“…Would you be willing to come with me?”
“Pardon?”
What is this, some new kind of scam? Yeonjun asked back, unable to make sense of the words. Setting aside how truly sorry the man had said it was to make this request of a stranger — what he had just said was difficult for anyone to understand. He’d caught that the man was asking him to come along. But — where?
“Where are we going?”
Yeonjun looked up at the man as he asked. The man standing there without so much as a twitch had his brow suddenly knitting together, the stiff set of his mouth giving him away before he could hide it.
Just then, the screen of the phone sitting on the table lit up. It was a message from Yeonjun’s blind date for today — omega Lee Hyeonyu.
[Hello, Yeonjun. It’s Lee Hyeonyu. Something urgent came up suddenly, so I wasn’t able to reach out…]
Yeonjun didn’t even bother reading the message properly and looked away. The screen that had briefly lit up went back to black — just like the man standing in front of him.
“……”
Yeonjun waited for the man’s answer. His thoughts of the blind date he’d been dragged into because of his senior had long since left his mind. The man still stood there, completely immovable, the only difference being that his fist was clenched just slightly tighter than before.
Just what kind of request would make someone grab a total stranger like this? And then — the man let out a very small sigh. The face that had been tilted to show the top of his head was slowly raised. Yeonjun swallowed without thinking.
“…A wedding.”
“…Pardon?”
Did I hear that wrong.
“A wedding. I need to attend a wedding, and I need someone to go with me.”
Ha. Instinctively, Yeonjun let out a hollow laugh. The man’s eyes wavered at the helpless burst of laughter, then quickly steadied themselves.
An actual wedding. No, but — why? He didn’t look the type, but was he trying to go to an ex’s wedding and get some kind of revenge? Completely dumbfounded, Yeonjun clicked his tongue lightly.
“The situation is urgent. If you help me, I’ll…compensate you generously.”
The man added quickly and bowed his head again. The face he’d barely gotten a look at disappeared from view.
It wasn’t that Yeonjun hadn’t been able to readily agree to this ridiculous proposal because money wasn’t mentioned. Honestly, it would’ve been perfectly reasonable to brush him off as a lunatic or flatly refuse on the spot. What had taken over now was less curiosity and more bewilderment. If you were going to come out with a request like this, shouldn’t you at least explain the situation?
“Ah, the money isn’t really the issue — but shouldn’t you at least tell me why? You’ll pay me well, so come to a wedding with you. How am I supposed to know if it’s a wedding I’m walking into or my own funeral? And anyway, how much are we even talking?”
“……”
Watching the man give no answer, the corner of Yeonjun’s mouth curled up. This guy is genuinely something else.
“A hundred thousand won? Five hundred thousand? Why aren’t you answering?”
With every word he said, Yeonjun’s mood soured further. No, who does he think I am, going to a wedding with someone I don’t even know? By any reasonable measure, did this make any sense? Is this a prank? Is someone filming a hidden camera somewhere or something?
“Excuse me. Are you pulling my—”
At that moment, the man’s body jolted sharply and he raised his face fast.
“…Ten million won upfront. Once it’s over, another ten million transferred immediately. Will you do it?”
It was the longest sentence in the entire conversation so far. The man pulled his phone from his pocket and looked steadily at Yeonjun. The intent was clear — he was ready to send the money right then and there. Yeonjun’s jaw dropped.
This person — is he out of his mind?
“…Excuse me. Are you insane?”
“I’m not insane. The situation is just urgent. Say you’ll go right now, and I’ll transfer ten million won to your account immediately.”
It was the opportunity of a lifetime and the greatest obstacle of his life, all at once. Yeonjun swallowed as his lips went suddenly dry. It wasn’t as though he was particularly short on money — but the thought of twenty million won in passive income dropping into his account out of nowhere made his heart start pounding like crazy. Reason and instinct were locked in a tense standoff. Easy money comes and goes easy. Rationally speaking, receiving twenty million won in exchange for attending a wedding together didn’t add up.
When Yeonjun didn’t answer easily, the man checked the time on his phone and his brow tightened. Does he not have time? Yeonjun wet his lips and slowly opened his mouth.
