When I returned to the restaurant, Kwon Yido was sitting in the same position as when I had left. With his arms folded and his eyes lowered, he looked as though he were lost in deep thought. The atmosphere was such that it seemed impossible to interrupt, so it took me quite some time before I could bring myself to speak to him.

“......You’re back?”

It was Kwon Yido who noticed me first. He lifted his head absentmindedly, then realized I had returned and acknowledged me. Only then did I approach and sit across from him again.

“That took a while.”

Indeed. I hadn’t expected it to take this long. I should have just washed my face and come back, but somehow I had ended up wasting too much time.

“I happened to run into the Vice President.”

“......My sister?”

At my words, Kwon Yido looked puzzled. He didn’t seem inclined to continue the conversation we had been having earlier. Tapping the half-filled paper cup of liquor with his finger, he asked casually:

“What did you talk about?”

“Just......”

What should I say? I could have told him honestly, but I didn’t feel like it. Spilling everything out at once to him felt too much like tattling.

“Nothing much.”

‘Seonho Group will be dismantled soon anyway.’

Earlier, Kwon Ikyung—who said she would be stepping down as Vice President—had said that in a perfectly calm voice. It was exactly the same thing Kwon Yido had once told me.

‘The symbolic weight of a group’s representative carries more influence than you think.’

I wasn’t unaware of what Chairman Kwon Byung-wook meant to Seonho Group, nor of how his death would change its future.

The current structure of Seonho was something Chairman Kwon Byung-wook had built during his lifetime: its philosophy, its system and power structure, and even its external image. For a time, Seonho would inevitably falter in that void.

‘Now that the Chairman has passed, outsiders will rip into us like rats. You know as well as I do that no company exists without a single speck of dirt.’

No doubt, as she said this, Kwon Ikyung had been thinking of Haesin. A father ruined by corruption, trust destroyed beyond repair. Haesin had been excessively filthy, but most companies operated by disguising moderate corruption as being for the public good.

‘Before everything bursts out at once, we need to at least pretend to cover our eyes.’

Would dismantling the group be that method? When I gave her a look that betrayed my confusion, Kwon Ikyung kindly explained:

‘It will be reframed as decentralizing power. Each affiliate will shift to autonomous management. We’ll have to present it as a positive transformation—becoming a more people-friendly company.’

It was an idealistic statement. I had let out a small laugh before I realized it, though fortunately she laughed too, so I wasn’t left feeling awkward.

‘Of course, even if the affiliates are separated outwardly, the shareholding structure won’t change much......’

If Seonho Group had a strength of one hundred, she meant it would now be divided into ten affiliates with ten each. The total sum at the top would remain unchanged.

‘Management reform to win over public sentiment is always necessary.’

‘Why are you telling me this......?’

‘Why do you think?’

Kwon Ikyung looked at me as though she couldn’t believe I didn’t know. Her eyes—so like Kwon Yido’s—softened. What followed was the same confidence that Kwon Yido himself had once hinted at.

‘The next Vice Chairman will be Yido.’

“......The Vice President......”

Slowly, I began, glancing at Kwon Yido. He simply waited for me to finish. So I feigned calm, making my voice sound composed.

“She said she was grateful you spent time with Hye-yul.”

It wasn’t a lie. She really had said that. The problem was, she had said more than just that.

“The Vice President and her husband seem to have a good relationship.”

“Well...... fairly normal.”

Kwon Yido nodded without suspicion. Looking toward the lounge, he brought the edge of the paper cup to his lips.

“They’re both easygoing people.”

‘What I care about isn’t the vice chairmanship, but the Seonho Foundation.’

Come to think of it, the chairperson of the Seonho Foundation was Kwon Ikyung. She had established childcare projects for low-income families, along with cultural and arts programs. Within that foundation, the Seonho Art Museum—formally the Hye-yul Museum—was directed by her husband, Shin Dae-woong.

‘After the company splits, I don’t want to deal with all the messy, troublesome aftermath.’

When she said that, Kwon Ikyung wore a relaxed expression I had never seen before. On the news she always looked stiff, but here she looked soft, as if she were thinking of her daughter, Kwon Hye-yul. Seeing that expression, a sudden question struck me.

‘......Are you really fine with that?’

The Kwon Ikyung I knew was not someone without ambition. Even if she hadn’t been the favored heir, her ability and perseverance had carried her to the top. Why climb so hard, only to give it all up in the end?

‘Don’t you regret everything you’ve built?’

