Confused, Jaekyung stared blankly at his face. He wasn’t even looking at Jaekyung as he spoke. He was simply staring straight ahead, speaking in a mechanical, almost recited manner.
“So, when you say it’s a house for me to live in… are you talking about our newlywed home? A house where I’ll… be living with you, Director?”
Our newlywed home…
He tapped the steering wheel twice with his fingers and let out a hollow laugh.
-“I suppose that’s what it’ll be.”
It was strange. It was supposed to be their newlywed home… a house they would live in together. So why did it sound as though he were talking about a house Jaekyung would be living in alone?
-“I’ve never seen the house.”
-“I’ve already had everything prepared. Once we have the wedding, Mr. Park Jaekyung you can simply move in and live there.”
The lawyer had said that both families would take care of the wedding preparations themselves, but Jaekyung had never imagined that a house would already have been prepared as well.
Well, he was the heir to NI Company, after all. It wouldn’t be strange for him to own several houses. Jaekyung was simply being placed into one of them.
“You’re really… caught me off guard.”
Jaekyung gave a bitter smile, finally voicing the words he had been holding back, albeit in a roundabout way. By then, even looking at his profile had become difficult, so he lowered his head.
-“There will be many more things to catch you off guard, Mr. Park Jaekyung.”
He immediately understood what Jaekyung had been trying so carefully to say and answered him cruelly.
-“You’ll have to endure them, Mr. Park Jaekyung. No one will help you. That’s the position beside me.”
“So… you’re telling me to live quietly, as though I were dead, doing exactly as Director Han and Director Ji tell me to.”
He did not answer.
Instead, he took a document from his bag and handed it to Jaekyung.
-“A week from now, we’ll hold an official press conference. The plan for it… Let’s call it a cue sheet.”
Just as he had said, the document was filled with meticulous details about what questions would be asked in the interview and how Jaekyung was supposed to answer them. It even listed what he should wear, where he was to get a massage, and what preparations he needed to make beforehand.
It really was a cue sheet, exactly as he had called it.
-“Memorize all the answers by then. You’ll need to deliver them naturally.”
This person really wasn’t someone he could reason with.
No—he simply had no intention of listening.
He had no intention of talking to Jaekyung… or of ever becoming closer to him.
Jaekyung felt like he was going to throw up. It was too much. He was short of breath, and his head was spinning.
When Jaekyung tried to open the car door to get out, it wouldn’t open.
“I want to get out.”
-“I’ll drive you home.”
“I said… I want to get out. Please open the door.”
“There are too many eyes around here.”
As far as Jaekyung could see, there was no one around. There really wasn’t a single person outside. What did he mean by saying there were so many eyes watching them?
“There’s no one here.”
-“Mr. Park Jaekyung, remember this. Even walls have eyes. Especially people like us—we have plenty of predators waiting for an opportunity to tear us apart. It’s easy for rumors to spread, too. If even one person sees you getting out here and carrying those boxes home, then everything we announced about the marriage today will be rendered completely meaningless.”
Han Taeseok never opened the door for him. He drove Jaekyung straight out of N Department Store and all the way to Jaekyung’s family home.
His words didn’t register.
The moment the car arrived and Jaekyung heard the locks click open, he threw the door open and bolted out.
“Oh my, Jaekyung?”
He heard his mother’s voice as she tended to the garden, but all Jaekyung wanted was to get to his room.
He locked himself inside, sank to the floor, and vomited. The food he had eaten that morning came up along with stomach acid, leaving him in a miserable state. But more than anything, he was frustrated because he couldn’t bring himself to vomit up the one thing he most desperately wanted to get rid of.
He covered his face with his hands and leaned his back against the wall.
Soon, there was a knock at the door.
-“Jaekyung, I heard Director Han came by. What happened?”
Mother.
-“Jaekyung, won’t you open the door? Did you have a fight with Director Han?”
Mother…
“…I’m changing my clothes.”
-“All right, I understand. Director Han brought over a box containing your belongings, saying they were yours. I’ll leave it outside your door and go. He said he’d call you today, so make sure you answer… Even if you’re angry about something, you need to be patient, all right?”
Mother… I don’t want to get married. I don’t think I can live with that man.
“Ugh… urgh…!”
As his mother’s footsteps gradually faded away, Jaekyung swallowed back the words he couldn’t bring himself to say. He looked down at the document envelope Director Han had given him, still clutched in his hand.
