Beomwook’s voice came through. The place where Yeonjun’s feet landed — half-dragged as he was — was a spiral staircase. The murmur of voices began to reach Yeonjun’s ears.
“What’s that? Who the hell is that guy, walking around with the Executive Director? Looks like an alpha punk to me?”
“Who knows, asshole. The Executive Director will handle it.”
Profanity flew freely. Sharp eyes poured toward Yeonjun from all directions. He was getting cursed out and hit with murderous glares without knowing the first thing about why. Yeonjun, a surge of wounded indignation rising in him, forced his half-dragged feet to a stop. Then he quickly pulled out his phone and searched the names he’d just seen in a portal search.
[Seosung Electronics Executive Director Seo Ihyeon, BS Securities Executive Director Do Beomwook — unofficial marriage on February 27th….]
He didn’t even have to work hard to find it. The words appearing in the related search results were unmistakably the same names he’d just seen on the announcement board. There was a reason the man’s face had felt familiar. Hard as it was to believe, the unfolding situation was pointing toward one single answer. Yeonjun fixed his gaze on Do Beomwook, whose expression hadn’t shifted in the slightest.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing right now?”
“…I’ll handle everything.”
Yeonjun forcefully shoved Beomwook’s arm away. Oi, what the f**? That bastard — did he just shove the Executive Director’s arm? Hey, we should tear that little sh**’s arms clean off….* From the lobby below the staircase came a torrent of language too foul to repeat. It was entirely the wrong kind of thing to be hearing in the lobby right outside a wedding hall.
“Are you out of your mind? Handle what exactly! I just saw it. Over there! Those names! Seosung! BS!”
“…Shh. Baek Yeonjun. I’ll explain. Not here — this way.”
Yeonjun jabbed a finger in furious accusation, trembling with anger, but Beomwook reached over as though it were nothing and pressed his arm back down.
[Bridal Party Waiting Room]
The moment they stepped onto the second floor, Yeonjun let out a breath of disbelief at the sign planted squarely in front of him. Unlike the commotion downstairs, the second floor was quiet.
“Where are we even—…mmph!”
The instant Yeonjun opened his mouth, Beomwook clamped a hand over it, gripped his hand tight, and started moving. They didn’t go far — he stopped right in front of the [Bridal Party Waiting Room] just beside them. At the same moment, the door to a private bathroom attached to the waiting room slowly opened.
Yeonjun’s eyes, filled with something close to dread, poured into Beomwook. But Beomwook, without a moment’s hesitation, yanked Yeonjun swiftly toward him.
“Come inside quietly.”
—Slam! With a voice low enough to raise goosebumps, Yeonjun was shoved into the bathroom as though sucked right in.
*
BS Securities, where Beomwook served as Executive Director, had now established itself as one of the top five securities firms in the country — but its origins lay twenty years ago as “Beomsanpa Capital,” a business arm set up to generate funds for Beomsanpa when the gang had swept the nation.
The oldest scene remaining in Beomwook’s memory was also a landscape crawling with men in black suits surrounding him. Before his trait had manifested, Beomwook had been subjected to the nauseating cloud of uncontrolled pheromone scent that saturated the air around him. They say olfactory memory is the most powerful of all. That was his first memory of himself as Beomsanpa.
Do Beomryeol. Do Beomwook.
The two brothers — alike and yet not — had been raised as the future bosses who would carry Beomsanpa forward. There was no room to harbor other dreams or plans. From the start, Beomwook himself had grown up without ever truly coveting anything. Thanks to his father’s deep-seated wish — having been poorly educated himself — Beomwook had been sent through middle and high school and on to university like any ordinary student. Of course, he never graduated, but regardless, the photo from his university entrance ceremony remained in a corner of his father’s room until the day he died — so in that sense, the dream was fulfilled.
As trait manifestation generally occurs during puberty, Do Beomwook was likewise assessed as Beta around the time he entered high school. His older brother, Do Beomryeol, manifested as an Alpha. Discrimination based on trait had diminished compared to the old days, but in the world of fists where establishing hierarchy was everything, it was only natural that Do Beomryeol settled into the higher rank.
Around the time Do Beomwook was assessed as Beta and entering high school — one of the executives handling money laundering at Beomsanpa Capital made a run for it, and Choi Byeong-o, the head enforcer, was shoved into that seat like a sack stuffed onto a hook. The only financial knowledge Choi Byeong-o, who had barely scraped through elementary school, possessed was stocks. With no concept of diversified investment — all in on one shot! Life is all about the one big hit! A real man goes all in! — driven by that reckless spirit, he invested every last bit of Beomsanpa’s remaining funds into Seosung Transport, a company quietly building its name in Busan at the time through the transportation business.
