Responsibility

At the unpleasant beeping sound, Han Taeseok shook his head and left the hospital room.

As he started walking toward the attending physician’s office, hurried footsteps calling his name echoed from afar, and he turned around.

“Executive Director!!”

Secretary Oh came running into the hospital, having heard the news.

Seeing him arrive in cotton pants and a simple T-shirt—so unlike his usual immaculate attire—made it clear just how urgently he had rushed over.

“What happened?”

“Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Ah, here.”

What Secretary Oh pulled from his jacket was a heat cycle stimulant.

During the initial examination performed as soon as Jaekyung arrived at the emergency room, traces of stimulant components had been detected.

The attending physician had said that without knowing exactly what medication Jaekyung had taken, accurate treatment would be impossible, and so Secretary Oh had been sent to retrieve it from the house.

“Where did you find it?”

“In the drawer next to the bedroom door.

By the way… the room was a mess.

Is Jaekyung all right?”

“We’ll find out from here.”

“Ah, and this too…”

Secretary Oh pulled out one more item from his jacket.

It was herbal medicine.

“What’s this? Did he take this too?”

“Not unless you did, sir.”

“I’ve never seen it before.”

“Just in case, I asked the housekeeper.

She said Director Ji’s secretary brought it.

She also saw Jaekyung take it.”

“…I see.”

Then this medicine was also relevant.

Han Taeseok took both medications and headed into the consultation room.

The attending physician was studying Jaekyung’s chart with a serious expression, reviewing the results of the initial tests.

When he noticed the medicines Taeseok placed down, he let out a deep sigh.

“Of all things… incompatible substances.”

“Please explain what’s going on.”

The physician set the chart down and looked at Taeseok.

He had been treating NI individuals for nearly twenty years and even knew what Taeseok had been like as a child.

They weren’t personally close, but he had always quietly looked after Taeseok’s health and other matters, making him someone Taeseok trusted.

“May I ask—did you not know that Jaekyung was receiving hormone injections?”

When Taeseok pressed his lips together and said nothing, it was clear he hadn’t known.

The physician rubbed his temples and sighed even more deeply.

“Earlier today—well, yesterday now, since the date has changed—Jaekyung came to the hospital saying his heat cycle wouldn’t come.

When we ran tests, his alpha response wasn’t just at zero—it was in the negative.

That alone tells us he hasn’t been receiving any alpha pheromones at all.

Even normally, that would be problematic, but while undergoing hormone injections to further evolve omega hormones, not receiving alpha pheromones is… a serious issue, Executive Director Han.”

“…How serious are we talking?”

“You brought him in yourself while he was collapsing.

Don’t you already know how serious it is?”

Even after arriving at the hospital, the seizures didn’t stop easily.

His entire body trembled, foam kept spilling from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he seemed unable to hear the paramedics’ voices.

Only after reaching the emergency room and being given sedatives did he finally begin to look human again.

“I clearly told Jaekyung that, for the time being, it would be better if his heat cycle didn’t occur, and that if possible, he should receive alpha pheromones.

The fact that he took a stimulant…”

The physician didn’t finish the sentence, but his gaze was fixed squarely on Han Taeseok.

It clearly showed where responsibility lay.

“Then if I give him my pheromones now, will that help?”

Taeseok’s tone was oddly casual, as if asking whether doing that now would fix things.

The physician sighed again, his face showing disappointment at the answer.

“…It’s already too late.

At this point, even alpha pheromones could provoke a rejection response.

The priority is to help his biological rhythm return as close to normal as possible.”

“So there’s nothing I can do right now.”

“We’ll know more after further tests.

We also need to analyze the components of this herbal medicine.”

“I understand.”

Han Taeseok stood up.

He rose simply because there was nothing more he could do, but the physician turned away as if he’d seen something painful.

Taeseok left the consultation room without reacting.

Just then, Secretary Oh—who had checked on Jaekyung’s condition—stood nearby, his face pale.

Jaekyung’s state was worse than he had expected.

“Are you going to see Jaekyung?”

“No. I need to go to work.”

“…Work? Executive Director, wouldn’t it be better to stay by Jaekyung’s side?”

“Even if I stay, there’s nothing I can do.

And today is the day his father is being released.

There’s a lot that needs to be handled quietly.

If we’re careless, it could backfire on us.

It’s better to move quickly.”

“I’ll handle that. Please stay with Jaekyung.”

“They said there’s nothing I can do.

So I’ll do what I can.

Ah, assign someone to the hospital room.”

“What kind of person?”

“Do I really need to spell that out?”

“Ah.”

“And make sure reporters don’t catch wind of this.”

Despite Secretary Oh’s attempts to stop him, Han Taeseok left the hospital swiftly.

