"Ah, that's..."
Even after stepping into the elevator that arrived just in time, Joo Tae-hyun remained rooted to the spot.
What is it?
Seo Baek-han leaned his upper body slightly, pressed the open button, and stared intently at Joo Tae-hyun, who remained motionless.
He was thinking of making an excuse to leave if he continued to show no movement, but unfortunately, as if he had snapped out of it, Joo Tae-hyun boarded the elevator with quick steps. His voice, mumbling an apology, was slightly weaker than before.
What is it, really...?
Seo Baek-han furrowed his brow slightly. Joo Tae-hyun's quietness, which he had thought was comfortable, now felt a little displeasing. A guy who takes Switch because he likes rolling around with another Alpha wouldn't be embarrassed to be called a sex partner, would he...? Could it be that he didn't expect to be asked about the person I'm meeting? Is he upset that I'm prying into his personal life right now?
"Joo Tae-hyun."
"Yes?"
"I don't think you liking me is a reason for you to demean yourself in front of me."
"Ah... Yes? Wait a minute, hyung. I never did that, though? Ah, I don't like you. That's all in the past—"
"Oh, okay. Let's just say that."
Seo Baek-han stubbornly stared ahead. But since the inside of the elevator was surrounded by mirrors, Joo Tae-hyun's face, looking at him with a slightly dazed expression, naturally came into view. Joo Tae-hyun, who had stepped back just half a step, hesitated a few times as if he had something to say back, but eventually hardened his lips.
"Even if I were to marry you, I wouldn't care at all if you had other partners, as long as you meet them cleanly. Moderate sex can be helpful in controlling heat."
"......"
"That's why I'm asking, I need to know roughly what level your partner is at so I can take it into account. Whether you pick up one-night stands from time to time, whether you have someone you meet regularly, whether you give them compensation, and if so, how much."
"......"
"You don't have to be ashamed or intimidated to talk about this in front of me."
His eyes met one of the fragmented images of Joo Tae-hyun reflected in the mirrors all around. Thanks to that, he could observe his subtle expressions slowly changing, as if watching a video set to slow motion.
Watching Joo Tae-hyun bite his lip, put a little strength in his lower jaw, harden his face, and make his eyes resolute was, well. Yeah. It was quite interesting.
Seo Baek-han gave Joo Tae-hyun a definite bonus point this time. Unlike a little while ago, when he couldn't help but feel happy and excited, Joo Tae-hyun, who had gradually calmed down, seemed to be able to perfectly manage his emotions this time.
"The reason I'm considering your proposal even a little bit positively is because the attitude you showed me until just now matches the behavior I want from a spouse."
"......"
"The fact that you still seem to like me but deny it anyway, the fact that you tried to get me to marry you based on various reasons so I could understand the situation better than your feelings, and the fact that you're good at managing your expression... It's all not bad."
It didn't matter if Joo Tae-hyun was just making up excuses because he couldn't give up his feelings for him. The hastily made reason was worth listening to.
It would be even better if he prioritized his own situation over his feelings for him. In fact, Seo Baek-han liked this scenario better. Someone who has been in love alone for a long time to create a situation advantageous to himself, and is willing to marry someone who will never look back at him? He'd welcome that with open arms.
"That's right, that's it. That kind of face I sometimes see in press photos."
"......"
"I like it when you make that expression."
Was it because he was young? Even though his skin was soft, Seo Baek-han gently tapped Joo Tae-hyun's cheek, which had hardened as if frozen, without hurting him. Thanks to the slight loosening of the tense corners of his lips when Seo Baek-han's hand touched him, he looked much better.
Joo Tae-hyun, who had been standing blankly and accepting Seo Baek-han's touch, belatedly fumbled to touch his own face. As if trying to remember one by one what state he was in when Seo Baek-han praised him just now.
"Oh, and when you're organizing your partner's information, please also include what type of Switch you take. It's not the dirty kind, is it?"
The elevator doors opened on the first floor at just the right time. Seo Baek-han, who got off before the slow Joo Tae-hyun, suddenly realized that he didn't hear the same footsteps as before. Even if Joo Tae-hyun walked lightly like a nobleman, he thought it was a bit strange, so he turned around and saw him still standing stiffly in the square box.
"Joo Tae-hyun."
He quickly wedged his shoe into the closing door and repeatedly pressed the open button, and Joo Tae-hyun's dazed face, as if he were dreaming, appeared.
"What are you doing?"
"......Ah."
When he scolded him without hiding his somewhat pathetic expression, Joo Tae-hyun awkwardly moved his lips. After doing that several times, he was able to make the same expression that Seo Baek-han had touched just now. Even though it hadn't taken that long, the scene flowed strangely slowly in Seo Baek-han's eyes.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I was thinking about the materials to prepare. So... my academic plan and partner... list, and the list of Switch I've taken so far. Is that what I need to prepare?"
