The Mate Selection War

Five young men sat around the large dining table, all still looking half asleep. At the head of the table sat Chairman Seong, his expression dark enough to kill someone.

He even dragged Seo Eunsu here too…

I had no idea Secretary Choi would wake up Seo Eunsu, who had been sleeping separately in the guest house, by banging that gong around. Under a generous salary and incentive system, Secretary Choi truly was the chairman’s perfect workhorse.

The five alphas looked equally nervous and confused. None of them had expected to meet Chairman Seong this early in the morning.

Chairman Seong, looking as though he could rip someone apart at any second, slowly drank a cup of honey water before finally speaking.

“I heard all of you learned about my grandson Chanyeong’s true trait.”

“Yes, sir.”

Overwhelmed by his pressure, everyone answered politely.

Meanwhile, I stood beside Secretary Choi quietly sipping honey water to soothe my still-burning throat.

“So. All five of you have feelings for Chanyeong?”

“Pfft—!”

What kind of insane statement was that?!

The honey water I had just swallowed sprayed straight onto the floor.

Every gaze instantly turned toward me as I choked.

“What? Haven’t you ever seen someone spit out honey water before?”

“I can’t believe five alpha punks crawled all the way here trying to snatch away that weak little thing over there.”

“That’s right.”

Secretary Choi nodded seriously at Chairman Seong’s concerned muttering while professionally refilling the chairman’s cup. He even handed me a fresh drink afterward.

Honestly, all I could do was admire his work ethic.

“I’m starting to think I learned Korean wrong. The word ‘weak’ really doesn’t suit Seong Chanyeong.”

Chae Yoonchan, if you’re going to whisper, at least do it quietly. We can all hear you.

Still… he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Seong Chanyeong’s body could easily carry several twenty-kilogram rice bags without breaking a sweat.

Compared to that, my original body had been the truly weak one.

While I sat there anxiously wondering where this deeply uncomfortable conversation was heading, Yoo Yi-seo suddenly smiled and addressed Chairman Seong.

“You must have gathered us here for a reason. What exactly are your intentions, Chairman?”

“I dislike clever bastards like you the most. Yes, there’s something I want to say.”

Chairman Seong glanced at me with the expression of someone who had just bitten into cilantro.

“Chanyeong-ah.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

“You’re not uninterested in these boys either, are you?”

Clink.

This time, I didn’t spit out the honey water.

I outright dropped the cup.

Sweet liquid splashed across the floor.

“…What?”

Secretary Choi immediately appeared beside me and calmly wiped the floor with practiced efficiency.

“Aigoo, Young Master. Careful, you might slip. At least the cup didn’t break.”

“That is not the important part right now… Grandpa, what do you mean by that?”

The hand holding the cup trembled stiffly.

Seeing my reaction, Chairman Seong sighed deeply before speaking bluntly.

“So I was right.”

“No—”

“Those five alpha idiots are proof enough. If you truly hated them and wanted them gone, all you had to do was ask me for help.”

“……”

I wanted to argue back.

I really did.

But my mind had gone completely blank.

Questions started piling up inside my head like loose screws rolling around.

He’s right though. If you truly hated those alphas, you could’ve called Chairman Seong anytime.

Shut up! I made them do farm labor to torture them! I absolutely got revenge!

Then why were you relieved when you saw their faces yesterday morning after trying to run away?

“……”

Because you like them, idiot. If you genuinely hated them, you wouldn’t be trying this hard to deny it. Wake up, Go Yeowoon.

Who are you calling an idiot?

I’m you, dumbass!

It was a complete dead end.

“…Fine. I hate admitting it… but I don’t think… I dislike them.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say I actually liked them.

I was already dying of embarrassment as it was.

“What exactly does that mean, Seong Chanyeong? Do you like us or not? Say it properly.”

I thought Chae Yoonchan was speaking again, but this time it was Baek Dojun.

His sharp black eyes locked onto me as though nailed in place.

It was hard to meet that gaze.

“If you truly dislike us, we’ll leave.”

“What…?”

Everyone looked stunned by Baek Dojun’s sudden declaration.

It was by far the strongest reaction anyone had shown.

