“Today is a day that I must go.”

“Well, that’s not my problem. You should have told me in advance.”

“I told you three days ago!”

“I didn’t hear it. But damn, where are you shouting from? Huh?”

The big driver approached Haejin as if threatening him. At times like this, the small stature unique to Asians becomes even more pitiful. Still, Haejin couldn’t give up and stood trembling in place.

Today was the day he had to come back to pay for his hospital bills. Of course, the money was being provided without fail by the Vermus family, and Haejin’s signature was just a formal procedure.

However, even such a formality was painful for Haejin. In the first place, even if Haejin brought the money from the hospital, he couldn’t be very proactive in treating his foster parents. After moving to the hospital under the Vermus family, things had improved somewhat, but the eyes of doctors who poured money into the air always made Haejin feel depressed.

“I have to go. It’s in the contract….”

“Well, do I look like I know about a contract with someone so high up? Anyway, I didn’t receive any instructions to take you out in the car today.”

Although he was upset, Haejin kept his mouth shut. The one condition he had put forward while pouring all his time into this humiliating contract was to regularly visit his foster parents.

It was Lyle who had promised to provide a vehicle for this purpose. Perhaps it was to monitor him so that he wouldn’t wander around unnecessarily. Whatever the purpose was, it was careless to even treat the contract like this.

Whether Haejin was upset or not, the driver took out a cigarette and sneered at him. At first, he wondered if it was even possible for the owner to take an omega to the hospital. Contrary to rumors, he thought that the owner of Vermus was also an alpha.

However, the driver, who had come in through the butler’s connections, soon wandered around the mansion and picked up rumors. It turned out that this omega was being treated like a tool that alphas used for their pl*asure.

The servants were already ignoring this small Asian omega as they pleased. Even after five years had passed, their employer had never paid attention to the omega, they said. Naturally, the driver’s attitude was also determined. He began to find it annoying to go that far and wait every two weeks.

Yesterday, he even drank until dawn, so he had a hangover. He didn’t know what hope the omega had in mind when he went to the hospital so often, but it was obvious. He must be going to see if he had even a slight improvement. The thought of it made him even more annoyed at the sight of the omega whining about the contract in front of him.

He also comfortably ignored the fact that the butler had told him to take the omega to the hospital every two weeks. After all, that omega wasn’t going to be a topic of conversation anywhere.

“Damn it.”

Haejin, with a stiff face, calmly listened to the driver’s curses pouring out. The driver, who had changed a year ago, was extremely annoyed at Haejin’s outings that only happened every two weeks. Although this fact was evident, he came back with ridicule, but Haejin endured it silently. All he needed was a means of transportation.

“Anyway, I don’t know anything about it.”

“…Okay.”

With a heavy heart, Haejin turned around. If the command was the problem, he had to find the butler right away and explain the situation. He would rather hope that the butler had just forgotten because he was busy.

“Damn it, you act so stiff for someone who is selling his body.”

“….”

Even with the cold curses that sounded behind him, Haejin didn’t turn around. There was nothing he could say to him. And maybe that expression was a very vivid description of how the servants saw him.

He coughed dryly. It was because he had been out in the cold for too long. His body, which had been shivering, seemed to be breaking down, making him more anxious. Lyle was sensitive to his physical condition, so he had planned to get a check-up while he was at the hospital today.

Haejin hurriedly searched for the butler and went into the mansion, but he was nowhere to be found. Even when he asked about his whereabouts, the servants didn’t give him a proper answer.

Haejin wandered around the entire mansion, rolling his feet. He asked every servant he met about the butler’s whereabouts, enduring their ridicule. But there was no response. It would have been nice if they could at least tell him where the butler went.

After searching for the butler for a long time, Haejin looked at the time and felt frustrated. Even if he left now, he wouldn’t be able to make it in time for the visiting hours.

In the end, he couldn’t go see his foster parents who were hospitalized that day.

***

Haejin, who was crouching on the bed with the same clothes he was going to go out in, raised his head sharply at the noise outside. As soon as he realized that it was the sound he had been waiting for, he moved his body and headed outside.

He felt frustrated when he realized that the servants didn’t really not know where the butler was, but just didn’t want to deal with him. To make matters worse, he didn’t even have any money on hand, so he couldn’t go to the hospital alone.

The money he received as compensation for the contract was spent entirely on his foster parents’ medical expenses. The small amount of money Haejin had brought with him was almost gone since he hadn’t been able to do any other work. And even that money wasn’t available to him right now since it wasn’t in cash.

Above all, going to the hospital was the only right he had. Yet, indifferent Lyle didn’t even protect that right for him.

Haejin, who had endured everything until now, finally exploded.

“Mr. Vermus!”

When the owner of the mansion arrived, the servants gathered in an orderly manner in front of the huge gate. Their neat appearance was different from the blank expressions they had when Haejin spoke to them.

Even though he knew that he would face countless ridicule again if he went forward, he had no choice. When he saw the face of the butler who was waiting for Lyle, it became clear that he had been ignored all day even though Haejin had been looking for him.

“…What’s going on?”

Lyle, who had just gotten out of the car in front of the mansion’s gate, raised his head at the voice that caught his ear. Haejin, with hair that resembled the night, was running towards him from afar.

Lyle’s gaze fell on Haejin’s face, which he hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a very unfamiliar yet familiar face. Above all, it was something that had never happened in the past five years for Haejin to call him like this.

“Mr. Vermus, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Suddenly, he remembered the behavior of the guy who had been nagging him the last time they met. At that time, he thought it was just because his leg hurt, but was there really something he wanted to talk about?

“You.”

Lyle, who had looked a little puzzled, stiffened. Haejin’s scent, which was getting closer, was particularly strong today. Lyle, who was an omega, would have been disgusted by the pheromones. However, the moment he saw Haejin, whom he faced in this unfamiliar place, he realized that he had become accustomed to this pheromone without even realizing it. He was so surprised that he didn’t even feel repulsed.

Lyle pushed aside his thoughts and put on a composed expression. After all, was he really the patient and enduring type who could wait for the right moment?

“Mr. Vermus, today…”

“If you need anything, just tell the butler.”

“What? But…”

“Are we on such familiar terms that we can talk like this?”

“….”

Since he couldn’t understand what he was saying, Haejin clearly reminded him of his position. Lyle’s time was never cheap. It was very unpleasant to have to fight like this without even entering the mansion.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, Haejin showed him a rejected expression.

A sad face that resembled heavy rain.

It appeared briefly for a moment and then disappeared. It was already late at night, and the moonlight, which had been hidden by clouds, shone on Haejin’s white face for a moment before fading away.

The unexpected scene caught Lyle’s attention. However, it was only for a very short moment, and Lyle thought that he had given enough time for it. So, ignoring Haejin, who was still staring at him as if he were a statue, he entered the mansion.

It felt like someone was staring at my back for quite a while.

***