AOA 46

At Choi Jaeha’s words, I sat up from the bed. Since it was a VIP hospital room, there was a sofa area where we could sit and talk. So we peeled and ate hallabongs from the fruit basket as we chatted.

I made up a story about hurting my head after missing a step on the stairs at Baek Jinseok’s mansion. I said it was a mild concussion and I’d be hospitalized for a few days.

Jaeha scolded me, saying that falling so easily meant my lower body was weak and that I should exercise more. I didn’t like the assumption that I had a weak lower body, but I had been slacking on workouts lately, so I just laughed it off.

Once the mood was warm enough, I asked Jaeha about the marriage talk with Baek Yeongseop.

“Me, with Baek Yeongseop? Are you joking?”

To my surprise, Jaeha acted like it was the first he’d heard of it.

“I’m not joking. You didn’t know?”

“No, where’d you even hear that?”

“Baek Mugyeong told me. That’s why he said I shouldn’t hang out with you.”

“He’s not avoiding me because of that, is he?”

Knowing Baek Mugyeong’s personality, I doubted that was the reason, but I didn’t bother explaining.

“So you’re not marrying Baek Yeongseop, right?”

“Of course not. Everyone knows what kind of mess that bastard makes. He’s trash among trash.”

Jaeha scrunched up his face, openly showing his disgust for Baek Yeongseop. Ever since the article about his yacht party in Kota Kinabalu, he had been keeping a low profile. He hadn’t caused any big scandals recently.

But he was probably still causing trouble in more private circles. I could tell just from how he’d stirred things up at the charity concert by spraying pheromones and starting a fight.

Even before my regression, Baek Yeongseop had harassed me quite a bit. Mostly by treating me like an idiot and deliberately putting me in awkward situations just to laugh at me.

There was no way I could stand by and watch someone like that marry Choi Jaeha. Even if I was the only one who considered Jaeha a friend, wrong was wrong.

Maybe Jaeha sensed how I felt, because he started ranting about Baek Yeongseop. He said getting drunk and causing a scene at exclusive clubs was so common that everyone knew about it. He added that sleeping with multiple young models at once was just as typical, and that it made him furious.

“I wouldn’t touch that piece of trash even if you gave him to me for free. And his looks are awful too. He looks like a sneaky rat.”

Jaeha spat out those vicious words without hesitation, then popped another slice of hallabong in his mouth. I felt oddly refreshed, like I’d just had fizzy soda. I laughed. He was right, Baek Yeongseop really did look like a rat.

Before the regression, Jaeha hadn’t been mentioned as a potential match for Baek Yeongseop. But lately, too many things had been turning out differently, which made me anxious.

Still, seeing how firmly Jaeha rejected the idea, I was relieved. With his personality, if anyone tried to force him to marry Baek Yeongseop, he’d blow everything up and flee the country.

“Yeah, Baek Yeongseop really is trash.”

I told him what had happened at the charity concert banquet. Jaeha cursed him out, calling him a psycho. Having a common enemy brought us even closer. We sat there eating hallabong and laughing like old friends, until the hospital room door opened.

It wasn’t a nurse or a doctor this time either.

It was Baek Mugyeong.

He wore the same outfit from this morning, and I could instantly tell from his aura that he was in a foul mood. The moment our eyes met, his gaze practically scolded me with a silent, “What are you doing?”

From where I sat on the bed, I had a clear view of the door. I shut my mouth tightly. Maybe sensing something strange, Jaeha turned around.

“Hyung!”

Jaeha’s cheerful voice called out to Baek Mugyeong as he jumped to his feet. He rushed over with a bright, excited face, like he was genuinely happy to see him. In contrast, Baek Mugyeong was icy, like a gust of cold wind.

“What are you doing here?”

His voice was even colder than his expression. It made me feel rejected, just watching from the sidelines.

But Jaeha wasn’t fazed at all. He only smiled wider, his face practically glowing like someone in love.

“I came to visit.”

“Choi Jaeha.”

“I figured I’d see you here. Just like last time. You ran over here like a jealous husband catching someone cheating, it worked again! What’s wrong? I just wanted to talk properly this time, since we didn’t get the chance before.”

I barely stopped myself from facepalming. Logically, his actions made sense, but Jaeha clearly didn’t understand how Baek Mugyeong operated. I wanted to tell him this kind of talk wouldn’t go over well.

