OMS 124

“Did you really get some rest? Why do you look like that? Like someone who’s been tortured.”

When Park Dong-sik arrived home, Madam Song was drinking tea on the living room sofa. He couldn’t honestly tell her that her son had been ravishing him all night long when she asked with a puzzled expression.

“Where are the children?”

“They just had their formula and fell asleep.”

“Thank you for watching them. You must be tired, Mother.”

“What’s there to be tired about when watching my own grandchildren? It was nice. It reminded me of the good, old days.”

She mentioned that Kim Hyun usually drank a lot of formula, and this suggested that he’d grow tall. In contrast, she asked if Kim Yul always ate so little. The children were as different in their eating habits as they were in personality.

“Well, their father was also a picky eater with a small appetite.”

Watching Madam Song subtly criticize Kim Jun-han, Park Dong-sik felt a sense of kinship, guessing she must have had a hard time raising him.

“Why are you smiling?”

“It’s nothing. I’ll go change my clothes.”

“Sure. You should get some rest, too, while the kids are sleeping.”

Only after entering the bedroom and standing in front of the mirror did Park Dong-sik understand why Madam Song had given that look. The dark circles under the eyes made her appear more exhausted than when caring for the children.

It was understandable, given they had made love until passing out, and when he opened his eyes next, it was almost noon. He even began to suspect Kim Jun-han might have secretly taken something, seeing how he stayed aroused even after finishing.

“Handsome and great stamina. Perfect.”

Park Dong-sik couldn’t help but gasp while undressing, seeing his reflection in the mirror. Checking every corner of his body revealed red marks everywhere. Even his nipples were swollen and raw from all the attention.

Park Dong-sik clicked their tongue and shook his head.

“This crazy…Should have been more gentle…”

Quickly changing clothes out of embarrassment, Park Dong-sik pulled out the paternity test results from their coat pocket. 99.999% match. Reading it again, despite having done so many times, still felt good.

After putting away the paper, he went to the corner of the dressing room and pulled out a box from the bottom. Opening the lid revealed all sorts of things inside—from personal identification papers to contracts, the gun from Moon Ho-cheol’s office, and the baby shoes received from Kim Tae-han.

After staring at it for a while, Park Dong-sik put the documents in, closed the lid, and placed the box somewhere visible. They planned to either move it to storage or dispose of it soon.

With a lighter heart, they went out and flopped onto the bed, but something felt missing. The space where the children’s beds had been until a few days ago was now empty. Not just that, but they were waking up less frequently at night and getting more full nights of sleep.

“They’re all grown up now. Soon they’ll be calling us Mom and Dad.”

Rolling over, Park Dong-sik buried his face in Kim Jun-han’s pillow and inhaled deeply. Maybe because they had been intimate all night, but he already missed him. While hugging the pillow and rolling around, a crying sound could be heard from somewhere.

Park Dong-sik sprang up like a coiled spring and went outside the bedroom. The sitters were just coming out with the children who had woken up. Madam Song had already approached the children.

“Oh my. Our Hyun and Yul are awake. Why are you crying? The diapers are fine, and you guys have eaten too, how strange. The two of you were so quiet until now. Did you know your Mom was here?”

“Let me hold them, please.” When receiving Kim Hyun from the sitter first, the crying stopped as if by magic. Moving to the sofa, he held Kim Yul in the other arm. Despite his whole body aching as if beaten, being with the children made him feel better.

“They really must have known their mom was here. How amazing.”

The sitter who was taking care of Kim Hyun commented, and Kim Yul’s sitter chimed in.

“Well, aren’t they Alphas? Alpha babies are usually sensitive to pheromones.”

Madam Song’s face brightened at hearing this.

“If they take after our Jun-han, they’ll naturally be dominant Alphas.”

While the sitters and Madam Song chatted excitedly, Park Dong-sik’s expression gradually darkened. He’d heard that trait testing was usually done around ages 3-4. Though it could change before differentiation, they say that in dominant cases, there’s a high probability of maintaining that status into adulthood.

It would be easier for alphas to live in this world than omegas, but somehow it felt lonely. Wouldn’t it be fine if at least one were an omega? Then suddenly, an image formed in his mind.

Three people like Kim Jun-han in the house…

Ah…Why do I feel drained even before the kids are fully grown?

***

Kim Jun-han smiled affectionately while looking at his phone screen. He was on a video call, and on the screen was Kim Hyun with a blank expression, drooling profusely.

“Hyun, where’s daddy? Can you see Daddy there? Isn’t it amazing? Be good and listen to mommy. Say hi to daddy.”

