AOA 9

Once the study door closed, no more sound could be heard. I quickly made my way to my room on the second floor. As a habit, I locked the door and then sat on the edge of the bed.

Could it be that the wedding might fall through?

Since Baek Mugyeong, the groom-to-be, had said he didn’t want it, there was a chance we might not be able to get married. I couldn’t afford to just marvel at the butterfly effect that began with our first meeting in the bathroom.

All the plans I’d made yesterday and today were based on the assumption that I would marry Baek Mugyeong. Most important of all was the wedding gift money from Baek Mugyeong’s grandfather, the chairman of Daesong Group. The key was to use that money as seed capital to grow my wealth.

I pressed my throbbing head. I might have to find another way to get that money.

***

“Going out?”

When I came down from the second floor, having put on my coat, the Jeju-daek, who was cleaning the living room, asked.

“I’m having lunch outside today.”

“Oh, it’s that day already. Have a good time.”

As I stepped out of the house with her farewell behind me, a black sedan was waiting. Until the wedding, I wasn’t allowed to go out alone. An older driver, like a guardian, followed me around. Before my regression, I used to hate being monitored, but now it didn’t bother me.

My biological father was a timid and meticulous man. He couldn’t rest unless he controlled everything. Even though he knew I wouldn’t run away because of my little brother, he still installed a location-tracking app on my phone.

But there was a loophole: the driver. The man called Mr. Kim didn’t tail me closely. A quiet man, he simply dropped me off at my destination and came back later to pick me up and take me home.

Today was no different.

“I’ll be here for a while, so come pick me up at four. I’ll call you.”

Today’s destination was a large shopping mall. It felt more natural to tell the driver in advance what time to come than to leave him waiting endlessly. What he did or where he went during that time, I didn’t know. The important thing was to keep him away from me.

After saying he’d be back on time, the driver drove off. I got out at the entrance of the mall and headed toward the restaurant inside.

Even though I arrived earlier than the appointment time, Lee Sejun, wearing a jet-black puffer jacket, was already waiting at the entrance.

There was a six-year age gap between me and Sejun, the biological son of my father and mother. We had a good relationship as siblings. But ever since my name changed to Jeong Minchae, I’d hardly seen him.

We occasionally kept in touch via Instagram DMs, but this monthly meal together was the only time we saw each other face-to-face. Considering my biological father’s personality, it was a relief that our bond wasn’t completely severed.

Anyway, today was a very important day. Overcome with affection, I called my little brother’s name.

“Sejun.”

When I said his name, Lee Sejun looked up from his phone. Recognizing me, he grinned brightly and stood up to come over.

My little brother, now in his third year of middle school, was objectively cute. Seeing that smiling face approach made me want to ruffle his hair.

“Hyung.”

“When did you get here? You should’ve let me know you arrived.”

“I just got here. I was gonna text you in a bit since I was too early.”

“Got it. Let’s go in.”

I guided him into the restaurant. We’d already made a reservation, so we were seated immediately without waiting.

The buffet restaurant was packed with people, as it was Saturday lunchtime. Sejun filled his plate and devoured it like a vacuum cleaner.

I smiled fondly at the sight. Right after summer break started, my little brother had surgery and had lost a lot of weight, but he had finally returned to his normal self. He used to be a picky eater, but these days he made sure to eat three square meals, saying eating well would help him recover faster.

It had been about a year since he was diagnosed with his illness. Whatever else could be said, I was glad our father had kept his promise. Without that, we wouldn’t be sitting here smiling and eating together.

The best thing about a buffet was being able to eat a variety of food and desserts all in one place. Since I had a wedding photoshoot tomorrow, I only ate enough to fill myself reasonably.

We talked about what had happened lately while enjoying a wide variety of dishes. I mostly listened. When my brother proudly said he did well on his midterms, I complimented him.

“I made a mistake in math and got one wrong. If I’d gotten that one right, it would’ve been a perfect score.”

I laughed at the sight of him pouting in regret. Smart and diligent like our mother, my brother was good at studying.

In contrast, I didn’t have a head for academics. No matter how long I sat at my desk, my grades never improved, so I’d given up on studying early on.

