"..."
Would this start to feel normal if I did it every day?
Riding in a chauffeured car as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Never having to struggle just to make enough money to get by. Simply choosing whatever he wanted to do...
Would I really end up living like that?
'And I'd like you to quit your job at the convenience store right away. If that's difficult to do immediately, tell me. I'll send someone to handle everything quietly so there won't be any problems.'
Eunwon knew that once he moved into the family home, he would have to quit his part-time job.
But the convenience store meant something special to him.
He wanted to speak to the store owner himself, ask for understanding, and leave on good terms instead of having someone else handle it for him.
'All right. Then you can take care of resigning yourself. But I want you to move into the house today. I'll send a car for you when your shift ends. Your room is already prepared. We can have someone move the rest of your belongings tomorrow, so just come yourself for now. I'll finally be able to stop worrying once you're home.'
The concern in his father's voice had been genuine enough that Eunwon had quietly agreed.
He hadn't had time to prepare himself.
But he also knew he couldn't ask his father to wait until he was ready—not when he didn't know if that day would ever come.
So he decided he would simply keep pace with his father's wishes.
"..."
Then after class, I'll go to the library and finish my assignment... grab something quick to eat at the convenience store...
The owner said he'd be coming in early today. I'll talk to him, clean out my locker, and that'll be it.
Objectively, it was no different from any other day.
Yet for some reason, his thoughts refused to slow down.
One future after another crowded his mind, each bringing a different emotion with it. Realizing how restless he'd become, Eunwon shook his head as though trying to scatter the thoughts.
"Class is over. What've you been spacing out about?"
"..."
"Hey, Seo Eunwon. Hey!"
The voice suddenly breaking into his thoughts made him flinch.
He turned toward the student sitting beside him.
Yoon Jiwoon was slipping his tablet into his backpack and pointed toward the front of the classroom.
When Eunwon looked back, he saw the professor leaving through the door.
He barely remembered listening to the lecture at all.
Apparently, class had already ended.
"Something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh... no."
Jiwoon laughed at his flat response, clearly unconvinced, and zipped up his backpack before throwing an arm over Eunwon's shoulder.
"Seriously? You still can't make it today? Can't you skip work just this once? Everyone told me to bring you along today. We're trying out that new izakaya that just opened. Come with us."
"Ah... today's a little difficult. But after this, I'll be able to. I'm quitting my part-time job."
"Seriously? That's awesome!" Jiwoon's face lit up. "Then next week we're celebrating Kim Dogyul's birthday. We're all going out for drinks—you've gotta come."
"Is that really okay? I'm not close with Kim Dogyul... I don't think we've even talked that much."
"You'll get to know him once you're there. Everyone's curious about you anyway. You're definitely coming next week, got it?"
"...Okay."
University life was nothing like middle school or high school.
Back then, even if he worked after classes, everyone spent the entire day together in the same classroom, so making close friends had come naturally.
College was different.
Getting close to people from completely different backgrounds required effort.
Effort Eunwon didn't have the time—or the confidence—to spare.
And after losing his mother, he'd learned that the more deeply he cared about someone, the more painful it was when they were gone.
That made opening his heart to people even harder.
It was why he was almost always alone.
Jiwoon was the one person who had approached him first.
The one who struck up conversations first, ate meals with him whenever their schedules matched, and simply decided they were friends.
Watching Jiwoon insist over and over that he absolutely had to come next week, making him promise each time, Eunwon found himself smiling.
Maybe...
Maybe I'll finally have the kind of free time I've never had before.
The thought alone filled him with quiet excitement.
***
Cha Sejin spent the entire day waiting for the sun to go down.
The moment darkness settled over the city, he turned into the alley where the convenience store stood.
He pulled up beneath the glowing store sign and, just like the night before, parked boldly in the middle of the road.
Before getting out, he checked his reflection in the rearview mirror.
Not that he needed to.
His face was perfect no matter what.
Still, he was about to visit his future spouse.
The least he could do was make the effort to check.
Satisfied, Sejin stepped out of the car and walked straight inside.
Unlike yesterday, he already knew Eunwon was there.
The instant the automatic doors slid open, the familiar convenience store smell was joined by the sweet, milky scent he'd caught the night before.
He drew a deep breath, letting the fragrance fill his lungs.
It was like warm milk flooded with sugar.
The scent sank deep into his body, settling low in his abdomen and stirring a strange pull inside him.
Normally, he hated anything sweet.
But somehow...
