DS 52

“To Pyongyang?”

Seo Baek-han looked troubled.

This time, it wasn’t that Joo Tae-hyun had deliberately chosen an answer that would please Seo Baek-han. It wasn’t like having two residences was too much of a hassle.

Joo Tae-hyun had no reason to stay in Seoul. On the other hand, Seo Baek-han said he was planning to return to Korea soon and join the research institute at the Royal Hospital, so wouldn’t it be better to stay in a place that was convenient for at least one person to live in? That’s what he had lightly thought.

There was no way Seo Baek-han couldn’t have made the same calculation, so why was he reacting so lukewarmly? Was Joo Tae-hyun missing something? Quickly retracing his steps, Joo Tae-hyun soon found a plausible reason.

“Ah, perhaps Hyung has someone he’s seeing… Hmm, if you have someone you’re seeing separately, then.”

Why had he been putting this issue aside?

This was a marriage where only the conditions were the top priority, and they were already negotiating the contract. When Seo Baek-han asked him about other partners or people he was dating, why hadn’t he thought that Seo Baek-han might have someone like that too?

Moreover, Seo Baek-han had quite a colorful history. He always made it clear to his partners from the beginning that they were only dating, but Seo Baek-han was very good to his girlfriends. Even though they changed often, he focused only on that person while they were dating. At least, that’s how it looked to young Joo Tae-hyun. If Choi Yeon-jun or Joo Yun-woo hadn’t added their comments, he would have believed that Seo Baek-han truly loved his girlfriends.

Seo Baek-han was kind even to Joo Tae-hyun, who was nothing to him, so it was only natural that he would want to be more attentive if he had a lover… Comforting himself that this marriage was just a contract, and he had no interest in his spouse, who was the same alpha and the same man.

“It’s not that.”

Seo Baek-han shook his head, saying that wasn’t it a condition of their marriage to honestly share if they had a sex partner or lover. What, so it wasn’t about a lover? No, did that mean he didn’t have anyone at all?

“Then why? I really don’t mind.”

Joo Tae-hyun fiercely suppressed the corners of his mouth, which were trying to curve into a smile. He hoped his voice didn’t sound too excited when he asked. These days, it had become a habit to scrutinize and review his attitude, expression, voice, and tone when he was with Seo Baek-han.

Joo Tae-hyun quickly composed his face and glanced at Seo Baek-han. Fortunately, he seemed to be choosing his words and hadn’t noticed the change in Joo Tae-hyun.

“Well, the people in Pyongyang are a bit… Our family has some peculiar aspects.”

Seo Baek-han smiled faintly, saying he was a little embarrassed to say these things himself.

“I don’t really like this expression, but there’s that really famous saying, right? That anyone who marries Seo Baek-han should be prepared to be scrutinized by 500 million citizens of Pyongyang. That’s not a joke. Something that’s nothing to you could easily become the talk of the town.”

“Well, I get photographed and filmed often, so…”

“It might be beyond that level. You’ve never had your every move analyzed and criticized like, ‘Seo Baek-han’s spouse bought something at such-and-such place in Pyongyang and handed over the card to the store owner in such a way,’ or ‘They ordered food and didn’t even finish it, and didn’t seem to enjoy eating it’… have you?”

Joo Tae-hyun, who had only been prepared to avoid wearing clothes with logos or expensive watches and to drive domestic cars as much as possible, finally understood the context that Seo Baek-han was pointing out and swallowed hard.

That aspect… he had definitely been taking it too lightly.

“For someone from another region like you to marry me and live in Pyongyang, it might mean calculating, decorating, and directing everything from head to toe.”

So, what Seo Baek-han was trying to say was that it would be impossible to go around with dozens of bodyguards and easily get rid of people who bothered him by mobilizing the company’s legal team, as he had done before.

“Pyongyang is my base, and I’m planning to join the Royal Hospital, but do you really need to live feeling like you’re being watched by people? I know how much DH cherishes you.”

“Hmm…”

Joo Tae-hyun only made an ambiguous sound. He knew he had to be prepared, but if he was just happy that Seo Baek-han seemed to be worried about him even in this situation… wouldn’t that mean he was too immature?

“Don’t make a hasty decision and think about it carefully. The wedding is next year anyway.”

And since the topic came up, Seo Baek-han touched the tablet screen. He went into the most recently created unnamed folder in his frequently used memo app, and a neatly drawn floor plan appeared.

“I’ve been thinking about the structure of the honeymoon home. I think it should be at least two stories high, no matter where we live. We can’t put the entire master room on one floor.”

Surprisingly, it was a drawing of the honeymoon home that Seo Baek-han had come up with.

No way, he was even planning this? Considering his personality, where he had to check everything himself to be satisfied, it seemed natural, but seeing him preparing so thoroughly even though it was just a formal marriage, Joo Tae-hyun also felt excited.

Honeymoon home…

That word had a ticklish resonance that was much bigger for Joo Tae-hyun from the start. However, he thought it would be better not to show any expression in front of Seo Baek-han, so he tried to act nonchalant.

Joo Tae-hyun had also drawn a simple picture of his ideal honeymoon home. He had kept it to himself, fearing that Seo Baek-han would hate it, but in this atmosphere, wouldn’t it be okay to mention it casually?

Like putting a small table where they could drink tea together in a sunny spot, or finding childhood photos taken in similar poses and placing them in a row on the display case… They were really simple things like that.

“First of all, we’ll definitely use separate bedrooms, so it would be convenient in terms of traffic flow to connect a personal bathroom or dressing room to the bedroom… If we add a study for each of us, it would look like branches growing out from each of our bedrooms.”

