XX | Chapter 2.3

Jaewon changed the subject and told him how reporters had swarmed while he was asleep in the hospital. One persistent journalist in particular had been digging into Sooha’s past.

Reporter Park. Sooha knew exactly who that must be. That persistent bastard. Him and Baek Gongjun, both dying to ruin him.

“Some reporters even thought you were having a drug shock.”

“What? Me?!”

Sooha let out a hollow laugh, astonished. Because of his rebellious image, some people were ready to believe any rumor. Some reporters were even desperate enough to stake out his past. But it was always a bust.

Sure, he was a troublemaker and the industry’s favorite bad boy, but Cheon Sooha had always kept his boundaries.

Well… I’m curious what it feels like… but not really…

Anyway, Jaewon explained that with reporters already in a frenzy, if this incident leaked, it would only make things worse.

Even if Sooha insisted the other guy hit first, the headlines would be a mess. Especially when the other guy was from the Baekse Group. Could he really handle that?

Sooha felt wronged and protested. Honestly, wasn’t this self-defense?

Jaewon gave him a look like he was absurd.

“Then are you going to say you had a one-night stand with the youngest grandson of the Baekse Group, had a heat cycle, got a proposal, and hit him out of anger?”

“…No.”

He couldn’t say that either.

In the end, Sooha shut his mouth. The keywords alone—youngest grandson of Baekse Group, one-night stand, heat cycle, proposal, assault—were enough to break the internet.

“Just like you can’t sue Baek Gongjun, Baek Gongjun can’t reveal you’re an omega. Even if he’s from Baekse, could they really expose someone from Cheonha Group? He was just trying to get on your nerves.”

“Then what about my heat cycle?”

“What do you mean, what about it? It’s already happened.”

Who told you to have sex with someone whose identity you didn’t know while drunk?

You didn’t even know if you were the predator or the prey.

At Jaewon’s grumbling, Sooha shouted again.

“Hey!”

“Don’t shout. It echoes.”

Exhausted, Jaewon stood up, saying he was going home now. He told Sooha to stop throwing a fit and just go to sleep. Sooha stayed on the sofa in protest, but Jaewon ignored him and turned off the hospital room lights.

Click.

Darkness fell.

“Hey, but.”

Jaewon, who had been about to leave, stepped back into the room.

When Sooha looked up, he saw his cousin’s teasing grin.

“You two aren’t secretly dating, are you?”

“…Get lost, seriously. Before I kill you.” With a chuckle, the hospital room door closed. Even that guy is family.

It had been an unusually long day.

Sooha, feeling like a ragged mess, lay down on the bed with his exhausted body. But with all sorts of worst-case scenarios floating in his mind, he couldn’t easily fall asleep.

In the end, he read all the articles about himself on the internet. The article content was just as the agency had announced, saying he collapsed due to poor health, and the public didn’t seem particularly suspicious. None of the articles mentioned that he collapsed because of a heat cycle.

After checking all the posts on communities where celebrity-related articles were frequently posted, Sooha finally felt relieved.

Yeah, who would think Cheon Sooha collapsed because of a heat cycle? He had worried and fretted over nothing. Still, just in case, he scrolled down and refreshed the screen with his thumb. After doing that a couple of times, a new post suddenly appeared on the previously quiet site.

“…Huh?”

[I’m a staff member at the ㅊㅎ event venue, and if you’re curious about the real reason ㅊㅅㅎ collapsed today, come in]

At a glance, ‘ㅊㅎ’ referred to Cheonha, and ‘ㅊㅅㅎ’ was the initial for himself. His heart, which had been calm, started pounding.

When he clicked on the post, there was a photo of a uniform worn at the event that day as proof, and the post said to leave a comment, and they would reply with the details.

Scrolling down to the comments section, even though it was late at night, the number of comments quickly went from single digits to double digits.

[Comment: What is it? Curious
└ This comment is only visible to the author and the admin.
└ Crazy;;;;
Comment: Can you tell me tooㅠ Curiousㅠㅠ
└ This comment is only visible to the author and the admin.
└ Wow, insane, is it true????]

Why are all the comments private? Watching the uniformly surprised reactions made him increasingly anxious.

As the number of comments continued to rise, Sooha, unable to sit still, eventually left a comment. In less than ten seconds, a notification popped up saying there was a reply.

After refreshing the page repeatedly, he quickly clicked on the comment notification.

“…Ha!”

After reading the comment, the anxious look in his eyes relaxed, and the corners of his mouth lifted.

