PC | Chapter 1.4

My nose flared on its own. It was a very refreshing scent, if I had to say… a scent I had smelled many times before. After a long moment of savoring and thinking, I found the answer. It was peppermint. And it was Jung Inhyuk’s own pheromone. Even his pheromones were so very Jung Inhyuk.

All at once, my chest tightened and my breathing turned shallow. The scent gradually thickened and took over my sense of smell. Haa, hot breath slipped between my lips.

“Shinjae, that kind of thing is something you hide. What I know is that, at a vanishingly small probability, a beta can mutate into an omega through the pheromones and semen of a dominant alpha.”

“….”

“I don’t know exactly what’s happening inside your stomach right now. So you should have just shut your mouth and taken my dick while praying that the organ starting to form in your belly would break down.”

“…!”

“Even if your stomach turned to shit and you couldn’t have a child, I still wouldn’t let you go, but at least you wouldn’t be carrying my baby.”

Ah, a low sigh slipped from between my lips. Why hadn’t I thought that far ahead? I should have ignored whatever happened to that unnecessary organ, cursed my body for reacting to his hands, and spread my legs for him like always. I bit my lip, cursing my stupid head.

“You’re stupid, but pretty.”

Knock, knock.

At the knock, Jung Inhyuk’s face twisted viciously. But soon he brushed his hands off and climbed out from under the desk. Then he shoved the chair deep inside, as if pressing down on me. A moment later, I heard the door open.

“If it’s not urgent, I told you not to come in.”

“…I’m sorry. The chairman told me to come up immediately.”

“Why would the chairman suddenly call for me? Did something happen?”

“Vice President Bang Seojin came by a little while ago. I think it’s because of that.”

I knew Bang Seojin too. She was the youngest of the KJ Group and the person Chairman Jung had picked as Jung Inhyuk’s match. Chairman Jung must have felt a huge sense of crisis when I stopped being Jung Inhyuk’s loyal secretary and became his pretty accessory instead.

Maybe that was why one day the chairman’s secretary secretly helped me flee overseas. But by then I was already famous as an actor, and I could not escape people’s cameras.

From the plane to the airport of the country I had landed in, to a supermarket where I stopped briefly to buy groceries, even though I hid my face with a hat and mask, tourists with sharp eyes posted sightings of actor Lee Shinjae online, and my escape act ended in a week. I still remembered vividly the day I was dragged back here by Assistant Manager An. And Jung Inhyuk welcomed me with a smug expression.

-Shinjae, this is one of the reasons I made you an actor. If you want to run away from me, you’ll have to get plastic surgery. Quietly, without anyone knowing. But if I catch you again, you’ll have to come back wearing your own face, right? I like your pretty face.

Chairman Jung probably had no idea Jung Inhyuk was this insane. Keeping me by his side was the chairman’s own way of shooting himself in the foot. Maybe that was why Chairman Jung had become so obsessed with marrying him off.

“What is the security team doing? They can’t even stop one bastard like that.”

“Shame on us.”

“For now, tell the chairman I’ll be up in thirty minutes.”

“Please come up as soon as possible…”

“Get out.”

At Jung Inhyuk’s sharp bark, the door closed. Soon the chair slid back and Jung Inhyuk suddenly poked his head down. Then he grabbed my hospital gown, which had been left in a mess.

The soft floor that swallowed even footsteps dragged my body out from under the desk. Unlike the dark space beneath the desk, which showed the stark difference between me and Jung Inhyuk, the outside was bright.

Before my eyes had even adjusted to the light, Jung Inhyuk dragged me over to the bookshelf covering one wall. He touched a certain part of the bookshelf, and it split open to the sides, revealing a door. He typed in the password with practiced ease and opened it. I hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“V-Vice President, wait!”

“Why?”

“I don’t, want to go in.”

I looked at Jung Inhyuk with pleading eyes. If I went through that door, it felt as if even the half-assed freedom I had been given would be taken away. I would not be able to leave without Jung Inhyuk’s permission, and what I ate or wore would not be freely chosen either.

The worst part was that inside, I could not tell whether it was night or day. Of course there was a clock, but if Jung Inhyuk wanted, this was a place where he could easily fake day and night. I shook my head desperately and resisted.

“Vice President, please.”

If I crossed this door, it felt as if I would vanish from the world.

Jung Inhyuk gave a low snort and shook off my hand.

