A surrogate’s purpose was to bear a child — so there was nothing technically wrong with what Chae Yuno had said. A high-compatibility omega, found with great difficulty. Nothing more than that.
And yet, for some reason, he couldn’t quite bring himself to simply say yes. Was it because he’d met Hong Siyeon earlier that afternoon? Beom Yisu naturally found that face drifting into his mind.
“Give me ten times as much! Then I’ll think about it.”
Pretending to be reluctant — and in the end, demanding more money. A calculating omega. Honestly, he’d thought it was a transparent move. He wasn’t the type to throw money around carelessly just because he had it, and he despised people who came running the moment they caught a whiff of wealth.
But whether he’d be able to find another omega with that high a compatibility rate again, at this critical juncture, was uncertain.
In that sense, that omega wasn’t suited to be used and discarded. It would be safer to have the child — or even two or three — in preparation for the custody battle that would follow if he eventually dissolved the political marriage with Chae Yuno.
And if possible, it would be more advantageous to have the child carry his own seed. The omega was a rare individual, so there was also room to consider whether the pheromone disorder could be improved. He’d tested with close contact earlier, and unlike others, that omega alone hadn’t disgusted him.
The fact that he hadn’t developed an aversion to an omega’s pheromones was a first for him. He needed to confirm whether it was simply a physiological response triggered by compatibility, or something else entirely.
So there was ample reason not to keep that omega close merely as something to use and discard.
“If negotiations go well, extending the contract period could be something worth considering.”
Chae Yuno, having no way of knowing what was going through Beom Yisu’s mind, asked again.
“Contract period? How far along are the talks right now?”
“Nothing much yet. I’ve only made the necessary proposal.”
“So they could still say no?”
“Do you think there’s any probability of that, from where you’re standing?”
Beom Yisu frowned, his expression saying he found the question absurd. Chae Yuno gave a shrug, as if even he recognized it was a ridiculous thing to have asked.
Well — there was no way that cold-blooded man couldn’t handle a single omega with no connections. He wouldn’t even give them the chance to get the word “no” out.
It had been Chae Yuno who first proposed the political marriage to Beom Yisu — but at times like this, he found himself regretting it. That man seemed like the kind who, if he decided someone was no longer useful to him, could bury even his own legal spouse without a sound or a trace.
So keeping a comfortable distance like this, extracting only mutual benefit, was probably best for his own wellbeing.
“If that omega comes in as a surrogate, whose seed are you planning to have them carry?”
Chae Yuno, operating on the assumption that the contract would be finalized, brought up the question he’d been most curious about. It was a sensitive topic — but Beom Yisu kept his gaze on the documents in front of him. A flat, indifferent voice followed.
“As long as the procedure is handled properly, it doesn’t matter whose.”
“If it doesn’t matter, can I keep them separately? All we need is a pregnancy.”
Chae Yuno tossed out the suggestion as if he’d been waiting for his cue. Beom Yisu’s expression cooled noticeably as he replied.
“If you’re willing to give up custody in the event of a divorce. In that case, we’d be drawing up a contract with lawyers present.”
“What? That’s ridiculous! My own child — I should be the one raising them.”
Of course, he’d never had any intention of granting Chae Yuno’s wish. But alphas as a species were intensely possessive of what they considered theirs.
Both Beom Yisu and Chae Yuno were dominant types born with unusually strong temperaments — which meant the matter of a child was something that needed to be addressed with absolute clarity.
“Do you think I went looking for that omega for fun?”
The first child born through the surrogate would be the heir to lead Beomyeong. Chae Yuno was well aware of that.
It wasn’t as if Beom Yisu wanted a child because he yearned for something like a warm, happy family. Normally, he wouldn’t care where Beom Yisu had a child, or with whom — except that it happened to be an omega he personally liked who was being brought in as the surrogate, and that’s what had started this whole mess.
“Then what are you planning to do? Have the three of us have sex every heat cycle? Does that even make any sense?”
“If you have no intention of stepping aside, that would be the only option. And why are you pretending to be so naïve? You really think I don’t know how freely you get around?”
