Cozy Obsession

Seo Jaehan was a parent more devoted to his children than anyone else, but he was also a villain who amassed his wealth through exploitation and sin. While Heemin was terrified of Cha Yiheon, who killed people without hesitation, he found Seo Jaehan, who would gladly sell his soul for money, even more repulsive. It was so bad that Heemin thought it was good that Seo Jaehan was dead. To think that the character he hated so much in the story was his father. From the beginning, Heemin had no intention of reclaiming his biological father’s company like Seo Heemin did. He had no need for the status of Seo Jaehan’s child.“Then whose child are you?”“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know. You don’t need to know either.”“Seo Heemin.”At Heemin’s cheeky remark, Yiheon’s voice dropped. His gaze crumpled like a sheet of paper, but Heemin did not back down.“No. I’m absolutely not going. I want to stay home.”Heemin had been busy every day, working two part-time jobs and studying for certification exams at the library in his spare time. While he was starting to get bored of being confined and watching TV all day, he absolutely did not want to attend the inauguration ceremony.After all, he would definitely run into two characters who had a significant impact on the plot.One of them was Do Junyoung, the marketing team leader of Shinwon Cement, who Seo Jaehan had chosen as the candidate for the next president. Having grown up as an alpha in a wealthy family, he fell for Seo Heemin at first sight on their university campus and joined Shinwon Cement, abandoning his family’s business. If Seo Jaehan hadn’t foolishly overexpanded his business, Seo Heemin might have married Do Junyoung and lived happily.Do Junyoung was a good man who only had eyes for Seo Heemin, though his determination to save his loved one would later lead to poor decisions.Later, the person Do Junyoung would ally with to bring down Cha Yiheon was Kwak Yoonseong, an omega who had remarried Seo Jaehan. Kwak Yoonseong, a director at Shinwon Cement, was full of ambition and greed. He eventually brought in Shinseong Construction’s Shin Seungbeom, leading to Cha Yiheon’s demise.Heemin wanted to avoid encountering these two characters as much as possible until he saw the ending. The more variables there were, the greater the risk that his efforts to change the plot would be in vain and the story would return to its original course.So he had to block the route from the beginning.“Can a person’s character change into a non-human being?”“What do you mean by a non-human being?”Does he mean something like a supernatural being? Heemin tilted his head at the unexpected remark. Seeing that Heemin didn’t understand, Yiheon smirked sarcastically, lifting one corner of his mouth.“I clearly told you that you have no authority. If you turn away and forget it, then spout nonsense, you’re not a person but a goldfish.”He had a great talent for spewing venomous words as if they were jokes. While it was better than forcibly grabbing and threatening, verbal abuse was still abuse.He doesn’t know my true intentions at all.Calling someone who managed to get into Korean University without any private tutoring a goldfish was too much. Heemin’s pride was shattered. He grabbed a plate of snacks with a flushed face.“Don’t eat this. I’m not giving it to you.”“Fine. Eat it all by yourself.”“…Damn.”Seeing him casually drink as if it was no threat at all, Heemin felt deflated. His attempt to rebel didn’t work, and his plan to win Yiheon’s favor by appealing to his stomach was also a complete failure.After biting his lip and seething for a while, Heemin picked up a bacon-wrapped enoki mushroom and placed it on Yiheon’s plate. Yiheon, looking puzzled, spoke.“You said you wouldn’t give me any?”“You should at least taste it.”At Heemin’s curt words, Yiheon let out a snort of laughter. Maybe the alcohol was lifting his spirits. For someone who had lost fifty billion won, he seemed rather relaxed.No matter how much Heemin acted out or threatened, it didn’t work on him. This made Heemin even more frustrated. No matter what, Yiheon would drag him to the inauguration tomorrow.Yiheon elegantly picked up his chopsticks. He had only been drinking, so Heemin thought he wasn’t interested in the food he made, but maybe that wasn’t entirely true.As he watched Yiheon slowly chew the food, Heemin felt strangely tense. Even when presenting new dishes to his sisters, he hadn’t felt this nervous. It was a strange feeling.