AOA 36

“Do you need me to explain any further?”

Baek Mugyeong’s tone came off extremely unpleasant. Maybe I was just being sensitive, but it felt like he was saying If you don’t get it, you must be an idiot.

Honestly, I understood what the situation was. But before the regression, when I used to hang out with Choi Jaeha, no one stopped me.

Or maybe, I had just failed to notice.

Back then, I was pretty much a fool who took everything at face value, unable to grasp what was really going on around me.

I hesitated for a moment, then opened my mouth.

“Do you want the two of them to get married?”

“My opinion doesn’t matter. I’m telling you to keep your distance from Choi Jaeha so you don’t fall out of favor with my aunt. It’ll get quite difficult otherwise.”

Having lived through the future once already, I knew what Baek Mugyeong was talking about. His aunt, Im Songyoon, Baek Jaehan’s wife, was the typical wicked stepmother type. She looked down on me and took every chance to humiliate me in public. Especially since there were rumors I might be the child of a mistress, which she spread constantly.

Back then, I’d only been half in my right mind, so I’d just gotten a little depressed and brushed it off. But now that I thought about it, there were countless things that would have made anyone’s blood boil. If you didn’t know what was happening, it wouldn’t just be “a bit difficult”, it would be hell.

But since I was already married to Baek Mugyeong, I was already marked. I had neither the means nor the will to improve my relationship with Im Songyoon.

“Aren’t I already out of her favor?”

“My aunt already knows Choi Jaeha is chasing after me. What do you think will happen if you’re seen getting close to him?”

“Well…”

“She’ll take it out on the easiest target, you.”

His tone was full of certainty. And honestly, it was quite convincing.

Before the regression, Im Songyoon hadn’t paid much attention to me right after the wedding. She acted petty from time to time, but mostly ignored me.

But as the new year rolled in and summer approached, she started harassing me relentlessly. She made me attend all sorts of social gatherings, assigned me menial tasks, and constantly humiliated me.

If it was because the marriage talks between Choi Jaeha and Baek Yeongseop had fallen through, that would make a lot of sense, and it sent a fresh chill down my spine. Even though I had come back from the future, there was still so much I didn’t know about what had happened.

I thought for a moment. But I didn’t want to push Choi Jaeha away over something like that.

“Even if I’m not close to Choi Jaeha, I think she’ll still treat me that way. Because I married you.”

When I pointed out the root of the problem, Baek Mugyeong furrowed his brows. He didn’t deny it, so I guess even he had a conscience.

Unlike before the regression, I had manifested as an omega right after marriage. That alone might make Im Songyoon more aggressive toward me. Even without Jaeha, I had more than enough reasons to be targeted.

I blinked once and looked at him silently. Baek Mugyeong ran his right hand up from his face to his hair in one sweeping motion.

That was a kind of signal.

A way of suppressing anger, a hidden sigh, or a gesture to intentionally release tension. Sure enough, Baek Mugyeong spoke in a flat, indifferent tone.

“Do as you please.”

The way he said it, like I’d only learn after tasting the consequences, made me laugh. Just being married to him was already a ticket to capsaicin-level in-law hell.

Knowing the future, I wouldn’t let myself be a fool again, but there were still bound to be things I couldn’t avoid. I had already accepted that. Still, there was one thing I had to make clear to Baek Mugyeong.

“Just so you know, I don’t cheat.”

“What?”

“Mr. Choi said he’s not even into omegas.”

“Do whatever you want. Let’s go.”

Baek Mugyeong looked at me like what kind of nonsense are you spouting, then turned to change the subject. With Choi Jaeha gone, there was no reason to stay here any longer. I was just about to stand up when my phone, which I had set to vibrate earlier, buzzed noticeably.

A number I didn’t recognize flashed on the screen. I gestured to Baek Mugyeong for a moment and answered the call.

“Hello?”

—“Ha, shit. You finally picked up. You blocked my number, didn’t you?”

The voice on the other end was familiar. Though I’d never spoken to him on the phone before, I immediately recognized it as Jeong Guhyeon.

I’d only met him once since getting married, when we returned from our honeymoon and visited my biological father’s house. After that, I hadn’t seen him or spoken to him at all.

Just looking at Jeong Guhyeon’s face made my heart stop half the time. Thankfully, just hearing his voice didn’t affect me the same way.

Which meant I could pretend I didn’t know who he was.

“Who is this?”

