Quite immoral days continued. Suhwan opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling with a dazed expression.
The first and second times could be brushed off as mistakes, but not the third time. Moreover, from the third time onward, Suhwan had been completely sober.
‘What’s going to happen to me now…?’
Rather than feeling afraid, a part of his mind was becoming detached. Was this how a death row inmate felt awaiting execution? Just as Suhwan was quietly imagining his end in his mind, he heard:
“…Senior.”
“…!”
A languid voice sounded, and an arm reached over from the side to embrace Suhwan. With a quick peck on the cheek, Seunghyun smiled with curved eyes.
“Why are you up so early? Let’s sleep more.”
“Ah.”
The main partner, who had no awareness that he was pushing Suhwan into a pit of destruction every day, was smiling with his pretty face. Even if Suhwan wanted to resent him, that face would melt away any resentment—it was maddening.
“I just woke up early.”
By now, Suhwan was getting used to sleeping in the same bed as Seunghyun and waking up together. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It really shouldn’t be happening. Yet even as he thought this to himself, he was still nestled in Seunghyun’s arms.
“Can’t we sleep more? There’s still time left.”
“Umm…”
Seemingly genuinely sleepy, Seunghyun rubbed his nose against Suhwan’s shoulder as he whined. At times like this, the usually mature-acting Seunghyun looked his age. Suhwan nodded.
“Okay, let’s sleep more.”
“Don’t leave before me.”
“I got it.”
After responding repeatedly, Seunghyun closed his eyes, looking reassured. He particularly disliked waking up alone. Perhaps he had been lonely from living by himself for so long. Feeling a bit of pity, Suhwan patted his back until Seunghyun fell back asleep.
However, as Suhwan looked down at the peacefully sleeping Seunghyun, his face darkened again.
‘This much should be fine, right?’
Though things had deviated significantly from the novel, as long as they broke off the engagement somehow in a month, it would be fine, right?
Even with the situation having reached this point, Suhwan was stuck in optimistic thinking. And that was evidence that he was fiercely escaping from reality.
A little later, Seunghyun woke up to the alarm and prepared to go to school. Before leaving, he turned to look at Suhwan and asked:
“You’re not going out anywhere today either, right?”
“Hmm…”
Suhwan had been skipping school using his rut as an excuse. In truth, since he didn’t have many lectures, missing about a week wasn’t a big problem. He was planning to attend lazily this month and then submit a leave of absence for employment anyway. So the ridiculous excuse of taking time off due to an alpha’s rut, which passes faster than an omega’s heat, was somehow working with the instructors.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll come back early. What should I bring back today?”
Lately, they had been eating dinner together every day. Yesterday too, they had dinner with food Seunghyun had brought home. But today, Suhwan wanted to be the one to buy. He didn’t want to burden Seunghyun any further, who was already struggling with school and weekend part-time jobs.
“No, I’ll order food today.”
“You will?”
“Yeah, how about pizza?”
“Sounds good.”
Smiling as he answered, Seunghyun reached out at the front door. He held Suhwan’s cheeks with both hands and pressed his lips firmly as if stamping.
“I’ll be back.”
“Mmm.”
After seeing Seunghyun off like a newlywed couple, Suhwan slumped down on the sofa, feeling drained.
He rubbed his throbbing forehead. In the past few days, Seunghyun had openly displayed his desires without hiding them. And naturally, Suhwan had just been swept along.
Though it was a bit embarrassing, he was getting used to being dominated. However, there were still some issues remaining.
The BDSM tools that had restrained Suhwan’s body during his rut. The problem was that Seunghyun had his eyes on them. Last night, he had tried to insert that pink thing… that small object modeled after a male’s private part into Suhwan.
Recalling that memory, Suhwan’s face turned pale. Seunghyun had tried to insert it, saying they needed to train the passage since it hurt every time… Though Suhwan had somehow managed to stop him through tears and protests, the thought still sent chills down his spine. It seemed like Seunghyun would actually do it someday.
To be honest, while he enjoyed being with Seunghyun, he didn’t want to accept such exotic items.
“Damn Jin Suhwan.”
As always, Jin Suhwan was the problem in every situation. Why did he collect and accept such items?
Suhwan resolved to dispose of all those items today. But was today trash day? Thinking he should start on some household chores, Suhwan got up.
“Ugh.”
Suhwan had been handling simple household chores. It would be convenient to call a housekeeper like before, but he wasn’t comfortable having outsiders in the house he shared with Seunghyun. Fortunately, Suhwan knew how to do most household chores, so there hadn’t been any major issues so far.
Was it like a habit ingrained in his body, though he had no memory of it? He must have lived as an ordinary citizen before possessing this body. Suhwan thought absentmindedly as he collected the laundry.
