Chapter 68: An Unscripted Confession

The rumors had already spread, yet it seemed they hadn’t heard who the partner was. How could they miss the most crucial piece of news? The fact that Yoonwoo, an undergraduate, was suddenly getting married was surprising enough, but the revelation that his partner, whom everyone assumed was a Beta, was actually the Alpha Yeon-chae would surely be a million times more astonishing.

“You… you didn’t hear who I’m marrying, did you?”

Yoonwoo asked, feeling puzzled, and Myeong-tae opened his mouth, saying, “Indeed.”

“They all refused to tell us,” he explained. “Said it would spoil the fun.”

“Is it someone we know? You’re not marrying someone from school, are you?”

“Hmm…”

Yoonwoo was fumbling with his fingertips, his expression flustered, unable to speak. Just then, the entrance door opened, revealing a familiar face. Feeling as though he had met his savior, Yoonwoo waved excitedly towards him.

“Yeon-chae, over here!”

“Hey, hey, why did you call him?”

Woo-jae, who had suffered a harsh blow from Yeon-chae during a difficult meeting in this very place, frowned deeply. Standing firm beside them, Yeon-chae’s brow also furrowed, mirroring Woo-jae’s expression as he looked down at both Woo-jae and Myeong-tae.

Regardless, Yoonwoo was delighted to have found a convenient way to explain. He pointed a finger at Yeon-chae’s broad chest. His friends’ bewildered gazes followed Yoonwoo’s finger, landing on Yeon-chae.

“I’m marrying him.”

“What?!”

Woo-jae and Myeong-tae, blindsided by the unexpected twist, were utterly flabbergasted. Yeon-chae, having caught on to the situation, simply curved his lips into a smirk, seemingly amused by their shock.

“What happened?!”

“Seriously, what is this? Since when?”

These were familiar questions, repeated every time they attended a wedding invitation gathering. Yoonwoo began to recite the rehearsed story he had long since coordinated with Yeon-chae. He explained that he had belatedly presented as an Omega late last year, and he and Yeon-chae had started dating in the spring of this year.

After their relationship began, they discovered their parents were old friends. Pushed by their mothers, who thought it was a perfect match, they decided to marry early. This was the script Yoonwoo had meticulously crafted, blending half-truths and half-lies, and then simply informed Yeon-chae of it.

The story of their parents’ long-standing friendship, which wasn’t exactly a lie, always served as a convenient excuse. Myeong-tae, still looking stunned, mumbled his question.

“So… is it like an arranged marriage?”

“Well, Alphas and Omegas do tend to marry early, I hear.”

“We honestly thought Yoonwoo-hyung had gotten into some trouble.”

“Hey, hey.”

Woo-jae cut Myeong-tae off, perhaps thinking he was being too intrusive. “Sorry…” Myeong-tae apologized readily, but the atmosphere grew subtly awkward.

‘Should I reveal the pregnancy too?’ Yoonwoo wondered, his face troubled, having planned to simply make excuses after the baby was born. Just then, Yeon-chae, who had been sitting silently all along, spoke in a flat tone.

“It’s not like that.”

“Huh? W-what’s not?”

Woo-jae, who had conspicuously avoided Yeon-chae since the incident at the meeting, flinched and asked. Yeon-chae calmly continued.

“An arranged marriage, I mean. Who does that?”

“Huh? Ah, I was just saying, why are you so serious about it…? Haha…”

“We were just curious…”

Myeong-tae interjected, supporting Woo-jae.

Yeon-chae offered them a gentle smile. His long eyes curved beautifully like crescent moons. It was a familiar smile to Yoonwoo, but apparently not to Woo-jae and Myeong-tae. They glanced warily at Yeon-chae, who was smiling so beautifully, their faces dumbfounded.

“It’s not like that. *I* was the one who fell in love.”

“Huh…?”

“Hmm?”

This was not in the script they had prepared. The fabricated love story, which claimed they had naturally started dating and then married after their eyes met, omitted any romantic details like who fell in love first or who proposed.

Yoonwoo’s startled, wavering gaze met Yeon-chae’s eyes. Yeon-chae’s light-colored pupils stared directly at Yoonwoo.

Slowly, Yeon-chae opened his mouth.

“I fell in love at first sight. Because he was so beautiful.”

Even at such an obvious lie, Yoonwoo’s heart pounded. A flush of heat spread from the tips of his ears to his cheeks, then down to his nape. He wanted to avoid Yeon-chae’s unwavering gaze, but found himself unable to. It was already overwhelming enough just to manage shallow breaths and fully receive that intense look.

‘Whoever receives Yeon-chae’s love someday will truly be fortunate.’

Yoonwoo leaned his cheek against the car window, lost in thought, his eyes vacant. He wasn’t even conscious of what he was thinking.

‘I fell in love at first sight. Because he was so beautiful.’

