By Zephyria 
===
“I really can’t stand people who are jaded because they already know how everything works.”
“……I also have to attend school….”
“Go. Nothing changes even if we get married. You do what you want to do, and I’ll do what I want to do.”
The more Eun-won tried to appeal by highlighting these drawbacks of marrying him, the more satisfied Cha Se-jin seemed to become. Eun-won didn’t know what to do, his lips merely fluttering, before he eventually bowed his head with a small sigh.
“…Then, could you please give me a little more time?”
“There’s no benefit to dragging this out.”
“Just one week… please….”
Seeing the child trembling and shrinking back, Cha Se-jin felt it was a bit much to tell him that he was wasting his effort. He also felt there was no need to add that whether he agonized for a week, a month, or didn’t think about it at all, the result would be the same.
“If this marriage falls through, your side is the one that loses. Well, we’d be disappointed too, of course. But would that compare to the blow Baum would take?”
“…….”
“And Darling. Look at me.”
Cha Se-jin’s voice, which had sounded like a warning, softened. At the coaxing tone, Eun-won looked up and met the eyes of Cha Se-jin, who no longer felt like a stranger.
“Still, I’m better than some other bastard, aren’t I?”
“…….”
“Imagine doing this with some complete stranger. Do you think you’d even be able to open your mouth? Aren’t you glad it’s me?”
Honestly… he wasn’t wrong. Although Eun-won had been surprised at first because the convenience store nuisance had appeared, he knew that dealing with someone he had met twice, however briefly, was a completely different level of difficulty than dealing with a total stranger. He couldn’t deny Cha Se-jin’s words.
“It seems both you and I hit the jackpot in terms of faces for an arranged marriage, so just cooperate.”
“…….”
“I’ll wait a week. Next Monday, at this time, let’s meet here again.”
“…Thank you for giving me more time….”
“Call me tomorrow if you finish thinking. Phone.”
When Cha Se-jin reached out his hand over the table, Eun-won stared for a moment before quickly taking out his phone and placing it on Cha Se-jin’s palm. Finding it quite cute how obediently he followed instructions, Cha Se-jin smiled and entered his number into Eun-won’s phone. The wallpaper, a photo of a drink with a character’s face on the lid, was exactly like something a child would have. Seeing that the background was a convenience store drink shelf, he must have taken it because it looked cute while he was working.
“Call me if you get bored, too.”
“Yes….”
“Will you actually do it, when you’re bored?”
“……No….”
Cha Se-jin laughed at the absurdity and pointedly gestured toward the strawberry cake and mango cake in front of them.
“Do you want to eat them here, or take them to go? Or should I just throw them away?”
“…I’ll take them to go….”
As soon as Eun-won answered, Cha Se-jin immediately pressed the call button. He then asked the employee, who hurried into the cafe, to pack them up.
“I think for now, you just need to figure out how to avoid me.”
“…….”
“You avoid me? Then, without any middle ground, you’ll just plummet straight to the worst-case scenario. Right now it’s marriage, but if the marriage with me fails, the next step is a sale.”
“…A sale?”
“Yeah. You’ll be sold off.”
Because it was something he had never, truly never heard before, Eun-won couldn’t grasp how horrific those words were. Sold off…. How could a person be sold…?
“I heard things have been noisy around Baum lately.”
The noise at Baum that Cha Se-jin mentioned was something entirely different from what Eun-won knew, but since Eun-won only knew about the things Yeo Hee-jin had orchestrated, he couldn’t help but feel pressured by those words.
“Anyway, see you next week.”
“…Yes….”
Pushing back his chair and standing up, Cha Se-jin released his pheromones loosely as he watched Eun-won quietly stand up after him. As the heavy scent of woody vanilla spread, Eun-won’s ears quickly turned reddish. Looking at the face staring at him in surprise, Cha Se-jin felt a sudden urge to tell him to answer right here and now, regardless of the week, and make him sob.
Should I just push him hard? To the point where he can’t hold out without answering immediately.
A momentary impulse flared, but he decided to let him go for today. He figured it would be better to make him cry in a more enclosed space than here.
“Let’s go.”
“…Yes….”
The way he followed obediently was incredibly erotic. Actually, he’d been turned on since Eun-won was drinking that white beverage. No, to be honest, his lower abdomen had been tightening since the moment he saw him walk in to meet him, dressed neatly like a young young master.
