The Mark of Silence

“When Taeseok found a partner, I thought you two would go out together, talk about all sorts of things, and enjoy happy days… but it’s truly lonely.

I thought the house might gain a bit of liveliness, but instead, the little life it had was taken away by the one who came in.

Don’t go around outside looking like that.

People might think our family is mistreating you.

I don’t want to be known as a cruel mother-in-law, so make sure you conduct yourself properly.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“The tea is good. Could you bring me some more?”

At Director Ji’s words, the housekeeper who had been quietly watching from the kitchen was about to move, but Jae-kyung quickly shook his head and stood up himself.

He adjusted the water temperature, brewed a fresh cup, and placed it carefully in front of Director Ji.

She wore a satisfied expression as she savored the aroma of the tea.

“Come to think of it, it would be strange for me to have already heard that kind of news….”

That kind of news…?

“When was your last heat cycle?”

Ah—that news.

Jae-kyung immediately understood what she meant.

“It was before the wedding.”

“How regular is it?”

“It’s irregular, but roughly once every six months….”

“Six months?”

“Yes.”

“You must be recessive. Six months… you’ll need hormone injections.

You should have a child as soon as possible—only then will the household be stable, won’t it?”

“Yes….”

“Oh, if you imprint, the chances are lower than during heat, but you can still conceive…

You two have imprinted, haven’t you?”

How was he supposed to answer that?

They hadn’t even spent an hour face-to-face, let alone imprinted.

He wanted to say that even roommates would see each other more often than he and Han Taeseok did—that he wasn’t even sure they could truly be called a married couple.

But he knew better than to say such things out loud.

And he didn’t know what kind of answer Director Ji wanted.

Her desired answer…

He had only a few seconds.

Trying to calculate every possibility in that brief moment made his head ache.

That was when the doorbell rang.

Jae-kyung looked up.

The housekeeper hurried out, checked the intercom, and quickly pressed the open button.

“It’s Director Han.”

What?

It was eight in the evening.

Coming home at this hour—he could count the times on one hand… no, there had been none at all.

And yet, he arrived with such perfect timing.

Jae-kyung let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Director Ji’s face brightened as she stood up abruptly, reaching the entrance before Jae-kyung could.

As soon as Han Taeseok opened the door, she stepped forward in her socks and pulled her son into an embrace.

“My son—welcome home.”

“You were here, Mother?”

He hugged her once in return and greeted her warmly, then lifted his gaze to Jae-kyung.

“You’re here.”

It had been a long time since he’d greeted him like that.

Taeseok usually came home after Jae-kyung had fallen asleep and left before he woke up, so even this simple greeting felt unfamiliar.

“You said you were busy today. Why are you home so early?”

“I heard you were coming, so I wrapped things up at work.

It’s the first time I’ve seen you since the wedding.”

“So you do remember. Such a cold-hearted boy.

Come on, let’s go inside.”

Director Ji took Taeseok by the hand and led him into the living room, seating him on the sofa.

Jae-kyung stood quietly beside them.

Director Ji glanced at him with visible displeasure.

“What are you doing just standing there?

Why aren’t you taking Taeseok’s jacket?”

Ah—

Jae-kyung hurriedly reached for it, but Taeseok stood up abruptly, removed his jacket himself, and draped it over his arm.

“I’ll go change.”

“Alright.”

Taeseok headed toward the dressing room, and unable to withstand Director Ji’s sharp gaze, Jae-kyung followed after him.

It was painful to have to choose between the two kinds of pressure—but at least Han Taeseok didn’t crush people with his eyes.

Inside the dressing room, Taeseok loosened his tie and hung his jacket on the rack.

Even this ordinary scene felt unfamiliar—it was the first time Jae-kyung had seen it.

He didn’t know what he should do or what he should say.

Whenever he was around these people, he felt as if he became stupid, like everything he knew simply slipped away.

Ah, but…

What was that smell?

A faint, clean scent—like a cool ocean breeze.

Was there some kind of scented sachet?

It was exactly his type of scent.

Blinking, Jae-kyung traced the source of it—and then froze.

Han Taeseok.

It was his pheromones.

It was the first time Jae-kyung had ever properly smelled them.

Taeseok always suppressed them so thoroughly that Jae-kyung had never known what they were like.

So this was what a dominant Alpha’s pheromones smelled like….

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Taeseok’s voice snapped him back to his senses.

In an instant, the pheromones vanished, and the air tightened again with heavy restraint.

“Pardon?”

“If you’re standing there blocking the doorway like that, I can only assume you have something to say.”

