Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 76. Kim Dohyun (1)

Nothing happens by chance. Dohyun knew that very well.

—The customer is not answering the phone…

A mechanical voice echoed through the quiet living room. The man immediately hung up and dialed the same number again. This time, the familiar voice flowed from his phone.

—The customer is not…

Thwack! With a harsh sound, the phone tumbled across the floor. The screen, recently repaired, shattered into pieces, but the man didn’t even glance at it. Clutching his head in frustration, he bit his lip and hunched his upper body.

‘I’ll go.’

“Damn it…”

Where did it all go wrong?

The man, Dohyun, had been in this state ever since Wooyeon left. Her retreating figure shimmered before his eyes, and her tear-filled gaze was etched into his mind, unforgettable. The moment the lapel he had desperately clutched slipped from his fingertips – that very moment – a corner of his heart began to crumble.

‘I don’t understand you, Senior.’

In a way, it was poetic justice. Dohyun had deceived him, remained silent, and ultimately had everything exposed. If Wooyeon were to rage like fire, it would be a fitting price for him to burn willingly.

‘How do I know if this is also a pretense?’

But not like this. No matter what others said, such words shouldn’t have come from Wooyeon’s mouth. With a face so clearly hurt, his lover couldn’t possibly stab him with a dagger.

‘…I can’t trust you, Teacher.’

“Ha…”

His stomach twisted painfully. Dohyun covered his face and chewed his lip. Where Wooyeon had heard that story, why Driver Yoon’s call came at that exact moment. His unnecessarily quick wit grasped the entire situation at once.

‘I’ve decided to go back to my family home.’

It was probably Soohyang. No, it was definitely Soohyang. That Alpha, who always got what she wanted, had clearly pulled strings again.

Dohyun gritted his teeth, suppressing the urge to scream. His insides churned, but the arrow of his wrath wasn’t aimed there. His darkened eyes turned towards the shattered phone.

He met Soohyang when he was about ten years old.

A small orphanage on the outskirts of Seoul. Dohyun grew up there. He became an orphan at the age of eight and, before he even realized he was alone, became a nuisance. He was too old to be adopted but too young to fend for himself, so he was naturally branded a ‘troublemaker.’

So, Dohyun developed his perceptiveness solely to survive. He desperately tried to read the atmosphere and earn the teachers’ favor.

The already established groups were territorial, but that wasn’t a major obstacle either. It was the result of his intelligence, superior to his peers, and his neat appearance. His tidy and gentle looks were suitable for Dohyun to act as a ‘good child.’ Naturally, Dohyun, with a bright smile, blended in among them.

Two years passed like that. Dohyun turned ten, and by then, no suitable adoption agency had appeared. If time continued to pass and he grew older, he would have to find a part-time job and leave the orphanage.

‘Seonjeong Group is coming.’

Then, rumors began to spread. The orphanage was on some list, the Seonjeong Foundation was looking for a place to sponsor, and ‘Ji Soohyang’ was coming to select future talents.

It felt as if a ray of hope was shining down on a world that had been entirely monochrome.

Dohyun knew what opportunity he had to seize. Just like when he first came to the orphanage, he knew he had to forge his own path. He was only ten, but not so young that he didn’t understand that much.

‘Hyung, what’s Seonjeong Group?’

‘They’re people who will help us.’

Soohyang visited the orphanage the week after Dohyun answered with a kind smile. Her appearance, with a crowd of reporters and even bodyguards, made her look like someone playing the role of a ‘kind-hearted chaebol.’ A kind of performance. Nothing more, nothing less than a visit. Dohyun immediately noticed that fact.

‘This is Vice President Ji Soohyang.’

Most of the children were simply afraid of Soohyang. Her eyes were like a leopard’s, and her gaze was like a hawk’s, so it was no wonder they were scared. On top of that, there was an intimidating aura that made it difficult to even approach her.

‘Come on, say hello.’

‘Hello.’

Nevertheless, Dohyun was the first to greet her with an innocent face. As he placed both hands on his stomach and bowed politely, Soohyang’s gaze fell upon him. Dohyun didn’t miss the opportunity and clearly stated his name.

‘I am Kim Dohyun.’

Among all the shabby children, he alone looked neat. He wore the same worn clothes, but his expression was different.

‘Kim Dohyun?’

For quite some time, Soohyang silently observed Dohyun. Even under a gaze that would intimidate most, Dohyun didn’t bat an eye.

After a slight pause, Soohyang subtly curved the corner of her lips.

‘A cute one.’

It was just the kind of warmth one would show when feeding a stray cat. It didn’t truly mean he was cute, nor did it spark a sliver of pity. She simply saw through his intentions accurately and appreciated the child’s cunning.

A few months later, an article appeared. It was news that the Seonjeong Foundation had acquired an orphanage. Dohyun became ‘Ji Soohyang’s sponsored child,’ and at the age of fourteen, he presented as an Alpha.

