HWAMB — Chapter 43

Then it happened.

A low groan drifted from nearby. Startled, Jae-ho froze and turned toward the sound.

There was a man.

An adult, casually dusting off his hands. Around him, half a dozen men lay collapsed on the ground.

Jae-ho slowly lowered his gaze. Every one of those sprawled bodies was familiar.

Of course they were—each one was someone he himself had hired.

Sensing danger, he instinctively stepped back. In his panic, his foot snapped a twig.

Crack.

A tiny, pathetic noise to anyone else—but to Jae-ho, it rang louder than a gunshot.

The man’s sharp ears caught it. His head turned immediately toward Jae-ho.

Those piercing eyes made Jae-ho nearly stumble backward.

But the man smiled faintly, cold yet harmless on the surface.

He walked forward, stepping right over the bodies in his path without hesitation, closing the distance.

In the moonlight, his eyes gleamed so brilliantly they were almost chilling.

“Good evening.”

“…”

“I’m looking for someone. A boy, about this tall, looks like a high schooler. Have you seen him? Someone said they spotted him around here.”

The man’s pale eyes were like glass—icy and empty.

Though his lips curved in a warm smile, his eyes didn’t match. It was unsettling. Threatening.

Was he a dominant alpha?

His tall build, striking looks, and oppressive presence made it seem possible.

Jae-ho glanced back down at his men on the ground. Had this man taken them all out by himself?

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

“I-I don’t kno—”

The man’s shadow loomed closer, cutting him off. Light flared in his eyes.

Jae-ho’s hand twitched toward the box cutter in his pocket. His heart pounded—thump, thump, thump.

“Really?”

The man’s expression dropped flat. He reached out and lifted Jae-ho’s chin.

Panic writhed inside Jae-ho, a terror that he was about to be devoured whole.

Then, a heavy scent engulfed him.

Omega pheromones…?

‘C-can’t… breathe…’

His body lost all strength, collapsing to the ground.

Overwhelmed by the dizzying scent, Jae-ho’s eyes flickered in shock.

The man smiled faintly as he watched Jae-ho’s legs clench and tremble uncontrollably.

Jae-ho felt powerless, humiliated—especially in front of an omega, not even an alpha.

“Feels good, doesn’t it? Alphas can’t handle this at all.”

The intoxicating aroma lingered under his nose. His chest pounded, his head spun with delirious heat.

The omega’s scent was sweet, almost blissful, but it terrified him too.

It made him feel like he’d obey anything this man said.

Unable to resist, furious at himself, Jae-ho bit his lip hard.

He’d always despised omegas—so being reduced to this made it unbearable.

What enraged him most of all was the fact that he was afraid.

In that frenzied, heated state, he lashed out on impulse.

He ripped the box cutter from his pocket and slashed.

The man’s reflexes were sharp—he pulled back just in time, but the blade grazed his neck. Blood ran down the shallow wound.

His eyes widened briefly, but only for a second.

When Jae-ho swung again, the man caught his arm with ease.

“That’s dangerous.”

In an instant, he subdued Jae-ho.

Though blood streamed from the cut, staining his white shirt, he showed no panic.

His eyes gleamed like those of a wild beast on the hunt.

Without hesitation, he twisted Jae-ho’s arm behind his back.

A scream ripped from Jae-ho’s throat. He tried to cry out again, but the man clamped a hand over his mouth and broke his other arm.

Jae-ho had fought plenty, started plenty of trouble—but he had never felt pain so blinding it brought tears to his eyes.

This man wasn’t new to this.

Muttering to himself, the stranger said, “Five weeks in a cast, at least. Not worth the trouble… but I’ll take the loss today.”

“Still, I can call this self-defense, right? You went for someone’s throat with a blade.”

He flung the box cutter far out of reach.

Then he removed his hand from Jae-ho’s mouth.

Shaking, Jae-ho shouted,

“Ugh… I’ll call the police! I’ll have you killed for this!”

