AOA 55

There wasn’t much that could be done for a bruise. Cold compresses and applying cream for a day or two was the best that could be done.

The doctor who issued the two-week injury report said that it would heal faster with laser treatment a few days later. After booking an appointment for two days later, I picked up my medication at the pharmacy.

The ride home was cloaked in silence. When Baek Mugyeong parked in the basement garage, I couldn’t hold back my anxiety any longer and blurted out:

“Say whatever you want to say.”

Waiting around to be scolded after messing up was the worst. It was better to just take the hit than sit there clutching my pounding heart in fear.

Baek Mugyeong, who had just been about to undo his seatbelt, paused and looked at me. He looked like he had a lot to say but instead of speaking right away, he frowned slightly, turned his head to the side, let out a long sigh, and ran a hand through his hair.

It was a blatant display of him trying to control his emotions, and the tension in the car instantly turned sharp.

“Um…”

“Jeong Minchae.”

“Yes.”

Just hearing my name made me sit up straight. When you’ve got something to feel guilty about, your head lowers on its own.

“I said I wouldn’t interfere with what you do, but… ha. What were you thinking? Don’t you remember what I said? If an alpha shows up in a frenzy, avoid them. But you went and provoked him on purpose. Did you think Lee Jeongwook wouldn’t get violent?”

“Well, that bastard—I mean, Lee Jeongwook—released his pheromones, and I got pissed and snapped… I tried to walk away at first, you saw the video.”

I looked him straight in the eyes as I explained. Whatever else, I had tried to avoid it in the beginning. And I wasn’t the kind of person who could just stand by while someone used their pheromones to intimidate me.

I’d run into people like Lee Jeongwook before, picking fights for no reason. We’d yell at each other, but I’d never thrown the first punch. Still, once someone hit me, if I didn’t want to let it go, I’d always hit back.

“Aren’t you worried about the consequences?”

“I figured my biological father would handle the aftermath.”

“So you did it fully expecting he’d clean it up.”

Baek Mugyeong’s gaze sharpened. I couldn’t respond and looked away for a moment before glancing back at him.

“Is this going to be a problem?”

I hadn’t really worried when I’d punched Lee Jeongwook, but seeing Baek Mugyeong’s face made me start to.

He and the lawyer had shown up and settled things so easily. There was little chance of Lee Jeongwook pressing charges, but if this got to Baek Jinseok, it could still blow up.

“It won’t be a problem. You took one hit and returned two. He’ll be pleased. More importantly, let’s get out of the car first.”

Baek Mugyeong gave a swift answer, then scowled and stepped out of the car. I followed, still feeling dazed.

He was standing near the stairwell entrance of the underground garage.

“Is something wrong?”

“I smell Lee Jeongwook’s pheromones.”

“Ah…”

I looked down at the front of my coat and then back at Baek Mugyeong.

Normally, an omega’s scent from another alpha’s pheromones would fade with time, or a shower.

It hadn’t been that long since I was exposed to Lee Jeongwook’s scent. The sharp rose-scented cologne still clung faintly, though it wasn’t overwhelming to me.

But it might have felt different to an alpha like Baek Mugyeong. They were known to find another alpha’s pheromones physiologically repulsive.

So the fact that Baek Mugyeong had driven me, taken me to the hospital, and even brought me home without saying a word, his self-restraint was pretty incredible.

“Does it smell that strong?”

“Not at this distance.”

“A shower should take care of it, right?”

“Yes.”

“You go in first. But before that, can you tell me what happened at the police station? I heard Lee Jeongwook flat-out refused to settle.”

I quickly stopped him. Now that it had come this far, I wanted to know how he’d managed to get a settlement in just thirty minutes.

Baek Mugyeong gave me a strange look. Maybe it was a smile.

“I told him things would only get harder if he didn’t settle. He panicked because he’d already done a lot of questionable things.”

“What kind of things?”

“He’d exposed pheromones to omegas during private tutoring sessions before. It was all covered up with money, but he was also running scams in real time, so he had every reason to be cautious.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

Considering Lee Jeongwook’s behavior, it wasn’t shocking that he’d done similar things before. The part about him actively running scams wasn’t surprising either. What amazed me was that Baek Mugyeong knew all of this.

