“It sounds like they want to bind our families through marriage and strengthen their trust that neither side will betray the other. Isn’t that strange? Things like this are common in our circles, but to you, Eunwon, it must sound completely absurd.”
At the wholly unexpected words, Eunwon could only blink blankly.
An arranged marriage…?
He had heard the phrase in television dramas, but this was the first time anyone had spoken of it in real life. It felt so unreal that he could not even immediately understand how an arranged marriage was supposed to work.
“Everyone thought Yunhan was Baum’s only child. That was why no one had ever approached us with a proposal like this. But… people found out about you, Eunwon.”
“……”
“We weren’t planning to hide you. We intended to let people learn about you naturally, but… when we went shopping together, so many employees and other people saw us. The rumors must have started then. Rumors always spread quickly, but in our world, they travel especially fast. Everyone involved has no choice but to be sensitive to even the smallest whisper.”
The more Madam Seo explained, the more bewildered Eunwon became.
So right now… the person S Group wants as the partner in this arranged marriage…
Is me.
The conversation had taken such an unexpected turn that he did not know how to react. Eunwon merely stared blankly at Yeo Heejin.
“That was how S Group learned about you… and then they proposed an arranged marriage. To be honest, S Group and Baum aren’t families that would ordinarily arrange a marriage between them. I don’t mean that as an insult to you. You understand, don’t you? Are we even on S Group’s level? A proposal like this would honestly put them at a tremendous disadvantage. That’s why we never imagined they would make one.”
Eunwon understood what Yeo Heejin meant.
Even someone like him, who knew very little about such matters—no, anyone at all—could see that S Group and Baum could not be placed on equal footing.
S Group was the first company almost every Korean thought of when the words chaebol family were mentioned. And in the dramas Eunwon had seen, arranged marriages usually joined families of similar standing to reinforce their alliances.
Yet now they suddenly wanted an arranged marriage with him?
“…But why me…?”
“I don’t know…. I don’t even know yet whether they mean to marry you to one of their sons or perhaps a cousin. But there must be some reason. Maybe the other person has some kind of handicap. It feels wrong to say this in front of you, but… I honestly don’t understand why such an extraordinary family would want someone from a family like ours… especially an illegitimate child.”
Yeo Heejin, the very person who had used the handicap of S Group’s promiscuous second son to dangle Eunwon as bait, pretended to know nothing. With a face that looked ready to collapse at any moment, she poured out one lie after another.
“But it’s unthinkable. How could we send you away for the sake of the company? You’re our son, and we only just found you…. How could we use you to save Baum? It’s absurd. I’m only telling you because it could never happen…. Your father was furious too. He said he would rather lose the company than send you away as a hostage.”
“……”
“That’s why he’s looking for another way. Somehow, everything will work out. So forget everything I just told you and don’t worry about any of it. All our Eunwon needs to do… is concentrate on school. All right?”
No matter how many times she told him not to worry, Eunwon could not stop.
Naturally, he could not.
If another solution existed, his father would not have spent night after night awake, too haggard with anxiety even to finish a meal.
But… even so…
He could not enter an arranged marriage.
Marriage, all of a sudden… and not even marriage to someone he loved, but marriage used as a means of solving a business problem.
That made no sense either.
“Still, I think I feel a little better after telling you. Maybe this is why people need sons. Thank you for listening, and I’m sorry.”
“…Thank you for telling me.”
“Forget everything I said. How could we send you into that family? It’s impossible. Your father and I have already discussed it to some extent. If nothing works, we’ve decided to accept the consequences. Losing the company will be painful, but even then… we’ll find some way to live.”
Even at the very end, Yeo Heejin did not forget to pretend she was protecting Eunwon while driving him toward danger. She moved to sit beside him and gently patted his back.
She had succeeded in pushing Eunwon this far. Now all that remained was to hear his answer.
S Group’s second son had spent his life behaving promiscuously, and thanks to him, she had been handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
On top of that, Eunwon was an eye-catching omega who had inherited his mother’s pale face and Seo Junhyuk’s blood.
No Alpha would be able to refuse him after seeing that face.
“It’s already so late. Go upstairs and rest.”
“…Yes…. You should rest too.”
“I will. Sleep well, Eunwon.”
After exchanging good nights, Eunwon climbed the stairs, his back weighed down by worry.
Yeo Heejin leaned against the sofa and used a tissue to dab away the tears that had not yet dried.
Her eyes, unable to conceal how desperately she wanted Eunwon removed from the house as soon as possible, fixed once more on the empty staircase.
***
Back in his room, Eunwon could not fall asleep even as dawn approached.
Madam Seo’s words kept circling through his mind, pressing so heavily against his chest that at times his breathing stopped altogether.
While he had been finding such a powerful sense of belonging in the word family, the company forming the very foundation of that family had been collapsing.
Even when he tried to think of some way to help, the only words that surfaced were arranged marriage.
It was something he could do, yet also something he could not.
He quietly tested the word marriage on his tongue several times, but it felt unbearably strange.
Nothing improved that night, or the next, or after another day and then another had passed.
His father barely came home anymore, and Madam Seo stayed awake waiting for him.
The lack of sleep was beginning to wear Eunwon down.
Restless with tangled thoughts, he finally rose from bed and left his room. He felt too suffocated to fall asleep like this. Perhaps going out into the garden and letting the night air wash over him would clear his head.
“……”
When he stepped outside, the heavy, slightly humid air settled against his skin.
Usually, the lingering dampness of summer would have driven him straight back indoors, but tonight he welcomed its weight. Eunwon sat on a garden chair and spent a long time trying to cool his crowded thoughts.
No matter how worried he was, and no matter that there was something he could do, he tried to erase from his mind the one solution he could never choose.
Wanting to forget did not make it disappear, but he still wanted to force it away somehow.
After sitting there for about an hour, he went back inside.
The living room was noisy.
Eunwon followed the raised voices. From the brightly lit study came the sound of his father and Madam Seo arguing.
“Honey! Please stop! How could you do that to Eunwon? It’s unthinkable. I absolutely cannot do it. Never.”
“Then what are we supposed to do? The embargo will be lifted next week. By Wednesday morning, everyone will know! Are you telling me to stand by and watch the company collapse?”
“Even so, we can’t. We only just brought him home. How can we sell off a boy who hasn’t even had time to adjust?”
“Sell him off? How can you say that? No one is saying we should marry him immediately! I’m only saying he could meet them once so we can buy some time. They said they want to see Eunwon…”
Both their agitated voices were thick with tears.
They sounded almost like cries of anguish from people who genuinely had no idea what to do. Eunwon leaned against the stair railing and lowered his head.
“But how are we supposed to say that to him…? It would be no different from telling him to go meet a prospective spouse…. Honey, let’s give up on everything. We don’t have a choice….”
“…I don’t want to say this to you either. I know…. Even if I hate the thought of losing the company… of losing what I devoted my entire life to building, I know I mustn’t do this to Eunwon….”
“…Honey….”
“…I’m sorry. I think I lost my mind for a moment. I’ll contact S Group tomorrow and tell them we can’t do it. You were right about everything.”
His father’s voice fell apart weakly.
After that, there was only the sound of Madam Seo sobbing. Their conversation did not continue.
Eunwon forced his strengthless legs to move and climbed the stairs.