Chapter 38: The Scent of a Broken Loyalty.

He didn’t know Han Jaewoo’s pheromones, let alone Sayoung’s. However, as an Alpha, he could naturally distinguish between the scents of a fellow Alpha and an Omega.

From Sayoung’s body, after he had conversed with Jaewoo, the scents of an Alpha and an Omega were clearly palpable at the same time, and the Alpha’s scent among them was extremely hostile.

It meant there was a reason why Yoojun had reacted so violently.

Having listened calmly to Yoojun’s explanation up to that point, Sayoung nodded unknowingly.

From Yoojun’s perspective, he had been standing still only to be suddenly exposed to a dizzying mixture of Alpha and Omega scents, so it must have been certainly unpleasant.

Sayoung spoke in a voice that had become calm before he knew it.

“I apologize first. I did try to tidy myself up… but I was flustered, and Han Jaewoo’s… scent… still has a significant influence on me….”

“…….”

“I’m sorry. For offending you….”

Sayoung tried his best to choose words that would make Yoojun feel less awkward.

However, no matter how he phrased it, it ultimately only meant that he was still swayed by Han Jaewoo’s pheromones.

It was unpleasant enough to be exposed to a stranger’s pheromones out of nowhere, but for the person who claimed he would take revenge to be in such a pathetic state, it would be understandable if Yoojun was dumbfounded.

Sayoung understood Yoojun’s silence.

However, Yoojun, who opened his mouth after a long while, asked a question Sayoung had not expected at all.

“So did that bastard… force himself on you in some way?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m not saying this to blame you, Mr. Sayoung. I mean… did you experience something forced, something unjust… that’s what I want to ask.”

Yoojun looked clearly angry, but the voice asking Sayoung was somewhat delicate.

The object of Yoojun’s anger was not Sayoung.

Sayoung could feel that, and that was why he didn’t quite understand.

“I am fin….”

“I know you are fine, Mr. Sayoung. But… did Han Jaewoo do something he shouldn’t do to you?”

“…….”

“You two are divorced, and even if you weren’t, that bastard has no right to force actions upon you that you refuse. Do you understand what I am asking?”

Sayoung realized what Yoojun was asking.

But at the same time, he couldn’t understand why Yoojun was asking him this.

Whether Han Jaewoo did something to him or not wasn’t important to Yoojun.

It wasn’t even that important to Sayoung himself.

Sayoung’s goal was to make Han Jaewoo miserable in the end, and for that, the things he went through now didn’t matter.

Experiencing something once or twice more now, which he had gone through like daily life before dying, wouldn’t change anything anyway.

Still, the fact that he had tried to resist him in some way was amazing, and in a way, he felt proud of himself, so nothing else really mattered.

Once again, a strange sensation pricked the pit of his stomach.

It felt like the first time he had faced someone asking if he had gone through, or was going through, an unjust situation.

Perhaps it really was the first time.

In his past life, the people who vaguely knew of the situation Sayoung was in were all Han Jaewoo’s people, and none of them asked if Sayoung was okay or if he was going through a hard time.

That was so unfamiliar, fascinating, and even frightening that Sayoung opened his mouth unknowingly with a blank face.

“He just… he didn’t do anything special. He just… used his pheromones on me… a little coercively.”

“You know that he shouldn’t do that, right?”

“…….”

“Just that alone means that bastard did something trashy. To you, Mr. Yoon Sayoung.”

Occasionally, Han Jaewoo would embrace Sayoung while pouring out pheromones as if granting a favor.

The decision regarding their relations lay solely with Jaewoo, and at those times, Sayoung accepted Jaewoo without the will to consider whether he wanted to sleep with him or not, let alone his mood or physical condition.

While hearing that he should be grateful Jaewoo was sleeping with a kid like him.

While hearing that he was embracing him even if forced because he was his husband.

Even on days when his body and mind were so sick that he had absolutely no desire to be in his arms, Sayoung opened his body, grateful to him for holding him despite himself.

In the world where Sayoung was trapped, that didn’t constitute any fault or sin.

“Haa….”

A deep sigh escaped Yoojun’s mouth as he looked at Sayoung’s face, which clearly showed what kind of treatment he had lived with.

Fire surged inside him, but the timing to run over and punch Han Jaewoo in the jaw had already passed.

Yoojun stopped trying to act like a pretentious boyfriend and instead carefully led Sayoung to the car.

“I’m sorry.”

The single word Sayoung barely managed to say after getting in the car was ultimately another apology.

Yoojun desperately bit his lip and held back to avoid spitting out raw curses again.

