Alpha Trauma Novel (Completed) - Chapter 98. Rainy Season (6)

Wooyeon felt like throwing up and pressed his solar plexus. A spacious study filled with thick Alpha pheromones and a woody scent. An Alpha, perfectly suited for that heavy space, sat on the sofa opposite Wooyeon.

“Tea?”

“…No, I’m fine.”

Soohyang had gone four years without contact. She was his mother, with whom he had lived his entire life, but she was also the most unfamiliar person. Even Dohyun, whom he didn’t know at all, slowly revealed his true feelings after a few days of being together, but Soohyang seemed like she wouldn’t show her true feelings even after several more years.

“Just tell me what you want first.”

A moment ago, Wooyeon, having received Soohyang’s call, was pretending not to be nervous but was actually extremely tense. He wondered if something had happened, just as Dohyun had said. For example, an accident, an illness, or unavoidable dangers like that. Of course, Soohyang, who had a retinue of bodyguards and more than three personal doctors, would probably avoid even those.

“Right… I suppose I should.”

Fortunately, Soohyang’s purpose wasn’t a gloomy accident or anything of the sort. She merely asked about his schedule and, if he was free, told him to drop by the main house. He could have ignored it and pretended not to know, but Dohyun’s words held him back.

‘If you want to restart anything, you have to completely finish it. Like the relationship between you and me, Wooyeon.’

Why did he have to give such an example? He couldn’t refute it and agreed to meet Soohyang. It was a reluctant answer, but Dohyun’s face showed relief just from that.

“…”

“…”

Silence fell again. It was a silence that had never disappeared since Wooyeon entered the study. Even while they spoke, an awkward quietness constantly lingered in the study.

“…If you have nothing more to say, I’ll leave.”

Wooyeon couldn’t stand the atmosphere and rose from his seat. He thought he had shown enough courtesy, but Soohyang’s eyes instantly sharpened.

“Sit down. We’re not done talking.”

Her attitude was still condescending. He had thought something might have changed since she called him first. But the years he had spent with Soohyang were too long to expect such a miracle. A scoff escaped him as soon as he realized that fact.

“I thought you called to apologize.”

He knew it wouldn’t happen, so why did he harbor such vain hope? In Wooyeon’s life, becoming lovers with his teacher was enough of an unbelievable event.

“I was stupid. Mom isn’t that kind of person.”

Wooyeon said that and picked up the umbrella he had placed beside him. He wasn’t disappointed anymore; he just earnestly wished it wouldn’t rain on his way home. Since it had rained when he came to the main house, the chances of the rainy season evening rain stopping were very low.

“From now on, have Driver Yoon call me. If Mom’s number appears on my phone…”

“Wooyeon-ah.”

“…”

Suddenly, Wooyeon stopped. The word that came from her mouth was so unfamiliar. Not ‘Seon Wooyeon’ but ‘Wooyeon-ah’. He felt stranger than when Kang Junseong had called his name.

“…Speak.”

Wooyeon unconsciously gave Soohyang another chance. It was better to hear clearly what she had to say than to just go home like this. Fortunately, Soohyang brought up a reason he had heard several times before.

“I just wanted to protect you.”

“…That’s not protection.”

Wooyeon’s answer was also something he had said before. Soohyang seemed to have fully anticipated that fact, and this time she brought up an entirely unfamiliar name.

“Hayeon was,”

Her voice was filled with longing. Her gaze, which seemed like it would never waver, crumbled at just one name. Soohyang, with deep wrinkles on her brow, spoke in a suppressed voice.

“Your mother… gave you the name Wooyeon.”

Wooyeon had never heard that before. He had never once asked about the origin of the name Wooyeon. Soohyang smiled bitterly as she watched Wooyeon sit down as if enchanted.

“To be precise, it was her prenatal name.”

Seon Hayeon.

A name heard too long ago, already faded into the depths of memory. A name he had heard only a few times, and even then, never thought to memorize.

Soohyang continued to talk about Hayeon for quite a long time. The order was completely jumbled, and she would suddenly return to the beginning while speaking. Wooyeon didn’t miss a single word of the faded memories Soohyang recounted, imprinting them in his heart.

‘She was so frail that she couldn’t even travel far.’

Hayeon was said to have pale skin and be so thin she looked like she would break. Her family wasn’t poor, but their fortunes declined due to treating her illness. Just as they were on the verge of bankruptcy and she was about to give up on life, she met Soohyang by chance.

‘My family strongly opposed it, but back then, I couldn’t see anything else.’

