DOTH Volume 4 Chapter 13.1

Pressing a soft kiss against the round crown of the omega’s head, the body nestled in his arms gave the faintest stir. Director Yeon let his eyelids fall, quietly savoring the body’s warmth that clung to him. The sharp scar traced a gentle curve along the movement of its muscle.

“Heeyeon.”

It wasn’t exactly a quiet voice. But perhaps sunk into deep sleep, the one whose name had been called showed no sign of opening his clear eyes. For a brief moment, the man considered whether he should lay Jung Heeyeon down properly to let him rest, but in the end, he gave up on the idea.

It had already been three days since the accident. Director Yeon hadn’t stepped foot in the office, remaining constantly by Jung Heeyeon’s side to pour out his pheromones. Thanks to that, the omega’s condition had stabilized significantly. Though the time he spent asleep had grown longer, just like now.

Director Yeon studied the swollen curve of Jung Heeyeon’s cheek before letting his gaze shift to the IV line connected to the omega’s thin wrist. The medication steadily flowing into Jung Heeyeon’s sleeping body was a pheromone stabilizer. It was a drug as commonly used as the IV fluids betas received, but the very fact that a sharp needle had pierced that delicate skin left a bitter feeling in him.

The man’s thoughts drifted back to three days prior.

‘…It’s a pheromone stabilizer. Just one dose per day will be enough.’

Perhaps feeling the icy sharpness of the gaze directed at him, Kim Jiwon—who had been inserting the IV needle—quickly added a more thorough explanation. This was after they had rushed to the hospital and completed a full battery of detailed tests. For Director Yeon, summoning an off-duty professor was no particular challenge.

‘What about the pheromone shock?’

‘As I mentioned during the car ride, since you’re a dominant alpha, and more importantly, because Heeyeon-ssi is relatively well-adjusted to your pheromones, it didn’t escalate to full-blown shock.’

There had been a note of relief in Kim Jiwon’s voice.

‘Even so, with medication, we can help him stabilize a little faster. It takes around three hours for a full dose to finish. Ideally, it should be administered while he’s in your arms. Since pheromones have a stronger effect with direct physical contact, stabilizers aside, nothing works better than compatible pheromones. The medication is just a supplement, so I’d recommend physical closeness while administering the medication.’

‘Okay.’

Director Yeon replied, never taking his eyes off Jung Heeyeon.

‘Once the stabilizer kicks in, he’ll fall asleep like this. It’s a drug that forcibly suppresses the hormones in the body, so it naturally makes him drowsy. And with you next to him, his body will relax even more due to your alpha pheromones, so don’t be too worried if he sleeps longer than usual. Pheromones, to borrow how betas describe it, are kind of like a mild sedative.’

Director Yeon, who had been quietly listening, finally opened his mouth only after Kim Jiwon’s explanation came to an end.

‘He said he doesn’t like hospitals and wanted to go home.’

‘Oh, it’s fine if he goes home. I can administer the injections myself. Either way, the most important thing is your alpha pheromones, so it’s actually better for Heeyeon-ssi to receive them in a place where he feels at ease. As I’ve mentioned before, please always keep your pheromones released around him.’

Kim Jiwon paused briefly. Only after checking the sleeping omega’s face did he slowly bring up another topic.

‘I heard he had a mild concussion.’

It was referring to Chairman Jung.

‘He did all this to the baby, and all he got was a concussion?’

Director Yeon sneered, lips curling faintly. Even without being a doctor, anyone with objective judgment would know a concussion was more serious than a simple bruise. But Kim Jiwon knew better than to speak thoughtlessly and risk provoking his employer’s temper.

‘I guess it’s fortunate he’s so healthy for his age… Well, he can’t die just yet.’

It was none other than Director Yeon who had given instructions to treat Chairman Jung. And Kim Jiwon, who was all too familiar with the man’s darker tendencies, wisely held his tongue again this time.

‘How about Shim Soocheon?’

‘He’s got a fracture in his rib, but aside from that, he’s fine. Though, he’s really pissed off right now.’

As he brushed back the hair of the sleeping Jung Heeyeon, Director Yeon quietly began thinking through how he would handle the aftermath of all this.

Regardless that the accident had occurred, Director Yeon had no intention of blaming Shim Soocheon. After all, it was he himself who had told the team leader to give Jung Heeyeon anything he wanted. Shim Soocheon surely hadn’t missed the unspoken implication behind not bringing Jung Heeyeon along, but the entire situation was easy enough to picture. He could also tell the intention Shim Soocheon had when he let Jung Heeyeon into the car.