“How is it?”It was just right for his own taste, but it might not be for Yiheon. He swallowed dryly, watching Yiheon’s expression. Seeing his usually unreadable face twitch slightly, Heemin caught a glimpse of a small, surprised look. It seemed the taste wasn’t bad.“Did you use good ingredients?”Good, my foot. They were ordinary ingredients you could buy at any market.“Can’t you just honestly say it’s delicious? Really.”“It’s delicious.”“…”“Is that enough?”He didn’t have to ask that last question. It felt like he had forced the compliment out of him, but the slight easing of his hurt pride made Heemin feel a little better.“…Would you like another?”“Do as you wish.”“Here you go.”Heemin put the plate he was holding back in the middle of the table. It was too much to eat by himself anyway. Watching Yiheon drink in silence was uncomfortable. If he said it was delicious, there was nothing else to do.Yiheon took another bite. Watching him eat so neatly, Heemin thought he resembled his friend and reached for the plate himself.In the much calmer silence, Yiheon silently drank his liquor. But Heemin no longer felt uncomfortable with the silence.The tumultuous night was deepening. Only the faint moonlight quietly illuminated the world covered in darkness.“Seo Heemin, wake up.”A pleasant baritone voice rang in Heemin’s ears. He tugged at the blanket with his eyes still closed, only for his body to be shaken as if an earthquake had struck.“It’s time. Get up.”Recognizing the person waking him, Heemin reluctantly opened his eyes. The man’s handsome face, more meticulously dressed in a suit than usual, filled his vision. A dark Brioni suit, a dress shirt in a similar tone, and a navy silk tie with a subtle pattern. Standing at 190 cm with a sleek muscular build, he looked more like a businessman than a gangster. In his perfectly tailored suit and with his intelligent demeanor, anyone would see him as a successful young entrepreneur.“…My head hurts.”“Stop pretending.”“It really hurts. Ugh.”He hadn’t even had a proper drink, but the hangover was worse than usual. The saying that good alcohol doesn’t leave you feeling bad the next day must just be an excuse to sell it expensively. Clutching his throbbing head, Heemin vowed never to drink whisky again.“Put that gaping mouth away before I twist it shut.”It was a merciless remark. With a grimace, Heemin threw off the blanket and advised Yiheon, who was looking down at him coldly.“The main color of Shinwon Cement’s competitor’s logo is navy. If you don’t want to be criticized on your first day, change your tie.”Kwak Yoonseong used the excuse of Yiheon’s tie color to incite the employees to not hand over company secrets to an unidentified person. Ridiculously, the naive employees of Shinwon believed Kwak Yoonseong’s words and took a defensive stance towards Yiheon, not knowing that he was the son of the former president of Shinwon Ready-mix Concrete, Taeseong Ready-mix Concrete’s predecessor.“Why are you cooperating with me?” Yiheon asked curiously.“I told you. I don’t want you to have any regrets.”“Don’t you hate me? I’m the one who took over your father’s company.”“Hating you won’t do any good.”Hating you would only lessen my chances of going home.Swallowing his last words, Heemin looked at him. A small crack appeared in Yiheon’s previously unshaken expression. He seemed to want to ask something but instead slipped his fingers into the knot of his tie and smoothly removed it in one swift motion. The simplicity of the action, devoid of hesitation, oddly made Heemin’s heart flutter. His attentiveness to trivial remarks or the unexpected laughter he sometimes showed often unsettled Heemin’s heart.‘Maybe I’m still tipsy.’Ignoring his erratically beating heart, Heemin walked into the bathroom. He needed to keep his wits about him if he was going to face Kwak Yoonseong and Do Junyoung at the inauguration. The day felt like it would be long.