Grinding his teeth, spitting fury, he glared up.

The man looked down at him with faint disgust, as though he wasn’t worth noticing.

Then, in a soft, almost gentle voice, he asked,

“Where did you hide Kang Eun-jae?”

“…”

“I won’t force it. But if you don’t spit it out soon… things are only going to get worse for you.”

The man’s eyes drifted from Jae-ho’s broken arms to his legs.

That unreadable gaze made Jae-ho flinch.

The man’s lips smiled, but his eyes stayed cold.

And Jae-ho realized then—he was being toyed with.

Just as the man had said, it didn’t take long before Jae-ho, trembling, finally opened his tightly sealed mouth.

* * *

“Yes, it’s me. Yes. I’ll send you the location, so check there for Eun-jae. I’ve taken care of most of it, but there might still be some bad guys around, so be careful. Yes, I love you too. What? Shut up? …So prickly.”

A moment later, Shim Hyun-seo ended the call with a cheerful laugh.

Standing nearby, his bodyguard, who had been watching him cautiously, asked carefully,

“Master, your neck is bleeding quite a lot…”

“Ah… it’s fine. I let my guard down, but luckily it’s not deep.”

‘Normally, this young master would roll on the ground crying even at the slightest pain…’

The bodyguard shot him a suspicious look, wondering what new scheme he was plotting now.

Hyun-seo, who usually hated pain more than anything, was in such a good mood for one simple reason: this wound would give him leverage to whine and guilt-trip a certain someone later.

“Good call, using the police siren as a bluff.”

“I figured if they panicked, they’d take this little-known path. Just like I expected, they moved exactly how I wanted.”

She handed Hyun-seo a fresh shirt and quickly patched up the bleeding.

“But really, of all times… the son of Director Jang pulling an ‘omega kidnapping case’? If the media catches wind of this, the damage to Sehan Electronics will be catastrophic.”

“Raising children properly is quite an important business, after all.”

When bodyguard Yoon Se-jung clicked her tongue, Hyun-seo shrugged in response.

More than that, he knew very well his father—who cherished Eun-jae almost as much as Hyun-woo did—wouldn’t let this matter slide.

“Anyway, that was close. Do Jin-gyeong? He’s the one who told us, right? Hyun-woo’s friend or something. Thanks to him, we were able to wrap things up quickly.”

“He’s the eldest son of Do-hwa Group’s chairman.”

“Ah, was he?”

“I don’t know how close he is with the young master, but I do know they’re the same age. I believe they’ve met a few times at gatherings when they were younger, and they likely attend the same school now.”

“I see.”

Hyun-seo’s expression stayed flat as he stared at his phone, which was filled with missed calls.

Then he called back the owner of those calls—his father.

“Yes, Father. …I think we’ve found Eun-jae. …Yes. Don’t worry. I’ll contact you again later.”

As soon as the call ended, Hyun-seo tossed the car keys to Yoon Se-jung, who caught them deftly.

“Keep the car ready at the bottom. I’ll go check on the kids.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No. Eun-jae’s already injured his leg and got kidnapped—he won’t be in good shape. If you have the car ready, we can get him to the hospital faster. Besides, I need treatment too.”

“…Understood. Then what about Director Jang’s son?”

Se-jung’s eyes glinted dangerously as she glanced at the unconscious Jang Jae-ho. Hyun-seo let out a short exclamation, as if remembering only then.

“…What the victim wants matters most, but that’s not the priority right now. Just leave a message for Director Jang and dump his son at their doorstep. Handing him over to the police won’t change much—money will smooth it over anyway.”

At those words, Se-jung bowed her head and immediately grabbed Jae-ho by the scruff of his neck, dragging him down the mountain.

* * *

Is anyone there?

No matter how much I screamed, the sound fell flat, collapsing to the ground as though it had hit a wall.

That was me.

A child was crying with chicken-egg-sized tears streaming down their face.

Is anyone there?

Please save me, please save me.

Mom and Dad…