DHG Ch 42

Back in his room, as Heewoo undressed, he noticed his body temperature rising again subtly. Touching his forehead, he realized the fever had worsened.

Why? Why wasn’t the medicine working now, of all times? He had already overdosed on antipyretics. …Surely he wasn’t going into heat today, was he?

Hesitantly, he swallowed the heat suppressants he had been prescribed on his first day at the general hospital. The medicine had to work, but he felt increasingly anxious.

He suddenly felt the urge to ask Yoon if he could be taken away that very day. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Jang Seungyung, or Kim Jinhwan, whom Jang Seungyung might take him to, while in a heat cycle, even if it was a one-in-a-million chance.

However, escaping Benny wouldn’t be easy. Before dealing with Yoon, he needed to inform him about Jang Seungyung and Kim Jinhwan, and see if there was a way to discreetly extract him.

He forced himself to shower, his body aching with fever, and put on the most presentable clothes he had. The shirt and jeans Mingeon had bought him the day he woke up in the emergency room. The fabric was a bit thin for the season, but the long sleeves made it look passable.

He adjusted his appearance in front of the bathroom mirror. Perhaps due to the hot shower, he had more color in his face than before. He carefully tucked his mother’s keepsake, which he always wore around his neck, under his collar.

He doubted his attire alone would arouse suspicion, but Heewoo still used the staff passage to avoid Madam and the manager. He headed to the place he had arranged to meet Yoon. His mouth grew parched with anxiety as he hid around corners and ducked into restrooms whenever he sensed someone’s presence, whoever it might be.

He barely made it to Room 13 before opening time. He worried that the door would burst open at any moment and someone would reprimand him. Heewoo couldn’t bring himself to sit down and leaned against a wall in the corner, chewing on his anxiety.

7:00 PM.

Opening time. Since customers could enter ten minutes early, some rooms were probably already occupied. Yoon must have reserved Room 13 without any problems, right?

He checked the borrowed phone with his sweaty hands. There were no texts or missed calls. Yoon would have contacted him if there were any changes. He had to wait.

7:10 PM.

He heard footsteps outside the door. His shoulders flinched involuntarily. The slightly opened door closed again, accompanied by a frivolous voice saying, “Oh, not here?”

7:15 PM.

Heewoo hadn’t realized his legs were aching, even though he’d been standing for nearly half an hour. He wondered if he should contact Yoon, his mind now a blank slate, but shook his head. He listlessly considered the possibilities of what the right choice would be if Yoon didn’t come.

7:20 PM.

Heewoo, who had been motionless as if he had become one with the wall he was leaning against, raised his head at the sound of the door opening.

Finally, someone entered. His gaze wavered, half in fear, half in anticipation. The person was holding a golf caddy bag in front of them. They entered, looking around outside, then recognized him and slowly met his eyes.

“…A gift?”

The person who murmured those words, without taking their eyes off him, was, as he desperately hoped, Yoon.

Heewoo’s shoulders slumped. He let go of the anxiety that had reached its peak and breathed a faint sigh of relief.

✮⋆˙

At the same time, Jang Seungyung, who had briefly left his office to go to the underground parking lot, noticed the single-leaf orchid pot neatly placed on the table.

Leaving Secretary Hwang, who kept glancing at him, he slumped onto the couch. His face was screwed up in a frown. He was thinking about Kwon Heewoo, who had brought the pot.

It wasn’t that he was still dejected after being rejected several times by him.

A new problem had recently surfaced. After a few days without seeing Kwon Heewoo, he had calmed his somewhat hurt feelings, and another impression had clearly emerged.

That damned desire.

More precisely, the desire to kiss.

Jang Seungyung was dying to kiss Kwon Heewoo these days. Even if Heewoo disliked it and refused again, he was determined not to be pushed back this time.

It was such a violent desire that he had even had a wet dream, something he hadn’t experienced since his teens. The bewildered feeling he had upon waking up was fleeting. Jang Seungyung was seized by an uncontrollable urge and roughly masturbated. Kwon Heewoo was ravaged by him, not only in his dreams but also in his waking fantasies.

While committing this uncharacteristic series of follies, Jang Seungyung blamed Kwon Heewoo. Why couldn’t he have just given in earlier? He was this good. Incomparably more handsome, younger, richer, wealthier, and stronger than Kim Jinhwan.

Well, it wouldn’t be easy for a beta male to see an alpha as a romantic partner.

Especially considering the bad memories he already had.

