Certainly, if he contacted them, even Father would have no choice. When someone who can’t be refused for a blind date proposes marriage, there’s no way to decline.
“Well, if you can help, I’d be grateful. Then I’ll trust you and just pack my things.”
“Just out of curiosity, why did you block your father’s number?”
“He’s against this marriage.”
Feeling Jaehyuk should know this, Junghyun told the truth, causing Jaehyuk to turn to him with a rather surprised expression.
“Why?”
“For the reason you know. He says I’m defective and embarrassing to present anywhere. Instead, since it’s a position he doesn’t want to lose, he suggested passing it to my oldest brother.”
Taking advantage of the timing, Junghyun casually probed.
Curious about Jaehyuk’s thoughts on Jeonghoo, he subtly baited him, to which Jaehyuk indifferently replied as usual.
“That guy won’t do.”
“Wouldn’t a friend be better for something like this? There’s a plausible narrative and logical connection. The development from longtime friends to lovers is a cliché, after all.”
“That guy genuinely likes me, so he won’t do.”
Surprised by the unexpected answer, Junghyun asked, “…You knew?”
“Yes.”
“If you knew, why did you pretend not to?”
“What would change if I acknowledged it?”
It was, in a way, the cruelest answer.
It meant that whether Jeonghoo confessed or not, Jaehyuk had no interest in him, so there was no need to acknowledge it.
“I guess it would just ruin the relationship.”
“There’s no need for unnecessary awkwardness. Unless he directly confesses. Anything else you need?”
“…What?”
“For the wedding preparations. Tell me if there’s anything annoying or troublesome. I’ll take care of it right away.”
“For now, there’s nothing. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”
Though unsure if anything would come up, he said he’d contact Jaehyuk if needed when message alerts started coming in.
One after another, quickly.
It didn’t feel good.
Usually, when messages piled up like this, it meant either he had caused trouble or was about to.
“This is ominous…”
“Hmm?”
At Jaehyuk’s questioning look, Junghyun showed him his phone screen while the car was briefly stopped.
“…You’re popular…”
“I’m always popular, but when messages pile up like this, it’s a bad sign.”
While speaking, even more messages arrived, and he began checking them.
In about a minute, an incredible number of notifications had appeared. Checking the message at the top, there was a link.
Clicking it confirmed his suspicions.
Photos of them from just moments ago outside the café and furniture store were explicitly posted.
The headline roughly read: ‘Countdown to Marriage: Celebrity Couple on Wedding Shopping Date.’
Though in paparazzi style, this was clearly an article with Jaehyuk’s approval. Or perhaps he had distributed it himself.
“Did you release this?”
“More or less.”
“Including the furniture store?”
“The marriage announcement came out yesterday anyway, so I spread this partly for publicity.”
“Tomorrow they’ll probably share a list of products we purchased.”
“It’s common marketing.”
“Usually, you get sponsorships and coordinate. We deliberately take photos like paparazzi and distribute them to communities. That’s why I maintain about 100 accounts for viral marketing.”
“Only that many?”
“That’s enough. Too many becomes hard to manage.”
Saying it’s best to work within your capabilities, he read through the article in detail, which was indeed very favorable.
Definitely distributed by Jaehyuk. The expressions were too grandiose.
Thinking “he’s good at this,” Junghyun scrolled down and closed the article.
Surprisingly, there was no kiss scene. That would have been the most sensational.
“But the kiss scene isn’t uploaded. Is that for viral marketing?”
“No. That was for someone else to see, so it won’t appear in articles. No matter how urgent, they wouldn’t publish such a scene.”
“…Who?”
“Someone.”
“The killer whale?”
“More like the leader of them.”
“The leader?”
At Junghyun’s perceptive question, Jaehyuk hesitated momentarily about whether to answer.
Although they had already signed the contract and were preparing for the marriage, it was still difficult to share detailed circumstances.
Some things couldn’t be allowed to leak out.
“That… later. I’ll tell you after we’re married.”
“Sounds like we’ll have a hot night on our wedding day.”
“We’ll head straight to the beach, so I can tell you then.”
“Do we really have to go on a honeymoon?”
