Chapter 4: The Gilded Cage

“…What?”

He wanted to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Han Suyeon merely said those words, straightened his clothes, and walked out like the wind.

There wasn’t even time to stop him.

After he left, Yoon Heesu sat blankly for a long while.

The day he had last met Han Suyeon…

Memories of that day when he had been utterly miserable tangled with the image of Han Suyeon bringing him to this unknown place, saying he would treat him.

Excessive kindness, excessive concern, excessive goodwill.

That had always been Han Suyeon’s problem.

Always.

He stared at the door for a moment, but there was no sign of anyone coming back in.

Yoon Heesu quietly opened the brochures on the bed one by one.

The name of this place was the Sunhwa Mind Healing Center.

Mind healing—what a grandiose name.

Moreover, Sunhwa of all things.

Wasn’t that the former name of Han Suyeon’s family company, the SH Group?

It was actually a place affiliated with his family.

Things were growing increasingly bewildering.

SH was a conglomerate renowned for ethical management.

Yet such a place was taking in and treating a drug addict illicitly.

If the existence of such a facility were ever made known, SH would suffer a massive blow.

And Han Suyeon had brought him right here.

Why on earth?

After skimming through most of the books, a sense of hollow futility washed over him.

Though geared toward alcoholics, there were living guides, treatment curricula, rehabilitation case studies, and some ridiculous compilation titled [Great Words of Wisdom for Life]…

Yoon Heesu glared at the pile of books for a while before moving them back onto the side table in several trips, collapsing onto the mattress.

There were sickeningly too many of them.

Sinking into the plush bed, his entire body felt languid and exhausted.

As he lay there blankly, memories of a day he could never forget—no matter how hard he tried—naturally resurfaced.

“Don’t make decisions out of desperation.”

Han Suyeon’s low voice that had echoed through the room returned to him.

That day.

The moment Han Suyeon said that, the hands that had been trying to wrap around his back froze.

It felt as though a bucket of freezing water had been dumped over his head.

A faint scent of alcohol drifted throughout the room.

Even considering that they were an Alpha and an Omega, bottles of liquor far exceeding their tolerance were rolling around, with barely any decent food to accompany them.

Only alcohol, a bit of water, and two people drunk on both.

“…Desperation?”

Half-undressed, Yoon Heesu had asked in sheer disbelief.

Looking down at him from above was Han Suyeon, without a single thread out of place.

His lips glistened, wet from the kiss they had shared just moments ago.

“Yes,” he replied.

He reached out with one hand to pull closed the open front over Yoon Heesu’s exposed chest.

In an instant, Heesu’s face had flushed crimson.

The alcohol that had thoroughly intoxicated him seemed to evaporate at once.

A face seen for the first time in nearly a year, the small hemp mourning ribbon pinned to his clothes hanging in the dressing room, the lingering smell of incense, scattered liquor bottles, and the dizzying intoxication.

Bodies entangled just moments before—or rather, Yoon Heesu clinging desperately into his arms…

Remembering that day brought the flush back to his face.

“Haah…”

Yoon Heesu exhaled a deep sigh.

Han Suyeon always made Yoon Heesu feel humiliated.

***

“Are you listening, Heesu?”

“…Pardon?”

“Ahaha.”

Fiddling with his fingernails, Yoon Heesu ducked his head for no particular reason at the laugh of the man—whether a doctor or someone else.

How many days had it been since he stopped doing drugs?

His head was foggy the entire time, and his mood was steeped in depression.

A lingering feeling of having become an idiot persisted.

Even just now, that man had certainly introduced who he was, yet Heesu couldn’t recall it at all.

The man in the white coat gave a cheerful laugh and spoke.

“It’s all right.”

“Most people who come here don’t listen to me anyway.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

After habitually apologizing, he gauged the man’s expression.

Without drugs in his system, speaking or even behaving in front of others was far from easy.

He didn’t even know how to move his hands and feet.

“Do you remember my name?”

When he shook his head, the man hummed thoughtfully and typed something on his keyboard.

What had he written?

A man turned into an idiot by drugs?

“It’s quite all right.”

“That’s common around here.”

“To tell you once again, I am Seo Jongyeon.”

“Yes.”

Seo Jongyeon.

Yoon Heesu muttered his name internally.

Though he felt he would probably forget it by the time they met next.

Seo Jongyeon spoke in a bright voice.

“Going forward, treatment will proceed very slowly.”

“Naturally enough so that you don’t feel burdened, Heesu.”

“…Yes.”

Becoming a fool who could say nothing other than “Yes” was a common occurrence whenever he wasn’t on drugs.

Kwon Seungjae had always told him that he could only function as a decent human being when slightly high.

