【09. Power Game】
The chocolate stamped with a delicate rose pattern had a subtle rose fragrance.
[As delicious as it is pretty. Thanks.]
After sending Seunggeon a message of gratitude along with a photo, Chaehun popped another chocolate into his mouth.
No reply came from Seunggeon, but Chaehun didn’t particularly care. He had already finished preparing to go out perfectly. Though he had worked up a sweat from running, he had showered, changed into newly bought underwear, put his suit back on, and was waiting for Seunggeon. As soon as he got the call that he’d arrived, he could dash out.
More importantly, an important conversation was happening right now in the group chat with his high school friends.
Chaehun’s birthday was exactly 10 days away. One of the driving forces that had kept his friendships going for over ten years was celebrating each other’s birthdays.
It wasn’t particularly grand. They would all gather around the birthday and eat food and drink. Four times a year. Sometimes people couldn’t attend due to personal circumstances, sometimes the date got pushed back quite a bit, and very occasionally the birthday person themselves was absent, but the gatherings themselves had never fallen through.
Since everyone was busy living their own lives, setting the meeting date was important. That task fell to Shin Yujin, who had a meticulous personality. Yujin was also the one who brought up setting the meeting date.
The date was set for Friday of the week after next. What remained was the menu.
[Beef short ribs.]
[Something other than meat.]
[What?]
[Sashimi.]
[Sushi?]
[Just sashimi.]
[I said beef short ribs.]
[We had that before.]
Nam Taeho called out for meat while Seo Jumyeong pushed for sashimi. Everyone had similar tastes, so they didn’t fight over food. It was just a matter of what to eat.
Chaehun slipped in suggesting how about gopchang, but everyone ignored him. The birthday person didn’t open their wallet that day, but in exchange had no say in the matter.
“I wonder if Seunggeon would eat gopchang.”
While looking at the chat that had finally settled on live fish sashimi, Chaehun thought of Seunggeon. Gopchang would be difficult for a guy who had harshly criticized chocolate as too sweet, macarons as having a weird texture, and brownies as tasting like flour. More than anything, gopchang didn’t suit Seunggeon, who was a proper young master.
Still, he wouldn’t know unless he asked, so he was thinking he should ask later when he heard the sound of the door lock releasing. He had the TV on, but there was no way he could have misheard that electronic sound.
“You’re here already?”
Chaehun looked toward the entrance. It hadn’t even been 5 minutes since Seunggeon said traffic was backed up. Thinking maybe he’d lied to tease him, a wave of gladness washed over him.
However, his anticipation of seeing Seunggeon’s face soon disappeared due to the group of people who burst into the living room.
There were three men. Two of them in black suits were obviously bodyguards at a glance. And the remaining one was a strikingly handsome man.
When their eyes met, the man with a flushed face elegantly furrowed his eyebrows.
“A beta?”
The man abruptly spoke informally. And in a confrontational tone at that. Instead of flaring up, Chaehun thought calmly. Given Seunggeon’s personality, it didn’t seem like he would hide the fact that he’d invited a guest.
“What are *you*, for that matter?”
“Your taste is quite unique. A beta of all things.”
“The owner of this place wouldn’t have invited you.”
“We’re going to get married soon, so there’s no need for invitations.”
The man who smiled while narrowing his eyes spoke confidently. So Chaehun couldn’t ask what he meant by that.
His mind moved quickly. He remembered that Seunggeon had been forced into a blind date at noon today. This man, probably an omega, was likely that blind date partner. Seunggeon had said he had no intention of getting married, but the man apparently didn’t feel the same way.
“Well, if you’re a beta, I don’t care whether you’re a mistress or a lover.”
“……?!”
“But not today. Get rid of him.”
The man who had been muttering to himself in a languid tone gave an order with a smile. While Chaehun flinched and straightened his posture, the bodyguards pounced.
He reflexively resisted the force grabbing his arm, then got punched in the temple. While dazed for a moment, an arm wrapped around his neck.
At the sudden assault, Chaehun couldn’t react properly. He’d done some exercise, but he was no match for professional bodyguards. If it had been just one person, he could have somehow put up a fight, but there were two. The difference in build and weight was significant.