“We’ve arrived.”Shinwon Cement’s headquarters was in a high-rise building in Gangnam. Secretary Jung parked the car at the lobby entrance and opened the car door for them one by one.“Get out.”Heemin, who had been silent and tense the whole ride, quietly got out of the car and stood beside Yiheon. An employee who had come to greet Yiheon from the company bowed deeply from a distance. The employee’s eyes widened when he recognized Heemin as the child of the deceased former president. Come to think of it, ‘Seo Heemin,’ who had been kidnapped by a human trafficking ring, was listed as missing. Heemin lightly bowed to the employee and then hooked his arm around Yiheon’s.“What do you think you’re doing?” Yiheon asked in a low voice, looking down at Heemin with a tilted gaze.“Trying to live up to the fifty billion won price tag.”Since he had to face these people eventually, it might be a good idea to publicly establish his relationship with Cha Yiheon from the start to prevent them from having any other thoughts. Heemin pulled Yiheon’s arm closer and smiled brightly, like a loving partner.“What the hell are you planning?”Yiheon’s flawlessly handsome face twisted like a crumpled canvas, surprised by the sudden physical contact.“I’m not planning anything.”“Let go of my arm.”“Didn’t you say you wanted to show everyone whose I am?”Yiheon stared at Heemin for a long time, as if trying to read his intentions. A shallow shadow of suspicion flickered over his black eyes like a water ripple.“Welcome, Director.”An employee who had come out to greet Yiheon nodded to someone approaching from inside the lobby. As Yiheon turned his gaze and naturally looked ahead, his lips curled into a rounded smile. That face seemed to have a plan of its own.“If that’s the case, you need to do it properly.”Unsure of what “properly” meant, Heemin blinked, and Yiheon, still smiling, released his arm. He then interlocked his fingers deeply between Heemin’s.“What, what are you doing!”“What does it look like? We’re holding hands.”As their skin touched, a strong musk scent filled Heemin’s nostrils. The emotion he felt in that moment was faintly mixed with pheromones, as if Yiheon was genuinely enjoying it. Though he couldn’t be 100% sure since he couldn’t completely see through him, Heemin instinctively sensed something difficult to express in words.Unfamiliar with pheromones, Heemin reacted very sensitively to the strange stimulus. His breath hitched and he flinched involuntarily, prompting Yiheon to tighten his grip. It was as if he wanted to tie Heemin down so he couldn’t escape, the pressure making Heemin’s joints and bones ache.“Shouldn’t people know whose you are if we do at least this much?”A sensual smile slipped through his lips. As Heemin met his languid gaze, he felt the alcohol he had thought had subsided rise up his throat again. It felt as though the liquor he had drunk yesterday was still in his stomach, making him nauseous.“…Don’t grip so tightly. It hurts.”“No.”The force of his entwined fingers felt like it was pressing on his heart rather than his hand. The surrounding air grew hot, and all his senses focused on their clasped hands. The heat transferred through their palms felt like it was burning his skin.To the older sisters, Heemin was not a man but an asexual creature. They would hug him casually when something good happened, link arms, or put their arms around his shoulders while walking. Thus, he didn’t have an aversion to physical contact like ‘Seo Heemin’ did.However, this was the first time he held hands with a perfect stranger who wasn’t related by blood. His face turned red as if something had gone wrong with his blood vessels. Suddenly, a suppressed worry surged up. It was something he absolutely had to do to calm Yiheon’s pheromone fever. As long as he was possessed by ‘Seo Heemin’ and Cha Yiheon suffered from the fever, physical contact with him was inevitable.He had resolved to win over Cha Yiheon’s heart, which had a higher percentage of hatred than affection, and thought he was prepared, but evidently, he wasn’t. Judging by how he was shaken by merely holding hands.Perhaps it was because he had borrowed the body of ‘Seo Heemin’ who had feelings for Cha Yiheon. Heemin, having never experienced love firsthand, didn’t understand it well, but ‘Seo Heemin’ was different. Unknowingly, Heemin’s heart was beating wildly, synchronized with ‘Seo Heemin’s’ emotions.