PM Chapter 18

Chapter 18

His mood wasn’t just ruined—it felt like it had been dragged through filth and covered in sludge. Why did he feel so disgusted?

“Why do you even want to know?”

Daesik tilted his head slightly, making his discomfort clear. At that, Park Jigwan pulled his gaze away from Heeseong and smiled pleasantly.

“Our President Pyo is always so generous—I just wanted to return the favor somehow.”

That wasn’t it. He clearly wanted something else.

Daesik immediately caught on to what Park Jigwan was fishing for. He was hinting, as usual, that the bribes weren’t enough. Maybe he wanted to use Heeseong as an excuse to squeeze more out of him.

Even though he pretended otherwise, the bastard had always wanted to take him down. That must be why his eyes were gleaming like that.

Heeseong, meanwhile, wasn’t listening to a word the two were saying. Inside his head, it was just thunder—crashing, roaring thunder.

Pyo Daesik?

For a moment, he thought he must have misheard. But then, as if to confirm it, the detective spoke again.

“Still, I thought President Pyo was different from the other alpha bastards. But I guess not, huh? If you’re walking around with an omega like this.”

He’d heard it clearly this time. The boss’s name was Pyo Daesik. And he was indeed a dominant alpha. Boom. Another clap of thunder crashed through Heeseong’s mind.

So our boss is Pyo Daesik?

“Just take care of Pyo Daesik, got it?”

It was like lightning out of a clear blue sky. Up to now, he hadn’t picked up a single trace of pheromones. How could this be? His vision swam, and his head started to spin. Heeseong froze in place, completely stunned by the reality he couldn’t believe.

Daesik clicked his tongue inwardly when he saw how stiff Heeseong had gone. It was obvious he’d been spooked by that rat of a detective. His shoulders were tense, his back rigid with fear.

“I’m Detective Park Jigwan. And you are…?”

Even at Park Jigwan’s question, Yoon Heeseong couldn’t respond. He’d gone pale and was trembling.

Seeing how terrified he was, Daesik narrowed his eyes. His brow twitched. He couldn’t take it anymore—he reached out and gently pulled Heeseong closer by the shoulder, then spoke.

“Mind your own business and move along.”

“How could I ignore it when it’s President Pyo’s business?”

“……”

“Oh, seems I asked something I shouldn’t have. Go ahead, then.”

When Daesik simply stared in silence, Park Jigwan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and stepped aside. He even dipped his head slightly, looking a bit sheepish.

Ignoring all of it, Daesik guided the dazed Heeseong away. The boy was clearly too shaken to pull himself together, and it would be best to get him out of there.

Park Jigwan watched them walk off—Daesik and that pale, boyish kid who looked like he was being dragged along in a daze. So he liked the quiet ones, huh? That wasn’t the impression Park had before. They got into the black car parked nearby and drove off.

“Well, now…”

Park Jigwan scratched his head with thick fingers, his expression unreadable. Then he slowly opened the fist he’d kept clenched while talking to Daesik. Inside was a trait identification stick, its colors swirled together—yellow mixed with purple.

It was a test strip that reacted to pheromones in the air, changing color accordingly. Not perfectly accurate, but good enough for a rough reading. The darker the color, the more likely it indicated an alpha; the lighter, an omega.

Pyo Daesik, being an extreme dominant alpha, always came up as deep violet or nearly black. The pale yellow now showing was clearly from that young boy who’d been beside him. Just as he suspected—an omega.

It had already seemed odd. Pyo Daesik, a man almost obsessive in his sexual restraint despite being an extreme dominant alpha, was keeping someone like that close? He hadn’t responded to the bait earlier, but now it was confirmed.

Pyo Daesik had never blinked at even top-class omegas being thrown his way. But he was bringing this one around himself… Even if he wasn’t a lover, he was clearly interested. And that intrigued Park Jigwan.

Maybe this kid was Pyo Daesik’s weakness.

“Interesting.”

Heeseong felt like he was caught in the middle of a storm, utterly hopeless. How could something like this happen? Of all people, the man the thugs had mentioned turned out to be his boss. His boss was Pyo Daesik!

Up until now, there were already more than five times that Daesik had shown him kindness. He had bought him good food, let him off the hook when he made mistakes, got him suppressants, gave him work… And now he was supposed to hurt that very man?

Heeseong felt like he was about to burst into tears.

Even though nothing harmful or threatening had happened yet, Heeseong, with the courage and resolve of a frightened ant, was trembling at the thought of threatening someone who had helped him. And lying—something that didn’t suit him in the first place—was gnawing at him too.

He was already terrified at the idea of hurting someone who’d done nothing wrong, and his hands were shaking violently. Everything went black in front of his eyes. What was he supposed to do from now on? Everything felt like a dead end.

Even agreeing to the gang’s threats had felt like swallowing mustard while crying, and now things had escalated even further. It was all far too overwhelming for Heeseong.

Realizing he was on the verge of repaying kindness with betrayal, Heeseong couldn’t calm down. The shock lingered even after they returned to the motel.

“Are you scared?”

Daesik suddenly asked. Even though it was the middle of summer, Heeseong was shivering as if it were the dead of winter. He cast a sideways glance at his boss.

Daesik wasn’t scolding him—he was just looking at him quietly. As if he had no clue what Heeseong was thinking, but still worried about him all the same.

Heeseong couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth, but he was scared—so he slowly nodded. With eyes shimmering with tears, he nodded again, and Daesik clicked his tongue softly.

“So much fear in you.”

Daesik let out a low sigh as he looked into Heeseong’s watery eyes that looked ready to spill any second.

If he was already this shaken, what could he possibly do going forward? Daesik had thought of him as a goldfish or a squirrel—now he figured even their guts were sturdier. Who the hell sent someone like this? Were they out of their minds?

Whoever it was, there had to be something seriously wrong with their judgment. Even with no common sense, there were some people you just didn’t pick for this kind of thing.

In his eyes, Heeseong wasn’t cut out for anything like this. He was far too naive, slow, and dull—more like a clueless countryside puppy. Definitely not someone sharp or quick-witted enough to pull anything off.

He probably got so rattled by little mistakes that he’d end up blurting out a full confession to the police about things that didn’t even count as misdemeanors. Somehow, that seemed exactly like something Heeseong would do.

What was laughable was the fact that Daesik even cared.

Regardless of whether he found Heeseong suspicious, he cared more than he expected. For whatever reason, the sight of him looking so scared and miserable gnawed at him. He didn’t want to leave him like that. Shaking his head to himself, Daesik finally spoke.

“I’m heading down to the basement. Call me if anything happens.”

“Okay…”

Daesik stared at the gloomy Heeseong for a moment before stepping out of the office.

Once he left, the counter and the small office fell completely silent. And in that silence, thoughts flooded in. Most of them were crushing waves of guilt.

Heeseong let out a deep, heavy sigh again and again, eventually drooping over the counter like a wilted flower. In his heart, all he wanted to do was forget the thugs’ demands and run far, far away.

“You gonna let your brother die like that?”

“You do this one little thing, and we’ll let you see him again.”

Their coarse, grating voices echoed in his ears, gripping the back of his neck like a claw.

“Haah…”

Just then, a knock came unexpectedly. Heeseong lifted his head weakly and glanced out the small window at the counter.

There was someone familiar.

It was the man who had driven him and Daesik to Taebaekgwan before.

“Hello.”

“Uh… Hello.”

“I’m here to deliver something the boss asked for.”