AOA 12

Stopping the side effects of the drugs took priority over getting money or divorcing Baek Mugyeong. I’d been terribly worried that my biological father might force me to take the suppressant regardless of any side effects.

“Why do you think the Vice Chairman did that?”

“Obviously to keep his nephew in check. He said it was enough to have an alpha son, and now he pulls something like this? I can’t trust that man anymore.”

My biological father spat out words of distrust toward Baek Jaehan. I stayed silent and didn’t add anything.

Before I returned, I only learned about the side effects of the medication after manifesting as an omega. I’d followed my smiling biological father to the hospital for a checkup and discovered that my body was full of suppressant compounds. Not from a one-time use, but as a result of steadily taking them for over two years.

The doctor explained that combining strong suppressants with manifestation inducers would cause severe side effects. At best, nausea and fever. At worst, a decline in cognition, reasoning, and judgment, and even abnormal manifestation due to pheromone irregularities. In my case, the side effects were quite severe.

Even then, my biological father had raged, saying Baek Jaehan had deceived him. At the time, he had known Baek Jaehan was trying to keep Baek Mugyeong in check, but he still believed DS Motors would be handed over.

After I manifested as an omega, my biological father personally managed my food and medication. Once I got pregnant, he became almost paranoid. It was clear he cared more about preserving my fertility than restoring my cognitive and reasoning abilities to normal.

He desperately wanted me to give birth to Baek Mugyeong’s alpha son. That meant there would be no more inducers under his supervision, and I wouldn’t turn into a fool again.

For now, that was enough. Thinking back to the time before my regression, when my cognitive functions had declined to the point of being nearly a halfwit, I could say the first button had been fastened right.

It was even more encouraging than realizing at the wedding shoot that Baek Mugyeong wanted to avoid the worst-case scenario.

Buoyed by that sense of accomplishment, even my biological father’s long nagging washed over me without leaving a mark.

This was only the beginning.

The wedding was held on the fourth Sunday of November. The date was the same as before my regression.

True to the Daesong Group name, the ceremony was grand. Despite being a private event with carefully selected guests, the hall was packed simply because of the status of our families.

It was my second wedding with the same person. I felt no fluttering excitement. Just like before, I moved according to the wedding planner’s instructions, putting on makeup, changing into formalwear, and receiving guests in the waiting room.

The position of a pre-manifested omega was very ambiguous. I wasn’t even an omega yet, so people whispered behind my back, wondering how someone like me could marry the executive director of DS Motors. But I didn’t care. I just kept smiling and greeted the guests.

Officially, I had attended school abroad since childhood and rarely returned to Korea, so I was said to have no close friends or acquaintances in the country. The guests visiting the waiting room were all strangers.

Most were my biological father’s and stepmother’s friends, acquaintances, business partners, and relatives. They offered a word or two of blessing before quickly moving on.

Whenever I had a moment alone, I took selfies, planning to send them to my younger sibling later.

I had personally handed the wedding invitation to my aunt and younger sibling. But they said attending would only bring me harm, so they wouldn’t come. I was a little disappointed, but relieved I wouldn’t have to force myself to act like a happy groom in front of them.

“Could I have some water, please?”

Maybe it was the nerves, or just from meeting so many people—my throat was really dry. The assistant waiting nearby promptly brought me water. Because of my makeup, I had to drink with a straw stuck in a bottle of mineral water.

I nearly emptied a small bottle in one go and felt the heat drain from my body. I took off my gloves and touched my neck and forehead. I must’ve caught a bit of a cold. In times like these, it was better to take a painkiller than drowsy cold medicine.

“Do you happen to have any painkillers?”

“We have basic meds prepared. Shall I bring one?”

Thankfully, I was able to take a painkiller right away. The effect wasn’t immediate, but it felt like the fever was easing.

While I was welcoming more guests, a commotion stirred outside the waiting room. Having experienced it once before, I immediately realized what it meant: the protagonist of today’s wedding, the Chairman of Daesong Group, had arrived.

