IBS - Chapter 30

“Saved you? That hospital wouldn’t kill you.”

“Do you have any feelings at all, Hyung? Of course they wouldn’t have killed me! What I mean is, what’s the point of surviving that, only to be forcibly turned into an Omega…?”

"The world doesn’t always go your way. At least you’ve learned a lesson and come to your senses.”

"You really know how to kill the mood. I just want to feel grateful to you, so please, don't say another word.”

Han Sol muttered that while some people could pay off a thousand-nyang debt with a single word, all Han Jinheon did was say the most infuriating things. Fearing that continuing the conversation would only chip away at the gratitude that had filled him to the brim, he declared a vow of silence for himself.

Han Jinheon, who had merely snorted and told him to do as he pleased, used the silence as a canvas for his memories.

‘If I have to become an Omega… I want to manifest because of you, hyung…’

The voice that had whispered while clinging to him like a cicada on an old tree had been ticklish, and the skin that kept brushing against his was soft.

Though he had answered gruffly when Han Sol, clinging to him, had anxiously asked if he was going to leave him there, his heart had held a fondness for him that he couldn't bring himself to express.

In that moment, Han Jinheon had found Han Sol—clinging to him as if he were the only person in the world—so endearing that he began to wonder if he might be a sadist. 

The kid had caused a tiresome mess, which was irritating, but he had looked cute from the moment he came running at the sight of him. And it was just so damn pitiful that he had to suffer something like this at the hands of his own mother.

Has he started wanting to become an Omega? Was today’s incident that much of a shock?

He had been holding back, not wanting to rush Han Sol, hoping he would think it over without pressure. His stance that no one would ever appear who could love Han Sol for who he was remained unchanged, but out of consideration for him, he had kept quiet. He wanted to stay that way, but it seemed he had to ask today. He wanted to.

While keeping his eyes on the road, he glanced at Han Sol. His eyes were closed, his hands folded neatly on his thighs. The eyelashes veiling his gently shut lids trembled softly. Is he shivering even in his sleep?

It won’t be too late to ask when we get home. I shouldn’t disturb him. Even if Han Sol was the center of all sorts of trouble, this incident must have been a huge shock. He decided to let him rest for now.

***

I sat beside Han Jinheon, disinfecting and bandaging the scratches on his hand.

Han Jinheon refused, saying it would heal on its own, but I wanted to do at least this as a sign of my gratitude. Thinking about it again, it was amazing. 

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have been able to use my fists. Unless I picked up a rock and threw it. I’d probably have wasted time just looking for a rock. Maybe Alphas are just different.

“If your mother comes to the mansion again, don’t open the door and call me.”

“Mmm… Okay.”

“Don’t answer if she calls you either. From what I saw, she probably won’t contact you for a few days anyway.”

“She’s my mom, but I don’t know why she’s so scary…”

I muttered quietly, shivering. Lee Geumyeong was the greatest fear I had ever faced, both before and after possessing this body. I hadn't been this scared even when I encountered gangsters who came to collect debts before I was possessed, nor did I find it difficult to deal with middle-aged people of Lee Geumyeong’s age.

Or maybe, just as my mother was a difficult presence before my possession, the being called ‘mother’ was destined to be difficult for me after it, too. Like a parallel theory.

“About what you said at the hospital earlier.”

Han Jinheon slowly clenched and unclenched his right hand. I nodded while telling him not to move it, as I wanted it to be still. What I said at the hospital. What about it?

“When you said you wanted to manifest because of me. I’m asking if you were just saying it, or if you meant it.”

“…I meant it.”

“Really? You said it at the hospital, too. That becoming an Omega or not is your personal freedom and your choice.”

I nodded again.

Han Jinheon had protected me, drawing a line with Lee Geumyeong. He’d said it was entirely my choice and she shouldn't force me. Lee Geumyeong had only grown more furious and hissed when I agreed with him and hid behind his back.

She must have been flooded with all sorts of thoughts. Not only did she find out her son had been hiding that he was unmanifested, but he had immediately sided with Han Jinheon, with whom he clearly didn't have a good relationship.

Leaning back against the sofa, Han Jinheon tilted his head back and asked, his languid voice prodding at my chest.

"So? Do you want to become an Omega?”

“If you ask if I want to… I don’t know. But if I have no choice but to, I hope it’s with you, Hyung.”

“…”

“My mom found out I’m unmanifested because of my mistake. She might take me back there anytime. Or she might plot something else. Even if I want to remain a Beta, she’ll probably force me to become an Omega. Her eyes looked like that.”

I didn’t want to think about Lee Geumyeong anymore. The memory of her storming into the house with those men under the pretense of an apology and dragging me away made my blood boil as much as hers had. 

I wanted to fly into a rage greater than hers, but I held it back, lacking the courage to risk Chairman Han also finding out that I was unmanifested.

I paused for a beat to cool my simmering emotions, then continued calmly.

