AOA 50

As soon as I spat out that curse, Baek Mugyeong looked taken aback. Not that I cared, I kept going.

“And I wasn’t talking about you either, Baek Mugyeong. I mean, it’s fine to tell me to be careful, but why say you’ll introduce me to an alpha? I’m not a saint, but I do have a conscience, you know. I’m not going to cheat, so just keep that in mind!”

All the frustration I’d kept bottled up came bursting out. By the end, my voice was even trembling.

Still, letting it all out made me feel a bit better. But when I saw Baek Mugyeong’s surprised face, I started to wonder if I’d just made a huge mistake.

Sure enough, the man gave a strange smile. I couldn’t tell whether it was a sneer or just sheer disbelief.

“Uh… sorry for yelling. I got worked up.”

I figured it was best to start with an apology. There’s nothing worse than someone who vents by shouting.

Sitting on the sofa, Baek Mugyeong looked up at me. His stare was direct, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Was he angry? Or just dumbfounded?

But his response caught me off guard.

“It’s fine.”

“…Okay.”

“You can be angrier if you want.”

“No, I’ve said enough.”

Any more and I’d just look like a lunatic, so I politely declined. Since Baek Mugyeong seemed to understand, this was a good place to end things.

He didn’t say anything more and simply changed the subject.

“It’s better if you’re discharged tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay.”

Normally, discharges were set around noon, so that would be like staying one more day. Still, I didn’t argue and just nodded. It was a VIP room, so the fees must’ve been ridiculous, but I wasn’t the one paying.

“I’ll come pick you up at 4.”

“You don’t have to. Just send the car. Or I can take a taxi.”

“A bodyguard will be arriving shortly.”

“Huh? A bodyguard?”

It was like he hadn’t heard a word I said. And I had no idea why he suddenly brought up a bodyguard.

“It might be unnecessary, but better to be cautious.”

“Why?”

“Since Lee Jaegwang showed interest in you, it’s safer to have one.”

“Wow…”

I was speechless. Baek Mugyeong’s words basically implied Lee Jaegwang might break into my hospital room at night.

“On second thought, a bodyguard might draw too much attention. I’ll come myself.”

I had to wonder if I heard that right.

Who’s coming?

I stared at Baek Mugyeong. He must’ve understood my look, because he added,

“Having your husband nearby is better than a random bodyguard.”

“It’s fine. Just send the bodyguard.”

“If I do, people will talk. I’ll just go home and change and be back.”

“No, wait—”

I tried hard to stop him, but Baek Mugyeong wouldn’t listen. He got up and left the room with a quick “I’ll be back soon.” His movements were swift.

Left alone in the middle of the hospital room, I let out a long sigh.

I never imagined that having two short conversations with Lee Jaegwang would lead to being put under Baek Mugyeong’s personal security detail.

“Seriously…”

The thought of having to sleep in the same room as Baek Mugyeong felt daunting.

“Who’s uncomfortable here, me or him?”

It was a VIP room, so it had a big sofa and a caregiver’s cot. Still, it wasn’t the same as sleeping in a real bed at home.

If he was willing to put up with the discomfort, there was no reason for me to stop him.

“Do whatever you want,” I muttered with a scoff.

*

Nightmares strike at the weakest parts of a person.

The fear I’d felt during my father’s funeral and the sight of my mother, clearly ill, surged over me like black ink.

One part of my brain recognized it was just a dream, but that quickly faded. When I started running from a shapeless monster, I felt like my heart was going to stop.

It was even more terrifying because I knew what would happen next.

As if it had read my mind, Jeong Guhyeon appeared. A nightmare with his face re-enacted the moment of death and wrapped its hands around my neck.

Go away. No. Please, save me. I don’t want to die.

The desperation never made it into words. I was frozen like a fish caught in a net, completely paralyzed.

Tears came from fear, helplessness, and fury.

I wanted to live. Even if I was going to die, I fought back to the end, because I knew that was the only way the dream would stop.

“Jeong Minchae!”

My body was shaking. A voice that didn’t belong to Jeong Guhyeon cut through the nightmare.

As soon as I realized the voice belonged to Baek Mugyeong, my mind snapped awake like I’d been drenched in cold water.

“Haah… haah…”

My panicked breathing filled the air. The room was dark, just like the nightmare. My vision was blurry with tears.

