DHG Ch 4

“Hey! Stop doing useless things and get to work!” 

The head chef, who had been pretending not to care since Kang, the cook, was mentioned, finally intervened. Heewoo, too, simply held out the finished glass of juice without a word.

“Damn, what kind of kitchen is this unfriendly as hell?”

Kang Manager cursed until the very end, but they didn’t even give him a glance. The head chef, arms crossed, glared disapprovingly at the twins. Eventually, the twins grabbed their vitamin juices and left.

Heewoo also organized the ingredients. However, contrary to his outwardly calm demeanor, a heat spread across his back. It was due to the alpha pheromones Kang Manager had left behind. The head chef clicked his tongue.

“Take a break if you’re having a hard time.”

Heewoo eventually stepped out the back door, intending to get some fresh air. Inhaling the lukewarm late summer evening air, Heewoo counted the remaining pills he had hidden. A troubled sigh escaped through his clenched teeth.

✮⋆˙

These can’t be pre-heat symptoms, can they?

The next day, Heewoo couldn’t hide his anxiety because the fever wouldn’t go down even after waking up. He checked inside the almost empty pill bottle and anxiously closed the lid.

It had been a while since he’d experienced a heat, thanks to regularly taking pheromone suppressants. Instead, he would get a low-grade fever around the time his heat should have come. Every time, the medication had worked, but it seemed his luck had run out.

He had to get some medicine somehow. Something stronger.

It was afternoon, and the residents of the dormitory were starting to wake up and move around. Heewoo put some cash in his pocket and left his room. This was his first attempt to go out since the raid.

As he passed through the first-floor hallway to go down to the underground parking lot, the person who had brought a stepladder and climbed up to fix something on the wall decorations stumbled.

“Grab that! Whoa!”

Heewoo instinctively grabbed the frame of the ladder. The person standing above him instinctively grabbed Heewoo’s hair to regain their balance.

After the brief commotion, even after the other person was standing steadily, they didn’t let go of his hair. Heewoo looked up and almost frowned. It was Kang Manager, of all people.

“Fuck, hey, you little orphan! Stay there!”

Heewoo quickly moved away. While Kang Manager was coming down the ladder, Heewoo slipped down to the underground parking lot. Kang Manager, seeing where he was headed, didn’t follow.

As if preparing for another raid by Kim Jinhwan’s gang, the entrance to the parking lot was always guarded by menacing-looking thugs. They were Jang Seungyung’s men. Kang Manager, who was trying to keep a low profile these days, wouldn’t want to be seen by them.

“Hey. What’s your name?”

One of the hulking figures guarding the entrance asked. At the vaguely familiar voice, Heewoo looked up and couldn’t hide his dismay. It was the same thug who had caught him as he was escaping during the raid and dragged him before Jang Seungyung, now looking at him intently.

“Kwon Heewoo,” he replied, trying to suppress his unease. He thought about giving a false name but didn’t have the confidence to deal with the potential consequences.

“Where are you going?” the thug, who had beaten Heewoo numerous times, asked.

“Convenience store,” Heewoo replied. His real destination was the pharmacy.

The only person who knew Heewoo was an omega was Kim Jinhwan. He had mocked Heewoo for pretending to be a beta, but he had left him alone. Until now, Heewoo had been able to buy medicine himself under Kim Jinhwan’s tacit consent.

“Wait.”

Why is it that bad premonitions are never wrong? The thug, stopping Heewoo, radioed someone.

Heewoo waited anxiously. Perhaps it was due to his deteriorating physical condition, but his thoughts kept spiraling towards the worst-case scenarios. What if my heat suddenly starts? What if I can’t control my pheromones? He remembered Kim Jinhwan, who would pounce on him like a demon every time they had sex. The mocking voice that ridiculed him whenever a small amount of pheromones inevitably leaked echoed in his mind.

Just then, the inner elevator doors opened. The thug, looking over Heewoo’s shoulder, acknowledged the newcomer.

“Hey, Pyo Mingeon.”

“What’s up?”

It was Mingeon. Originally one of Kim Jinhwan’s underlings, he was currently associating with Jang Seungyung’s men. He was listed at the very bottom of the list of spies that Jang Seungyung’s side had recruited beforehand, including Madam Won.

“You’re going to the convenience store?” Pyo Mingeon, having heard the situation from the thug, asked in a friendly tone. Mingeon was also Heewoo’s middle school classmate.

“What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”

Heewoo looked at his former classmate who now looked quite like an adult. The faint smile seemed to overlap with how he looked a few years ago – the horrific image of Mingeon being beaten almost to death by Kim Jinhwan for helping Heewoo escape.

