#chapter 73 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

alpha-trauma-novel-trans · 2 months ago

Text

Chapter 73

It was almost summer, and the air was hot when the sun was out. It wasn't hot enough to feel uncomfortable, but it was still warm enough to wear short sleeves.

But while everyone else's clothing had become lighter, Wooyeon was sitting on the sofa, looking sullen, wearing a shirt that was quite loose.

“The chairman will be here soon.”

“...You may leave.”

The secretary bowed curtly and headed out the door. Only when the office was empty did Wooyeon lean back in his chair a little comfortably. A deep sigh escaped his mouth, accompanied by a dull ache in his back.

'You're going to see your mother tomorrow?'

Last night, when they were done, Dohyun cleaned him up and tucked him into bed. He ended up staying another night, but that wasn’t the important part.

'Yeah, it's weird that she hasn't called.'

The call that should have come days earlier hadn't. Even if the article was taken care of, she should have at least asked if he was okay, so the silence was unnerving.

'I'm going to try to contact Secretary Yoon.'

'Oh... really?'

Until then, Wooyeon hadn't realized his physical condition. He thought Dohyun's awkward face and the way he rubbed the nape of his neck were simply part of the aftermath. But the next morning, when he looked in the mirror, he was stunned.

'...What is this?'

The nape of his neck was a mess. It was covered with embarrassing marks, as if he had a disease. It didn't hurt or anything, but it was too much to show.

'You didn't do this last time...'

'Well, that's..'

Dohyun calmly put his shirt on Wooyeon. He buttoned it up to his neck and folded the sleeves a couple of times. He still remembers his grimacing eyes as if he were in trouble.

'Because I left it out of sight.'

Wooyeon didn't have to ask where, because as soon as he heard that, several places popped into his head. His inner thighs, or his back, or something like that.

Anyway, as it happened, Wooyeon wore an ivory shirt to school. It was a size too big, but thanks to Dohyun's pheromones it was acceptable.

The problem was that Secretary Yoon contacted him as soon as the lecture was over.

'The President wants to see you.'

Secretary Yoon picked up Wooyeon with amazing timing. She had parked the car in front of the front gate and was waiting for him, as if she knew he would call. Unable to do anything, Wooyeon climbed into the limousine with all eyes on him.

"Please act more ordinary..."

He was already drawing attention, but now he was the center of attention. He didn't know how many flashes went off from reporters as Yoon opened the car door for him. The most memorable was the wide-eyed look on Garam and Sungyu's faces.

“Whoa.”

Taking a deep breath, Wooyeon rubbed the back of his neck. Red marks had bloomed beyond the collar of his shirt, up to his neck. It was a clear enough mark, but it wouldn't be visible unless he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Ten minutes...”

Wooyeon glanced around the office, roughly estimating the time. The antique wood interior hadn't changed much since before he'd left for America. The walls were covered with plaques, and the sofa had been replaced with a different one, but even that wasn't much of a change.

Ten minutes later. As expected, the office door opened. Instead of getting up from his seat, Wooyeon turned his head to look in that direction. A tall, imposing woman walked through the open doorway.

“....”

She looked like a bird of prey. Her razor-cut hair and form-fitting suit hinted at her fierce personality. Even the sound of her shoes echoed off the marble.

“President, the car is...”

“Leave.”

She crossed the office and sat down at a desk with a plaque that read 'Ji Suhyang'. Her bird of prey-like gaze swept past her secretary and landed on Wooyeon.

The secretary bowed as she had done earlier and disappeared out the door.

“Long time no see?”

A heavy pheromone hung in the air. He'd only spoken a word, but the feeling was overwhelming. He instinctively straightened his back and turned to face her.

“...You're a little late getting back to me.”

It was his mother, whom he hadn't seen in four years. A face that any Korean inspector would recognize, and the only person Wooyeon called 'mom'. A typical social leader whose name, 'Ji Suhyang', explained everything.

“Please speak. I don't think you have much time, so I'll just listen and go.”

