Seo Kyo-Shin was really difficult.
Three days had passed since the day Shin-Yeon had his first drink and ended up staying overnight at Kyo-Shin’s place.
Arms crossed, Shin-Yeon sat at his desk, glaring at the messenger window on his monitor like he wanted to chop it in half.
[Kim Shin-Yeon: Good morning. The weather’s nice today, so if you have time, could you please marry me?]
[Seo Kyo-Shin: So baby really prefers bad weather. (Photo of the city under record-breaking snowfall)]
[Seo Kyo-Shin: I’ll be quite busy for a while, so it’ll be difficult to marry you^^ While you’re waiting, how about studying English? (Link: Learn English Easily for Beginners…)]
Staring at the screen with a sullen expression, Shin-Yeon grabbed his hair with both hands, thrashing as he shouted,
“Who said I don’t study English?! I study like crazy…! Ugh, seriously, the generation gap is insane. If he doesn’t tell me to study at least once a day, will his mouth break out in thorns or something?!”
Honestly, he wanted to stop studying and just enjoy his life.
Before starting university, he wanted to work part-time, hang out with friends—just live a little.
“If it weren’t for Kim Shin-Hee…”
Slumping over his desk, Shin-Yeon suddenly felt a wave of sadness and sniffled before closing the messenger.
He dragged himself out of his room and plopped down beside his mother, who was watching TV in the living room, whining as he leaned against her.
“Mom… what if I can’t marry Seo Kyo-Shin?”
“I’m not expecting much,” she replied calmly, popping a piece of fruit into her mouth before feeding him one too. “Your dad’s out there working hard trying to find new investors, so let’s just wait and see.”
“Don’t try so hard yourself. Just focus on your own life. I wonder if your brother’s doing okay, even with the baby… though I doubt it’s easy.”
“No way. Kim Shin-Hee’s probably thrilled right now. He’s been spoiled his whole life for being pretty—he’s selfish. He doesn’t care about the family at all.”
His mother nodded slightly, as if she couldn’t entirely disagree.
“Still, it’s his life. Don’t think of it only in a bad way. At least thanks to his engagement, the company survived this long… Your father bears a lot of the blame too, for not growing the business properly within three years.”
At her sigh, Shin-Yeon curled in on himself, his expression dimming, then quietly got up and returned to his room.
Bzzz—! Bzzz—!
[Seol Yi-Jun]
Lying on his bed with a sulky face, Shin-Yeon answered the call.
—Kim Shin-Yeon, you crazy bastard! Why the hell are you ignoring all my calls?!
“Hey… my brother screwed up with another alpha and ran away.”
—…What? Don’t tell me—he’s pregnant?
“Yeah… something like that.”
Rolling across the bed, Shin-Yeon let out a miserable groan.
“He already ran off, and now his fiancé’s side says the wedding venue’s booked. If we don’t fix this in two months, our family’s done… we’re seriously going to end up on the street.”
—Kim Shin-Hee’s completely insane! So you’re at home? If you are, get outside in twenty minutes.
“Okay…”
At Seol Yi-Jun’s flustered voice, Shin-Yeon dragged himself up.
He changed quickly, threw on a long padded coat, and grabbed only his phone and wallet.
Should I try contacting Seo Kyo-Shin one more time?
“…Sigh. Even with a wedding date set, it doesn’t seem like the blind dates are stopping. It’s obvious I’m not good enough. My family’s nothing special, I’m a recessive omega, and I’m not even good-looking.”
Maybe he should be grateful Kyo-Shin even bothered responding at all.
“Even if I stopped one blind date, he could just schedule another. Maybe I should just… give up on college and get a job first.”
Muttering gloomily, Shin-Yeon lightly bumped his head against the wall before heading out right on time.
“Mom, I’m going to see my friends.”
“Okay. Have fun.”
With a dejected face, he shuffled out the front gate—and soon noticed an unfamiliar car approaching.
“…?”
“Kim Shin-Yeon!”
The passenger window rolled down, and Ji Won-Min leaned out, waving.
Screech!
“Are you okay?!”
The moment the car stopped, Ji Won-Min jumped out and rushed over.
At 185 centimeters, he bent slightly to look into Shin-Yeon’s face, brushing back his soft brown hair.
Unlike Ji Won-Min’s delicate, handsome features, Seol Yi-Jun—who stepped out of the driver’s seat—had a sharp, rough-edged kind of beauty that gave off a delinquent vibe.
