“What’s with the look?”
“I’m just… fascinated.”
“Fascinated by what?”
“Just a moment ago, I was eating with my friendly older brother. but now, anyone would see you as an executive director.”
My eyes traveled slowly from Han Jinheon’s feet up to his face, but I quickly snapped my head away as if I’d been burned.
My gaze had drifted past the sharp, masculine line of his Adam’s apple and landed on his lips.
Did I really kiss that man last night?
It was absurd and incomprehensible that the person who had just brushed his lips against his younger sibling’s was utterly unfazed, while I was the only one self-conscious. If I didn’t want to reveal who I liked, he should have just accepted it.
But no—he just had to dig it out of me, like he thought I’d hate it so much I’d talk.
Maybe I should’ve just let him believe I was still hung up on Kim Gyuyoung.
"Just tell me already. Who is it?"
"I told you, I’m not going to say. I’m allowed to have a secret of my own, you know.”
“You can have secrets once you’re out of here. But as long as you’re under my watch, you’d be wise to tell me everything.”
“You can’t threaten me like that after telling me to trust you!”
How can someone who told me to trust him act like this? Is this what trust looks like to him?
“If you don’t want to be threatened, then just tell me. What kind of great figure is this person that you can’t say their name? Ah, or is it the opposite? Are you too embarrassed to say because you know he’s an unreliable bastard?”
Han Jinheon scoffed in a rather satisfying way.
I shot him a glare, trying to tell him to mind his own business, but even the face that was mocking me was so handsome that my resolve melted.
At this rate, I was afraid I might just scream, ‘That unreliable bastard is you! I like you!’ so I bit my lip shut. I groaned inwardly and forced myself to focus on the dishes.
“If you keep this up, I’ll have no choice but to do something you hate again today.”
“Think rationally. Just to find that out, you’d do that… to your own brother? Huh? Can you really?”
“I told you, there’s no reason I shouldn’t. Besides, you know it as well as I do. For my pheromones to fully permeate you, we have to… do things.”
“We have to do things? What… what things? Weren’t you just going to give me your pheromones?”
“That was the plan. But if you refuse to talk…”
“That’s just an excuse… No matter what you do, I won’t tell you. So go… ahead… and try it!”
My last words were cut short like a staccato. In the fleeting moment I uttered them, I went through an extreme internal conflict.
The push and pull of my own thoughts tormented me far more than Han Jinheon’s words: Just say nothing. No, tell him to stop because you’re his brother. No, tell him to do it. It’s a chance for me too.
A chance to enjoy this one-sided crush, to let a man who’s exactly my type do… whatever he wants.
I didn’t want to miss this chance, so I put up a defiant front. The alpha’s eyebrow arched. He stepped closer, leaning his face toward mine.
Overwhelmed by the sense that he was about to repeat what he did last night, I squeezed my eyes shut. But Han Jinheon did nothing. Instead, he pinched my cheek hard and let out a low, derisive laugh.
“Ah, I forgot. For my little brother, a threat from me is just another Tuesday.”
“Stop bothering me and go away.”
His words didn’t register. I was dying of embarrassment for shutting my eyes, thinking he was going to kiss me.
His gaze on me was so suffocating I wanted to hide. It was so bad I could feel the heat rising from my neck all the way to my forehead.
Since I was stuck at the sink, I flicked some of the water from my hands at him, telling him to go away. Han Jinheon, clearly not wanting to get wet, stepped back.
“Your medicine.”
Han Jinheon asked as he looked at the medicine cabinet near the water purifier.
“I took it right before doing the dishes.”
It’s true. I took it, I swear.
As if he didn’t believe me, he checked the medicine packets scattered like dust in the trash can. Surely he wouldn’t check every morning and evening to see if I took my medicine. Suspicion was about to become certainty.
I finished the dishes and washed my hands one last time. I turned to look for a towel and jumped in surprise.
Han Jinheon, who I thought had left because it had gotten so quiet, was standing in the archway connecting the kitchen and the living room.
“You scared me. Why are you just standing there?”
Had he been there the whole time? He was unsettlingly good at hiding his presence.
“I’ll be leaving work an hour or two early today.”
“Early? Why?”
“We need to write up that contract. I’m bringing Lawyer Park over, so be ready for my call.”
“Oh, okay.”
I had been wondering when we would finally write it. I gave a short nod, not wanting to seem too eager. Worried I’d look like a gold digger, I tried to react as calmly as possible, but Han Jinheon responded with a childish jab.
“If you want that building, tell me who you like.”
“Hyung. Isn’t it enough to take care of my… hole? Are you trying to take care of my heart too?”
“…”
“I know that I shouldn’t like anyone… that it’s premature. I’ll quietly sort it out, so please, wait like an adult. I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
“Like an adult?”
