Unscented Trajectory - Chapter 57 - 57

He opened the door completely and looked down. There was a lot of dust, but it felt less like a villa building.

He didn’t mind getting his clothes dirty, and he slowly went down to the basement. The wooden ladder made a squeaky sound, but he didn’t care.

As he put his feet on the bare floor and looked around, the memory gradually became clearer.

He couldn’t remember the details, but this place was like a secret base with his young mate. Except for the butler, who was now dead, only he and his partner knew. It was a place that no one knew or could not find.

But, why was there a pile of envelopes on the table? As if someone had left a letter to someone over and over again.

Now, the only person who can find this place and enter is him.

So why.

Joohyuk, whose breathing became rough, walked closer to the table with a face that looked like he was about to collapse at any moment. Looking at the dusty envelopes, he felt his chest tighten and his throat choke.

While still holding Yihyeon’s watch in one hand, he picked up an envelope with the other.

It was an envelope with a date written around this time a few years ago. Inside was a thick piece of paper. With trembling hands, he tore the neatly sealed envelope open and found two handwritten letters inside.

<It’s been 10 years already. I miss you, hyung.>

His heart sank.

The hand that was holding the letter clenched hard and crumpled the end of the letter.

Joohyuk, who was slowly reading the kind words written inside, hurriedly picked up another envelope and opened it. Again, there was a letter

<Can I find hyung? He must be alive, so why couldn’t he find me? Why is my hyung… Are you not coming to find me?>

It was hard to breathe because he felt his throat tightening. Confused, he checked the date on the envelope one by one.

The letter had been written and laid out once a month since 17 years ago. Some of the letters were so old and worn out that it was difficult to open them. The older the font, the more crooked it was, and the more recent it was, the more neat and tidy it was.

In Joohyuk’s eyes, the letter that seemed to have been written the last time was caught.

The date was exactly one year from now.

Joohyuk’s hand hesitated for a while, then hurriedly opened the inside.

<I finally found you, my hyung.>

His heart sank.

<But why did you forget me?>

Tears filled the corners of his eyes in an instant. His hands were shaking so much that it was difficult to read the text properly, but the words in it became a voice in his ears and resounded.

<I never forgot you hyung…>

He could hear the voice mixed with resentment very clearly.

Tears from the corners of Joohyuk’s eyes flowed down his pale cheeks and dripped onto the letter. On the spot where the tears touched, the name of his partner was engraved in neat handwriting.

“… Soohyeon-ah…”

The name, which he should not have forgotten, began to completely awaken Joohyuk’s memories that had been blocked.

* * *

“I hope the butler doesn’t know about this place.”

“I wish it was a place only the two of us knew. It will be special.”

Their special space, known only to them.

His one and only partner who has left a mark here for 17 years.

“I will go to rescue you.”

“I promised. I will protect you.”

His Omega, who always said that he would protect him.

“I will do anything to protect my hyung.”

“I can do anything to protect the managing director.”

He was desperate to keep the covenant he made to him from 17 years ago. What did he do?

Tears that flowed nonstop gradually colored the letter his partner had left.

<I found you too late. I understand that hyung has another mate. I am so… it was too late.>

‘No.’

‘No, Soohyeon-ah.’

‘It’s not like that.’

‘I don’t need anyone other than you.’

<It’s okay. If hyung is happy, that’s enough.>

‘Since the day I lost you, I haven’t been happy even for a day.’

<I know I’m too persistent and have lingering feelings, but still, just let me be by your side for one year. I will keep the promise I made with hyung for only one year.>

‘I made you leave.’

‘You couldn’t even finish the full year… I made you leave.’

He was choked with shame and sadness. His trembling legs loosened and he fell to the floor, he couldn’t handle the rapid breathing, so the irregular breathing made his head pound. The pain that was squeezing his stomach spread all over his body, and it hurt him from head to toe.

In his head, what he had done to ‘Kwon Yihyeon’ for a year flashed by..

There were times when his sincere eyes that would be by his side no matter how he treated him bothered him. There were days when he was deliberately harsher and there were days when he was not treated like a person, but he always stayed by his side.

What do he think every time he had sex with his sex partner?

How much of his heart had been broken while he cleaned up after those people he had sex with, who laid exhaused in a room full of traces of an affair.

“You will be the only Omega in my life.”

The covenant with his partner that he had forgotten remained in his body. Because of that, his body, which had rejected not only Omega’s, but also others, responded only to Yihyeon and he was able to reach his climax.

He didn’t really think much about it except that it was just weird. He was fascinated by the fact that he had finally found a partner who could satisfy his desires, and he swung at him as he pleased. His heart, which had been broken from before, must have broken even more.

Before he knew it, when he was dealing with him, his irrational obsession was revealed, and he gradually began to pay attention to him. It took him a while to realize that it wasn’t just because he wanted his body.

It was natural to think of his young mate when he looked into his eyes. It was the same eyes as back then.

