TGT 5

The loan sharks chuckled and told him to contact them anytime if he changed his mind.

Once thugs began frequenting the flower shop, the occasional customers stopped coming entirely.

Now there was almost no income from the flower shop. He couldn’t even earn a few hundred thousand won a month.

The hospital notified him that if payment continued to be delayed like this, continued hospitalization would no longer be possible.

Despite his desperate pleas to consider his situation, they said they would begin forced discharge procedures if the hospital bills weren’t paid.

He finally closed the flower shop. Seo Jeong-won went to a labor office to earn money for the hospital bills. He took on whatever work he could find.

Earning a daily wage was better income than changing a few plants and pots at the flower shop.

But the distance between his home and the hospital was too far to check on his brother every day. Just traveling took half a day.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered moving hospitals. In fact, the first thing he looked into was transferring his brother to another hospital.

However, from where he lived to other nearby areas, there were no hospitals that would accept comatose patients.

Then he needed to find a caregiver somehow, but it wasn’t feasible. A caregiver from the neighboring room, who took pity on his situation, occasionally changed his brother’s urinary bag and diaper, and moved his position to prevent bedsores.

Seo Jeong-won felt like bowing deeply in gratitude whenever he saw that person. Though he expressed his thanks with small amounts of money, it was so little that even offering it felt shameful.

On weekends, since most labor offices were closed, he had no choice but to tend to the flower shop. Those days were better for business because even the loan sharks didn’t come to interfere with operations.

But being slightly better couldn’t cover the fixed costs. If he closed the flower shop early and went to the hospital, it would be late at night.

Every time he saw his brother lying quietly, Seo Jeong-won regretted rejecting that proposal that day. Each time new bedsores appeared on Seo Gyu-won’s once-clean back, he felt so guilty he thought he might die.

It took 8 months to decide to contact Kwon Tae-hee again. But judging by his reaction now, the situation seemed hopeless.

Had he found someone else? Indeed, meeting someone who was already an Omega would be a much better choice than trying to make a Beta manifest. It would also be easier to get what he wanted. These thoughts only occurred to him now.

Certainly, when he first heard it, it was an abnormal proposal, but now he feared not being able to do it.

“…Ha.”

Lost in thoughts that kept leading to one another while sitting on the sofa, he didn’t know how much time had passed.

He was biting his fingernails when he frowned at the metallic taste of blood. That’s when the door opened. Seo Jeong-won abruptly raised his head that had been deeply bowed.

“You’re still waiting. The meeting ran long, so I thought you would have left.”

If he couldn’t finish this conversation with him now, it would be difficult to find time again. Tomorrow he had to go to work arranged by the labor office, and on weekends he had to open the flower shop.

Even though there were no customers, keeping it open earned him at least ten thousand won. Plus, he had to visit the hospital whenever he had time.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Alright. Then shall we continue our earlier conversation? You asked if that proposal from back then is still valid.”

Seo Jeong-won first looked surprised at the direct question, then quickly nodded.

“Did you come here thinking it would be?”

“…Because you said so back then, I…”

“That was then. 8 months ago.”

Can a voice have temperature? A light chill ran through him at the cool, sharp words. His face flushed at the firm voice pointing out the reality.

It was true that he had been sitting there with a one-sided belief that the proposal would still be valid. He couldn’t raise his head from shame. Even his nape felt hot. His vision reddened, making everything around him appear red.

“So, I…”

“Seo Jeong-won-ssi.”

“There’s no one who would help me, Executive Director Kwon…only you .”

Calling him “you” would seem impolite, and calling him “Kwon Tae-hee” didn’t fit since they weren’t close at all.

Having just vocalized the title written on the business card he had left behind, Seo Jeong-won stood up.

“I’ve been very rude. You must be busy, I’m sorry… sorry for taking your time.”

If humiliated just a bit more, he looked like he might burst into tears at any moment. The reddish color that had spread even to his white nape was as pretty as flower dye. Even in his shabby state, he captured attention.

“Sit down. Our conversation isn’t over yet.”

At the sharp voice, Seo Jeong-won sat back down from his standing position.

