Chapter 3: Should We Break Up?

“Get out.”

In the meantime, Ji-seok loosened the hands gripping his waist and shoved Kim Hyun-jin out of the bathroom.

“Don’t even think about sneaking him away.
I’m throwing that bastard in jail for adultery!”

“Stop it already!
How many times do I have to tell you Hyun-jin and I aren’t like that?!”

When Woo Seon-kyung tried to follow after them, Han Ji-seok grabbed him and shouted, sounding frustrated.
The low voice Seon-kyung had once loved so dearly was now raised, spitting anger at him.
No, you’ve got it wrong.
He barked at him instead, insisting it wasn’t true.

“We’re not like that.”

Seon-kyung shook off the hand that was gripping his arm.
He took a step forward, closing the distance between them in an instant.
When he lifted his chin, their faces were close enough to touch.
Standing there, he began pointing out Han Ji-seok’s condition one by one.

“Han Ji-seok.
Look at yourself right now.
Your rut just started—your eyes have turned yellow, your pheromones are this strong.
And on top of that, that kid smeared you with heat pheromones meant for you.
Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.
And you’re saying you’re really nothing to each other?
That nothing happened today?”

“Enough.
Aren’t you tired of misunderstanding things every single time?”

“There it is again.
Even when I came all the way to the hotel myself, you still call it a misunderstanding.
You’re really good at excuses, aren’t you?”

“…..”

“Han Ji-seok.
Get a grip.
He’s an omega.
Pretending not to see it doesn’t change the facts.”

Ji-seok clenched his empty hand.
With no way to vent his frustration, he slammed his fist into the wall to swallow his anger instead.

His broad chest heaved.
His breathing grew rough, and his scent thickened even further.
His face, flushed with an impending rut, burned with heat, yet the gaze he cast down at Seon-kyung was cold—like he was looking at an inorganic object.
It almost seemed resentful, as if asking why Seon-kyung kept saying such things.

Seon-kyung wanted to ask instead.

If they really were nothing to each other,
then why couldn’t Ji-seok just cut off Kim Hyun-jin,
when Seon-kyung was this sickened by it?

Han Ji-seok always said he was only trying to help him become independent, that Hyun-jin was a child he’d sponsored since the orphanage days, for a long time now.
He’d wrapped Kim Hyun-jin in excuses.

He’d heard their connection went back quite a ways.
Even though Hyun-jin had manifested as an omega, Ji-seok claimed he’d watched him grow up since childhood, so there were no sexual feelings involved.
He said Hyun-jin was no different from a younger brother.

But that was only Han Ji-seok’s perspective.
Was the other side really the same?

A patron and beneficiary clinging to a precarious relationship kept trying to cross the line.
To Seon-kyung, it was painfully obvious.

As the two locked eyes in a silent battle of wills, Kim Hyun-jin—who had been watching them from a distance—suddenly spoke up.

“I like Director Han.”

“Hyun-jin, stop talking.”

“I confessed today.
I knew he was in rut, and I came on purpose.
Is that wrong?
You two are only married in name—you’re basically strangers.
Wanting to spend rut with the person you like… is that really such a terrible thing?”

The impulsive confession came crashing down behind Seon-kyung’s back.

“Spending rut… with the person you like.”

Seon-kyung repeated the words exactly as he’d heard them.
He twisted his body slightly toward the young omega and asked, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“And Han Ji-seok likes you too?”

“He will.
I’ll make him.”

The answer that came back was unexpectedly bold, as though he’d never been trembling just moments ago.

The omega who had looked fragile and withered like a deer now stared straight at Woo Seon-kyung and declared his will.

Fine.
This was better than pretending to know nothing.

Seon-kyung took a deep breath and brushed back his disheveled bangs.
Then he fully turned his body toward Hyun-jin, as if to face him properly.

“No.
You’ll never have Han Ji-seok.
He’s married to me.
He’s mine.”

“Director Han isn’t an object.
Don’t talk about him like that.”

“Doesn’t matter.
You won’t even get to touch him until I throw him away.”

“He said being with you is suffocating.
If it were me, I’d never—!”

Hyun-jin couldn’t finish his sentence.

Smack—

Seon-kyung’s hand came down hard against his pale cheek.
He’d hit him so forcefully that his palm throbbed with pain.

“Say something like that one more time and see what happens.”

“…This is why he hates you!
You’re the only one who doesn’t realize it’s already over!”

Hyun-jin, collapsed on the floor, snarled back stubbornly.

Smack.
Smack!

Before he could even lift his head, the blows came one after another.

He had never hit someone like this in his life.
He’d always believed using violence was no different from the behavior of animals.

But what did that matter now?

Morals and convictions meant nothing once rage had taken over—they were just empty posturing.

“Stop it.”

“Let go of me!”

“CEO Woo!
Please calm down!”

From somewhere, Ji-seok’s aide appeared as well, helping restrain Seon-kyung.
It was as if there had been three people in the hotel room from the start, but none of that registered anymore.

While Secretary Go tended to the beaten Kim Hyun-jin and escorted him away, Han Ji-seok held Seon-kyung back.
That alone sharpened Seon-kyung’s nerves even further.

At this moment,
he hated Han Ji-seok more than anything.

He struggled to break free from the arms restraining him, but the grip only tightened.

“Woo Seon-kyung!”

“Let go!
Move!”

“I’m begging you, stop!”

Thud!

The rough struggle of shouting and grappling came to a halt when Seon-kyung’s head snapped to the side.
Hit by a fist, he staggered backward.

Ji-seok was just as shocked.

It had been an accident.
But the damage was already done.

His cheek swelled rapidly.
His split lip bloomed red.

Ji-seok stepped forward—then stopped.

He lowered his hand.
Clenched it.

He wouldn’t get involved anymore.

“I’m sick of this.
We’ve been doing this for years now.”

“…..”

“…Seon-kyung.
Should we break up?”

“What…?”

At those words, Seon-kyung snapped back to awareness.

Break up?

That was something Ji-seok had never said.
Not once.

“Why… would you say that?”

“How long are we supposed to keep living like this?
It’s time to stop.
I want to end it.”

Seon-kyung’s heart pounded wildly.

Is this really the end?

“If I apologize… will that fix it?”

“…..”

“If it’s because I didn’t tell you and got rid of the baby again—”

“Ah, Seon-kyung.
Please.”

Ji-seok covered his face.

“You really want to… break up?”

“…..”

“Hyung… don’t you love me anymore?”

“There hasn’t been anything like that between us for a long time.”

No.
Not for me.

He shook his head fiercely.

“…Seon-kyung.
Are you okay?”

“…..”

“When I’m with you, I can’t breathe.
Everything feels suffocating.”

Ji-seok dropped to his knees.

“Please… let me live.”

“…..”

“Please let me go.”

His hands were dry.
Rough.

They used to be warm.

“I still love you.”

Seon-kyung murmured.

“Let’s stop.”

“I love you.”

“Go home for today.”

The door closed.

Click.

Room 2201 shut him out completely.

Seon-kyung collapsed in front of it.

He stayed there for a long time.

He knew it was pointless.
He knew it only made him look more pathetic.

But his legs wouldn’t move.

“Young master, let’s go now.”

Butler Bae knelt beside him.

“…Uncle.
What am I supposed to do now?”

“I can’t breathe because of you,” Ji-seok had said.

How was he supposed to hold on after that?

Butler Bae gathered him up carefully.

At the very least—

They needed to leave the hallway.