How could he utter such a cheesy line so casually? Even Yoonwoo’s heart fluttered at the lie, which Yeon-chae had delivered without a hint of hesitation. It would be impossible for anyone to resist Yeon-chae if they were to receive his genuine affection.

‘He could’ve just given a vague excuse.’

When news broke that university students, still years from graduation, were suddenly getting married, various rumors began to circulate. There were whispers of arranged marriages, fake marriages, and many other speculations.

Meeting friends actively was partly an effort to quell these rumors. Eyes sparkling with curiosity would usually accept a simple explanation of a normal courtship leading to marriage. It should have ended there, but Yeon-chae had gone out of his way to firmly establish the narrative, making Yoonwoo feel both grateful and apologetic.

A bitter taste inexplicably settled in his mouth. It felt like building a castle of illusions on a sand dune.

‘What if I get too attached, and then we really have to part ways?’

Yeon-chae loathed any mention of divorce or anything similar, so Yoonwoo played along, yet he still believed he would have to let Yeon-chae go someday. However, he was slowly growing fond of him. This was especially true when reflecting on the events of the past year, as it was impossible for them to have no feelings for each other. Yoonwoo feared himself for constantly relying on Yeon-chae, and he was terrified of the attachment, which felt more formidable than love itself. This made him feel increasingly wistful.

“Hyung, are you sleeping?”

Yeon-chae, who was driving in the passenger seat, spoke to him. A calm tenderness permeated his low voice. Yoonwoo’s left chest throbbed once more. He deliberately opened his eyes wide and shook his head vigorously.

“No, I’m not sleeping.”

“You look like you were.”

“I said I wasn’t!”

“Then what’s this?”

Yoonwoo swore he was far from dozing off; he had been deep in serious thought. Yet, when Yeon-chae’s thumb gently brushed past his lips, it left a transparent trace of moisture. Yoonwoo looked up at Yeon-chae with a bewildered expression. The corner of Yeon-chae’s plump lips twitched slightly.

“You dozed off. You were drooling.”

“Ah, damn it. No, I wasn’t…”

Yoonwoo grumbled as he unbuckled his seatbelt. They had already arrived at their destination. Yeon-chae, who had exited the car first, opened the passenger door for him.

“Wow, it’s really been a long time since I’ve been here.”

The apartment complex, unchanged from when he’d left it thirteen years ago, greeted them. Yoonwoo, who had never imagined he would visit this apartment again, looked around with eyes full of admiration.

A few days prior, Yoonwoo’s plan to move into Yeon-chae’s officetel had been rejected during a meeting with Yeon-chae’s mother. She had frowned, her elegant brows knitting together sharply, and expressed her strong disapproval.

“How can three people live in an officetel?”

Yoonwoo, who had grown up with three siblings in a house even smaller than that officetel, was momentarily speechless. Yeon-chae’s mother, however, clicked her tongue and continued to complain.

“Do you know how high the management fees are for an officetel? I only let Yeon-chae stay there alone until he graduated. If three people live there, the management fees and electricity bills would probably be more than the rent!”

Yoonwoo had heard it wasn’t even rented; Yeon-chae’s father had bought it for him. Realizing this, Yoonwoo nodded, saying, “Ah.” He subtly glanced at Yeon-chae, who seemed to be thinking along similar lines.

“That place isn’t good. Let’s sell it while we’re at it. I’ll put it on the market tomorrow.”

Yeon-chae’s mother seemed more interested in selling the officetel than in finding a new home for the newlyweds.

Discussions about where to find a new home continued, eventually concluding with the decision to move into an apartment owned by Yeon-chae’s mother. Fortuitously, the current *jeonse* tenant was due to leave soon, and a new tenant had not yet been found.

The “apartment owned by Yeon-chae’s mother” was the very house where Yeon-chae’s family of three had once lived long ago, and later, where Yeon-chae had lived alone with his mother. The front door directly across from theirs was also a familiar sight to Yoonwoo. Today, he had finally visited that apartment with Yeon-chae.

Standing before the house where he had spent several years of his childhood, Yoonwoo’s face was filled with a fresh wave of nostalgia.

“Wow, nothing here has changed at all.”

Thirteen years had passed, so the apartment must have aged considerably. Yet, the facing front doors and the emergency staircase leading downstairs remained exactly as they were. It felt as though he had stepped back into a day from the past.

Yoonwoo used to often sit by those stairs, waiting for the elevator to open. He also remembered a tiny child, much smaller than himself, who would sit beside him.

“Yeon-chae. Do you remember?”

He asked Yeon-chae, pointing a finger at the emergency stairs. He was recalling a memory that likely wouldn’t exist in the mind of Yeon-chae, who had been significantly younger than him at the time.

Yeon-chae merely gazed intently in the direction Yoonwoo was pointing. A sliver of sunlight caught his slender profile as he stood silently, making it gleam.

“…No.”

After a long silence, Yeon-chae finally spoke.

“I don’t remember anything at all.”

He uttered the obvious words with a poignant air, as if not remembering something from fourteen years ago was a grave mistake.