AOA 107

Even as I reflexively accepted his hot tongue, I wondered if this was really okay. It was absurd, ridiculous, and somehow even unfair, but it was also exciting. I did not feel like kicking Baek Mugyeong away.

I wrapped my arms around Baek Mugyeong’s neck, thinking I really must be crazy about sex. My mind began to drift off.

*

It was raining.

The cherry blossoms had long since fallen. Trees now clothed in green leaves drooped their heavy branches under the morning rain.

Baek Mugyeong looked down at the rain-soaked city from the window of a hotel dining room. He was not admiring the view. His mind was filled only with Jeong Minchae.

More precisely, he kept recalling last night’s sex. Sex with Jeong Minchae was always intense, but yesterday was different.

Drenched in sweet pheromones, he had literally lost all reason. That ended with knotting. He could not grant Minchae’s request to stop after only once. In the end, he had sex so rough and unprecedented that Minchae hit him once on the shoulder.

The punch was strong, but in his arousal he did not feel pain. What mattered more was how he might do it again. But the one who had thrown the punch, Jeong Minchae, had fainted right after. Even when he released pheromones, Minchae did not react, so he had no choice but to give up.

The lingering sensation of last night carried into today, and whenever he had a free moment, all he thought of was Jeong Minchae.

Was it because it was his first time knotting?

Looking for an excuse, Baek Mugyeong laughed. Knotting for the first time and indulging in sex were separate matters. In truth, both were problems.

An Alpha’s knotting was known to be an instinctive act meant to impregnate an Omega. It meant that much more obsession with the partner.

“Hm.”

Baek Mugyeong groaned softly and swallowed a sigh. He did not feel bad. Instead, he felt a little embarrassed.

He had decided that in his relationship with Jeong Minchae, he would act as he pleased. And he believed the initiative belonged to him. Until now, it had.

But he had not expected to be swayed just by the words, only once. The frightening part was that Jeong Minchae had not even intended it. His flushed cheeks, his embarrassed yet firm voice, his shining eyes, all of them were beautiful.

He wondered what face he should make when they met tonight. The collapsed Jeong Minchae had not woken even when Mugyeong had washed him and dressed him in pajamas.

He had barely restrained himself from lying down beside him to sleep. In the morning, Minchae had left early, so he had not seen him wake.

Unconsciously, his lips curled again. Realizing he was smiling like a fool, Baek Mugyeong covered his face with his hand.

He almost sighed but it turned into another laugh.

Compared to before his regression, his relationship with Jeong Minchae had changed so drastically it was dramatic. When he had barely managed to accept that he was repeating the same life, this had been something he could not even imagine.

There had been many variables. Spending the night together on the day of the arranged meeting, Jeong Minchae manifesting as an Omega on the honeymoon, and meeting Choi Jaeha early.

Counting them one by one was meaningless. What mattered was the present.

Baek Mugyeong was used to objectifying his own desires. He knew well how to get what he wanted.

While deep in thought, someone knocked. The door opened, and Baek Sujin, who had agreed to join him for lunch, entered.

“I’m late, aren’t I? Sorry.”

Baek Sujin, five minutes past the agreed time, apologized first. Since Baek Mugyeong had already received a call that she would be late, he told her it was fine and welcomed her.

As soon as she arrived, the food was served. The menu was Japanese, her favorite.

They ate the course meal one dish at a time, starting with business talk. The department store and DS Motors had business scopes that hardly overlapped. But since they were part of the same group, whenever a new car was released, the department store held a popup exhibition.

The new car’s launch had been delayed due to an engine defect. To make up for it, DS Motors planned a large-scale promotion, which brought the popup exhibition at the department store, originally scheduled for autumn, forward.

Since it was only a change of dates, coordination finished quickly. Soon the topic shifted to Baek Yeongseop.

“I thought he’d learned to restrain himself with age, but he’s made a huge mess. Father had reason to send him off to Tongyeong. This time he was completely disgraced.”

“I only know the government said they were going to investigate. Did something else happen?”

“There was a gathering of the chairmen not long ago, and apparently he was scolded there. One of the Hoyoung chairmen asked if it was normal for Alphas to go around beating people once they lost their heads. Father couldn’t say a word. Tsk.”

“Enough to make him angry indeed.”

