VDN Ch 82

I almost went all the way. It was already the second time. This time, I couldn’t make the same excuse as the first time. When Kwon Seo-oh handed me a condom a little while ago, he didn’t show it, but he was surprised.

What a thorough bastard…

He clearly remembered pushing him away because there were no condoms. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have decided to buy them right away. Thankfully, Kwon Sang-moon was waiting for Seo-oh. If it hadn’t been for that, they might still be rolling around the front door.

While he was lost in these thoughts, Nam-woon’s cell phone rang.

[Jin-sang]

It was a call from Jin Hae-geon. Hesitating for a moment, he glanced at the air. There was no response from the system.

When Nam-woon didn’t answer the call, a message arrived. 

[Nam-woon.] 

[You’re not an Omega, right?]

[An Alpha then?]

I’m a Beta…

Nam-woon tossed his phone onto the couch. The notification sounds kept coming, one after another, but he ignored them. He knew it was just nothing more than sexual harassment.

Maybe it was because it wasn’t a face-to-face situation or because the level had been raised to 2, but thankfully no warnings from the system appeared. Feeling relieved, Nam-woon made his way to the bathroom.

***

“Kwon Sang-moon has…escaped. I apologize.” 

A man reported with his head deeply bowed. Chairman Seok slowly rose from his seat and looked around. Not finding what he wanted, he picked up a black nameplate that was on the desk. Then he walked steadily towards the man. 

Bang!

Chairman Seok, holding the nameplate, began to mercilessly beat the man’s head. In an instant, the man’s head and face were soaked in blood. However, the merciless hand did not show any sign of stopping. Only after the man lost consciousness and fell to the floor did Chairman Seok throw the nameplate down.

“……” 

Taking a long breath, Chairman Seok reached out his hand to the side, and a subordinate who was waiting handed him a clean handkerchief. After wiping his bloodied hand, he asked, 

“Where is he?” 

“We’re still tracking. There was a report that they were spotted last night at Club Pera in Gangnam. He couldn’t have gone far.”

“A club…Still playing hide-and-seek, huh?”

Ridiculous. Chairman Seok twisted his lips. 

“And Kwon Seo-oh?” 

“He’s been acting as usual. He returned home from school, finished his part-time job, and hasn’t had any contact with others.”

“He will definitely try to contact his son somehow. Keep monitoring Kwon Seo-oh until you find him.”

Chairman Seok looked down at the fallen man with cold, emotionless eyes.

“To gain one dominant alpha’s pheromone… Look where it’s landed me. Even lost a valued subordinate.”

“…Chairman, how about we just capture Kwon Seo-oh directly?” 

Chairman Seok, who had thrown the bloodied handkerchief on the floor, looked straight at the man. 

“Director Yoon, pheromones are… fascinating. They reflect a person’s entirety. Do you know when Kwon Seo-oh developed pheromone insensitivity?”

Chairman Seok continued speaking as if he wasn’t expecting an answer. 

“The day I heard he had manifested as a dominant alpha, I called him in to praise him. I gave him some pocket money and even patted his head… But then, starting the very next day, his pheromone sensitivity started to fade. 

The satisfied laughter drowned out the groans of the man lying on the ground.

“Some people hear praise and wag their tails like obedient dogs. But Kwon Seo-oh, he instinctively knows I am a threat to him. I’ve met many people over the years, but never someone so young who could match him. Truly a promising talent. And besides, if not Kwon Seo-oh, then whose pheromones do you think I should use?”

His fierce gaze pierced through to his subordinate. 

“Should I kidnap someone from the Mooyoung or Seonghu families instead? Will Director Yoon be able to capture even trash like them? And if those weaklings end up damaged like the others, will you be the one to take responsibility?”

“…Forgive me, sir.”

Direction Yoon clamped his mouth shut after saying those words.

Obtaining the pheromones of a dominant alpha or omega was like picking stars from the sky. Dominant traits were extremely rare, and most of those who had them were out of Chairman Seok’s reach. Unless there was a dominant gene that defied the odds, it was not easy to see because the probability of it appearing was close to zero.

In that sense, Kwon Seo-oh, a dominant alpha born into a poor family, was in a good position to be coveted by Chairman Seok.

“Cattle, chickens, pigs… they all need to be in a clean mental state to produce good-quality meat. Do you think humans are any different? If anything, humans are more sensitive and delicate in that regard. If we extract pheromones haphazardly like we did with Kwon Sang-moon, Kwon Seo-oh’s pheromone insensitivity will never be cured.”

Unless a suitable replacement for Kwon Seo-oh appeared, Chairman Seok couldn’t give up on him. The pheromones of a dominant alpha could be the breakthrough for the trait-changing drug that had been failing repeatedly. It was also a key to changing his own traits. 