“Oh my, my back.”
Just as Suhwan was returning to the living room, patting his back:
Rrrrrring. Rrrrrrring.
“…?”
The phone he had left on the sofa was ringing frantically. Suhwan approached and checked the name on the screen.
[Director Kim]
It was a call from Dowun after a long time. Suhwan quickly answered.
“Hello, Director?”
“Ah, Young Master. It’s been a while since I contacted you.”
“What’s the matter?”
When Suhwan asked, Dowun replied in a perplexed voice:
“Did you not check the message I sent you?”
“Message?”
Surprised, Suhwan checked his message inbox while maintaining the call. There, among the unread messages, he saw Dowun’s name. Suhwan awkwardly put his lips to the receiver.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t see it.”
“Sigh, I was wondering why there was no reply…”
“So, the message content is… huh?”
Quickly scanning the message with his eyes, Suhwan’s eyes widened in surprise.
“A matchmaking meeting? If it’s Friday… that’s today?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Ha…”
“You probably haven’t prepared yet. I’ll come pick you up, so please be ready by then.”
“You’re coming now?”
“Yes, it will take about 30 minutes.”
“Ah.”
Since Dowun was coming in person, there was no room to hesitate. Scratching his head, Suhwan answered in a voice lacking energy.
“Alright.”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Looking down at the phone that had abruptly disconnected, Suhwan sighed. So today he would finally meet the omega Chairman Jin had mentioned.
‘There’s no need to tell Seunghyun, right?’
He could easily imagine how angry the current Seunghyun would be if he found out about the matchmaking.
Since it was just a formal meeting anyway, it should be fine to go secretly without telling Seunghyun. Whoever the omega was, they probably wouldn’t want to meet Jin Suhwan, notorious for being a scoundrel, again.
After organizing his thoughts, Suhwan sent a message to Seunghyun:
Seunghyun, it’s me.
I have an appointment this evening, so I might come back a bit late.
I’ll order pizza, so go ahead and eat. I’ll be back soon.
Thinking the message seemed a bit cold, he hesitated before adding an emoticon at the end. It was a cute puppy waving its hand.
“Hmm…”
Seunghyun hadn’t checked the message yet, probably still in class. He’ll see it when class ends, Suhwan thought lightly as he prepared to go out.
***
“Here we are.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dowun’s car stopped in front of an elegant hotel. It was one of the hotels operated by Hwamyeong’s affiliates. Suhwan got out of the car nervously.
“Should I come pick you up when it’s over?”
“No. I’ll find my way back.”
“Alright, then have a good time.”
“Haha, yes.”
A good time, huh? Could that really be possible?
Suhwan, who laughed awkwardly, sent Dowun off and trudged into the hotel.
The staff seemed to recognize Jin Suhwan’s face, as they guided him to his seat automatically. Fortunately, this was quite convenient. Suhwan kept his lips tightly closed and just stared at the floor, trying not to break his image.
“Hello, Jin Suhwan-ssi.”
As he sat down and raised his head, a pretty man with a snow-white face was sitting across from him. Suhwan nodded back at him.
“Hello.”
Maybe it was his imagination, but the man’s gaze seemed a bit peculiar. As Suhwan stared blankly, his matchmaking partner smiled skillfully and opened his mouth.
“I’m not sure if the chairman told you, but I’m Park Hamin from Samyoung.”
“Nice to meet you, Park Hamin-ssi. I’m from Hwamyeong…”
Dowun, not the chairman, had sent the profile of his matchmaking partner, but Suhwan hadn’t read it. He had only learned about the meeting today and had rushed here in a hurry.
Suhwan paused the moment he heard the other’s name. The content of the novel came back to his mind again.
Park Hamin. The sub-bottom in this novel.
Good heavens, to meet the sub-bottom at a forced matchmaking meeting. How could this happen…
“Jin Suhwan-ssi?”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Suhwan, who had been flustered, quickly hid his expression and cleared his throat. Then he took the glass on the table and drank the water.
“I think I’m a bit nervous.”
“You’re quite cute, unlike your appearance.”
“What?”
As Suhwan, who was putting the water glass back on the table, widened his eyes, Hamin openly chuckled.
Hamin’s eyes scanned Suhwan. He had thought that as a recessive alpha, he would be no different from a beta, but he looked quite decent. Moreover, his appearance was very much to Hamin’s taste. An alpha whose fierce-looking eyes contained moist eyes that somehow caught attention.
And unlike the messy rumors, he seemed well-mannered. Even the way he blushed and drank water, saying he was nervous, was to his taste. Indeed, rumors weren’t to be trusted much.
