Sunny took out a leather business card holder from the bag she’d placed on the table.
“Take this.”
Chaehun didn’t refuse and accepted the business card Sunny offered. It was different from the one Sunny had given him before. On the front of the luxury paper was the name Lee Sujin, and on the back was a phone number.
“Is Lee Sujin your name?”
“No. I’m Jeong Seohui. That’s why Sunny. And the owner of the business card is my great-grandmother. Seunggeon oppa’s maternal grandmother.”
“……?!”
At the unexpected name, Chaehun froze while holding the business card.
Seunggeon’s maternal grandmother?
Chaehun only knew that Seunggeon had been raised by his maternal grandmother. But she wasn’t an ordinary grandmother. She was the wife of Chairman Jeong of Taehwa Group. He couldn’t understand why she was giving him her business card.
“Great-grandmother said to call if you’re having a hard time.”
Sunny answered Chaehun’s silent question. But Chaehun still couldn’t understand.
“I don’t really know, so I’m asking, but is this normal?”
“Hmm, if it were my grandmother, she would’ve demanded to see your face right away. Great-grandmother is refined. When I studied abroad in America, I went to school in the same area as Seunggeon oppa. We didn’t meet many times, but Seunggeon oppa was quite famous in that community. He’s a dominant alpha with a handsome face and a great body, but he didn’t even glance at omegas. He only dated betas. And most of those were one-time things. You know what? You’re the first person he’s introduced as a lover.”
“No. I didn’t know.”
At some point the topic had changed. Chaehun found himself fluttering at Sunny’s explanation. It was as if she was saying he was special.
“So great-grandmother seems very interested. She was extremely worried that with Seunggeon oppa’s personality, he might live alone forever. Think of the business card as a kind of insurance.”
Many things were omitted between the long explanation and the “so.” Chaehun looked at Sunny, who was smiling with her red lips pulled up, and couldn’t smile along with her. He wasn’t even really dating Seunggeon, but somehow he felt like things were getting bigger.
“Ah, and I have something to give you too. Happy birthday.”
This time, what Sunny pulled from her bag was a small, flat wrapped box. Sunny slid it in front of Chaehun. Chaehun looked back and forth between the box and Sunny.
“How did you know it was my birthday?”
“That much comes up quickly with just a little investigation.”
Chaehun accepted that Sunny was also from the same kind of family as Seunggeon.
“I’d better not accept it.”
“It’s nothing much, just a wallet. I chose it so you’d become rich. I’m doing this to get close, so refusing would be a rejection. I’ve done what I came to do, so I’ll be going now. My reservation time is coming up. Keep great-grandmother’s business card a secret from Seunggeon oppa. That’s just in case.”
Having said everything she needed to say, Sunny stood up from her seat without regret. Chaehun also followed her movements. After watching Sunny get on the elevator, Chaehun headed toward the office with slow steps.
Somehow things seemed to be getting complicated. While he’d worried about various things when becoming publicly involved with Seunggeon, he’d never even imagined receiving a business card from his maternal grandmother. At least it was fortunate that she hadn’t called him in to tell him to break up.
He chuckled at his imagination running toward melodrama when his phone vibrated. This time it really was a message from Seunggeon.
[Let’s meet today instead of tomorrow. 8 o’clock.]
The original plan had been tomorrow. While he’d canceled appointments before, this was the first time one had been changed.
Chaehun frowned slightly. Chaehun’s mother, Jo Mihye, had the principle that on birthdays, one must naturally have a birthday table accompanied by miyeok-guk. While her own birthday was fine with just eating out with her sons, she personally made miyeok-guk for her sons’ birthdays. So even after becoming independent, Chaehun visited his family home every year on his birthday. This year was no different.
[Sorry, but 8 o’clock is difficult. How about 10? I have to go to my family home.]
Just in case, he asked Seunggeon for understanding. Pride aside, he didn’t want to miss the birthday meal. If Seunggeon said no, he was prepared to reveal that it was his birthday today. And if Seunggeon still insisted on the contract after that, he’d firmly decided to curse him out and cut ties. Fortunately or unfortunately, Seunggeon didn’t particularly object.
[10 o’clock works too.]
[That’s a relief. See you then!]
Chaehun thought about his route for the evening. After work, stopping by his family home and then going to the hotel would take over two hours just for travel time.
Since the incident 10 days ago, Seunggeon had been staying at the hotel bungalow continuously. It was because of security issues. He’d heard that Seunggeon was buying and remodeling a regular house and would move within two weeks.