Maybe sensing my curiosity, Baek Mugyeong continued.

“I looked into him. Any alpha who dumps pheromones on newly manifested omegas out of nowhere isn’t a decent human being. It’s better to know in advance when someone has malicious intent.”

He wasn’t wrong. But most people wouldn’t go that far. Still, I had enough sense not to say that out loud.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, it wrapped up quickly.”

I expressed my gratitude. Originally, I’d assumed my biological father would handle it, but Baek Mugyeong had stepped in, and that deserved thanks.

“Jeong Minchae.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve said it before, but prioritize your own safety. If you really want to get through this divorce in one piece.”

“…Understood.”

All I could do was nod again.

Back when I’d been taken hostage by the bodyguard, I thought I could manage the situation. But this time, I had clearly escalated it on purpose.

If Baek Mugyeong hadn’t dug into Lee Jeongwook’s past, who knows how things might’ve turned out? He’d tried to claim we were in a romantic relationship and that I cheated on him after getting married. If that had reached Baek Jinseok, it could’ve been a mess.

Without saying another word, Baek Mugyeong left the garage. I didn’t follow. I just exhaled a huge breath, my shoulders rising.

“Jeez.”

He had scolded me quite a bit, but honestly, my nerves had mostly settled.

To be frank, this wasn’t even proper scolding. Compared to my biological father, who treated me like a fool, Baek Mugyeong was practically a saint.

Telling me to run at the first sign of a raging alpha or to take care of my own safety, those were things a real adult would say.

I let out another breath and pulled out my phone. I had to report to my biological father how things had ended.

If I forgot, he’d probably say something like, “Are you out of your mind?” or “This is why uneducated brats never make it.”

I organized what to say and pressed the call button.

*

The next day, a nasty purple bruise had formed on my left cheek. I’d taken medicine, done cold compresses, applied ointment, but the discoloration was inevitable.

Since Baek Mugyeong left for work at the crack of dawn, he was already gone by the time I got up.

So it was Kim Juhyun, setting the breakfast table, who gasped when she saw my bruised face in the sunlight.

She’d fussed over me the night before and was no quieter this morning.

I gave her a few half-hearted replies, finished my breakfast, and put a large bandage over my cheek before heading to work.

Naturally, I became the center of attention at the gallery.

I claimed I’d walked into a wall, but most people didn’t believe it. It was a pretty unconvincing excuse. Of course, the staff whispered among themselves.

But I didn’t end up being the center of gossip during lunch, because the corporate audit team stormed the gallery just before then.

Several employees were called in, and two of them packed up and left before lunch even started.

Thanks to the audit, no one paid attention to the bandage on my face anymore. Instead, people whispered that the two employees who got fired had spread the rumor that I was an illegitimate child, and that they got what they deserved.

And just like that, people started avoiding me like I was contagious.

Watching my biological father wield his influence in real time, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

He usually hated taking risks, so I hadn’t expected him to dispatch the audit team in a single day.

Last night, he’d ranted over the phone about how disgraceful it was that the whole thing turned into a mutual assault case with someone like Lee Jeongwook.

But the moment I mentioned Baek Mugyeong had stepped in to resolve things personally, he was pleased.

He probably took it as a sign that my relationship with Baek Mugyeong wasn’t all bad.

I also found out why Lee Jeongwook had suddenly shown up. He had been about to sign a contract with a top-tier prep academy, until my biological father, who’d found out about the pheromone stunt, made sure that deal collapsed.

With both a school and a company under his belt, my biological father was a major player in this field. Once he decided to act, Lee Jeongwook became a nobody overnight.

Hearing all that, I had to suppress a bitter laugh.

Lee Jeongwook’s fury—after losing everything—had been misdirected entirely at me, not the man who’d actually ruined him.

Still, my father, for all his self-preservation instincts, handled everything neatly.

The rest, of course, was up to me.

Once the audit team left, my stepmother summoned me to the director’s office.

She demanded to know if I knew anything about the damaging rumors. I denied everything.

She was the one at a disadvantage this time.

Failing to manage the staff probably earned her a fair share of nagging from my father.