Chapter 119: The Point of No Return

“Smells nice….”

“……”

“Why does it smell in a dream…?”

Hyunwoo buried his nose against Seunghyuk’s collarbone, sniffing as he frowned.

Held tightly in Hyunwoo’s arms, Seunghyuk froze stiff, unable to move even an inch.

Hyunwoo had occasionally murmured that he liked the scent of Seunghyuk’s pheromones.

Seunghyuk always pretended not to hear him, desperately ignoring it.

But the truth was…
he often thought something similar.

He never particularly liked sharp mint scents—
yet strangely, Hyunwoo’s pheromones never bothered him.

No—sometimes,
he wanted to smell more.

Whenever that unconscious impulse surfaced,
Seunghyuk shocked himself and immediately scolded his own thoughts.

“You… don’t like me, right?”

“……”

“Yeah… of course you don’t….”

Every time Hyunwoo’s lips moved, the faint smell of alcohol drifted with his breath.

He was drunk.

Drunk enough to speak without restraint, thinking this was all a dream.

If sober, he would never say something like this.

Hyunwoo was always dignified and arrogant,
never letting even a hint of vulnerability show.

He was too proud to reveal he was hurt.

But Hyunwoo was human too.

No one could endure endless coldness and rejection without being wounded.

And Seunghyuk knew—
more than once, he had glimpsed the pain Hyunwoo failed to hide completely.

Seunghyuk had ignored all of it.

He refused to acknowledge the way his own feelings were changing.

His expression twisted.

“If I… if I had just…”

“……”

“No… forget it….”

Hyunwoo muttered something half-formed, then let out a small laugh and shook his head.

Seunghyuk stared at him.

His gaze was fixed on Hyunwoo’s lips, moving restlessly with every drunken breath.

Thump.

Thump.

His heart, which had been beating faintly, grew louder and heavier.

He had never felt this way about anyone.

And yet, here he was—
his heart racing because of the man he hated most,
the man he resented to the core.

It was the worst possible outcome.

“…Hyung.
You’re drunk.”

“Mm….”

“I’ll take you to your room.”

Seunghyuk finally tore his gaze away.

His voice was hoarse, as if he were speaking more to himself than to Hyunwoo.

He needed to stop looking.

Stop feeling.

Stop reacting.

He repeated that endlessly in his head.

But his heart wouldn’t calm down.

Feeling Hyunwoo’s heated body pressed against him,
Seunghyuk bit down on his lip.

It was all wrong.

This marriage was supposed to be hell for only one of them—
Hyunwoo.

But it had turned into hell for him too.

“Ugh….”

“……”

Hyunwoo, who had been muttering nonsense nonstop, finally fell asleep once Seunghyuk managed to get him into bed.

Catching his breath, Seunghyuk started to pull away—
but then paused.

He stared quietly at Hyunwoo’s sleeping face.

His usually neat bangs had fallen messily, covering his forehead.

Without thinking, Seunghyuk reached out to brush them aside.

“Mmm….”

“……!”

Hyunwoo shifted with a small groan.

Startled, Seunghyuk jumped back as if burned.

He stumbled backward, face pale,
unable to take his eyes off Hyunwoo’s softly sighing face.

“…Damn it.”

Only when Hyunwoo turned onto his side—his face out of view—
could Seunghyuk finally snap out of it and escape the room.

Click.

The door closed behind him.

His heart was pounding wildly—
so violently he could barely breathe.

The apartment was dark past midnight,
lit only by the dim wash of moonlight.

Under that pale glow,
Seunghyuk’s face was flushed a deep, burning red.

He had no choice now.

He had to acknowledge his feelings.

But it was far too late.

Everything between them was already ruined.

Not only had he never offered Hyunwoo a single affectionate word throughout their marriage,
he had also spitefully chosen to join L&S instead of Moonseong—
only widening the gap between them.

“Ha….”

