AOA 83

I wanted to say no, but I had a bad feeling. And that feeling turned out to be right.

“Do we really have to go?”

“My grandma asked me to.”

I couldn’t say that my aunt, who’s supposedly working as an artist in the US, had a piece displayed at Geumpalang Museum. It wasn’t just because I’d fought with Baek Mugyeong recently. Something about it made me feel I should keep it secret.

“It takes about an hour to get to Geumpalang from here. Let’s meet there.”

“You’re coming?”

The words Why? rose to the back of my throat, but I didn’t say them out loud.

“Yeah. It won’t take long.”

“Oh… okay.”

“Don’t leave Jaeha’s side. Make sure to take the guards with you.”

“Got it.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Okay.”

Baek Mugyeong ended the call first. I tilted my head, staring at the phone’s screen, watching the call duration blink out.

What was that all about? But there was no one here to give me an answer.

I rode to the museum with Choi Jaeha again.

Jaeha was really curious about what conversation I’d had with Lee Hyejeong. After some hesitation, I told him my maternal grandma and aunt, whom I’d thought were both dead, were actually living in the US. I also mentioned that Hyejeong had known my grandma.

I asked him to keep it a secret from everyone else, adding that things could get messy if my biological father found out.

Choi Jaeha might be blunt sometimes, but he wasn’t the kind of person to go around blabbing a friend’s secret. Even so, I gave him a serious warning just in case.

He nodded and said okay again before bringing up Baek Mugyeong.

“But what about Mugyeong hyung? Are you keeping it a secret from him too?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? He’s good at keeping things to himself. If you asked, he’d probably help. Wait, that reaction–did you two fight?”

I hadn’t said a word, but Jaeha caught on instantly like he had a sixth sense. I pouted and leaned back against the seat.

“We didn’t fight.”

“Then?”

“It’s just…”

“Just?”

I sighed at his prodding. I couldn’t explain everything, so I gave him a vague answer.

“He kept poking at my sore spots. So I got mad.”

“Yeah, he does talk pretty coldly sometimes.”

“It wasn’t just cold. He was–he was really mean. I seriously wanted to kick him.”

“Hahaha. So that’s how you two have your couple fights? That’s adorable.”

“What’s so adorable about that? And it’s not a couple fight.”

I rubbed my arms, grossed out by the cringey word. But Jaeha just kept talking like he hadn’t heard me.

“You’re like a drama lead. My grandma loves dramas. They’re always full of secret birth stories, kids going missing, contract marriages with chaebols. Even you manifesting as an omega on your honeymoon, that’s a total cliché. If it were a drama, people would complain it’s too much.”

Now that he mentioned it, it was true. My life wasn’t just full of twists, it was practically overflowing with them.

I laughed and nodded along, then grumbled that I wouldn’t want to be that kind of drama protagonist.

While we chatted and joked around, we arrived at the art museum on the outskirts of Seoul. A large banner announcing a special exhibition of international artists hung from the building’s exterior.

“Your aunt moved to the US early. She got married there too. Her debut came later, but she’s pretty famous.”

In front of a large abstract painting, Lee Hyejeong explained about my aunt who lived in America. Her name was Park Soyeon, but in the States, she went by Sophia Park Reynolds. Hyejeong praised her bold brushwork that depicted nature, clearly impressed.

I didn’t know much about this kind of thing, so I just nodded diligently. I’d worked as an intern at my stepmother’s gallery to gain some cultural experience and develop my eye, but I still wasn’t good at appreciating art.

“Oh my, madam! What a surprise to see you here.”

As we slowly strolled and viewed the artwork, a high-pitched voice called out to Hyejeong. To my surprise, it was Im Songyoon.

“Oh, you’re here too.”

She spotted me and smiled. I gave a small bow and greeted her politely.

“Madam, are you here with our niece-in-law? Are you two close?”

“He’s my youngest grandson’s friend, so we came together. The weather’s lovely today.”

This scene was such a small world that everyone seemed to know each other through one or two degrees of separation. So it wasn’t all that shocking that Hyejeong and Im Songyoon were acquainted.

Songyoon said there was an event at the gallery today, and she hadn’t expected to run into Hyejeong but was thrilled.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two of them went their separate ways since they each had companions. Songyoon gave me and Jaeha a curious look before moving on, but we pretended not to notice.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to run into her here. Did I ever tell you? She actually reached out to arrange a blind date. Would’ve been bad if I didn’t already have a boyfriend. My mom turned it down. She said I’m not getting married anytime soon. She likes my boyfriend, by the way. My mom’s a sucker for good looks too.”

