Secretly Married to a Chaebol Alpha novel Chapter 125

Chapter 125: EARLY RETIREMENT

"ARE YOU feeling better now, Garam-ah?"

Garam nodded awkwardly.

It wasn’t like he was feeling awkward because his group members were staring at him— he just felt embarrassed that his friends were treating him as if he were a fragile glass after finding out that he was pregnant.

To be fair, he kind of fainted a bit after announcing his pregnancy.

Gong Hanseo caught him before he fell, and then the leader brought him to his old room.

Garam immediately woke up in less than a minute, but his group members acted like he had fainted for a long time.

But his group members did let him rest for an hour.

That helped because he felt refreshed after waking up.

Just look at me now.

Garam was lying on the bed, covered in a warm blanket.

They’re actually treating me like an elderly person.

"I’m okay, Hyung, kids," Garam assured his group members. "I said I’m pregnant— I didn’t say I’m sick."

"But I heard male Omegas get really weak when they’re pregnant," Lee Eunsang said worriedly while Finn and Kwon Jigu nodded eagerly in agreement. "Plus, you looked really pale earlier, Hyung. We thought you were going to faint."

Oh.

"Don’t worry— I’m well taken care of," Garam assured his group members once again. And then he paused for a moment, gathering his courage to ask: "Are you not mad at me? I got a sponsor behind your back. And I never told you anything about it until today..."

His group members looked at each other as if they were talking through their eyes.

In the end, the younger ones all looked at Gong Hanseo— the oldest among them— as if they had chosen the leader to be their spokesperson.

"Actually, we’ve talked about it while you were taking a rest."

Oh.

"Garam-ah, what are you planning to do now that you’re pregnant?"

Ah.

I have made up my mind about what I need to do next, but it still hurts...

"I’m going to leave the group," Garam said, lowering his head because he was too ashamed to look at his group members. Plus, he felt like he would burst into tears if he saw their faces. "I decided to keep the baby, so I can’t continue with the activities anyway. As you already know, male Omegas become physically weak from the beginning of our pregnancy up to the day we give birth. And I don’t want to be a burden to you. That’s why I decided to just leave the group. I don’t want to drag you down with me."

A silence ensued.

And then...

"We’re leaving the company, Lim Garam."

Garam lifted his head, shocked by what Gong Hanseo. "Hyung...!"

"We’ve already talked about this, Garam-ah," Gong Hanseo said. "We know you’d rather leave than group than bring harm to us."

Oh, no.

The thing he tried to protect— he destroyed it with his own hands.

His heart was then filled with heavy guilt.

As a result, Garam couldn’t help but burst into tears. "I’m sorry. Because of me, your career will suffer..."

"Hyung, don’t cry," Lee Eunsang said, obviously panicking. "We’re not blaming you!"

"That’s right, Hyung," Finn said while handing a handkerchief to Garam. "We know that none of this was your fault."

"But that’s not true," Garam said between sobs while using Finn’s hanky to wipe his tears. It was no use, though. After all, his tears just kept rolling down his cheeks. "You should also be mad at me for getting a sponsor behind your back. I won’t blame you if you thought I was looking down on you, that I didn’t have faith in us, that I had to get a sponsor."

"Hyung, we know you more than you know yourself, though," Kwon Jigu said gently. "We know that you got a sponsor not because you didn’t trust us, but because you were desperate to help us succeed. You didn’t tell us because you were afraid that we wouldn’t understand. That’s the only part that we’re sad about. You bottled up everything when you could have relied on us."

"Well, to be fair, I don’t think we could have helped you if you told us because we were all powerless back then," Le Eunsang added. "But it would have been nice had you shared the burden with us. Having said that, we still understand."

"It must have been tough on you, Hyung," Finn added softly. "I’m sorry. We didn’t know you were suffering all these years to protect us."

Aigoo.

Garam burst into tears once again.

This time, it was because he was touched.

I didn’t expect them to be this understanding...

"The kids are right. We feel bad that you suffered alone while protecting the group," Gong Hanseo said. "And that’s exactly why it doesn’t feel right to continue the group without you, Garam-ah. After all, if it weren’t for you, we would have been no one."

"But I don’t want you to ruin your career because of me..."

"We said we’re disbanding— we didn’t say we’ll stop being idols."

"Huh?"

"We want to leave the company because it’s clear that the new CEO is a danger to us. That’s why it’s better for all of us to leave together and find a new company," Gong Hanseo said, smiling. "Better yet, start our own company. Of course, we’ll fight for the right to use our group name. It’s our brand, after all."

Oh.

Garam blinked slowly. "I didn’t think of that..."

"And this is why it’s important to share your burden with us, Hyung," Lee Eunsang said teasingly. "Five heads are better than one."

Right.

Garam nodded firmly. "I acknowledge that."

We all hate the new CEO, after all.

***

Sihyuk Hyung’s aunts and uncles are good-looking people.

Yeah, the idol industry is hellish like that.

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