Thinking that far, Jang Seungyung was caught in a tremendous conflict. He didn’t want to force a kiss on Kwon Heewoo, adding to the trauma on top of bad memories. However, the desire to explore Kwon Heewoo’s mouth was also strong.

Weighing these conflicting thoughts, Jang Seungyung came to a decision.

To isolate himself from Kwon Heewoo, as he was showing signs of becoming a ticking time bomb due to sexual frustration. If their eyes met the wrong way, he was sure he would pounce on him like an animal, seize him, explore his lips, and tear his clothes to shreds.

That was why he had looked away when he saw Kwon Heewoo in the lobby earlier. He hadn’t expected him to follow Madam up to his office on an errand, though, despite pretending not to see him.

So fearless, following anyone anywhere.

Jang Seungyung sulkily flicked a graceful orchid leaf. A faint fragrance tickled his nose. He suddenly thought of Kwon Heewoo holding the pot.

The way he held the small pot in his arms was delicate and neat, as if he himself were the orchid. His pale cheeks, lips, and his face, as quietly permeating as a crescent moon thinly hanging in the sky. His eyelashes, downcast, rarely lifting.

As Jang Seungyung pondered that quiet impression, his insides slowly began to boil. He never even glanced his way unless he approached him first. Did that mean he found him that undesirable?

‘I thought he didn’t dislike me.’

The tremors that he had clearly interpreted as positive signals, conveyed through the palm of his hand, their touching lips, and his eyes. Now he wondered if he had been mistaken all along.

Jang Seungyung leaned his head back against the back of the couch. He loosened his tie and let out a sigh he couldn’t suppress.

He felt ridiculous, behaving like this. Isolation, what isolation. Frankly, he had the means to elicit a plausible voluntary action from Kwon Heewoo.

By using the debt he owed.

What if he offered to exchange sex for the debt, as he had originally intended? What if he said he could pay off about 200 million won with just one sexual encounter? Would Kwon Heewoo refuse easily?

He could just hand him a contract, guaranteeing a bright future, so he didn’t know why he was being so melodramatic. Surely he couldn’t actually like him…

Just as he thought that far, Jang Seungyung paused. He was about to grasp the answer that had just flashed through his mind, strangely lingering.

The faint sound of running water reached his ears. He lifted his head from the back of the couch.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at the pantry, which he hadn’t paid attention to before because he had no reason to go in there. It didn’t matter because the pantry, along with other areas, was randomly and regularly checked for listening devices by Secretary Hwang, but a faint curiosity arose.

He wondered if the person who had gone in there while he was away was the so-called “cleaning fairy.” And the person who emerged as the pantry door opened was—.

“Have you been cleaning this yourself?”

It was Madam Won. Jang Seungyung asked, half in disbelief. Could Madam be the cleaning fairy?

It had been about two months. His office had been unusually spotless, always sparkling clean, enough for Secretary Hwang to praise it. When he visited in the afternoon, he could immediately feel the warmth thanks to the thoughtfully turned-on heating.

Madam didn’t answer, but looked back and forth between Jang Seungyung, sitting on the couch, and Secretary Hwang beside him. She calmly wiped her hands with a handkerchief and opened her mouth.

“No. I came up to see you, Mr. President… and just did the dishes.”

As she explained, Madam was inwardly flustered.

Could the president not know who had been cleaning all this time?

She had assigned the cleaning to Heewoo with the intention of bringing him and Jang Seungyung together, knowing he was interested in Heewoo. Heewoo’s face had gradually brightened up, so she naturally assumed they were spending quality time together in the president’s office. But she hadn’t realized Jang Seungyung didn’t even know who was cleaning.

Madam thought of Heewoo, who had remained quiet even when delivering the plant. He wasn’t ordinary either.

“Heewoo has been cleaning.”

Madam said. Jang Seungyung, who had been waiting for an answer, slowly furrowed his brow as if he had heard something incomprehensible.

“Oh, and the heating too. He always turned it on beforehand, without me having to ask.”

As she explained, Madam thought Heewoo was diligent, or foolish, depending on how you looked at it. From her perspective, Heewoo seemed quite fond of the president. Although she wasn’t pleased, she could see the subtle difference in results, especially since there was Kim Jinhwan, a control group with perfectly controlled variables.

Love is something you fight for. Why would he hide something as trivial as cleaning when he should be overflowing with expressions of affection? Of course, the president, blinded by his infatuation with the boy, seemed to have a different impression.

“Since when?”

The way he asked so immediately. See? As expected, he was definitely interested. Madam shrugged and replied.

“It’s been almost two months.”