As soon as Songyoon was out of earshot, Jaeha whispered beside me. Since I’d heard a bit about this from Baek Mugyeong, I wasn’t that surprised. Still, I was relieved that Jaeha hadn’t ended up marrying Baek Yeongseop. After the regression, I’d worried that the future might shift in odd ways.

That was all I let myself think about. I shook off any thoughts of Im Songyoon and Baek Yeongseop from my mind.

The weather was clear and the gallery was pleasant. Wasting time thinking about annoying people in a place like this felt pointless.

But, as always, things didn’t go as I wanted.

I don’t know what the odds are of running into someone you know at an art gallery on the weekend. Objectively speaking, the odds should be pretty low.

But on the second floor, Hyejeong ran into another acquaintance. This one seemed to be someone she was quite close with. Thanks to her saying she’d be walking around with her friend, Jaeha and I were freed up.

Jaeha tugged my arm, saying we should go shopping or something. I told him I had to wait, because Baek Mugyeong said he’d be coming.

“What? Why would he come?”

“I don’t know.”

Honestly, I wanted to know too. The man who used to spend every weekend sleeping out suddenly wanted to come to an art gallery? I was baffled.

Sometimes, I really wished I could peek into Baek Mugyeong’s head and figure out what he was thinking. Especially when he introduced a guy to Jaeha and said they’d be perfect together. I thought he was out of his mind.

I’d only half-joked about introducing Jaeha to a handsome alpha. But Mugyeong actually did it. It was impressive how he’d found someone who fit Jaeha’s type so perfectly.

We wandered the gallery, chatting quietly. And then, we ran into someone else we knew.

“What are you doing here?”

To our shock, it was Baek Yeongseop. I tried not to scowl when I saw that smug face of his.

It didn’t feel like a coincidence that both Songyoon and Yeongseop were here. If the mother and son came to the gallery together on a weekend, there weren’t many reasons for it.

Lately, Songyoon had been doing everything she could to get Yeongseop married. So it was likely she’d dragged him here on purpose, maybe because a person she had in mind was attending the event today.

“Hey.”

“Hi, Yeongseop hyung.”

Jaeha and I both greeted him. Normally, it would’ve been enough to just nod and walk away. But Yeongseop walked right up to us with a smirk.

“This is a weird combo. How’d you two end up together?”

“We’re friends.”

Jaeha answered. His tone was icy, nothing like his usual cheerful self. The dislike was obvious.

But Yeongseop just kept smiling and poking at us with annoying questions.

“Friends? You two? How? Weren’t you chasing after Mugyeong? How can you be friends now? Oh, did you finally end up with him? So now you’re both friends who share a man? This is hilarious. Mugyeong must’ve been born under a lucky star, huh? His wife and mistress getting along so well they become friends.”

He pointed back and forth between us, laughing like it was the funniest joke ever. His behavior was downright vulgar.

What really set me off was the word mistress coming out of his mouth. I was almost certain this asshole had spread those rumors about me and Jaeha before I returned to the past.

“What the hell are you saying? I’ve got a boyfriend, you know.”

“Oh, really? What a shame. If you were a girl, I might’ve married you. Doesn’t matter if you’re an omega, you’re still a guy. And guys just don’t have the right flavor, you know what I mean?”

Yeongseop made a disgusting hand gesture as he looked at both of us, like he wanted us to agree.

It took everything I had not to grimace. This was exactly why Baek Yeongseop, the rumored next-in-line at Daesong Group, had such a bad reputation. He treated anyone he considered beneath him like dirt. And he had no problem making blatantly sexual comments in any setting.

Sure, he stayed quiet around Baek Jinseok or Baek Jaehan, or any of the other chairman-level elders, but otherwise, he showed his true colors without filter.

“I might not have boobs, but at least I’ve got this. Unlike you, hyung.”

Jaeha said as he waved his hand in front of Yeongseop’s face, up and down.

This time, I had to clench my face not to laugh. Yeongseop wasn’t ugly, but he couldn’t hold a candle to Baek Mugyeong. Even compared to Jaeha’s current boyfriend, he fell short. I’d only seen the guy in photos, but he was a delicate, sharp-featured beauty.

When Jaeha fired back without holding back, Yeongseop’s expression briefly stiffened.