Kim Hyun squirmed, and unfortunately, his chubby cheeks were pressed against the screen, making him barely visible. Meanwhile, Park Dong-sik’s voice came through the speaker.

[Daddy, come home early today. Mommy says to tell you he’s craving chicken and beer.]

Kim Jun-han chuckled at Park Dong-sik’s poor attempt at imitating a child’s voice.

“Okay. Let’s have chicken after we put the kids to bed.”

After ending the call, Kim Jun-han looked up at the feeling of being watched and met eyes with Secretary Choi in the rearview mirror. Secretary Choi couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“This is the most human I’ve seen you since I started working here, sir.”

“Shut up and drive properly. Turn right here.”

Secretary Choi turned right onto a mountain road and asked curiously.

“Are the children eating solid foods now?”

“They’re eating solids, sitting up, crawling, everything.”

“They’ll be walking soon, then.”

Kim Jun-han imagined Kim Yul and Kim Hyun walking. A few days ago, Kim Hyun had stood up holding onto the sofa, and Park Dong-sik had been overjoyed. Though they both nearly had heart attacks when he fell backward.

Kim Hyun was generally quite mischievous. He couldn’t stay still, put everything in his mouth to suck on, and when eating solid food, it was more like giving his face a food pack than actually eating.

In contrast, Kim Yul was quiet. Though he had been sensitive and cried frequently as a newborn, he improved as he grew, and even the sitters marveled at how neatly he ate in his high chair.

While they both looked exactly like Kim Jun-han, their behaviors were so different that Park Dong-sik often said it made parenting them more interesting.

“We’ve arrived.”

The car stopped in front of the villa, and Kim Jun-han unfastened his seatbelt. In the distance was a 1-ton truck, and Park Gyeong-ju was waiting in front of it.

“You stay here.”

Getting out of the car and walking toward Park Gyeong-ju, the latter bowed deeply. Wearing military pants with his hair tied back tightly, Park Gyeong-ju led the way toward the warehouse. Before opening the door, he turned to look at Kim Jun-han.

“The smell is strong. It might be better to watch from here.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened, and true to his words, a putrid smell wafted out. Kim Jun-han covered his nose with the back of his hand and furrowed his brow. In the darkness inside the iron cage, three black masses were visible, completely motionless despite the human presence.

The situation inside the cage became more tragic as they went in. While the floor was relatively clean, their clothes were soiled with excrement, and partially eaten bread pieces were scattered in corners along with insects.

“I cleaned as much as I could, but the smell is impossible to get rid of.”

“You’ve worked hard. I made you do something terrible.”

“It’s nothing. Not much different from raising cattle.”

Kim Jun-han smiled bitterly at Park Gyeong-ju’s words. As he said, the three people trapped in the cage were no different from beasts. Their hair was matted and tangled, their eyes were dull and lifeless, and they were skeletal from surviving on just bread and water.

During their discussion, Lee Hoon-jae recognized Kim Jun-han and crawled to the front of the cage.

“Y-You bastard! You fucking bastard!”

When he shouted in a hoarse voice, Lee Seon-jae and Yoo Hyeon-oh’s eyes also changed as if coming to their senses. Yoo Hyeon-oh ranted about how in the world Kim Jun-han could do this to him while being married to his son, demanding to see Lee Hee-soo.

After watching the three men’s frenzied behavior, Kim Jun-han turned and left. Even after the door closed with a thud, their screaming could still be heard. Kim Jun-han took out a cigarette for the first time in a while. After lighting it and thinking for a long time, he turned to Park Gyeong-ju.

“Let them go for now.”

“Is that okay? They seem more lucid than expected.”

“It’s useless if they go crazier.”

“What?”

Kim Jun-han stared straight ahead with an expressionless face. He planned to release them and let them breathe. They would feel relief at their liberation. The moment they felt safe, he would throw them back in. Again and again, until they were broken. He stubbed out his half-smoked cigarette with his foot and muttered.

“Nothing pisses people off more than giving something and then taking it away.”

“Ah…”

After entrusting them to Park Gyeong-ju, Kim Jun-han returned to the car. As soon as he got in, Secretary Choi turned around with a furrowed brow.

“What’s that smell?”

“Just something.”

“Are we releasing those people today?”

“Release them, but keep people watching. Collect them at the right time and bring them back here.”

Secretary Choi shook his head with a shudder.

“Death would be better than this.”

That’s the hope. For them to take their own lives. But people like them are too shameless and narcissistic to ever consider ending their own lives.

Secretary Choi started the engine immediately, and the car headed back the way they came. The season had changed, and the forest was dyed in autumn colors. Even with the window open, the smell of filth seemed to linger in the air. Kim Jun-han thought about how he would have to throw away his suit on the way.