DBG Vol 1 Ch 1.2

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. You don’t need to come anymore. You seem busy with school, so this actually works out for the better, doesn’t it?”

This was the first thing Haun heard as soon as he arrived at the convenience store. The store manager was standing at the counter with a man Haun had never seen before, looking at him indifferently.

“…What?”

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It felt like a bolt out of the blue. Haun could only blink in confusion, not fully understanding what he had just heard. The store manager waved his hand dismissively as if Haun were an inconvenience.

“Well, Haun, you’ve been so busy lately that you haven’t been doing your job properly. I don’t see why I should keep paying you when there are tons of people who want to work here. I’ve already told the managers at other branches that you’re a busy student, so don’t bother with part-time jobs anymore and just focus on your studies.”

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Haun couldn’t believe the situation, so he stood frozen at the entrance of the convenience store, unable to move.  It wasn’t until a customer pushed past him, frowning as they entered, that the store manager yelled at him to leave.

Haun let out a long sigh.

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“F**king hell, seriously.”

With that, Haun walked out of the convenience store, his body heavy with defeat. He could hear the store manager cursing at him from behind, calling him back, but Haun no longer cared.

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He considered going back to the lab, but the way everyone looked at him as if waiting for him to mess up made him not want to return.

It was clear to him now—he was taking part in something beyond his capabilities. As a mere undergraduate research student, it felt ridiculous to think he could keep up. He wanted to give up on everything, to quit his research and walk away from it all. But Haun knew he couldn’t afford to do that. This opportunity was his lifeline. He had no choice but to hold on to it if he wanted to survive.

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Haun suddenly remembered the business card he had tucked into his bag just in case. The pheromone scent was so strong that even now, the lilac fragrance lingered faintly.

To his surprise, a quick internet search had yielded no useful information on the “Disease Control Research Institute Aither Center.” The Disease Control Research Institute itself existed, and so did something called the Aither Center, but whenever Haun tried to click on the website links, he was met with an error message, and he couldn’t enter it.

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He had considered showing the business card to Professor Do, but he hesitated, afraid that if Damien turned out to be a scammer, he’d make things worse for himself. So, the business card stayed buried in his bag, untouched.

When Haun finally arrived in front of his house, walking slower than usual, his phone rang.

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[OO Capital]

The moment he saw the caller ID, all the color drained from Haun’s face. Checking the date, he realized it was January 27th. The payment was always due at the end of the month, so there were still a few days left. He had never missed a payment before, and although he hadn’t been able to pay the full amount last month, he had managed to make a small payment at the last minute.

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Why were they calling him now, when he had been paying his debts on time? An ominous feeling settled on Haun’s shoulders. He didn’t want to answer the phone, but ignoring it would only make things worse. Swallowing dryly, Haun slid his finger across the screen to answer the call.

“Hello?”

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– Hey, Do Haun. How’ve you been?

“…I’m fine. What are you calling for? The payment isn’t due yet.”

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– Do you think I’m an idiot? You know we’ve been cutting you some slack, and not pressuring you too much, right?

When Haun’s father had run off, these were the people who had beaten him nearly to death, thinking he was involved, and had threatened him. Once they found out Haun had nothing to do with the debt, they had stopped using violence against him, but they still kept an eye on him, sometimes showing up at his house unannounced to make sure he didn’t try to flee.

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Even though Haun didn’t respond, the thug continued as if it didn’t matter.

– But we’re not doing so well these days either. So here’s the deal, I’m giving you one week to come up with 500 million won to cover the overdue interest and principal.

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500 million won (5억 원) – Approximately 400,000 USD.

“What… how am I supposed to—!”

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– If you can’t come up with it, just say so. You know there are other ways, right? C’mon, Haun-ah, let’s stop being difficult and make it easy for both of us, huh?”

In Korean, adding “-ah” (아) to a name is a familiar or informal way of addressing someone. It’s typically used when speaking to friends, younger people, or those of the same age with whom you have a close relationship.

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Haun had a handsome appearance resembling his mother, who passed away when he was in middle school. His delicate features often led people to mistake him for an omega, even though he was a beta. The loan shark had repeatedly hinted that Haun could use his body to repay his debt all at once.

The sudden turn of events left Haun’s mind in a daze, unable to keep up with the situation.

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– So? You get it now, right? You’re going to figure this out—

“Only one week?”

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– …Yeah, one week. And don’t even think about running awa—

“I understand.”

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Before the thug could finish speaking, Haun ended the call.

He had always known this day would come. The amount of money he had been paying back alone was nothing compared the interest that kept piling up. Still, he hadn’t expected that today would be the day he’d receive an ultimatum—the day he’d be told to sell his body just to pay off the debt.

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Haun rubbed his face roughly and made his way down to the basement of the rundown building. No matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible to come up with 500 million won in just a week. Even if he sold all his organs, he wouldn’t be able to gather that amount.

If he didn’t find a way out, the loan sharks would drag him away, he would probably spend the rest of his life being forced to sell his body. It was a future that felt as certain as if it were drawn right before his eyes. Haun crouched near the front door, staring blankly up at the small basement window, which only showed the barely visible sky.

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As he sat there for a long while, Haun’s eyes slowly turned to the bag placed next to him.

