“No. I haven’t been doing well at all.”
—Oh yeah? You must be busy these days?
Despite the sharp response, the other party paid no attention and immediately dove into the main topic.
—It’s nothing major! I heard you acquired a hotel? Congratulations! Anyway, let me rent that, uh, Grand Ballroom there. Just clear out the whole thing! Empty out the entire third floor hall. I’m holding a class reunion after a long time.
“You should contact me about that kind of thing through my secretary…”
—Ah, come on! That takes too long and gets complicated! Jeongwoo, just take care of it for me! …Hey, hey! President Choi! Wait just a moment!
“What are you doing right now?”
—Ah, that idiot brought the wrong club. Anyone can see that’s not mine, jeez.
“Did you go golfing again? In this situation?”
—This situation? Was there something going on?
At the bewildered reaction that seemed to genuinely have no idea, Baek Jeongwoo pressed his brow.
“Did you at least hear? That all the VivaPlay executives came to Korea.”
—Huh? Viva?
“Viflix. ViTube. VivaPlay.”
—Ah! Viflix! VivaPlay! Of course I know, our cash cow! But why are they here?
“How should I know? The representative of the parent company Baekil Entertainment should be the one who knows.”
—Hahaha! Our new director is young after all! Just because you’re the representative doesn’t mean you need to know everything. Your subordinates are doing a good job taking care of things, right? You need to know how to trust and delegate!
“…”
—So, you really don’t know why Viva came…?
As he subtly revealed his curious concern, Baek Jeongwoo answered indifferently.
“Uncle has been running the entertainment company into the ground for years, so Grandfather must have gotten pissed and called them. To kick Uncle out and put that foreigner in his place instead.”
“Is it okay to say that so openly?”
His true feelings had already slipped out. Yu Gojun’s concern came too late.
Nevertheless, the other party laughed without losing spirit and said:
—Hey, man, that’s just a temporary setback because of investments! Once it starts making profits soon, there’ll be more than enough to celebrate with rice cakes! How can you only look at the numbers you see? If you’re an Alpha, you should know how to think big! Look at the big picture broadly, you bastard!
“Just go play golf.”
—Third floor! Grand Ballroom! Don’t forget!
Click. As soon as the call ended, Baek Jeongwoo threw his phone onto the sofa.
“It’s not my place to say, but… what a carefree bastard. Idiot.”
“You’re surprisingly self-aware.”
“What, fuck?”
Yu Gojun turned his head, pretending not to know.
Just then, the phone that had been thrown away started ringing with an alarm again.
After Baek Jeongwoo let out another deep sigh, he picked up the phone.
“What is it. Lee Yeongwoo.”
“Lee Yeongwoo?”
Yu Gojun showed interest and perked up his ears.
After a moment, Baek Jeongwoo raised his eyebrows and asked back.
“…Baek Gunho’s contact information?”
* * *
“I’m coming in, Seolheon…?”
I carefully pulled the door handle.
Inside was desolate. No one was there.
“Haa.”
Looking at the dark, empty house, along with relief, sadness suddenly washed over me.
“What am I even doing…”
I roughly draped my coat over the dining table and perched myself on a chair.
Just then, a piece of paper fluttered from the coat and fell onto the chair.
The business card had the VivaPlay logo engraved on it.
‘<Please contact me anytime. I’ll be waiting.>’
Lee Haram’s father… the stylish dad really was stylish.
I had never seen such unwavering, upright eyes before. Except for my adoptive mother and Chairman Baek Ildo.
‘He must be a good person.’
I think I may lack in other areas, but I’m confident in my ability to read people.
How many times had I been scammed in my previous life? People who only ‘pretend’ and people who truly move with conviction—even the air around them was different.
VivaPlay. A Spanish-Korean company under the Baekil Group umbrella, known as the best workplace with high income, dream-like benefits, and the freedom to fully exercise creativity.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it had prestige rivaling America’s major IT companies.
As days went by, it kept growing larger, and since it had become far too big for Baekil Entertainment—which was just a planning agency—to contain, like a tail wagging the dog, Chairman Baek Ildo seemed to have many concerns.
‘The Viflix user base isn’t thick yet, so the deficit is large, but that’ll change soon enough.’
I had personally experienced just how dangerous monopolizing the streaming and OTT market could be. I had subtly hinted at that “first strike wins” strategy to Chairman Baek Ildo, so now Korea would dominate the global media content market.
The representative of such a VivaPlay personally sent me a love call.
Saying he would ‘protect’ me.
“…”
He knows what position I hold in the Baekil Group. Perhaps even the circumstances of being an adopted child.
It’s not a bad choice. The Baekil owner family’s gaze wouldn’t be favorable, but since the headquarters is located in Spain, I could block unnecessary interference.
‘I was planning to just be a building owner and live comfortably…’
Unconsciously, I cast my gaze toward my room. On the desk visible through the door gap, real estate-related books and materials were neatly stacked.
When I had accumulated quite a bit of capital, I had even gone to auctions myself.
But even when good properties appeared, I would return home without raising my hand even once.
I hesitated. Without knowing why, I had remained in that hesitation for years.
‘…I think I’m starting to understand that reason now.’
I checked VivaPlay’s articles and stock prices on my laptop.
They were soaring.