—“Are you fucking kidding me? Do you need another beating to get your head on straight?”

“Hyung?”

—“Yeah, you little shit. I’m at NN in Gangnam right now. You know NN? Angels Angels. Just say my name at the entrance and get your ass over here!”

His sense of entitlement was unbelievable.

It was already well past 10 p.m., and it was Christmas. It wasn’t like I was close enough with him to go clubbing together.

In fact, if he had the chance, he’d probably hurt me again. Unlike Choi Jaeha, Jeong Guhyeon was not someone I could trust. In my previous life, he literally killed me.

“I’m not going.”

—“You’ve got some nerve, huh? Just because you married Baek Mugyeong, you think you’re part of Daesong Group now? You’re just a breeder, nothing more. And Baek Mugyeong’s not even with you right now. You don’t even know he’s at the Carva Hotel, do you? Don’t be pathetic. It’s Christmas, live a little!”

I wondered how Jeong Guhyeon knew Baek Mugyeong was at the Carva Hotel. But with Baek Mugyeong right in front of me, I couldn’t ask.

He knew I had a bad relationship with Jeong Guhyeon, but this was still different.

In the end, I decided to ignore him.

“Go live it up on your own.”

—“Are you dense? If you keep this up, I’ll spill everything to Baek Mugyeong and the chairman. That you’re just a high school grad, a greasy factory worker who never even got near a university. Hahaha.”

Jeong Guhyeon let out an eerie laugh, treating it like some kind of threat.

But I just sighed.

How stupid could he be?

If I really was just a breeder, then what did my education matter? All they needed from me was to have kids. Besides, if I ever got divorced over academic fraud, my biological father would explode, and the target of that rage would be Jeong Guhyeon, not me. He was threatening me with something that wasn’t even a threat.

“Do whatever you want… huh?”

Before I could finish telling him off, Baek Mugyeong reached out and took the phone from my hand. Startled, I looked at him.

“Mr. Jeong Guhyeon, is that you?”

Baek Mugyeong gave me a look—asking if it really was Jeong Guhyeon or maybe if he could take over the call. I just stayed quiet, unsure what he meant.

Since it wasn’t on speakerphone, I couldn’t hear exactly what Jeong Guhyeon was yelling, but it was clear he was shouting.

“This is Baek Mugyeong. I’m currently with Mr. Jeong Minchae. I don’t think it’s appropriate to call him at this hour without notice and demand he ‘party hard.’ And I’d really like to know how you found out I was at the Carva Hotel. Did you assign someone to follow me? I’ll be filing a formal complaint with Chairman Jeong.”

I was shocked that Baek Mugyeong understood the word “Carva Hotel” so clearly. His way of pressuring Jeong Guhyeon was no joke either. He knew from experience that reporting him to the higher-ups, like he did with my father last time, was the most effective method.

I heard a high-pitched scream from the phone. Jeong Guhyeon must’ve been yelling again. But Baek Mugyeong didn’t listen any further, he ended the call and put my phone on silent.

“Does Jeong Guhyeon contact you often?”

“N-no. This was the first time since we got married.”

“I’ll handle it from here.”

“Okay.”

I nodded without hesitation. If this meant Jeong Guhyeon would stop bothering me, I was all for it. My biological father would probably blame me, but I could handle that.

“From now on, I’ll record all your calls.”

“Huh?”

“A recording with the speaker’s voice counts as valid legal evidence.”

Baek Mugyeong looked down at my phone and tapped around. He was probably turning on call recording.

I didn’t say anything like What do you think you’re doing with someone else’s phone? Because he was right. Evidence was important, especially when dealing with someone like Jeong Guhyeon, who said abusive things without a second thought. I wondered how I had never thought of that, even before or after the regression.

“From now on, I recommend you don’t answer calls from unknown numbers.”

“Okay.”

It sounded like nagging, but every word was right. That’s why I felt so frustrated, so humiliated, and so ashamed.

Before the regression, I had done plenty of stupid things in front of Baek Mugyeong. I thought I wouldn’t make the same mistakes again, but things weren’t going as planned.

Especially when it came to Jeong Guhyeon, Baek Mugyeong kept getting involved. Getting beaten up the last time, taking this absurd call today… These were things Baek Mugyeong never knew about in the past.

I didn’t want to look like an idiot anymore.

I wanted to crawl into a hole, but I couldn’t show it. So I braced my face and asked casually…