‘…’
Ho Munbeom desperately held back the harsh words that were about to escape.
Regardless, Ho Jaejung wouldn’t stop. It wasn’t completely a show that he was sick, his doctor told him to take it easy and enjoy his golden years playing golf, he wanted to enjoy his twilight years raising grandchildren once Munbeom gave him a chubby grandson—eventually he suddenly stood up and threw a tantrum, asking if wanting him to have just one child was such an unreasonable wish.
He wasn’t like this in front of others. Rather, he was known as a hundred-year-old tiger who controlled his surroundings with just a glance. Despite maintaining all formalities outside, perhaps as a reaction, he was always like this only in front of Ho Munbeom.
Unable to bear the constant talk about great-grandchildren, Ho Munbeom left the hospital room, and that night Ho Jaejung developed a fever and collapsed. It was stress-induced. It was exasperating, but Munbeom couldn’t just ignore everything and leave for overseas again.
His grandfather would turn eighty soon. Perhaps because both his grandfather and Munbeom’s parents had married relatively young and had children early, his grandfather was all the more eager for Munbeom’s marriage and great-grandchildren. But Munbeom wasn’t the only grandchild. Among his cousins, several were already married with children in elementary school. Weren’t those great-grandchildren too? Munbeom gritted his teeth as he cleaned up the messes his grandfather made.
As a natural workaholic with affection for his family and pride in the group, he couldn’t just stand by and watch the situation unfold. The unsettling situation was resolved about ten days after Munbeom’s arrival.
As his grandfather had said, the stock price, which had risen rapidly when news broke of Munbeom’s return, continued to hit new highs. Whether or not he knew that it was because he was exceptionally talented that his grandfather clung to him so much, Munbeom was the kind of person who always exceeded the expectations of those around him.
After a couple of months, Munbeom began preparing to go abroad again.
The work itself wasn’t bad, but since his return, he’d been flooded with calls from all directions. Unlike overseas where there were strict regulations regarding pheromones, domestic rules were looser, and there was no shortage of people who blatantly released their pheromones around him during external schedules.
Although he was irritated by the persistent gazes and explicit pheromones of those trying to seduce him, Munbeom felt that the atmosphere within the group had finally stabilized after his return.
Munbeom was aware that his grandfather was getting older. But while he thought he should gradually help with headquarters work, marriage or children weren’t even considerations.
Since their desires were so dramatically different, there were several more conflicts afterward.
The old man, who wouldn’t blink an eye even with a knife at his throat, responded to each and every word Munbeom said, his blood pressure rising and falling repeatedly. The doctor, unable to just watch, spoke up with difficulty.
‘He’ll really collapse at this rate. When elderly people collapse once, it’s hard for them to recover.’
Munbeom understood what the doctor was worried about. Even now, his grandfather was lying spread-eagle on the bed claiming he was dying after arguing with him.
Frustrated, Munbeom stared at Ho Jaejung for a long time.
He was the grandfather who had held and raised him in place of his parents when he was young. Munbeom’s parents were self-centered people. One was neglectful, the other consumed by desire. Munbeom couldn’t remember, but apparently, as a baby, he would cry until his voice was hoarse, lying alone in his crib. His grandfather, perhaps shocked by this, carried Munbeom in a baby carrier even during his busiest working years.
At first, people said it was just for show when the head of a major business group attended meetings and went around with his grandson in a baby carrier, but as this behavior continued for years, they gradually fell silent. That’s how much Munbeom had grown up under his grandfather’s excessive attention and affection.
He thought they had maintained steady contact even while he was abroad, but that alone apparently wasn’t enough to halt the passage of time. The grandfather he faced after several years definitely looked older and more tired than before. As those around him said, if he suddenly collapsed after all this agitation, who knew what would happen next.
In the end, Munbeom took a step back but added one condition.
He would go on arranged dates as his grandfather wished, but if he didn’t feel inclined, there would be no further progress. And if any artificial means were employed, that would immediately put an end to arranged dates or anything else.