Even if it was just luck borrowed from memories of my previous life…
It was rewarding.
It was fun.
The world moving at my single word was fascinating.
Just managing a couple of buildings wouldn’t let me experience this thrill.
Of course, I also know very well that this exhilaration is no different from a poisoned apple.
“Let’s get a grip.”
I reminded myself once more.
Right now, I’m borrowing someone else’s body, borrowing someone else’s knowledge, living in this house.
I’m not young enough to decide life’s crossroads based on simple whims.
“…It’s a talent that will be exposed eventually anyway.”
Just as I was shoving the business card back into my pocket—
“Hyung.”
“Hyaak, you scared me!”
I let out a shrill scream and hurriedly turned around.
Before I knew it, Baek Seolheon was walking over from the entrance.
“Y-y-you’re late, huh?”
I smiled with the calmest face possible while soothing my pounding heart.
“Where were you? The study room?”
“Looking into academies.”
“…Academy?”
My eyes widened at the out-of-the-blue comment.
“I’m a senior now. It’s getting too much to handle on my own.”
“Oh, r-right. That can happen.”
But this kid. He had never dropped below all first-grade levels in both internal grades and practice exams.
Just when I was wondering why he’d need an academy now, Seolheon continued as if reading my mind.
“I also wanted to get some career counseling.”
“Career? Did you find somewhere you want to go?”
“Hyung.”
Baek Seolheon carelessly put his bag down on the floor and approached me.
My head, sitting in the chair, naturally tilted upward.
“Why didn’t you go into pharmacy or life sciences, hyung? Not business either—why art?”
“Why? Obviously because I wasn’t interested…”
This was a story that had already been settled by the time I entered university.
At the time, not only my adoptive parents but even Baek Seolheon had unpleasant expressions.
But back then, I was fed up with the Baek family people, so I stubbornly voiced my opinion. That I wanted to study art, which I didn’t even care much about.
“What if I said I was interested in that?”
“What?”
At my question, Baek Seolheon tilted his head slightly and looked down at me.
“Do you want me to inherit Baekil Pharmaceuticals?”
“…Ideally, yes?”
I was flustered. This was the first time Seolheon had brought up this topic that I had been subtly encouraging all this time.
It was good news. I instantly equipped a smile on my face.
“Mother would be so happy if she heard this. I gave up early on since I don’t have the ability to handle something like that, but you’re different, Seolheon. If it’s you, you’d definitely be able to follow Mother well and…”
“I’m going to shower.”
Then Baek Seolheon suddenly turned around, walked with long strides, entered the bathroom, and closed the door.
‘Why is he acting like that…?’
Saying only what he wanted to say and then disappearing. Even though Seolheon has somewhat eccentric aspects, he’s almost never acted this unreasonably high-handed before.
I carefully approached the bathroom door and spoke.
“Really, are you okay? Seolheon?”
No answer.
As expected… hasn’t the cold war ended yet?
“Ahem. That day, I was really sorry. I absolutely didn’t plan to bother you like that again, but I happened to drink too much…”
I ended up bringing up that day again.
Since I was the one in the wrong, I bowed my head first.
Of course, lying was essential.
“You know that collapsing then wasn’t because of pheromone problems, right? The attending physician says my condition is improving too. Really, I won’t collapse anymore…”
“Hyung.”
Just then, the door burst open and Baek Seolheon stuck his face out.
“I’m really completely fine. Don’t worry about it.”
He smiled. It was a rare, clear smile from someone who usually only wore faint expressions.
Is he really okay? Did his anger subside…? Just as I was about to feel relieved and breathe easy at that smile—
“I don’t care even if hyung grabs some Omega and fucks and breeds them.”
“Cough!”
“It’s natural for an Alpha, isn’t it? The mating urge.”
“Cough, cough-hack!”
“You’re already having a hard time because of your condition, so it would be even harder if we blocked your urge release too.”
Vulgar remarks that didn’t match his bright smile made me cough repeatedly.
“Sorry for trying to control you arbitrarily. I have no intention of interfering in hyung’s private life anymore. I understand well that it’s overstepping my bounds.”
“S-Seolheon?”
“I don’t even have the right to be angry.”
Bang.
The door closed.
…It hadn’t been resolved. Not at all.
I had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t let the conversation end like this.
Just as I was about to knock on the door again, prepared to be cursed at, a small voice came through the door crack.
“…We’re strangers anyway.”
My hand stopped in midair.
I stood rooted to the spot for a long while.
* * *
“How remarkable.”
The attending physician clapped and said.
“You’ve improved a lot. Look here.”
Where he pointed was a familiar graph.
The numbers that had been trending upward hesitated, then gradually began to decline.
“These are very stable numbers. Like a sewer on the verge of overflowing that’s been unclogged, the explosively soaring numbers are rapidly settling within the normal range.”
He adjusted his glasses and smiled.
“You’ve managed to discharge the accumulated pheromones in such a short period. You must have a good teacher.”
“Hey, it’s because Gunho hyung did well. And thanks to an excellent attending physician.”
“I’m glad you say so. Haram-ssi.”
“Likewise. Dr. Jeong!”
“Hahaha.”
“Hahaha!”
“…You two get along very well.”
Inside the examination room, I looked at the attending physician and Lee Haram laughing side by side.
