Chapter 17: A Question Asked Too Late

The tone of Lee Ah-seong’s voice made his blatant disregard obvious enough that even Chae Woo-seok, who had only been listening from the side, added curtly, “That’s rude.”

Go Ha-jin more or less understood what he meant anyway.

He was basically saying your family isn’t worth tying to the SHS Group, wasn’t he?

“Anyway. If your family’s already on the decline, and on top of that your family registry is complicated, that’d be troublesome. Of course, I’ll look into things separately.”

The old man was remarkably calculating.

He looked the type, but he was even worse than expected.

In other words, since your family’s sinking, you’d better pour all that excess cash straight into my son.

And if there were anyone else who might need a cut, he wanted to hear about it in advance.

“…I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“That’s good, then. Shall we grab a coffee before we go, Woo-seok?”

Lee Ah-seong felt unusually satisfied after the meal.

Partly because he was dining with his son, Chae Woo-seok, but also because the omega sitting across from them had given him every answer he wanted to hear.

There would be more to verify later, of course, but Go Ha-jin was quite close to the ideal omega son-in-law he’d been looking for.

He’d always thought no one was truly good enough for Woo-seok, but among the options, this one was usable.

“Then you two enjoy your coffee and head out. I have another appointment, so I’ll be leaving first.”

“Another appointment?”

No one had actually invited Ha-jin to stay for coffee.

He’d assumed that would be the case, which was why he hadn’t asked.

As Ha-jin quietly stood up, Woo-seok looked at him with faint confusion.

“Yes. I only stopped by briefly before an appointment I already had scheduled, so I can’t stay long… I mentioned it earlier, didn’t I, Woo-seok?”

Ha-jin had never said any such thing.

He was just making it up on the spot, leaving no time to coordinate stories.

“Oh.”

“There’s a children’s hospital charity event. Then please, enjoy your conversation.”

Ha-jin bowed politely until the very end, then turned and left.

His manners were impeccable, yet for some reason, the sight rubbed Lee Ah-seong the wrong way.

There was nothing he could reasonably criticize, which made it all the more irritating.

“A charity event, my ass. Is his father trying to jump into politics too?”

“Dad, you went too far. If you didn’t like him, you could’ve just said so, why ask questions like that?”

“What? Of course I like him. If I didn’t, we’d have left already.”

“Then why-”

“Woo-seok, someone like that isn’t common.”

“Haa… I only came because of you, Dad, but I’m honestly pretty lukewarm.”

Seeing Woo-seok’s indifferent expression made Lee Ah-seong feel a twinge of urgency.

It wasn’t too late for marriage, but considering the scandals Woo-seok had been through lately, he wanted to settle him down with the best possible partner as soon as possible.

And the child most suited for that role, in his eyes, was Go Ha-jin.

Calling him the most sought-after omega in business circles these days wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.

“Woo-seok, you don’t have to do anything. I’ll handle everything.”

“…You mean, the marriage?”

“Of course, son.”

Lee Ah-seong said something utterly unreasonable with impressive confidence.

Knowing there was no point arguing logically, Woo-seok gave up quickly.

“But it doesn’t seem like the other side is interested anymore.”

“…What? Why not?”

“I don’t know. Call it a gut feeling? If you like him this much, Dad, do you think other families would just leave him alone?”

Woo-seok had read the intent in Ha-jin’s eyes before he left, leave cleanly at the right moment to raise one’s value, without clinging, making Lee Ah-seong want him even more.

“That’s nothing to worry about. But you don’t hate him either, right…?”

The only thing Lee Ah-seong truly cared about was Woo-seok’s feelings.

Everything else was secondary.

If Woo-seok wanted it, there were plenty of ways to make the marriage happen.

“Well… he’s okay.”

Once again, that answer satisfied him.

****

“Give me some water.”

“Wow! So you can talk.”

“What?”

Ha-jin’s sarcasm slipped out as he watched Woo-seok enter the house.

After coffee with Lee Ah-seong, Woo-seok had gone back to the office to kill time, then left before quitting hours.

That was typical for him, so no one questioned the early departure.