Chairman Seok kicked the fallen man with his foot and turned his gaze to Director Yoon. 

“His trait?” 

“Beta.” 

“Tsk. Useless beta scum. Can’t even extract anything useful. Throw him into the workshop.”

The man, who had been lying with his eyes closed, seemed to have heard Chairman Seok’s words as he trembled and muttered, “Ah, uh… sorry…” but couldn’t finish his sentence. Chairman Seok’s foot brutally crushed the hand that was trying to grasp at his trouser leg. At the same time, a voice filled with rage fell. 

“Kwon Sang-moon, catch him and bring him to me.” 

***

Kwon Sang-moon clasped his hands together and picked at the skin around his thumbnail. His anxious gaze was directed at the man sitting in front of him. The man he hadn’t seen in a long time was maintaining his usual delinquent attitude. which was exactly how he had seen it at the club.

Kwon Sang-moon cautiously stole glances at the other man. He looked thinner than when he’d seen him before. Perhaps because of that, he seemed even sharper than before. The dangerous atmosphere emanating from the man’s eyes appeared more indifferent than ever.

But Kwon Sang-moon knew better than anyone else. Beneath the man’s exterior lay a pitch-black, demonic nature. After all, wasn’t he the son of that Chairman Seok?

Those damn Seok bastards…

Though he cursed inwardly, he’d been through too much to dare voice his criticism aloud. Moreover, for some reason, the man had been staring only at him since earlier. Making him on edge.

The man quietly observed Kwon Sang-moon trembling with anxiety, then crossed his legs and said a word.

“Eat.”

Kwon Sang-moon immediately grabbed the chopsticks on the table at that command. But he couldn’t bring himself to pick up the bowl. The man’s persistent gaze made it impossible to eat in peace. Finally, Kwon parted his trembling lips to ask:

“Y-young master… why do you keep staring at me…?”

Then the man let out an “ah” and spoke incomprehensibly.

“You look like him.”

When Kwon Sang-moon had eyes of confusion, the man raised his hand and pointed to the corner of his own eye.

“Here.”

After a moment of thought, he added.

“Here, and your eyebrows too, exactly like Se-han’s.”

“……” 

“When Se-han gets angry, his eyebrows go up, it’s cute.”

At those words, Kwon Sang-moon gaped at Nam-woon. When did that demon-like man go to see Se-han? Our baby angel Se-han must be protected from those trashy Seok bastards at all costs…!

While Kwon Sang-moon was stunned by the information, Nam-woon spoke again. 

“Eat quickly.” 

Even at the man’s seemingly encouraging words, Kwon Sang-moon flinched as he picked up his utensils. It would be one thing if he acted as viciously as before, but this subtle kindness and gentleness, as if he’d become a different person, was even stranger. There was no telling what he might be thinking inside.

If I eat quickly, the young master will probably get up too. Kwon Sang-moon scooped the still-hot porridge into his mouth. Then, with a short gasp, he dropped his spoon. The porridge was so hot that it burned his tongue. Seeing this, Nam-woon clicked his tongue softly and picked up the spoon that had fallen to the floor. Kwon Sang-moon, startled by the loud noise he’d made, apologized.

“Sorry…”

“Is it very hot?”

Nam-woon picked up the porridge bowl, testing its temperature. “Still too hot,” he muttered, then stood up and headed to the kitchen. When he returned with a new spoon, he gently skimmed the surface of the porridge with it, then twisted the handle toward Kwon Sang-moon and handed it over.

“It’s hot, so eat from the top.” 

Unconsciously taking it, Kwon Sang-moon looked at Nam-woon’s face with a dazed expression. His heart was pounding with anxiety.

It was strange. Had the young master ever used such a tone before? His appearance was certainly the same as before, but somehow the atmosphere felt different.

In his memory, Seok Nam-woon’s speech was always filled with shouting and dirty profanity. But since leaving the club yesterday, he hadn’t shown such behavior at all. Moreover, today he’d been staring intently at places like his eyes, lips, and earlobes without saying anything, enough to make anyone tense up.

Then his cell phone rang. It was from the temporary phone Kwon Sang-moon had received through the detective. Checking the caller, Kwon Sang-moon’s face brightened instantly, and he lifted the phone up to his face. 

“Seo-oh!” 

– Dad. How are you feeling? 

“Dad’s fine. Seo-oh, you’re okay, right?”

– Yeah. Don’t worry. 

“But son, why are you so handsome? You’re still handsome even on a phone screen.”

– What… 

Kwon Sang-moon brought his face close to the phone screen as if he might be sucked in, gazing endlessly at his son’s face. His eyes quickly moistened as he watched the embarrassed Seo-oh.