I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 72

But Jae-young’s words were nicely proven wrong. The snow that was expected to stop around early afternoon the next day poured down endlessly. The weather forecast that changed overnight was saying that it would snow until dawn.

“Although it briefly let up at dawn…”

“Then what can we do? We can’t do anything at that time anyway.”

The snow that briefly stopped at dawn was swirling again. So snow can pile up like that. It was amazing.

“If it stops at dawn, it will be difficult to go out tomorrow until the streets are cleared.”

“Do you want to go out?”

“It’s not that I necessarily want to… but isn’t it a waste of time?”

“If there’s no particular reason… then let’s just rest. We can’t go out anyway, and just looking outside will make you feel frustrated for nothing.”

Jae-young pulled the curtains and turned on the lights. In fact, he was secretly hoping for a situation like this.

When he suggested going to Sapporo, he thought it was a quite famous phrase, but Seung-hyun didn’t seem to be interested in this kind of thing.

“Isn’t being isolated to this degree luxurious?”

“That’s true, but anyway…”

“And you’re not alone either.”

Seung-hyun, who had been thinking that there were many good hotels wherever he went anyway, stared at Jae-young’s handsome face upon hearing his words.

“…You’re right.”

It was a shallow ploy with obvious intentions, but he decided to let it slide. Even if they didn’t say it out loud, the two of them knew what their feelings for each other were.

‘Since the peace won’t last long.’

“Surely the snowstorm won’t swirl for a whole week, right?”

“Of course not. No matter how much it’s winter.”

Still, it’s a place where people live, so it won’t be that bad. Jae-young thought so and ordered simple room service.

“I’m tired from being dragged here and there for a while. It’s not that I hate dealing with people, but there are quite a few suffocating people on this side.”

“People like my father, I suppose.”

“Can you say that?”

“What’s wrong with it? It’s the truth.”

Seung-hyun said while sipping a drink. It’s not like he’s his real father anyway. Even if he had been his father from birth, it was the same for both sides that they didn’t see each other as affectionate family.

“Since rumors spread quickly there, you might have heard.”

“I didn’t intend to hear it, but… yes. It is like that.”

Jae-young answered honestly. On December 31st, unable to resist Seong-ah’s nagging that he should know how important connections are, Jae-young ended up hearing quite a few stories he wasn’t very curious about at a banquet he attended.

Among them were stories about Seung-hyun. It was because Seung-hyun’s cousin, who had been embarrassed at that gathering, had been blabbing about his antics to his friends.

Although Chairman Han belatedly tried to stop the story, saying it was a family disgrace, it was impossible to clean up a rumor that had already spread as much as it could.

“I heard you properly dropped a bomb and left.”

“I didn’t intend to, but they kept provoking me.”

“You were a scary person, Seung-hyun.”

“Good for you to know.”

“I’m already doing well, why the sulky remark?”

Jae-young said, shrugging his shoulders. Honestly, he was a bit surprised. Although he showed signs of wavering, he was basically someone who wasn’t very interested in worldly affairs.

So he thought he would ignore and disregard whatever people around him said, but it seemed he hit back properly.

“It’s just… a whim, and because they kept provoking me even though I said I’ll stay put, slightly…”

“Slightly?”

“I felt like tipping them over.”

Jae-young burst into laughter at the unexpected words. Come to think of it, that family was a mess just from hearing about it roughly.

The constitutional discrimination of conglomerate families was nothing new, but Chairman Han and the HJ family were particularly severe.

‘Honestly, I can’t say our family doesn’t have that atmosphere… but that side is famous for abandoning even their son.’

It was a well-known story that Taehyeop, Seung-hyun’s father, had pushed out Chairman Han’s biological son using only his constitution as a reason and entered the family. The atmosphere of disregarding fervid constitution or betas was prevalent, but in the end, people usually changed when it came to family matters.

But he cut off his biological son without a moment’s hesitation, and went as far as treating him like trash after cutting him off. Ironically, it was also a topic of discussion when his biological son, who had been cut off like that, re-entered the family thanks to his dominant alpha child.