If the accident hadn’t happened, Director Yeon would no doubt have been satisfied with Shim Soocheon’s decision.

‘He has no issues moving around?’

‘No. However, it looked like his pride took a big hit.’

The man wasn’t one to treat his people roughly. The team leaders were all alphas he had personally brought in, most of them had survived in the hutch together with him. Or they were people he later found out were from other hutches, one way or another. Shim Soocheon was the former case.

Director Yeon understood better than anyone that people couldn’t be controlled through violence. If brute force could truly instill loyalty, then he himself would never have climbed this far. If violence equaled loyalty, he wouldn’t have betrayed or killed the man who gave him the name Yeon Woobeom.

When it came to managing people, Director Yeon always wore the mask of a businessman—measured, and efficient.

The reason alphas from Jiwoo adored Jung Heeyeon, who had nothing, was in part due to the young man’s gentle nature. But that affection was fundamentally rooted in their loyalty to Director Yeon. It was because of the loyalty and respect they held for the man that they kindly treated the omega he was protective with.

‘Looks like we’ll need to work our team leader a bit.’

The man’s tone was light as could be. Not giving a punishment to Shim Soocheon didn’t mean he’d be spared responsibility. For the time being, Shim Soocheon would have to run his ass off. His post-accident aftereffects were his own problem to handle.

If Director Yeon ordered him to track down the bastards who received money from Chairman Jung and kidnapped Jung Heeyeon, Shim Soocheon would probably throw himself into the task with joy. Once the job was finished, his wounded pride would likely recover on its own. Of course, until then, he’d have to step down from his role as Team 1 Leader.

Just as Director Yeon was mentally tallying the next steps—

“Director….”

A small whisper roused the man from his thoughts. Director Yeon slowly shifted his gaze from the IV needle. Jung Heeyeon was blinking up at him.

“You’re awake?”

“Yes. …But I still feel sleepy.”

“You can sleep more. Heeyeon, do you want to lie down?”

Director Yeon gently rubbed Jung Heeyeon’s pale cheek to soothe him. He couldn’t even bring himself to touch the skin that was bruised deep purple.

“No, I like this better… Do you feel uncomfortable, Director?”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“Then I want to sleep like this. Will you keep holding me?”

“Hmmm, you want me to keep holding you?”

Those soft brown eyes were heavy with sleep. Director Yeon pressed a kiss to Jung Heeyeon’s eyelid and drew the small body a little closer into his arms.

“Yes. I like your pheromone scent, Director.”

“I’ll keep letting it out, so go ahead and sleep. Does your hand hurt?”

“No, it’s fine.”

After a few gentle pats on the back, Jung Heeyeon nestled closer and closed his eyes again. Before long, the steady rhythm of his breathing filled the bedroom.

Director Yeon carefully stretched out his arm so as not to wake the omega, and opened his tablet.

A lot had happened during the three days he’d been holed up at home taking care of Jung Heeyeon. The fact that media attention had shifted away from Yeon Woobeom and toward Sunha Group wasn’t even the most significant of those events.

It all started after Kim Jaeho, a reporter from Sunwoo Daily who first broke the news about the gun incident in Gangnam, issued a follow-up. The public started questioning Sunha Group, which had so aggressively targeted Director Yeon. The biggest stir came when it was revealed that Kang Seohyo, the central figure in the sex scandal, had been the leader of the task force overseeing the matter. The leaked information must have come from Kang Seoui.

The moment Jiwoo released an explanation clarifying the missing data and tracking codes from the M88A model, Sunha must’ve realized they’d fallen into a trap. That’s probably when Kang Seohyo let go of Chairman Jung’s hand. And they must have assumed Director Yeon would back down too. But that was a foolish miscalculation, an arrogant mistake.

As a result, Sunha found itself in a very uncomfortable position. What once seemed like it might pass as a simple ‘scandalous mishap’ no longer looked so simple. No one could tell how it got out, but a sex tape of Kang Seohyo surfaced online. It was graphic, enough to be indistinguishable from porn. That was the perfect prey for bloodthirsty reporters.

With his reputation in ruins and suspicions about illegal arms trafficking looming, Kang Seohyo had no choice but to step down from his President position. Soon enough, Kang Seoui would likely seize that seat.

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