Farewell and Misunderstandings

“…It feels empty.”

Even though no appliances or furniture had been removed, the house felt strangely hollow.

I wasn’t even the real owner, so it was a ridiculous thought.

Maybe that’s why.

I quietly said goodbye to this place.

More precisely—to the real Seong Chanyeong, wherever he might be.

“…Goodbye, Seong Chanyeong. I’m leaving. I don’t know where you are, but if you’re dead, I hope you went somewhere good. If you’re alive… then live well.”

And don’t die living a life like this again.

The way back down felt light.

With no lingering ties left to threaten me, I had never felt more at ease.

Goodbye, Seong Chanyeong.

Goodbye, you damn obsessive male leads from the original novel.

I’m out.

That short time with you all was absolute trash—let’s never meet again.

“Then, we’ll be departing now, Young Master.”

“Yeah.”

As I got into the car driven by Secretary Choi and headed toward my new home, the tension drained from my body.

Sleepiness washed over me.

“You must be tired. Get some rest on the way.”

“Yeah… thanks…”

As I drifted off, I thought—

‘Everything worked out.’

And it’ll keep working out.

With that sense of relief, like my real life here was finally beginning, I fell asleep.

While the youngest son of a farming family—now possessing Seong Chanyeong—was busily preparing for rural life,

The main house of Seong Group had turned into a full-blown funeral atmosphere.

“So… Chanyeong really told you to pass that message to me…?”

At the center of it all was Chairman Seong, who was practically bedridden.

According to Doctor Kim Bokdol, it was clearly an illness of the heart.

“I told you already. How many times do I have to repeat myself? Are your ears blocked? Want me to clean them out for you?”

Having repeated the same story dozens of times, Doctor Kim snapped irritably at the chairman, who lay on the bed with a cold towel on his forehead.

Normally, Chairman Seong would have fired back twice as harshly.

But today, he looked completely deflated.

“Oh, my poor boy… Because of this useless old man, he left without a word, hurt and alone…”

The chairman wailed and rolled around on his king-sized bed.

It looked like a child throwing a tantrum.

Doctor Kim grew even more irritated.

“This is what happens when you don’t even know your grandson’s allergies. You can predict stock market crashes like a fortune teller, but you don’t know your own family. Pathetic.”

“And you know everything?!”

“I do! I even know which card game character my grandson liked in elementary school!”

“Ugh, that’s creepy. Do you stalk your grandson or what?”

“And you’re proud of neglecting yours, you old fool?”

“…Ugh.”

The argument ended with Chairman Seong’s defeat.

He wrapped himself in a blanket like a cocoon and sniffled.

‘If Young Master saw this, he’d be shocked.’

Doctor Kim was certain even the chairman’s own son would refuse to believe what he was seeing.

Chairman Seong had always been cold and ruthless.

His life, spent building Seong Group into a top-tier conglomerate, had been consumed entirely by work.

Family had naturally fallen to the sidelines.

He provided everything materially, but emotionally, there was nothing.

His way of showing love was money.

But his family had wanted more than that—

They wanted affection.

Yet no one dared to ask it of him.

His son, the current CEO, had grown to resemble him.

And so the family grew distant.

By the time he realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

Now that he was trying to make amends, it only backfired.

“…Get up. Not knowing about his allergy is your own fault.”

“Are you comforting me or beating me down? Pick one.”

“Pull yourself together. Did you think fixing things with your grandson would be easy? Stop sulking and think of what to do next.”

“…What should I do?”

“That’s for you to figure out.”

At that, Chairman Seong threw a pillow at him.

Even now, his strength as a dominant Alpha hadn’t faded.

“You should’ve gone into his hospital room instead of hesitating!”

“I wanted to! But what he said before collapsing stuck with me!”

“…Seriously.”

Even Doctor Kim had nothing to say to that.

Because those words had been too heartbreaking.

“Please… just let me live freely. Please…”

Both men had frozen when they heard it.

Especially Chairman Seong.

He felt too guilty to even face his grandson.

“…I’m not fit to be his grandfather. He was suffering alone, and I didn’t even notice. I didn’t know anything about him…”

“…That’s true. And after being diagnosed as a recessive Omega, he had to live pretending to be a Beta.”

There was no need to explain how painful that must have been.

Chanyeong’s personality had always been difficult.

But after his trait classification, things had gotten worse.

They knew that.

And yet, when he stopped listening entirely, they gave up.

They monitored him through Secretary Choi, but eventually stopped caring.

They had no idea he had suffered enough to attempt suicide.

“…I don’t know what to do… Bokdol. My sins are too great.”

The chairman covered his face, tears slipping through his fingers.

“…It’s not too late. Go after him now.”

“With what right?”

“As his grandfather! Or do you plan to live without ever seeing him again?”

Finally losing patience, Doctor Kim yanked the blanket off him and smacked his back hard.

“Hey! You were the one who stopped us from running full tests on him without consent!”

“As a doctor, I couldn’t allow it! What if he’s actually sick and went to the countryside to die quietly? Will you still sit here like this?!”

That snapped Chairman Seong out of it.

“…That can’t happen. I won’t let my child die alone somewhere.”

Their entire conversation was based on a completely wrong assumption—

That Seong Chanyeong had gone to the countryside because he was terminally ill.

If he were here, he’d probably laugh himself to death.

But in his absence, the misunderstanding only grew.

Even Doctor Kim began to wonder if it might be true.

“…I should call Secretary Choi.”

Out of guilt, Chairman Seong had avoided asking about Chanyeong.

Even contacting Secretary Choi felt like an invasion of his grandson’s freedom.

“Well, about time. Hurry up and call.”

Encouraged, he finally dialed.

The ringtone felt unusually long.

[Yes, Chairman. This is Secretary Choi.]

“…Ahem. Secretary Choi. It’s me. That… how is Chanyeong doing?”

[He’s doing well. Honestly, I didn’t expect him to adapt this well either.]

“…That’s good…”

His mouth felt bitter.

If only he’d heard that things weren’t going well—

He would’ve had an excuse to go see him.

Unaware of his thoughts, Secretary Choi continued cheerfully.

[Thanks to that, I was able to send him off without worry. The newly hired staff are doing well too, so you can rest easy.]

‘…Huh?’

Chairman Seong frowned.

Something felt off.

“Wait. That sounds like… you’re not with him?”

[Ah, yes. You haven’t been informed yet. Young Master said there was no reason to keep me as his secretary anymore, so I’ve been dismissed.]

“What?! Then… do you know where he is now?”

[I do. But I’m sorry—I can’t tell you. He gave me a large sum of money and made me promise not to reveal it to anyone.]

“What?!”

The chairman clutched the back of his neck.

“My head…!”

Seeing him about to collapse, Doctor Kim immediately called the hospital.

“Emergency! Emergency! The chairman is about to collapse!”

“Chanyeong…!”

The entire house fell into chaos.

Doctor Kim clicked his tongue.

At this rate, things were only going to get more exhausting.