XX | Chapter 1.7

Jaewon argued with an aggrieved face, and Sooha fell silent. Somehow, he felt like he was losing ground.

“So, who was the guy you left with? You were whining about the place being boring until you went into the bar.”

“Ah, I don’t know. Go away.”

Sooha mumbled, feeling like memories he wanted to forget were resurfacing. As he picked up a champagne glass from the catering table and drank, Jaewon, noticing something different in his reaction, showed more interest.

“What is it, that reaction? What happened? Huh?”

Jaewon persistently poked his side with a mischievous grin. Sooha regretted bringing it up. Why was today like this? He looked around for something to divert Jaewon’s attention.

Not far away, he spotted another familiar face.

It was Cheon Yua, the successor of Cheonha Group and his relative, who hosted today’s event. As soon as he saw Yua standing gracefully among middle-aged men, Sooha instinctively went—

“Ugh.”

Even from a distance, Cheon Yua was a head taller than those around her. Although shorter than Sooha, she was over 10 cm taller than the average female dominant alpha, who stood at 170 cm.

Plus, she wore high-heeled dress shoes, making it feel like looking at a giant among dwarfs. The reason why the over-180 cm Cheon Yua wore high heels was obvious—it was to assert dominance.

The executives, who were conversing with her, resented her being the successor of Cheonha and were always looking for opportunities to bring her down. But to Cheon Yua, they were like pesky flies buzzing around. She said that those who didn’t know their place needed to be put in their place periodically.

In a situation where most people would struggle to maintain their composure, Yua displayed a skilled demeanor. She elegantly smiled without a hint of displeasure, embodying the phrase she often said:

A predator doesn’t fall for the provocations of mere small animals.

Sooha thought that both he and his relative lived with an annoying sense of self-importance.

Amidst the old men, he spotted a familiar face that seemed to be around his age.

“Hey, isn’t that the eldest son of Baekse Group next to Cheon Yua? What’s he doing here?”

Sooha whispered to Jaewon, who was engrossed in eating again, seemingly having forgotten about Sooha’s story from the previous night. Jaewon looked at where Sooha pointed and acknowledged.

“Oh. I heard all three sons of Baekse are coming today, and it seems they really did.”

“Three sons?”

Wasn’t it two? Sooha soon recalled another presence besides the eldest son in front of him.

“Oh, the vice chairman’s illegitimate child?”

“Hey, hey…!”

Jaewon was startled and nudged him with his elbow at the unfiltered comment. But Sooha didn’t think much of it. An illegitimate child is an illegitimate child, so what else would you call it?

The illegitimate child of Baekse Group was a hot topic even for Sooha, who had no interest in political or economic issues. Unlike the Baekse chairman, who remained faithful after his spouse passed away, his son, the vice chairman, was notorious for his affairs.

Many claimed to have had the vice chairman’s child, but the chairman, who usually dismissed them without hesitation, had taken in only one child—who was now the youngest grandson of Baekse Group.

There were various theories about this at the time. The most plausible one was that the youngest grandson was a dominant alpha.

However, he had never appeared in public, and less than a year after being taken into the Baekse family, he went abroad to study, so it remained a theory.

What was certain was that the two grandsons, known as the eldest and second sons, were recessive alphas. This was a widely known fact.

“Honestly, they say it’s studying abroad, but wasn’t it practically exile?”

Jaewon said while continuing to eat.

“But somehow, he survived and recently joined Baekse Trading as a director. It’s the smallest subsidiary of Baekse, but still… They say the Baekse chairman secretly favors the youngest grandson.”

“Really?”

Sooha replied indifferently, but Jaewon kept rambling.

“Yeah. So do you think the eldest and second sons would just sit back? They probably came here today to keep an eye on the youngest grandson.”

Now it made sense.

No wonder it seemed odd that Baekse people came all the way here. It wasn’t an official event hosted by Cheonha, just a private gathering of a few businessmen and entertainers. But if the reason they came was to keep an eye on the youngest grandson, it was understandable.

Well, it has nothing to do with me.

Sooha clicked his tongue and quickly lost interest. Whether the youngest grandson was really a dominant alpha or not didn’t matter. Alphas weren’t Sooha’s concern. The other sons were the same. Whether they were recessive or not, whether the youngest became a director or not—it was none of Sooha’s business.

“But what was the youngest grandson’s name again? Baek… Baek… something.”

But Jaewon was still on about Baekse Group. When he started mentioning the name of the youngest grandson, which Sooha wasn’t curious about, he began to feel a bit annoyed.

“Of course, he’s a Baek since he’s from Baekse Group.”