“Heemin!”He was shaking his head to clear his mind when a man with the ideal appearance he had always imagined urgently called his name and ran towards him. As the distance closed, Yiheon’s pheromones also subsided, making Heemin slightly puzzled.Who could this be to cause such displeasure?“What happened to you! Where have you been all this time!”The man’s tearful eyes and trembling voice seemed so pitiful. If he knew nothing, he would have reached out his hand saying, “Don’t cry.”But instead of offering kindness, Heemin gripped Yiheon’s hand tightly. The man, with his striking appearance, seemed to be ‘Seo Heemin’s’ stepfather, Kwak Yoonseong, who killed his spouse and sold his child to human traffickers.“Why didn’t you contact me? After your father ended up like that and you disappeared, do you know how hard it was for me? I worried and prayed every day for your return, you brat.”Transparent tears rolled down his cheeks like a waterfall. Wasn’t this what they called crocodile tears? Watching such a blatant act of deception right in front of him was absurd.Last semester, Heemin had taken a liberal arts class called “Understanding Theater,” and had gone to see a play in Daehakro. The acting of the lead in that play seemed no better than this, making Heemin chuckle inwardly.When the once-successful Seo Jaehan reached the brink of bankruptcy, Kwak Yoonseong had arranged a contract killing with an old acquaintance, Shin Seung-beom, disguising it as an accident to survive alone.Kwak Yoonseong deceived ‘Seo Heemin’, who had inherited all the debts, by promising to free him from the creditors’ pressure and sold him to Samho Labor. This was even though he knew Cha Yiheon had acquired Shinwon Cement and settled all related debts.While ‘Seo Heemin’ was an object of love and hate for Cha Yiheon, to Kwak Yoonseong, he was just a useful tool, nothing more, nothing less.Now that he knew ‘Seo Heemin’ had become Cha Yiheon’s omega, Kwak Yoonseong might use him as a weapon to attack Cha Yiheon, employing all sorts of vicious schemes like in the original story.Despite all his mental preparation, facing Kwak Yoonseong made Heemin’s fingertips tremble slightly. If Yiheon hadn’t held his hand tightly, Heemin would have been too overwhelmed to say anything.Seo Heemin. Stay calm, stay calm.Heemin swallowed dryly. Repeatedly giving himself a pep talk as if he was taking the final exam in “Understanding Theater,” he opened his mouth.“I’m sorry, Father. I was so unwell that I couldn’t even think about contacting you.”Until just yesterday, Heemin had been lazing around, enjoying his life as an unemployed person. He had only been unwell on the first and second days. He felt Yiheon’s curious gaze sticking to his cheek.“I see. Are you okay now?”“Yes, I’m fine.”At Heemin’s calm reply, Kwak Yoonseong couldn’t hide his awkward expression and asked,“Can I ask what your relationship is with President Cha?”“It’s as you see.”Yiheon, who had remained silent, joined the conversation. Kwak Yoonseong, looking at Heemin and Yiheon’s clasped hands, spoke in a somewhat trembling voice.“When you signed the acquisition contract, you didn’t mention anything like this. I’m quite surprised. You should have given me a heads up, President Cha.”“You look too well for someone who lost a husband and a child, so I didn’t say anything.”Indeed, as Yiheon said, for someone who claimed to have been struggling, Kwak Yoonseong’s face was glowing. He looked like someone who had been living well without a worry.Kwak Yoonseong’s expression hardened like a rock at Yiheon’s sarcastic remark. Already displeased that someone much younger had taken over the company, he seemed even more annoyed by the ridicule.‘I shouldn’t provoke Kwak Yoonseong…’He was someone who would bring misfortune to Heemin and Yiheon. So Heemin had made a plan to deal with him the previous day. He planned to show Kwak Yoonseong that he was in a relationship with Yiheon, dismiss Do Junyoung, and lure Kwak Yoonseong to his side by introducing him to one of the division heads of Wooshin Group.He intended to subtly suggest that Kwak Yoonseong forget his deceased father and start anew with a wealthy lover. But the situation got a bit tangled.