He happened to be a rare ‘dominant Alpha.’ Moreover, in the poorly managed orphanage, there was no one suitable to teach him pheromone control. To make matters worse, the tangled pheromones of several people in the small room were excessively fatal to Dohyun, who was dominant.

Dohyun suppressed his pheromones as if his life depended on it. To avoid being expelled from the orphanage, to avoid causing any unnecessary trouble, he always kept his senses on edge. He never forgot to quickly leave the spot if even a hint of another’s pheromone lingered.

Soohyang, who happened to visit the orphanage at that time, looked at Dohyun with an unreadable expression. And with her usual cold face, she spoke.

‘There are people who want to adopt you.’

It was the moment his entire life changed. For this one moment, Dohyun had fiercely endured each day. Naturally, nodding his head was no trouble at all.

The Beta couple who adopted Dohyun were wealthy and kind people. Although he had a younger sibling four years his junior, it wasn’t difficult to get close. Dohyun, who had been the eldest at the orphanage, easily won over a ten-year-old elementary school student.

One year, two years, and then three years. Dohyun played the role of an excellent son as a family member throughout middle school. He entered a foreign language high school, meeting his parents’ expectations, and his relationship with his younger sister was smooth. He occasionally contacted Soohyang, but replies were rare.

Then, in his fourth year, when Dohyun was seventeen, on the day he came home from school holding a report card with only ‘1’s written on it. He overheard a conversation in his parents’ bedroom that he shouldn’t have.

‘…In exchange for bringing Dohyun…’

‘This time, from Seonjeong…’

The fragmented voices buzzed in his ears. The unexpected opportunity for adoption, the hidden contract behind it, and a bit of flattery. Finally, the distance that couldn’t be bridged.

‘The child is kind, but sometimes they seem fake…’

Nothing happens by chance. The fragile peace he had barely maintained was about to crack.

Dohyun stood rooted to the spot for a long time, only coming to his senses after they opened the door and came out. His parents, unable to hide their surprise, asked Dohyun.

‘…Did you hear everything?’

However, Dohyun was accustomed to not revealing his true feelings. From a very young age until now, he had never easily shown his emotions to others. It was a habit formed by his environment, and there was no need to change it.

‘No, what were you talking about?’

He couldn’t forget their relieved expressions. Nor could he forget them patting his shoulder, saying it was nothing amidst the precarious tension.

Dohyun smiled kindly and proudly showed off his satisfactory report card.

Even after that, Dohyun treated his parents as if nothing had happened. He studied as usual and helped his younger sibling with their studies whenever he had time. Then, when an inexplicable frustration burst forth, he would secretly take out a cigarette and smoke it.

‘This guy is completely fake.’

Around that time, friends he briefly dated showed great interest in Dohyun, the model student. It seemed strange to them that the perfect student at school would hang out with them behind the scenes. While some were attracted to his neat and handsome appearance, others openly propositioned him for a one-night stand.

‘Hey, wanna make a bet? The loser gets a tattoo?’

Tattoos were something one of them was learning as a hobby. Dohyun had no intention of agreeing, but that day, everything felt bothersome. His friend insisted on playing rock-paper-scissors, and Dohyun threw out a fist without looking at him.

‘What do you want? No pictures, I can only do lettering.’

‘Just do whatever you want.’

‘Huh, really? You’re really going to do whatever you want?’

Issues like it being permanent on his body or his parents seeing it didn’t matter. The only sincerity Dohyun showed was offering his back, telling him to put it somewhere invisible.

And so, the phrase tattooed on his back was ‘Habeo a magnus mentula.’ It was crude Latin translated by a machine. Dohyun was angry when he belatedly learned the meaning, but his friend slyly said it wasn’t entirely wrong.

In a way, it was all just childish rebellion. In the precariousness of never knowing when he would be caught, he craved attention, and eventually, exhausted by his own cowardice, he stopped. He was left with a tattoo on his body and couldn’t quit smoking, but it was fortunate that he didn’t commit any delinquency beyond ‘deviance.’

After that, Soohyang contacted him around the first spring of his twenties. Dohyun got into a prestigious university with excellent grades, and his parents bought him an apartment and a car as a graduation gift. Around the same time, he heard the news that the contract between Seonjeong Group and his parents’ company had been successfully concluded.

‘Long time no see. Is university manageable?’

‘It’s been over two months since I enrolled, and you’re only asking now. Surely you didn’t call me just for an update, did you?’

Dohyun sat upright, his posture proper, but his reply was impudent. Soohyang didn’t point out his rudeness and gestured for her secretary to leave.

Click, as soon as the door closed, a low voice emerged.

‘I heard you took good care of the younger children when you were in the orphanage. And it seems you’re getting along well with your sibling even now.’

It was an unexpected topic, but Dohyun calmly met her gaze. Her eyes, always like those of a beast, were uncharacteristically devoid of malice. Soohyang furrowed her brows and slowly continued.

‘My child… is the same age as your sibling.’