Four years should be enough to make someone feel nostalgic, but all Wooyeon could think about was how uncomfortable this situation was. He sat on the guest couch, and Suhyang sat at her desk. The space between them was as wide as the distance between them.

“Well...okay. You must be busy.”

Suhyang replied casually and reached for the tablet on her desk. She didn't ask any more questions.

“I caught the culprit who posted on the community. He's 20 years old and went to the same middle school as you. His name is Lee Youngbin, I don't know if you've heard of him.”

It was a sudden statement, but Wooyeon wasn't surprised. However, he couldn't remember anyone named Lee Youngbin, so he furrowed his brows. Well, except for Kang Junsung, Wooyeon didn't remember the faces or names of any of the other students.

“He's the one who posted it, but it turns out he's not in college. The photos were taken in a lecture hall or something, so there must be someone else...”

“I know who it is.”

Suhyang's gaze flicked to Wooyeon. Her eyes were unusually brightly colored for someone with such a light complexion, and it gave him goosebumps to look at them.

“But first, I need to tell you something.”

Wooyeon slowly lowered his eyes and sighed.

“Me and...”

Wooyeon paused for a moment, wondering what to call him. Finally, the right words slipped out of his mouth.

“The person I’m dating.”

It was an unfamiliar phrase. Suhyang narrowed her eyes.

“He beat up the kid who took the picture.”

This was why he wanted to see her in the first place. The moment Dohyun had hit Junsung, his cold brain had come to one conclusion. No way, no how, was Dohyun going to be harmed.

“It's because of me, yet he might get sued.”

It was a simple explanation, but in the end, he wanted to handle it himself. His mother, who was smarter than him, would have understood what he meant right away.

“...He hit him?”

But Suhyang looked unusually puzzled. The corners of her eyes furrowed slightly and her mouth tightened. After a moment of silence, Suhyang nodded.

“Yes, I know.”

Without realizing it, Wooyeon breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she said she knew it's unlikely that she actually did. For now, it was okay to let go of his worries.

“And this.”

Suhyang held out the tablet to Wooyeon. Without a word, Wooyeon stood up and walked over to Suhyang.

“This is the article we'll be publishing this week. I'll be sending it out to the three major media outlets with the same story, so take a look.”

In his hand was a neatly organized article. The official position of Sejeong Group President Ji Suhyang, and the truth about her son, Seon Wooyeon. It wasn't far from the truth, and Wooyeon asked in a bland voice.

"If I tell you not to publish it, will you?"

“You're asking the obvious.”

As if it wasn't worth answering, Suhyang added.

"You have no authority to do that."

“...Only, I didn't think you called me here just to show me something like this.”

Disappointment? No, to be exact, it was a feeling of loss. Wooyeon put down the tablet and slowly opened his mouth.

"I guess that's why you didn't take down the article."

“....”

“You’re going to make it public anyway.”

“I can't keep you hidden forever.”

“You never wanted to hide me in the first place.”

The article even went so far as to state that Wooyeon was her biological child and not an illegitimate child. His face was still unknown, but it was only a matter of time before his radius of influence narrowed.

“It's a way to protect you.”

Suhyang said in a calm voice. It was said so casually that it seemed almost cold. Wooyeon laughed humorlessly when he heard it.

“I knew you were going to say that.”

There were many things he wanted to say, but he didn't have the energy to say them. People say that they feel at peace when they feel the pheromones of their family, but Wooyeon just felt endlessly exhausted. No matter how or when he felt them, he felt suffocated.

“I don't know why you called me when you've already decided everything, but...next time, have Secretary Yoon deliver these things. Don't make a spectacle of calling people to come and go."

When he went to school tomorrow, he was sure he would be at the center of another controversy. The thought of being mixed in with the gossiping crowd was already making his head ache.

Suhyang looked at Wooyeon and softly spoke up.

“If I told you that I called you because I wanted to see you...”

Wooyeon raised his eyes. Their gazes met in the air, and he felt a pang.

“Would you believe me then?”

“You're asking the obvious.”

That was what Suhyang had said earlier, meaning, do you believe that? Suhyang blinked slowly, as if she'd expected it.

