Cozy Obsession

Chapter 6

He told me to undress earlier, and now he wanted me to put on clothes.

I sat in heavy silence, blinking in confusion, until Iheon turned and walked out of the room entirely.

...Had he planned to make me change from the start?

I stared blankly at the door before slowly raising my arm and sniffing my sleeve.

Sure enough, the damp, musty smell of the underground cell clung stubbornly to the fabric. It was unpleasant.

The tension drained from my body.

I had been convinced he was going to force himself on me and ended up sobbing like a child. Now, I just felt embarrassed.

Even though my real age was twenty-one, “Seo Heemin” was already thirty. From his perspective, I must have looked utterly pathetic.

I changed into the loose-fitting clothes—an oversized shirt that didn’t quite sit on my shoulders and shorts that barely clung to my waist.

Then, cautiously, I opened the door and stepped into the living room.

A sharp scent of alcohol filled my nostrils.

Turning my head, I saw him.

Cha Iheon sat on the couch, pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

The bloodstains smeared across his hand—whether they were his own or someone else’s, I couldn’t tell—caught my attention.

He was drinking with a wounded hand, wearing the kind of expression that suggested he had taken offense over something.

Even though he had been the one to lash out first.

I hesitated for a moment before walking toward the living room table.

Opening the drawer, I pulled out a first-aid kit.

Iheon’s sharp gaze followed my movements, landing briefly on my tear-streaked face before narrowing slightly.

"Give me your hand."

"Fuck off."

The cold words rang through the room.

His eyes—half-lidded, red-rimmed—looked like those of a coiled serpent.

The first-aid kit trembled slightly in my grasp.

He really didn’t know how to say a single thing kindly.

Even though I knew he didn’t mean it.

"Just give it to me. I’ll treat it."

I barely managed to force out the words.

He continued to stare at me in silence.

"Didn’t you hear me? I said fuck off."

"You bought me for fifty billion, didn’t you? I should at least be worth that much."

He scoffed in disbelief.

Even if I couldn’t give him my body, I could still do other things.

Ignoring his reaction, I opened the first-aid kit and took out what I needed.

He shot me a pointed glare, as if wondering how the hell I knew where the supplies were.

"Dr. Hwang told me."

A lie.

The truth was, I had read it in the novel.

"Give me your hand."

"......"

"Hurry up."

When I reached out and grabbed his wrist, he let himself be pulled forward with minimal resistance.

He might have acted reluctant, but he wasn’t completely unwilling.@@@@

His expression remained rigid, but I caught the faint tremble in his eyelashes.

...What a child.

Not long ago, I had been terrified of him.

But now, I wasn’t.

Maybe it was because I had finally realized—

For all his hatred toward "Seo Heemin," he couldn’t stand the idea of being hated in return.

I quickly packed up the first-aid kit and returned it to the drawer.

"You have three older sisters, and you’re nine years younger than me, Seo Heemin."

"...What?"

"I’m leaving early tomorrow morning. Just be aware of that."

"Leaving? Where?"

"You don’t need to know."

"Oh, come on. Just tell me."

"Go to bed."

He gestured toward the glass-walled bedroom with a tilt of his chin, making it clear the conversation was over.

"Goodnight."

Like Secretary Jung had done earlier, I bowed politely before heading into the room.

I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head, but I ignored it and lay down on the bed.

I heard the lights in the kitchen and living room switch off, and soon after, Iheon entered his own bedroom.

He left the door wide open.

So he could monitor me at all times.

Despite the soft blanket and the pillow that felt like it could swallow my head whole, sleep wouldn’t come.

I had woken up only a few hours ago, after all.

I stared at the dark ceiling, a black void stretching above me.

The long night was finally ending.

At least I survived the day.

Unlike 'Seo Heemin,' who spent every moment plotting his escape, I had no intention of running.

I had no money.

I had nowhere to go.

The world outside these walls was dangerous—a place where Omegas were kidnapped and sold like commodities.

This place was safe.

There was good food.

If I stayed quiet, if I played my cards right, I might even be able to live comfortably here.

When I treated his wounds instead of lashing out, he had responded not with anger but with amusement.

"You have three older sisters, and you’re nine years younger than me, Seo Heemin."

To him, it had been a joke.

To me, it was the truth.

Pointless resistance would only wear me out.

If I moved carefully, if I handled him well—

Maybe this wouldn’t be a cage.

Maybe this could be a sanctuary.

Unlike 'Seo Heemin,' I refused to be a helpless bird trapped in a cage.

It didn’t matter if I felt sympathy for him.

I needed to survive.

But...

If I remembered correctly, tomorrow was the day 'Seo Heemin' found out that Cha Iheon was the president of Wushin Capital.

And in the original story, he had a full-blown panic attack over it.

Seo Jae-han, 'Seo Heemin’s' father, had struggled with extreme financial troubles due to reckless business expansion.

Desperate for funds, he had borrowed money from Wushin Capital, taking out high-interest loans to cover expiring corporate bonds.

But in the end, he had failed to repay them.

His company had collapsed.

And the man who had swooped in like a savior, the man who had bought up his father’s ruined empire—

Was Cha Iheon.

The son of the man Seo Jae-han had once destroyed.

The past had returned like a blade to his throat."