AOA 3

“Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom… It’s motion sickness…”

“Motion sickness, all of a sudden? …Alright. Go ahead. We’ve still got plenty of time.”

My biological father, who had been about to say something, saw my probably pale-as-a-sheet face and just waved his hand. I gave a quick excuse that I’d come back after pulling myself together, then headed to the bathroom.

Gripping the sink in the empty restroom, I retched dryly for a long time. I could feel my stomach cramping, but thankfully, I didn’t throw up.

I shut my feverish eyes tight and focused on calming my breath. I’d been nervous before, sure, but not like this.

I couldn’t understand why this time was so different. I’d already gone through this once before. Shouldn’t I be numb to it by now? And it wasn’t even the drugs affecting me yet.

Fortunately, after a few deep breaths, my stomach settled somewhat. I turned on the tap to rinse out my mouth. I didn’t wash my face, since I’d just had my hair done at a salon.

“Haa.”

I looked up at the mirror to check my face. Whether it was the lighting or not, I looked so pale it was like all the color had been drained out.

As I slapped my cheeks to bring back some color, I realized there was a man standing behind me.

The moment I thought he looked familiar, our eyes met in the mirror, and I froze.

It was him.

Baek Mugyeong.

My spouse from before the regression, who had died earlier than me. The man I was supposed to meet on today’s matchmaking date.

The blood drained not just from my face but all the way to the tips of my fingers, leaving them cold. Only then did I understand why I’d felt so suffocated.

His furious expression had flashed into my mind, the look he had given me, demanding an explanation. That night, he had turned and left without being able to even express his anger, fists clenched tight. I received the call of his death at dawn the next morning.

As his spouse, I had been the one to identify him. His blood-soaked, closed eyes, and his body already cold.

The memory was so distant it made me dizzy, and I broke eye contact. My heart, which had felt like it had stopped for a moment, started pounding. I hadn’t expected to run into Baek Mugyeong here. Before the regression, he must have headed straight to the room, and we’d just missed each other.

Did I even know what Baek Mugyeong looked like at this point in time? The doubt passed quickly.

I remembered thinking when I first met him at the restaurant: Isn’t he too handsome for a chaebol third-generation? Tall and broad-shouldered, he had a stern face, but he was strikingly handsome, someone you didn’t see often.

I was relieved to realize I didn’t need to act like I knew Baek Mugyeong. But he might know me. Through the professional matchmaker, we had exchanged basic info and photos in advance.

“Are you alright?”

His voice was low and a little curt, but pleasant to the ear.

“…Yes. I’m fine.”

Without looking directly at Baek Mugyeong, I gave a small nod and headed out of the restroom. But he followed me.

“Mr. Jeong Minchae.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. Unfortunately, it seemed he did know me.

In this timeline, I wasn’t supposed to recognize Baek Mugyeong. I wasn’t sure I could fake the expression of someone meeting a stranger. Still, I did my best to put on a confused face.

“Who are you?”

“You didn’t see the photo? I’m the one you’re meeting today.”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I did see it, but I guess I couldn’t match the face.”

It sounded like an excuse, but it was true. The photo had ended up in my stepmother’s hands, and I hadn’t gotten a proper look. I only remembered her disapproving eyes as she said he was too good for me.

All I was supposed to know right now was that the man I was meeting today was named Baek Mugyeong, thirty years old, a third-generation chaebol, and the executive director of DS Motors.

“I see.”

“Yes.”

He didn’t seem offended by my excuse. Baek Mugyeong was never the warm or affectionate type.

“Shall we go together? We’re heading the same way.”

“Ah, yes.”

It would have been awkward to reject his suggestion, so I walked with him to the room. The silent walk down the hallway together felt painfully awkward, like we were balancing on a tightrope suspended in midair.

My tension only escalated. My fingertips were so cold they almost hurt.

“This way.”

At a fork in the hall, Baek Mugyeong pointed to the right. He was curt but polite and respectful. No matter how foolish I had acted, he had never cursed or raised his voice at me. Not even that last day.

And then he died in a car accident. Hit by a drunk truck driver, Baek Mugyeong died instantly on the spot.