That investment was the beginning of what is now Seosung Group and BS Corporation — and ultimately, it was also the origin of today’s arranged marriage.
“Help you break off an engagement. You’re insane. This makes no sense!”
Yeonjun, back against the bathroom wall, raised his voice at Beomwook. Yeonjun stood about a head taller than Beomwook, but against the grip locked around his wrist he seemed to come up short — and he soon scowled and glared at Beomwook.
Beomwook let out a low sigh. But he knew it too. That this was madness. Even he couldn’t believe what he was doing to himself. Even with Baek Yeonjun staring him down with resentment-filled eyes.
“…No wonder the money was so insane. I must be crazy. But you’re crazy too! And Seo Ihyeon — isn’t he the second-generation heir of the Seosung conglomerate? Ha — what. Does any of this even make sense?!”
“I’m not insane, but I know it’s a mad thing to do.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“I’ll explain the full situation later. For now, what I’m asking of Yeonjun is just one thing. Simply stand quietly beside me.”
Beomwook spoke as he gripped Yeonjun’s wrist. The wedding had to be delayed by any means necessary, and right now there was no other option. He’d at least managed to drag him to the wedding venue, so he had to push through somehow. He could give more money if needed. He couldn’t explain the clear reason — but this man, who looked considerably younger than him, absolutely had to help him.
“Wh — what do you think you’re — !”
Yeonjun, still standing with his wrist held captive, stepped backward. There was nothing behind him but the bathroom wall, but it was an instinctive reaction. Beomwook took one step closer, his expression set. His lips parted and a low voice slipped through. Without thinking, Yeonjun squeezed his eyes shut.
“…Please help me. Yeonjun.”
At the same moment, the force in the hand gripping his wrist released. Beomwook caught the arm as it dropped and this time took Yeonjun’s hand in both of his. Just for a moment — Yeonjun’s hand where they touched was warm. He pulled him toward him just like that. Yeonjun, flustered, moved just as Beomwook had intended.
“This is going to drive me insane, truly.”
Yeonjun muttered under his breath with a small sigh. Beomwook closed his hands around his palm again and looked up at the pale face before him. And then, as if driving in the final nail, Beomwook opened his mouth carefully.
“…I’m sorry.”
Yeonjun’s brow scrunched in an instant. Why do something you need to apologize for? The apology was even more unwelcome than the request to help break off an engagement. And he couldn’t understand himself either — why, when he could easily shake off the hands Beomwook had locked around him, he wasn’t doing it.
“Hey. One thing. Can I ask?”
“…Yes.”
“Why don’t you want to get married?”
At Yeonjun’s question, Beomwook’s expression turned troubled. “If you don’t answer, I won’t move a single — not one step from here.” At Yeonjun’s follow-up, Beomwook bit his lip. He could manage to drag Baek Yeonjun along by force, but for the engagement to be broken off, he needed him to stand quietly beside him. Beomwook collected his breath and chose his words.
Why don’t you want to get married? The answer to that question—
“I understand the curiosity, but it’s difficult to explain right now. I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to lose my mind, I really am.”
“…There is one thing I can tell you.”
“……”
“This is a marriage that must absolutely not happen.”
Beomwook’s voice was resolute. But the grip holding Yeonjun’s hand was gradually loosening. Yeonjun, who had been riled up over the absurd non-answer, also steadied his breathing. A brief silence followed. As if none of it had happened, Yeonjun’s face — which had been flushed with agitation — went still.
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere around the two of them seemed to soften by a degree. Yeonjun cast his gaze down and ran a hand through his hair. At the contemplative gesture, Beomwook stilled every movement as well.
Waiting for Yeonjun, Beomwook quietly pressed his lips together — and the dry, cracked surface of his lips met his tongue. There wasn’t much time. There had been no shortage of people in the lobby who had seen Beomwook and Yeonjun together, so word had likely already reached Do Beomryeol and Seo Ihyeon.
“I — I need to think…! Just let me think for a second.”
Beomwook glanced sideways at him and Yeonjun shot back in a grumbling voice. Beomwook looked away again. It really is madness. He’d brought this on himself — but now doubt crept in as to whether it could actually succeed.
