Secretary Jung: I’m sending the address. Unit 103, first floor, 45 Dopyeong 12th Street, Seongun District, Seoul. Fast Way Dopyeong Branch.
Secretary Jung: Just arrive before eleven.
***
Cha Sejin read aloud the address Secretary Jung had sent and entered it into the navigation exactly as written. When he saw it would take thirty-four minutes, he pulled out of the parking garage.
He was tired enough to consider calling his chauffeur, but no matter how discreet the man was, there was a world of difference between having a witness and not having one. So Sejin decided to drive himself.
Today, for the time being, he was in Good Son Mode, granting his mother’s desperate wish that he please, for once, stop causing trouble and stay quiet. Of course, going to see the marriage partner who had rejected him was already far outside the definition of a good son.
Since it was late, the roads were clear. As he drove toward Seongun District, Cha Sejin suddenly felt a strange sense that something was off and checked Secretary Jung’s message again.
“……”
It definitely said Seongun District.
Wait. Doesn’t Chairman Seo live in Baekdam? Why the hell Seongun District all of a sudden?
Seongun District was not what anyone would call a wealthy neighborhood, not the sort of place chaebol families considered when choosing a home. It was an area where redevelopment had only just begun, with buildings being torn down here and there and apartment complexes going up.
There was one more thing that made no sense. Fine, Seongun District might be explained away. Since Baum had a strong reputation in construction, maybe they were handling redevelopment there and someone had been living in the area for a few years. But the words in parentheses—Fast Way Dopyeong Branch—were not so easy to interpret.
That was a convenience store.
…Does Baum run convenience stores now? No, they don’t. That belongs to Ki Jaehyuk’s family. Did it get handed over to Baum at some point? No, even if it did, why a convenience store? Am I supposed to meet them at a convenience store?
With only three minutes left until his destination, Cha Sejin finally realized how absurd the address was and called Secretary Jung at once.
Secretary Jung did not answer.
Irritated, Sejin pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, sent Secretary Jung a message asking what the hell this convenience store was, and turned the wheel as the navigation instructed him to turn right sixty meters ahead.
“You will arrive at your destination in one hundred eighty meters.”
He drove straight down the narrow alley, and soon the navigation announced that he had arrived. Leaning forward over the steering wheel, Cha Sejin looked up at the convenience store glowing unusually bright in the dark alley.
The one-way street was narrow, and there was nowhere proper to park. Every car had been pulled as close to the storefronts as possible, but their tires still jutted out into the road.
Cha Sejin stopped roughly in front of the convenience store and got out. Beside it, he saw a bar he could not tell was open or closed, a motel, and what looked like houses.
“……”
The words Fast Way Dopyeong Branch were written on the convenience store door. He had no idea who he was supposed to meet in a place like this, but since he had already come all this way, he figured he might as well go in and see. If this really turned out to be bullshit, he could tear into Secretary Jung tomorrow.
Without hesitation, Cha Sejin opened the convenience store door.
A mechanical melody rang out as it swung open. It had been a long time since he had gone into any convenience store at all, and it was certainly the first time in his life he had entered such a small one tucked away in a back alley.
Apparently Secretary Jung had decided to screw him over by giving him this ridiculous address. He should go back right now, find Secretary Jung, and—
“Welcome.”
A clear, pretty voice reached him.
Just as he was about to turn away, thinking there was nothing more to see, Cha Sejin instinctively turned toward the sound.
His eyes landed on the young male part-timer standing behind the counter.
“……”
Holy fuck. That face.
The strongest admiration imaginable burst through his mind. It was a thought he had never had about anyone before, and naturally, a reaction he had never voiced either.
He could not understand how a face like that existed inside the Fast Way Dopyeong Branch. No, he had only seen the man’s face, and already he wondered whether Secretary Jung might have given him the right address after all.
That was how beautiful he was.
The face looking at him.
The face he was looking at.
So fucking beautiful.
And on top of that…
“…Is there something you need? If you tell me what you’re looking for, I’ll find it for you.”
There was a scent coming from somewhere, too sweet and soft to belong to a convenience store. It was like… boiling milk with far too much sugar syrup poured into it. White and fragile. That sort of scent.
