mouth properly.'
The thick length filled my mouth until I couldn’t even gag. Scraping my palate, pressing hard against the root of my tongue. No matter how wide I opened, I couldn’t contain it; even breathing was hard.
'Jung Sejin.'
The feeling of my throat being forced open was so vivid it felt real. The cock shoved down to the base, then withdrawn halfway, only to thrust brutally back in.
“Ugh...!”
I knew what ca next. The instant my teeth brushed against it as I instinctively closed my lips. The violent grip on my hair, yanking aside.
'Can’t even do this right?'
The cold voice lashed . My whole body shook; I couldn’t even lift myself from the floor. And still he spoke, icily.
'You should have known your place.'
Tears stread uncontrollably. I didn’t know if it was sorrow or rage, but it consud . Crawling helplessly, I was overwheld by a storm of pheromones, sharp as blades.
“...Haaah!”
I jolted awake, eyelids ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) snapping open. My blurred vision cleared slowly. Not polished shoes before , but the high ceiling of a bedroom. Not cutting pheromones against my skin, but soft, warm blankets.
“Haa, haa...”
I panted, wiping the cold sweat from my brow, taking in the room around . Yido’s perfu gifts, the lilies of the valley, the bottles I had made, a couple of novels.
“...When did I fall asleep.”
It was my room. My own space in Yido’s house. A sanctuary where I didn’t have to kneel, where no humiliation touched .
I sat up, checked the ti on my phone. Barely a few hours of sleep; dawn was still far away. Had Yido co ho yet? I rose from bed and stepped out.
The hall was dark. Guided only by dim light, I realized I hadn’t put on slippers. Bare feet against the carpet, but I didn’t want to go back just for them.
So I kept walking, intending only to check if he was ho. Step by step down the hall, until I noticed the study light at the far end.
“......”
So, he had co back.
For no reason, relief filled . My body moved before my mind did. My heart pounded, unease rising endlessly, and I wanted to feel his pheromones right away.
I walked toward it without hesitation. He had told not to enter the study, but that thought barely lingered. Drawn like a moth to light, or maybe just not fully awake, I went straight for the glow.
At the door, a familiar tension ca. Like the first ti I had co here, fear pressed down. My trembling hand pressed the knob, slowly turned it.
When the door creaked open, I thought maybe I should have knocked. But it was too late, and I peered inside. Wooden furniture, and directly in sight, one man at a desk.
“......”
“......”
Yido. His handso face, the aura of pheromones, his suit still on as if just returned. His hair was slightly mussed.
“...You’re not asleep?”
He hurriedly slipped sothing from the desk into a drawer. I hadn’t seen it clearly, but the tallic click of a lock told enough. What he had been handling was a gun.
“Ah... I woke up.”
A charm? A gift from his grandfather, sothing to steady him?
I knew he often spent nights in the study. When he had vacated his room for , the only other place he could have been was here. But I hadn’t known he handled a gun like this.
“What are you doing here?”
“......”
He didn’t answer. Instead he looked over, then stood and walked toward . Step by step, until he was right in front of . Then he slipped off his slippers.
“...Yido-ssi?”
What he did next was kneel. Dropping to one knee, bowing slightly, then carefully taking hold of my bare ankle. Startled, I stepped back, resting a hand on his shoulder by reflex. He lifted my foot and slid his slipper onto it.
“Your feet are cold.”
“......”
Without hesitation, he did the sa for the other foot. Told not to walk barefoot, even in sumr. He scolded gently, though he himself was kneeling barefoot on the floor. To anyone else, the sight would have been absurd.
“Go back to sleep. I still have work.”
His dismissal was sharper than usual. As he even opened the door for , I didn’t step out—instead, I grasped his sleeve.
“...Should I wait for you?”
“......”
He looked down at , tilting his head slightly, blinking slowly. Like a scene out of a film, the unreality of it made my chest swell.
“It’s the weekend tomorrow... I thought it’d be nice if we slept together.”
Hadn’t it been rare? Since his rut, we hadn’t shared a bed. It had been my choice, but tonight I wanted it to be different.
“...No.”
But he answered quietly, without breaking his gaze. His voice calm, words asured.
“Not tonight.”
I couldn’t ask why. He placed a hand on my back, guiding gently but firmly out of the study. Not forceful, but the atmosphere was unyielding.
“Go sleep. You can even use my room.”
I left without a word, retreating to my own room. I hadn’t asked when he had co ho, hadn’t asked if he rembered our plans for tomorrow. I had left him behind, looking unsteady, and returned alone.
That night, my dream picked up where the last had left off. Soone forcing face-down to the floor, subduing . Treating like an animal, holding down.
'I never should have trusted soone like you.'
And the one raping was none other than Kwon Yido.
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