‘Well...... what is there to regret?’

She chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. Her neatly tied hair slipped down.

‘People might say it sounds spoiled, but as I climbed higher, I realized—this isn’t the path I chose. And this isn’t the kind of work I want to do.’

Perhaps it was closer to a dream. Something in the realm of what she had once hoped for her future. When I still looked unconvinced, she grinned.

‘Were you satisfied with being Division Head?’

“......”

The people of this family seemed to hold a license in leaving others speechless. She asked the question as lightly as asking if I’d eaten, but its content struck true. I kept my mouth shut, and she shrugged.

‘But if I quit now, people will think I just gave up halfway. They’ll say I ran away because I couldn’t handle it.’

It wasn’t hard to imagine. If she had stepped down, her abilities would have been judged to end there. Rumors would say she fled because she couldn’t inherit the group.

‘There’s a difference between not doing something you can do, and being unable to do it at all. I’m not giving up. I’m quitting of my own accord. Do you see the difference?’

What did it mean to choose for oneself? I hadn’t thought deeply about it, but at least to me, it sounded like something belonging to someone else’s world. I had never once made a choice of my own.

‘If I hadn’t climbed this high and simply handed everything over to Yido, it wouldn’t have been “handing over”—people would have said it was stolen from me.’

She gave a scoff that left no room for doubt. That characteristic Kwon-family ease and confidence in her own ability was clear. She had never been a weak opponent in the succession battle.

‘I may not care about the group, but I won’t have people saying I lost because I lacked ability. Yido, on the other hand, doesn’t care what others say—he only believes it will be fine once things are in his hands.’

In its own way, that too was impressive. That towering pride of his hadn’t stopped him from accepting inherited power. Or perhaps, it was a compromise born from the same pride.

‘If interests align, you use whatever method necessary to make it a win-win.’

I understood her perspective, but I still didn’t know why she was telling me all this. A brief phone call about Kwon Ijeong had been meant to silence me, yet now she was explaining everything in detail. When I stared at her, she asked lightly:

‘Don’t you think it’s a waste? All of Seonho Group’s future will fall into your fiancé’s hands.’

“......”

That was the second time she had used the word fiancé. Could she really mean Kwon Yido when she said it would be a waste? She drove in the nail I had tried so hard to deny.

‘My little brother seems to like you a lot.’

How strange. She had been cold and analytical when talking about business, yet the moment she said “my little brother,” her tone shifted. The pheromones flowing gently from her seemed to embody her tenderness.

‘I know I’m being nosy, but family always favors family. I don’t want this engagement to end as just a contract.’

‘......Didn’t you say a moment ago you had a strong individualist streak, and don’t interfere in family matters?’

Hadn’t she said exactly that only minutes before? Kwon Ikyung smiled as if she had just heard something amusing.

‘Most people might think that, but wouldn’t dare say it out loud.’

Of course. Who would dare argue aloud with Kwon Ikyung? I hadn’t intended to challenge her either—it had just slipped out.

‘Our Hye-yul likes you, you know.’

At that quiet admission, I fell silent too. She went on with a faint smile.

‘That must mean you’re a good person.’

It sounded like she was praising me, but really, it was praise for Kwon Hye-yul. She trusted her daughter’s judgment completely. It was kind of her, but to push marriage on that basis alone......

‘Yido won’t quit work just because of heartbreak, but if it disrupts his performance, I won’t be able to rest easy either.’

Perhaps that last line had been her real point all along. To ensure her plans succeeded fully, she wanted to eliminate any potential risks. Why she thought I’d comply, I couldn’t say.

‘Please.’

She pressed a business card into my hand and left first. It bore her personal number, her title, and her company. She said I should call if anything ever came up, though I couldn’t imagine I ever would.

“Are you sleepy?”

Startled, I lifted my head and looked at Kwon Yido. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn’t noticed how long I’d been silent. Seeing me like that, he checked the time before speaking.

“You look tired. Go rest next to Hye-yul. If she wakes up, play with her for a bit.”

Following his lead, I checked the watch on my wrist as well. When had it gotten so late? Normally, it would already be past the time I should have gone to bed. Of course, I wouldn’t have fallen asleep—just tossed and turned endlessly on top of the blanket with open eyes.

“I’ll step out for a bit and come back......”

“Kwon Yido-ssi.”

I called to him quietly. He had just risen from his seat—

***

For three days, I stayed with Kwon Yido at the funeral home through the nights. I wanted to remain until the departure ceremony, but Kwon Yido, saying I looked tired, sent me home first. After promising Hye-yul that we would see each other next time and greeting the elders, I got into the car and returned home.

