I Became a Villainous Character with a Limited Lifespan

Episode 48

“Ah, it’s nothing. I was just a bit surprised.”

“You startled me. I thought something happened. Anyway, when you hear from Director Han, give me a heads up. Secretary Jeong. Pay for this too and send it home.”

“Yes. CEO.”

Jae-young immediately dropped his expression and smiled. Seong-ah lightly scolded him, asking if he wasn’t surprised, and called the secretary. It seemed shopping was slowly coming to an end.

“Are you really not going home?”

“Not today. I’ll go when hyung isn’t there.”

“Your brother will be hurt if he hears that.”

Although shaking her head, Seong-ah sent Jae-young off without a long talk. Jae-young, who returned to his car, re-read the text from Seung-hyun.

[I have somewhere to go today, so I’ll be out. Don’t come.] 7:12 PM

It wasn’t that he was upset to be told not to come since they hadn’t planned to meet. He was just a bit puzzled.

‘Until yesterday, he said he had no plans.’

It wasn’t strange to go out on impulse, but it bothered him a little that the contact came after no reply all day.

The feeling that there must be a trigger that made him decide to go out suddenly. Although he thought it could be an excessive guess, the day Seung-hyun chose to stay cooped up at home with bruises on his face came to mind.

He texted back asking if something was wrong, but there was no reply. Why was he so bothered by something trivial?

“I don’t want to go home…”

Jae-young leaned his head back and sank into thought for a moment. What should he fill his unexpectedly emptied schedule with?

Looking back, his recent daily life was filled with Seung-hyun. It wasn’t that he didn’t contact others, but thinking it was a waste of time, he barely met them.

‘Should I meet up with friends after a long time?’

Jae-young scrolled down the unread messages that sat below his message window with Seung-hyun.

***

“Sigh.”

Seung-hyun let out a small sigh upon arriving at his destination. Although he came here on impulse, now that the entrance was before his eyes, he hesitated a little to go in.

“Should I just go back…?”

Seung-hyun, who muttered in a small voice, sank into thought, tapping the floor with the toe of his shoe for no reason. The place he came to, paying great attention to his outward appearance, was none other than a rather large gay bar.

He disliked that he was concerned about Jae-young. He was ashamed of himself for not being able to stop his heart from going to him even though he knew he shouldn’t.

They say that matters with people should be forgotten with people. Since the place he met his only friend was also a place like this, he thought he might be able to make new connections, but…

‘Is this okay?’

Now that he was in front of it, he hesitated to go in. It was a different place from the one he went to last time. Seung-hyun had looked for a slightly smaller place, wondering if there might be someone who recognized him.

Unlike when he confidently drove here, his feet wouldn’t move once in front of the door. If he thought about it, he had no relationship with Jae-young, but Jae-young’s face kept coming to mind, making him hesitate.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

After deliberating for a long time, unable to go forward or turn back, Seung-hyun was startled by an unfamiliar voice and turned around.

“Ah, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The man who spoke shrugged, seeing Seung-hyun’s surprised face. His playful appearance seemed to resemble Jae-young in some way.

“Ah, no. It’s just…”

“You don’t seem to have come to a place like this often.”

“……”

Seung-hyun didn’t answer and lowered his eyes. Was it that obvious?

“That can happen. Who’s familiar with it from the beginning?”

“…Shall I move out of your way?”

“No. The path is wide, and that’s not why I spoke…”

The man glanced over Seung-hyun. Although not quite his type, he was a beauty that drew the eye. The way he stood awkwardly, exuding from his whole body that he had no connection to a place like this, also piqued his interest.

‘That type is fun to make cry.’

“You seemed to be hesitating. I was wondering if I could accompany you if you don’t mind.”

The man spoke with a kind face. Anyway, he must have come because he was interested in this side. Since he seemed to be a newbie, he would probably fall for it easily.

“Ah, of course I’m not forcing you… I remember being nervous just entering when I first came. Having company is a bit reassuring, isn’t it?”

