By Zephyria 
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“You’re here, Executive Director….”
“Yeah. Did you dress up this beautifully just because I was coming? Darling, what am I to do when you’re this pretty even at home.”
Cha Se-jin stroked Eun-won’s cheek as the latter gave a faint smile, taking his sincerity as a joke, and then stepped toward the den of malice that was waiting with mouths wide open for him. They were likely quite wounded in their pride that he hadn’t come to pay his respects until right before the wedding. Of course, they still wouldn’t dare utter a word of complaint to him. How could they? He was the son of Sewon Group.
Since the formal meeting between the two families had already taken place, he had considered not coming at all, but knowing they would undoubtedly be badgering Eun-won, he decided to show a bit of mercy. He had spent so much effort pretending to be nice; he figured he might as well relieve some stress by speaking his mind for once.
“Executive Director Cha, welcome. You must have been very busy.”
“No, not really. I’ve been quite free. I hope you’ve been doing well?”
Cha Se-jin gave a bright smile as he shook hands with Eun-won’s father, Seo Jun-hyeok, pointedly letting him know that he hadn’t visited until now despite not being busy. He then handed a bouquet of flowers he had bought as a gift to Yeo Hee-jin, who was struggling to maintain her facial expression.
“Thank you for inviting me, Ma’am.”
Unable to bring himself to call her ‘Mother’ even if his life depended on it, Cha Se-jin chose a title that maintained a distance. Yeo Hee-jin smiled back as if refusing to lose, and Cha Se-jin looked back at the driver who had accompanied him. The driver took a large, wrapped painting out of the car and carefully placed it inside the house.
“I heard you like the works of artist Yoo Jeong-seok, so I brought this.”
Surprised and delighted, Yeo Hee-jin’s eyes widened as she asked for permission and peeled away the wrapping paper from the painting.
“My goodness, such a precious piece… I don’t know if I can accept this.”
“Please take it. I feel like that’s the only way the meaning of this marriage will be fulfilled.”
Cha Se-jin delivered words that were unpleasant while smiling as if they were a blessing. He slowly tilted his head as he looked at Yeo Hee-jin, who was looking up at him as if wondering what he meant.
“I’m giving it to you so you won’t have to worry, because I intend to treat your son well. Your son’s happiness is the greatest meaning of all, isn’t it?”
Having effectively silenced Yeo Hee-jin and Seo Jun-hyeok, Cha Se-jin walked further inside first. Yeo Hee-jin, having regained her composure, approached him and pointed toward the dining room.
“If it’s alright, shall we start with the meal? Everything is ready.”
“Yes.”
It worked out well, as he had no desire to stay long. Cha Se-jin headed to the dining room, offering only affectionate touches to Eun-won. The room had been decorated with a significant amount of money, but because they had gathered expensive items without any regard for harmony, the table, lighting, and decorations didn’t match at all. Furthermore, the abundance of fresh flowers on the table had such a strong scent that it was almost headache-inducing.
“I thought it would be good to have something warm and comforting for the stomach ahead of the wedding, so I prepared Korean food. Please eat plenty.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Normally, he would have told them to speak more comfortably, but even knowing they wanted him to, he refused to say it until the end. Because he simply didn’t want to.
Soon, a Korean chef known as a star chef appeared with the food. It seemed they had prepared quite extensively for today. They likely wanted to show off and prove that they were capable of such a grand display. Unfortunately, everything was so excessive that they just ended up looking like nouveau riche.
Every dish that came out was equally excessive. Beef tartare sprinkled with plenty of edible gold leaf, premium first-harvest matsutake mushrooms grilled with a side note that they were the first lot won at an auction, and…
“Wow, what is this?”
“We prepared this specially. You’ve probably never seen one this size.”
A lavish and massive sinseonro (royal hot pot) was placed down—the kind of dish that probably wouldn’t have even been served to a king. Beside it, dishes like gujeolpan (platter of nine delicacies) and braised short ribs filled the table.
Looking at the steaming sinseonro and the other dishes, Cha Se-jin served a few pieces of tender-looking ribs onto Eun-won’s plate. He then took small portions of the food for himself and ate moderately. Since every dish felt like a main course, the remaining courses felt burdensome.
