RACA 1

“Eunsol?”

“Yes?”

Eunsol placed both hands politely on his knees. A man sat in a slouched posture in front of him, he was frightening even to face.

Gulp.

He swallowed dryly. He knew the figure who, though still as a statue, radiated oppressive weight and overwhelming presence.

‘Pyo Jaebeom.’

A guaranteed ratings star of dramas, the wannabe of producers and directors, a face loved even by cameras, a master of suits, an overwhelming alpha who commanded both acting and appearance.

And to Eunsol, a presence higher and more dazzling than the stars of the night sky. For five whole years he had only admired and loved the actor in his heart. Correction, even now a single glance made his heart race.

“Why am I…”

Why was that man – no, that actor – sitting before him with such arrogance. Even that crooked posture looked like a magazine shoot, though it did draw reluctant awe.

“You are Eunsol, right?”

The informal speech mattered less than the aura he exuded and the heavy pheromones thick in the air.

“Yes, I am.”

What was that just now? The moment he answered, a flash seemed to pass in those eyes. This was why directors adored him. He could wholly seize someone with a single gaze.

“Good. Eunsol, from today you cannot take a single step out of here.”

“Yes.”

He answered reflexively, then only belatedly realized what he had just heard.

“What? Why…”

“There is one condition to leave. When you carry my child.”

Thud. A sheet of paper dropped before his knees.

What was this?

He picked it up in confusion, and at the top stood written: Contract. Party A, Pyo Jaebeom. Party B, Lee Daebak. Party C, Eunsol.

‘Lee Daebak?’

What was this ridiculous name?¹ He even remembered laughing at it once. To see himself defined in relation to Lee Daebak scratched at his nerves.

“Father?”

Wait. Could it be? This is suspicious.

“Your father sold you to me. Five hundred million won. So you had better earn the price.”

The single sheet declared that his so-called father had sold his own son for money. He had seen such a thing before.

Not experienced, but literally seen. On set.

‘This was the plot of that makjang drama starring Pyo Jaebeom.’

So when an extra role opened, he applied without hesitation. The long wait had not felt tedious because it let him see Pyo Jaebeom in person again.

But how had it come to this? Something hovered on his memory but would not surface. Had he dozed off waiting for the shoot?

“Excuse me, is this a dream?”

“Do you want it to be a dream?”

One corner of his mouth lifted.

‘Exactly the same.’

Even scorn on that handsome face looked like a painting, which felt like cheating.

“Too bad. It is reality.”

Cold tone, frigid gaze, heavy pheromones pressing the air. Just as the alpha said, it was far too vivid to dismiss as a dream.

“You will have no contact with anyone, so don’t waste effort.”

Yes, the first episode of the drama had gone like this.

‘The omega lead who kept up college life by juggling part-time jobs suddenly abducted and confined, meeting the alpha lead just before it happened…’

The scene remained fresh in his memory, and again he swallowed.

“Yes.”

If this really followed that story, he had to conduct himself carefully. Spoilers online had warned as much.

The omega who defied the alpha and tried to run ended up with a broken ankle, his body and mind ruined, and his life destroyed.

Even a paper cut hurt so much, a broken ankle would hurt much worse.

He shuddered at the thought. No, he must avoid that.

“Don’t even dream of escaping.”

The chance would come someday. He only had to act properly. Whether it was a dream or something else, first he had to grasp the flow.

He glanced around carefully.

‘It’s really the same…’

The place where Eunsol faced Pyo Jaebeom was a wide living room.

Because the sun had just set, the space felt even darker, and there were four bulky men in suits giving off an obvious ‘I am a gangster’ air.

And at their head, Pyo Jaebeom.

Even if it was only a role, he fit the image of a mob boss too perfectly.

‘This isn’t the time to admire!’

He barely held onto his fading focus and thought about what questions he could ask here and now. After pondering, he asked what he was most curious about.

“But you will at least feed me three meals a day, right?”

What, was that a smirk just now?

His mouth looked the same as before, his eyes too, but the pheromones had rippled, they had!

“Of course.”

Or not?

“Then it is fine.”

What mattered was not whether Pyo Jaebeom smiled or not.

“…That is all?”

Why ask that? Had he noticed something?

“Yes, that is all.”

He nodded slowly while checking his face, yet the man stared like he would burn a hole through him.

Then Pyo Jaebeom spoke in a drawn out voice.

“If you are thinking of running away…”

How did he know? He had thought about it for just a moment. As expected, he was a smart man. Maybe he was only testing, but Eunsol felt guilty, he answered quickly.

“I won’t go!”

Go where? Should he say that he had no desire to leave such a good place?

A broke man with no future, scraping by on minor extra roles, suddenly living in an 80-pyeong apartment?

He had to seize the chance.

Escape? No.

More than that,

‘Someday he will get tired and let me go!’

Until then, he would live comfortably.

‘But for that I will need some acting…’

What sort of personality did the omega lead have again? He recalled the character introduction from the official page.

On the surface delicate and fragile, but inside, unyielding.

No matter how much the alpha lead tormented him and tried to break him, he endured and endured, making a chance to escape somehow.

The very model of a soft exterior with a hard core.

That was why Pyo Jaebeom grew more obsessed, he didn’t realize it, and treated him harshly.

‘Then I only need to do the opposite.’

If he acted like a timid, weak, and overly cautious omega, then the interest would fade away.

“Eunsol.”

. Just hearing his name shook his flesh.

Pyo Jaebeom’s voice was low with a cutting resonance that drew all attention.

“I warn you, it will be best not to entertain foolish thoughts.”

He immediately nodded, then he asked the last question just in case.

“Excuse me, but…”

His fingers twitched from nerves, and as always when saying something hard, his lips opened and closed several times.

“Excuse me, but, what is your name…”

He had kept calling him Pyo Jaebeom, but that was the actor’s real name, not the character’s.

‘Then why glare at me like that?’

That stare weighed so heavy he wanted to take the question back.

“Pyo Jaebeom.”

“What? Sorry?”

“Pyo Jaebeom. Remember it clearly.”

Still gazing down at him, he suddenly stood and turned, walking to the entrance. The posture looked like a model stepping off stage after a runway, and there was no chance to stop him. The other gangsters vanished behind him.

The omega lead sitting on the floor and watching them leave was the very picture of a tragic protagonist.

“But that is not me.”

He flopped backward onto the floor. The faint warmth on his back proved this was no set.

He rolled his eyes around to scan the room. Olive-colored four-seater sofa, cream shelf and sleek stand beside it, large TV on the wall. Then he stood up.

“He said Pyo Jaebeom? That is what he said?”

Strange. The lead in the script was Tae Jinha.

“Why was it changed?”

Was this really a dream? Another thing he had forgotten came back.

“He called my name.”

Yes. The first name Pyo Jaebeom mentioned was his.

Not the omega lead!

That realization made him jump like a sprinter who heard the gun at the start line, and he ran across the living room with one destination in mind.

A place with a mirror!

1. Jackpot or Amazing ↩︎