“Well, the father, he’s disappointed because he thought he was a beta and used him, but it turned out not to be, you know? But the younger brother is openly dissatisfied. The older brother seems to act like nothing’s wrong, but you never know what’s inside him either. He was the only heir until now, so he might feel threatened.”
“Afraid his position will be stolen?”
“Yeah. Honestly, that younger brother doesn’t look particularly smart, so he’s not a threat. But it seems like he’s trying to grab a piece for himself in his own way. If he’s fussing around from the side, it’ll get annoying, so I’m a bit concerned.”
To Young’s quite serious interpretation, Seong-jae raised an objection.
“Isn’t it their league anyway? Will they include you in it?”
“I hope they don’t include me. But also….”
I don’t know. Seeing how he picked fights and recorded from the day we went to greet them, trying to catch even one weakness, he’s definitely conscious of me.
He was about to answer that way.
However, he could no longer ignore the message notifications ringing like a phone call. Young picked up the mobile phone he’d put down beside him.
Big Hyung
If he suddenly becomes an alpha, what happens to the marriage?
Lee Chan
Did he change as a person? How is it? He’s not treating you carelessly, is he?
Noona
What’s their reaction?
The family members who heard the news were making a fuss with their reactions. When he didn’t react much to the pouring questions, now phone calls started ringing.
“Just a moment.”
For an incident of this magnitude, it’s natural to be curious. Young obediently answered his noona’s call.
***
The purpose of this marriage had been to quietly live as an outsider in Joomyeong and prepare to go abroad.
But from the first step, it got twisted because of Kyung-heon’s manifestation. Quiet, what quiet—he was the center of attention.
On the way out of Seong-jae’s office, some reporter came and asked whether it was true that President Joo’s second son had a late manifestation—that was basic. Family members, the few friends he had, even acquaintances who barely knew his contact information spoke to him at all hours, making it indescribably exhausting.
It wasn’t just the fact that President Joo’s second son manifested as an alpha that was the topic. The legendary late manifestation. Since such a phenomenon actually occurred, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the entire nation’s attention was focused on it.
TV programs and personal channel videos also covered the late manifestation subject a lot. Somehow even Young received rude contacts requesting interviews, causing him quite a bit of distress.
The fortunate thing was that it was a world with a fast topic-switching speed. The frighteningly boiling interest soon turned to some celebrity’s drug scandal that broke and the famous people involved in it. Though there was no specific signal, it was clear that his younger hyung, who had a firm grip on the entertainment district, had pulled strings for Young who was stressed.
Thanks to that, it was after the storm had passed.
- Let’s have a meal together sometime soon.
There was a summons from Chairman Joo.
It was a traditional Korean restaurant with an antique style. Even though it was a meal for two people, the table was laden with high-class dishes to the point of breaking.
Unfortunately, there was nothing among all those dishes that Young could eat.
Usually Young ate various gross foods well, and even menus that divided people’s likes and dislikes. But he couldn’t be generous when it came to seafood. It was because the characteristic salty smell and fishy smell were very difficult to endure.
But the theme happened to be seafood. When he asked for the course to be brought out all at once, sea cucumber salad, seafood stew, grilled silver cod and abalone pot rice… all kinds of sea creatures came up.
When asked what he wanted to eat, it seemed his mistake had been answering vaguely with just Korean food. Young had no choice but to pick at it and only pretended to eat roughly. Instead, he transferred his eating energy to chatting and chattered diligently.
“Grandfather, you knew, didn’t you? That Kyung-heon wasn’t just blank and slow.”
“I knew.”
“Right! I thought so!”
Chairman Joo still seemed unfamiliar with Young’s attitude of boldly charging in. Though he didn’t show it outwardly, an air of considerable awkwardness floated around Chairman Joo.
“Actually, when I first met you, I thought you cherished him because he resembled you the most among your grandsons. But when I thought about it carefully, it didn’t seem like that was it.”