It was too unsettling to call it just a tragic accident. Rumors circulated, ugly and ominous. I could still hear my biological father’s voice muttering that it must’ve been the work of Baek Mugyeong’s uncle. That meant one thing: the man had died in one of those classic chaebol family battles you only see on TV dramas.

If what I’d heard was true, then Baek Mugyeong had been murdered.

That terrifying realization hit me like a freight train, making it hard to breathe. My knees buckled, and I staggered. I might’ve fallen if Baek Mugyeong hadn’t caught me quickly.

“Mr. Jeong Minchae? Are you alright?”

His large hand gripped my shoulder, snapping me back to reality. I recoiled like I’d touched a hot grill.

“I’m fine. Just felt a bit dizzy… There’s no problem.”

I looked up at Baek Mugyeong briefly, then dropped my gaze. I didn’t trust myself to hold a normal expression under his eyes. Staring at the rounded tips of his shoes, I heard a quiet exhale.

“If you’re okay, shall we go in?”

“Yes.”

I turned away without meeting his gaze. He walked beside me in silence, as if nothing about me interested him.

Even with my mind spinning, my thoughts kept racing. One of the reasons Baek Mugyeong had been killed was likely because of my pregnancy. I hadn’t been in the right state of mind back then to connect the dots, but now I could.

My heart pounded at the overwhelming truth. Even if I ended up marrying him again, if I didn’t get pregnant, Baek Mugyeong wouldn’t have to die.

I clung desperately to that logic. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself sane.

“We’ve arrived.”

Baek Mugyeong’s voice brought me back to the present. I finally looked up at him in front of the firmly closed door.

I opened my mouth, hoping I didn’t look too terrified.

“Thank you.”

Now I had one more reason to change the future.

The real star of today’s matchmaking wasn’t me, the bride-to-be, nor Baek Mugyeong.

It was his uncle, Vice Chairman Baek Jaehan of Daesong Group.

The moment Baek Jaehan showed up, just a bit past the appointment time, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a typical matchmaking meeting.

Baek Jaehan, vice chairman of one of the top three conglomerates in Korea, was a middle-aged man with large eyes and bold features. Brimming with energy, he devoured his steak and led the conversation with ease.

“Manifestations are easy these days. Just a shot and you’re good. Meds are excellent now. What a world, huh.”

“Yes.”

I replied politely. There wasn’t much else I could do in this setting.

This matchmaking had its roots in Daesong Group’s complicated family dynamics.

The chairman of Daesong Group—Baek Mugyeong’s grandfather—had three sons and one daughter: the eldest son, second son, eldest daughter, and youngest son. Of the four, three were Alphas.

The chairman, who favored both sons and Alphas, naturally pushed his eldest son, Baek Jaehan, into the spotlight. He was widely known as the successor to the company.

The issue was Baek Jaehan’s children, specifically, his eldest son, Baek Yeongseop.

A textbook reckless chaebol heir, Baek Yeongseop was constantly involved in scandals: drunk driving, hit-and-runs, assault, causing scenes at police stations, even drugs.

Each time, Daesong Group had to pour money into covering things up. But in a world where everything could be broadcast live on smartphones, not everything could be hidden. Every time Baek Yeongseop made headlines, Daesong’s stock price tumbled.

Eventually, the chairman made a bold move. To give his reckless grandson a wake-up call, he brought in a rival.

That rival was Baek Mugyeong.

His background was complicated too. Right after he entered elementary school, his parents died together in a helicopter crash. With his likelihood of being a Beta nearly certain and his Alpha potential minimal, the chairman dismissed him, and he ended up growing up with his mother’s family.

Even there, he was essentially neglected—shuffled off to boarding schools overseas. It wasn’t until his mid-20s that he Awakened as an Alpha, by then running a business in the U.S.

The chairman summoned Baek Mugyeong back to Korea and parachuted him into DS Motors as executive director. He was only twenty-eight at the time—a ridiculously young age for such a high position.

It was no wonder Baek Jaehan was alarmed. Though he was still publicly treated as the successor, he now had to face the very real possibility that his whimsical father might hand Korea’s top automobile company to his nephew. He began fiercely opposing Baek Mugyeong.