The man spoke, pretending to be nice. Seung-hyun, not noticing the hidden bad intentions behind the man’s smile, thought,

‘Yeah, what is there to be mindful of?’

“Do you also not have a companion?”

“I probably have quite a few acquaintances inside, but if we sit together, can that be called a companion too? Ah, if you don’t mind, I can introduce you.”

“Then…”

Meeting new people was definitely something Seung-hyun had been wanting all along. Seung-hyun finally nodded slowly and followed the man inside.

“Hey. Long time no see.”

“I know, right. Can I sit?”

“Since when did you ask that? Oh, the one next to you is an unfamiliar face. Changed partner?”

As they went inside, people who seemed to know the man’s face greeted him lightly. Seung-hyun, thinking he seemed quite talkative, awkwardly followed behind the man.

“It seemed like you didn’t have a companion.”

“Aha.”

The faces giggling and laughing looked quite impure, but Seung-hyun couldn’t see them properly due to the dim lighting. He just awkwardly followed the man and sat down.

“Do you drink much? Do you have a favorite?”

“I can’t drink alcohol… Please make it non-alcoholic.”

“Ah, are you very weak to alcohol?”

“It’s because of medicine I’m taking.”

The man nodded and familiarly called the staff to order what he and Seung-hyun would drink. The man, who had blended in among the people already familiarly seated, said,

“I’m Park Jung-hoon. I’m twenty-nine.”

“We’re the same age. I’m Han…Seung-hyun.”

“First time in a place like this?”

“Not the first…”

Seung-hyun recalled a place similar to this but a bit quieter, where he first met Jae-young. He didn’t remember it properly because he had drunk far beyond this body’s alcohol tolerance.

“Second? Third time?”

The man asked in a confident tone. He heard this even on the first day he went. Seung-hyun nodded slightly.

“You managed to come all the way here even while being so awkward.”

“I wanted to meet new people. The situation isn’t conducive to expecting a natural meeting.”

Seung-hyun answered, sipping his non-alcoholic drink that quickly arrived. The man, glancing at Seung-hyun’s wrist revealed under his rolled-up sleeve, said,

“The person you originally met doesn’t seem to have been a good person.”

At those words, Seung-hyun looked at his wrist. A blue hand-shaped mark was imprinted on the wrist that Tae-sung had grabbed strongly a few hours ago.

Seung-hyun, easily noticing what the man was thinking, shook his head and denied the man’s words.

‘He seems to have greatly misunderstood…’

“No. This… was from a fight.”

“Is that so? I must have misunderstood.”

The man nodded with a face that seemed to say “I see” at the flimsy excuse. Judging by the rather large hand shape, the other person must be an alpha.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not at all. I didn’t even know it left a mark.”

A beauty with a story, it was a combination worth messing with. The more he learned, the more his appetite was piqued. The man smiled slightly, licking his lips.

“Beta?”

He was tall for an omega and short for an alpha. People’s subtle pheromones were scattered here and there, making it difficult to distinguish pheromones.

“I’m an alpha. A recessive alpha, though.”

“Aha… This is fate too. I’m also a recessive alpha.”

But even considering that, there was almost no pheromone felt, so he thought he would be a beta, but it seems he’s a type with weak pheromones even among recessives. The man thought so and smiled.

Some of the people sitting at the same table showed interest in the two’s conversation.

“Recessives do get along well in conversation. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m also a recessive. It’s a life with many sad things in many ways, isn’t it?”

“If it’s that kind of talk, I have a lot to say too. What is it that those two letters ‘recessive’ in front make you neither this nor that?”

When he came to his senses, Seung-hyun had moved to another table with the man who brought him into the bar and a few men who called themselves recessives.

“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Even people who say alphas, omegas, all of that is old-fashioned, when they hear I’m a recessive, they make a pitying face.”

“There are many good things about being a recessive. For example… ruts are weak because I’m a recessive, but I can take a week off just the same?”

“Ah, that’s definitely an advantage.”

People burst into laughter at the joke one man made. Starting with that joke, people began to share their own troubles, both light and heavy.