He quickly decided this wouldn’t do. When he relaxed his strength, his arms were twisted behind his back and he was obediently subdued. In that position, he was dragged to the entrance and kicked out into the hallway without even putting on his shoes.
As Chaehun straightened his posture and was pondering what to do, the door opened and his shoes, phone, and jacket were thrown into the hallway.
At what had happened in an instant, Chaehun swallowed a sigh. The phrase “unexpected misfortune” suited this situation.
Beta. Marriage. Mistress. Lover. Get rid of.
Chaehun recalled the words that had flowed from the man’s mouth, shook his head, and moved calmly. After putting on his shoes and his jacket, he picked up his phone.
Finding it ridiculous to pace in the hallway, he took the elevator down to the first floor. After the cold wind cooled him down a bit, he called Seunggeon.
—What’s wrong?
Hearing Seunggeon’s voice, completely unaware of anything, made him choke up. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but he felt like cursing.
Chaehun took a deep breath and said in one breath.
“So. Some person came to the apartment, and I got kicked out.”
—That’s too short. Tell me in detail. Are you hurt anywhere?
“The door opened so I thought maybe you’d come quickly, but it was some man I don’t know. I don’t know his name. We didn’t exchange names. Anyway, he suddenly barged in before I could even stop him and…. Hah. He told me to leave, so I resisted, but I got grabbed by people who looked like bodyguards and got kicked out.”
—Oh no.
He heard Seunggeon’s bitter laugh, but Chaehun couldn’t laugh along. While explaining what had just happened, he barely held back harsh words from coming out.
When you become an adult and live in society, you’re bound to experience all sorts of things. He’d worked part-time at a convenience store and suffered at the hands of difficult customers, and had been hit by piles of documents his workplace superior had thrown. Those were things he could endure by taking a long breath and bearing with it.
But today was different. Between the nameless man and Chaehun was Seunggeon.
He almost mentioned that the man had said they would get married, but held back. Since Seunggeon had said he had no intention of marrying, there was no need to bring that up. He was afraid Seunggeon might just say his grandfather had ordered him to get married.
The nameless man had properly hit on Chaehun’s weakness. Unlike what he’d said, Chaehun was neither a mistress nor a lover. They were merely in a relationship bought with money.
Today he had realized that once again.
“I’m going back. No, I’m in the process of going back. You handle the rest yourself.”
—I’ll book a nearby hotel, the H Hotel where we met before, so go there. Director Shim will send you a message.
Even in this situation, Chaehun wanted to strangle Seunggeon for saying to meet. He didn’t want to imagine what kind of resolution he’d make with that overbearing man, and he had no energy to question him either.
“Do we have to meet?”
—Kang Chaehun.
“I know it’s not your fault. Ah, really. I just feel… let’s just not see each other today.”
—Don’t tell me, are you hurt?
He was hurt. His punched face throbbed, and his head ached from realizing his own foolishness. He didn’t like any of it.
“No. I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m hanging up now. Don’t contact me. I won’t answer the phone.”
Chaehun hung up before Seunggeon could say anything. He didn’t forget to quickly switch to silent mode. Not even a few seconds later, Seunggeon’s name appeared on the screen, but he ignored it.
He was annoyed, angry, and just felt that way.
Until now, Chaehun had only had smooth relationships. Because Chaehun accommodated his partners in most things, there were no major occasions to fight. They bickered like other couples, but that was all.
So he’d broken up amicably twice. Both times, distance was the problem. One went to study abroad, and the other grew distant after being transferred to the Jeju branch.
The last one was the worst. He’d been unilaterally dumped by a guy who’d been two-timing. He was furious when he found out about the two-timing later, but three months had already passed so there was nothing he could do.
So he didn’t know what to do at times like this. No, it was laughable to accuse someone of two-timing when they weren’t even lovers. Even if Seunggeon said he was getting married, it would be the same. If he brought up the one-year contract, there was no choice but to keep meeting him.
He knew what kind of position he was in. But the fact that even after being treated like this, he couldn’t be angry at anyone felt stifling. Now that he’d realized he liked Seunggeon, it even felt unfair.
As he walked to catch a taxi, this time a message came from Shim Jeongmin. It said he’d reserved a bungalow at H Hotel where he’d met with Seunggeon before, under his own name. And he’d also added asking if he was okay.
