LCS | Chapter 2.1

Hyeonjo first met Chaegong on a winter day in an alley. As Hyeonjo was walking off a fight with his father over his engagement and clearing his head, a tightly curled-up figure came into view at the mouth of the alley. One look at the bruised cheek was enough to understand the situation.

Hyeonjo had meant to walk past. He caught the faint, drifting pheromones and realized the person was an omega, emotionally unstable, but Hyeonjo had no reason to help a stranger he had never seen before. And yet, he stopped in front of the bruised, gaunt omega.

Even now, he did not really know why. He had only noticed the small twitch of red, frozen toes beyond the cheap slippers. Only the breath spilling from the bowed omega’s lips had caught his eye in a day when everyone was bundled in thick coats. When that white vapor mixed into the wind and drifted away, the helpless flutter of exposed eyelashes had done the rest.

So he stepped closer on impulse. When he spoke, the face that slowly lifted toward him did not look bad at all once the wounds were gone. The cheeks reddened by the cold were marked with purple bruises, and the lips, a shade redder than those cheeks, were split and crusted with blood. Behind the gently lowered eyes, frightened pupils moved slowly.

When he drew a breath, he could faintly smell the sweet scent peculiar to an omega. Being recessive was a bit of a letdown, but still, an omega was an omega. Hyeonjo held out his hand. Come with me. Ordinary people would not have trusted a stranger at first meeting, but the omega standing on the edge of a cliff obediently followed him.

The omega’s name was Lee Chaegong, and they were the same age. The family story he reluctantly told was the sort one often saw in dramas. Hyeonjo nodded and said it must have been hard, but in truth he did not think much of it. The protagonists in movies and dramas smiled brightly and lived on even in situations like that. Chaegong’s circumstances did not move him very deeply.

Hyeonjo had two reasons for bringing Chaegong home. One was that he wanted to try seducing a naive omega rather than one worn down by experience, and the other was that he wanted to get back at his family. They were already annoying him with this engagement and that, and it infuriated him that they had broken their promise not to interfere with him while he was in college.

He wanted to tell them he was seeing an omega these days, let them get their hopes up, then take Chaegong, who came from an unimpressive family and was not even a dominant, and disappoint them thoroughly.

At first that had definitely been his intent, but living together changed his mind.

It was not bad to come home and have Chaegong run out to greet him with a smile and ask if he was back, and he found himself quietly looking forward to the meals that gradually got better. The housekeeper who came twice a week did her job well, but Hyeonjo was also bothered by a stranger moving his things around however they pleased, so when Chaegong started doing the housework, he was honestly very satisfied.

Then an incident happened. Chaegong’s father died. Hyeonjo actually laughed, thinking it was exactly the sort of death that suited him, but he did not say that to the wailing Chaegong. If the man who beat him and cursed him every day had died, shouldn’t he be glad? He could not understand Chaegong, crying so sadly because it was his father.

It was that night. Hyeonjo, lying in bed, opened his eyes at the sweet scent brushing his nose. The fragrance drifting in from the living room was unmistakably an omega’s pheromone. He could even hear groaning, as if a heat cycle had broken out, and Hyeonjo, with nothing to hold him back, headed straight for the living room.

Chaegong, curled up on the sofa, was giving off the damp scent of flowers. It was only a recessive’s scent, so it was not especially strong, but that did not make it unpleasant.

Like an omega in heat, Chaegong did not push Hyeonjo away. From the looks of it, it seemed to be his first time, but perhaps because of the heat cycle, Hyeonjo found himself salivating at the sight of the thoroughly wet hole. Without hesitation, he coaxed Chaegong into spreading his legs. The slender body was light, and the scent was just as light, but the moans that grew louder as Hyeonjo drove upward into his waist were pleasing to hear.

The next morning, while giving Chaegong birth control pills, Hyeonjo told him to stay here. Since Chaegong had nowhere else to go anyway, he hesitated and then nodded. To Hyeonjo, Chaegong was an excellent housekeeper. He cooked well, cleaned well, and teaching him to take him at night had been worth the trouble. Omegas who could be had whenever he wanted without consequences were not that common.

He had spent many nights with omegas over the years, and among them, how many had clung to him, begging to be bonded? Even if his scent was a little faint, Chaegong was truly an easy omega to have around.