Given Munbeom’s personality, just accepting the arranged dates was a big deal. Ho Jaejung, looking healthier than ever, said he understood, thanked him profusely, and tried to embrace Munbeom right away. But Munbeom avoided it, preventing his grandfather from getting what he wanted.
And so, the arranged dates that began this way had continued for a year now.
No matter how unyielding Munbeom was, his grandfather expected that by meeting different partners each week, he might find at least one omega he liked. If you try ten times, won’t one succeed? Ho Jaejung was confident, but he still didn’t know his grandson. Even if his grandfather beat his chest saying he had been deceived by that terrible man, it was already too late. Just when his grandfather was beginning to resign himself to the idea that things would remain at a standstill even after five or ten years, it happened. Munbeom slept with the young omega, Lee Yeonwoo, who had come for an arranged date.
Even after thinking about it several times, he couldn’t understand why he had done something so unlike himself.
That day had Munbeom’s least favorite weather, and he was already on edge because of his secretary coming on to him. His poor condition had put him in a terrible mood. He didn’t even feel like going on the arranged date in this state. Generally, canceling on the day of an arranged date would be a major discourtesy, but Munbeom was an exception.
After a year of meaningless dates, potential partners had begun to avoid him. Honestly, it was strange for omegas from prominent families, who had everything going for them, to deliberately put themselves in situations where they were certain to be rejected. Unless they were the type burning with ambition, thinking, “I’m different from other omegas, I’ll definitely capture Ho Munbeom’s heart.”
The omega who showed up for this arranged date was probably from a decent but not exceptional family with just the title of “dominant” attached. Someone who would accept a simple apology through his secretary the next day without any trouble if he canceled that day.
Perhaps his secretary thought the same.
Secretary Kang, who keenly sensed Munbeom’s state, asked first, “Shall we go home?” despite knowing the day’s schedule. But after brief consideration, Munbeom answered, “No.”
It was a whim he couldn’t understand himself.
Ho Munbeom moved forward while suppressing his sensitive pheromones, and at the destination was a very young omega.
Until now, he had never properly looked at whoever was sitting there. Nevertheless, what caught his eye was that the figure’s back looked different from anyone he had seen before.
The people who had shown up for these dates so far had all heavily emphasized who they were. They would dress from head to toe in luxury brands, almost excessively, or put so much effort into makeup and hair that it seemed too much. And they would diffuse their thick pheromones around them.
Without considering what they had done, they would criticize Munbeom for being taciturn as soon as they sat down. No casual conversation for courtesy’s sake, consistently aloof, not even touching the food, and then getting up and leaving first.
If they wanted to dine with him, they should first withdraw those disgusting pheromones.
If this situation had been like the previous ones, he would have left without looking back. But the moment he saw the attire—whether it was for an arranged date or a freshman college student’s first date—his feet naturally moved in that direction.
Even as the distance closed, he couldn’t feel any notable pheromones. Only when he got very close did he sense something very faint, like the subtle scent of grass after rain. Just then, the omega who had been sitting with perfect posture lowered their head and raised one hand to rub beneath their eye. Ho Munbeom, who had stopped beside them, spoke.
‘Were you crying?’
It sounded indifferent even to his own ears.
Clicking his tongue at the thought that even someone who wasn’t crying might start, Munbeom looked down at the omega who was still pressing their eye. Whether startled or not, their fingertips twitched slightly, then slowly raised their head. When their eyes met, Munbeom thought:
This is just a kid.
It wasn’t a matter of style.
The cheeks that hadn’t yet lost their baby fat, and the body that seemed not fully grown, were clearly signs that this person was much younger than him.
For a brief moment, Munbeom wondered if sitting across from them would constitute a crime. Just then, those slightly dry lips moved slowly.
‘My eye was itchy.’
The voice was calm, unlike their appearance.
Feeling a slight tickle in his ear, Munbeom sat down in the seat opposite them. The other’s pheromones became a bit more distinct.
Normally, he would have exchanged brief greetings and then excused himself, saying he wasn’t feeling well. Along with an apology for making them wait so long.
But in this situation, where several unusual things had coincided, Munbeom suddenly recalled that he hadn’t had sex for quite a long time.
