AOA 113

If the truth was examined, Kim Juhyeon’s lie would be exposed, but that would make things too noisy. I wanted to handle it as quietly as possible, like what was common in a chaebol family.

I didn’t care if people said I couldn’t manage my subordinates. But I didn’t want to see or suffer Baek Jaehan or Im Songyoon picking a fight using that as a pretext.

The best method was to leave it to Baek Mugyeong. Unlike me, who had no real voice because of an arranged marriage, Baek Mugyeong had definite authority. Even before the regression, Baek Mugyeong had taken care of everything.

Sure enough, Baek Mugyeong reacted.

“You mean the wedding gift?”

“Yes. This time it’s a cufflink and tie pin set. Made of platinum. You’ve probably never seen it. I never wore it once.”

Before the regression, what Kim Juhyeon had stolen was a bracelet. It was a wedding gift from Baek Mugyeong’s buyer. Since I didn’t wear the bracelet around, she siphoned it away.

But this time I wore the gifted bracelets whenever I had the chance. The flashy bracelets still felt burdensome, but I wanted to at least prevent an accident of losing them.

So Kim Juhyeon took the set of gold-plated cufflinks and tie pin engraved with the initial J. My birth father had said that a man should have something like that and had ordered it for me.

After the wedding I had never used it once and had shoved it away in a corner, and Kim Juhyeon took it. She hadn’t even bothered to put in a fake replacement. Maybe she had guessed I would never use it in my life. Surprising, if it could be called a talent.

“Did she steal wedding gifts before too?”

“No, no. I mean, what she stole this time was that.”

While talking, her actions from before the regression slipped out. I corrected it quickly as no, but flustered, I stammered a little.

He seemed a little puzzled, but Baek Mugyeong didn’t ask twice. He probably thought I had just misspoken.

I excused the installation of a home camera in the dressing room as advice from my birth father. Then I asked Baek Mugyeong what should be done, saying there was clear evidence.

“I will handle this myself. You won’t be seeing Kim Juhyeon for long.”

“Yes.”

Since I got the answer I wanted, I nodded without saying anything more. I sent Baek Mugyeong the video of Kim Juhyun stealing the item through messenger, telling him to use it if evidence was needed. The more evidence, the better.

“Yes. I’ll play a bit longer, what about you?”

“I’ll keep watching too. Let’s go in together.”

“Asking now is a little strange, but aren’t you bored?”

While stepping back with the ball, I asked just in case. Baek Mugyeong barely looked at his phone and only watched me play with the ball.

It was like he was watching a bear perform a trick, maybe.

I asked back indirectly, was it fun watching me play alone? I thought a quick-witted man would surely understand.

Sure enough, Baek Mugyeong made a strange expression and then laughed.

“It’s entertaining.”

“Then that’s enough.”

Since Baek Mugyeong said it was fun, I felt it was fine. For a man whose mood was down, I decided I would gladly be a bear performing tricks.

After a full round of playing with the ball, I wrapped up well past 9 p.m. Until then, Baek Mugyeong had not gone inside but stayed in place.

The serious and stiff look on Baek Mugyeong’s face had eased a lot by the end. That alone made me feel the effort had been worth it.

We entered the house one after another. Since Kim Juhyeon had left for the annex after work, there was no one inside the house.

I took off my shoes and moved naturally, then stopped in front of the stairs. Almost at the same time, we turned our heads toward each other. From our eyes alone we could tell we were thinking the same thing.

“Go up first. I’ll go later.”

From past experience, I was the one to step back first. Tomorrow I had a lecture early in the morning. Predictable disasters had to be avoided.

I deliberately put some distance between us and then signaled with my eyes for Baek Mugyeong to hurry upstairs. But the man looked between the stairs and me once, then smiled strangely.

“May I hug you?”

“No.”

“I’m not aroused.”

“You never know that.”

Since we had grown closer, even this kind of back-and-forth was possible. I had already experienced how an Alpha and Omega could ignite just by making eye contact.

I stepped further away. Other Alphas’ pheromones didn’t affect me, but with Baek Mugyeong’s I couldn’t keep my mind clear. If things went wrong, I had to run far away.

“I know you have a lecture tomorrow morning. I’ll just hug you.”

It was the classic bad guy line of only holding hands in bed. But Baek Mugyeong was different from those kinds of men. Above all, this was the first time he had spoken like this, which made it hard to say no. His gaze staring at me even seemed desperate.