This wasn't unpleasant.
No.
It was more than that.
Instinctively, both his fingertips and the tip of his tongue seemed to grow sweet.
"Welco—"
"Welcome."
Seeing him, Eunwon abruptly stopped speaking.
Sejin finished the greeting for him as he walked up to the counter.
The soft pheromone scent—so faint most Alphas wouldn't even notice it—grew slightly stronger.
But Sejin wasn't an ordinary Alpha.
He was one of the few dominant Alphas in existence.
He could smell it perfectly.
"You're still exactly my type."
"...What?"
"Your face."
"..."
"You know that already, don't you?"
"You know how good-looking you are."
Even the wary irritation on Eunwon's face was absurdly beautiful.
Did someone really have to make a person this pretty?
It felt as though whoever had created Eunwon had lavished as much care on him as they'd lavished on Sejin himself.
"...If you need anything, please let me know."
"How old are you?"
Instead of answering, Sejin deliberately veered into an entirely different subject—a deeply personal question.
The caution in Eunwon's eyes sharpened instantly.
Finding out his age would've been easy.
But Sejin had intentionally avoided looking up any information about him.
Learning it directly would be far more entertaining.
It seemed he'd made the right decision.
"Hm..."
Judging by his face alone was surprisingly difficult.
He honestly looked like a high school student.
But that couldn't be right.
No one would present a high school kid as his arranged-marriage partner.
And even if they did, his parents would've rejected the match immediately.
"You're not in middle school, are you?"
"No."
"So... high school?"
"No."
Eunwon had absolutely no intention of answering personal questions.
But the unexpected guesses slipped past his guard, and before he realized it, he'd denied both of them.
"Then how old are you? Twenty? No... that's too close to my age. Twenty-three? No, you don't look it. Come on, be honest. You're seventeen, aren't you?"
"No. I'm not a high school student."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Oh, then you must be in middle school. You look about fifteen."
Eunwon stared at him in disbelief.
People had always guessed he was younger than he actually was.
But no one had ever mistaken him for a middle schooler.
The sheer absurdity left him speechless.
"I'm not."
"Then tell me. How old are you?"
"...Twenty."
"Damn..."
Sejin let out a low whistle.
"You're eight years younger than me."
Having successfully teased the answer out of him, Sejin tilted his head with a troubled expression.
He'd expected Eunwon to be young.
Seeing his face had made that obvious.
But hearing the number aloud was still more startling than he'd anticipated.
Marrying someone who was wearing a school uniform just a few months ago...
His mind flashed to everything he'd been doing only a few months earlier.
For the first time, he found himself wondering whether this marriage was really a good idea.
"You're in college?"
"..."
"Which university?"
"..."
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"...Sir." Eunwon finally looked him in the eye. "Please don't ask such personal questions. And if you aren't buying anything..."
"Oh, right."
Sejin grinned without the slightest embarrassment.
"Sorry. I forgot this is a convenience store."
"I'll go grab something."
Still smiling, he wandered farther into the store, picked up several bottles of wine from one of the shelves, and carried them back to the counter.
"What's the most expensive thing this store sells?"
"..."
"I'm not joking. I'm actually curious."
"...A limited-edition bottle of whiskey. We only received one. That's the most expensive item."
"I'll take it."
"...What?"
"I said I'll buy it."
Eunwon hesitated.
Buying something wasn't strange.
But after asking one intrusive personal question after another—only to suddenly announce he wanted the most expensive item in the store right after being told to leave if he wasn't going to buy anything—it felt... suspicious.
"Where is it?"
"It's... in the back. I'd have to go get it." He hesitated. "Are you really going to buy it?"
"Yeah. I really am."
"...All right. Just a moment."
He'd heard that large convenience stores in busy shopping districts sometimes stocked even more expensive bottles for promotional events, and those usually sold almost immediately.
This neighborhood wasn't like that.
Even so, the company apparently couldn't skip the seasonal promotions altogether.
The previous Christmas, they'd received a single limited-edition bottle of whiskey worth well over five hundred thousand won.
Months had passed.
Not only had no one bought it, hardly anyone had even bothered asking about it.
At first they'd displayed it as part of the promotion.
But after several close calls in the cramped store, where customers had nearly knocked it over more than once, the owner had finally moved the expensive bottle into the storage room for safekeeping.
Remembering that conversation, Eunwon went into the storage room, lifted the boxed bottle of whiskey from the back shelf, and carried it to the counter.