DOTH Volume 3 Chapter 8.8

The sound of a thick hand cutting through the air was followed by a sharp impact. Jung Heeyeon staggered slightly but managed to regain his balance. His hands, which had been hanging loosely, didn’t reach up to cradle his stinging cheek. Instead, they absentmindedly toyed with the hem of his coat, which reached down to his mid-thigh.

Just last year, a single slap would have easily knocked him over, but now that he was fifteen, he had learned to hold his ground.

Afraid of provoking further ire, Jung Heeyeon quickly lowered his gaze. But that alone wasn’t enough to appease the old man’s rage.

“Filthy mutt.”

Another harsh slap rang through the air, and this time, his body was sent sprawling. His swollen cheek throbbed, but what hurt more was his ankle, which he must have twisted in the fall. However, instead of groaning in pain, Jung Heeyeon masked his expression and instinctively knelt. Staying on the ground would only invite further punishment.

“If that disgrace of a father of yours hadn’t clung to that alpha bastard…!”

Jung Heeyeon vaguely understood why Chairman Jung called him a mutt—his alpha father had been a nobody in the old man’s eyes.

Keeping his head bowed, he silently endured the barrage of insults, his fingers twitching slightly. Even in the middle of being scolded, he couldn’t help but recall how kind his father had been, and the thought made his chest ache. His memories were hazy since it had all happened when he was very young, but whenever he thought of his parents, a warm, tender feeling always surfaced.

The one thing Lee Yootae hadn’t been able to correct in ten years was Jung Heeyeon’s fond memories of his father. And that, unbeknownst to Jung Heeyeon, was the reason for Chairman Jung’s fury.

“I’m sorry.”

The old man, who had been about to raise his hand again, clicked his tongue and stopped himself. If he left marks on the boy’s face, his market value would decrease. He should have been more careful, but every time he saw his son’s reflection in his grandson’s face, his hand moved on its own.

Every time he thought of his dead son, his stomach twisted. He had raised him without any shortcomings, yet the moment he became an adult, he spat out, ’You disgust me, Father,’ and ran away.

When Chairman Jung found the note, he immediately understood what his son had found so revolting, it was his way of doing business.

“Foolish brat.”

Chairman Jung was a loan shark. However, unlike others in the same trade, he did not deal in material assets as collateral. Instead, he took Alphas and Omegas as security. The old man saw nothing wrong with his business model. In the present, It had been years since he shut it down, but at the time, nothing about it had been illegal.

Those who had been sold as collateral should have been grateful. He had taken Alphas and Omegas that society had cast aside, educated them, and arranged decent jobs for them. If not for him, dozens would have starved and died under the care of incompetent parents.

A few faces flashed through his mind. He had fed them, clothed them, and sent them off to good owners—only for them to now bare their teeth at him. Since he had never concerned himself with what happened to them after they were sold, he had not paid much attention. But now, those ungrateful bastards were turning on him.

“Tsk.”

The old Alpha clicked his tongue again. As he lowered his chin, he saw the small back kneeling before him tense. Chairman Jung glanced down at the last gift his son had left him and smirked greedily.

Times had changed, and his business had faded with them. He had retired long ago, but avoiding the dogs that were tightening their grip around his neck required a fortune.Five years. If he could hold out for just five years, the dominant omega before him would come of age. Then, he could sell him for a hefty price.

It was hardly a loss for his grandson, Jung Heeyeon, either. If he married into a dominant alpha from a wealthy family and bore their child, he could live a life of luxury. With so many eyes watching them, they wouldn’t be able to discard the omega after his childbirth too. The old man thought that this was a far better fate than his son’s—wasting away in the mountains with a painfully ordinary alpha.

“You’ve done wrong, so reflect on it.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Only after Chairman Jung’s feet disappeared from his sight did Jung Heeyeon finally lift his head. He didn’t quite understand what he had done wrong. But if the chairman told him to reflect, then he must have been at fault.

“Ah….”

When he slowly stood up, his ankle throbbed as expected. He thought he could taste blood on the tip of his tongue. Even as his entire body felt like a ragged mess, Jung Heeyeon started to walk with an impassive face. Sitting around here wouldn’t do him any good—it was better to return to his room quickly. If he ran into the chairman in the hall, he might get into trouble again.

With slow, staggering steps, he made it back to his room and barely perched himself on the bed. As he lifted his leg to look at his ankle, something landed with a dull thud on his thigh.

“Oh….”

It was blood, staining his pants red. It wasn’t surprising. This had happened before—when he had been hit in the wrong place, and his nose had started bleeding. He thought about grabbing some tissues, but his ankle hurt too much to move. Instead, he raised his hand and roughly wiped at the blood. As he stared at his palm, clear drops of liquid fell onto it, slowly diluting the red.

“Ah.”

The omega, left alone, let out a faint sound. Tears fell in heavy drops from his expressionless eyes, but he made no move to wipe them away. Instead, he stared blankly at the mixture of blood and tears pooling in his hand—until his body suddenly swayed.

At that moment, it felt as though he was being pulled from the depths of a deep sleep.

“Heeyeon.”

Jung Heeyeon blinked dazedly. He was certain he had fallen asleep alone, yet a familiar face was right in front of him.

“Director….”

Only when the man patted his back did Jung Heeyeon realize he was in Director Yeon’s arms. The warmth against him was comforting.

“Yeah.”

Director Yeon sat back against the headboard, gently patting the small back in his arms. The moment he realized Jung Heeyeon was having a nightmare, he had shaken the omega awake, but he didn’t wake easily. Only after lifting the sleeping body into his embrace did those long lashes flutter and those eyes finally reveal themselves.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

The man asked softly, pressing his lips against the corner of Jung Heeyeon’s eye. Though his long lashes and the edges of his eyes were damp with tears, Director Yeon didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.

Jung Heeyeon gasped for breath, letting the man to lick away his tears. Finally waking up from the nightmare, his awareness returned. His body still felt heavy from just waking up, but the thick arms wrapped around his waist and the large palm cradling his cheek gave him a sense of security.

“Yeon Woobeom….”

Jung Heeyeon called out to the man soothing him. He needed to confirm his presence.

“Yeah, Heeyeon.”

The reply was as gentle as always. When Jung Heeyeon placed his hand against the man’s chest, as if to hold onto him, the steady rhythm of that heartbeat traveled up his palm. Following the quiet thump of Director Yeon’s heart, his erratic breathing gradually steadied. The arm wrapped around his waist shifted, supporting his back as the man‘s large hand resumed patting him.

“I had a dream.”

Jung Heeyeon murmured. Director Yeon’s earlier question came to mind, did he have a nightmare? He had received the same question from the alpha before. It was a long time ago, so the memory was hazy, but he felt that he had received an injection in that dream.

Even back then, just like right now, Director Yeon had asked if he had a nightmare, and Jung Heeyeon had shaken his head. It hadn’t been a nightmare. There had been no ghosts or monsters in it. It was simply something that had always happened—so how could it be called a nightmare?

By that logic, he should answer the same way now. Just like before, it had only been an old memory resurfacing in his dreams. For a long while, he hesitated. Then, without realizing it, he parted his lips under the gentle touch brushing against his damp eyes.

“Before, I didn’t understand what a nightmare was.”

He thought the dream was nothing more than fragments of the past swallowing him whole—nothing beyond that. Since it was merely a past experience, he hadn’t considered it a nightmare.

“However…”

Jung Heeyeon carefully chose his words.

“Now that I’m with you, I think I understand that they were bad dreams.”

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