The part-timer spoke to him again, apparently finding it strange that Sejin was only staring without saying anything. Cha Sejin drew one breath, though he was not sure whether he had been breathing at all, and walked toward the counter.
Up close, the man was beautiful enough to leave him briefly speechless. Beautiful enough that he wondered if this was even real. There was no way Baum’s son would be standing here in a convenience store vest, so Secretary Jung must have found this face and sent Sejin here to ruin his life.
Fuck. He knows my taste way too damn well.
“…Is there something you…”
“Oh. Right. Something I need.”
Now that he was suddenly in a convenience store for the first time in ages, nothing came to mind. Cha Sejin barely dragged his gaze away from the part-timer’s face and pointed at one of the cigarette packs displayed on the top shelf behind him.
The part-timer immediately understood and turned to take out the cigarettes. As Sejin watched, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He checked Secretary Jung’s name on the screen and answered.
“Yes.”
“Executive Director Cha, have you arrived by any chance?”
“Yes. Explain.”
“I should have added something when I sent you the address, but I was called into a meeting in a rush and forgot to contact you again. I apologize.”
“Fine. Just tell me what’s going on. What is this place?”
“The person in marriage talks with you is Baum’s illegitimate child.”
“What?”
At the word “illegitimate,” Sejin lifted his lowered gaze. His eyes met the part-timer’s. The young man had placed a pack of cigarettes on the counter and was waiting for his call to end.
The other side has a handicap too, so I thought the talks would go smoothly…
The word “handicap,” which his mother had used that morning, crossed his mind.
My handicap is my filthy reputation. Their handicap is… an illegitimate child.
“I also found it strange that the address was a convenience store, so I looked into it further. He is not simply an illegitimate child.”
“Then what?”
“It seems Baum knew about him years ago, but they never brought him into the family. That is still the case. So Mr. Seo Eunwon has been living with no connection to Baum, and Baum appears to need time because they are trying to persuade Mr. Seo Eunwon to go through with this marriage.”
“Even his name is pretty.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. I heard you. We’ll talk again tomorrow. At home.”
Cha Sejin ended the call and looked at the part-timer still waiting quietly behind the counter.
Eunwon.
Now he understood a little.
Why Baum’s son was in a convenience store.
And why Baum, after losing the son who had died in the riding grounds accident years ago and having no card left to offer in a marriage negotiation like this, had suddenly brought out someone like him.
“…Will that be all? Should I ring up just this?”
“Yeah. Just this today.”
“Yes, I’ll ring it up. Please insert your card in front.”
Cha Sejin had seen countless pretty omegas in his life, but this face was a first. His standards were so high he had practically never seen anyone who truly satisfied them, and yet this face satisfied all of it.
When he pulled his card from the reader, Eunwon lifted the cigarettes with both hands and held them out. Cha Sejin lowered only his eyes to look at the pale, clean hands offered toward him. The fingers were slender and long, and even the nails at their tips were a faint pink. In short, every part of him visible outside his clothes was beautiful. Beautiful enough to make Sejin imagine even the parts he could not see.
“You work until eleven?”
“Pardon? Oh… yes.”
“What time do you start?”
“Seven…”
“Oh, so you don’t work that many hours.”
“…Why do you ask?”
“I’m coming again tomorrow. Wouldn’t want to miss you.”
Wariness spread across that clear, beautiful face. It was obvious he thought Sejin was some strange bastard, but Sejin did not feel offended at all. If anything, he wanted to tease him so badly he could hardly stand it.
He wanted to make Eunwon more flustered, more confused, then scare him until he whimpered and cried.
Fuck, his crying face would be so damn pretty.
“…Did you need anything else?”
“No. I’ve seen your face today, so I’ll go.”
“…Good night.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
Eunwon looked at him as if he had no idea what Sejin was talking about, but he did not ask. He only told him goodbye.
Watching him, Cha Sejin grinned, crushed the cigarette pack he had just bought in one hand, and shoved it into the trash can near the convenience store door.
Then he left the convenience store, listening to the same melody as when he had entered.
Only now, it felt entirely different.