"You should do something better now; it's not like you are a kid." The normally calm chairman was losing his control today.
Trying to put some sense into his son's head.
Seo Jin-woo didn't care about his dad. Not anymore.
He stood brushing the back of his neck like it was a normal Friday for him.
"Are you even listening?" Chairman Seo tapped his hands hard on the table.
"You are just throwing my money away in clubs and parties." The chairman was yelling now.
"If that's how you are going to live, then I'm blocking all your bank accounts and cards for good."
The sudden silence in the room was thick, choking. Jin-Woo finally looked up, his smirk gone.
"You wouldn't dare," he muttered.
"I already did," the chairman said coldly, voice back to his usual controlled tone. "And if you want even a single won back—" he pushed a neatly printed folder across the table, "—you'll start by earning it."
Jin-Woo stared at the folder.
"Assistant Director of Public Relations." His father's voice was calm now, but laced with steel.
"You can clean up the messes you're used to making."
Jin-Woo's jaw tightened. His fingers curled into fists at his side.
"You think I give a fuck about this company's image?" he hissed, eyes flashing. "I thought having sister as the puppet for your selfish desires would be enough, but I guess not."
"Your sister worked hard herself; she is smarter than you," Chairman Seo said without flinching.
The folder still sat there, untouched.
Jin-Woo didn't touch it.
Didn't say a word.
He turned around, kicked the chair he didn't use back violently, and walked out—his clenched fists trembling as he left.
As the heavy office doors swung shut behind Jin-Woo, a man stepped out from the hallway's shadows.
Tall, pressed suit, always five steps behind the chairman—Secretary Jung.
He glanced at the door Jin-Woo had just kicked open and then turned his gaze to the chairman, unreadable.
"You didn't tell him anything?" His voice was low, but edged with something more than concern.
Chairman Seo didn't look up as he adjusted his cufflinks. "He doesn't need to know yet."
Jung hesitated. "But the boy—"
"Enough," the chairman cut him off, his tone clipped.
The secretary bowed slightly, then walked inside, closing the door behind him.
From behind a corner, just beyond the corridor, Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed.
- - -
Outside the lab
Late evening
"Hey, I think someone is following us." Hyun-So's voice was cautious enough, like someone could hear him.
"What?... Did you see someone?" Do-Jin wasn't so serious about this.
"No... It's just that something doesn't feel right." Hyun-So walked behind him as he looked around to catch anyone staring.
"Hyun I know you are a little paranoid about what happened last time, but you are fine now. With those pheromones, nobody is going to think of you as an omega or beta." Do-Jin opened the door, sitting inside the car.
Hyun-So followed along, doing the same. "I'm not. I... I really think I saw someone weird."
"Why don't you stay at home? Now that we got that cat. You can entertain yourself or just watch something."
It was obvious Do-Jin was changing the topic, so Hyun-So stayed quiet. Maybe it's just his brain playing games.
"I will get you a phone; you can give me a call if you need anything." Do-Jin continued.
But Hyun-So was too lost to hear it clearly.
They did stop to buy him a phone. It wasn't that Do-Jin didn't want to get him a phone out of doubt; he just forgot about it. They did find his wallet, almost empty, but the money in it was too strange, but no phone.
After they got in front of an electronics store.
"Stay here for a while; I will be back." Do-Jin walked in, leaving Hyun-So behind on the dark road.
It was mostly empty; Hyun-So leaned over the car. He noticed the same car he had seen back before. There were barely three to four cars in the area apart from their own.
The lights flickered; they turned it on and off again and again. It was getting annoying; he couldn't understand why they did this.
His anger piled up, and Hyun-So walked towards the car.
He shouldn't have done this.
He knocked on the window once.
The flickering lights stopped.
Something moved in the corner of his eye—a hand grabbed his shoulder.
Before he could turn, a sharp jab sank into his neck.
Rough hands shoved him forward, and the world spun.
The last thing he heard was muffled laughter, cruel and sloppy, before everything went black.
- - -
Do-Jin got out with a box in his hand. Hyun-So didn't care about the phone model or design when he asked, so he thought he could just get it alone.
He shouldn't have left him alone.
The whole place was empty except for his own car; no one was here.
He thought that Hyun-So might be inside the car; walking close, he checked; no one was there.
He looked around for possible spots for Hyun-So to be in, for anyone to be in. But found no one.
Hyun-So was gone.
'Someone is following us.' The words rang inside his head.
He should've brought him the phone earlier or at least a smartwatch.
Panicked, he dialed for Byung-chul.
"Yes?" he answered.
"H... Hyun-So, I think he got kidnapped." Do-Jin's voice trembled.
"What the fuck are you talking about? Again?" Han was in disbelief.
"I... Can we find him first?" Getting inside, he started the car, not knowing where to go. "We can't call the cops."
"What are you planning then?" Han sighed out.
"I have an idea who it could be. Just need to find where they took him."
The engine roared on the clean highway.
- - -
Hyun-So opened his eyes, his head still heavy from the drug.
His hands were tied behind the chair.
Slowly, as he regained his composure, he realized how many men were around him.
They looked like thugs.
"I guess you are finally up." A man snatched a chair sitting in front of him.
Slow, shaky breaths. It was hard to breathe.
Suffocating, something was suffocating him, chemicals, no, maybe pheromones.
He looked up after the thought struck him.
"What? Getting excited with so many alphas around?" The man laughed; the laugh was carried around the place.
This is bad; he can't breathe. There could be some dangerous chemicals, no pheromones in here.
He just woke up, but he was already losing it again.
All his senses were fading in thin air; he is going to die here for sure.
His lungs burned.
It wasn't just one scent—it was a storm of them. Acidic, sweet, musky, and bitter.
They layered over each other like gasoline on water, each one fighting for dominance, none letting him breathe.
This is it. he thought. This is how I die.
His vision folded in on itself—
—and then the door slammed open.
Right before he completely lost his vision, he saw someone entering the warehouse.