I couldn’t even tell if I was still alive. That’s what scared me the most.

“Jeong Minchae? Are you awake?”

I turned toward the voice. Through the haze, a distorted silhouette came into view. After blinking a few times, I realized it was Baek Mugyeong.

Was he dead too? But his voice sounded so real.

I couldn’t make sense of anything. It was all too confusing.

“You looked like you were having a nightmare, so I woke you up.”

He’d said that before too, at the hotel, when I’d had a nightmare. He’d woken me up then, too.

I wasn’t dead. I was alive.

Me, and him too.

The tears that had started to dry up began falling again. Some part of me thought it wasn’t worth crying over. I was alive, there was nothing to worry about. But the dark feeling gnawed at my heart. I felt anxious, scared, terrified.

“Doctor…” I started, but my voice caught.

I clutched Baek Mugyeong’s arm tightly, my panic plain as day. If I didn’t hold onto something, I felt like I’d fall into a bottomless void.

Or rather, I would fall.

Thankfully, Baek Mugyeong didn’t shake me off. I curled in on myself and sobbed, hiccuping uncontrollably.

***

Baek Mugyeong was well aware that he was a difficult person.

He couldn’t stand bugs with more than six legs. Among them, cicadas, those loud summer shriekers, gave him the impulse to shoot them with a gun.

Due to childhood trauma, he froze up completely in dark, enclosed places where airflow stopped and the smell of damp clung to everything.

There were many things he couldn’t eat. He couldn’t stand messy clutter. Even the sight of scattered objects drove him crazy.

And above all else, he absolutely despised rude behavior.

—“Come out. It’s been a while. Let’s grab a drink.”

It was past 11 p.m. Making a call out of the blue and demanding someone come out was incredibly rude.

Baek Mugyeong clenched his jaw and suppressed the irritation that rose when he got Baek Yeongseop’s call in the hospital lounge. They weren’t close enough to be meeting for drinks late at night, not even close. In fact, it wouldn’t be strange for them to throw glasses in each other’s faces.

Baek Mugyeong had parachuted into DS Motors as Executive Director two years ago. The father-son duo of Baek Jaehan and Baek Yeongseop had made no secret of their wariness.

Baek Jaehan, now older, was cautious, but Yeongseop had been openly antagonistic from the start. He’d repeatedly tried to treat Baek Mugyeong like a subordinate, throwing tantrums when it didn’t go his way.

At Baek Jinseok’s birthday party, after some drinks, Yeongseop had tried to intimidate Baek Mugyeong with pheromones, and got hit with a counterattack. Since then, they barely contacted each other. They’d just exchange formal greetings at family or company events.

Yeongseop’s sudden call tonight was likely because of DS Motors’ president, Choi Jongsu. A recall scandal had erupted due to manipulated testing data.

The problem traced back to a valve supplied by a company run by Choi’s family. The recall had already been approved, and the damages were going to be massive.

Choi Jongsu hadn’t been publicly named yet, but he must be feeling the heat.

He was Baek Jaehan’s close ally, so he must have begged for help. Baek Mugyeong could see right through the move. He had no interest in playing along. The last thing he wanted was a late-night drink with Baek Yeongseop.

Luckily, he had the perfect excuse.

“I can’t. I’m at the hospital.”

—“Hospital? Why? Ah, your omega’s hospitalized, right? But why are you there? Don’t tell me you’re staying the night? Wow. You’re so devoted. You some kind of romantic?”

Baek Mugyeong knew exactly what kind of person Yeongseop was. The kind who wouldn’t hesitate to use violence, who took pleasure in destroying what others held dear.

Letting Yeongseop think he cherished his arranged spouse would be unwise.

“Grandfather likes him.”

—“Ha. You’re such a papaboy. Or is it grandpaboy? Whatever. Just come out. Your grandpa won’t mind if you step out for a bit. You know Golden Bridge, right? Come there.”

“If I show up at a place like that, Grandfather will find out.”

—“Damn, you’re picky as hell. Fine, somewhere else then. Gran Rosé. That work?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. How about lunch?”

Rather than flat-out refusing, Baek Mugyeong offered an alternative. He didn’t want to meet Yeongseop at some sleazy lounge bar with women clinging to them, or in a members-only club, just the two of them.