The relationship, which began at the young age of seventeen, continued until they were over twenty. First as friends, then as lovers, and finally as spouses who promised a future.

‘Only after you were conceived did I bring Hayeon home.’

Up until then, Soohyang believed everything would work out. They had already registered their marriage, and Hayeon’s chronic illness could be cured by spending hundreds of millions. What Soohyang overlooked was the fundamental difference in the environments he and Hayeon had lived in.

‘I was foolish. Back then, I thought the only best option was to quickly inherit the company. I was so busy securing the future that I couldn’t see the present right in front of me.’

Hayeon withered under excessive media attention amidst Soohyang’s indifference. Unable to endure a life where her every move was monitored, she gradually retreated further and further into the house.

‘I wasn’t the one who confined Hayeon.’

By the time Soohyang realized there was no improvement in the illness, it was already too late. Since she had no will to recover on her own, no amount of money had any effect. As the delivery month approached, Hayeon continued to waste away.

‘Perhaps if she hadn’t met me, she might have lived happily.’

The end of the fate they thought was destiny was irreversibly cruel. Hayeon died before giving birth to Wooyeon, and skilled doctors saved Wooyeon. Soohyang, even after giving Wooyeon the surname ‘Seon,’ couldn’t face the face that so closely resembled Hayeon.

‘Except for bringing the dead back to life, there’s nothing in the world that money can’t do.’

Having lost the person he loved, Soohyang didn’t want to lose that child too. He was afraid someone might covet him, even though he hadn’t properly held him, so he decided to hide him away. Erasing Hayeon’s traces and making Wooyeon seem nonexistent was not difficult for Soohyang.

‘I couldn’t protect that person, so I just wanted to protect you.’

Soohyang said he truly loved Hayeon. Not ‘loved’ but ‘loves.’ Wooyeon could not dare to guess the extent of that love. How the affection, having lost its object, was twisted and expressed, he also did not hastily define.

‘I… owe you an apology.’

A person who had never bowed to anyone in his life. Arrogant, condescending, and exhibiting the typical traits of a chaebol, saying ‘I’m sorry’ must have been incredibly difficult for him. Perhaps that’s why his apology felt so awkward.

‘I’m sorry.’

Naturally, Wooyeon didn’t say it was okay. It was unavoidable, as it was certainly not okay. He had no intention of making her feel at ease, not even with a lie.

‘I don’t know why you’re apologizing, I really don’t.’

For Wooyeon, it was a natural question. It was a rift of emotions accumulated over 20 years. Was it not too sudden to end it in just the time it takes for the rainy season to pass?

‘…I got a call. From that child.’

Who that child was, was as clear as day. There would be only one person in this world who would dare to call Soohyang and question her about Wooyeon’s affairs.

‘I wasn’t the only one who lost family, but I learned that fact too late. And I never thought I’d hear it from someone who wasn’t family.’

Her expression was truly apologetic. Soohyang, who seemed like she wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if pricked with a needle, smiled bitterly, uncharacteristically.

‘Now it’s just you and me… If I ask you to come home, will you?’

It was a brazen question, if not outright shameless. Naturally, Wooyeon scoffed and shook his head. Even if Soohyang wasn’t the one who confined Hayeon, she was indeed the one who confined Wooyeon.

“So, you just came to my house?”

Dohyun, lying beside him, gently stroked Wooyeon’s head. He ruffled his hair teasingly, then covered his clear nape with his palm. Wooyeon shrugged his neck and shook his head.

“I settled things. I’ll move out again when the second semester starts. I’ll live somewhere close to school and really try to attend university properly.”

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

“I think the number of bodyguards will increase.”

After finishing the conversation, Wooyeon returned to Dohyun’s house in Driver Yoon’s car. Driver Yoon, despite witnessing everything that day, said nothing about it. Well, that’s probably why he stayed by Soohyang’s side for so long.

“She says she’s sorry, but people don’t change easily. If it were that easy to forgive, I wouldn’t have fought with you, hyung.”

The feeling was indescribably strange. If it was refreshing, it was refreshing, and if it was uncomfortable, it was uncomfortable. Since nothing changed immediately, it felt unreal. Dohyun gazed at Wooyeon, then pulled him into his arms.

“Well… they say the way to get close to a bad family is to live far away from them.”

“Is that from experience?”

“Half of it.”

A faint pheromone wafted around his nose. Perhaps because he had just smelled Soohyang’s, he felt a sense of relief now. How could his pheromones be so good? Wooyeon, thinking something foolishly doting, wrapped his arms around Dohyun’s waist.

