RACA 10

Eunsol, who had been drifting in thought unconsciously, suddenly sat up. Then he brought his nose to his wrists and forearms, sniffing them intently.

“Hah…!”

Guess his intelligence level is about the same as an ostrich’s.

“It’s only natural since I became an Omega.”

The floral scent emanating from the sofa wasn’t due to well-maintained leather. It was because the pheromones he had unconsciously released had permeated the surface.

Perhaps moving his body diligently had caused the pheromones to become more pronounced.

“Regular sweat does that too.”

He hadn’t wanted to realize his traits had changed in this way. Feeling flustered, Eunsol pressed his nose to his wrist again.

“It really does smell like strawberries. There’s this subtle, refreshing quality. But it also feels like honey mixed with fresh cream…”

Eunsol, who had always been interested in perfumes, analyzed the scent emanating from his with keen sensitivity.

“First it was strawberry, then a hint of honey in the middle, and finally vanilla?”

The thought that he had become like perfectly ripened fruit made him feel a bit uneasy.

“Let’s wash up.”

Eunsol jumped up from his seat and headed into the bathroom next to the bedroom he used. Passing by Pyo Jaebeom’s room, his footsteps halted involuntarily.

Without meaning to, he sniffed. Whether it was his imagination or not, the air carried a thick, almost stinging scent.

‘Could this possibly be Pyo Jaebeom’s pheromones?’

Still a novice Omega, Eunsol couldn’t be sure and tilted his head in confusion. Perfume and pheromones were distinctly different, making it hard to tell them apart.

“Come to think of it, he must be a dominant alpha, right?”

Not only his character but the actor himself, Pyo Jaebeom, was widely known as a dominant alpha. Rumors even swirled that his pheromone levels were so high he might be an ultra-dominant.

Eunsol knew his pheromone levels inside out thanks to his deep research.

“Yeah, of course. It’s just fan love, fan love.”

Feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, he scratched his nose with his index and hurried past the master bedroom. Next to it was the study, followed by the room Eunsol used. The bathroom was directly opposite.

Stepping into the bathroom, he flung his clothes off and immediately stood under the showerhead. Adjusting the temperature to a comfortable level, he flipped the lever, and lukewarm water poured out instantly. After finishing his shower in five minutes, Eunsol hesitated for a moment.

“Should I wear that again…”

He had fallen asleep in it the previous night because he was so exhausted, but he didn’t want to wear the same clothes for two days straight. Besides, he had worked up a sweat exercising and cleaning every corner of the house.

“I think there was a robe in the closet.”

After a moment’s thought, Eunsol recalled the alternative. Holding his worn clothes in one hand, he opened the bathroom door. Even though he knew no one was home, he hesitated to walk around naked because of Jaebeom’s sudden appearances.

He cracked the door open just enough to peek his head into the hallway. Only after scanning left and right to confirm the coast was clear did he step out, shielding himself with his clothes. His movements toward the opposite room were quick. He threw open the wardrobe, grabbed the robe, and wrapped it around himself.

“Phew…”

He let out a sigh of relief and staggered toward the bed, collapsing onto it. The loosely tied sash slipped, causing the robe to tilt and slide off to one side.

Spreading his arms wide in a sprawled posture, he exhaled deeply. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, weighing down his entire body and making him want to do absolutely nothing. Cleaning that huge house alone had been sheer folly.

“What kind of house doesn’t have a vacuum cleaner? A vacuum cleaner!”

He grumbled pointlessly. In this smart era, even if not a robot vacuum, shouldn’t there at least be a cordless one?

Moreover, the cleaning tools stored in the utility room were all pristine, showing no signs of use. He’d even suspected the house hadn’t been properly cleaned all this time.

“But that wasn’t the case… Then what was it?”

Looking back now, there were more than a few odd things. Beyond the furniture and bedding, even the miscellaneous items all seemed brand new.

“Could it be they bought all this just for me?”

He muttered to himself , then shook my head.

