‘Is he some kind of strict teacher?’
Just in case, Gong Pyeonghwa, who had thoroughly read through the Three Principles and Five Ethics and Myeongsimbogam last night, tried to recall his memories of Saebyeok’s father.
It was an old memory, but he was an adult completely devoid of humanity.
He seemed like a person who didn’t know how to smile, and appeared sensitive. The type who would drink coffee on an empty stomach as soon as he woke up and read an English newspaper.
That was the kind of person Gong Pyeonghwa remembered Shin Saebyeok’s father to be.
‘Honestly, I’m not confident.’
He seemed like a rational and reasonable person, but according to his official interviews, he was quite conservative.
‘I heard he hasn’t even looked at our Saebyeok since he presented as an omega.’
Would a person who wouldn’t even acknowledge his own son being an omega recognize Iseul, whom Saebyeok had given birth to?
Though Gong Pyeonghwa knew his head was a flower garden, no matter how much he thought about it this time, he couldn’t picture things turning out well.
‘Would the worst-case scenario be my sudden death in a traffic accident…?’
Gong Pyeonghwa imagined himself being hit and killed by a suddenly appearing dump truck, but then decided to stop the makjang drama.
Even in a chaebol family rife with conspiracy and betrayal, would they really kill someone else’s precious child?
‘Right. Right. Murder means prison time. Soliciting murder also means prison time.’
The wise Chairman Shin didn’t seem like the type to do something as tacky as soliciting murder. Would he just disown him instead?
‘Wouldn’t that be a win?’
No, no. Gong Pyeonghwa shook his head vigorously.
If Saebyeok cut ties with his family like that, he wouldn’t be happy at all. He wanted to resolve things amicably if possible.
“Is there anything in particular I should be careful about?”
Though it would be incredibly difficult.
***
They finally arrived.
Gong Pyeonghwa mentally reviewed the precautions once more.
For his kind mother-in-law, there wasn’t much to worry about, so he just needed to be polite, but for his strict father-in-law…
Saebyeok, unaware that Gong Pyeonghwa was stiffly reorganizing his thoughts due to nervousness, inconsiderately pressed the doorbell right away.
-Who is it?
His mother’s voice, heard after a long time. More precisely, hearing his mother’s voice without spatial distance made Saebyeok feel like he might cry for no reason.
“Mom, it’s me. I’m here.”
-Oh my!
The front door opened. They crossed the garden and went straight to the main building.
His mother, who had always been elegant without a single hair out of place, smiled at Saebyeok with a slight pant.
“Welcome. My son.”
Thin arms embraced Saebyeok.
She still had an elegant appearance, but she seemed to have aged more since the last time he saw her, making a corner of his heart ache.
Watching the tearful reunion, Gong Pyeonghwa awkwardly bowed his head while holding the heavily packed luggage.
It was difficult to bow respectfully with Iseul attached to his chest.
“Hello, nice to meet you.”
Still, Gong Pyeonghwa greeted her energetically.
“Who…?”
In a household that always maintained noise levels between 40 decibels and 1000 hertz, Saebyeok’s mother was extremely flustered by Gong Pyeonghwa’s loud motorcycle-engine-like greeting, but seeing his many bags, she let him in.
“Oh, there’s a baby? Hello, little one?”
When she greeted Iseul, who was in Gong Pyeonghwa’s arms, Iseul somehow seemed to recognize her grandmother and reached out her small hands, smiling brightly.
“The baby is so cute.”
“Right? Ah- I wonder who she takes after? Isn’t she adorable? She’s also quick with words, and can already perfectly distinguish between her dads. Would you like to hold her?”
Saebyeok’s mother exclaimed “oh my” like a young girl and didn’t decline. She carefully took Iseul in her arms and was continuously moved.
“Our Saebyeok was also this small once.”
With eyes full of affection as if lost in memories, she continuously caressed Iseul lovingly.
“The child has such beautiful eyes. Where is our baby’s mother? Ururu.”
‘Mom, I gave birth to that baby.’
Prick, prick. His conscience was being stabbed. Unable to bring himself to say it, Saebyeok chose silence.
“Your father came home early today because you were coming. Tell your father to come out to the living room. He’s in the study. What does our baby eat for food?”
Ururu peek-a-boo! Despite his mother’s bright voice, it couldn’t lighten his heavy steps. The walk to the study felt too burdensome.
“Come with me.”
After leaving Iseul with his mother-in-law and giving her a few instructions, Gong Pyeonghwa quickly stuck to Saebyeok’s side.
He knocked twice on the study door, and soon heard a voice saying he would come out shortly.
It was as if he had been waiting for the knock. Saebyeok returned to the living room, struggling to control his pounding heart with deep breaths.
Seeing him unable to even sit on the sofa and standing restlessly in the living room, Gong Pyeonghwa firmly held Saebyeok’s hand once.
Just as his heart, which had been beating wildly, was starting to find its normal pace thanks to the gentle pheromones and body temperature that soothed his tension, Chairman Shin came out of the study.
His heart, which had just begun to calm down, started pounding again.
Saebyeok, startled, shook off Gong Pyeonghwa’s hand and anxiously bit his lip.
“Sit down.”
Chairman Shin spoke only to Saebyeok, acting as if he didn’t see Gong Pyeonghwa. Saebyeok awkwardly attached his bottom to the sofa and just swallowed.
The suffocating tension continued.
