Chapter 37: Married to a Monster

“Ugh… I’m exhausted…”

Go Ha-jin’s impression of the mansion had completely changed from when he first entered it. Earlier, he’d been dazzled by the luxurious building, wondering how much everything cost and whether anyone would notice if a single vase mysteriously disappeared.

But now, after dealing with those two old monsters, he felt mentally drained. Honestly, he never wanted to come back.

“You did well. You were fairly useful.”

“…Don’t get greedy over the car. It’s mine.”

“You want to die?”

“…Then we can share it…”

Somehow Chae Woo-seok was even more vicious than Lee Ah-seong. He’d acted quiet earlier, but now his greed was showing. Rich bastards really were the worst.

“The car aside… what do we even do with this?”

Woo-seok stared at the golden silk bundle in his hand like it was a nuisance. The herbal medicine Lee Ah-seong had intended for Go Ha-jin.

“Give me that too.”

“I thought herbal medicine didn’t suit your body?”

“There’s no such thing. If I shove it down my throat, my stomach will deal with it somehow. I’ll just think of it as medicine and drink it. Whatever’s inside has to be expensive and healthy.”

He’d never taken herbal medicine before, but surely something that costly couldn’t be bad for him.

“You’re unbelievably greedy. You’re really planning to keep both wedding gifts.”

“Want to trade for the Blue Moon, then?”

“No. You keep this too.”

Talking as they walked, they left the building and wandered through the garden under the bright sunlight. Ha-jin needed fresh air after how suffocating things had felt inside. Apparently Woo-seok felt the same, because he silently stayed beside him.

“What is this place… an amusement park? Why is the garden so huge? This is insane.”

The central garden had no large trees at all. Only waist-high hedges, enormous stretches of grass, fountains, and perfectly straight stone paths. After walking for a while, the endless landscape started feeling surreal.

“My father’s taste. It used to be even flashier when my grandmother was alive. There was even a zoo over there.”

According to Woo-seok, the central garden was traditionally decorated by the lady of the Chae household. Even the Chae family alphas weren’t allowed to interfere with it.

‘What a joke. If they loved tradition so much, they should’ve lived in a Joseon-era hanok.’

“Then someday I’ll bulldoze all of this and make a lake instead. Why plant this much grass when it’s such a pain to maintain?”

“Yeah. That’ll never happen, so keep dreaming.”

‘Ah, right. Contract marriage.’

Woo-seok ruthlessly reminded him of his place. Even if Ha-jin died and came back to life, he’d never have the chance to manage this garden, and honestly, he didn’t want to.

“But where are we going? My legs hurt.”

“Our house.”

“Didn’t we just leave your house…?”

“Why would that be our house? That’s my parents’ place.”

Ha-jin turned around. In the distance stood the massive mansion where Woo-seok’s parents lived. Three stories tall and sprawling sideways like a European castle transplanted straight into Korea.

And there was another house besides that?

Why?

“This is our place. I only lived here when I was young, so I don’t know how much the interior’s changed.”

“This is insane…”

The place Woo-seok led him to stood on the right side of the main mansion. Even taking a shortcut, it would’ve taken at least five minutes to walk there. And it was still nearly half the size of the main building.

A smaller garden surrounded the house. “Smaller” only in comparison—it still looked over a hundred pyeong in size.

“We’re… living here? Just the two of us?”

“If you want to live with my parents instead, say so now. Do you know how hard I worked to get this place?”

Woo-seok shook his head like he was trying to erase a nightmare and walked inside first.

“Welcome back, Director Chae. It’s been a long time. I’ll be managing this residence from now on.”

“Ah, right.”

The inside looked completely different from the main house. The interior was modern and minimalistic. Pale marble covered the floors and walls, while white furniture and light wood accents gave the place a bright, clean atmosphere.

It definitely reflected Woo-seok’s tastes.

“Hello.”

“Yes. Welcome.”

The servant greeting them at the entrance behaved oddly. She greeted Woo-seok normally, then simply stood there blankly. Even after Ha-jin greeted her first, she only replied with a stiff, formal response.

Ha-jin sighed internally.

He could already see the situation clearly. She didn’t approve of him. Most likely she was trying to establish dominance early on. Maybe Lee Ah-seong had even instructed her to.

“What are you doing?”

“…Pardon?”

“Can’t you see that? Go help him. My ‘husband’s’ arms are about to fall off.”

“Ah, yes…”

That would do for a first greeting.

From experience, people like her had to be dealt with immediately or they’d become exhausting forever. Ideally he’d turn her into an ally, but that would probably be harder than becoming friends with Lee Ah-seong herself.

There were probably benefits she received from Ah-seong that Ha-jin could never offer.

“Husband…?”

“…I never said that. Wow… I definitely like this house more than the other one.”

