DOTH Volume 4 Chapter 14.2

“Oh, it’s on how to imprint.”

“I told you to bite me every day.”

“I can’t do that. You already have bruises.”

Lee Haejin stood up, mug in hand. Director Yeon was a fine collaborator, but not someone he particularly wanted to stay close to. He figured he’d already shown his face to Nam Soohyun, it was probably fine to slip out now. The mixed scents of pheromones were starting to make him nauseous.

“Heeyeon. I’m heading out first, see you again.”

“Pardon? Alright. Please have a safe trip back. Don’t drink any more.”

“Got it. I won’t.”

Lee Haejin placed his mug back on the home bar, gave Director Yeon a slight nod, then turned and walked away.

Only after Lee Haejin had fully left did Director Yeon lower his gaze toward Jung Heeyeon. The omega had barely drunk more than a sip, but maybe because he’d been left alone for a while, the wine glass in his small hand was now empty.

“Did you like it?”

He asked with a light chuckle. Jung Heeyeon nodded.

“It tasted like coffee milk. Would you like some too, Director?”

Instead of putting his lips to the offered glass, Director Yeon leaned in and lightly licked Jung Heeyeon’s chatty lips.

“Mhmm. It tastes like coffee milk.”

“You’re not supposed to give me a peck in front of other people…”

The omega scolded him with surprising sternness, which resulted in the man letting out a loose laugh.

“Everyone’s too drunk to notice.”

Earlier when they first arrived at Nam Soohyun’s house, there had been plenty of gazes fixed on Jung Heeyeon. But now, those curious stares had long since dispersed. They had been directed not at the grandson of Jung Younggil, but at the omega marked by Director Yeon.

“Isn’t it noisy?”

“A little.”

“Do you want to step outside for a bit?”

Director Yeon gestured toward the terrace with a nod of his chin. Jung Heeyeon took the man’s hand and stood up. It felt like he could taste cocoa powder on his lips.

Unlike the noisy interior, the garden was as still as freshly fallen snow. The snow that had come down all afternoon now quietly blanketed the yellowing winter grass. Despite the muffled noise from behind them, the landscape was calm and serene.

“Are you cold?”

“I’m not. I would like to step on the snow… Would you walk with me?”

“Come on.”

The man stepped down into the garden first and reached out a hand. Jung Heeyeon clutched that hand tightly and began walking with him across the snow-covered lawn. The soft crunch of snow under his feet was pleasant to hear.

“What were you talking about with Secretary Kim Chulwoo earlier?”

“There was something I got him to do and he gave me a report on that.”

“Oh, I see.”

Director Yeon silently watched the omega walking beside him. The chill of winter had turned the boy’s pale cheeks a faint pink. Without hesitation, he brought up the topic he had discussed with Kim Chulwoo just moments ago.

“Heeyeon.”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember anything about your parents?”

Jung Heeyeon looked down at his own feet as they stepped across the white snow, then lifted his gaze toward Director Yeon. It seemed the conversation with Kim Chulwoo had been about his parents. Without stopping his stride, Jung Heeyeon gave a small shake of his head.

“No. I don’t really remember because we parted when I was very young.”

He vaguely recalled being told they had died in an accident.

He had fragmented memories of living quietly in a rural town with them, day by day, but the memories in between those peaceful times and the day he was taken by a stranger into a large house were cut out as cleanly as if someone had sliced them away.

“I wondered if you were curious about it.”

“I don’t know, I never thought about it much… I just know they died in an accident.”

“It doesn’t have to be now, but if you ever become curious, don’t hesitate to ask me.”

Director Yeon gently stroked the back of the hand he was holding. He didn’t believe Jung Heeyeon needed to know about his past, but there was a difference between him keeping silent and the involved party himself not wanting to know. He had promised to give the omega anything he wanted, if Jung Heeyeon wished to know, then he would tell him.

To give his young lover everything he desired, Director Yeon needed to show him a broader world. In a world too small, there would be little for him to desire. Either way, Director Yeon carried the responsibility of taking in an omega who had known nothing.

“I am curious where they died.”

Jung Heeyeon fidgeted with the hand he held before stopping in place. He didn’t feel particularly sad, it had been fifteen years, after all. However, he wanted to know what their last moments had been like.

“At the place where we first met.”

“The sea?”

Startled, Jung Heeyeon’s eyes widened round. At that very moment, a large hand brushed away the snowflakes clinging to his cheek. The man’s hand continued to linger, spreading warmth into his cold, reddened skin.

“I think they were trying to escape Chairman Jung by stowing away. You were in the car too. According to the hospital records, the shock made you lose your memory.”

“Ah…”

So that was why his memory felt so abruptly severed.

“Director, when I first met you, I thought it was my very first time seeing the sea.”

“Mhmm, you asked me if that was the sea, remember?”

Director Yeon chuckled and slowly caressed the pale cheek. Contrary to his concern, Jung Heeyeon’s clear face seemed fine. When his ceaselessly fluffy lover showed this kind of quiet strength, it gave him a strange feeling.

“I remember asking you if that was the sea, but I guess I had been there as a child.”

“Why do you look disappointed?”

“It’s just that, for me, it was a place I saw for the first time with you…”

“Still there are many other firsts you’ve had with me.”

The hand cupping his cheek slid down to his nape, stroking lightly. Jung Heeyeon’s small body flinched upward, eyelashes fluttering as a faint laugh escaped, tickled.

“I parted with my parents at the sea, but since I met you there, I’ll think of it as a good thing.”

Jung Heeyeon murmured, burying himself into the man’s broad chest. With his face pressed into Director Yeon’s coat, a faint pheromone scent spread, soothing him. It was a complete sense of fulfillment only an omega imprinted by an alpha could feel.

Though he wasn’t overwhelmed by sadness, thinking of his late parents still stirred something faintly unsettling inside him. He wrapped his arms tightly around Director Yeon’s waist and tilted his head back slightly.

“I want to go there again with you someday, Director.”

“The sea?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

White snowflakes and the man’s lips landed together on his round head.

“Was the accident… caused by the Chairman?”

Jung Heeyeon peered up at Director Yeon as he asked. The man’s thick brows faintly furrowed. That reaction alone was answer enough.

“I was just as I thought. They must have been running away from the Chairman… Still, since they were together at the end, I hope they were happy in that place.”

Jung Heeyeon burrowed his face back into the man’s coat, whispering softly, almost to himself.

“Heeyeon.”

Director Yeon called his name in a languid tone. It was a quiet, intimate whisper, like a temptation.

“Shall I make him equally the same?”

“Pardon? No, it’s alright.”

“Mm. You’re alright?”

“Yes. It’s in the past, so it’s alright. And it led me to you.”

A hand stretched slowly toward Jung Heeyeon’s ear. Long fingers traced the curve of his ear, pressing the soft and fair earlobe just enough without hurting.

“So I should just leave him as he is?”

Nestled in Director Yeon’s arms, the small omega nodded with his face still hidden in the coat.

“I’m alright with anything, as long as it’s what you want, Director.”

“Mhmm, okay.”

The man whispered with a gentle voice, skillfully concealing his true intentions.

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