Han Jinheon crumpled his face mischievously.
“You’re only thirty-five, Hyung. You can still act your age for now.”
He let out a small chuckle at his own words, shaking his head as he finally left the kitchen. I shouted at his retreating back.
“You think it’s weird too, don’t you? It’s ridiculous, right?!”
Then, as his back disappeared from view, I just stared blankly, tilting my head. That man, who was usually quite dignified for a thirty-five-year-old, was acting so strangely. It wasn’t like him.
Does he really want to know who I like that badly? Is it that important? Why? Is it because his goal is to hand me over to an alpha he can trust once he’s taken me under his wing?
***
A scornful smile touched his lips as he recalled the kiss from yesterday. It was a shallow kiss, like a child’s prank.
The reason Il did it was exactly as I told Han Sol. It was outrageous that he already liked someone, so soon after causing trouble, and he wouldn't tell me who it was.
My mood was off, and I wanted to do something he would dislike. It was childish behavior.
When he was by my side, he should tell me. The guy who was going to become an Omega should say who he liked. As long as our feet were tied together by the manifestation induction plan, I needed to know what I needed to know. I needed to know every single factor that could cause a hitch in the plan.
Han Jinheon rested his left hand on his chin and gently twirled a pen with his right, lost in thought. All he was doing was replaying Han Sol’s words when he had pressed him to say who it was.
‘Isn’t it enough to take care of my… hole? Are you trying to take care of my heart too?’
Indeed. As Han Sol said, taking care of the hole was enough. Why try to take care of his heart too?
But even a day later, it was still exasperating. After such a dramatic unrequited love ending in this state, he should know to be careful.
He should guard himself and rein in his emotions to avoid liking anyone during this period. Han Jinheon thought that if he were Han Sol, he would have certainly done so, and he ran the hand that was supporting his face from his temple to his forehead.
Should he say Han Sol’s heart was unnecessarily vigorous? No matter what the outcome, his unrequited love for Kim Gyuyoung was over, so was he going to embark on another unrequited love? Was he trying to forget love with love, in that manner?
“What kind of bastard is it…?”
He knew the existence. So, the identity was key. Trying to deduce who Han Sol had come to like, the suspected range was narrow, making it easy, yet the information was vague.
Secretary Song entered. Han Jinheon, who had previously dismissed Secretary Song’s words, stared intently at his face.
“Executive Director. I’m trying to schedule an appointment with Lawyer Park, as you mentioned yesterday.”
Could Secretary Song be the one Han Sol liked?
Suspicion arose. Song Hyun-oh was one of the people within the narrow range. He was someone Han Sol naturally met while by his side, and he had even joined him for dinner instead of Han Jinheon. It was possible to develop personal feelings.
Could it really be Secretary Song?
“Executive Director?”
“Ah, what did you say?”
He had missed Secretary Song’s words. Han Jinheon shrugged his shoulders and apologized, saying he was tired and had lost focus for a moment.
Secretary Song’s eyes, narrowed behind his polished glasses to assess his superior’s condition, then repeated his business.
"About the appointment with Lawyer Park. He said it would be difficult to go directly to Darwin Law Firm, so he wished to meet at the mansion. He hoped for the time to be between three and four PM today. Is that correct?”
“Yes. Contact Lawyer Park about that.”
“And, I’ve reserved the cookie set you mentioned. The reservation is under your name, as you said you would pick it up personally. They said you just need to come before 9 PM, but would you like me to pick it up if you wish?”
"No. A guardian should pick up a child’s gift. Is that all?”
“Yes, Executive Director, that concludes the report on your personal schedule. I will compile the work-related reports and give them to you by 11 AM.”
“Alright. You’ve worked hard.”
“Yes… You seem tired. Shall I bring you a cup of tea that’s good for fatigue?”
“I’ll get it myself, You can get back to work.”
He nodded once and watched Secretary Song’s retreating back before standing up from his seat. As he said, he wanted a cup of tea or even water.
Secretary Song had offered to bring it, saying he had expected as much, but Han Jinheon lightly dismissed him and headed to the pantry within the secretary team’s office.
Jeong Seongwoo, who was sitting closest to the pantry, nervously rushed over. He couldn’t bear the glares from the other senior secretaries who were pressuring him to quickly go and do it instead of the Executive Director.
“Executive Director! I will do whatever you wish! I’ll bring it to your office!”
"No. I came out because I wanted to move around myself, so don’t worry…”
Han Jinheon stopped speaking mid-sentence and looked intently down at Secretary Jeong. The Alpha’s radar of suspicion had now extended to this man.
Could Secretary Jeong be the one Han Sol liked?
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