DHG Ch 3

The reason Heewoo, an omega, had been able to live as a beta for so long was due to his excellent pheromone control. Lately, however, he’d become extremely sensitive to the pheromones of other designations. Heewoo suppressed the unpleasant heat rising within him.

“Why couldn’t he take the test, even without Kim Jinhwan around?” Kang Manager, sounding amused, muttered to himself. Taking advantage of the loud grinding noise from the blender, he lowered his voice further.

“Ah, was he getting thoroughly fucked by the new boss this time?”

Heewoo, who had been pressing the blender button, abruptly stopped the machine. Taking that as a reaction, Kang Manager’s lips curled up into a smirk.

“Why the long face? Everyone knows Kim Jinhwan locked you up and fucked you all day the last time you were supposed to take the test.”

“Hey, stop it.” Kang, the athlete, who had been standing a short distance away, quietly warned his twin brother.

Heewoo adjusted his mask. Kang Manager, whose bad temper constantly caused friction with the staff, and Kang, the athlete, who tried to manage the athletes by cozying up to the new madam. Heewoo had been warned about these twins a long time ago.

‘Be careful. Those guys are vicious.’

Those were the words left to Heewoo by a male omega athlete, a frequent favorite of Kim Jinhwan, before he left the establishment.

“Shouldn’t you two be the ones watching your mouths? Making a scene anywhere will only hurt you.”

Heewoo spoke in a calm tone from behind his mask. It wasn’t just the interior and the bloodstains on the floor that had been cleaned up in the past few days. People had been cleaned up too.

Countless people had been cut. Not just fired. The thugs, athletes, and hostesses closely associated with Kim Jinhwan had disappeared without a trace. The only ones who had survived were the employees with no particular connection to Kim Jinhwan, simply hired help. The cleanup was still ongoing.

“Who’s your brother?” Kang, the athlete, whose own future was uncertain, snapped, nitpicking at Heewoo’s words.

“Did you ever act all friendly and call our brother ‘hyung’? Huh?”

Our brother. The twins’ go-to topic whenever they were at a disadvantage.

Heewoo kept quiet at the mention of Kang, the cook. He had worked in the kitchen here, and had been beaten and chased away by Kim Jinhwan simply for being friendly to Heewoo. He was the twins’ older brother.

“And you’re in no position to say that.”

Kang Manager spoke without hesitation. Kang, the athlete, made a gesture of stopping him, but it was no use.

“Why are you still here, safe and sound?”

Heewoo, who had stopped responding, flinched. He was aware of the rumors circulating behind his back.

Why is Kwon Heewoo still around? Shouldn’t he be dealt with too?

Such whispers had been connected to the rumors that had plagued Heewoo throughout the summer, starting earlier.

The rumors that Kim Jinhwan favored him.

It had only been four months ago. He had been warned beforehand, and while he was wary of the twins’ unfriendly gazes, the incident occurred.

‘It’s not like we’re asking you to work a table, what’s so hard about helping out with serving for a bit?’

It was a day when the reservations were overbooked. The twins came to him. You can’t even do that? The twins, along with a few other athletes, pressured Heewoo and some other employees to work as waiters.

It was already a time when Heewoo was the target of glares. Kim Jinhwan had been calling Heewoo privately since the beginning of the year, and at some point, people started talking about it as if it were special treatment.

‘They’re all in debt, but some are selling their bodies, while others aren’t even entertaining guests, let alone doing seconds.’

‘Two hundred million won isn’t chump change. Is it even right for a barely legal kid to just work in the kitchen?’

Why isn’t he selling his body? What’s so different about him?

Crushed by the unspoken accusations, Heewoo eventually succumbed to the pressure and went out to wait tables. He changed into a three-piece uniform, learned the basics of greeting guests, taking orders, and setting various bottles and glasses, and then frantically carried whiskey and appetizers.

Then, as he was pushed into a particularly spacious room, Heewoo realized something was off.

‘Oh? A familiar face?’

The guests looked familiar. They were Kim Jinhwan’s acquaintances. A group of gangsters who controlled a local territory.

‘While you’re here, why don’t you give us a little blues dance? With this gentleman here, too, eh? Hey, you shouldn’t only serve the boss, you should serve me too.’