‘No way.’

He wouldn’t have gone out of his way to buy such a luxurious apartment in the heart of Yeouido just to lock him up.

Lost in thoughts, he stared blankly at the ceiling before lifting his arm to touch his nose again. Instead of the fresh, sweet scent, an artificial body wash fragrance wafted up.

“Does it just disappear if you leave it?”

He needed to know something about pheromones. Curious, he tried to look it up, but there was no way. Then he suddenly remembered the laptop he’d found while cleaning in the study.

Eunsol sat up again and immediately climbed down onto the floor. He walked out of the room and toward the study, but when he reached his destination, he quickly scanned his surroundings.

“Ugh, it’s like I’m in some spy movie!”

Feeling unnecessarily self-conscious about his actions, Eunsol stomped his foot. Then, realizing he was in an apartment building, he bowed his head and apologized to the neighbors below.

“I’m sorry…”

The building was expensive, so the soundproofing was probably good, but his earlier encounter with that intimidating thug had made him reflexively cautious.

He then quietly opened the study door. The long, antique wooden desk blended perfectly with the faintly bitter yet strangely soft scent lingering in the air.

Unconsciously inhaling to savor the scent, Eunsol snapped back to reality and approached the desk.

“Um, I’m not trying to run away or anything.”

He made excuses to the empty room as he turned on the laptop. He couldn’t bring himself to sit in the chair, aware that it wasn’t his place.

“I just need to look something up. So I’ll only use it for exactly five minutes. Since everything will be logged anyway, please don’t suspect me.”

He rattled off his soliloquy as he pressed the power button. The screen lit up in less than five seconds.

“Ah…”

Gazing at the rippling blue waves on the background, Eunsol let out a sigh. A bold message jumped out at him.

[Please scan your fingerprint. Or enter your 6-digit PIN.]

There was no way his thumb would work, and he obviously didn’t know the password. This made coming all this way completely pointless.

“I knew it.”

He’d wondered why they’d put this thing here in the first place. They must have known it wouldn’t be usable. But he was too annoyed to just leave it, so he tried pressing the buttons sequentially from 1 to 6.

Of course, he didn’t expect it to work.

“Huh…?”

But then the lock popped open, revealing the default background screen. Eunsol’s mouth fell open.

Who would ever guess a simple sequence of six numbers as the password?

“Who sets their password that simple?”

“A gangster who doesn’t understand security basics. Tsk tsk.” Eunsol clicked his tongue, then his eyes lit up as he fired up the internet.

Whatever it was, it was a stroke of luck for him, and seizing the opportunity was the priority.

Eunsol tapped away at the search bar.

[Essential Knowledge for Beginner Omegas]

•••

“Hey, hey! Mr. Pyo! Listen to me!”

A middle-aged man, his once-neat suit now thoroughly wrinkled, raised his voice with a pathetic expression. Jaebeom stared straight at his face, which stubbornly clung to its petty pride even now.

“I, I didn’t do it on purpose…”

That was all he could manage before Mr. Shin immediately slumped his shoulders and bowed his head. At the edge of his vision, he caught sight of a playfully twitching ankle.

Though those were high-end leather shoes worth thousands, they held no appeal. Anyone who knew what kind of terrifying violence the foot inside could unleash would never covet them.

“Kwak Sang-ah.”

“Yes.”

“How much did President Shin borrow?”

“One billion won. The interest rate is 19.6%.”

Kwak Sang-ah, sensing Jaebeom’s intention, answered promptly.

“Oh? So at most it’s 11.63 million won a month? And he’s defaulting on that?”

“Well, roughly.”

He wanted to retort that ten million won wasn’t exactly money falling from the sky, but Shin’s face grew increasingly somber as he couldn’t bring himself to argue with Jaebeom, who spoke as if it were nothing.

Everyone in the industry knew that while it was now disguised as a savings bank, just five years ago it had been a loan shark operation run by gangsters.

And their reputation for ruthlessly collecting debts was notorious.