TYS Ch 12

When Seungwan opened the passenger door and got in, the man did the same on the driver’s side. As he settled into his seat, the truck’s body tilted slightly, as if his large frame added considerable weight. Seungwan glanced at him before fastening his seatbelt. The man started the engine and shifted gears. With a rumbling sound, the truck began moving forward.

Unlike the other houses clustered together in the village, this one was unexpectedly situated on a paved road, despite its isolation near the town center. In rural areas, the government didn’t pave roads everywhere, so people usually pooled money to lay them themselves. Yet, despite its seclusion, this house had an asphalt-covered driveway. Seungwan knew that paving a road out of pocket was expensive, which made it all the more intriguing.

Thanks to the pavement, he didn’t feel any motion sickness, even in the bumpy truck. The farm truck used for fertilizer deliveries always traveled through rocky fields, leaving him nauseous every time. This was his first time commuting to work without riding his scooter, so he spent the entire ride gazing out the window.

The sky was a brilliant blue. They had predicted a hot spring, but the yellow dust had already passed. Around this time each year, the air would usually be thick with dust, but it seemed the southern region got less of it. Metropolitan areas, on the other hand, were always hazy with a yellowish tint. Seungwan couldn’t imagine how people lived in such places. He had only been to Seoul a few times, and each visit had been loud and chaotic, so he hadn’t liked it much.

He kept his eyes on the window the whole time, while the man remained silent. He didn’t seem like the quiet type, and from his demeanor, you wouldn’t expect him to be a careful driver. Seungwan found it unexpected and continued to watch the scenery pass by.

Then, the truck gradually slowed to a stop, and he heard the window roll down. Curious, Seungwan turned to look at the man, only to see him leaning his large frame completely out of the window, shouting at someone.

“Mister, if you leave the tractor here, how is my kid supposed to get to school? Move it quickly, okay?”

“Whoa, kiddo, you look pretty grown—still going to school? Just hang on a sec, I’ll move it right away.”

A tractor had stopped right in the middle of the single-lane road, making it impossible to pass. An old man, carrying seedlings, was trying to line up the planting rows but seemed to be struggling. He told them to wait. Seungwan tried to lean his head out to see what was happening, but before he could, the man got out of the truck.

“If it’s going to take this long to set the row, what’s the use? Hand it over.”

The man then drove a stake deep into the edge of the field using only his hands, then grabbed a nearby rock and hammered it down. Taking the string from the old man, he wrapped it tightly around the stake, dusted off his hands, and said, “Well, I’d say that’s more than enough payment for moving your tractor, don’t you think?”

“Oh, you got that right. Thanks a bunch.”

As the man effortlessly completed the task the old man had been struggling with, the latter grinned in relief, his teeth showing beneath his straw hat. Then, wearing boots, he started the tractor and moved it to the edge of the field. The man wiped his dirty hands on his jeans without a care before climbing back into the truck. As the old man waved, he threw him a wink.

Seungwan had been watching in silence when he quietly pulled out a wet wipe and handed it over. The man, just about to start the vehicle, took it with a bright smile.

“Look at you. What you’re doing is so cute—it’s pretty, really.”

“…….”

Not sure if it was a compliment or something else, Seungwan remained silent. The man chuckled softly and gripped the steering wheel. Once again, the truck fell into silence. Seungwan thought to himself that the man was really strange.

After driving quietly for a while, the man pulled into the agricultural cooperative’s parking lot and fixed his gaze on Seungwan. Seungwan couldn’t help but look back; it almost felt like the man had been waiting for him to meet his eyes before speaking. His face was serious.

“I have no intention of selling you.”

The sudden words made Seungwan hold his breath. The man rested both arms on the steering wheel, leaning his upper body against it as he stared through Seungwan with unwavering intensity. There was no way to look away.

“I’ve never lived like some scumbag who’d sell off someone just struggling to get by—someone even hiding that he’s a Beta at work. And I’m not so broke that I’d need to sell you to survive. The reason I even showed you my house was to make sure you didn’t misunderstand… I should’ve just stuffed you in some one-room apartment and never looked back. That was a mistake on my part.”