“Ah… I was just wondering if there was anything I could help with….”

“There isn’t.”

“Did you have dinner?”

“I ate already.”

His curt replies cut off every opportunity for conversation.

He clearly didn’t want to talk—and Jae-kyung had no right to force him.

Still, there was something that needed to be discussed.

“There’s something I’d like to consult you about.”

“Go ahead.”

He spoke indifferently as he unbuttoned his shirt.

“Before you arrived, Director Ji asked me about imprinting.

I wasn’t sure how I should answer.”

Imprinting could only occur when two people spent the night together—after knotting, entrusting their entire bodies to one another, meeting each other’s gaze in trust.

It was proof that they had truly become bonded partners—a formally acknowledged married couple.

Once imprinted, an Omega could no longer sense the pheromones of any other Alpha, and an Alpha could no longer sense those of any other Omega.

Likewise, other Alphas and Omegas could not sense the pheromones of a bonded pair.

In this world, only one person would remain—the sole partner to whom one could entrust their pheromones and everything else.

But Jae-kyung and Han Taeseok had never imprinted.

They had never even spent a night together.

Though Taeseok had returned from his business trip to the U.S. and begun coming home every night, he slept alone in the small room next to the second-floor study.

Less than strangers—and yet, imprinting….

“I think we should decide how to handle it going forward.

If we choose to hide it, I can manage my pheromones carefully and take suppressants.

Since I’m recessive, it should be possible.

Relatives can’t sense pheromones, and unless we’re tested at a hospital, neither Director Ji nor the chairman will find out.”

“Do that.”

“…Pardon?”

“Say whatever you decided—tell them we’ve imprinted.”

He brushed past Jae-kyung and left the room.

It sounded as though he had agreed, but it wasn’t a discussion.

It had merely been one of several options, yet he ended it unilaterally once again.

Jae-kyung didn’t know what to do.

It had only been a month, but it already felt like ten years had passed.

When he followed Taeseok back into the living room, Director Ji was instructing the housekeeper to prepare refreshments.

“I asked the secretary, and he said you’d already eaten, so I prepared some snacks.”

“Thank you.”

Jae-kyung and Taeseok sat side by side, with Director Ji seated across from them.

She took a sip of tea, set the cup down with a satisfied expression, and looked at Jae-kyung.

“So, about what we were discussing earlier…

You two have imprinted, haven’t you?”

“Yes, we have.”

Taeseok answered immediately.

Jae-kyung turned to him in shock, but Taeseok remained expressionless, calmly sipping his tea.

At his response, Director Ji hummed softly and lifted her cup again, inhaling the aroma before speaking.

“Then I suppose I’ll be hearing good news soon.

I’ll look forward to it.”

◆

Sometimes, those years felt like a dream.

Sometimes, it felt as though he had always lived this way.

Was it escapism—or simply adaptation?

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that time itself was the strongest medicine.

That was why he wished it would pass more quickly—so that he could finally separate himself completely from their world.

“Here, Mr. Park—your first paycheck.”

“Wow!”

A white envelope was handed to Jae-kyung.

It was the money he had earned from a full month of work.

How could he not feel happy?

“I could’ve just transferred it, but I heard your first paycheck feels twice as rewarding when you get it in an envelope.

Still, money tends to burn holes in pockets—so make sure you deposit it soon.”

“Thank you very much.”

Jae-kyung quickly slipped the envelope into his bag.

About one million won.

Compared to the fortune he once had, it was nothing—but it felt more precious than any of it.

When he’d worked at the Jaewang Group, his position hadn’t come from ability.

It had been handed to him through family connections.

People liked to say connections were a kind of skill—but that was nothing more than pretty packaging for unfairness.

“Oh, by the way, Mr. Park, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? It’s my day off, so I was thinking of finally going to see a movie.”

“Oh? So no special plans?”

“No.”

The way the manager asked made it obvious—there was a favor coming.

“Do you need help with something?”

“Haha, you catch on fast.

Could you help me with inventory tomorrow?

When you helped last time, it went so smoothly. I’ll pay you extra, of course.”

“I was planning to watch a movie around lunchtime, so I can come by around six. Would that be alright?”

“Perfect!”

“Alright, I’ll be there.”

Recently, Jae-kyung had noticed the manager struggling with inventory after a part-timer repeatedly made input mistakes.

So he created a simple Excel tool to make tallying the numbers easier before entering them into the store system.

Even though the data still had to be entered manually later, the tool drastically reduced errors—small effort, but a big help to the manager.