In the midst of that, the story about Kyung-heon resembling him a lot seemed pleasant to hear. The corners of his firmly closed lips rose slightly.
“Did he look like me?”
“Honestly, he resembles you much more than his father. At a glance, you can tell he’s grandfather’s grandson.”
Chairman Joo still smiled contentedly. Even at their first meeting, he’d thought he’d melted him down well with friendliness. Now the reaction was even more favorable than then. Young stared at that appearance, then started again.
“That’s why you were even more displeased about him marrying me, right?”
When he hit the mark, Chairman Joo erased his smile and cleared his throat with a cough. It was clear he was embarrassed both by the fact that he’d hurt Young’s feelings and by the rudeness he’d committed by raising his voice with a guest present.
“I’m sorry for showing you such an unseemly sight back then. And….”
“……”
“Thank you for letting me know first about Kyung-heon’s matter this time.”
For the elder who had adamantly opposed the marriage by taking issue with Young’s family to not only apologize but also add words of gratitude. He felt quite good.
Young grinned honestly.
“Not at all. We promised, didn’t we? To contact you first. Our family never falls behind anywhere when it comes to trust.”
At his brazen attitude, Chairman Joo’s lips twitched. But soon he returned to a solemn expression.
“Right. Now that I know well through this opportunity, I ask for your help in the future too.”
“With what?”
“Our family has a long history of strong desire for honor and success. We’re also famous for bloodbaths whenever the succession position changes.”
“Ah….”
“Right now the opportunity has already gone to Kyung-heon’s father, but this isn’t the end. From the moment his father sits in that position, it’ll get noisy over succession. Seong-jin…. And Won-ho too. Both kids have been greedy since childhood.”
Young recalled the appearance of the two people he’d seen at the main house after Kyung-heon’s manifestation. Well, Joo Won-ho was openly dissatisfied, and there was also the clumsy incident of him pushing a recorder, so that was understandable. But the mention of Joo Seong-jin was unexpected.
Though he’d chattered to Seong-jae that you never know what’s inside, it had been talk about a possibility that could exist. Looking at his usual conduct, he showed the leisure of someone who had things; he didn’t seem to be desperately clinging to protect what he had. But a family member’s eyes seemed different.
“Until now they believed they would share whatever it was between the two of them, so they’re the ones who won’t welcome Kyung-heon’s manifestation. Once they realize the fact that Kyung-heon is excellent in many ways, they won’t just hate him in their hearts.”
Chairman Joo was concerned about the “bloodbath” he’d just mentioned. Precisely, that the blade of chaos would be directed at Kyung-heon.
“Even if it’s trivial, if anything seems strange, let me know first like this time.”
Young recalled what he’d said to Seong-jae.
‘At least the older brother seems to act like nothing’s wrong, but you never know what’s inside him either. He was the only heir until now, so he might feel threatened.’
In life. How many words had he uttered even while being connected to Kyung-heon through marriage, but that one might become the seed.
‘Ah… it’ll be tiring if sparks fly.’
Young, who had been lamenting inwardly, nodded a bit late.
“Yes. Of course.”
Still, it was fortunate to have someone to lean on. Young patted his chest area firmly, saying to trust only him.
This was probably the purpose of inviting him to this meal today. Now that they’d had the core conversation, it seemed okay to return to a light meal.
But before Young could even move his lips to say something, Chairman Joo opened his mouth again.
“And by the way. Young, are you perhaps….”
***
The meal ultimately ended with the feast before his eyes left completely untouched. Young was one thing, picking at it because he disliked seafood, but Chairman Joo also only tasted a few bites ceremonially before being absorbed only in conversation the whole time, with no time to touch the food.
Though hungry, it wasn’t a bad meal. Neither the atmosphere nor the conversation content.
“I’ll think about it seriously.”
“Right. Then, I have a next appointment, so I’ll get up first.”
