By Zephyria 
Before he knew it, the space between his eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed.
What does he want to do?
Divorce?
Is Joo Tae-hyun really asking him for a divorce right now?
“You want to stop?”
“……”
“Tae-hyun. Did I hear you right just now?”
Even when he called his name gently, Joo Tae-hyun only stubbornly stared at the moisture clinging to the surface of the teacup.
Divorce, divorce.
Ha… Seo Baek-han looked into the distance for a moment, calming his boiling breath.
It was a rare occurrence. Not being able to immediately think of a suitable response. It was as if his brain had stopped, and he couldn’t think of anything to say.
The mess in his head felt foreign. Even though he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to say, he was disgusted by the way his tongue kept trying to call out Joo Tae-hyun’s name.
“Joo Tae-hyun. How do you think I’m going to interpret what you just said?”
This was also a very rare occurrence. Not giving a command or suggestion, but reprimanding Joo Tae-hyun as if venting his anger.
What was unbelievable was that even in this situation, he could willingly feel Joo Tae-hyun’s Pheromone cautiously probing the space.
Fuck. He had been diligently trying not to use vulgar language, even in his mind, but it was beyond his control. There was really not a single thing he liked about this situation.
“If you act like this, I can only assume that everything written here is true.”
But once he opened his mouth, his emotions swelled uncontrollably. He didn’t even know exactly what they were.
“And yet, you want to stop and get a divorce? How can you say something so irresponsible?”
The veins in Seo Baek-han’s neck stood out. He was so dumbfounded that his voice gradually rose without him realizing it.
It felt as if a red-hot iron ball was running rampant through the blood vessels in his body. He couldn’t bear the fact that he couldn’t control his unsightly appearance because of Joo Tae-hyun’s unwanted nonsense. He was literally on the verge of losing it.
“Is this your way of taking responsibility? If you just get a divorce with me, does that mean this problem never existed?”
“……”
“Don’t you think that if we announce our divorce, people will whisper that all of this was true? Is your head not working that well?”
It’s not true, the evidence is just a haphazard collection of things fitted into the timeline as they please, so we should prepare to refute it immediately.
If it were the Joo Tae-hyun he knew, he would have responded like this. He had kept the guy as his spouse for four years because he knew how to do that, because he was impeccably skilled in handling things like this.
“Don’t worry. I’ll perfectly handle things so that there’s no damage to Hyung, my father-in-law, or… Assemblyman Seo.”
“So that method, your intention, I’m asking if this article is all true!”
Joo Tae-hyun finally raised his head and met Seo Baek-han’s eyes when a roar erupted that was incomparable to anything before. His tightly closed lips and the listless look on his face, as if he was tired of everything in the world, were the same as always. Even though he was spouting nonsense about divorce, he was still the same, damn it.
“I don’t want to, but please trust DH Group, not me, and the contract we wrote before we got married. After this, no one will… no, no one will throw stones at Hyung.”
“Hey, Joo Tae-hyun.”
“And in that sense, these articles are… um.”
Joo Tae-hyun paused for a moment and swallowed hard.
“Leave them alone.”
“What?”
“I think it would be more effective to prove my innocence when the criticism reaches its peak.”
Joo Tae-hyun was so calm that he felt like one of the still lifes in the office. He calmly asked for cooperation in responding to the media… It was the Joo Tae-hyun that Seo Baek-han knew well, but at the same time, he seemed like a stranger he was seeing for the first time.
“Then I’ll contact you tomorrow.”
Joo Tae-hyun got up from his seat, saying something carefree about Guk-won hyung coming to Pyongyang to see him. He was as calm as usual, as if he was discussing an important schedule in the living room and then going to his own bedroom.
“Ugh, Hyung!”
It was Seo Baek-han who grabbed Joo Tae-hyun’s arm as he was about to step towards the door… Yes, it was a clear impulse and an emotional act that no longer had any logic.
“You’re going to prove your innocence.”
“Hyung, let go of my hand… It hurts!”
“Then is it not all true?”
“Baek-han hyung!”
“I’m asking you! Did you touch the Dirty Switch, did you ever have a lover or a sex partner, and, goddamn it, what about Cheon Seung-pil?”
“……”
“Is it true or not? Explain that first.”
He thought that Joo Tae-hyun seemed to have no sexual experience. That’s why he hired someone through Choi Yeon-jun. He seemed to have never slept with an Alpha, so he guessed that touching the Dirty Switch might also be a lie.