Sure enough, Baek Mugyeong’s expression hardened even more. I’d seen that face before the regression. It was his way of saying, “I’m done engaging with you.”

“Go home.”

“You just saw me.”

“Get out.”

Even with a ridiculously handsome man looking at him with pleading eyes, Baek Mugyeong remained cold as ice. When Jaeha asked him to give him a ride home, Baek Mugyeong didn’t budge. Pouting that it was unfair, Jaeha finally said goodbye to me and left the room.

Only after the door closed gently did Baek Mugyeong turn to look at me. The freezing expression was gone, but now he looked faintly annoyed and exasperated.

“I didn’t call him here.”

I rushed to explain. I was just as surprised when Jaeha showed up. Sure, I hadn’t kicked him out, but that was understandable.

“I know.”

His curt response sounded like a deep sigh, and I didn’t know what to say next.

“Um… I think he’s going to keep coming. So maybe you shouldn’t come next time.”

“Why are you both so stubborn…”

He sighed again, more like muttering than anything. My eyes widened. It felt like the first time I’d seen Baek Mugyeong express emotion like this.

He looked like an exhausted big brother dealing with an unruly little kid, it was oddly funny. But I tensed my expression in case he misunderstood again.

“Maybe it’s because Choi Jaeha’s like a little contrarian. If you tell him not to do something, he just wants to do it more. Ah, but I’m not like that.”

Baek Mugyeong shot me a look, like he was asking, “Aren’t you the same?” I hurriedly denied it. Jaeha’s hospital visit had nothing to do with my wishes.

Honestly, I hung out with Jaeha because I wanted to, not to spite Baek Mugyeong.

If I wanted to quickly reach my original goal of divorce, I had to stay on Baek Mugyeong’s good side. But realistically, since that plan was already half out the window, having one friend didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Even if that friend was a bit too obsessed with Baek Mugyeong… I didn’t really care.

“Choi Jaeha… he’s like a cursed doll. No matter how far you throw him, he always comes back.”

That was a brutally savage assessment, and I was honestly surprised. Then again, considering Jaeha had openly admitted to stalking, Baek Mugyeong probably felt differently than I did.

It was rare to see him reveal what he really thought. For some reason, I wanted to find a solution for him.

“What if we found him someone else?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Someone who fits Jaeha’s type better than you. An alpha even more to his taste…”

I trailed off mid-sentence. Jaeha had said he liked Baek Mugyeong for his looks. He’d also mentioned that he liked his kind personality, but that was clearly secondary. No matter how I looked at it, Jaeha was a face man.

And honestly, how many alphas out there were better-looking than Baek Mugyeong? Just standing there in a coat, he made the hospital room look like a runway.

It felt like an impossible suggestion, and I was about to give up on the idea when Baek Mugyeong suddenly looked like he’d had a revelation.

“He has to be good-looking. He said he fell for you because your are handsome.”

I got a bad feeling and quickly clarified. Jaeha was a serious face man, his standards were sky-high. You could tell just by the fact that he had fallen for someone like Baek Mugyeong.

I thought I’d given some genuinely useful advice, but Baek Mugyeong’s reaction was a little strange. He gave me this odd look, and I signaled at him with my eyes, “What?”

“Jeong Minchae. There’s no need for flattery.”

He said it a little stiffly. Flattery? I blinked in confusion for a second before realizing he was referring to the part where I said he was handsome.

But that wasn’t flattery at all. Baek Mugyeong was genuinely good-looking.

“No, really, I wasn’t flattering you. It’s just objectively true. You’d know if you looked in a mirror.”

Feeling wrongly accused, I pouted. I wanted to protest, how could he think that was flattery when even he must know it’s true?

When I looked at him for agreement, he furrowed his brow. Clearly, something about this annoyed him. But this time, I wasn’t backing down.

Calling someone good-looking when they are shouldn’t be taken as flattery. That’s just honesty.

“…I apologize. That was a poor choice of words.”

Baek Mugyeong apologized with a completely unapologetic face. But that was fine. There were plenty of people in the world who wouldn’t even say sorry and would get mad instead.

“It’s okay. I corrected the misunderstanding.”

“To be honest, I do like your suggestion.”