It wasn’t wrong.

From the very start, his personality had always been this pathetic and clumsy.

And though he had answered with a “Yes,” Yoon Heesu remained skeptical of drug addiction treatment.

Those who succumbed to drug addiction were all weak-willed fools.

There was no way such fools could endure a grueling treatment process.

And naturally, that weak will applied directly to himself.

If there were various grades of idiots in the world, he proudly stood in the top tier as a first-class moron.

“What did you do before coming here?”

“…”

There was nothing he could say.

Because he hadn’t done anything.

When no answer returned, Seo Jongyeon let out a thoughtful hum and asked.

“Resting?”

He was at a loss for words once more.

Wasn’t resting a temporary pause from working?

He had never done a proper day’s work in his life.

Therefore, the term “rest” didn’t fit.

“Not… rest, just…”

“I’ve never done anything.”

“I see.”

“What about school?”

“Was that homeschooled too?”

“No, up to university.”

“Then you didn’t do nothing.”

“You attended university.”

“I only went, though…”

Seo Jongyeon smiled.

“Going to school takes considerable effort, doesn’t it?”

“I really hated going to school back in university too.”

Having no idea what kind of answer to offer this time, Heesu kept his mouth shut.

Even after that, Seo Jongyeon asked all sorts of trivial questions.

Yoon Heesu’s answers were entirely unhelpful without exception.

“All right.”

“Let’s leave it at this for today, just an introductory greeting…”

“You have a visitor waiting for you, Heesu, shall we head out?”

“A visitor?”

“Yes, they’ve been waiting for a while.”

Had Han Suyeon come?

If anyone came, it could only be him.

To think someone was waiting…

Following Seo Jongyeon outside with a touch of nerves, Yoon Heesu blinked.

Once again, there was a face he knew unilaterally well.

It was not Han Suyeon.

Standing with a rigid, upright posture was Han Suyeon’s personal secretary, Kang Changjin.

“…”

The question of why that man was here struck him first.

Kang Changjin was an Alpha just like Han Suyeon and bore a subtle resemblance to him, which was because the two were distant relatives.

What was it again, his cousin’s son?

How many degrees of kinship did that make them?

Yoon Heesu had seen his face quite often.

On the television screen.

Because being his executive secretary meant he stuck to Han Suyeon like a shadow.

Standing straight, Kang Changjin bowed at a ninety-degree angle the moment he saw Yoon Heesu.

Yoon Heesu wondered if it was an innate talent that even with such a bow, he looked neither servile nor pathetic, but purely professional.

“Good day.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yoon Heesu.”

At the polite, low voice, Yoon Heesu merely parted his lips slightly.

He had never once been an important enough person to be addressed with such honorifics.

While Yoon Heesu hesitated without being able to say a word, Kang Changjin continued on his own.

“The CEO sent me.”

“I am Kang Changjin, Chief of Staff to CEO Han Suyeon.”

“…Yes.”

Even without an introduction, he already knew who the CEO was and who the man in front of him was.

What Yoon Heesu wanted to know was why he was here.

In the midst of that, he inadvertently looked around once more.

To check if Han Suyeon hadn’t come along.

He felt a slight disgust toward himself for that behavior.

“Please sit down and speak, the two of you.”

“I will take my leave now.”

Seo Jongyeon pointed to the chairs as he spoke, gave a brief bow, and walked out.

Because there was no one else in the room, only the two of them were left in an instant.

Yoon Heesu looked around his surroundings once again.

The interior, with the sea visible outside massive floor-to-ceiling windows, had high ceilings and bright lighting, resembling a café.

It felt even more so due to the comfortable-looking tables spaced out generously across the room.

This was the ‘visitation room.’

He had seen it written above the entrance door, which had also looked like a café’s.

Yoon Heesu was in a slightly dazed state.

To meet Han Suyeon’s secretary in the visitation room of some mysterious nursing home or rehab facility.

Had he been high on drugs, he might have tossed out a compliment like, ‘You look better in person than on screen,’ but right now he lacked the courage.

“Have you experienced any discomfort?”

“I have come to deliver items sent by the CEO.”

He hadn’t been here long enough to even think about discomfort or anything else…

More importantly, items sent to him?

“For me?”

“Yes.”

Kang Changjin replied, politely holding out a shopping bag.

When Heesu took and opened it, his mobile phone, laptop, and charging accessories were inside.

After staring at the items for a long time, Yoon Heesu asked.

“Excuse me, does this… mean I’m allowed to leave?”

“I am afraid not.”

“Location tracking software has been installed on both the mobile phone and laptop.”

“All payment features have been blocked as well.”

“Ah, please do not misunderstand, as this is not intended as confinement.”

“…What?”

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