“…What would I have to do once we’re there?”
The man seemed to think for a moment, then spoke in a measured, even voice.
“You just need to stand beside me.”
The man met his eyes again, politely. What do I do. Yeonjun could feel his own pupils shaking wildly. His heart felt like it was about to burst and his mouth wouldn’t open, as if someone had glued it shut.
And then, the man quickly turned around. It was an attitude that gave him no time to deliberate. Shoes that didn’t look like they’d ever had a speck of dust on them came into Yeonjun’s line of sight.
“Hey — hey, wait.”
Yeonjun wrung out his voice. The man who had been about to step forward stopped in place. He gave a small flinch as though about to turn around, then quietly kept his back to him.
“All I really have to do is just stand there, right?”
Yeonjun fidgeted with his lips, then lifted his face and answered. And the moment he said it, he regretted it. His instincts, winning out over reason, had gone ahead and committed to something without passing through his brain at all. Am I going to turn up as a corpse after this? What if I’m getting dragged onto some shrimp trawler for twenty million won?
“…Yes. That’s right.”
The man turned back around as he answered. For someone with something this urgent bearing down on him — urgent enough to pay twenty million won to bribe a stranger — his face was remarkably calm.
“Please give me your account number. I’ll transfer it right away.”
The man handed his phone to Yeonjun. A messaging window was open on the screen. Yeonjun took the phone somewhat dazedly and looked up at the man one more time. Is it really okay to type it in? The alarm bells in his head were going off — but in the face of twenty million won in free money, Yeonjun’s fingers moved on their own, carefully typing in his account number digit by digit.
“You’re actually going to send it?”
“Yes.”
Yeonjun handed the phone back to the man, and only then did he grip his trembling hands tightly together. The man, face just as rigid as when he’d first spoken to him, took the phone back and moved his fingers a few times.
“It says the transfer has gone through.”
The moment the man spoke, Yeonjun’s phone lit up. Transfer received: ten million won. Yeonjun quickly tapped his phone to check the notification. It was real. Zeroes stretched out in a row, rich just to look at. Even counting again, it was unmistakably ten million won.
“Let’s go, then.”
The man checked the time again and turned first. Yeonjun shot to his feet. What was happening, what in the world had just happened, what was about to happen — he couldn’t even begin to imagine. The only thing he knew for certain was that ten million won had landed squarely in his account.
The man gave a small nod as if checking on him. Yeonjun trotted after him like a well-trained dog. It was pure instinct. And instinctively, he had the feeling that something huge was about to go off. Calling it a dream would’ve felt more realistic. Yeonjun pinched his cheek just to be sure — but it just hurt like hell.
Something unbelievable had happened, and it had happened alongside this baffling man. The moment he had said he’d go along with this strange proposal, the brief flicker in the man’s eyes lingered in Yeonjun’s mind like an afterimage. He thought he must be just as crazy for not running away and going along with it.
A Saturday afternoon that had been set aside for a blind date with a male omega. Yeonjun had the gut feeling that from here on out, he was going to spend the rest of the day on a completely different plan.
No matter how he thought about it, he must’ve been possessed by something.
*
Yeonjun was certain of it. There would be plenty more days to live ahead — but there would never, absolutely never, be a day like today. Not a person who would out of nowhere ask you to go to a wedding with them, not a person who would offer twenty million won for the privilege, and certainly not an idiot like himself who would say yes and follow along.
Having followed the man out of the café, Yeonjun was quietly walking behind him. The man just walked, as if nothing unusual had happened at all. Naturally there was no conversation between them, and even though they were moving at a fairly quick pace, not a single labored breath could be heard from him.
Should I just make a run for it now? Honestly, if he quietly changed direction and bolted right now, he didn’t think he’d be caught. Sure, he had taken the ten million won upfront — but that money could just be returned. On top of that, the man wasn’t grabbing him to keep him from leaving or threatening him with a scary face, so it was entirely doable.
Thinking about it that way made it all the more puzzling. What is he relying on, walking ahead like this so completely unguarded? What does he plan to do if I just run off?
