DOTH Volume 2 Chapter 6.6

His curled-up body looked like a pill bug, small and fragile. If pressed down, he seemed as though he would tremble and be crushed easily, just like an insignificant6.1 insect. Jung Heeyeon clutched his stomach with both arms, silently enduring the pain. His entire body ached, from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes, but the pain in his abdomen was the worst—it was unbearable. It felt as if all his internal organs had been ground into mush.

This was the familiar pain that always followed an injection. Since it was a pain he was used to, this time of night was also familiar. By morning, it would be tolerable. He just had to make it through the night.

“Ugh…”

With great effort, he moved his trembling arms and pulled down the blanket that had been covering him up to his head. His lips, shaking uncontrollably, parted slightly before he bit down on the pure white blanket, stuffing it into his mouth. For a brief moment, he thought he could detect the scent of sun-dried fabric, but the pain swiftly numbed all his other senses.

Chewing down on the blanket, Jung Heeyeon tried his best to stifle his groans. If he clenched his teeth without anything between them, they would get damaged, and if his teeth got damaged, the butler or the Chairman would surely scold him. He could endure being hit, but being locked up inside the hutch as punishment was something he couldn’t bear.

Cold sweat dripped from his body, darkening the freshly changed sheets into a dull gray. As his fevered mind wavered in agony, he suddenly recalled the words of the attending physician, who had administered the injection that morning as always.

‘It’s not like you’re a doll.’

His physician was a man of few words. Unless it was necessary for a diagnosis, he rarely initiated conversation. That day, after administering the shot, he had quietly muttered to himself while looking down at Jung Heeyeon. Perhaps he found it strange that an omega could remain so emotionless despite knowing the pain that would inevitably follow.

‘You have no expression, no emotion.’

Rather than answering, Jung Heeyeon had simply stared at him. The beta man was a doctor specialized in pheromones. But he was not an ethical man. If he were, he wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to the imprisonment of a minor. Beyond just condoning abuse, he had, over the years, administered infertility injections to a dominant omega—something that went beyond mere lack of ethics and instead completely disregarded the Hippocratic Oath.

And yet, it seemed he wasn’t entirely devoid of sympathy. On rare occasions, when Lee Yootae wasn’t around, he would speak to Jung Heeyeon in an extremely quiet voice, barely parting his lips.

He did not give words of comfort. Perhaps they were just idle mutterings. The physician had diagnosed Jung Heeyeon with emotional deprivation syndrome. Because he had been deprived of all human relationships and external experiences during his growth period, his emotions had also been forcibly stripped away.

Jung Heeyeon was not foolish enough to be unaware of the negative implications of that diagnosis.

But even when he heard it, he had merely accepted it without much thought. After all, his only duty was to wait until adulthood, marry the alpha that the Chairman arranged for him, and bear that person’s child.

For that, the injections were necessary. Gasping for breath, Jung Heeyeon soon forgot about the conversation with the physician. The pain was too overwhelming for him to think about anything else.

“Hngh… Ugh.”

Not even physiological tears would come. Or perhaps his mind was too clouded to notice if they did. As the relentless agony tore through him, Jung Heeyeon finally spat out the blanket that had been stuffed in his mouth. Sweat and saliva had soaked into the sheets, leaving them damp. His unfocused eyes stared blankly at some indistinct point in the room before he suddenly furrowed his brows. The waves of pain grew sharper, stabbing through his entire body.

In an effort to endure the pain, Jung Heeyeon bit down on his own arm. He needed to divert the pain somewhere else—only then could the torment in his stomach be dulled, even slightly. It felt as if something was slithering through his veins like a snake. Vaguely, he realized that something was his own pheromones.

Whenever he received an injection, his pheromones would crawl through his body, scratching and tearing at his insides. The only time he could actually feel his own pheromones was within the familiar pain of these dark nights.

Something inside him must have been broken, because on days when he didn’t receive the injection, he couldn’t sense his pheromones at all. That was also why he never realized when they leaked uncontrollably. And it was why Chairman Jung called him a mutt—though he was unaware of that fact.