It wasn’t that he had never thought of trying to fix things.

But changing a fixed attitude was nearly impossible.

And the more he thought about trying,
the more he sensed how much regret would follow.

His chest ached with the weight of it.

He couldn’t be honest.

He couldn’t confess.

He couldn’t turn anything back.

He had already come too far.

“……”

And then there was the program he was working on.

He knew better than anyone how massive its impact would be.

Its performance was exceptional—
so exceptional it was guaranteed to draw global attention the moment it released.

If unveiled publicly,
L&S stock would skyrocket,
and the gap between them and Moonseong would become irreversibly large.

He couldn’t let that happen.

Even if he kept developing it,
he refused to release it under L&S.

He was nearly finished—
just final tweaks left.

But he would never allow it to be launched like this.

I have to quit L&S, join Moonseong, and announce it there.

This was the last path left to him.

Hyunwoo had suffered so much because of him.

Even if he said his feelings had changed,
Hyunwoo would never believe him.

But if he quit L&S, joined Moonseong,
and presented the program that would bring them massive profit—
then maybe,
maybe he could atone for everything
and earn even a sliver of a chance to start over.

And so Seunghyuk threw himself into development with renewed urgency.

But not long after—
the program he created
was announced globally under L&S’s name.

“What the hell did you do?!”

“What do you mean?”

When Seunghyuk exploded in anger,

Kwon-oh simply raised a brow, expression infuriatingly calm.

“Why did you release the program without my permission?!”

“Without your permission?”

Kwon-oh laughed—
a short, scornful sound.

“You’re an L&S employee.
The program was nearly complete.
Releasing it at the optimal moment is only natural.”

“I didn’t want that!”

“……”

Seunghyuk glared at him, breathing hard.

He had hidden the program development meticulously.

But the fact Kwon-oh knew meant he had been monitored for a long time—
likely by multiple team members feeding information behind his back.

No—everyone on the team belonged to Kwon-oh anyway.

He should have anticipated this.

He’d been too careless.

Kwon-oh smirked at Seunghyuk’s trembling lips.

“We shared similar interests, didn’t we?”

“……”

“You hated Joo Hyunwoo.
And I found the idea of an alpha loving another alpha absolutely revolting.
We got along quite well because of it.”

It was true—
Kwon-oh had approached him first.

But Seunghyuk had taken his hand of his own will.

Back then, he hadn’t had any choice.

He was desperate to escape Hyunwoo, no matter what.

“And now, just because your heart changed,
you’re planning to betray me?
And you don’t think that’s wrong?”

“Urgh….”

“An alpha loving another alpha—
it’s disgusting.”

Kwon-oh clicked his tongue, looking at him with revulsion.

But Seunghyuk sensed something else beneath that disgust.

Something twisted.

Dark.

Obsessive.

It wasn’t mere hatred.

It was a warped, unrecognized attachment—
something Kwon-oh himself didn’t understand.

And because of that,
Seunghyuk had begun distancing himself.

He could not comprehend someone who didn’t even understand their own heart
yet condemned others so viciously.

But I can still fix things.

It’s not too late.

Though the program was released under L&S,
it was done without his consent.

If he filed a lawsuit as the developer,
he could reclaim all rights and profits.

It would take time—
but it was possible.

“Fine.
Then I won’t sit still.”

He turned away.
He had no more reason to speak to Kwon-oh.

As he took a step forward,
Kwon-oh’s mocking voice followed him.

“You really think you can fix it?”

“……”

“You really think you can start over with Joo Hyunwoo?”

Seunghyuk couldn’t answer.

Because he knew—
deep down—
that winning Hyunwoo back would be nearly impossible.

Even so, he couldn’t give up.

Even if there was only the tiniest chance,
he wanted to reach for it.

But what awaited him wasn’t a chance—
it was Hyunwoo’s expressionless face
and the coldest words he had ever heard.

“Let’s get divorced.”