Baek Jinseok’s Alpha pride was immense. He took pride in having three Alphas among his four children and in the many Alpha grandchildren.

But when his eldest grandson, Baek Yeongseop, caused an Alpha Hazard in public, there was no disgrace greater than that. The scandal with a celebrity was a secondary matter.

The result was Baek Yeongseop’s exile to Tongyeong.

Yesterday afternoon, all of Baek Jinseok’s bloodline who bore the Baek surname gathered in one place. Jeong Minchae of course was absent, as were Im Songyoon and Yu Ayeong, Baek Daehan’s wife.

Two weeks had passed since the Alpha Hazard at Cheongam Art Museum.

As soon as Baek Yeongseop was discharged with a broken nose and arm, Baek Jinseok called him in without delay. He meant to reprimand him before the whole family.

Baek Jinseok’s ruthlessness did not spare even the grandson he cherished.

After his first wife’s death, Baek Yeongseop no longer caused such open incidents. He played only enough to clean up after himself.

But this incident was too great. An Alpha Hazard in public, a filthy private life exposed to all, and on top of that, an engagement broken off.

It was only natural that Baek Jinseok’s personal secretaries worked to suppress the spread of the story nationwide. According to what Baek Sujin heard, Baek Jinseok had been so furious he shattered a teacup by throwing it. On top of that, being reproached by other chairmen would have wounded his pride greatly.

‘I am disappointed.’

That was the first thing Baek Jinseok said to Baek Yeongseop. At those words, not only Yeongseop’s face but Baek Jaehan’s turned pale.

Baek Yeongseop, ashen, dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness, but Baek Jinseok did not move. He rebuked him, saying none of his cousins caused trouble as he did. Then he ordered him to Tongyeong.

Leaving Yeongseop speechless, Baek Jinseok looked around at everyone and added one more word.

‘I am nearly eighty. I have no time to wait patiently until you do well. So I will drive out the ones who cannot. I’m not telling you to live saintly lives. I am telling you not to behave like this fool.’

After delivering his warning, Baek Jinseok stood and strode out of the study. Heavy silence fell at once.

Everyone struggled to hide their shock. Baek Mugyeong suppressed the urge to laugh at the results of the future he had altered.

When he had first planned to use Robert Lee to publicly disgrace Baek Yeongseop, he had hoped Baek Jinseok might be disappointed. But he had not expected it to succeed so thoroughly.

“He’ll return in a year or so anyway, won’t he?”

“I think so too.”

It was certain Baek Yeongseop had fallen out of Baek Jinseok’s favor. But Baek Mugyeong did not think this was the end.

No matter how much troublemaker Yeongseop was, he was still Baek Jaehan’s only son. When Baek Jaehan inherited Daesong Group, the next successor would naturally be Baek Yeongseop. Even if exiled to Tongyeong, in a year he would be freed.

“Do you remember Father said he would drive out the ones who cannot?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think that means?”

“It must be a signal.”

Baek Mugyeong knew what Baek Sujin wanted to hear.

The truth was Baek Jinseok had always been very lenient with Yeongseop. He would excuse it, saying that a man, especially one with power and wealth, could be expected to cause trouble in his youth. He had even recalled Mugyeong from America hoping Yeongseop would come to his senses.

Because Yeongseop was the eldest grandson meant to inherit everything from him.

But it was all too common for a wastrel heir to ruin the company his father or grandfather had built. If Baek Jinseok was disappointed enough to change his mind, the situation would inevitably shift.

The power structure of a chaebol like Daesong Group was complex. Inheritance tax was enormous. Usually, a chaebol chairman, once reaching a certain age, transferred wealth to his children and prepared to step back.

But Baek Jinseok still held everything in his hands, and even Baek Jaehan, known as heir and eldest son, bent to him completely.

People believed without doubt that Baek Jaehan would inherit Daesong Group. But if Baek Jinseok changed his mind, no one could know who the successor would be.

He could even split the group and give portions to each child. Baek Sujin, who ran the department stores and hotels well, and Mugyeong, to whom he had once said he would hand over the car business if conditions were met.

In that sense, Baek Jinseok’s words about age and having no time to wait were meaningful. They could be read as a signal that he would begin succession in earnest.

Baek Sujin laughed heartily, seemingly pleased with Baek Mugyeong’s answer.