I need to find out.
What exactly was the deal that was made? If I can find out what happened, maybe there’s some way to get this marriage annulled. Maybe I won’t have to walk into that hell after all.
From that day on, without his father or mother knowing, Jaekyung began investigating how this marriage had come about and what role he was supposed to play in it.
But for some reason, even the driver and the housekeeper, who had known him for many years, kept their mouths firmly shut and shook their heads. No one would tell him why.
They only looked at him with pity.
With no other choice, Jaekyung eventually had to set foot in the place where his father was staying.
Director Ha was an old friend of his father’s and someone who cared deeply for Jaekyung, so Jaekyung went to see him and cautiously asked about it.
The man let out a deep sigh.
-“It isn’t my place to tell you.”
“You’re the only person who can tell me. Please… Please help me.”
Director Ha clasped Jaekyung’s hand tightly. He was someone who had looked after Jaekyung and supported him even more than his own father had. That was why Jaekyung had come all the way here, thinking this was his last resort…
-“Jaekyung. I imagine you’re having a very difficult time. But neither Han Taeseok nor NI Company is going to do anything to hurt you, so don’t worry too much.”
“That’s not the answer I’m looking for. I just… I want to know why I’ve become one of the sacrificial pawns meant to protect the real chess pieces.”
-“Jaekyung! Don’t call yourself a sacrifice!”
“Then what is this situation? I never even dreamed of coveting the heir position just because I’m an Omega. You know that better than anyone, Uncle. But even so… this isn’t right.”
Jaekyung pulled his hand away from Director Ha’s grasp and clutched his head.
If he had simply defied his father and lived however he pleased all this time, perhaps he would have felt less wronged.
And yet he couldn’t understand why his future was growing darker by the day, as though he were falling into an endless abyss.
Worst of all, the person pushing him into that darkness was his own father.
-“…I can’t tell you. But go ask Director Ji. She’ll tell you everything.”
Jaekyung was startled when an unexpected person came up in the conversation.
“Director Ji?”
-“Yes. She’s the one who brought the whole story to light, and she’ll tell you everything without hesitation. But I wish you wouldn’t hear it. I’m afraid you’ll only get hurt even more.”
Jaekyung didn’t want to look at the man’s face as he said that. If he was so worried about Jaekyung getting hurt, then he thought Director Ha should have actively stopped his father and protected him more. But Jaekyung knew very well that this had gone forward because Director Ha, as a director of the company, had agreed to it. So he knew there was no point in saying any of that.
Jaekyung rose from his seat.
Even if he was hurt even more in the process, he needed to know the truth.
He had to know.
Since he needed to go to the gallery anyway, Jaekyung hurried to leave. Of course, he traveled with Driver Seo, the chauffeur Han Taeseok had assigned to him.
When Jaekyung first met Driver Seo, they had exchanged names and little else. The driver was the same.
Other than when Jaekyung got in and out of the car, Driver Seo never even made eye contact with him or showed the slightest interest in him. In fact, Jaekyung sometimes felt as though he were riding in a self-driving car.
But it wasn’t uncomfortable.
If anything, it was more comfortable this way. The last thing Jaekyung wanted was for bits and pieces of casual conversation to be passed along to that family and become gossip.
As soon as Jaekyung arrived at the gallery, he went to Director Ji’s study.
She was reading a book with classical music playing in the background.
-“What is it?”
Even though Jaekyung had knocked and introduced himself when he entered, she remained focused on her book as though she had no interest in him whatsoever.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Director.”
“Then ask quickly.”
The woman’s voice was stiff and utterly devoid of emotion, which somehow made it feel even more chilling.
Pressed down by the intimidating atmosphere, Jaekyung hesitated. But he clenched his fists tightly and finally opened his mouth.
“…I want to know why you chose me to be your son-in-law.”
“I don’t understand why you’re suddenly curious about that.”
“I think I should know.”
“Even though Chairman Park hasn’t told you?”
“Yes…”
Director Ji, who had been turning the pages of her book with quiet dignity, closed it. She removed her glasses, rose from her seat, and came around to the front of the desk, gesturing toward the sofa.
“Sit.”
It wasn’t an invitation. It was an order.
Perhaps Jaekyung should be grateful that she wasn’t making him stand. He nodded, sat where she indicated, and straightened his back.
Director Ji sat down across from him.