Only after two more main courses were served did the melon sorbet and warm tea arrive as dessert. The chef, who brought out the dessert, spent a long time explaining that the tea was one only drunk by royalty, then pulled out rice cakes and hangwa (traditional sweets) made by a master from under the cart and placed them on the table.
He wanted to ask if they were planning to kill him by spiking his blood sugar, but seeing Eun-won eating the yakgwa (honey cookies) cutely like a rabbit, he figured there was no point in openly ruining the atmosphere. Cha Se-jin barely swallowed his harsh words with a sip of tea.
After the meal—which was so excessive it was exhausting, as if he’d eaten a week’s worth of food in one sitting—Cha Se-jin went out to the living room and exchanged a few formal words with Chairman Seo. While his own family had focused on the ‘marriage’ part of the arranged marriage, Chairman Seo focused on the ‘arrangement,’ rambling like a job applicant about how the two families should be more closely intertwined and how he would strive to solidify their trust.
Cha Se-jin let all those words go in one ear and out the other, playing with Eun-won’s back as the latter sat quietly beside him with his head bowed. Even as the listener, he felt a vicarious sense of embarrassment; Eun-won must have been even more ashamed. After an hour of watching his own father appeal for the company to be looked after in various ways without any shred of shame, how could he not be?
“We are one family now, so feel free to contact me whenever you need help. Don’t feel burdened.”
“Would there be such an occasion?”
He wondered what possible reason he would have to seek help from Baum in his lifetime. To reach out for help from Baum would mean that even Sewon couldn’t solve the problem, and such a thing was impossible.
“What do you mean by….”
It was absurd that the man was pretending not to understand when he had clearly understood exactly what he meant. Cha Se-jin wore a smile devoid of any malice.
“If I ever find myself needing help from Chairman Seo, it would mean things have gone truly fuck… hm, truly hopeless, and such a thing shouldn’t happen, right?”
“…Well, yes.”
“I’ll live a peaceful and successful life, so please just watch over us.”
“Yes, you should.”
Sighing in relief that the conversation had finally ended, Cha Se-jin quickly wrapped his arm around Eun-won’s shoulder and tilted his head.
“Where is your room, Darling? Show me. I probably won’t have a reason to come here after we marry, so I should see it now.”
“Ah, it’s on the second floor….”
Aware of how Chairman Seo and his wife’s expressions shifted by the second every time he spoke, Cha Se-jin pretended not to notice and stood up, asking for permission.
“May I go up?”
“Ah, of course. Honey, please bring some tea and fruit up to the second floor.”
“No need. I’ve had plenty.”
Are they trying to feed me to death or what? Cutting off Chairman Seo’s words, Cha Se-jin gave a light bow and walked up the stairs with Eun-won. He felt the unpleasant gazes hitting his back, and it made him feel good. It was proof that he had successfully grated on their nerves.
“It’s here.”
Unaware of his feelings, the sweet Eun-won led him to the room and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, Eun-won’s scent wafted out strongly. His senses sharpened pleasantly at the sweet and soft fragrance.
“Your room smells like you. Like milk with syrup.”
Entering the spacious and cozy room, Cha Se-jin looked around the space, which was better decorated than he had expected. He had worried they might have pushed him to the edge mentally by giving him some attic-like space, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I’ll open the window.”
“Why the window?”
“…You don’t like sweet things.”
“I don’t particularly like them, but why suddenly…. Ah, because I said your room smells like you?”
“Yes….”
Seeing Eun-won actually heading toward the window, Cha Se-jin laughed and slowly walked toward him. It wasn’t that Eun-won was doing it on purpose, nor was there any visible intention, but every single action he took drew the eye, and strangely, he always made something sweet.
Sometimes he made the gaze sweet, sometimes he made the tip of the tongue sweet, and most of the time, he made the tip of the cock ache.
“If I hated it, would I have come all the way here to do this?”
“…….”
“If I hated it, why did it end up like this?”
Eun-won took a step back as Cha Se-jin got excessively close. However, Cha Se-jin’s speed in closing the gap was faster than Eun-won’s retreat. With no more space to move back, Eun-won leaned against the window, and Cha Se-jin took one more step forward. Their bodies pressed together without a single gap.
Eun-won, who hadn’t immediately understood what Cha Se-jin’s last words meant, only realized the meaning after their pressed bodies slowly rubbed against each other. Something hard pressed against the area of his stomach.