“I didn’t know you two were truly in love.”

Wooyeon had heard about Hayeon from the employees. The gossip exchanged while moving around the house was all too easily heard by young Wooyeon.

Rumors like the vice president brought a poor Omega, or he was so obsessed that he eventually caused her death. The words that the young master of this house would also end up like that Omega were still vividly etched in his mind.

“I can’t imagine it. The president likes someone.”

“Me neither.”

Soohyang’s lover. Even though she was his mother, he couldn’t imagine it at all. The fleeting expressions he had seen were erased as if his brain refused them.

“Teacher.”

“…”

“Senior.”

“…”

“Hyung.”

“Yes, why?”

Wooyeon let out a soft laugh and buried his face in Dohyun’s arms. Before, he would mix ‘teacher’ whenever he needed to, but now he overtly only reacts to ‘hyung’.

“Just… thank you.”

“What is there to be thankful for?”

Many things wouldn’t have changed without Dohyun. For example, Wooyeon’s middle school days, his way of thinking, and even his attitude towards Soohyang.

“This and that…”

“This and that?”

“…You called Mom, didn’t you?”

‘…I got a call. From that child.’

Who that child was, was as clear as day. There would be only one person in this world who would dare to call Soohyang and question her about Wooyeon’s affairs.

‘I wasn’t the only one who lost family, but I learned that fact too late. And I never thought I’d hear it from someone who wasn’t family.’

Her expression was truly apologetic. Soohyang, who seemed like she wouldn’t shed a drop of blood even if pricked with a needle, smiled bitterly, uncharacteristically.

‘Now it’s just you and me… If I ask you to come home, will you?’

It was a brazen question, if not outright shameless. Naturally, Wooyeon scoffed and shook his head. Even if Soohyang wasn’t the one who confined Hayeon, she was indeed the one who confined Wooyeon.

“…I.”

Dohyun hesitated for a long time even after starting to speak. Then, he tightened the arm around Wooyeon and spoke without confidence.

“I thought I was providing you with a refuge.”

The nuance of the word ‘refuge’ wasn’t very positive. The gentle tone that followed was also the same.

“I wondered if I might have fueled things by telling you to stay at my house for no reason.”

Dohyun probably thought he had caused the problem. He must have worried if he had blown things out of proportion, things that would have passed quietly as usual. And very gently at that.

“I didn’t think that…”

Wooyeon slowly opened his mouth, choosing his words carefully. Of course, it would be a lie to say he hadn’t thought of Dohyun’s house the day he left his main home. It was also true that he readily took the step because he had a place to escape to immediately.

“It was just an excuse.”

But even without Dohyun, it would have erupted someday. It was just that the timing was brought forward a bit, as Wooyeon had always wanted to escape from that place.

Dohyun slowly patted Wooyeon’s back, looking at him.

“The President will be the same.”

“…”

“Even if it wasn’t me, she would have apologized someday.”

His breathing was even. The heartbeat heard in his ear was calm and gentle.

“So don’t think it’s all thanks to me.”

His words pierced right through Wooyeon’s thoughts. He had thought all of this was Dohyun’s doing, but Dohyun seemed to have noticed. He was incredibly perceptive, as expected of the quick-witted Kim Dohyun.

“…Shall we go on a trip?”

“A trip?”

Dohyun was Wooyeon’s first love, a person he had never forgotten. He was his comfort, his salvation, and now even his refuge.

“Since the rainy season is over starting today, I think it would be nice to go out and play here and there.”

Four years ago, he had broken up with Dohyun before two seasons changed. A short moment from spring to summer. A period when it rained less than ten times. In those moments, Wooyeon permeated Dohyun like his body was drenched in spring rain.

“Domestic is good, or overseas is good…”

The relationship that ended before the rainy season began now continued even after the rainy season ended. Perhaps, even when the seasons changed again, Dohyun would be by Wooyeon’s side.

“Everything’s good if I go with you, hyung.”

His heart fluttered softly. Dohyun let out a ticklish laugh and slowly nodded. The answer that any place was fine with him was filled with affection for Wooyeon.

“I love you too, Yeon-ah.”

It was an irrelevant answer, but Wooyeon didn’t point it out. Instead, he simply closed his eyes gently as Dohyun kissed him.

Even after the rainy season ended, Wooyeon was still permeated by him. The dark clouds that had tormented his heart had now receded without a trace. It was a night when the rain no longer fell, and he was not alone.