Pretending not to hear Woo-seok mutter under his breath, Ha-jin hurried off to inspect the house instead—asking whether the floors were real marble, how many rooms were upstairs, and so on.

It was painfully obvious he was changing the subject.

Husband.

Even Woo-seok was starting to feel that he was actually married. Though admittedly, it was far from a normal marriage.

“Your husband will give you the grand tour. Follow me.”

“…I should just sew my mouth shut…”

Woo-seok properly showed him around. The layout was so open that simply pointing out the kitchen and master bedroom was enough. Even Woo-seok himself didn’t know the exact structure in detail.

“This is our room.”

“…Our room?”

“What, did you think we’d sleep separately?”

“Well… no…”

The master bedroom was more than spacious enough for two people, but Ha-jin had never truly considered that they’d be sharing one bed.

Still, they had no choice. Their secret absolutely couldn’t be exposed.

“At least the staff won’t be around at night, so don’t be too nervous.”

“That’s a relief.”

“And we have to go to dinner later. You’re okay with that, right?”

“…Well, I’ve been thinking about something.”

“No. Don’t think. I can already tell you’re about to start talking about money again.”

“…How did you know?”

Woo-seok nearly laughed.

Strangely enough, Ha-jin always had the same tell whenever he was about to ask for something. His eyes darted side to side, he bit his lower lip briefly, then squinted one eye slightly. And inevitably, what followed revealed his greed.

This time was no different.

“Haah… Fine. Let’s hear it.”

The moment Woo-seok agreed, Ha-jin brightened and grabbed his hand, dragging him toward the bedside table. Then, resting his chin in his hands like a flower pose completely unsuited to him, he spoke.

“I’m… more useful than expected, right?”

“You think very highly of yourself. I wouldn’t go that far.”

When Woo-seok refused to give the answer he wanted, Ha-jin lowered his hands and slowly traced the spotless tabletop with a finger.

“I mean… realistically, are you really going to divorce me now? The whole country knows we’re married already. You need my cooperation whether you like it or not, don’t you? I’m not threatening you or anything.”

It was absolutely a threat.

Ha-jin had been waiting for this moment. Before marriage, Woo-seok could do whatever he wanted. But after marriage, things changed. If they divorced so quickly after the wedding, the humiliation to the Chae family would be catastrophic.

And according to Ha-jin’s research, divorce was practically unheard of in this family.

Especially among the Chae heirs.

“Haah… I don’t think our Ha-jin knows me very well yet.”

Cute effort. To Woo-seok, it was still nothing more than harmless wordplay. Still, he decided to humor him a little and caught Ha-jin’s wandering hand.

“C-can you let go of my hand while we talk?”

“You’re right. Divorce at this point would definitely… hurt my plans.”

Startled at first, Ha-jin relaxed when Woo-seok merely stroked the back of his hand gently with his thumb.

So the threat worked after all.

“Exactly, so we should discuss something more realistic-”

“But have you considered other possibilities? Like you getting into a tragic car accident one day… or some omega serial killer sneaking into your bedroom at night. There are plenty of ways to separate besides divorce, don’t you think?”

Was he… threatening to murder him?

The images came vividly to Ha-jin’s mind. Woo-seok driving a massive truck straight into his car. Woo-seok entering his room at night with a knife and plunging it into his throat while he slept.

Disturbingly enough, those images suited him perfectly.

“I-I was joking! Seriously! It’s not like I forgot the contract already…”

‘Complete failure.’

If he pushed too hard, maybe Woo-seok really would decide it was easier to dispose of him and find a new marriage partner instead.

Using exactly the methods he’d described.

“I was really joking…”

Looking at Woo-seok’s expression, which still showed no sign of softening, made Ha-jin want to cry. If tears could solve this, he’d squeeze some out right now.

Unfortunately, crocodile tears no longer worked on Chae Woo-seok.

“I was joking too. Still… I’ll give you a little gift.”

“No! Really, I’m good!”

Whatever it was, Ha-jin wanted nothing from him. Nothing from Woo-seok ever came free.

“Really? I was about to say you can keep whatever you manage to squeeze out of my parents from now on.”

“…Really? Everything?”

“Yeah. Whatever you can get. If you’re capable.”

The despair crushing him underground vanished instantly.

Go Ha-jin couldn’t hide his grin. Cars? Jewelry? Stocks? His mind was already racing.

Wasn’t this basically permission to legally scam people with Woo-seok’s approval?

This might actually be the opportunity of a lifetime.

And for the first time, he finally had motivation to sincerely commit to this marriage.

Very different from simply enduring it under threat.

“Don’t regret this later. I’m seriously going all in.”

“That’s exactly what I want. Good luck.”

‘Just wait.’

‘I’ll strip your family down to the last spoon.’

For the first time, Go Ha-jin genuinely looked forward to meeting his beautiful new benefactors.

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