“Did you come naively, or were you planning to pretend to be naive?”

“It’s not like that. You said… if there was anything you could help with, to contact you. I also thought that proposal from back then might still be valid. There’s nowhere else I can ask for help, so I thought of you… Executive Director Kwon.”

The situation had changed. Kwon Tae-hee had brought in an Omega to replace Seo Gyu-won. Seo Jeong-won had come too late, and he no longer had the same interest as before.

He was curious what it would be like to ruin him with his own hands, but looking at his current financial situation, he would naturally fall apart even without intervention.

After erasing all reasons to accept Seo Jeong-won, all that remained was amusement.

How much would he entertain him? Would he live up to expectations? Was he worth giving a chance? He also had doubts, wondering if he was too young and naive.

Nevertheless, his appearance, still etched with his preferences, moved his heart.

Even in clear weather, his uniquely melancholic atmosphere, his innocent eyes deeply stained with fatigue, his skin so white it was pale.

Even in the moment misfortune had befallen him, his appearance was like a freshly bloomed flower.

Indeed, he liked his face. The drooping corners of his eyes were like a puppy’s, but from another angle, he also resembled a rain-soaked cat.

“Neither is really my type, but I would have gone along with either. Just like now.”

Having finished speaking, Kwon Tae-hee handed Seo Jeong-won the document envelope he had brought in. With the company logo printed on the top, he had thought it would be unrelated to him, but it wasn’t.

“Read it. The content will be different from before.”

“…”

“Let’s put out the most urgent fire first. Is there anything that needs to be resolved quickly?”

Kwon Tae-hee had confirmed how much debt he had from the debt-related materials he received less than an hour ago, but he deliberately didn’t pretend to know first.

“That’s the help you came for, isn’t it? Don’t put up unnecessary pride.”

His even teeth briefly bit his chapped lips before releasing them. A subdued voice flowed out.

“…I have a debt of about 60 million. I borrowed money from a loan company… because the bank said I couldn’t get a loan.”

“I’ll confirm that. I’ll repay Seo Jeong-won’s debt from my side. Think of it as a down payment.”

“…Thank you, I’ll pay you back. I’ll definitely pay you back.”

“Do as you please.”

It was laughable that he was trying to maintain his pride after coming here with neither money nor ability to repay. To him, that amount was insignificant, but there was no reason to stop him if he wanted to pay it back.

“You had the nerve to use a private loan. If you had come to me before borrowing money from there, the situation would have been better, but I guess you didn’t think of me then.”

At that time, he thought he could somehow manage on his own. Stupidly, he believed it was a debt he could repay quickly if he worked hard.

“Seo Jeong-won.”

“…Yes?”

“If you say later that you can’t do it, then you’ll be forced to endure everything we were going to agree upon. That shouldn’t happen. It would be unpleasant for both of us.”

“That won’t, won’t happen.”

Seo Jeong-won answered as if grasping at a rotten rope. His gaze, which had been looking at Kwon Tae-hee, dropped to the table.

He moved his trembling hand to open the envelope. The contract, which had been one page before, had expanded to two.

“Most of the changes mean that Seo Jeong-won-ssi will accommodate my demands.”

“…Ah, yes.”

The content written in the contract at that time was simple, and all clauses were considerate of Seo Jeong-won.

It was along the lines of Kwon Tae-hee visiting the flower shop one or two days during the weekdays and giving him a pheromone shower for a certain time.

But in the contract he received again, all of that content was erased. All clauses were tailored to Kwon Tae-hee.

From now on, Seo Jeong-won would visit wherever Kwon Tae-hee designated every week on days he set, stay with him, and receive pheromone showers through intimate sexual contact. If Kwon Tae-hee wanted, he would have to follow demands not even written in the contract.

“…It says that all sexual acts are included…”

“Can’t you do it?”

Kwon Tae-hee continued with a face devoid of any attachment.

“Because of Seo Jeong-won’s hesitation, we’ve lost nearly two years. What could have been finished with just pheromone showers has, due to your stubbornness, inevitably led to sex as well.”