As he said, he and Yoojun were practically in a business relationship, so getting angrier here was definitely an overreaction.

He had to endure it.

Sayoung bowed his head slightly and continued speaking.

“I should have handled it better… I thought I could….”

“…….”

“If you look at dramas and such, everyone takes revenge smartly, skillfully, and thoroughly. I wanted to do that too….”

The protagonists who undergo a so-called ‘awakening’ overcome trauma in an instant and do what needs to be done refreshingly, making the viewers feel euphoria.

But perhaps for a stupid person like me, even an awakening caused by death isn’t enough.

Sayoung laughed self-deprecatingly.

Looking at such a Sayoung, Yoojun asked.

“You couldn’t even curse at him?”

“Pardon?”

“I taught you how to curse last time. You couldn’t do it?”

It was a voice too light to be accusing Sayoung.

Sayoung reflexively turned his head and looked at Yoojun’s face.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t an expression mocking Sayoung.

“C-Curse words were….”

“You should have asked where he was shoving that f*cking smell.”

“Uh… that is….”

At the colorful words that suddenly popped out, Sayoung opened and closed his mouth, unable to continue speaking.

Yoojun became a little suspicious of Sayoung’s claim last time that he knew how to curse.

Just then, Sayoung answered.

“I couldn’t curse, but I did say one thing to him.”

“Oh, really? What did you say?”

“Since he asked if I was trying to seduce you to fix my life because I’m a lowly Omega….”

“Since he asked that?”

Yoojun’s voice, urging the end of the sentence, held an unconcealable anticipation.

Sayoung bowed his head slightly as if somewhat embarrassed and continued.

“I asked… if that story was about you, Mr. Han Jaewoo….”

Simultaneously, a loud burst of laughter erupted from Yoojun’s mouth.

And holding that laughter intact, Yoojun asked.

“Really? You said that to him? You, Mr. Yoon Sayoung?”

“…Yes.”

As Yoojun laughed too much, Sayoung felt even more embarrassed and wiggled his hands gathered on his lap.

This time, Yoojun let out a sound of awe, ‘Wow…’, its meaning ambiguous.

The emotion contained in Yoojun’s exclamation was genuine admiration.

He wouldn’t have been this surprised if Sayoung had just cursed.

Yoojun felt it would be a regret of a lifetime that he didn’t see Han Jaewoo’s face when Sayoung said that.

Now the situation became clear.

Since Sayoung said such a thing, it would have been difficult to maintain composure, no matter how good the person was at packaging themselves.

How shocked must he have been when the person who always showed him only submission and one-sided affection suddenly poured out such words?

His pride must have been severely cracked too.

So he must have gone as far as coercively releasing pheromones on Sayoung at the hospital.

Yoojun finally understood everything.

Though that absolutely didn’t mean his reaction was right.

Yoojun, who chewed over Sayoung’s words satisfactorily several times, soon asked Sayoung.

“How did you feel when you said that?”

“Pardon?”

“When you landed a blow on Han Jaewoo. I’m asking how it was.”

At Yoojun’s question, Sayoung shut his mouth for a moment, lost in thought, and then spoke again.

“Honestly, it didn’t really feel real what I had said… and it was fascinating too….”

“Yes.”

“And… hmm, I think it felt a little refreshing too.”

Sayoung ruminated on the emotions he had felt step by step like that.

Then he realized anew what a great step he had taken.

The feeling that had only been vague finally became clear.

And Yoojun, who gave Sayoung time to dwell on those emotions, started the car and spat out words as if talking to himself in a very small voice before departing.

“…Good job.”

Sayoung looked at Yoojun in surprise.

Yoojun didn’t say anything further, as if he had never said anything.

****

“I don’t understand….”

Eunseong, who was driving, flinched his shoulders greatly at the cool voice heard from behind his back and answered, “Yes?”

Jaewoo didn’t care about Eunseong’s reaction and was still lost in his own thoughts.

It seemed he hadn’t really asked Eunseong for an answer in the first place.

Eunseong breathed carefully, afraid he might make an annoying sound.

He didn’t know what conversation they had at the hospital, but Han Jaewoo was currently angry to the top of his head.

Eunseong knew too well from long experience that a state like now, where he didn’t scream or curse, was actually more dangerous.

Hoping the sparks wouldn’t fly in his direction, Eunseong focused on driving.

It would be a disaster if he made a sudden stop.

“It doesn’t make sense….”

Fortunately for Eunseong, the existence of Choi Eunseong was of no concern to Jaewoo right now. Jaewoo had been thinking solely about Yoon Sayoung for a while now. About the unbelievably unfamiliar and annoying attitude Sayoung had shown him today.