Not that he actually was one.
Two centimeters taller than Won-Min, Yi-Jun strode over quickly, glancing toward the house.
“Are your parents okay? You said your brother ran off?”
“When did you even get a car? I mean, yeah, he ran—but the bigger problem is his fiancé’s company might pull their investment all at once.”
As Shin-Yeon explained honestly, his eyes reddening as he lowered his head, Ji Won-Min pulled him into a hug.
“Our Shin-Yeon must’ve had a really hard time. It’s cold—let’s get in the car first.”
Shin-Yeon climbed into the back seat with him. From the driver’s seat, Seol Yi-Jun glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
“How much did they invest?”
“I don’t know exactly… but it’s close to ten billion won. Even if we sold the company and the house, we couldn’t come up with that much.”
At his answer, both of them sighed, their expressions turning grim.
They felt bad for him, but Suhan wasn’t exactly a company with strong future potential.
It had a reputation in the industry for being reliable and producing few defects, so it maintained steady business relationships.
But it hadn’t invested in new equipment or technology, so it lacked growth potential. And compared to its size, its internal structure was weak.
Recently, defect rates had started to rise, slowly shaking its credibility.
“It sounds like that guy was seriously into your brother,” Ji Won-Min said. “He picked him as his omega—that’s why he invested that much. To keep him close.”
Hearing that, Shin-Yeon realized that now his brother had run away, Seo Kyo-Shin probably had no attachment to Suhan at all.
“…Then no matter how hard I try, there’s no way to stop us from ending up on the street? Even if I beg him to marry me instead?”
Screeech—!!!
“Ahh?!”
While driving, Seol Yi-Jun slammed on the brakes and turned around with a murderous glare.
“Are you out of your damn mind? You wanna die? Who the hell are you begging to marry you, huh?!”
“Then what do you want me to do?! I have to do something to stop the company from going under! I know I’m worse than my brother, I know my traits aren’t as good! But I can at least try…!”
Shouting back, Shin-Yeon’s voice broke—and in the end, he burst into tears.
“Ah, seriously—this kid! Wipe your nose first!”
“My nose isn’t running!”
“Shin-Yeon, are you really that upset? We are too, you know.”
Holding him close, Ji Won-Min gently wiped his tears, soothing him.
Sniffling, Shin-Yeon glared at Seol Yi-Jun. His lashes were wet with tears, his eyes reddening quickly, giving him a strangely vulnerable look.
Seol Yi-Jun clicked his tongue, glaring back at him.
“Try pulling any stupid stunt like that again and I won’t let it slide. And why the hell would you end up on the street? You’ve got us.”
“…I already did.”
“What…?”
“I already did something stupid…”
At his muttering, Seol Yi-Jun pulled the car over, and Ji Won-Min said, startled,
“Wait—Shin-Yeon. Give me your phone.”
“N-no…”
“Take it.”
At Yi-Jun’s sharp command, even the usually gentle Won-Min’s expression hardened as he snatched the phone away.
“No! Don’t!”
“Relax. We’re just checking.”
Holding both of Shin-Yeon’s wrists with one hand, Won-Min restrained him while Yi-Jun opened the messenger.
The moment they saw the conversation with Seo Kyo-Shin, their expressions darkened—then twisted into something else entirely.
“…Hey. Didn’t we tell you not to learn weird stuff off the internet?”
“They said it was expert-level flirting!”
“Who would fall for this? Is this some kind of ancient flirting technique? And if a kid comes up begging to get married, do you think any adult’s going to say yes?”
As they read through the messages, both of them looked like they were about to lose their minds.
“Anyone can tell he’s just putting up with you because it’s a hassle to deal with—because you’re Kim Shin-Hee’s little brother.”
…Flinch.
Their words confirmed exactly what Shin-Yeon had suspected. At the same time, something stabbed painfully into his chest.
Lowering his gaze, he spoke quietly.
“I told you—I was just trying. I’m that desperate. I’m getting off here. Let me go.”
Twisting free from Won-Min’s grip, Shin-Yeon snatched his phone back from Yi-Jun and reached for the car door.
Click.
“What do you think you’re doing, getting out like that? Idiot. If something like this happened, you should’ve talked to us first—”
“What would that change?!” Shin-Yeon snapped, his voice shaking. “Are you going to donate ten billion won or something? That’s not a number you can fix realistically!”
“Still—!”
“Just open the door!”