This seemed like a butterfly effect. An uninvited guest had simply barged in, but as a chain reaction, many things had happened.
Chaehun reflexively thought of Kang Yeonghwan. The guy who should’ve been making the most noise was being quiet for some reason. He might have come to his senses, or his pride might have been hurt. Judging by Kang Yeonghwan’s personality, it was probably the latter.
When he returned to his family home today, something would surely come up. He didn’t want to imagine anything ominous, but this year’s birthday might be a little noisy.
* *
“I heard you’re dating the CEO of Taehwa Group? Chairman Jeong’s grandson. Is that right?”
Chaehun, who had been eating miyeok-guk, looked up with surprised eyes at Kang Suchan sitting across from him. He had a very serious face.
Jo Mihye had prepared an elaborate birthday meal for Chaehun. Along with miyeok-guk, Chaehun’s favorite japchae and pork ribs were on the table. Kang Yeonghwan was absent because he was busy with university matters. Chaehun’s birthday was spent with Jo Mihye and Kang Suchan.
Dinner had been flowing normally. There had been talk about needing to organize the storage in the backyard before summer came.
Then Kang Suchan asked.
Chaehun thought what was coming had finally come. Ten days ago, after meeting Kang Yeonghwan at the art museum reopening event, he’d vaguely expected this to happen.
Normally, Kang Yeonghwan would have called annoyingly often to pry into details about Seunggeon, but this time he hadn’t contacted him at all. He’d wondered why things were so quiet, and it seemed he’d told the family in the meantime.
Things were already settled with Seunggeon. They’d become official lovers, so he’d been told to handle things appropriately on his own. In truth, “appropriately” was the most difficult thing.
“Yeonghwan must have told you. It’s true we’re dating.”
Chaehun acted as if it were nothing special. Since Kang Yeonghwan had already talked, lying would be useless, so he answered honestly.
“Ten years ago. The kid who was kidnapped with you, Chaehun… no, the one in the car accident? The grandson of Taehwa Group, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
This time Jo Mihye asked, and Chaehun answered yes. His parents had received a lot of money from Taehwa Group on the condition of keeping quiet about the kidnapping incident. So when his parents mentioned what happened then, they called it a car accident.
“Then you saved Chairman Jeong and also saved Chairman Jeong’s grandson?”
“No. Back then I only saved Seunggeon, that is, Chairman Jeong’s grandson. He paid off the creditors’ debts. The reason I lied about him being a fake chairman was because he didn’t want to reveal his identity. He said complicated things would happen.”
Now that Seunggeon’s existence had been revealed, the fake chairman was no longer needed. Chaehun told the truth about everything except the contract.
“I thought so. There’s no way such lucky things would happen. Ugh. Those people are still the same. They absolutely hate having their names come out. But that kid is an alpha, right? Why is he dating you?”
“He says he likes me.”
“But you’re not thinking about marriage or anything, right? You’re a beta. He’s an alpha.”
“Uh…….”
At Jo Mihye’s question, Chaehun nodded. While he liked Seunggeon, he had no thoughts of things working out well. He’d never even imagined marriage. Still, hearing outright that he didn’t suit Seunggeon because he was a beta made him feel somewhat off.
“Ugh. Both Suchan and Yeonghwan are too greedy. You should marry someone whose family status matches to some degree. Being a chaebol isn’t everything.”
“Mom.”
It was Kang Suchan who stopped Jo Mihye’s words. But Jo Mihye snapped.
“Don’t get involved with families like that.”
“I’ll handle everything myself. Chaehun, let’s talk separately later.”
The atmosphere became tense in an instant. Chaehun wasn’t particularly bad at reading the room. He could roughly tell why Jo Mihye was mentioning marriage.
The ominous feeling didn’t disappear.
* * *
[I’ll be a little late.]
[I’ve arrived. I’ll wait, so come safely.]
After sending a reply to the message Seunggeon sent, Chaehun put his phone down on the table. Then he picked up the glass containing brandy and leaned his body against the sofa backrest.
Along with the clinking sound of ice, a rich aroma lingered at his nose. Taking a sip, the taste flowing down his throat was strong. Chaehun frowned slightly and stared blankly outside the window. The well-decorated night garden beyond the bungalow’s living room window didn’t register in his eyes.
He was depressed. More precisely, his mental state was shattered.
