‘Knotting’
It was about the greatest pleasure an omega could experience when having intercourse with a dominant alpha.
For Jinwoo, who had never once had a proper relationship, it existed only in imagination.
“Am I going to die…?”
The phenomenon where, immediately after ejaculation, the glans swells to prevent the penis from being withdrawn.
Since the act was oriented toward conception, it functioned like a stopper — preventing even a single drop of semen from escaping.
Among alphas, dominant types had a longer duration.
He had no idea how large Yuhan’s member was, but the single fact that it would swell to the size of a small child’s fist and leave him unable to move for hours was more than enough to frighten him.
Jinwoo cursed Korea’s public education system for no particular reason and rubbed his face dry with his hands.
If they’d actually taught proper sex education at least once, I wouldn’t be this bewildered when it’s right in front of me.
“I’ll put it off as long as I can.”
It seemed less frightening to delay the pregnancy plan as long as possible and only begin once he had gathered a reasonable amount of information about Yuhan’s physical condition.
If that was even possible.
Just as Yuhan had said, three people came to the house.
Even though he had been notified in advance, the nerves were unavoidable.
“To start, I’ve brought designs that are currently trending and have received high satisfaction ratings from our clients.”
Sample rings and a catalogue were spread across the reception room table.
He had majored in fine arts — not practiced it as an artform — so Jinwoo was completely clueless when it came to things like this.
For that reason, he had called in a reliable ally.
“Help me pick something decent.”
“Jinwoo. Hyung doesn’t really know about this kind of thing either.”
“Imagine putting it on your sister-in-law’s finger.”
The single greatest culprit behind this marriage actually happening — Siwoo.
The firstborn son of a chaebol family was, by convention, supposed to marry a partner of matching status in a loveless arrangement as directed by the parents, then scrape every last thing of use out of each other to the bitter bottom.
So Siwoo, who had married for love, was nothing short of a heretic.
He seemed to be enjoying a reasonably satisfying married life on his own end, though.
“You’ll be wearing it every day, so something simple is better.”
“I’m only going to wear it on the wedding day itself. Let’s go with something elaborate.”
All costs for the procedures being rushed through at breakneck speed were to be covered by Yuhan’s family.
They seemed to have gained quite a lot in exchange for sending Jinwoo over.
His company, and Yuhan himself.
Jinwoo didn’t refuse the generosity.
A sum like this wouldn’t leave so much as a scratch on his bank account anyway.
“Then why did you even call me here.”
“I figured since you’ve been through it, you’d have some different perspective.”
Flipping through the papers, Jinwoo chose his own design faster than expected.
But Yuhan’s required a little more deliberation.
“Hmm…”
It was, in the end, just an accessory he would probably only wear on the day itself — but if not now, when else would he ever get to mess with him a little?
Call it the price for taking an omega eight years his junior as a husband.
“Do you perhaps have any with a large stone — the kind an older gentleman might wear?”
“Pardon?”
The specialist, who had been holding a professional smile, looked flustered.
“I don’t see anything like that among what you’ve brought or in the catalogue. Is that something you don’t carry?”
“No, we do have them, but…”
Of course they did.
No one else at a wedding ring fitting would be asking for something like this — and he knew it.
But they were professionals.
As though they had never been caught off guard at all, they quickly composed themselves and carefully held out a tablet PC.
“If that’s the style you have in mind, please take a look at these.”
Jinwoo scrolled through the touchscreen with interest.
But his disappointment was considerable.
Perhaps it was the fault of being a brand known for wedding rings — even the tackiness had its limits.
What am I supposed to do with these…
He kept a deliberately serious expression, and the employee’s gentle voice broke through his thoughts.
“If you’re having trouble deciding, how about imagining what it would look like on your partner’s hand?”
It was advice that didn’t quite align with Jinwoo’s actual aim — but it still seemed better than sitting there groaning and wasting time.
He’d only met him once, so the image was hazy — but he made an effort to picture Yuhan’s hands.
Large hands that had clearly never done a day of hard labor, wrapped around a glass of water.
The neat, precise way he had used chopsticks.
The employee’s advice was right, in a sense.
Not a single design on that tablet PC suited those hands.
And they never would, even when age had creased them with wrinkles.
The company putting these up for sale is funny enough — but the customer actually looking through them is a special case too.
He could almost hear the employee’s voice.
In the end, Jinwoo returned the tablet PC and chose two designs from the ones they had brought.
At a glance they looked similar, but the thickness of the diamonds and the cut were subtly different.
“You have excellent taste.”
“It’s distinctive, but refined — it’ll suit your hand beautifully.”
Jinwoo gave a wordless nod.
They would say similar things whether or not he was standing right in front of them.
So adding anything back would only amount to one more tiresome line for them to deal with.
If he chose a ring that looked entirely mismatched on the person he was to marry, it would get out somehow — and things passed along by word of mouth had a way of growing larger with each stop they made.
Turning a blind eye to the truth, perhaps — but it was Jinwoo’s own method of damage control.
“I’m looking forward to seeing them in person.”
“We’ll make sure they reach you well before the wedding date.”
“Thank you.”
The objects and people that had filled the reception room cleared out together.
Only then did the tension ease.
“Something like this would be happy if you did it with someone you loved, wouldn’t it.”
“Probably.”
“Hyung must have had that.”
“I… I’m sorry.”
He’d meant it as a jab — but receiving an actual apology felt strange.
The only thing Siwoo had done wrong was having completed a transaction as enormous as marriage without a single material gain — or rather, at an outright loss.
He had given up a portion of his brilliant future, but in return, he had found someone he could spend a lifetime simply looking at.
Jinwoo was curious.
Could someone really be that good?
“Do you have any regrets?”
How much would you have to love someone to compromise with reality like that?
Setting aside the fact that the fallout had landed on him — the curiosity was genuine.
Siwoo thought for a brief moment, then smiled softly.
He had watched his hyung for all the years they’d shared together, but that kind of smile — he had never seen it before.
“No. If I was going to regret it, I wouldn’t have started in the first place.”
His hyung, a full twelve years his senior, had always been rigid — someone who had never once strayed from the path set before him.
The fact that something had changed a person like that was simply remarkable.
“I wish you could have felt something like that too.”
“I’m fine.”
That chance had already been gone for a long time.
Yuhan naturally came to mind — but Jinwoo shook his head almost immediately.
That flat, even-toned voice made it clear he intended to treat him as nothing more than a business matter.
In contrast, the way he behaved — so effortlessly winning — looked like a habit polished through years of dealing with all manner of business partners.
His reputation within the company was probably quite good.
There was absolutely no chance he would ever come to like someone like that.
It was a day two months before the wedding.
His belongings, moved over gradually, had found their places without Jinwoo so much as lifting a finger.
The apartment registered in Yuhan’s name was a high-rise unit with excellent natural lighting — a building famously inhabited by many children of chaebol families.
It was well-equipped with amenities, while also having strong security.
Perhaps because it was close to Yuhan’s company.
He too had only stopped by briefly.
“I’ve taken care of the furniture and household items myself.”
“Yes, so I see.”
“If anything isn’t to your liking, you’re welcome to change it.”
“Nothing in particular…”
He surely hadn’t chosen it with his own hands.
So there would be no hurt feelings even if Jinwoo changed things as he pleased — but that too was effort.
Jinwoo had no desire to manufacture unnecessary trouble for himself.
