Chapter 71: The Culprit is…

“…Be careful. He’s fooling all of you right now, you idiot.”

Jae-yi whispered quietly into Woo-seok’s ear, making a commendable effort to ensure no one else could hear.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you. Why don’t you just get going already? And please come back acting like an actual human being.”

Who was she to worry about someone else when she was the one being exiled to Africa? Woo-seok didn’t believe for a second that his sister’s warning was for his benefit. It was obviously one last desperate attempt to plant a seed of suspicion against Ha-jin.

In fact, Jae-yi had tried saying something similar to Chae Il-joo, only to be met with a furious scolding.

“You don’t even realize who’s making sure you get off this lightly instead of being thrown out with nothing!”

According to Chae Il-joo, once she finished this assignment in Africa and returned, he intended to put her in charge of the hotel’s food and beverage services division. Supposedly, she owed that opportunity entirely to Ha-jin.

She found it hard to believe, but her father wasn’t the sort of man who lied about things like that.

“Take care of yourself, noona.”

“…Y-yeah. You too.”

And so, even while looking at Ha-jin’s bright smile as he saw her off, she couldn’t bring herself to snap at him.

Ha-jin wrapped his arms around her in a hug. To anyone watching, it looked like a warm farewell between family members.

“If you pull any more stupid stunts over there, you know what’ll happen, right? If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life buried somewhere in Africa, get your head straight and come back properly. This is your last chance, noona.”

Jae-yi couldn’t even protest when Ha-jin’s threat brushed against her ear.

The previous night, she had also received the investigation materials regarding Ha-jin’s American identity.

Kevin Go.

She had gone through the documents and found nothing suspicious.

Nothing at all.

Looking through such flawlessly constructed records left her feeling strangely hollow. It almost made her wonder if she had simply imagined everything.

On the surface, there wasn’t a single reason to doubt him.

And yet…

Something bothered her.

She couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but the feeling lingered.

Or perhaps it was simply because she still believed this entire trip to Africa was Ha-jin’s fault, making everything about him irritating.

As Jae-yi left the house, condemned to six months abroad for provoking Ha-jin, only Lee Ah-seong felt uneasy watching her go.

“That brat should’ve been sent away too. Tch.”

“What are you talking about? He’s young. Kids make mistakes.”

Once Jae-yi was gone, Chae Il-joo’s irritation shifted toward Woo-seok.

Naturally, Ah-seong stepped in to defend him.

“What? Why me?”

At this point, Chae Il-joo was genuinely curious.

Just how much trouble did that delinquent son of his get into?

How was it possible for news about his behavior to appear every other day?

This time, several articles had surfaced about a party held at a hotel swimming pool.

Among countless celebrities, there was Woo-seok’s face, prominently featured in entertainment news photos.

“Are you possessed by some ghost that’ll die if it doesn’t drink alcohol? Why the hell are you chugging straight from the bottle like some uncultured idiot?”

The photo in question showed Woo-seok drinking directly from an entire bottle of champagne.

Every time incidents like this happened, Chae Il-joo sincerely wanted to ship him off somewhere remote and quiet.

If not for that precious dominant-alpha bloodline, he would have done it long ago.

“Well… next time I’ll pour it into a glass first.”

“Right. Next time- Wait, what did you just say, you little- ”

Failing to catch the absurdity of Woo-seok’s response at first, Chae Il-joo finally grabbed a delicate Goryeo celadon vase beside him like a club.

He had almost let himself get distracted by Woo-seok’s nonsense.

“You’re really going to throw that? If you are, maybe just give it to me instead- Ugh!”

Standing beside him, Ha-jin viciously pinched Woo-seok’s side.

Hard enough to tear flesh.

Carefully enough that no one else noticed.

“I’m sorry, Chairman. I’ll make sure he understands.”

“Haah… You really have it rough.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad.”

In this regard, Chae Il-joo was still better than Lee Ah-seong.

Granted, both of them suffered from the same problem: neither could correctly identify what was actually wrong with Woo-seok’s behavior.

The issue wasn’t that the world found out.

The issue was that a married man spent every waking moment drinking and fooling around with omegas.

“Get him out of my sight, daughter-in-law. My blood pressure can’t take it.”

“Then please get some rest, Chairman. Father.”

Ha-jin grabbed Woo-seok and dragged him away.

Even then, Woo-seok continued saying nonsense about wanting the vase.

If Ha-jin wanted to smack him for it, imagine how Chae Il-joo must have felt.

“Can you stop now?”

“I almost got my head smashed in.”

Only after they had completely left the main residence did Woo-seok’s demeanor change.