The secret comment on the comment he left, asking to be told, read as follows:

The reason Cheon Sooha collapsed at the event was due to a rut, and the event was halted because they had to ventilate the air filled with Sooha’s pheromone scent. It said that Sooha went down to the hotel on the floor below and resolved it with someone named ‘ㅅㅎㄹ’…

Who is ‘ㅅㅎㄹ’?

After a moment of thought, it seemed to be the initial of an idol member he briefly dated last year. A beta, but a man with an appearance as pretty as an omega, probably.

“Seriously, this is ridiculous.”

How could anyone believe it without some overlap? Even the subtly hinted romantic partner was someone he had met so long ago that he barely remembered. It had been enough time to break up and meet someone else more than a dozen times.

With his face illuminated by the phone’s light in the darkness, Sooha laughed like a madman.

Yeah, omega my ass.

Even if it was a rut, it was just a story. He had worried for nothing.

Free from the heavy anxiety that had been weighing on his chest, Sooha tossed his phone aside and closed his eyes with a light heart.

✮⋆˙

Murmur, murmur.

The muffled noise in his ears made Cheon Sooha open his eyes wide.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a large window bathed in moonlight instead of a wall. The window was so large that even if he added three times his height, there would still be space left, and it was even divided into three sections, making it look grand.

Where am I? Staring blankly at the round moon outside the window, Sooha turned around, surveying his surroundings.

‘…What the?’ Sooha’s mouth dropped open at the sight before him. It was like a scene from an old masterpiece, a medieval European palace unfolding like a painting.

Is it a palace? A cathedral? No… is this even Korea?

Starting from the chandelier that sparkled endlessly in the light, the ceiling had long white chiffon draped in an X-shape, hanging here and there. On both walls, smooth stone columns reminiscent of a Greek temple stretched in a line. Between the columns, there were lights emitting a soft glow and floral decorations. Red roses, which could easily look tacky, were well harmonized throughout the space.

The person who designed this space had clearly chosen red roses as the main flower. Sooha was convinced as he looked at the table covered with a white cloth. The centerpiece placed under the candelabra, with several candles, was predominantly red roses.

As he looked around with a dazed face, Sooha suddenly realized he was standing on a stage. The long carpet beneath his feet stretched along the long hall to the door on the opposite side. At the tables placed on both sides of the hall, people he hadn’t noticed until a moment ago were sitting.

They were all smiling at him, and everyone looked happy.

Is this a runway? But something feels different.

Moreover, all the people seated were faces Sooha knew. From industry acquaintances to school friends and old friends… even Cheon Yua and his parents were there.

Wait, what? Parents?

Why is Lady Moon Jeongae, who should be in Italy, here? And sitting next to Chairman Cheon at that? Surprised, Sooha mouthed words, asking what they were doing there, but his mother just smiled benevolently and waved with his father.

As he unconsciously waved back at his family, Sooha paused when he saw the white gloves on his hand.

Huh.

Lowering his head to check his attire, Sooha found himself wearing a tuxedo with a red rose boutonniere mixed with small, unknown flowers.

His thought process momentarily halted, and a thought crossed his mind.

Is this… my wedding?

A question mark popped up in his mind. Wedding? Me? With whom? He couldn’t grasp what was going on.

I have no intention of getting married.

For Cheon Sooha, who advocated for free-spirited romance, marriage was a very distant story. But I’m getting married? And in the middle of the night with a full moon high in the sky?

“Guests, please turn your attention to the back.”

Amidst his bewilderment, a familiar voice was heard. He saw Jaewon standing at the host’s seat, dressed in a neat suit.

“There will be an entrance of the beautiful bride, another protagonist of today’s wedding.”

Bride’s entrance? The bride I’m marrying?

“Please welcome her with a warm round of applause and cheers! Bride, enter!”

With Jaewon’s vigorous command, the double doors, tightly closed, opened.

As the doors opened, bright lights poured in, and Sooha briefly shielded his eyes with his arm. At the end of the long corridor, the silhouette of a bride in a wedding dress was visible.

If it’s a partner he’s going to spend his life with, he should recognize them at a glance—but no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t figure out who it was.

The orchestra’s grand yet heavy music, which didn’t quite match a wedding, began. As the bride, wrapped in a white wedding veil, walked gracefully, Sooha felt something strange.

Isn’t the build… too big?

If Sooha had decided to marry someone, they would surely be his ideal type, but someone with a build similar to or larger than his was definitely not his preference. No matter how he looked at it, it was strange.