“Hey, Baek Dojun. Are you insane? Why are you deciding that on your own?”

Chae Yoonchan angrily grabbed Baek Dojun by the collar.

I glanced nervously toward Chairman Seong, wondering if Secretary Choi should intervene, but Chairman Seong merely watched silently.

“You all know forcing yourselves to stay here was wrong from the start.”

“That’s—”

“Chanyeong isn’t terminally ill. But as you saw yesterday, he’s suffering from a strange condition that defies common sense. You probably didn’t know that either.”

“……”

Chae Yoonchan fell silent.

Joo Taegang turned his head with a conflicted expression.

Yoo Yi-seo still wore that unreadable smile, as though he had already figured everything out long ago.

Seo Eunsu met my eyes briefly before lowering his gaze.

Just as I thought.

I already knew.

Even with that ridiculous misunderstanding hanging over everything, they’d all had countless opportunities to leave.

If it weren’t for the nightmares and strange symptoms, Seong Chanyeong looked healthy enough that no one would suspect he was a recessive omega.

And yet these alphas still stayed here, stubbornly completing every ridiculous farming task I gave them.

Even though I already knew the answer…

I still wanted to hear it directly from them.

“…Why? Why didn’t you leave?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Because I wanted to see you more.”

“Because I wanted to stay by your side.”

“Because I felt like you’d disappear if I took my eyes off you.”

“Because I couldn’t leave you behind.”

“Because I wanted to remain next to you. I felt like if I left now… I’d never see you again.”

Chae Yoonchan.

Joo Taegang.

Yoo Yi-seo.

Baek Dojun.

Seo Eunsu.

They answered one after another.

Every word sounded dangerously close to a confession.

Heat rushed from the top of my head all the way down to my toes.

“S-Stop talking.”

It was too much.

I genuinely felt like my ears were going to burn off.

Seeing my flustered expression, the alphas only looked calmer.

“No way. You just admitted you don’t hate us, right? We know we still have a long way to go, so shouldn’t we at least take a shortcut while we can?”

“Since when were you this smooth-talking, Chae Yoonchan?”

“I’ve always been good at talking. You just never noticed, Joo Taegang.”

“Ugh…”

They were impossible to deal with because of how shamelessly direct they were.

I immediately grabbed General and hugged him like a shield.

“Grrrrrr… Woof! Woof!”

“He always barks whenever we get close to him!”

Thank you, General…

The second General started barking, the relentless confession attack finally stopped.

Still embarrassed out of my mind, I buried my face into General’s fur and rubbed my cheek against him.

Then I suddenly felt someone staring.

I glanced over cautiously—

—and froze.

Chairman Seong and Secretary Choi were still here.

Oh no.

I had been so overwhelmed that I completely forgot they were watching this entire disaster unfold.

“Ack! G-Grandpa, this is… the situation right now is…”

“These alpha bastards must’ve evolved from wolves into foxes while I wasn’t looking. How dare they try to seduce my precious grandson?”

“What?”

Who was seducing who here?!

“If it weren’t for your feelings, I’d cut off every one of their tails.”

Judging by the sound of his cracking knuckles, I was pretty sure he actually meant their heads.

“What I’m trying to say is simple. If they truly care about my grandson Chanyeong, then they should prove it.”

“Prove it…?”

“I’ll only acknowledge the alpha who can make Chanyeong happier than anyone else as his mate.”

Chairman Seong’s declaration instantly made me grab the back of my neck.

My blood pressure was skyrocketing.

This isn’t some approval process. This is basically making them fight to the death until only one survives.

It sounded exactly like some terrifying royal-family survival competition.

I burned with embarrassment at suddenly being treated like the grand prize.

For one brief moment, I seriously considered telling General to bite every single one of them.

Then Yoo Yi-seo casually poured gasoline onto the fire Chairman Seong had started.

“So if I win this competition, does that mean I can marry Seong Chanyeong?”

The second I saw Yoo Yi-seo grinning—

something inside me snapped.

“General.”

“Woof!”

“Go bite him.”

“Grrrrr!”

Seriously, would these stubborn lunatics please stop already?!