Once home, I showered and headed straight for Kwon Yido’s room. He wasn’t going to come anyway, so perhaps I could manage some sleep there. Before entering his room, I even sprayed the perfume modeled after his pheromones, thinking it might help.

‘Go home and get some rest.’

When I lay down on the soft bed, Kwon Yido’s face lingered in my mind. The thin double-lidded eyes, the dark pupils, the high-bridged nose. Even the well-shaped lips moving slowly, and the gentle voice wrapping around my ears.

‘What Jung Sejin-ssi asked for, I’ll grant within the shortest time possible.’

Of course I had assumed he would, but hearing him actually say it made me feel strange. It made me want to test how far I could go with my requests. Give someone room, and you can’t help but stretch your legs further. Kwon Yido seemed like someone who was actually waiting for that.

After a long stretch of restless thoughts, I finally drifted into a light doze. As always, sleep didn’t come easily, but today, for some reason, I was convinced I wouldn’t dream of nightmares. The pheromones lingering in the blanket and the scent of the perfume I had sprayed—somewhere in the middle of those two, I must have fallen asleep.

Sareureuk, I felt my hair being brushed aside. In the hazy blur between dream and reality, a flood of familiar pheromones washed over me. Long fingers pushed back my bangs, trailing down to my forehead, then to my ear. The helix, the lobe, and then the line of my jaw. That slow, deliberate touch gently caressed my lower lip.

“......”

A vague thought passed through me—that it felt good. The pheromones from his fingertips were subtle, like blossoms blooming on a rain-soaked tree. When my lips parted instinctively, the finger slipped in and tapped lightly against my lower teeth.

“Ung.......”

The thought that I was sleepy, the thought that I was craving pheromones, the thought that this overwhelming presence was growing heavier and heavier.

My sense of reality flickered in and out. I hadn’t fully woken, yet a hazy languor was thickening my mind. The finger brushing my lips slowly withdrew, and then something softer touched them.

“......”

It couldn’t have been anything but lips. Ah, so Kwon Yido has come back. That realization came faintly, and so I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ didn’t resist. I moved my lips and drew in his breath.

“......”

“......”

He kept his lips pressed against mine for a long time. Neither moving closer nor pulling away. He didn’t push his tongue in, nor slyly nibble my lips. Instead, that teasing sensation sharpened my senses bit by bit.

Like each cell awakening, the air around me became startlingly vivid. The rustle of the blanket, the warm breath brushing so close, the thick pheromones inhaled with every breath. And finally, the occasional drop of some unknown liquid falling onto my face.

“......”

I lifted my eyelids carefully. Could it be, just possibly, that those droplets were tears? But the eyes before me, so close, were shut gently—not crying.

To let him know I was awake, I caught his lips. I lightly nipped at his lower lip, then pulled away with a small chup sound. At that, Kwon Yido half-opened his eyes and looked down at me.

“......When did you come in?”

Now that I looked, his hair was slightly damp. He must have showered, since the only thing he wore was a robe. His languidly unfocused eyes blinked slowly as he answered in a voice sunk low:

“Earlier...... quite a while ago.”

He buried his face against my nape like a child. Rubbing his nose against me playfully, he sucked at the exposed skin of my neck. He had always followed the same kind of foreplay, but now his movements felt strangely clumsy.

“Did you drink?”

“......No.”

So I asked, but his sluggish reply only felt more off. From beneath my ear down to my collarbone, his nose trailed, leaving kisses on the pronounced bone.

“Hhht, why all of a sudden.......”

He wedged his thigh between mine. The erection from just waking was pressed down firmly. Still, he wasn’t normally the type to push me around so heedlessly. Just as that thought struck me, a flood of fragrant pheromones poured out.

“I didn’t realize it until.......”

His cracking voice was unusually husky tonight. The pheromones radiating through my whole body felt somewhat strange. Not deliberately released, but spilling out uncontrollably. As though he were straining to hold them back, yet the sheer amount was overflowing.

“The date.......”

Slowly, he spoke, pressing his weight onto me. One hand slipped beneath the back of my head, fingers clutching my hair. Trapped helplessly in his arms, I heard his low whisper against my ear.

“It already came around.”

“......”

A chill ran through me—not at the meaning of the words, but at how indecently sensual his voice was. And then, the words he murmured right against my ear.

“......But I took the suppressants late.”