With the only eye he remembered, he gradually came to see the details of the person named Kwon Yihyeon. He projected his mate onto him and used him as a substitute, but without realizing it, he gave up his heart to the person named Kwon Yihyeon.

By the time he fell in love with him, enough to even ask for forgiveness to his late partner, his obsession had already reached its limit. Even if he forgot, his instincts were shouting at him not to fail again and to hold onto him.

But he had already left him with scars. With his shocked face and his emotions distorted, he used him as a tool to pass his rut, and threw him away.

His wounds were already so deep that he could not dare touch them. Much more than the scar on the nape of the neck that nearly killed him while saving him.

“Ugh… can’t breath…”

Holding back his weeping breath, he looked down at the watch he had been holding like a lifeline until then. It was a watch that he had given as a gift, and he even made a promise to him.

If they are separated for a long time or cannot find each other, he asked him to come to the coordinates engraved on the watch. Right in the basement of this villa, he wanted to leave his mark.

The hand holding the watch trembled like crazy, and tears flowed from his eyes as he looked at it.

‘You always kept your promise, but I had forgotten my promise to you.’

What would a child who had written a letter here thinking only of his alpha for a long, long time think of a mate who had forgotten him?

“Soohyeon… Soohyeon-ah… Ugh… Soohyeon-ah…”

From his mouth, the name of his partner, which he wanted to call but couldn’t say, flowed out like a sob.

Even to Kwon Yihyeon, who was not his partner, he wanted to try and ask for forgiveness one by one for the things he had done in the past. He wanted to bring his eyes back to him by saying that he was sorry for making him suffer for a year and making him sick. With those clear eyes that looked at him when they first met.

But now, he couldn’t even say it easily.

‘How dare I ask you for forgiveness.’

The pressure felt like his heart was being crushed, and he punched my chest with his fist. It was heartbreaking, but he hit himself without mercy over and over again. If he didn’t do that, he felt like he was going to suffocate and collapse.

Hee gasped for breath and then cried like crazy. It seemed that the long agony that Soohyeon must have suffered had swallowed up Joohyuk all at once.

Joohyuk, who had been breathing heavily from crying, got up with difficulty with one hand on the table. He stumbled, but managed to get up.

Joohyuk, who roughly wiped away the tears that were still flowing, with the back of his hand, carefully gathered the letters piled up on the table and held them in his arms. Although there were quite a few, Joohyuk carried them, holding them tightly without dropping any.

His father, Lee Jungho, must have known.

That his mate wasn’t dead.

He brought the blood-stained clothes that Soohyeon was wearing at the time of the incident, and even knew that he had his neck cut off. If so, it was clear that he had found Soohyeon alive at that time.

Like himself, Soohyeon didn’t say much about his family, but his family was wealthy enough to have a vacation home nearby. It didn’t make any sense to say that a child from such a family was seriously injured, but he only took off his clothes and brought it home.

How did his father bring Soohyeon’s clothes, and why did he say he was dead?

* * *

Lee Jungho, who was sitting in the study of the spacious mansion, quietly contemplating, suddenly felt puzzled when he heard that Joohyuk had arrived. No matter how urgent it was, he was not someone who would come without contacting first.

‘I was going to call him soon anyway, so we’ll have to talk about it today.’

He got rid of the evil woman and a nasty fake son who said they were my bloodline. All that’s left was Haejun.

‘If only he was gone as well, there would be nothing that could hinder Joohyuk’s path.’

Joohyuk told him to leave Haejun alone, but Lee Jungho couldn’t. At the very least, he thought that if he sent him abroad, he could never come back.

‘I can’t look after that girl’s child.’

He couldn’t leave him threatening Joohyuk in any way or standing by his side. He was meant to be dealt with before there were any signs of such things. Whether Joohyuk stops him or not.

He’d rather talk about Haejun with Joohyuk today. And he also had to ask what he meant by agreeing to an agreement with Lee Sihoon.

Just as he was thinking about it, the door opened without any knocking. Surprised, Lee Jungho frowned and glared at Joohyuk, who came in with the door open.

“Your habit of entering without knocking…! Why is your face like that?”

He was more surprised by Joohyuk’s face than him opening the door without knocking.

His well-groomed clothes were covered in dirt and dust, and his face was bruised. The corners of his eyes were very red, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot. His hardened face was pale with no blood.

Joohyuk, who walked without replying to Lee Jungho’s question, put something down on the desk where he was sitting. It was one of the letters Soohyeon left.

Lee Jungho, who looked at it and Joohyuk’s face alternately, opened the yellowed letter and read the contents. Soon his eyes widened in surprise.

“Why did you lie?”

It was a hard and cold voice. Lee Jungho felt the coldness in his voice, as if a sharp knife was pointed at his neck.

“Why… Did you say that Soohyeon is dead?”

Lee Jungho, who put down the letter without reading the whole contents, closed his mouth with a frown. It was clear that he was choosing how to respond, but Joohyuk was so agitated that even that brief period of time seemed like a long time ago.