“…….”

Seungwan parted his lips slightly but couldn’t find any words to respond. The man seemed to have been holding back his anger since yesterday. Now, he was hammering his words in like nails, leaving no room for argument. After all, the man had provided him with a way to repay his debt and a place to stay—things that could be seen as favors. The misunderstanding must have upset him. Seungwan didn’t know what to do, his lips moving soundlessly.

The man, watching him quietly, let out a soft chuckle.

“Go to school. I’ll work you so hard you won’t have time for any ridiculous thoughts.”

As he spoke, the man reached out and ruffled Seungwan’s hair. His wrist, thick as a vine, carried a scent that was a mix of something sharp and indescribable, blended with vanilla. People said that mature Alphas usually hated letting their pheromone traces show, so they kept them hidden.

That sweet vanilla scent was probably the man’s way of masking his natural scent with cologne. Seungwan suddenly wondered whether his pheromones actually smelled like vanilla or if the strange, sharp scent was his true scent. Without thinking, he tilted his head, about to bury his nose in the inside of the man’s wrist.

However, before Seungwan could even make sense of the scent, the man withdrew his hand. Seungwan was left stunned. It felt as if the man had pulled him into an embrace only to toss him aside. Even though nothing had actually happened, a faint sense of shame washed over him. Why had he tried to do such a thing? Unable to say anything, he blinked helplessly, but the man spoke first.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to school?”

……Had the man not noticed that Seungwan had almost done something strange? His face remained completely unaffected. It was possible that, since it was just a slight turn of his head, he hadn’t realized what Seungwan was about to do. Seungwan touched his reddening ears with his hand and quickly got out of the truck.

“I’ll come pick you up after work, so stay put, okay?”

The man spoke just as Seungwan was about to close the door. Seungwan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and walked toward the farm. Behind him, he heard the roar of the engine. He wondered if it was the sound of the man’s truck leaving, but he couldn’t bring himself to look back.

It wasn’t until he reached the entrance that he finally turned around, but, of course, the man’s truck was already gone.

“…I guess he left.”

Seungwan muttered quietly to himself and entered through the employee entrance. It was still a bit early for the staff to arrive, so the place was quiet.

His assignment for the day was at the supermarket. Normally, he had a fixed role, but for some reason, today, he was being sent all over the place. To secure a full-time position, he needed to show results in one department, but Manager Song had already pointed out that Seungwan was being moved around too much. Yet, since nothing had changed after that, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

The regular employees at the supermarket mainly handled accounting, orders, inventory management, and other office tasks, but Seungwan’s job mostly consisted of packing items, stocking shelves, and sales.

In late summer and autumn, things got insanely busy due to the region’s specialty products, but since it was spring, things were relatively calm. Seungwan pulled on a pair of work gloves and headed to the unloading area, making his way to the packing station to assist in the agricultural section. Since he was working alongside the supermarket’s contract employees, he felt oddly at ease.

“Seungwan’s here.”

“Hello.”

“Oh, come have a coffee before we start.”

When they offered him some instant coffee, he couldn’t exactly refuse, even though he wasn’t good with sweet things. So, he only pretended to take a sip before placing the untouched cup back down. He was about to put on his work gloves when he noticed a familiar figure near the workstation.

“Ha Seungwan.”

It was Chief Chae. His stiff expression made it clear that being called over wasn’t for anything good.

The reason Chief Chae, who worked in the finance department, could interfere with Seungwan in the economic section was simple—he was the son of the cooperative leader. The supermarket employees recognized this and merely cast Seungwan pitying looks, not daring to say anything to stop Chief Chae. With no one to rely on and not wanting to drag things out, Seungwan took off his gloves, set them down, and quietly followed him.

Chief Chae walked past a makeshift workstation set up next to the loading dock outside the supermarket, then entered the narrow space between the agricultural cooperative and the market. The alley was completely still, without even a hint of wind, making it feel unseasonably hot despite it still being spring.

Seungwan wondered where they were going, but at the end of the alley, he spotted an old tin can that had been repurposed into an ashtray. He guessed Chief Chae was probably heading there to smoke.