“I’d like to offer you a contract deposit of 1 billion won.”

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1 billion won. At first, it was the money that had captured Haun’s attention. But now…

“However, you’ll need to relocate to another place, somewhere outside Korea and the duration of the project won’t be short. But the time frame can be adjusted.”

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Somewhere outside Korea. If he followed that strange foreigner, perhaps he could escape this hell. Haun pulled out the business card and carefully pressed the number into his phone.

His thumb hesitated over the call button. What if the man had realized by now that he had made a mistake? Sure, Haun shared the same name and was at the same university as Professor Do, but everything else about them—from their appearance, skills, age—was completely different, with nearly 20-year age gap between them.

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As he thought this far, Haun let out a small, bitter laugh. The fact that he was now hoping the man would continue to be mistaken about who he was made Haun feel like he had truly hit rock bottom. Even he found his own actions pitiful and shameful, but there was no other choice.

Haun’s instincts screamed at him that this was his only way out of the nightmare that was his life.

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Pressing the call button firmly, Haun immediately raised the phone close to his ear. The dial tone sounded, and not long after, the calm, deep voice he had heard the previous night came through the speaker.

–  Is this Mr. Do Haun?

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As soon as Haun heard his name being called, his pupils trembled slightly. The brief silence that followed the other person’s words filled Haun’s mind with all sorts of anxieties.

What if he had somehow found out through an investigation that Haun was just an ordinary university student?

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“Yes… this is Do Haun from Doan University.”

– Oh, I was planning to visit the school again if I didn’t hear from you today.

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It didn’t seem like he was pretending not to know. There was no reason for him to do so, anyway. Even so, Haun’s hands, clutching the phone, began to sweat despite the cold air.

“Yes… I’m interested in participating in the project.”

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– I’m glad to hear that. I was worried that my explanation at the time was insufficient and that you might have thought it was a lie.”

Haun felt a pang of guilt in his chest but didn’t say anything.

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– Then, shall we meet to discuss the details in person? I’ll come pick you up, so please send me the address of your current location.

“Yes, I understa—”

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The call disconnected even before Haun could finish his sentence. Thankfully… it seemed like he still hadn’t caught on. Haun’s lips twitched slightly with a nervous smile.

Though the guilt of having lied gnawed at him, making him feel sick, Haun hurriedly packed his things. Perhaps, if he left now… he wouldn’t be coming back here again.

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Thinking it might look suspicious to have the car pick him up near his house, Haun sent a message saying he would wait in front of the station close to the university. Then, he suddenly remembered a news report he had seen, about people who could make fake IDs in five minutes for as little as 30,000 won.

Of course, it was illegal and something he shouldn’t even consider… but…

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Haun swallowed hard and turned his phone back on. His life was already a mess, so what was there to hesitate about when it came to breaking the law at this point?

He placed an order for a fake ID using Professor Do’s birth date and headed to the arranged meeting location.  When he arrived at the station and waited for a bit more than five minutes, a black sedan pulled up in front of him. The rear window rolled down, revealing Damien’s indifferent face.

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“Hello.”

“Please, get in.”

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As soon as Haun got into the car, the overpowering scent of lilacs filled his nostrils, making him hold his breath for a moment.

Was Damien an alpha? Or maybe… no, was he really an alpha? 

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Damien’s pheromones felt somewhat ambiguous. It was the first time Haun had encountered a scent that made it so hard to distinguish whether the person was an alpha or an omega. On top of that, there was an inexplicable strangeness to his pheromones that made it feel unlike any typical scent. Was it because he was a dominant alpha…? Haun had never met a dominant alpha or omega in his life.

Do dominant types simply not bother suppressing their pheromones like this? 

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Haun stole a glance at Damien who was sitting beside him, then quickly turned his gaze back to the front. And that’s when he froze. His eyes blinked rapidly in disbelief, but nothing changed. Mouth agape, Haun shouted in a panic.

“There’s no one in the driver’s seat!”

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There was no one in the driver’s seat, and yet, the car smoothly pulled away, even stopping at a red light. Haun was shocked at the sight, but Damien remained completely unbothered as he answered with a blank expression.

“It’s fine. It’s safer than having a human drive.”

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Had self-driving technology already advanced this far?

Haun stared at the steering wheel which was moving on its own, and his body stiff with unease. It felt like he had stepped into a scene from a sci-fi movie.

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“Considering the current traffic conditions, it should take about 20 minutes to get there.”

“Oh… okay.”

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Damien’s calm response made Haun feel as though he had overreacted, leaving him slightly embarrassed. When Haun responded with a subdued tone, Damien fell silent for a while, his gaze fixed intently on Haun. Feeling the weight of Damien’s persistent stare, Haun averted his eyes. That’s when Damien spoke.

“I don’t mean to doubt you, Mr. Do Haun, but could you show me some identification? Given the importance of this matter, I’d like to confirm your identity to be certain. I hope you don’t mind.”

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Haun bit the inside of his cheek. The fake ID hadn’t arrived yet. The service had said it would take 6 to 8 minutes, but it had already been 10 minutes.

Why the hell was it taking so long? Could it be a scam?

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He had ordered the ID in such a hurry that he hadn’t had the time to check whether the company was legitimate.

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