You’re twenty now, right? When was your first kiss? Was it with Kim Jinhwan? Don’t be shy. Here, take this ’cause you’re turning me on. A tip! Fortunately, there were no further demands from the guests towards Heewoo, the waiter. He politely accepted the money offered, and somehow managed to get through by appropriately nodding along to their unpleasant jokes. Just then…

‘Gentlemen, it’s been a while.’

Kim Jinhwan barged into the room. With the unbelievable timing, Heewoo was certain the twins were involved.

Kim Jinhwan dealt with the gangsters from the main faction with a smile. Even as he grabbed Heewoo and left, he didn’t forget to politely bid farewell to his acquaintance, who teasingly said, “Hey, treat him gently.”

However, violence was unleashed on Heewoo.

‘You ungrateful little shit. I told you not to pour drinks.’

As soon as Kim Jinhwan shoved Heewoo into a reserved room set with liquor bottles and on-the-rocks glasses, he slapped him without warning.

He collapsed to the floor like a piece of paper under the force of the relentless slaps across his face. A torrent of abuse rained down on him. Heewoo grabbed the floor with trembling hands. Before he could even properly sit up, vicious kicks followed.

‘You fucking little whore. Do you want to be a male prostitute that badly?’

Heewoo desperately curled up, protecting his head and stomach. After enduring countless blows, the violence briefly stopped. Just as he tried to hold back the tears that were flowing involuntarily, liquor poured over his head. He couldn’t even breathe properly from the pungent smell of alcohol that soaked his entire face. An ice bucket and bottled water followed, pouring over his gasping head.

I didn’t want to serve them, I didn’t even pour any drinks. His desperate pleas were completely ignored.

‘Then act like a proper whore.’

Heewoo was punished. Just like every other time Kim Jinhwan had summoned him privately, the prepared room was left in shambles. The horrific time, tearing his body and soul to shreds, trampled over him once again.

After suffering from the aftereffects of the far more forceful than usual encounter for four straight days…

The underlying rumors that had constantly tormented him were now out in the open. And in a wildly distorted form.

Kim Jinhwan has a special affection for Kwon Heewoo.

The rumors no longer stopped at special treatment. Kwon Heewoo had become someone who received “affection” from Kim Jinhwan. His relationships with the other hosts became even more distant. The waiters and kitchen staff treated Heewoo as if he were Kim Jinhwan’s lover.

It was probably then that the confusion began.

Kim Jinhwan has affection for me?

Then what was that terrifying and horrific sex? Heewoo recalled the four years he’d known Kim Jinhwan, and the entirely non-consensual sexual encounters he’d experienced since becoming an adult. Every single moment had been involuntary.

Or was it?

‘Do you want to sell yourself for money, or do you want to fuck with me?’

‘The choice is yours.’

Heewoo hadn’t answered Kim Jinhwan’s question. He had refused everything, and had been treated harshly for each refusal. Kim Jinhwan claimed that in those situations, Heewoo had chosen to have sex with him. Kim Jinhwan even went on about how he had suffered a great loss by giving Heewoo a choice.

‘Fucking… if I just put this pretty ass on a table, I’d make a killing, fuck…. Just wait until I’m sick of you. I’ll get back every penny I lost on this tight little asshole, fuck.’

The other hosts didn’t even have a choice. So it was special treatment after all. Kim Jinhwan’s affection for me… is real too.

As Heewoo kept thinking it over and over, at some point, he suddenly came to his senses. He realized that he was being persuaded by Kim Jinhwan’s violence, the whispers around him, and the nonsensical interventions.

He had been rationalizing that there might actually be a shred of affection in Kim Jinhwan’s actions.

Even himself.

That was why he had run away on the day of the raid in August. He had run as soon as he sensed something was wrong. He ran away from the suffocating atmosphere, from the people who pushed him towards Kim Jinhwan, and from himself, who was trying to thrive on the violence. Desperately.

In the end, since he was caught by Jang Seungyung, not Kim Jinhwan, perhaps his escape could be considered a success.

Back to the present.

“Right?”

Facing the source of all the rumors surrounding him, Heewoo stifled a sigh. Kang Manager, acting as if he had gained the upper hand, sneered.

“You should watch your own behavior. You’re nothing but Kim Jinhwan’s cum dumpster.”

Kang Manager’s large eyes flashed menacingly. A tense silence fell.