He was still playful, but the man standing here now was completely different from the idiot asking for a priceless vase moments earlier.

“You could’ve just told him those articles were fake.”

“Why would I? What for?”

The day of that pool party, Woo-seok had actually been with Ha-jin.

These days, he still came home late sometimes and occasionally went out drinking, so it could have been mistaken for one of those nights.

But that specific party had never happened.

“Seriously, why do you do this? I’m genuinely confused. I’ve seen so many fake articles about you.”

“Hmm… Because it makes my life easier? I just want to live like a rich, unemployed playboy.”

Ha-jin had asked him about this once before.

Back then, Woo-seok had never given a proper answer.

Something about liking to have fun.

Like some penguin in glasses.

Whatever.

The fact that he still gave the same answer now suggested he really did enjoy slacking off.

“That’s weird. If I were you, I’d fight tooth and nail to inherit the company. You can play around afterward.”

How much would SHS be worth if converted entirely into cash?

Enough to buy a small country.

Of course, that wasn’t realistic, but still.

“Why bother? I could spend money for the rest of my life without ever running out. Why work? Why?”

“…Huh?”

That was actually a good point.

Now that he thought about it, that option did sound better.

Why work when you could just eat, sleep, and enjoy life?

Maybe Woo-seok was smarter than he looked.

“When you want to hide a tree, the best place is in the forest.”

Now what the hell did that mean?

“Ah! Speaking of trees.”

Woo-seok suddenly brightened.

“Let’s go try that.”

“Try what?”

“That wooden dildo.”

“…”

Maybe he really was just insane.

****

“What does it mean when the interval between crimes keeps getting shorter?”

“It could be an expression of confidence, or perhaps a desire for recognition…”

Ha-jin quietly glanced toward Woo-seok.

After dinner, they had turned on the television to watch something together.

The news channel happened to be on.

And once again, the Omega Serial Killer was making headlines.

Not long after the fifteenth victim had been discovered, another murder had already occurred.

“This one’s going to cause quite a stir.”

“Probably.”

“Hard to keep things quiet when the victim’s an omega from a wealthy family.”

Unlike previous victims, who had generally lacked social protection, this victim was a well-known omega.

The family they had married into was equally influential.

Naturally, public attention exploded.

Wasn’t it ironic?

Fifteen previous deaths had stirred less outrage than this single one.

“Last night… you really were just drinking, right?”

“Who? Me?”

Woo-seok had come home late again the previous evening.

Supposedly because he was drinking with friends.

The timing was suspicious.

These incidents always seemed to happen on nights he came home late.

“I don’t mean anything by it. I was just curious.”

“So what you’re asking is whether I’m the Omega Serial Killer?”

“T-That’s not what I meant!”

Ha-jin hurriedly denied it.

Thinking about it now, it was ridiculous.

Even if he asked a murderer whether they were guilty, why would they answer honestly?

“Woo-seok, there’s no way you’d do something like that. Why would you commit murder? What would you even gain?”

“…”

“You wouldn’t, right?”

“…”

“H-Hurry up and answer.”

For some reason, the prolonged silence made him nervous.

Then suddenly, a hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

His body slid toward Woo-seok as though he’d been ambushed.

“I think you already know the answer.”

The words made little sense.

Meanwhile, Woo-seok’s hand slipped beneath Ha-jin’s shirt.

One finger traced upward from his waist along his side.

The wandering touch eventually reached a sensitive spot on his chest.

“Could you do this with a murderer?”

“Ah…”

That was true.

Even with Woo-seok touching him, he felt neither fear nor disgust.

If he genuinely believed Woo-seok was the killer, wouldn’t even this contact terrify him?

“Uh… Could you take your hand out…?”

“Just answer.”

With Woo-seok casually kneading his nipple, it was hard to tell whether they were having a conversation or something else entirely.

Still, Ha-jin seized the opportunity to ask something that had bothered him for a long time.

“But seriously… How did you know where they found the thirteenth victim?”

It had happened before their marriage.

After Ha-jin’s near-abduction from a taxi, he had ended up in a forest.

At that time, the location hadn’t yet been released to the media.

Yet somehow, Woo-seok had known.

“Ah.”

Only now did Woo-seok finally understand why Ha-jin kept linking him to the Omega Serial Killer.

Right.

That had happened.

It really wasn’t that long ago, but it felt like a lifetime.

Back then, he never would have imagined he’d be sitting here touching Ha-jin’s chest like this.

“That… is a secret.”

“…What?”

Ha-jin visibly faltered.

Beneath Woo-seok’s hand, a powerful heartbeat echoed through his chest and into Woo-seok’s fingertips.

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