Chapter 4

Episode 4

Tae-seo rummaged through his phone, not knowing much apart from the fact that he was Yoon Tae-seo and the contents of the novel. So, he often found himself fiddling with his phone these days. Fortunately, despite being private, his active presence on social media, sharing his interests, proved to be quite helpful.

“Why’s he suddenly so attached to his phone? Could it be because he’s suddenly in a relationship?”

Park Han-soo, who had been watching from the side, raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Thanks to Park Han-soo, Tae-seo had found his way around the campus and got to know his schedule comfortably. Tae-seo naturally ended up hanging out with him. Tae-seo’s eased-up demeanor, thanks to shedding some of his sensitivity, didn’t make Park Han-soo uncomfortable either.

“You dating In-hyuk?”

“….”

As Tae-seo casually deflected, Park Han-soo’s suspicion deepened.

“Just tell me honestly. Are things going well with In-hyuk?”

“… ”

Tae-seo, who was browsing through his childhood photos on his phone, flinched. Then, when he looked at Park Han-soo, he noticed Park pointing to the phone. Tae-seo glanced back at the photo he had been looking at—it was a selfie he had taken as a kid, with a strategically placed figure in the corner.

“You like the guy there.”

“How did you know?”

“What? You like In-hyuk? You’ve been practically begging me to introduce you to Seo Da-rae, why pretend otherwise? Some people are pretty sharp about these things.”

“I… I see. So that’s how it is.”

“Yeah, that’s how it is.”

Park Han-soo absentmindedly ruffled Tae-seo’s hair, finding his subdued demeanor oddly endearing lately. Tae-seo didn’t even think of brushing his hand away, instead, he looked back at the photo.

The photos he had previously thought of as mere selfies now caught his attention properly. They were all seemingly taken to include In-hyuk’s face in some way. Looking at his youthful face, Tae-seo felt a budding affection for In-hyuk.

“Living so cutely, huh, Yoon Tae-seo.”

Exhaling heavily as he saw his face reflected in the camera, Tae-seo sighed. Villains in love stories come in all shapes and sizes.

As he continued to scroll through his phone, Tae-seo suddenly nudged Park Han-soo’s side.

“Han-soo, how old am I?”

“It’s not like you’re about to die from some illness. How could you forget your age?”

“You’re only twenty-five. You haven’t reached an age where you forget your own age.”

“Oh, right.”

He wasn’t sure about his age, but thankfully, he guessed it right. He had been thinking about the conversation he had with Park Han-soo a few days ago at the hotel. He had quickly answered when asked about his name and traits, but he had stumbled a bit on his age.

“I guess I have a rough idea.”

Apart from that, he had occasional flashes of bodily memories, so becoming Yoon Tae-seo right now wasn’t too difficult. He could easily recall the faces of his parents, whom he had never seen before due to being busy. And when he realized that he could manage the classes he thought would be the most difficult, Tae-seo breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto his desk.

“Now all I have to do is sort out my traits.”

Everything seemed to be falling into place smoothly, but there was one thing, just one thing that made his head ache just from thinking about it—his changed trait.

He had learned the reason why he had collapsed in front of the man named Kang Se-heon that day. He said it was due to heat and that he had been unable to cool down even after taking suppressants, so he ended up getting involved with him…

“Ahh.”

Tae-seo grasped his head with both hands. His desire to crawl into some deep place was as strong as a chimney. In the original story, Yoon Tae-seo hadn’t changed into an omega, so why had he become one?

“…Seo, Yoon Tae-seo!”

At the annoyed shout, Tae-seo raised only his eyes while still holding his head. Standing in front of him was Seo Da-rae, wearing a displeased expression. It was the first time they had met since the party.

“You… you’re really shameless.”

Why was she like this?

“All the things you’ve done to me so far…”

“Just a moment!”

Tae-seo interrupted Da-rae’s words with his hand. Judging by the situation, it seemed like an extension of the previous incident. He couldn’t think of anything specific to trouble Seo Da-rae with, as he had harassed her so much before.

“I’m sorry, is it because of what happened at the party? If not, could you explain a bit more?”

“What?”

As much as Tae-seo knew his words sounded absurd, he couldn’t help it. There was nothing he could think of besides the incident at the party. Even that was just drinking champagne with a little sedative to ensure Da-rae didn’t get harmed, but she could still see it as harassment.