“I'll be brief. Come home.”

"I don't want to."

He didn't have to think about it. Wooyeon had given her a refusal and a good reason for it at the same time.

“You said you wouldn't make me until I graduate.”

When he entered university, Wooyeon made a promise to Suhyang. He will take a successor position after graduation as long as she doesn't interfere with him until after he graduates. If it weren't for this promise, he would still be in the United States.

“I'm not asking you to quit school.”

“I said no.”

“Seon Wooyeon.”

Flinching, he shut his mouth. The pale-pigmented Suhyang had exceptionally bright eyes. Maybe that's why he sometimes got goosebumps when he looked at her.

She lowered her pheromones and spoke sternly.

“Don't act like a child. Think of your dignity and your station.”

It was a phrase he'd heard repeatedly since he was a child. He'd heard it so many times that he had memorized it and couldn't forget it.

"If you get published, you won't even be able to go to school without a bodyguard. Do you think you'll still be able to stay in that apartment?"

“...If I don't get published.”

“You know I don't like repeating myself.”

Her eyes glinted sharply. It was an expression that wouldn't let even a needle in. As soon as Wooyeon bit his lip, Suhyang spoke.

“There's no safer place to live than at home. You'll be chauffeured around by Secretary Yoon morning and night, you'll have a bodyguard when you go to lectures, and we'll be selling the old penthouse soon.”

“Well, you won't even be able to get in because of the reporters,” she added, and his eyes widened. Suhyang said it as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Did you think that wouldn't happen?"

Actually, he hadn't thought about it. Since Wooyeon had been staying at Dohyun's place the whole time, he hadn't even paid attention to what happened to his apartment. He just vaguely assumed that there wouldn't be any reporters there.

"If you're thinking of making it so that the kid can't even use his apartment, I won't stop you."

The calm voice flew at him like a dagger. Suhyang looked Wooyeon up and down and set her jaw.

“He can't protect you.”

“....”

“At most, he'll lend you a bed for a few days and put a shirt over your head.”

Yeah, there was no way she wouldn't know. There was no way Suhyang, who was dominant, wouldn’t notice such thick pheromones. She must have realized from the beginning that the shirt belonged to someone else.

“I’m not telling you to break up. I don’t intend to force you to break up with someone you’ve liked for four years.”

“....”

“But the situation,”

“Mom.”

Wooyeon suddenly stopped talking and looked at Suhyang. A single question popped out in his reeling mind.

“Do you know who I'm seeing?”

For a split-second, a look of embarrassment crossed Suhyang's face. It was a brief expression, but Wooyeon saw it. Her usually confident gaze crumbled and her eyes darted away.

Soon after, however, Suhyang replied casually.

“...I know.”

Slowly opening her mouth, Suhyang turned to face Wooyeon, her clear eyes showed no signs of agitation from before. The same was true of her calm voice.

“Pheromones don't change after four years.”

It made sense. In the past, Wooyeon couldn't sense pheromones, but Suhyang must have sensed Dohyun's pheromones. So it wasn't unreasonable for her to recognize them immediately.

"Well then, what I'm saying is."

However, Wooyeon didn't easily let go of his suspicions. That wasn't the only strange thing.

“How did you know I was staying at his house?”

It had been four years since he'd seen Suhyang again, and they hadn't spoken, let alone asked how the other was doing, so of course they wouldn't know each other's whereabouts. She could have heard from her employees that he had been out of the house, but she shouldn't have known where he was staying.

Nevertheless, Suhyang identified Dohyun by saying, “that kid's house." It was a conclusion that skipped too many steps based on only his shirt. Naturally, it all came down to one thing.

"Did you hire someone?"

No answer came back, but it was as good as any. “Ha,” Wooyeon let out a hollow laugh and muttered in a self-deprecating voice.

"Well, you're not the type of person to just let someone go."

He must've been dreaming for a moment. He'd been looking the other way, knowing that Suhyang wasn't someone to just let go. Thinking about going to college and seeing Seonsaeng-nim, he didn't even think about looking around and only looked ahead.