“It… hurts…”

As he pulled his lips away from his arm, he muttered weakly. He had thrashed about in pain for so long that he no longer had the strength to bite himself. Through his blurred vision, he saw the distinct imprint of his teeth on his arm. It would likely bruise, but his body was already covered in bruises, one more wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Left alone, the Omega closed his eyes. By tomorrow, it would be fine. It would always be.

Slowly, Jung Heeyeon opened his eyes. His palms were damp, perhaps from cold sweat. It felt like he had just woken from a bad dream, but no specific images came to mind. Beyond the large window, the night sky stretched endlessly. A faint glow shimmered in the distance, likely the moon, hidden behind thick clouds.

“……”

Oddly enough, the sight of the sky reassured him. Being able to see the sky meant he was in a high-rise apartment, Director Yeon’s home. As if to confirm this, a small snow globe sat quietly by the window.

“…Ah.”

As Jung Heeyeon tried to sit up, he groaned and clutched his abdomen. An unfamiliar sensation pooled heavily inside him. For some reason, his face felt hot.

He blinked slowly. Then, without realizing it had been there, a single tear slipped from his eye and landed on the back of his hand.

His cheeks were burning, yet his tears felt lukewarm.

That was all. Fortunately, the dried-up tear glands did not release another drop of tears. Jung Heeyeon blankly stared at the lukewarm liquid seeping into the back of his hand, then slowly turned his head. The darkened sky seeped into his vision.

The uncovered window fully revealed the night sky’s depths.

If there was one useless thing in the room, it was undoubtedly that curtain. It had never once served its purpose of blocking the view, neither at night nor during the day. That was because the owner of the room liked the sight of the sky through the large window. It was a view he had never imagined, much less dared to wish for, back when he lived within the walls.

A deep sigh finally escaped his lips. Had he been unconsciously holding his breath? The small sigh stretched out quietly and at length. Blinking vacantly, Jung Heeyeon slowly lifted himself and walked toward the window. Below his feet, countless lights shimmered.

“So pretty.”

The light had never once not been beautiful. Perhaps it was a light he might never have stepped on in his lifetime. If he hadn’t followed that unfamiliar alpha to this place.

He had never really thought about why he liked the sky seen from high above or the lights spread beneath him. But now, he felt like he finally understood. Because it was completely different from the view he had seen within the walls.

Jung Heeyeon placed his hand against the glass. The dark night sky seeped into his palm.

Whenever he suddenly realized he was alone, an unknown emotion would seep in. And each time, looking at the sky before him and the landscape stretching below would make him feel a little better. Looking back, it seemed that the unknown emotion had been anxiety. Being left alone here was no different from being inside the walls, and he feared that.

Maybe that was why capturing moments he could never have seen from inside those walls made him feel better. After all, this place was practically a crime-ridden zone.

Jung Heeyeon slowly let his arms drop and idly toyed with the snow globe. Then, he crouched down in front of the window. It would be nice if Director Yeon were here, but he wasn’t so childish as to go to his bedroom because he woke up in the middle of the night. Even if he had lacked interaction with others, he wasn’t shameless enough to be completely ignorant of propriety.

“…Ah. It should be about time for my injection.”

Murmuring to himself, he suddenly recalled the vague contents of his dream. Hugging his knees, he wiggled his toes. He had no idea why such a trivial thing had appeared in his dream or why tears had welled up.

Leaning his head against the wall, the cool sensation passed from his temple to his flushed cheek. He couldn’t confirm it, but he felt as if his cheeks must have been tinged red. Jung Heeyeon gazed blankly at the snow globe resting between his lap and arms. The glistening particles and white snow remained settled quietly at the bottom of the glass dome instead of drifting in the air. Yet, it was still a beautiful sight.

‘If you don’t want it later on… Then you can just throw it away, Heeyeon.’

The words Director Yeon had casually spoken when he gave him the snow globe resurfaced in his mind. Jung Heeyeon lightly tapped the cold glass with his finger and slowly closed his eyes. This was a gift from him. There was no way he could ever grow tired of it.

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