“Really?”

“I’ll stake my honor.”

“You don’t have to stake your honor.”

When I closed the distance I had put between us, Baek Mugyeong reached out his arms and pulled me in. There was no strength in his arms. It felt like he was carefully holding something fragile, and it made me feel strange.

Without saying much, he even took a deep breath, enough to make his shoulders rise and fall. I had never experienced that before and didn’t know what to say. So instead, I patted Baek Mugyeong’s back that was pressed to me, as if I was telling him to cheer up.

“Ignorance cannot be an excuse.”

I couldn’t tell why Baek Mugyeong mentioned ignorance. I didn’t know what he meant, but since it sounded like a mutter to himself, I stayed quiet.

“We’ll have to move.”

“Move?”

I turned my head while still in his embrace. But Baek Mugyeong’s face wasn’t visible.

“I don’t like this place.”

“All of a sudden?”

“When we get a new house, do you need anything?”

“No, but are you really going to move?”

“I will.”

Baek Mugyeong answered and loosened his arms. Judging by his face, he really was planning to move.

Moving wasn’t like going to a convenience store to pick out bread. Finding a decent house was difficult. More than that, I had heard that this house was prepared by Baek Jinseok.

“Are you sure it’s fine? I heard the Chairman arranged this house for you.”

“No problem. I’ll handle everything, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Okay.”

Since Baek Mugyeong said he would handle everything, I had no reason to object. Whether here or somewhere else, it was fine for me.

When I said I understood, Baek Mugyeong smiled faintly. For some reason he looked sad, and because of that he seemed strangely beautiful.

“I’ll go up first.”

Baek Mugyeong nodded and went up the stairs. I stood still until the sound of footsteps and the door closing echoed through the quiet house.

For some reason, my chest tightened.

I really didn’t know why he had looked sad.

*

A strong force choked my neck.

I couldn’t breathe properly. I struggled desperately, but I couldn’t shake off the large hand.

In my blurred vision, black smoke wavered. Even without seeing the face clearly, I could tell it was Jeong Guhyeon. No, at some point it changed into my birth father. Or into my stepmother, or Baek Jaehan and Im Songyoon, or Baek Jinseok.

While my breath caught in my throat, I realized this was a nightmare. But the fear of death made me feel like I was going insane.

I don’t want to die. I want to live. Save me. Go away. Get lost.

I didn’t want to be here. I had to scream, struggle, lash out, do anything to return to reality.

The familiar ceiling came into view. Only after a moment did I realize it was the bedroom.

My body felt stuck to the floor. My arms and legs were stiff and wouldn’t move properly. On top of that, my heavy eyelids felt like they would close again any second.

I knew if I didn’t get up now, I would fall into another nightmare. I forced strength into my body and suddenly sat upright.

“Haaaah.”

I was completely disoriented. I took several deep breaths, but my pounding heart didn’t calm down.

It had been a long time since I had a nightmare of being strangled. Even after getting counseling, the nightmares still came sometimes. But after I made a huge profit with stocks and after Jeong Guhyeon had been driven out to the United States, he hadn’t appeared in my dreams.

Just a few days ago, I had been pleased, thinking this was the power of money. But then I had another nightmare like this.

“There’s nothing going on though…”

There was no incident that would make me recall Jeong Guhyeon. Everything was going well. I had made money, Jeong Guhyeon was gone, and my relationship with Baek Mugyeong was good. Now all that was left was to divorce and regain my freedom. Yet the nightmare came.

I rubbed my face as I took in a deep breath. When my senses returned, I felt the clammy sweat soaking my body.

Since I didn’t think I could fall asleep again, I checked the time. It was just past 5 a.m.

I unconsciously sighed. Thinking of today’s schedule, I should sleep more, but my head had become too clear.

“I should get up.”

Without hesitation, I climbed out of bed. I drank the water on the nightstand and went downstairs to the first floor still in my pajamas.

Although it was Sunday, the housekeeper, Oh Heesuk, was already working in the kitchen.

“You’re up early.”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to take your medicine?”

“Ah… no.”

The herbal medicine my birth father had given me had to be taken first thing in the morning. But taking medicine at 5 a.m. felt strange, so I shook my head.

“Do you need anything else?”

“A cup of cocoa, please.”

I wanted to drink sweet instant coffee, but unfortunately, this house didn’t have any. So I asked for something else sweet.