“You’ve made a long trip out here for nothing because of me.”
“It wasn’t that far. There were also some things I wanted to discuss.”
The late-winter sunlight filtered in through the living room glass.
Jinwoo sat in the spot with the best light, and Yuhan sat across from him and took out a tablet PC.
The memory of choosing the rings came to mind naturally, and a laugh slipped out.
It seemed he’d made a sound.
Yuhan looked up, a trace of puzzlement on his face, and Jinwoo shook his head as if to say it was nothing.
“I thought it would be better to decide on the wedding attire together, so I wanted to hear your thoughts as well.”
“Oh, right. The attire.”
The tablet contained quite a variety of designs, much like when they had chosen the rings.
He wouldn’t be wearing it again — but it would live on in photographs, so it had to be a choice he wouldn’t regret.
White suits were the standard, but the wedding market had changed considerably in recent years and a wide range of colors had emerged.
Setting aside black and its darker relatives — too reminiscent of mourning clothes — there were pastel tones as well: pale yellow, soft lavender, and the like.
The tradition of emphasizing the purity of those exchanging vows of love had become a relic of the past.
“White works too.”
Even so, the cleanest, most immediately ‘wedding’ color was still that one.
He had expected Yuhan to nod and agree without hesitation.
“…Why?”
When no response came despite the silence, Jinwoo finally looked up.
Yuhan was staring intently at the tablet, his expression so serious it looked like he’d been handed a difficult agenda item in the middle of a board meeting — it made Jinwoo worry he’d said something wrong.
“Yuhan?”
Even after being called, Yuhan turned something over in his mind for a moment before shifting his gaze over to him.
“What about a pale forsythia yellow?”
“Sorry?”
“If you’re set on white, I’ll defer to your preference — but I think forsythia yellow would suit you as well.”
He had no particular aversion to any color, and he didn’t feel like getting into a battle of wills this early, so Jinwoo nodded without resistance.
“What about you, then?”
“I don’t mind anything. I’ll have them match something suitable to whatever you choose.”
It was quite different from the way he’d been actively suggesting a color for him just moments ago.
Jinwoo was almost taken aback.
“What is that. Are you just not particular about this kind of thing?”
Since their first meeting, the number of times they’d met privately could be counted on one hand — but every time, he remembered Yuhan being impeccably put together.
Today too, for someone who had supposedly come straight from work, his suit was a remarkably well-considered ensemble.
It wouldn’t be difficult to have something custom-made even if the design didn’t already exist.
He laughed with a look of mild discomfort and leaned back against the sofa cushion, settling in more loosely.
“Then you choose for me. I’m completely hopeless with this sort of thing.”
Whether to say that didn’t seem to be the case — the fleeting debate vanished.
“The photos will last forever, so it’s better to look good in them, is all.”
He had gone ahead and provided his own justification, so Jinwoo simply had to follow the path he’d laid out.
He didn’t fail to notice that Yuhan had phrased it to spare him any awkwardness.
Consideration built right into the bone — a genuine future owner.
“Then let’s go with white.”
It might have sounded like a careless answer, but it was sincere.
If the ceremony had been held in the cold of winter, a heavier fabric like denim wouldn’t have been out of place.
But for a crisp spring wedding — and paired with the pale forsythia yellow he had suggested — pure white suited best after all.
Conventional, ordinary — but draped on Yuhan’s frame, it would undoubtedly carry a different atmosphere entirely.
Clothes had a way of changing their character depending on who wore them.
“You’ll wear a boutonniere, and I’ll carry a bouquet.”
“There’s no need for you to do that.”
“I just like flowers. You don’t need to worry about it.”
As perceptions of male omegas had improved, they were no longer simply expected to fill the role of childbearing.
Couples who had broken from the old traditional conventions didn’t place emphasis on gendered roles, so Jinwoo’s choice was entirely his own.
“It might also be something the elders on your side would appreciate.”
Technically, Jinwoo’s own parents were older.
Even so, he singled out Yuhan’s family specifically because they seemed to operate with a mindset that was comparatively more rooted in the past.
Even if that weren’t the case — theirs was a relationship built on mutual benefit, and he had no desire to give those angling for the upper hand anything to use against him.
He had no feelings involved, and he could just look the other way even if Yuhan kept someone on the outside.
There was no reason to go out of his way to invite criticism.
Yuhan simply smiled and agreed.
True to form as a businessman — the movement of his facial muscles was precisely and only what the situation required.
They weren’t even legally married yet, and Jinwoo already felt something tightening in his chest.
“You really are… going to make a fine owner, I think.”
There was no way to say something unpleasant to someone whose internal closeness — let alone surface-level closeness — was barely grazing the bottom of the glass.
“Do you need to head back now?”
He asked because it seemed like his purpose here had largely been fulfilled.
If he’d been keeping a busy person, the guilt would follow — so he’d also asked to get ahead of that.
Among his family, Jinwoo was the only one living a life entirely removed from business.
That was exactly why he could sometimes evaluate them subjectively, and other times objectively.
Their plans shifted multiple times in a single day, and their schedules were constantly in disarray.
Yuhan might be at ease right now — but that world was one where everything could flip entirely in a matter of minutes.
It was genuinely a relief to have stayed out of business. There was absolutely no way Jinwoo could live like that.
“Why do you ask?”
“No reason, just curious. Everyone around me is always busy, so I was half-wondering if he’d sprint out in the middle of the ceremony for work.”
“I’m not that kind of person.”
“You sound very sure of yourself.”
They say certainty is dangerous in this world — but Yuhan seemed to be a different sort.
It could mean he genuinely had that much confidence, or it could be an empty promise.
Either way, as long as it didn’t cause problems for him, that was enough.
And once again, it was confirmed.
This man and I — we’re bound by an arranged marriage, and nothing more and nothing less than that is what we’ll be.
He only noticed now that the tablet screen had gone dark.
It felt like a reflection of what his married life would look like, and Jinwoo decided to change the air.
“They said they’d have the rings ready by the date.”
“I heard. You kept the design a secret from me — was there a reason?”
He hadn’t expected the air to change quite that much.
He had been thorough in making the staff who visited the house keep their mouths shut.
Even if their employer was Yuhan, they had an obligation to keep their clients’ secrets.
They had agreed with awkward expressions, and it seemed they had held to it.
If he told the truth now, the fun of the day itself would be ruined.
His lips were itching to say it — but Jinwoo bit them back and played it cool.
“Isn’t it true that jewelry is always prettier when the stone is bigger?”
“Pardon?”
“I had a ring made with a very large, beautiful stone. Check it on the day.”
It was a lie.
Jinwoo knew better than anyone that wasn’t the case — but he didn’t want to say it.
He wanted that composed man to spend at least these two months wondering.
If he didn’t even bother wondering, there was nothing to be done — but he was throwing out a line all the same.
“Now I’m curious.”
“Not nervous?”
“Well — it’s a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, so it would be a lie to say I’m not nervous at all.”
Ah. He took the bait and swam off.
“If you don’t like the ring, sell it.”
“Can you really sell a wedding gift outright?”
“Sure, or wait about a year — sell it when you need the money.”
“I’ll do that.”
Whether that day would ever come or not — still, the way he played along rather well felt familiar somehow.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
This man, cold and composed as he seemed — there was perhaps a small, lighter side to him after all.