“No, I’ll go myself,” Heewoo said. Until last year, he had been able to freely move around the neighborhood of the establishment, but since his grandmother’s death last winter, his movements had been restricted. He could only go out very occasionally, and even then, he had to be accompanied by Kim Jinhwan. Kim Jinhwan acted as if Heewoo would run away at any moment.

Now that he was free from Kim Jinhwan, Heewoo had thought he could go out comfortably, but he hadn’t expected this obstacle.

“Um… that won’t work.” Mingeon expressed his difficulty. Silence fell. Even after a considerable amount of time, neither the thugs nor Mingeon budged. Only the bustling noises from the alley where pedestrians were passing by could be heard in the distance.

Helplessly, Heewoo went back inside the building and wrote down the items he needed. Before handing the list to Mingeon, the thug snatched the paper as if inspecting it for subversive content.

“…lead refills, eraser?” The thug, having read the list of items, furrowed his brow menacingly. What is this? Mingeon, who knew about Heewoo studying for the GED, smiled and took the paper back.

“Not right now, but I’ll bring them to the kitchen later.” He seemed to genuinely intend to buy the items. Heewoo silently handed him the cash.

On his way back to the dormitory, he pressed his throbbing head and bit his lip. Why are they restricting me? Is there a reason? Is it because of the rumor that I’m Kim Jinhwan’s lover?

He desperately needed the suppressants, which he couldn’t list, but he couldn’t mention them. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t had a heat cycle in nearly two years, but his whole body felt stifled, as if something was building up inside him with no outlet for release.

✮⋆˙

Heewoo first met Kim Jinhwan when he was in his second year of middle school.

It was during the final exam period. In the season of noisy cicadas, unlike his friends who went to academies, Heewoo, whose family circumstances were difficult, would study at the community support center library after school. This was more efficient because his grandmother’s house was far out in the countryside, making his commute long.

As usual, on his way back from studying at the library, Heewoo spotted a large shadow standing near his house.

A large build that almost covered the rusty green gate, and strong, distinct facial features. It was a grown man who gave off a sturdy impression. The large eyes gave a somewhat sincere impression, but the harsh scar on his forehead neutralized any chance of him being underestimated.

He’s really big. How can someone be that big? As Heewoo approached cautiously yet curiously, he hesitated.

‘You’re Kwon Heewoo, right?’

The man knew him. His friendly eyes scanned Heewoo from head to toe, lingering on his face.

Without breaking eye contact, the man lit a cigarette. His tanned cheeks hollowed, and the acrid smell drifted in the wind. Only then did Heewoo notice the numerous cigarette butts scattered at the man’s feet.

‘Heeran noona said she had an omega son, so I came looking.’

It was the first time he had heard his mother’s name in a long time. The man puffed on his cigarette and took out his phone.

‘I can’t feel any pheromones though.’

The man with the cigarette in his mouth mumbled, comparing the picture on his phone screen to Heewoo’s face back and forth.

He’s grown up so much? He’s pretty. He looks like his mother. Various assessments followed. Heewoo’s grip on his bag strap tightened. He often heard that he resembled his mother, but he had never felt as uncomfortable about it as he did now.

‘I’m a beta,’ Heewoo stated, differentiating himself from the man’s comment about him being an omega. He mentally calculated the time. His grandmother would be returning from the market soon.

‘Is that so?’

His anxiety intensified as the man smirked. Thud, he tossed his cigarette, adding another butt to the pile. The man opened his thick lips and exhaled the last puff of smoke.

‘That’s too bad. Because this man knows you’re an omega.’

A murky and persistent gaze was revealed as the gray smoke cleared. A malicious glint in his eyes that even the droopy corners of his eyes couldn’t hide.

The man, openly displaying his hostility, approached. Heewoo stepped back hesitantly and suddenly recognized a scent even more acrid than the cigarette smoke. A fishy smell like wet asphalt after heavy rain. No, pheromones.

‘Heewoo, you’re fucked.’

The man, clearly an alpha, sneered, emitting the fishy scent of rain.

✮⋆˙

Heewoo woke up with a start.

His eyes wide open, he looked around. His room, shrouded in the deep darkness of early dawn, filled his wide-open vision. Raindrops were streaking the window.

It rained.

He had left the window open before going to sleep because it was summer. Heewoo stared blankly beyond the screen. Water droplets clung to the bars that crossed his view like a prison. The sight of the bars, indistinguishable whether they were meant to protect the debtors or confine them, was still.