Raised without proper protection, Chaegong was not stupid, but he was weak in matters of common sense. If he saw even a slightly interesting TV program, he would act as though he might walk right into the screen. Hyeonjo found that a little funny and a little cute, so he took him to the movie theater.

It was because, in casual conversation, he had heard that Chaegong had never once been to a movie theater. The alpha who had taken him in was Kwon Hyeonjo, and if the omega sleeping with him had not even had that much experience, then there was no way he could hold his head up anywhere.

The theater they had rented out entirely was quiet and spacious. He had told them to put on the most popular movie, so they could just go straight in. Chaegong kept trotting after him with a popcorn bucket in his arms, his eyes sparkling. After passing several doors marked with large numbers, they entered the one door where an employee stood.

With no one around, it was not noisy, and there was no one to disturb them. As images spread across the giant screen, Chaegong’s gentle eyes widened round. He was also worth watching when he flinched at the louder-than-expected sound and hunched his shoulders.

For the rest of the movie, Chaegong darted his eyes around as if everything were amazing. Hyeonjo could feel the omega sneaking glances at him, but he did not act like he noticed. It was because the movie was more interesting than he had expected.

“How was it?”

The first time was always special. He was curious what Chaegong thought of his first movie theater visit. Chaegong, who had even been awkward about reclining his seat, wore a rather bright smile. His gentle eyes, like a puppy’s, curved softly.

“It was so good.”

It was the answer he had expected. Exaggerating a little, there was a line of people who wanted even one date with him. And most of them could not even hold a proper conversation with Hyeonjo. So of course it would feel good when he, of his own accord, had rented out a movie theater and spent time together as if they were on a real date. Even knowing that, for some reason it was satisfying.

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Watching Chaegong’s reddened cheeks in the light from the screen, Hyeonjo smiled quite sincerely.

No matter that he was the heir to one of the country’s leading conglomerates, he still had to take exams like everyone else. Midterms were not difficult. If you just paid attention in class, most of it was easy to get right. Others might not agree, but other people’s opinions held no interest for Hyeonjo.

As Hyeonjo left the building much earlier than usual, many eyes followed him. Since this was a prestigious university, most of the people here came from well-off families, but Hyeonjo was far beyond even their standards. The fact that he had been admitted here alone had already spawned dozens of articles.

Most people went out of their way to curry favor with him. If they could somehow build a connection with him, then after graduation they might land a job at one of the country’s top companies, never ranked lower than third among the most sought-after. Even if they were not after falling crumbs, it was natural to be intrigued by the heir who would one day lead a major conglomerate.

As always, Hyeonjo brushed off the glances raining down on him and thought about what to do today. Should he call some omegas over and have fun, or just take a long nap? Then someone came to mind. Lee Chaegong. The omega who would be waiting for him quietly at home.

Since he did not feel the need to treat him roughly, he had taken to being a little kinder to him, and it was rather amusing how his eyes would brighten and he would grow shy. His hands, as small as his slender body, were at least one knuckle smaller than Hyeonjo’s, but with those hands he cheerfully took care of one thing after another.

These days, his cooking had improved quite a bit, to the point that even Hyeonjo, with his rather picky palate, sometimes found it delicious.

He deposited his salary every month without fail, but Hyeonjo had never once seen him spend it. When Hyeonjo had his secretary buy clothes for him, he thanked him and wore only those; he never bought anything for himself.

At most, he would buy a little food from the mart by the house, saying he would cook for Hyeonjo. Even that stopped once Hyeonjo had a servant do the shopping every three days, and going out at all almost disappeared.

He thought he finally understood the saying that money is only really spent by those who have spent it before. Tsking at the shabby state of his omega, Hyeonjo suddenly remembered something he had seen not long ago.

Driving to meet someone, Hyeonjo had spotted a long line of people. It was an amusement park, crowded because it was the weekend. Lifting his gaze, he saw huge steel structures tangled together in every direction.

To be honest, Hyeonjo had never cared much for rides, but the omega in his house had surely never been on any of them even once. It seemed like a good feeling to imagine that blank face lighting up with surprise and excitement. Not that there was any other meaning to it, just that he could already picture the look of someone flustered with gratitude toward Hyeonjo.

Not even knowing why his own steps were so quick, Hyeonjo opened the door to his house. Perhaps he had not expected him to come back so early, because those round eyes blinked in surprise again and again before curving with delight. Savoring his own mercy bestowed upon his omega, Hyeonjo called out,

“Get dressed and come out now!”

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