AOA 11

At Baek Mugyeong’s cold refusal, I drew in a short breath. Divorce would be to his advantage, yet I couldn’t understand why he claimed not to need it.

I wanted to ask if he had some reason, but I held back.

Thanks to starting work a bit early in life, I had developed a decent sense of reading the room. From convenience store part-timer to factory worker, I had met all sorts of people.

The man in front of me belonged to a particularly difficult type. If I clung to him now, it would only take a moment for things to go sour.

“I misspoke. I apologize.”

Having failed to persuade Baek Mugyeong, I quickly offered an apology. No one gets full on the first spoonful. I could bring it up again later, after we were married, so for now, I had to retreat.

“I’ll call them in.”

The conversation was over. Before an awkward silence could settle, I quickly opened the break room door. The wedding planner, hair designer, and makeup artist who had been waiting outside rushed in.

I was led to the next room to fix my hair and touch up my makeup as the break came to an end. I heard at least a hundred times how well makeup sat on my skin because of how clear it was.

From then on, the wedding shoot went smoothly. Both Baek Mugyeong and I smiled appropriately during the first outfit shoot, just as the planner asked. The remaining six outfits were shot in a serious tone. The photographer didn’t ask us to smile again and just cheered how great we looked.

During the shoot, I didn’t exchange a single word with Baek Mugyeong. Even when our eyes met, I deliberately turned my head away.

It was obvious to the planners and staff that our relationship was a mess.

Perhaps in a few days, gossip would start circulating about how the D Group’s new groom and his partner were on icy terms. Speculation would surely follow, saying the dominant alpha groom wasn’t satisfied because the partner wasn’t an omega.

It had been the same before the regression. Still, I didn’t care what rumors spread. It was true we were cold to each other.

As expected, the wedding shoot lasted the entire day. When the photographer finally announced we were done, I was so exhausted I practically collapsed.

After changing clothes and wiping off my makeup, I shoved a piece of chocolate into my mouth for a snack before I could even regain focus. I held back the urge to sprawl in the chair and was putting on my coat when Baek Mugyeong came into my break room.

The people busily packing up clothes and makeup scattered like the tide at a single nod from him.

“Do you have something to say?”

I echoed the words Baek Mugyeong had said to me a few hours ago, though unlike him, I spoke politely. Acting on emotion just because I was upset would be foolish. Since I needed his cooperation for a divorce, I had to at least earn some goodwill from him.

“Mr. Jeong Minchae. This marriage was decided by the chairman.”

“Yes.”

Though it was the vice chairman of Daesong Group who specifically chose me as Baek Mugyeong’s spouse, without the chairman’s approval, the marriage would never have happened.

“The divorce, too, will be decided by the chairman.”

“…”

“He’s a very patient man, so he’ll wait a year. That’s why there’s no point in us talking about divorce between ourselves.”

“I see.”

Before the regression, the chairman of Daesong Group had waited two years. Though he always looked displeased whenever he saw me, he never once asked when we were planning to have a child. Just as Baek Mugyeong said, the chairman was a man of patience.

Regardless of that realization, it was strange that Baek Mugyeong, who had coldly told me not to concern myself with him, had now come to explain things like this. When I stared at him, he frowned slightly.

“I hope you have enough sense not to say something like ‘I want a divorce after a year’ in front of the chairman.”

So it wasn’t just an explanation, he was making sure I wouldn’t screw things up. I hadn’t expected him to warn me so bluntly not to spout nonsense to the chairman.

I had considered, on a whim, making a scene in front of the chairman. But I’d quickly realized a small outburst wouldn’t be enough and left it as just a fantasy.

“Thank you for the advice.”

As I thanked him, Baek Mugyeong frowned again. Then he said he’d be going and disappeared without another word.

Left alone, I scratched my head for no reason. Baek Mugyeong wasn’t a great conversationalist. Still, it seemed we were in agreement on at least one thing: we both needed to be prepared for the worst. That gave me a bit of peace of mind.

The only problem was how sharp his tone was.

Feels like I’ll get cut.

But compared to my biological father, who constantly lashed out and belittled me, Baek Mugyeong was tolerable. This level, I could handle.