As a dominant, Chae Yuno was the type whose rut hit especially hard. It wasn’t as though he’d never shared a bed with two or three omegas at once. But that was different — that was with casual partners. He didn’t want to handle the omega who would carry his child that way. And besides…
“Hyung must not know, being a virgin and all — but the average omega can’t handle two dominant alphas.”
Even one dominant alpha was difficult for multiple omegas to manage together. So how was that slight body supposed to take on two alphas? They covered this in mandatory education. Did he seriously not know something that basic?
“…What?”
“What have you even been doing all these years? No wonder you’d be great at having kids.”
Chae Yuno scoffed, and Beom Yisu — rarely — raised his voice, flinging the documents in his hand aside.
“Looks like you have a death wish. Do you want everything you’ve built cut off and to spend your days sobbing?”
It was an aggressive surge of pheromones — enough to make even most alphas buckle under the pressure. Even flooded with pheromones full of hostility, Chae Yuno didn’t back down and fired right back.
“Wow, look at this petty alpha who’d destroy his own spouse’s career over one little argument. Best marriage decision I ever made. Really shows what great taste I have.”
For one particular secretary, leaving early and giving up had turned out to be quite the right call. He was a beta, so pheromones had no effect on him — but the two alphas who’d been trading pheromone-laced jabs had inevitably devolved into an embarrassingly juvenile collar-grabbing brawl.
By the time the master-crafted dress shirt, hand-stitched stitch by stitch, was torn, and the neatly set hair had become a complete mess — the two alphas, having finished their rather violent altercation, each collapsed onto separate sections of the sofa and declared a ceasefire.
The alpha pheromones filling the room had made both of them nauseous enough to be on the verge of emptying the contents of their stomachs.
“So what’s the plan going forward. If you bring in a surrogate — the press, the company — there’ll be a lot of interest.”
“I have no intention of exposing that omega to the media.”
“What, are you going to keep them locked up in the house until the baby’s born?”
A business executive and an actor. Same alphas, different positions. News of a couple married less than a year having a child through a surrogate — for some, it was a strategy; for others, a liability. Especially for Chae Yuno, who was at the height of his career, it wouldn’t exactly be welcome news.
Chae Yuno had opened the window and was airing out the room. He watched Beom Yisu fixing his disheveled hair and continued.
“I’m against keeping them locked up indefinitely. I don’t like the idea of that omega looking like a victim because of the two of us.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“What — do I need another one?”
Beom Yisu lifted his head, his expression carrying a trace of exhaustion. Their gazes met head-on.
“What exactly is it that makes you so hung up on that omega?”
By this point, Beom Yisu was genuinely curious. He had physical reasons of his own — but Chae Yuno’s situation was different. The man cycled through omegas at his side practically every other day, so why was he showing such intense interest in one omega he’d had almost no prior connection with?
“Who knows. I don’t think I’m obligated to answer that. And what about you, hyung — moving this much over just a pheromone reaction.”
“Compatibility is a significant factor. That omega is a special case in that regard. You know that perfectly well.”
But Chae Yuno didn’t give him a straight answer. The man was unpredictable by nature. Maybe he was just throwing a fit for no particular reason — and with that thought, Beom Yisu decided to stop pressing. Then Chae Yuno spoke first.
“Anyway — your goal is the child, right? Not the omega themselves?”
“I don’t follow. What’s the difference between the two?”
“I’m asking if you brought them in because of a personal interest in them. I’d just like that one thing confirmed.”
At Chae Yuno’s words, Beom Yisu’s expression soured as though he’d been presented with a deeply unpleasant hypothetical.
“You’re asking something obvious. Your paranoia always goes too far.”
“Good thing I’m wrong, then. Why are you getting so worked up?”
Chae Yuno shrugged and smiled.
“Alright. Then I’ll move in here too. And when the contract period ends — I’m taking them with me.”
After a long silence, Beom Yisu finally said, shortly:
“Do whatever you want.”
It was a reluctant concession — but Chae Yuno’s eyes already gleamed like someone who’d seized victory. Even if Hong Siyeon was still only the subject of a contract for now — well, you never knew.
“I wonder which of the two of us he’ll carry first.”
