False Hope

Chairman Seong and the five alphas immediately looked horrified.

“What are you saying, Chanyeong?! You want to invite someone who tried to harm you into this house?”

“The chairman is right. Chanyeong, bringing a dangerous person here is too risky.”

Chairman Seong fiercely objected while Seo Eunsu stood beside him with an anxious expression, looking like someone desperately trying to stop his lover from marching into battle.

“I’m not inviting Moon Kyungsik because I like him.”

“Then why bring him here?”

“Because we can’t let him escape. We’re inviting him here to catch him.”

If Moon Kyungsik slips away now, things will only get worse.

I needed to catch him before even stranger incidents happened.

Even if Moon Kyungsik truly was the original Seong Chanyeong, there was no telling what kind of trouble he would cause next.

“Secretary Choi. You said Moon Kyungsik is still in town, right?”

Secretary Choi, who was currently handing me another sesame pancake, answered brightly.

“Yes. Since Young Master ordered an investigation, someone has been watching his movements. According to reports, he’s still staying at his house.”

Even after stealing my heat suppressants through Mrs. Kim, Moon Kyungsik still hadn’t fled town.

What does that mean?

Ever since waking up, I’d been wondering why he hadn’t run.

If Moon Kyungsik was truly the original Seong Chanyeong and hated me for taking over his body…

then maybe—

Was he still clinging to the original’s feelings for those people?

Back when we’d all gone to the market together—me, Baek Dojun, Chae Yoonchan, Joo Taegang, and Yoo Yi-seo—

Moon Kyungsik had shown obvious interest in the alphas.

He’d deliberately released pheromones to attract them.

He’d even invited them to his house for a meal.

But after getting rejected, he hadn’t stopped there.

Instead, he stared at me.

Not the alphas.

Me.

Like he wanted to kill me specifically.

It was a gaze overflowing with jealousy and inferiority.

“…After causing all this chaos, he’s still lingering around the village?”

Yoo Yi-seo clicked his tongue in disbelief.

Baek Dojun, Joo Taegang, and Chae Yoonchan all looked equally stunned.

“Stealing suppressants from an omega or alpha right before their heat is a serious crime.”

“He had to know that. Even if he didn’t know Chanyeong was the youngest grandson of Seong Eun Group, he still knowingly committed a crime.”

“And after all that, he’s shamelessly staying in the same village?”

Watching these idiots openly rage on my behalf, I suddenly found myself thinking—

Seong Chanyeong… was this really your way of trying to kill me?

The twisted unrequited love that had consumed Seong Chanyeong even in the original story.

The answer was hidden inside that obsession.

Moon Kyungsik… no, Seong Chanyeong.

You’re still clinging to the alphas you thought loved you, even though they never once looked your way.

Silently, I stared at the idiots cursing Moon Kyungsik while the real Seong Chanyeong still couldn’t let go of people who had never acknowledged him.

“…What’s wrong? Was it too noisy? Should we stop insulting him?”

“No, it’s not that.”

Chae Yoonchan glanced at me carefully after hearing me mutter softly.

“It’s fine. You’re cursing someone who hurt me.”

“Really? Then good. That bastard’s seriously insane.”

The second I gave permission, Chae Yoonchan enthusiastically started swearing again, calling Moon Kyungsik every insult imaginable.

The other alphas weren’t nearly as passionate, but they all agreed the guy was completely unhinged.

Seong Chanyeong probably never imagined seeing something like this.

The ironic result of me desperately trying to avoid Seong Chanyeong’s bad ending…

was that I ended up receiving affection from these idiots and Seo Eunsu instead.

And somewhere along the way, I’d grown attached to them too.

What must the real Seong Chanyeong have felt while trapped inside Moon Kyungsik’s body, watching all of this happen?

Probably the same kind of boiling envy I once felt while watching healthy people run around freely outside my hospital room.

I knew exactly what that kind of hell looked like.

Watching someone effortlessly obtain something you could never have.

And because of that—

I felt just a little sorry for him.

“Poor thing…”

“What are you thinking about?”

Chairman Seong asked gently after hearing the faint pity in my voice, but I couldn’t answer him.

Because I couldn’t explain the torment of watching someone else live happily in your place, wearing your face, loved by the people you desperately wanted acknowledgment from.

What was left after love twisted itself into obsession?

“Either way, the fact that Moon Kyungsik hasn’t left yet works in our favor. Inviting him over is just a way to make him lower his guard.”

And while we’re at it… we’ll feed his inferiority complex too.

If I wanted to draw out the real Seong Chanyeong’s emotions, exploiting his inferiority was the most effective method.

If he even suspects I spent my heat with one of these idiots because I lacked suppressants…

He’d lose control instantly.

That uncertainty was the key.

I had to push him until he snapped.

Only then would this confrontation finally end.

My feelings were complicated.

I never wanted to steal someone else’s body.

All I’d wanted was a healthy body and a peaceful life where I could quietly grow crops.

“So, Baek Dojun. Chae Yoonchan. Joo Taegang. Yoo Yi-seo. Seo Eunsu.”

I looked directly at the five alphas.

“All of you are going to act as bait.”

“Us?”

“Yes. The five of you need to personally invite Moon Kyungsik here. Use whatever excuse you want, but convince him to come.”

“…You’re asking us to lure another alpha over?”

Joo Taegang’s face twisted with discomfort.

I couldn’t tell whether he hated the idea because it involved another alpha—or because he simply didn’t want to do anything for someone connected to me.

“Yes. And if possible, tell him I’m suffering badly because I didn’t have suppressants during my heat.”

The real Seong Chanyeong wasn’t stupid.

But if he heard that the person he wanted dead was suffering—

he wouldn’t be able to resist coming.

You’ve wanted to kill me all along, haven’t you?

And if temptation was added on top of that…

the affection of the alphas he had obsessed over for so long—

then he definitely wouldn’t endure it.

Even fake affection.

Even scraps.

He’d still desperately reach for them.

…Just like before.

…What was that thought just now?

It felt important.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember it clearly.

After a moment, I gave up and pushed it aside.

“I’m asking you all for help. This is our best chance to catch the person tormenting me and expose what he really wants.”

Moon Kyungsik couldn’t let go of that false thread of hope.

The real Seong Chanyeong had become something like a vengeful spirit, trying to drive me out and steal the love he could never obtain.

Even if he realized it was a trap—

he still wouldn’t be able to walk away.

“It’s disgusting manipulating another alpha like this… but if it earns me favor with Chanyeong, then it’s worth it.”

Yoo Yi-seo really was shameless.

That man never did anything unless it benefited him somehow.

“Oh, sure. Think whatever you want.”

I didn’t particularly care.

Chairman Seong, however, clearly did.

“You said your name was Yoo Yi-seo? If you want to die, keep talking. I’ll personally watch.”

“Haha. Chairman, you take jokes far too seriously.”

“You arrogant brat. Do you think I’m senile? I know perfectly well you were serious.”

Nice one, Grandpa.

Chairman Seong had apparently decided Yoo Yi-seo was public enemy number one after the marriage comments earlier.

Honestly, I appreciated it.

If Yoo Yi-seo was a hundred-year-old fox, then Chairman Seong was a thousand-year-old tiger.

“I’ll need your help too, Grandpa. Please act like I’m seriously ill and too weak to even get out of bed.”

“Understood.”

“Secretary Choi, make preparations so Moon Kyungsik can’t leave once he arrives.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

The trap was ready.

Now all we had to do… was wait.