“Ah… That, that’s right.”

It didn’t even take a minute for his excited heart to be shattered.

Joo Tae-hyun stared blankly at the floor plan of the honeymoon home, which was divided as coldly as possible. He wondered if even dormitory roommates would have less distance between them than this. But should he be thankful that they at least thought of common spaces like the living room or dining room?

“I’d like it to be in a slightly elevated area. I don’t really like underground parking lots, so I’d like a structure that’s underground but actually 0.5 or 1 stories above ground.”

“…Ah, I like that too.”

“And if possible, I think it would be good to build a guest room in the basement as well.When he turned the page, there were traces everywhere of Seo Baek-han’s worries about how to decorate the basement’s surplus space. The lines weren’t as clean as when dividing the two people’s bedrooms. There was even a note with a circle drawn around a rough area and a question mark next to “Wine rack?” Seo Baek-han would be dumbfounded if he heard it, but Joo Tae-hyun strangely couldn’t resist the cuteness of those two question marks.

Was this what it felt like to be thrown into the middle of Siberia and then dragged by the scruff of the neck to the Sahara Desert? When he was with Seo Baek-han, he became happy over the smallest things, and then greatly heartbroken over trivial matters. Seo Baek-han himself was indifferent, but Joo Tae-hyun, who had feelings for Seo Baek-han, was busy going back and forth between heaven and hell.

He shouldn’t be swayed. He had to quietly, calmly like him until these feelings were all used up… He tried to resolve himself every time, but it was no use.

The bigger problem was that he couldn’t come to his senses because he was so ecstatic every time Seo Baek-han gave him a little bit of his side. And what’s worse, he was slowly getting used to it.

In the past, whatever Seo Baek-han said was close to Joo Tae-hyun’s own interpretation, but now that they were sitting face to face like this and even talking about the honeymoon home, he was unknowingly growing greedy. Now he was even discovering a sullen question mark that didn’t suit Seo Baek-han and liking it on his own.

Even though he knew that Seo Baek-han hadn’t given him anything.

“If you have a partner or lover, I’d like you to bring them home rather than to a hotel. That would be safer in many ways.”

And as always, Seo Baek-han didn’t let Joo Tae-hyun indulge in peaceful fantasies. The slightly excited feeling he had about the honeymoon home sank endlessly. Was he doing this on purpose? As if to remind him not to forget that he and Seo Baek-han weren’t getting married because they couldn’t live without each other, Seo Baek-han periodically brought up the topic of meeting other people.

Right. Joo Tae-hyun realized once again. Being happy couldn’t necessarily be the same as being peaceful or comfortable. Even though it felt like he was branding his insides with an iron every time this happened, he still thought he was happy to be able to hold onto Seo Baek-han.

“…Still, bringing them home, the other person might be a little uncomfortable.”

“They have to accept it since they’re sleeping with a married man. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s, that’s true.”

“I’m not going to say anything if you have a meal with your lover outside. If the other person is also an alpha and a man, it might be a date in your eyes, but it might be difficult for others to find fault with it. But, Tae-hyun. No hotels.”

Seo Baek-han said gently, as if coaxing a sulky child.

“Have sex at home. Don’t give others an excuse to chew on you, or rather us, with sensational words like adultery from the start. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

“Good. Cheating is not allowed.”

Joo Tae-hyun just nodded vaguely, throwing his gaze into the distance.

He wouldn’t care at all if he was fucked by another alpha, or if he fucked someone else, but he was telling him not to cheat.

Joo Tae-hyun really didn’t care about the location of the honeymoon home anymore. It was okay to use separate bedrooms, or even to have completely separate living spaces.

‘Tae-hyun. If you were talking about marriage for such a reason, I would have been disappointed in you. Very much.’

But today, for the first time, he realized that he had committed a terrible act. The lie that he had someone he was seeing separately, and the lie that Hyung was okay with it too, had become a self-inflicted wound that began to bind Joo Tae-hyun. He couldn’t blame anyone. It was a trap he had set himself.

“Ah, right. That Dirty Switch you took.”

“Yes? Yes…”

“What does it feel like?”

At Seo Baek-han’s nonchalant question, Joo Tae-hyun swallowed a cough that almost burst out. He wasn’t trying to criticize or test him. He seemed to be asking because he was really curious.

But why was he suddenly asking about the Switch? Did he suddenly remember it because the topic of partners came up?

“Without even going by country, some states in the US classify it as a narcotic, while others don’t… I’m curious about what symptoms it causes. I’m also curious about what the effects are.”

‘So, can you even suck a finger, let alone someone else’s dick? Open wider.’

He knew that Baek-han’s biggest interest was the Switch. He said that his goal was not only to legalize this drug in Korea, but also to improve it to a safe level as originally intended.

The problem was that he was superimposing the image of Seo Baek-han he had seen on the day he took the Dirty Switch onto Seo Baek-han, who was just asking about the effects of the drug. Just the fact that Seo Baek-han was mentioning the Switch made him feel a sense of guilt for no reason, as it reminded him of that day, which he had been trying so hard to forget.

Even though Joo Tae-hyun knew that Seo Baek-han was only asking from an academic perspective, as befitting a researcher who had written numerous papers, he felt strangely choked up. He had been able to maintain a good poker face even when Seo Baek-han told him not to talk about partners or affairs, but when asked about his experience with the Switch, his head naturally drooped.

“If it’s classified as a drug… do you see hallucinations, or feel different from usual? How exactly does it change you?”