Yes, everything is fine up to this point. Photos of dealing with the Dirty Switch or drugs, or app order history, are annoying, but that’s something to think about later. It’s okay. No, it wasn’t okay before, but from this moment on, it doesn’t matter anymore.
The important thing is Cheon Seung-pil.
Whether he was sleeping with Cheon Seung-pil, whether that bastard was pregnant with Joo Tae-hyun’s child.
If that’s really not true, if I misunderstood…
“If that’s the case, you don’t have to take such an extreme measure as divorce.”
“……”
“If we can dramatically patch up public opinion as you said, no one will bother us with this topic anymore. Kim Seung-jun, as well as the guys who glare at the Shifter-related bill, won’t be able to say a word.”
Seo Baek-han calmed him down, trying to smooth out his increasingly rough voice as much as possible.
“…It’s strange, I don’t know why Hyung is against the divorce.”
“How can you say that now…”
“If you don’t want to be labeled as divorced… you wouldn’t have married me in the first place if you were worried about that.”
“Joo Tae-hyun.”
“Yes, it’s me, Joo Tae-hyun. The same Alpha and the same man that Hyung didn’t care about, or rather, hated.”
It wasn’t like they were madly in love and decided to get married. He was acting as if he was going to give him a clean divorce, so what was the problem?
“And the contents of the article… does it matter whether it’s true or not? Isn’t it enough to make other people believe that I’m innocent anyway?”
“……What?”
“So don’t worry.”
Joo Tae-hyun carefully removed Seo Baek-han’s hand from his arm.
“If you don’t trust me, I’ll send a lawyer right away. There will be a lot of things for the lawyers to discuss anyway to prepare for the divorce.”
Does it matter whether it’s true or not?
Isn’t it enough to make them believe he’s innocent?
“Ah!”
He turned Joo Tae-hyun around with a hand that was twice as strong as before. His shoulder hit the door hard, unable to overcome his strength.
“I can shut the mouths of strangers, but I don’t know how you’re going to quietly get past the work involving the Yoonra Foundation… Okay, do as you please. But, Tae-hyun.”
Seo Baek-han grabbed Joo Tae-hyun’s chin tightly. He didn’t like the way he kept trying to avoid his gaze, so he held his cheeks so tightly that they were pressed together, and told Joo Tae-hyun a fact that he seemed to have forgotten for a moment, word by word, with emphasis.
“You still haven’t fixed your broken body. What are you going to do about that?”
An unfamiliar emotion flickered in Joo Tae-hyun’s eyes, which were as black as if ink had been poured into them. He didn’t know if it was despair, anger, or sadness, but he didn’t really want to know.
“You’re holding onto even a scrap of cloth because you feel like you’re going to die without my Pheromone right now, and you want a divorce? You were moaning that I could spit in your ass, and you want a divorce?”
“……”
“Ah, you wouldn’t remember. The first time we did it at Lotus Flower Palace, your inside was so dry that I said I was going to spit a little, and you told me to go ahead.”
Seo Baek-han let go of Joo Tae-hyun and lightly gestured with his chin. He knew how vicious his crooked smile would look, but he couldn’t stop himself from acting so vile.
“You’re the one who suffers if you don’t have sex with me, Tae-hyun.”
And then he realized that his Pheromone was pouring out so intensely that even he couldn’t handle it.
Even in this situation, Joo Tae-hyun looked normal, unlike usual.
“Okay, do as you please. But keep this in mind.”
Even if we get divorced, you have to have sex with me.
He whispered, leaning towards Joo Tae-hyun. A distance so close that they couldn’t read each other’s eyes.
Seo Baek-han pretended not to notice the dampness mixed in with Joo Tae-hyun’s slightly rough breath and turned away first.
Even if this marriage ends someday, now is not the time.
The subject cannot be Joo Tae-hyun either.
So… he won’t grant Joo Tae-hyun’s wish for a divorce.
***
“Tae-hyun, let’s go to Seoul for now.”
The other family members, as well as the company’s PR team, were all waiting for Joo Guk-won’s instructions. His mother had collapsed from the shock, and his father was busy taking care of her. He said that, but he must be restraining himself in case he impulsively swears at the reporters.
And Seo Baek-han, where the hell is that bastard doing? He hasn’t even shown his face. Ah… I think he’s still hospitalized. Still, his spouse is facing something like this, and he doesn’t even make a single phone call?
“You just rest and stabilize yourself. Hyung will take care of everything.”
“Hyung. I want to hold a press conference in the afternoon, no, in the evening.”
“…Huh? Honey, what are you saying now?”
“I can’t think of a suitable place right now… I think Hyung needs to help me.”