“Any later and it’ll be hard to surf domestically. We’ll stay about three days. I’ve reserved an entire floor of the hotel closest to the beach. Just in case, bring rhino chasers. We’ll use the indoor pool too, so pack several swimsuits. Actually, I’ll prepare them. I’ll bring all types of boards.”
“The height difference makes it impossible. I’ve surfed a lot domestically, so just tell me where, and I’ll prepare myself. I ride lighter and faster than you. And I don’t ride big waves.”
“You will.”
Saying that with Junghyun’s personality, he wouldn’t be able to resist, Jaehyuk looked the most excited Junghyun had seen so far.
Feeling he’d made a mistake, Junghyun turned to Jaehyuk with a disgusted face.
“…You seem to be enjoying this too much.”
“Not at all.”
“I think I’ve been scammed…”
While muttering, his phone rang.
It was Yongwoo.
He considered turning off his phone to avoid the barrage of contacts, but he couldn’t avoid these guys. Since he needed to tell them to pack their things anyway, he finally pressed the call button.
Before Yongwoo could ask anything, he preemptively explained the situation.
“The article is true, and the photos aren’t AI or CG. I’m getting married in two weeks.”
– What? You’re really getting married? You? Lee Junghyun?
Seemingly quite shocked, Yongwoo’s voice was so loud it could be heard outside the phone. Junghyun quickly pulled the phone away from his ear. Then he replied irritably.
“I don’t have time to waste, and why would I make such an unfunny joke?”
– But just last night you said you wouldn’t!
“It suddenly happened.”
After that answer, he heard, “Mom, Junghyun is really getting married!” followed by a familiar female voice saying, “Junghyun?”
It was a question of pure surprise without malice.
Was he really getting married with that temperament?
“Tell auntie it’s really happening.”
– So, are we attending your wedding too?
Realizing he hadn’t mentioned that, he turned to Jaehyuk.
“We said 200 guests from my side for the wedding, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Should I invite my friends too?”
“That’s for you to decide.”
At Jaehyuk’s expression that seemed to ask why he was asking him, Junghyun returned to the call.
“Of course friends have to come. At least to take pictures.”
– Wow, hearing that makes it real. Are you really getting married?
“I said I am.”
– But it’s so sudden…
“We talked and found we matched well, so we decided to do it. There’s also pressure from the family.”
While the conversation was going smoothly, Yongwoo challenged that statement.
– That’s too strange. You’re not the type to be obedient enough to do what your family tells you to. If anything, you’d do the opposite of what your father says.
“My father told me not to do it.”
– Ah…
Finally, Yongwoo understood.
With his unnecessarily good memory and intuition for important matters, Junghyun had to be careful with him.
“Anyway, now you know. I need to pack, so come to my place next weekend and take your stuff.”
– Pack? Why?
“You think your new dad would start married life in that house?”
– Right! You’re marrying our new dad! New mom?
“I don’t need a son like you, so I’m disowning you. But why did you call?”
– I saw your messages but you didn’t reply, so I called. Don’t friends usually meet each other’s friends before marriage? Aren’t you going to introduce us to our new dad?
“No time. Besides, this person doesn’t like baseball, so you’d have nothing to talk about. See him after the ceremony when there’s time. You know his face anyway.”
– What about a bachelor party?
“Would I do that? I’ll be busy from tomorrow, so there’s no time for parties or anything.”
– Hey! But you’re the first one to go, we should do something!
“No. Too bothersome. I’m not doing it. Just come next weekend to pack your stuff and go to Ddolddoli’s place.”
– Hey, come on, can’t you ask your new dad to buy us a pitcher as a wedding gift?
“That… I’ll talk to him about it.”
Finding that idea appealing, he agreed to try, when another call came in.
“Hey, I’ve got another call. Hanging up.”
– Okay~ Have a good talk~
“Shut up. So annoying.”
After ending the call with that somewhat harsh farewell, he saw an unfamiliar number on the screen.
Something felt off about it.
He thought he’d seen a message from this number just before, but it was a completely unfamiliar number.
“Hey, hyung-nim. I mean, hyung.”
“What?”
“Could you check this number for me?”
With that thought, as the car stopped at a traffic light, he showed Jaehyuk the number on the screen, and Jaehyuk clicked his tongue.
“Don’t answer it.”
“Who is it?”
“The leader of the killer whale pod.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