“All the things you’ve done to me so far, and you’re asking for more details?”

“If it’s about you drinking my champagne at the party, I’m sorry. I knew how dangerous it is to eat or drink something that’s been tampered with. I won’t do it again. But other than that, I don’t have anything else to offer.”

“…You agreed to the job that Professor Hwang suggested.”

“Oh, that. I’ll go back and talk to him about it again. It was originally a job I wanted to do for you, right? I’ll take responsibility for it.”

Although it was something that happened before the party, since it was ongoing, Tae-seo immediately accepted it. Da-rae was left speechless as Tae-seo accepted it without any argument. She couldn’t say anything when he was so agreeable. Initially, Seo Da-rae wasn’t that strong of a character.

Taking advantage of Da-rae’s momentary silence, Tae-seo inserted his own words.

“I’m sorry. I won’t bother you anymore and I won’t even acknowledge your existence. This is sincere.”

Tae-seo really didn’t want to get involved with Da-rae. He just hoped she didn’t die because of him. That was enough. He didn’t like Kang In-hyuk at all right now, and as long as he could live stably here, nothing else mattered.

—

At the sudden call from his father, Tae-seo hastily searched for the hotel on his phone. Since it was a business being run in his household, not knowing anything could be a problem. After reading a few articles, Tae-seo clicked his tongue.

“This is more like Monopoly.”

Building a hotel in a city determined by rolling dice wasn’t much different. Considering that it’s not easy to build hotels overseas, the owner of this body must have been born into a really good family. But what was lacking that led to such misdeeds?

“We’ve arrived.”

Shouldn’t there be a headquarters even for a hotel? Thinking such thoughts, Tae-seo got out of the car, heading straight for the suite with the guidance of the staff.

“You called for me.”

“I see you’ve arrived. Have a seat.”

The middle-aged man with a stern face was Tae-seo’s father, Yoon Seok-hoon.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been busy lately and I realized I haven’t had a meal with you in a while. Let’s have lunch today.”

Although the reason for the summons was trivial, Tae-seo obediently nodded. As far as he knew, his parents always tried to show him affection, despite being busy with the hotel business. Perhaps they called him like this because they didn’t have time to go home.

“Dad, the new menu they’ve launched is quite neat and good. Try it once and let me know…”

“I’m sorry.”

Interrupting Yoon Seok-hoon’s words, a male secretary who had been in another room entered. Yoon Seok-hoon signaled the secretary to come closer, sending a silent message. The secretary, conscious of Tae-seo, approached Yoon Seok-hoon and whispered something to him.

“At home, tonight.”@@novelbin@@

Sensing that the conversation might drag on, Yoon Seok-hoon indirectly issued a dismissal order. Tae-seo stood up reluctantly. Since the mention of the party, he had been too curious about what was being discussed, hesitating repeatedly. However, seeing the two men who didn’t even spare him a glance, Tae-seo retreated.

“I’ll leave now.”

With a light farewell, Tae-seo let out a silent sigh as he left.

“Maybe that’s why I can’t get away with my mistakes.”

He didn’t know how much his heart was pounding. If it had been found out at the party that he had drugged someone, it wouldn’t have just ended with a simple reprimand. That was the character of the parents that the owner of this body remembered. When they found out that Tae-seo was harassing someone, they always summoned him and scolded him severely. He hoped Tae-seo wouldn’t deviate, but he couldn’t ignore his feelings for Kang In-hyuk.

So, Tae-seo harassed Seo Da-rae more discreetly. If it were known that he had drugged someone at this party, they would definitely not let it go quietly.

“I hope they’ll let it go this time since no one will harass anyone or cause any accidents.”

Tae-seo murmured softly as he watched the elevator doors close. He hoped he could be the son they wanted. He hoped this incident would pass smoothly. It would be good  if they lightly reprimanded him for drugging someone, and even better  if they didn’t know about it at all.

As the elevator doors opened, Tae-seo checked which floor it was. When he saw that it wasn’t the basement, he took a step back. Someone who had been waiting for the elevator had made space for them to enter. However, even as time passed, there was no sign of anyone entering. Tae-seo glanced down at the floor, then looked up at the person facing him, wearing men’s  shoes. The tip of those  shoes was directed towards him, unmoving.

“If you’re not going to ride, I’ll close it.”

As he reached for the close button, Tae-seo caught a familiar scent in his nose.