“If that’s the case, I’d rather it be with you, Brother. If I have to become an Omega, then you manifest me… Because Han Jinheon said he’d at least take responsibility for me.”

The last part was a joke. Even if I became an Omega because of Han Jinheon, my life and his would have to be seen as separate. It would be the result of my own choice, so I couldn’t ask him to take responsibility. 

But right now, I wanted to lean on him like this. It felt strange, as if I were becoming someone special to him.

Han Jinheon fell silent. He was quiet for longer than I expected, and when I glanced over to see what he was doing, I was startled. 

He was looking only at me, perfectly still. He wore an expressionless mask that concealed his thoughts, his eyes holding nothing but my reflection.

I didn't dare break the silence and simply shared the stillness with him. Then, out of the blue, Han Jinheon spoke.

“You know the building under my name, don’t you?”

“The building under your name? No…?”

I didn’t even know what Han Sol owned, so how would I know about a building Han Jinheon had? Still, just hearing that he owned one made me envious.

"Not this mansion, but where I used to live.”

“Used to… Ah! Ah, I know.”

Although I hadn’t been there in person, it suddenly came to mind because I had read about it in the novel.

Han Jinheon’s former residence was the penthouse on the top floor of an officetel. I hadn’t read the specific location, whether it was Hannam-dong or somewhere else, so at first, I thought the place he brought me to was that. 

But when we actually arrived, it was a mansion, contrary to my expectations, and I remember being confused about how that happened.

I vaguely recalled hearing before that it was the mansion where his mother stayed. So, did he inherit this place?

"You used to like it there. Said it felt like living in the heart of the city and that you liked the city nightscape.”

“I… did…”

“You also often said you wanted to try decorating it just the way you wanted, that you wanted to have it.”

I suppose Han Sol did. I readily agreed to a memory that wasn't mine. As if that was all he had to say, Han Jinheon turned his gaze from me. 

He stared silently at a point somewhere between the ceiling and the wall, once again clenching and unclenching the hand I'd put ointment on. 

I told him not to do that. As I was about to chide him again, his calm voice reached me.

“If you become an Omega, I’ll gift it to you.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll give it to you.”

“G-give it to me…? What…?”

"The building. If making me repeat myself is a habit, you’d better to fix it.”

“Th-that’s…! How can I not ask you to repeat it! You keep saying things that are impossible to believe, hyung!”

He’ll give me a building. It was the kind of sentence I had never once heard in my entire life, and because Han Jinheon himself said it so casually, as if it were nothing special, my brain was slow to process his words. It didn't sink in right away.

“It’s not that unbelievable, is it? It doesn’t seem like a bad reward for manifesting. To you, who has no money, no shares… nothing.”

“It’s not like I have nothing…”

My conscience pricked at me for claiming to have nothing, thanks to the money I'd received from Lee Geumyeong.

Ten million won for one blind date. I’d gone on two, so I’d received twenty million won, which was still sitting untouched in my bank account. Until just recently, I had been thinking about giving it back to her. 

I was going to send it back, along with a message expressing my disappointment that she didn’t trust me and that I was done with the blind dates. But after she threatened to have me forcibly manifested today, my mind had changed.

I would keep it as compensation for the mental distress from today’s events. I wasn't giving it back.

What’s the reason? Why me…? Why would you go so far as to give me a building as a reward?”

“A reason?”

“Yes, a reason… Is it because you pity me? Because I have nothing, so you feel even more sorry for me?”

“It’s less that and more about stimulating a reward mentality. You said it yourself just now, that you don’t know if you want to become an Omega. Even if you’re put in a situation where you have no choice, in the end, your decision and your will are what’s important, right?”

“……”

"This is just to help with that. If I just tell you your situation will improve if you become an Omega, what is that but another way of pressuring you to become one?”

If that was the case, he would rather present a clear reward like a building. It was a tangible form of his promise to take responsibility.

“I also said I’d take responsibility for you. The building being the start of that isn’t so bad, is it?”

Is it? he asked nonchalantly, then pulled a tissue from the box and began wiping off the ointment. Wiping away the medicine that someone had so carefully applied right in front of them—what kind of reward, what kind of responsibility could come from a person like this?

Not daring to rebuke Han Jinheon to his face, I could only grumble inwardly, my parched lips silent. I didn’t know how to respond or what to say. A building, he’d said. He’s giving me a whole building.

At the unbelievably massive scale of his offer, my heart, reacting faster than my head, began to pound. A tremor of excitement ran through my hands and feet. I was also a little confused. Was I like this because I liked this Alpha, or was it the talk of a building that had me so worked up?

They say you can’t be full on the first spoonful, but that’s other people’s problem. I think it’s perfectly fine to be more than satisfied, I thought suddenly. I could be full on the first spoonful. At least, I was confident I could be.

Who wouldn’t be full to bursting when they’re being offered a building?​