And now here he was, reeking of alcohol after drinking at a club until nearly midnight.

“Earlier today, I seriously thought you’d developed aphasia or something.”

Woo-seok stopped at Ha-jin’s snide remark as he passed by.

He was already exhausted from enduring an unwanted meeting, both physically and mentally, and the sense that things weren’t over yet made him frown.

“What are you on about now?”

“How could you just sit there while your father was grilling me like that, without saying a word?”

Ha-jin hadn’t had an easy time either.

The charity event had been a lie, and the uncomfortable meal had left him so bloated he’d needed digestive medicine.

The irritation from dealing with Lee Ah-seong lingered, and seeing Woo-seok stumble in drunk, made his voice sharper than intended.

“If you can’t handle that much on your own, you should quit. Those were entirely predictable questions.”

Woo-seok brushed past him toward the kitchen, as if it wasn’t even worth explaining.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and Ha-jin followed, firing back.

“Oh, you mean questions like whether my dad has a hidden lover or illegitimate kid?”

Woo-seok downed half the bottle in one go, let out a deep sigh, then braced both hands on the counter and stared straight at Ha-jin.

“Listen.”

“…”

“You’re not really Go Ha-jin, are you? And to be precise, that’s not really your father. So what’s the big deal about him asking questions like that about people who don’t even exist?”

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over Ha-jin’s head.

“Or are you so immersed in the role that you’ve started thinking you really are that person?”

That was exactly it, Ha-jin’s strength, and his flaw.

For months, sometimes years, he would live as someone else.

And during that time, he fully became the identity he wore, just like now, feeling offended on behalf of a family that didn’t exist.

“Don’t get it twisted. I’m not marrying you to help you. I’m doing this because I need it. If you’re expecting a kind, affectionate husband, you should wake up now. That’s never going to happen.”

He already knew all that.

That was the deal from the start.

And yet, he couldn’t understand why Woo-seok’s behavior earlier that day had left him feeling oddly disappointed.

He understood it logically, but still felt annoyed enough to want to smash the half-empty bottle over Woo-seok’s head.

“…Right. Forget it. Guess I expected too much.”

Since there was nothing to gain from dragging out a fight with this man, Ha-jin gave in easily.

Without realizing it, he’d been expecting something from Woo-seok.

Like an idiot.

“Expected… what?”

“Nothing anymore, so don’t worry.”

Ha-jin turned away first.

Woo-seok had been irritating all day, but the worst part now was the strong stench of alcohol and cloying perfume.

It was obvious where he’d been without even asking.

Ha-jin dropped onto the living room sofa, and Woo-seok sat beside him.

“Anyway, you did well today.”

“I had to, right? If I didn’t want to end up dead.”

“How about you stop being sarcastic, Ha-jin?”

“…”

Ha-jin quickly reined in his attitude.

Woo-seok’s voice carried a warning, one more remark like that, and he might really get killed.

“And today, my dad was out of line. I know that.”

“…You know?”

“Of course. Who brings their parent to a blind date?”

“Exactly! If I were a real blind date, I’d have run for my life.”

Maybe because Woo-seok acknowledged him, Ha-jin turned fully toward him and started talking nonstop.

Most of it was trash-talking Lee Ah-seong, but Woo-seok didn’t interrupt.

He even chimed in occasionally, “Right.” “Exactly.”

“…I handled it because it was me, but if it’d been another omega, they’d have passed out on the spot-”

Listening to Ha-jin chatter away, Woo-seok realized that Ha-jin had essentially been sulking earlier.

What he’d wanted was probably this, someone to recognize his effort and listen to him vent.

It wasn’t difficult, so Woo-seok went along with it.

And somehow, the noisy voice beside him wasn’t all that unpleasant.

Even if it was insulting his father, it eased the day’s fatigue a little.

Watching Ha-jin like this, Woo-seok suddenly grew curious.

“Hey, can I ask you something too?”

“What…?”

Ha-jin nodded at Woo-seok’s sudden interruption.

“Do you really have no experience?”

“…What?”

“s*x.”