"Hmm."
He nodded in agreement.
In fact, Seo Baek-han could have obtained that much information on his own if he wanted to. Of course, it would be difficult to grasp the kind of intimate secrets as the documents Joo Tae-hyun handed over, but he didn't want to know that much in the first place. There was no need to. They weren't about to write a marriage contract in earnest, and weren't they just in a relationship where he had decided to meet him one more time due to a slight whim?
He just wanted to see how well Joo Tae-hyun understood his words and how he would react when he received such a request close to an order.
"Did you bring your car, hyung?"
"Yeah. What about you?"
He didn't even have time to hear Joo Tae-hyun's answer. As he got closer to the valet parking booth, the employees moved to both sides on their own without being asked. Seeing that several people had come forward, Joo Tae-hyun must have driven his own car as well? He had the image of someone who wouldn't go out without a driver, so it was unexpected.
"...I'm not used to driving in Korea yet."
With cheeks that had already turned red from the winter wind, Joo Tae-hyun rattled on about things he hadn't even been asked about. As if they were a loving couple whose words sped up when the bus they had to take came into view.
"So I'm trying to get behind the wheel as much as possible. My hyungs and noona... keep teasing me."
"Ah."
He thought he was suddenly saying something out of the blue, but Joo Tae-hyun seemed to know his own image. Seeing that he naturally let out the reason why he didn't bring a driver, it wasn't the first time he had experienced this situation.
Seo Baek-han ended the conversation with Joo Tae-hyun by not showing any particular reaction. An awkward silence fell between the two. Seo Baek-han, for his part, liked this level of discomfort, which felt like a suitable distance.
"Oh, hyung's car came out first."
Joo Tae-hyun said nonchalantly, looking at the car sliding towards them. There were two people waiting for the car, and since it wasn't his, it was natural to assume it was the other person's car, but... Seo Baek-han assumed that Joo Tae-hyun already knew the model of the car he drove and even the numbers on the license plate. Joo Tae-hyun might feel wronged if he heard that, but he thought it was a reasonable suspicion. He was a guy who had somehow found out that he was going to have a blind date with an Alpha, even though not many people knew about it yet, so he must have memorized information like the car's license plate as a matter of course.
At the same time, a slight regret washed over him. He was a guy who was being so bothersome just because he had talked to him a few times, so wasn't it a waste to have asked him to meet and talk one more time?
"I'm going."
"Yes. Um, hyung! If you look at the documents... there's a number written at the top, and that's my personal number. The one I used to contact you last time was for work."
After hesitating briefly, Joo Tae-hyun added that if anything came up, he should contact him at his personal number, and he would be able to reply quickly.
This time, he didn't even respond, let alone react. Next Sunday wasn't that far away, and he didn't want to become close enough to share the number Joo Tae-hyun used for personal purposes.
"Then I'll see you on Sunday, hyung."
Regardless of Seo Baek-han's lukewarm reaction, Joo Tae-hyun greeted him once more. It was, how should he put it? A voice that seemed to have squeezed out the last of his courage.
He wondered if he would answer this time since he was greeting him so diligently, but Joo Tae-hyun's car was soon driven out as well, so he missed the timing.
Seo Baek-han got into the driver's seat, turned on his frequently used navigation app, and entered his next destination. He was glad that it was a dinner appointment with relatively comfortable acquaintances, including Choi Yeon-jun. It wouldn't be a completely comfortable place, as the main topics would be the upcoming antique auction next quarter and the Crown Prince's tax evasion story.
Even when Seo Baek-han had finished preparing to leave, Joo Tae-hyun was still standing outside stiffly. He was craning his neck and peeking this way, which was reflected in the side mirror, so Seo Baek-han ended up rolling down the window.
Even though he replaced the greeting with a silent wink, Joo Tae-hyun was happy. The employees next to him wouldn't have noticed his change at all, but now Seo Baek-han could definitely see it.
"Tsk."
He lightly clicked his tongue and grabbed the steering wheel. Would Joo Tae-hyun continue to stay in place until his car disappeared? He didn't bother to check, so he couldn't know, but he had a feeling that he probably would.
A week later.
Since the exhibition at the National Museum of Korea on Christmas Day, the two had continued their dry meetings.
For the most part, Seo Baek-han unilaterally called Joo Tae-hyun out and asked him various things and listened to his answers.
Seo Baek-han's tone had become more friendly than before, but it was still indifferent, and Joo Tae-hyun remained unchanged. He would bow with a calm and melancholic face, and then faintly reveal his emotions to a level that only Seo Baek-han could barely recognize, and then immediately hide them.
After several of these strange meetings, which were closer to pressure interviews than dates, the two mutually agreed to become each other's legal spouses before the Lunar New Year.
With a secret sharing of a document filled with various terrifying clauses, including an item that condoned each other's Rut partners, separate from the prenuptial agreement written with both parents.
.jfif)