Judging from how he behaved, I felt reassured that our married life would function just fine.

As soon as the wedding shoot ended, I went straight home. I wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, but I couldn’t. My father called me into his study.

He was sitting in his chair with a sour look on his face, smoking.

“I’m here.”

“How was the shoot?”

“Fine.”

“What about Executive Director Baek?”

“We exchanged brief greetings and parted.”

“Ha, I told you to be accommodating. This is exactly your problem. Tsk, tsk.”

I lowered my gaze at the sound of his tongue clicking. Even before the regression, my father constantly blamed me for everything as naturally as breathing. Especially when he was in a bad mood, he would nitpick and lash out.

If I ever argued or protested, he would explode. If I didn’t listen properly, he’d even threaten to stop paying for my brother’s treatment. Not just threaten, he had followed through before. After that, I stopped responding entirely and just endured it.

Before, I could more or less bear it. But now, just being around him made me nauseous. It was like a kind of sickness I’d developed after the regression. Maybe it was hwa-byung¹Hwa‑byung (화병), literally “fire illness,” is a Korean culture-bound syndrome that arises when suppressed anger and emotional stress build up and manifest as chronic psychological and physical symptoms.. Thankfully, I wasn’t at the point of throwing up.

I swallowed and looked away, desperately trying to think about something else.

“The test results are in.”

After a long lecture about how everything was my fault, he finally got to the point. I glanced up from where I’d been staring at the armrest of his chair.

A file folder sat on his desk.

“They found suppressant agents in your system. Can you believe Vice Chairman Baek pulled a stunt like this?”

He slammed his fist on the desk with a loud bang, as if he’d been betrayed. I clicked my tongue inwardly.

After Baek Mugyeong had declared he wouldn’t go through with the wedding, my father had taken it out on me. Then he quickly contacted Vice Chairman Baek Jaehan. Whatever they talked about, the wedding ultimately wasn’t called off.

Once the marriage was set, the vice chairman demanded a full medical exam from me and even picked the hospital. He said he needed to confirm whether my 91% probability of omega manifestation was accurate and if I had any other health issues. My father grumbled that it was excessive, but still complied.

Having already experienced this in the previous timeline, I knew that during the exam, I would be injected with a suppressant without my consent.

Suppressants were commonly used by students. Since minors manifesting as alphas or omegas created all kinds of social complications, the government actively encouraged suppressants. Students could receive them almost for free.

I had also received them regularly during school but stopped after graduating high school because they were too expensive without government support.

Even after quitting, I hadn’t manifested as an omega by the time I turned twenty-two. I thought it was fine to live as a beta indefinitely.

But it was that same suppressant that made a fool of me before the regression.

While preparing for an arranged marriage with my father, I’d been taking manifestation stimulants regularly. When a suppressant—something with the opposite effect—was introduced into my system, it caused severe side effects.

And the stimulants and suppressants I received weren’t the usual kinds, they were stronger. That meant the side effects were more dangerous, too.

I’d gotten several injections during the health check, but I had no idea which were the suppressants, so I let it go. I even thought leaving some evidence might be useful later.

Instead, when I got back from the exam, I told my father I’d received various injections. At first, he dismissed it as nonsense. So I went to a nearby clinic, got a blood test, and handed him the results showing suppressant agents in my system.

Eventually, my father took me to his doctor friend from his golf club. That was five days ago. I guess the results were back now, even though today was Sunday.

“So what now?”

“They say if you get both stimulants and suppressants, they clash, and you might not manifest at all.”

“…”

“But apparently if you take a neutralizing agent, it’ll delay it a bit, but you can still manifest. Go get it. Once the suppressant is flushed out, you can start the stimulants again.”

There were plenty of other side effects. But to my father, the only thing that mattered was whether I would manifest as an omega.

I had no expectations, so I wasn’t disappointed. More than that, I was satisfied that I had at least made him aware of the medication’s side effects.

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  Hwa‑byung (화병), literally “fire illness,” is a Korean culture-bound syndrome that arises when suppressed anger and emotional stress build up and manifest as chronic psychological and physical symptoms.