Unwanted Arrangements

It’s confusing.

Jaekyung stared blankly at his face.

He wasn’t even speaking to Jaekyung.

He was just looking straight ahead, speaking as if a machine were reciting words.

“Are you… talking about the house I’ll live in? Perhaps the newlywed home… that I’ll live in with the director?”

“…A newlywed home, huh.”

He tapped the steering wheel a couple of times with his fingers and let out a hollow laugh.

“So it seems that way.”

It’s ridiculous. A newlywed home… a place to live together, yet it feels like he’s talking about a house Jaekyung will live in alone.

“I’ve never seen that house.”

“Everything has already been prepared. You only need to have the wedding and then live there, Mr. Park Jaekyung.”

Although the lawyer said that each family would prepare the wedding, Jaekyung never imagined that the house would already be ready.

Well, he’s the successor of NI Company, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to own multiple houses.

And he’s just putting Jaekyung into one of them.

“You… are making me very flustered.”

Jaekyung spoke bitterly, twisting and turning the words he had held back, and lowered his head because even looking at his profile had become difficult.

“More flustering things will happen in the future, Mr. Park Jaekyung.”

He immediately understood the meaning behind Jaekyung’s hesitant words and answered cruelly.

“You must endure it, Mr. Park Jaekyung. No one will help you. My side is not a place for such things.”

“…So I’m supposed to live quietly, like a dead person, doing only as Director Han or Director Ji say?”

He didn’t answer.

He simply took a document from his bag and handed it to Jaekyung.

“One week from now, there will be an official press conference. Here is the plan… let’s call it a cue sheet.”

Inside, just as he said, it was densely filled with what interviews to give, how to respond, what to wear, where to get a massage, and even what preparations to make beforehand.

It really was a cue sheet, just as he said.

“Memorize all your answers by that day. You must speak naturally.”

This person can’t be reasoned with.

No, he simply doesn’t want to.

He has no intention of having a conversation with Jaekyung, no thought of getting along.

Jaekyung felt like vomiting.

It was exhausting.

He was short of breath and dizzy.

When he tried to open the car door to get out, it wouldn’t open.

“I want to get out.”

“I’ll take you.”

“I… want to get out. Please open the door.”

“There are many eyes watching here.”

Jaekyung saw no one outside… really, there was no one… so what eyes are watching?

“There is no one.”

“Mr. Park Jaekyung, remember this. Even walls have eyes. Especially people like us, there are many predators waiting to pounce. It’s easy to become a subject of gossip. If even one person sees you carrying a box from here, today’s wedding announcement will be ruined.”

Han Taeseok didn’t open the door and drove Jaekyung out of N Department Store, straight to his family home.

“Your mother says you don’t need to come to the gallery today since it will be noisy.”

His words didn’t register.

As soon as the car arrived and the lock clicked open, Jaekyung opened the door and ran out.

“Oh, Jaekyung?”

He heard his mother’s voice tending the garden, but he just wanted to get to his room.

He locked himself inside, collapsed onto the floor, and vomited.

It was a disgusting sight—breakfast and stomach acid—but worse than that, he couldn’t get out what he most wanted to say, so he hugged his face, leaned his back against the wall, and felt suffocated.

Soon, there was a knock.

“Jaekyung, Director Han was here. What happened?”

Mother.

“Jaekyung, won’t you open the door? Did you fight with Director Han?”

Mother…

“…Change your clothes.”

“Alright, he brought your box containing your belongings. I’ll leave it at the door. He said he’d call today, so answer the phone… Even if something makes you angry, endure it, okay?”

Mother… I don’t want to marry him. I don’t have the strength to live with that man.

“Ugh… ugh…!”

Jaekyung swallowed the words he couldn’t say, as he clutched the envelope of documents he’d been given.

He had to find out.

What kind of deal had been made…?

If he knew, maybe he could somehow cancel this marriage… maybe he wouldn’t have to walk into that hell.

◆

Since that day, Jaekyung began trying to find out, without his parents knowing, how this marriage came to be and what role he played.

But for some reason, even the driver and housekeeper who had known him for a long time kept their mouths shut and shook their heads.

No one explained anything.

They just looked at him with pity.

Reluctantly, he had to step toward his father.

Director Ha was his father’s close friend and someone who cared about Jaekyung, so he asked him cautiously.

The man sighed deeply.

“I’m not the one to tell you.”

“There’s no one else I can ask… please, help me.”

Director Ha held Jaekyung’s hands tightly.

He had always been more supportive than his father.

This was Jaekyung’s last hope…

“Jaekyung, I know this must be hard for you. But neither Han Taeseok nor NI Company will harm you, so don’t worry too much.”

“That’s not the answer I want. I just… I want to know why I became one of the pawns to protect someone else’s plans.”

“Jaekyung! Pawn?!”

“Then what is this situation? I never sought the successor position as an Omega. You know that. But even so… this isn’t right.”

Jaekyung pulled his hands from Director Ha’s and buried his head in them.

He thought maybe it would hurt less if he had lived recklessly against his father’s wishes.

But he had always tried to live properly.

He tried to be someone worthy of his father and the Jaewang Group’s name.

Yet his future was falling into darkness and endless despair.

And the one pushing him into that darkness was his father.

“…I cannot tell you. But ask Director Ji. She will explain everything.”

Jaekyung was surprised to hear that name from Director Ha.

“Director Ji?”

“Yes. She’s the one who revealed everything, and she will speak freely with you. But I hope you don’t hear it.”

He didn’t want to see the worry on Director Ha’s face.

He should have actively stopped his father and protected himself.

But he knew this was carried out with Director Ha’s consent, so he rose, telling himself that even if he got hurt more, he needed to know.

He had to go to the gallery anyway, so he hurried.

Of course, he moved with the driver Seo, assigned by Han Taeseok.

When he first met Seo, they exchanged only names and no other words.

Even during the ride, they didn’t make eye contact or interact, making him feel as if he were in an unmanned car.

But it wasn’t uncomfortable; rather, it was comfortable.

He hated any conversation that might leak information to the family.

As soon as he arrived at the gallery, he went to Director Ji’s study.

She was reading a book with classical music playing.

“What is it?”

Even though Jaekyung knocked and announced his presence, she remained focused on the book, showing no interest.

“I have a question for you.”

“Speak quickly.”

Her voice, completely devoid of emotion, carried a sharp, intimidating energy.

Jaekyung hesitated, but clenched his fists and spoke.

“…Why did you decide to make me your daughter-in-law?”

“I don’t understand why that suddenly matters.”

“I think I should know.”

“Didn’t Chairman Park tell you?”

“No…”

Director Ji, who had been elegantly flipping pages, closed her book, removed her glasses, stood up, and pointed to the sofa.

“Sit.”

It was a command, not a suggestion.

Jaekyung nodded and sat, keeping his back straight.

Director Ji sat opposite him.