Soon enough, an elderly man in a sharp suit appeared. Several people, including Baek Mugyeong, followed him into the waiting room. It was like the Pied Piper leading a swarm of rats.

I recognized the Chairman’s face from before the regression.

Baek Jinseok.

One of Korea’s top three conglomerate chairmen, and a man oddly obsessed with alpha bloodlines. The fact that he’d promised to hand DS Motors to Baek Mugyeong if I gave birth to an alpha son said everything about him.

The moment our eyes met, I immediately stood and stepped forward.

“Oh, you recognize me? This is our first meeting, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Jeong Minchae.”

I bowed deeply at a full 90 degrees. Before my mother passed and before I met my biological father, I’d worked several years at a factory. A decent-sized food production company. That time in society taught me how to read the room.

He might look like a kindly old man, but Baek Jinseok was a tycoon. More importantly, he was the patron who would gift me my seed money. It was only right to make a good impression on someone giving me such a fortune. So I acted with perhaps excessive politeness.

“Hahaha. My grandson’s bride greets me like this.”

Even as a man, omegas were usually considered the bride. I hadn’t manifested yet, but as a pre-omega, “bride” wasn’t exactly incorrect.

That’s why my outfit was white. Not just the shirt, but the tie, shoes, boutonniere, everything was pure white. Even the tie pin and cufflinks were platinum.

It wasn’t really my taste to be dressed all in white, but my opinion didn’t matter for this wedding. So I wore what the wedding planner and designer recommended. They said it suited me, and I just went along.

“I’m just nervous. Please be generous with me.”

“Bold for someone who looks so delicate. That’s a good personality. Don’t you think?”

He directed this question not to me, but to Baek Mugyeong. The man in a black formal suit beside him replied briefly.

“Yes, I agree.”

“Mugyeong’s always so stiff. Our bride’s going to have a rough time.”

“I wouldn’t say that. He’s a good person.”

“Hahaha. Yes, yes. On a happy day, we should say happy things.”

Before the regression, I’d responded like a soulless machine. But this time was different. Instead of wearing a deadpan expression and irritating the Chairman, I went along with his mood, far more sensible.

Apparently pleased, Baek Jinseok let out a hearty laugh. Meanwhile, Baek Mugyeong remained expressionless.

Then Baek Jinseok told us to stand side-by-side for a photo. That hadn’t happened before the return. Still, since it was his request, I had to play along and do it well.

The photographer enthusiastically clicked the shutter, and unlike during the wedding photoshoot, I gave a bashful smile.

I couldn’t see what kind of expression Baek Mugyeong had beside me. But from the photographer’s compliment, it seemed the mood wasn’t too cold.

After a few more congratulatory remarks, Baek Jinseok disappeared with his entourage. I saw them off all the way to the waiting room entrance.

As I watched Baek Mugyeong quietly following beside Baek Jinseok, a question suddenly crossed my mind.

Baek Jinseok was practically the king of the Dae Song Group. His family and all his employees obeyed him without question, hoping to catch even a crumb of what he had.

He had declared that if I gave birth to an alpha son, he’d pass DS Motors to Baek Mugyeong.

But Baek Mugyeong didn’t even want this marriage. He was the one who first proposed we live without interfering in each other’s lives.

Did Baek Mugyeong not want DS Motors?

It was a possibility I’d never considered before the return. But I didn’t get to think about it for long, soon, guests started returning to the waiting room.

I put my smile back on and resumed my role as the happy groom.

Just because I was repeating the same wedding didn’t mean I was getting used to it.

Just greeting the countless guests was exhausting. My mind was foggy, and my hand ached from all the handshakes.

Part of me wanted to throw it all away, but I kept smiling and engaging with people. Looking like an overwhelmed groom at an extravagant wedding was far better than appearing like a groom sold off for a high price.

More than anything, I made sure not to let a dreary expression drag down the atmosphere like I did before the regression. I already knew firsthand how the Baek family would gossip about that for years afterward.