After that, Chairman Shin didn’t say anything more, and Saebyeok just watched nervously. At this rate, it didn’t seem like they would reach a conclusion today.
Not just the conclusion, but Saebyeok looked too distressed. Gong Pyeonghwa decided to completely revise his plan.
‘I’ll make the first move.’
Gong Pyeonghwa immediately performed a deep bow.
Caught off guard by Gong Pyeonghwa’s unexpected deep bow, Chairman Shin’s mask-like face was clouded with bewilderment.
After all, anyone would be surprised if a stranger suddenly bowed deeply to them.
“I hope your health has been excellent?”
“…”
Extremely surprised, Chairman Shin couldn’t react one way or another, and Saebyeok, who was similarly surprised, just rolled his eyes around.
‘My husband, embarrassing no matter where I put him.’
He felt a strong intuition that he should pull himself together and fix this situation.
“Um…”
But Gong Pyeonghwa, as if not giving him a chance, connected his phone to the smart TV and displayed a screen.
‘Gong Pyeonghwa Self-PR PPT Final Completed Version’
When did he even make that?
<I May Not Keep World Peace, But I’ll Keep Family Peace.>
This was ridiculous. But, well, he did capture a good concept using his name.
Even taking off the love goggles, it wasn’t bad—something that would stick in your mind.
“Hello! Father-in-law! I understand you must be shocked that a strange guy suddenly bowed and called you father-in-law. Right?”
“Th…”
“No! You don’t need to speak! I understand completely! Aish! What kind of guy does this!”
Believing that it’s better to take a beating first, Gong Pyeonghwa punched his own face repeatedly.
With the sudden deep bow time, the more sudden self-PR time, and the even more sudden self-harm, Chairman Shin was quite confused.
Thanks to living his entire life as a company executive and conglomerate chairman, it didn’t show on his face, but he felt like he had been suddenly abducted by aliens.
He was more shocked than when a new employee he had never seen before called him ‘Dad.’ Wait, but my son is covered in pheromones… Is it this guy’s doing? Chairman Shin glared at Gong Pyeonghwa and then looked at the sparkling TV screen.
‘Wait, is this guy using a competitor’s phone to connect to the smart TV in our house?’
Looking closely, he was the second son of the Gong family. Chairman Shin, who still trembled at the mention of Chairman Gong, belatedly recalled the phone model and Gong Pyeonghwa’s family tree, grinding his teeth inwardly.
“As you may already know, the name of this rude guy you see before you is Gong Pyeong-hwa. Yes, I am Gong Pyeonghwa, the second son of Taekang Group.”
Saebyeok’s pupils trembled at his husband’s sudden presentation.
“Let me explain why I, such a person, have come to see you on this beautiful day of your son’s triumphant return.”
Oh. At least it’s a direct approach. Good.
<Please Give Your Son to Me!>
Not good.
<The Historic First Moment, The Time Was 201x, Month x, Day xx>
“Since there are no materials from that time, I will describe it verbally. It was the second year of high school, exactly 10 years ago. The beginning of our love, ah, thinking about it makes me excited again. Hehe.”
Where did the Bluetooth microphone come from? I knew he was well-prepared, but I didn’t know he was this thorough.
Well, Gong Pyeonghwa, who had carried fish-shaped buns with heat packs in his stomach for four hours because temperature was important, wouldn’t do a half-hearted job for the most important presentation of his life.
‘I shouldn’t be surprised even if 100 doves fly in at the ending.’
Saebyeok resolved and focused on the presentation screen.
With each page turn, his heart vibrated strangely.
Every page had photos taken by Gong Pyeonghwa. Most were of Saebyeok’s happiest moments.
Shin Saebyeok smiling against the background of an amusement park at night, Shin Saebyeok looking at the winter sea, Shin Saebyeok roughly wearing gym clothes over his school uniform, Shin Saebyeok walking with a carrier as big as himself, Shin Saebyeok in Halloween makeup, Shin Saebyeok wearing a Santa hat, Shin Saebyeok, Shin Saebyeok. Bright Shin Saebyeok was displayed everywhere.
As if remembering every single day of those 10 years, Gong Pyeonghwa spoke without hesitation.
“…so surprisingly! We are still sweetly in love, which I’m now finally telling you! In fact, even yesterday…”
Gong Pyeonghwa quickly covered his face, but his expression of utter delight was fully visible, making the cover-up seem pointless.
“Currently, we love each other so deeply and intensely, and we’ve been blessed with Iseul. Of course, I think it’s rude to greet you this way first. Saebyeok wanted to tell the truth much earlier, but I! I suggested we delay it. It’s my fault.”
“No. That’s…”
No. It was the opposite.
Long before Iseul came along, around their fifth year of dating, Gong Pyeonghwa had subtly suggested it was time to reveal their relationship.
But Saebyeok wasn’t confident. He wanted to avoid it out of fear. He thought if it was discovered he was dating Gong Pyeonghwa, he would have to stop his studies and return to Korea that day. He believed his father was someone who could certainly do that.
He didn’t want to give up either his studies or Gong Pyeonghwa. So he delayed and delayed until they reached this point, but why was Gong Pyeonghwa trying to bear all the burden…
“It’s absolutely not that Saebyeok was embarrassed, but because I have a preference for secret relationships! But now I can no longer hide it! The desire to announce and have our love recognized by the world has surged up!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