‘He really is no help.’He resented Cha Yiheon for making an unnecessary remark. However, it was refreshing as if he had gulped down a glass of soda. He almost wanted to give him a thumbs-up.“Um… everyone. All the employees are waiting. Let’s go up and continue this conversation.”A staff member, checking his watch, said awkwardly to Yiheon and Kwak Yoonseong.“Yes, Father. Let’s talk about everything we couldn’t after the inauguration ceremony. It’s so good to see you after such a long time.”Heemin tried to speak in a mature tone, imitating ‘Seo Heemin’s’ lines. Although he felt Yiheon’s unreadable gaze continuously on him, he tried his best to keep smiling. He had the acting skills to earn an A+ in the “Understanding Theater” class.They all took the elevator to the 10th floor, where the president’s office was located. The entrance, accessible with an employee ID, the dry interior atmosphere, the boards detailing company information and history, research activity records, and the showroom displaying various ready-mix concrete and factory models all came into view.Although Heemin tried to appear calm, it was his first time in a company, and he couldn’t take his eyes off anything. Everything was fascinating to a second-year student like him.“How much time until the ceremony?”“About ten minutes.”“I’ll go in and review my inauguration speech, so let me know when it’s time.”“What would you like to drink?”At the staff’s question, Yiheon glanced at Heemin’s young face.“One Americano… and one orange juice.”Yiheon, who always drank only espresso and Americano, wouldn’t drink orange juice. Heemin wanted to ask if he ordered the juice for him, treating him like a child even at this moment.Because of his sensitive and delicate nature, Heemin usually exuded a calm atmosphere, but ‘Seo Heemin’s’ face, at a glance, still looked like that of a college student. Given this youthful appearance combined with his twenty-one-year-old self inside, it was no wonder Yiheon treated him like a child.However, today, Heemin was trying his hardest to act like an adult. Despite knowing this, Yiheon ordered juice as if teasing him, which made Heemin shoot a displeased glare in his direction.“I’ll prepare it right away and bring it over,” the staff member said, bowing and hurrying off somewhere. With Yiheon firmly stating he would review his inauguration speech, Kwak Yoonseong, who couldn’t interject any further, entered the director’s office on the opposite side.“Can you let go now?” Heemin had asked Yiheon to hold his hand more gently, but he had gripped it tightly without a word. Now, he let go so abruptly and coldly that it was almost irritating. As the warmth from Yiheon’s hand, which had reached Heemin’s heart, disappeared instantly, Heemin felt a strange sense of disappointment.…Am I originally this petty?Watching Yiheon’s back as he walked into the president’s office, Heemin clenched his sweat-drenched hand. Though Yiheon’s every word dripped with coldness and he carried an armor of cool demeanor, today, his hands were unexpectedly warm.Perhaps the reason for Heemin’s own unreasonable sense of disappointment was that he was melting in the warmth of the kindness that ‘Seo Heemin’ had longed for so much. In other words, it was clear that being in ‘Seo Heemin’s’ body was making Heemin think in ways that were unlike himself.Coming to this conclusion, the churning in his stomach eased considerably. Following Yiheon into the president’s office, Heemin plopped down on the sofa and looked around. The room was starkly clean, as if all of Seo Jaehan’s belongings had been removed, making it feel almost desolate. It looked no different from Yiheon’s house.Knock, knock.While Heemin was busily looking around, there was a knock on the door. He quickly got up and opened it. It was the staff member he had seen earlier.“I brought some refreshments,” the staff member said politely, looking at both Heemin and Yiheon as he carried in a tray with orange juice, coffee, and several bags of snacks.“Is there anything else you need?” he asked.“If I ask for more, will you bring more?” Heemin responded.