“Soohyeon was alive and well! Even though he had been decapitated, he was still alive! Why… why did you lie… ? How did you get his clothes, and why did you say he was dead?! Why!”

After leaving the ashes that he believed belonged to his dead mate in the ossuary, he also visited it once a month as he had a habit. Even though the memory was gone, maybe his instinct was remembering part of the promise he made with him.

Standing in front of the ashes, he endlessly recited the words ‘I miss you’, which were written countless times in the letter Soohyeon left. If he didn’t say it, he felt like he was going to die from the pain in his heart.

Lee Jungho knew about it, but he ignored it until now. Right after that incident, from that time to the present, when he cried in search of a faint trace of his mate in his crumbling memories.

“Why the hell?!”

Lee Jungho, who looked up at Joohyuk with his heavy shaking eyes, lowered his eyes. His face, which had hardened in surprise, suddenly changed.

His lips, which had been firmly closed, opened slowly.

“How did you know?”

“Is that important now?”

As Joohyuk spoke like he was grinding his teeth in anger, Lee Jungho took a deep breath.

“I wish you never knew…”

He buried his body deeply in the chair where he was sitting and looked into Joohyuk’s eyes.

It was like seeing him from 17 years ago when he suffered from a mental illness. It was the eyes of those days when he couldn’t sleep and cried in search of his dead mate, resenting his father who had imprisoned him.

‘I just did it.’

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Joohyuk at that time. On the contrary, it was not enough to only fully understand him, so he even sympathized with him.

“Because it was like I was looking at myself from back then.”

“… What do you mean?”

A woman’s face appeared in Lee Jungho’s head.

She was very cold, but only to him, she was a woman who always had a warm smile.

“After Hyein died… I’ve been like you for a while.”

“Don’t lie!”

Joohyuk contorted his face and slammed the desk with his palm.

“I am well aware that my father had no affection for my mother. Was that person like me? The me at the time who cried out loud to find my omega?! Nonsense… !”

“While you were at the villa, I too suffered a mental illness.”

Joohyuk’s voice was cut off at the calm remark. Lee Jungho was staring at his shaking eyes.

‘Maybe I can tell you now.

Now that I’ve dropped the woman who pretended to be my partner.’

Soon, stories from 17 years ago flowed out through Lee Jungho’s mouth. The story of that time, when Park Hyein, his partner, died and Joohyuk was almost killed.

* * *

Lee Jungho and Park Hyein were a pretty good looking couple.

The two met by chance at a charity party in their youth, quickly recognized each other, and were married under the leadership of both wealthy families. When people saw the alpha and omega couple emerging in the business world, they expected that the fateful couple would be happy for the rest of their lives.

Perhaps because of the match and the imprint, the woman loved him blindly. Even after the birth of the child, her attention was focused on only one person, Lee Jungho. Since she was a person who had no affection for anyone other than her partner, the child was raised by the attendants.

On the other hand, Lee Jungho did not have much affection for his partner. She stood right next to him even if he didn’t call her, and whenever he needed something, she always prepared one step ahead of him. It felt more like having a talented secretary by his side rather than being a grateful or loving wife. Rather than her, he paid more attention to Joohyuk, who would follow him, and taught him harshly.

When Joohyuk turned 15, a sudden change occurred in Lee Jungho’s feelings.

It was an intentional car accident.

It seemed that it was because of the new project that was launched to further expand the scale of the more robust business. A group that resisted this intentionally caused a major collision by buying people. The car following almost hit Lee Jungho, who managed to get out of the car while turning the steering wheel to avoid the accident.

It was Park Hyein who saved Lee Jungho. She threw her body and pushed him away, but instead, she slammed into Lee Jungho’s arms and died on the spot.

Lee Jungho, whose engraving was forcibly removed due to the death of his partner, felt a sense of despair that he had never had before. What came immediately afterward was the love and devotion she had shown so far.

Why couldn’t he take care of her a little more?

Why did he take her existence for granted?

Regret, which came only after losing his mate, swept through Lee Jungho like a storm, which soon brought longing for Park Hyein and desperate sadness.

It wasn’t enough to cry day and night in search of his dead mate, but he developed sleepwalking that he didn’t have before. Lee Jungho, who was mentally exhausted, would wake up every night in Joohyuk’s room without realizing it.

Joohyuk was shocked for a while after his mother died, but did not shed a single tear, but from him, who resembled Park Hyein, a thick pheromone that seemed to mix his and her scent flowed out. Lee Jungho, who wanted to show his son only a solemn and unobtrusive appearance, almost broke that image for the first time, who reminded him of Park Hyein.

But he was terrified. He wondered if the people who had been targeting him might even touch Joohyuk. After Park Hyein, it felt like he couldn’t hold on if he lost him too.

He quickly bought a villa in someone else’s name and secretly sent Joohyuk there. If his identity was revealed, he would be attacked, so he urged him not to divulge even his name. After letting him go like that, he thought that he should at least clear up those who were targeting him.