MIM 73

Jae-seung was waiting in front of the car, standing with one leg crossed. He looked defiant with two bags slung over one arm and a hand in his pocket. When he turned slightly at the sound of approaching footsteps, Shin-woo also looked up from glaring at the bags. Their eyes met immediately, but neither spoke.

Shin-woo opened the back door first and reached for the bags Jae-seung was holding. He intended to carry the luggage as usual, but the hand gripping the bags was unyielding. Jae-seung hugged the bags to his chest as if refusing to let them go, ignored the open back door, and sat in the passenger seat.

“Let’s go.”

Jae-seung muttered while facing forward, leaning deep into the seat. Shin-woo slowly moved his eyes from the bags Jae-seung stubbornly held to the empty back seat. Despite the spacious area equipped with cooling seats, massage functions, and even a display for watching videos, Jae-seung had crammed his large frame into the much narrower passenger seat.

The image of Woo-jae awkwardly smiling, unable to finish his sentence “Or are you two…” flickered in his mind. Shin-woo rested his arm on the open back door window and tilted his head toward the passenger seat.

“Since I’m driving you, Young master, you should sit in the back.”

Jae-seung’s fair eyebrows furrowed. He looked straight up at Shin-woo and replied.

“I want to sit here.”

“The back seat is much wider and has everything you need. It’s prepared as your seat, Young master.”

“It’s all mine anyway, can’t I sit wherever I want?”

“There’s no reason to be uncomfortable when you’ve gone to the expense of hiring a driver.”

At this firm boundary-setting statement, Jae-seung’s lips parted. Though momentary irritation flashed in his light eyes, he didn’t argue further. He leisurely got out of the car, stretching his long legs, and pushed the bags into Shin-woo’s chest.

The woody scent still wafted from Shin-woo as he obediently took the bags. Looking down at him from up close, bite marks were faintly visible near his neck under his shirt. Unlike himself, traces remained on Shin-woo’s body wherever they were left. As Jae-seung stared intently at this, Shin-woo was the first to look away. Jae-seung persistently followed him with his eyes as he went to the driver’s seat, then flopped down in the back seat.

Shin-woo remained quiet throughout the drive back. He played music and focused only on driving. While glaring at his round back of the head and carefully reviewing the day’s events, a notification appeared on Jae-seung’s phone screen.

“How are you feeling today?”

It was Ye-wook. Whether due to excessive worry about his dead sibling, he frequently checked on Jae-seung’s condition. This was perfect timing as there was something he wanted to know. Jae-seung replied immediately.

5:21 PM [I’m fine.]

[No pain anywhere at all?] 5:21 PM

5:21 PM [Yeah, perfectly fine.]

[What about the pheromone instability from before?] 5:22 PM

Jae-seung glanced at Shin-woo and bit his lip. Ye-wook kept saying his pheromones were unstable, but his condition wasn’t bad and he had no problems with daily life. Maybe because he was having regular sex. Instead of a detailed response, Jae-seung sent a simple message.

5:23 PM [It’s fine now, no problem at all]

[That’s good, but… it shouldn’t get better that quickly, so be careful] 5:24 PM

[Contact me if anything feels off, I’ll help as much as I can] 5:24 PM

Jae-seung tilted his head as he glumly looked down at the messages. While he had always felt Ye-wook was kind because he never refused requests, did people who were just acquaintances worry this much? It suddenly felt awkward that he was asking to be notified if anything felt even slightly off, as if he were a seriously ill patient.

No sooner had he felt this dissonance than suspicion arose. Without thinking too long, Jae-seung typed a message.

5:27 PM [I heard you met with Shin-woo]

Though it was read immediately, the reply came much later.

[Oh, did he say that?] 5:41 PM

5:41 PM [Yeah, why did you meet? I didn’t ask for details]

Judging by his vague way of speaking, he seemed reluctant to discuss it. If he had simply been threatened, he probably would have complained about it right away. When Jae-seung deliberately left room to suggest he could ask Shin-woo for details, the reply came quickly.

[Remember how I helped you make the guest list and invitations for your birthday party? He accused me of inviting people who weren’t on the list that day haha] 5:43 PM

[He was talking nonsense so I told him to think whatever he wants. There’s no way to prove I didn’t do it either…] 5:44 PM

Reading the messages several times, Jae-seung recalled his memories. The people not on the list must refer to that strange duo. He remembered Butler Hwang questioning how they had entered showing invitations. He hadn’t questioned it then, assuming Shin-woo had provided them with invitations.

Assuming Ye-wook was telling the truth, there were two possibilities. First, Shin-woo might not be in league with the duo. He might be investigating how they entered the mansion and whose orders they were following. This would explain why he went to meet his mother.

Second, he might be working with them but trying to frame Ye-wook. This would explain why he didn’t hide the fact that he met Ye-wook and boldly had his car repaired nearby. But… if that was his purpose, why hadn’t he mentioned it to Jae-seung first? It would have been advantageous to raise even uncertain doubts, so it was strange that he said nothing.

If Shin-woo hadn’t taken the invitations, then Ye-wook couldn’t escape suspicion either. The invitations were delivered directly from the printer to the mansion, and Jae-seung had personally opened and signed them in the study. Since Jae-seung frequently went in and out of the study and there was a designated employee managing it, it wouldn’t have been easy to steal invitations unnoticed. The most likely suspects had to be either Shin-woo, who had personally hired all the household staff, or Ye-wook, who had helped plan the party.

Just then, the car stopped at a red light. Feeling eyes on him, Jae-seung looked up and met brown eyes reflected in the rearview mirror.

Who was lying?

The eyes looking at him were sharply focused. Looking into those eyes made his head throb. He felt sick of the anxiety riddled with distrust and suspicion. He needed certainty, even if the revealed truth was cruel.

A new message arrived. Jae-seung silently lowered his eyes and touched the phone screen.

[Anyway, I didn’t say much so don’t worry about it, but contact me if you have any issues with pheromone control] 5:48 PM

Pheromone control. Looking down at this repeatedly received phrase, Jae-seung remembered something and quickly moved his fingers. He had just recalled something bothering him from his conversations with other Alphas.

5:50 PM [I heard suppressants don’t work on me, do you know anything about that?]

Though he had only started suffering from rut this year, he had never tried suppressants. He occasionally took painkillers for stomach or headaches, so he wondered why suppressants, which were similar to narcotic painkillers, supposedly had no effect. He wanted to know whether it had been experimentally proven that they don’t work on manufactured Alphas, or if Shin-woo was lying.

Only after arriving at the mansion and finishing dinner did Ye-wook reply.

[This might be a long conversation, let’s meet] 8:33 PM

* * *

For someone who worked as legal director for decades, she lived quite modestly. Though the complex was fairly large with several security cameras installed and strict security that didn’t let just any car in, it was humble considering her salary until retirement. Jae-seung slowly walked around the spacious park in the middle of the villa complex.

Lee Young-shin. A sixty-seven-year-old Alpha woman who retired after working for decades as legal director of Ma Group’s legal team. Her child is currently a professor, and her husband works as security at a public institution as a retirement job. According to preliminary investigation, there were no major changes in her assets before and after Ma Jin-seong’s death, nor any notable personal issues. She had lived here her entire life, never moving once or purchasing other real estate. Though they were a wealthy family wanting for nothing, they showed no particular greed for wealth, and on the surface, she appeared to be just an elderly person spending her remaining years peacefully and quietly.