“Director Yoon Pansu’s script is on the desk. The role offered was Kim Jaei. Be a good boy and play nicely.”

“Vi-Vice President!”

Even with my desperate call, Jung Inhyuk shoved me through the door. A blast of cold air swept over my body, making me shiver all over. Jung Inhyuk smiled and waved at me. Then the door shut, and the lock engaged. A red light blinked steadily above the door.

I was trapped.

I took off the hospital gown top, now little more than rags, and threw it onto the floor before walking inward.

This was a hidden room connected to Jung Inhyuk’s office. It could only be opened with Jung Inhyuk’s fingerprints and password combination, and only Jung Inhyuk’s closest aide, the secretary chief Park Suwon, and Chairman Jung knew it existed. My fingerprint was also registered, but I had never once opened it with my own hand.

A hidden room was normally used for private conversations or to hide important documents, but Jung Inhyuk was using it as a place to lock me up and satisfy his desires.

Past the several soundproof doors was a room shaped like a studio apartment. In the roughly seven-pyeong space were a bed, a small desk, a wardrobe, and a mini-fridge, with a small bathroom to the left.

One wall was lined neatly, in alphabetical order, with the trophies I had received during my acting career, Blu-rays of the dramas and films I had appeared in, movie posters, and scripts.

I took a shirt and pants from the wardrobe and dressed, then grabbed the first-aid kit and sat down at the desk. When I removed the blood-stained bandage, a deep cut came into view.

Blood was still seeping because Jung Inhyuk had pressed down on the wound. What an ignorant bastard. Cursing inwardly, I found a hemostatic agent, sprayed it on, and waited for the bleeding to stop.

I leaned back in the chair and stared blankly at the ceiling. Come to think of it, Jung Inhyuk’s pheromones, which I had not realized before, filled this hidden room completely.

To think I was one day smelling Jung Inhyuk’s pheromones… A dry laugh escaped me in disbelief.

When I was in high school, I admired Jung Inhyuk. He lived in the annex, handled all the errands for the chairman and madam, and even gave me pocket money now and then, sometimes gifting expensive electronics or clothes. I was grateful for his kindness, but at the same time, I felt burdened by it.

“Hyung, I’m really grateful for all this, but honestly it’s a little overwhelming.”

“It’s overwhelming even at this level?”

“…Yes. I’m very thankful for looking out for me, but the clothes and electronics you give me are too expensive.”

“Hm, if it’s that uncomfortable, think of it as an investment in my future secretary.”

“Ah…”

“If I’m going to keep you close and use you well, you’ll have to study hard and stay healthy, right? Put on warmer clothes. The weather’s cold.”

The casual, indifferent way he spoke was cool, and the suit that hugged his well-built muscles looked amazing. He was the first real adult I had ever seen. I wanted to become like Jung Inhyuk, and I wanted to live as his person.

“I’ll study hard and definitely become someone useful to you, hyung. Thank you so much.”

“Sure, I’m looking forward to it.”

I fell in love with him, never once realizing that the beast was hiding sharp claws while waiting for the right time to hunt. I used errands as an excuse to go to the inner house, lingering outside his room for no reason, or bringing snacks in place of the housekeeper. Every time I did, Jung Inhyuk greeted me with a bright smile.

I would stand there dazed, my gaze stolen by Jung Inhyuk’s smile, until I felt a hand pat my head and startled back to my senses. Even then, I did not know that the gaze on me, the hand stroking my cheek, and the gentle tone were nothing more than a performance.

A bitter laugh slipped between my lips. I missed that Jung Inhyuk. The one who hid everything while using kindness as a weapon to bewitch me…

I pushed the thought away and straightened the chair. My vision swam for a moment, so I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them and checked the cut on my wrist, where the blood had stopped. I thought it had been a shallow slash, but the wound was deeper than I expected. Besides this one, there were several other scars on my wrist from old injuries.

I wrapped the wound in clean bandages and secured them with a pin. I put the bandages and hemostatic agent back into the kit and closed it. I pushed the first-aid kit to one side of the desk and picked up the script Jung Inhyuk had mentioned.

I was pulled into the script almost immediately. It was a crime thriller about a corrupt prosecutor who tried to cover up a case and ended up caught in a series of events. The story was interesting and fun, worthy of a director who had won top prizes at multiple film festivals.

The protagonist, and the role offered to me, Kim Jaei, was, in the beginning, the so-called abusive prosecutor who committed every kind of wicked deed and wielded power recklessly.