Yes, the face. Cha Se-jin knew it was all because of the face. That’s why, if he had to get married anyway, he wanted it to be with Eun-won. Because he couldn’t give that face—a face so stunning that anyone would think he’d lost his mind—to some other bastard.
The best and most beautiful things had always been his. He had never failed to get something he wanted, and sometimes, things arrived before him even realized he wanted them. Whether it was an object or a person.
Despite seeing countless people struggle to get into his good graces, he had never felt any emotion beyond a certain point. He had never felt that someone was lovely, or that he liked them to death, or that he was too nervous to meet their eyes. To Cha Se-jin, a ‘person’ was merely a moment of pleasure, nothing more and nothing less. Therefore, naturally, he had never wanted to possess someone.
And yet, his impression of this young, small child following him listlessly was a bit different. If anyone else had acted like Eun-won, he would have already cursed them out and stormed away. He detested things that were slow, ambiguous, and frustrating.
However, Eun-won reacting slowly, Eun-won showing an ambiguous attitude, and Eun-won acting frustratingly because his thoughts were taking too long—none of it was bad. In fact, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of boredom. It was an exceptional occurrence.
Not only that, but seeing how the shock of the child was clearly written all over his face made Cha Se-jin find himself choosing his words more carefully, and he even had the surprisingly noble thought that he wanted to feed him something sweet to help him relax. If his mother had seen, she would have surely stroked his cheek and called him a good boy.
“Careful.”
Whether his legs had lost strength or not, Eun-won stumbled while descending the stairs. Quickly grabbing his arm, Cha Se-jin dropped his gaze onto the clear face looking up at him. He was pretty… truly fucking pretty. To the point where he was momentarily speechless.
“Want me to hold your hand?”
“…What? Ah, no. I can go down by myself….”
“I’m not saying I’ll carry you, why are you so surprised?”
The hand holding his arm slid down smoothly. Eun-won flinched at the warmth touching the back of his hand. Even though he must have felt the flinch, the warmth didn’t leave; instead, it covered the back of his hand and seeped between his fingers.
“…I-I’m okay….”
“If you tumble here, I’ll be in the news this time. Want me to tell you the headline? ‘Cha Se-jin, now resorting to assault, has he given up on being human?’”
The strength in Eun-won’s hand, which had been attempting to pull away, soon vanished. Whether he knew that trying further would only waste his energy, or whether he simply had no strength left, he gave up on pulling away and walked while being held quietly.
Looking down at Eun-won, Cha Se-jin grinned. The more he saw him, the more he realized the boy had many interesting sides. He had already figured that out when he put a candy in his mouth like a dick and Eun-won just stayed quiet with a look that said, ‘What is this…?’
It was only when they reached the car waiting for Eun-won in front of the gallery that Cha Se-jin let go of the hand he was holding. Once his hand was free, Eun-won immediately covered the hand that had been held with his other hand to hide it, and that action was so insignificant that it was almost cute.
“Get home safely.”
“…I’ll be going now…. Please get home safely as well….”
“Yeah.”
Eun-won bowed and got into the car. After watching Eun-won’s car leave the gallery, Cha Se-jin got into his own car waiting behind it.
“Go home.”
Leaning back comfortably, Cha Se-jin shifted his gaze out the window and spoke to the secretary in the passenger seat.
“Woo-jae.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“I wonder what they said at home to make him come out trembling like that. Find out.”
“Yes. I’ll look into it immediately. I have a younger acquaintance in that house.”
“Yeah.”
Recalling the face that looked like it would cry if touched, Cha Se-jin closed his eyes as if tired. Eun-won’s clear and exhausted face remained etched in Cha Se-jin’s darkness for a long time after that.
* * *
After getting out of the car, Eun-won watched the driver take the cake boxes out of the passenger seat. There had been two slices of cake on the table earlier, but the boxes the driver took out were much larger than expected.
“Eun-won, you’re here? You’re back sooner than I thought. So, how was it meeting him?”
As soon as he entered the house, the Madam hurried toward him and fired off questions. Seeing the Madam’s face looking much better than before he had left the house, as if the mere fact that he had gone to that meeting had improved the situation, Eun-won felt somewhat relieved.