“That’s true. Oh, what was it? The name was a bit unusual.”

Jaewon struggled to recall the name that lingered on the tip of his tongue.

Whether he remembered or not, Sooha scanned a few people passing by who were his type. They, too, cast subtle glances at Sooha. They seemed ready to open their arms if Sooha made any move.

He wanted to approach and talk, but today wasn’t the day, so he had to be content with just looking.

This made the event even more boring. It felt like he’d been there for quite a while, and he just wanted to go home.

The thought of home made him yawn.

As Sooha looked around the event hall, he spotted a man’s back standing out among the crowd in the distance. He couldn’t see clearly because of the people in front, but the height was exceptional. A model? Otherwise, it was an inexplicable height and physique.

‘But he seems familiar…’ As he squinted to get a better look at the man’s face, Jaewon, who was still trying to remember the name, snapped his fingers.

“Ah! I remember! Baek Gongjun!”

Simultaneously, the man standing about 10 meters away turned around. Their eyes met.

Crazy…

“Baek… Gongjun…?” Jaewon, mistaking Sooha’s reaction as agreement, responded with an excited voice. He said the name was memorable because it was similar to Snow White (Baekseol Gongju in Korean), and he couldn’t understand why he hadn’t remembered it sooner, continuing to chatter on his own.

‘Why is that guy here?’ Meanwhile, Sooha was so shocked by the unexpected appearance of the person that his mouth hung open.

Noticing his intense gaze, the man on the opposite side met his eyes. His eyes curved into a gentle smile without a hint of surprise. It seemed like he had anticipated the meeting.

As Sooha stood there, rooted like a stone, the man maintained eye contact and headed toward the balcony.

I need to meet Baek Gongjun immediately.

Sooha, as if entranced, handed his champagne glass to Jaewon and followed him.

“What? Where are you going? Hey! Cheon Sooha!” He heard a voice trying to stop him, but he didn’t have the mental capacity to respond right now.

“Hello, we meet again.”

As soon as he stepped out onto the balcony, Sooha came face to face with Gongjun, who was leaning against the glass railing. The sparkling night view behind Gongjun made it seem like a scene from a movie, but Sooha couldn’t care less about that right now.

All he could do was gape and point, stammering, “You, you…!”

‘He wasn’t a no-name entertainer?’

The youngest grandson of Baekse Group, that Baek Gongjun, was the lunatic standing before him! No wonder he had asked if Sooha knew who he was and showed no interest even when offered money.

The shock was secondary; another thought took root in his mind.

A one-night stand that was supposed to end as a mere incident was only valid when the other party was an ordinary person with no connection to him. But if that person was a member of Baekse Group? That was a different matter.

Ignoring a baseless rumor like ‘someone breached Cheon Sooha’s back’ was one thing, but ‘Baekse Group’s youngest grandson breached Cheon Sooha’s back’ was a whole different story.

It would quickly transform from an absurd tabloid into a sensational rumor that piqued people’s interest.

If such a rumor started circulating, people would be puzzled about a dominant alpha like Sooha being the one penetrated, aside from the embarrassment.

If he was lucky, it might be dismissed as a personal sexual preference, but if not, it could lead to controversy about his trait.

It might sound like an exaggeration, but it was entirely possible. That’s how rumors work. A little slip of the tongue, and they snowball, and if a journalist inflates it to suit the public’s taste, people flock to it.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

With a determined expression, Sooha strode toward Gongjun. In the blink of an eye, he trapped him against the railing with both hands.

As he looked up with a fierce gaze, Gongjun, filling his field of vision, smiled without a hint of surprise.

“Haha, you’re quite aggressive.”

“Let me ask you one more time for confirmation. You remember what I said today, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then there’s no need to explain twice. I’d like you to treat me as if you don’t know me from now on.”

“Hmm… And why should I do that?”

“Haha. So you can go around bragging that you took my virginity?”

The conversation was anything but friendly despite the seemingly intimate posture.

While Gongjun’s upper body was trapped between Sooha’s arms, his lower body was positioned between Gongjun’s legs. It looked like a lover’s embrace to anyone watching, but the two seemed oblivious to it.

“Sooha, you’re… quite amusing.” You only think of one thing and not the other, don’t you? Gongjun chuckled, covering his mouth with a neatly clenched fist.

What is he talking about now? Sooha frowned and stared at him, and Gongjun’s bright face spoke softly.

“Is that really the only thing Sooha wants to hide?”

“If you have something to say, say it properly. Don’t confuse people by beating around the bush like that.”

But there was no immediate response other than a smile. After glaring at Gongjun for a moment, Sooha sighed and stepped back.