Secretary Oh hurriedly called the driver.

While waiting for the car, Taeseok stood at the busy hospital entrance, sirens blaring, hands in his pockets, exhaling white breath into the cold air.

He looked up at the pitch-black sky, then climbed into the car without hesitation when it arrived.

◆

He had ended his five-year marriage with Park Jaekyung and divorced him.

Regret? No.

He had no regrets about any of the choices related to him.

He didn’t regret the first choice he made of his own will.

He didn’t regret the second choice either.

And he didn’t regret the third choice—divorce.

The only regret that lingered was that he hadn’t held an umbrella over Jaekyung when he was left alone, scattered in the rain.

“Executive Director.”

Secretary Oh hesitated behind him, clearly worried.

“Pretend you don’t know.”

“…Yes.”

“There seem to be reporters around. Make sure it doesn’t affect him.”

“Understood.”

Why was it?

Was it because he could no longer meet him?

In the empty space beside him, the miserable emotion called regret had taken Jaekyung’s place.

◆

Chairman Park of Jaewang Group was released without charges.

Everything was blamed on the Chinese business partner, and all circumstances and evidence were reframed as tax evasion on the partner’s part.

Since it had been a joint venture, it wasn’t difficult to twist things that way.

Moreover, the reason this was possible was that the con artist was Chinese.

No matter how much the prosecution wanted to summon him, China would never allow it, and the man himself—having committed crimes—would never be able to enter Korea again.

At best, he would manipulate things behind the scenes, sell off the company, and disappear.

After his release, Chairman Park, looking haggard, secretly sought out Han Taeseok.

Taeseok tried to brush him off with excuses about being busy, but the man stubbornly waited until after work and blocked Taeseok’s path as he was leaving.

“Why is it so hard to meet you, Executive Director Han?”

With a hearty, ingratiating smile, he grabbed Taeseok’s hand.

“Thank you.

I really chose a good son-in-law.”

What a fool.

How had this man even made it this far?

His face was full of malice, and greed overflowed from the wrinkles around his eyes.

Taeseok knew that several parts of Jaewang Group were now unstable because of this incident.

It was supposed to be a merely cooperative relationship, but now it seemed possible to devour him alive.

Perhaps because of his incompetence, every one of his actions was irritating.

Han Taeseok gently pulled his hand away.

“It’s fine.

If something had happened to you, Chairman Park, it would have reflected badly on us, so we simply intervened.

I hope there won’t be incidents like this again.”

It was a roundabout way of saying,

“Don’t bother me.”

Chairman Park seemed to understand, frowning as his hand dropped and trembled in midair.

Taeseok nodded briefly in farewell and continued on his way home.

Sitting in the car, feeling the engine start smoothly, he leaned back against the seat.

He didn’t care what Chairman Park was doing now—whether he’d gone home or was still standing there.

He only hoped the man would never seek him out again.

People who weren’t useful were better cut off cleanly.

“For now, all articles have been distributed in Chairman Park’s favor.

Search results on portal sites have been cleared, and only positive keywords are being promoted.

Starting next week, older articles will be deleted one by one.”

What a mess—cleaning up after a man in his sixties who couldn’t handle his own affairs.

Han Taeseok clicked his tongue and looked out the window.

Come to think of it, that man hadn’t even asked about his own son.

“…Any word from the hospital?”

“Ah, yes.”

As if waiting for the question, Secretary Oh answered immediately.

“He’s still unconscious.

There are occasional seizures…

The test results should be out the day after tomorrow, and they asked you to stop by.”

Secretary Oh went on to explain, one by one, the treatments Jaekyung was receiving.

“What do I need to do?”

“…For now, nothing.”

“I see.”

He could have gone straight home, but his chest still felt heavy and constricted.

That suffocating feeling only intensified when he arrived at the empty house.

The dark, heavy air pressed down on him.

He opened the front door but hesitated to step inside.

After staring blankly into the cold interior, he finally went in.

At some point, Park Jaekyung had stopped greeting him when he came home.

Sometimes he’d hear faint rustling from the room, or the housekeeper would say he was inside.

Taeseok never called out to him.

He didn’t feel the need to.

He let him be as he wished.

So climbing the stairs alone and opening the empty second-floor room was familiar.

Yet these past few days, a strange feeling lingered.

With a hollow sense of desolation, Han Taeseok abandoned the work he’d planned to do and lay down in the small bedroom beside the study.

A thin breeze whispered through the house.

As if the house knew the empty spot, even if he himself didn’t.

Three days had passed since Park Jaekyung was hospitalized.

Just after finishing a meeting, the call that stopped Han Taeseok was from Director Ji.

Returning to his office, he dismissed everyone except Secretary Oh and stood by the window as he pressed the call button.