After high school, I’d planned to follow my dad, a tile interior specialist, and learn the trade. I was fairly handy, and since it was a skilled profession, I hadn’t hesitated in choosing that path. My parents insisted I should at least have a college degree, but I stubbornly refused, saying I didn’t want to study all the way through college. After they passed away, that future became impossible, but there was a time when I had such dreams.

Now, I think I finally understood why they’d wanted me to go to college. If nothing else, they were determined to support my smart little brother’s education to the end.

Still, I didn’t tell Sejun to study hard. Right now, the most important thing was for him to get well.

Around the time we were having ice cream for dessert, I cautiously brought up the wedding. When I told him I was getting married in November, his eyes and mouth both went round.

“Getting married? In November? Wait, what?”

“I had a blind date. It’s a marriage between families. Like in dramas.”

“People really do that?”

“Yeah. They do. But it’s an arranged marriage, so I’m planning to divorce after about a year.”

Honestly, I thought the marriage with Baek Mugyeong would fall apart. He’d said that day he would reconsider the wedding. Because of that, our father had been on edge for several days.

But not long after, the situation reversed. My father showed up smiling and said the chairman of Daesong Group had told them to proceed with the wedding.

I didn’t know exactly what had happened, but at least I could stop worrying about how to raise a large sum of money.

I made a new plan: First, avoid the side effects of the medication. Then, get married and receive the large sum of money to invest. Finally, after a year, divorce Baek Mugyeong and be done with it.

Divorce wasn’t something I could do on my own. I’d need Baek Mugyeong’s agreement, and the chairman of Daesong Group’s permission. Still, as long as I could get Baek Mugyeong to promise to divorce after a year, I had nothing else to worry about.

“By any chance… is you getting married because of me? Because of my hospital bills? Even if it’s an arranged marriage… you’re only twenty-two.”

Seeing my little brother cautiously probing for the truth, I snapped to attention. This was a critical moment.

Before the regression, I’d never said a word about the marriage to my brother. I figured it was just an arranged marriage, and we’d still meet once a month as usual.

But that was a mistake. When my brother eventually found out I got married because our father forced me, he was consumed with guilt, thinking it was all his fault.

For someone undergoing treatment, stress was poison. In the end, he developed an eating disorder and lost a tremendous amount of weight.

But back then, I was out of my mind from the side effects of the medication, and I hadn’t been able to take care of him. When he sobbed his heart out, I’d just smiled at him like a fool, saying everything was fine. I didn’t even realize that made him feel worse.

I couldn’t make that mistake again. I had to explain clearly, so he wouldn’t misunderstand.

“There’s something I didn’t tell you. Don’t be too shocked.”

“Huh?”

“You know I might become an omega, right? That’s why my biological father is marrying me off for a big sum of money. Oh, and I forgot to mention—my spouse is a male alpha.”

“…Seriously?”

One shock could cover another. When I said I was marrying a man, Sejun’s eyes widened again.

Same-sex marriage wasn’t all that common. Sometimes you’d see celebrities on TV getting married, and that was about it.

“You can even find photos of him online. He’s an executive director at DS Motors, a third-generation chaebol. He’s eight years older than me.”

“Oh…”

“It’s fine. He’s not some pot-bellied old man. He’s model-handsome. Look him up. We’re just doing a formal stamp ceremony. Do you want to come to the wedding? You’ll probably see a lot of celebrities.”

My brother still seemed stunned—thinking, “Hyung’s marrying a man? Eight years older? DS Motors, as in Daesong Group?”—and couldn’t snap out of it. It was so adorable, I couldn’t help but smile.

I saw it positively. Since I knew the future, this marriage wasn’t such a big deal. Later, we’d laugh about it as one of those things that happened in the past.

For a happy future, I had to persuade Baek Mugyeong during tomorrow’s wedding shoot to agree to a divorce in one year. To part ways safely, his cooperation was essential.

The next day, I began a busy day.

Even if it would one day become a funny memory, a wedding was still a wedding. And my partner was from one of the top conglomerate families in South Korea. There was a lot to prepare.