"Aren't you tired of this?"

Wooyeon's doctor, the hired help who took care of the house, the chef who cooked for him, and even his teachers when he was young. Wooyeon had always, always, lived within Suhyang's fence. He had grown tired of living a life where every move was reported in detail.

However, they were merely 'employees’.

“I thought it would end with Danny...”

Suhyang lifted her eyes to look at Wooyeon. The silence that followed was another affirmation. Only after a long pause did she speak.

“Come home. I have nothing more to say.”

With that, Suhyang stood up and straightened her clothes, signaling the end of the conversation. Wooyeon clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

“...I'm not going back.”

“Seon Wooyeon.”

"No matter what you say, I'm not going back there."

He had no intention of giving in to Suhyang's wishes. It was better to be mobbed by reporters or lose his apartment than enter a house that felt like a prison. He'd rather walk around naked than be locked up behind high walls.

“Every day in that house was hell.”

Wooyeon glared at Suhyang with evil eyes. There were no tears in the corners of his eyes, but for some reason, he looked like he was crying.

"Until I went to America, I never lived like a human being for a single day."

“....”

"Even in America, I did whatever you wanted."

It was from a very small thing that he realized that Daniel was Suhyang's person. It was the fact that Daniel, who he had met without any connection, cared too much about him. Daniel knew his appetite and brought him inhibitors every time he had a heat cycle.

Wooyeon was sensitive to manufactured kindness. From childhood to now, the world around him had always been full of pretense. It was an environment that made him keenly aware of what people wanted and what they were approaching him for.

'Danny, go tell my mom that the inhibitor you brought me last time was too weak, so I need something stronger.'

The first time Wooyeon said that, Daniel laughed, without any embarrassment. He even put his arm around Wooyeon's shoulders, as if to say that he knew everything. That smile wasn't fake, and Wooyeon considered him a friend even though he knew everything.

Even the first friend he made like that started with his mother. So what about these new relationships Wooyeon met at university?

“Who is it this time?"

Several faces flashed through his mind. He could still see them comforting him, caring for him, and treating him with affection. But what if it was all made up? How could he endure a situation that made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it?

“This time again, who did you put on me?”

Suhyang's expression was unreadable. She looked angry, and then she looked indifferent. She even looked a little sorry, but that was most likely just a coincidence.

“How far do you have to go before you're satisfied?”

“You...”

After hesitating for a long time, Suhyang slowly opened her mouth. It was the reason she always gave him.

“It’s to protect you.”

“Protection.”

A humorless laugh escaped him. Wooyeon asked innocently, even though this was not the situation at all.

“Like my late mother?”

Suhyang's pheromones sharpened. It was a heavy and strong scent that matched the Alpha perfectly. His lungs flattened and his skin stung. He was out of breath, but didn't stop talking.

"Like the person whom my mother's obsession with eventually killed?"

Wooyeon had another mother besides Suhyang. A mother with a different character, a different personality, and a different family, who married Suhyang and gave birth to Wooyeon. A pitiful Omega, who slowly withered and died under Suhyang's protection.

"That's not protection."

“....”

“It's surveillance.”

Suhyang's eyes flared with anger. Even the fluttering of her eyelids was a remnant of the emotion she couldn't quite contain. Blinking slowly, she tilted her head.

"I don't know what you're trying to do by provoking me, but if you're going to vent your anger, go somewhere else."

There was no trace of embarrassment from before on her cold face. Only the overflowing pheromones trembled anxiously. She spoke in a cold voice, her lips set in a stiff line.

“If you recognized Daniel Connor, you should've known he wasn't the first.”

Wooyeon's mind went blank. His vision went black, and the pheromones that had been swaying suddenly stopped. A cold voice spoke again to Wooyeon, who was blankly moving his lips.

“I'm sorry if you didn't know.”

“....”

"I thought you liked him even though you knew."

That was it. As if there was nothing more to say, Suhyang pushed past Wooyeon and left the office. The slam of the door was louder than ever.

next chapter

#alphatraumalntranslation #alpha trauma #chapter 73

15 notes · View notes