“Isn’t it unpleasant to see? Talking about fervid this and that at the end of every sentence, as if being merciful and giving an opportunity.”

It was frustrating even though it wasn’t discrimination he experienced himself. The real Han Seung-hyun, who had lived his whole life being treated like that, might not have even known that the situation was wrong, but the current Seung-hyun was different.

“So I just told them to give up without lingering attachment. Well… I added a few more words.”

“Haha.”

“Why? Do I seem strange?”

“No. Rather… I think you’re amazing.”

Jae-young also had such thoughts many times. There were definitely moments when talking about dominant or fervid, alpha or beta felt not only boring but also annoying.

Because Seon-hu was a fervid. He didn’t wish to be born a dominant, and he never took pride in that fact, but he didn’t like having to remain friends for that reason.

‘What does that matter? Whether fervid or dominant… it’s fine if you like each other.’

However, he had never actually raised the issue. He also thought it would be deceitful for him to say such things, and on the other hand, he might have been afraid.

‘He didn’t push that promise because Young Master Seon-hu was a fervid, but if you two had said you were on good terms, she would have pretended to give in.’

It was Jae-young who was afraid of the relationship going sour and didn’t even try. Thinking about it now, it seems he wasn’t just thinking about his relationship with Seon-hu.

When he was young, he thinks he might have been afraid that if he said such things, the atmosphere with his family would go sour.

“I wish I could have been someone like that too.”

“Why? Aren’t you a dominant, Jae-young? You must have lived without any discomfort. Your relationship with your family is good too.”

“That’s true. But… doesn’t everyone live with their own concerns or dissatisfactions?”

Bitterness lingered in Jae-young’s smile. Seung-hyun stared at him and said,

“If you’re worried about image management, tell me. But you have to tell me quickly.”

“What?”

“Because you have a face that looks like you have a lot to say.”

At the sudden words, Jae-young blinked for a moment and then burst into laughter. Seeing him make silly jokes, Seung-hyun had definitely become much more comfortable too.

“Okay. I will definitely tell you.”

“It’s a limited-time service, so you better speak quickly.”

Although he said it like a joke, it wasn’t a joke Seung-hyun could just laugh at. No, let’s not think like this. Seung-hyun changed the subject.

“Will we be able to go out tomorrow? The snow seems to be falling even harder.”

The snowstorm visible through the curtains didn’t look good. Even if the snow stops, it will take quite a while to realign the roads. Will it be handled in a few hours?

“Do you want to go out that badly?”

“Isn’t it a waste to spend time only at the hotel when we’ve come all the way here?”

“We can do what we can do inside the room.”

“Like what?”

“Hmm… before, you said you like swimming.”

It was something he said before the weather got cold, but he remembered that too? Seung-hyun nodded.

“Shall we go to the pool then? You don’t seem to like staying still anyway.”

“I don’t like crowded places though…”

“This room has access to a private pool in the basement. It’s not very spacious, but I think it will be enough for the two of us to enjoy.”

It’s better than being cooped up in the room. Seung-hyun nodded without much thought. Jae-young called the front desk and had a somewhat long conversation.

[Yes, please prepare it like that. How long should I wait?] 

It’s obvious since he said he lived in the US, but his English was quite fluent. Seung-hyun, who was listening to the conversation thinking it was interesting how the voice tone changes when speaking a different language, made direct eye contact with Jae-young who put down the receiver.

“They said it will take some time to prepare, so let’s wait about 10 minutes and go down.”

“…Yes.”

“Why are you staring like that?”

“What?”

Seung-hyun turned his gaze away in surprise. Did I stare too much?

‘When I saw his hair up, and now too… when I see an unfamiliar appearance, my gaze naturally goes there more.’

“It’s nothing.”

Although he made an excuse, the quick-witted Jae-young roughly caught on to the reason for that behavior. And he was not someone who easily let go of an opportunity he grasped.

“Hmm, yes. I see.”

Then what if I do this? Jae-young answered meekly while having a slightly playful thought.

Seung-hyun, who didn’t know anything, was just preparing to go down while wondering if there were tubes at the pool.