Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 11

“Oh, Mom. That relationship ended ages ago. Don’t worry about my business, I’ll handle it. Just take care of yourself and stay well, okay?”

Taehyun hadn’t even imagined that showing her that one photo would make her think he was still dating that girl. He shook his head with a wry smile, feeling a faint pang of regret for his ex-girlfriend, someone he dated for only two or three months and whose current whereabouts he didn’t even know.

Why was it that Taehyun couldn’t maintain deep relationships in the first place? His parents had shown him the worst possible despair through their marriage—did he really want to go through that himself? Of course, he knew in his head that not every lover, not every couple, would fall into such a quagmire, but he had no desire to take that risk. And besides…

‘Why would I drag someone else’s precious daughter or son into suffering like some kind of water ghost?’

Unless his father somehow died in a far-off place and vanished from Taehyun’s life forever, he would remain an eternal source of anxiety in a corner of Taehyun’s heart. Just as Taehyun had lived in fear of his father showing up at their house throughout his childhood. And even now, his father remained a source of fear in a different sense.

His mother had said she met his father through an introduction by a school friend. She had heard he was a well-off son attending the business department at a neighboring school, with a small family business to inherit. Taehyun’s mother was the youngest daughter of a prominent local family. When she entered university, it was just before her father—his maternal grandfather—passed away. Having been promised financial support until marriage, his mother had grown up sheltered, never having to lift a finger, and was studying piano at a prestigious university.

The meeting of a delicately raised music student and a business student heir with a company to inherit. When his mother walked out of the wedding venue, already carrying Taehyun in her womb, she had believed that her future would be one of stability as a virtuous wife and mother. That was until she realized that her husband had never even attended university, that the so-called family business was just a small diner, and that the idyllic married life he had promised was all a lie.

His mother was a naive person. It wasn’t her fault, but she had grown up so unaware of the ways of the world that she didn’t know malice existed in people who sought to deceive others. Having spent her life playing the piano and little else, there was no way she could have managed the diner alongside him. Her first attempt at housekeeping was inevitably a mess, and his father would often slam down his spoon and storm out of the house if the food she prepared didn’t suit his taste.

To make matters worse, when his maternal grandfather passed away, all the inheritance went to the eldest son, Taehyun’s uncle. It was an unthinkable situation by today’s standards, but it was possible back then. Once his father was certain there was nothing more to gain from his wife’s family, he began to act even more recklessly. The smell of alcohol never left the main room, and he would leave Taehyun, who could barely speak, with the neighbors while sending his mother out to earn money. With nothing but piano in her skillset, his mother desperately called up school friends, begging for her first teaching gigs.

From that day on, his father began to latch onto his mother like a parasite. After Taehyun was weaned, his father claimed he would look after him, sitting Taehyun in the main room while he chain-smoked and emptied bottle after bottle of liquor. It was only natural that, as Taehyun gained fame and their household became more stable, his father would try to extend his grasp to Taehyun as well—a fact even a young child could predict.

Of course, Taehyun didn’t meekly become his father’s sacrificial lamb.

‘If you come back and cause trouble like this one more time, I won’t let it slide. You think I can’t do it?’

They say even a cornered mouse will bite a cat. By the time Taehyun entered high school, he had already surpassed his father’s height. How could this pathetic man have seemed so terrifying when Taehyun was younger? What was it about this piece of trash that made Taehyun tremble, getting bruised all over and never even thinking to report it? When Taehyun raised his hand as if he could overpower and knock his father down, his father fled like a coward. Yelling that his son was trying to kill him, that it was filial impiety, and causing a neighborhood uproar was just the start. Still, it was a relief. Once his father realized Taehyun was no longer the five-year-old who would take a beating without fighting back, he began to avoid him.

The problem was that he took advantage of the times Taehyun was away for training to harass his mother. Even that quieted down as Taehyun gained fame as a sports star, and with a restraining order in place, his father’s tyranny was no longer a daily occurrence. But the anxiety still lingered, un resolved. The ways a piece of trash like a parent could torment their child were varied and endless.

Taehyun had long since given up any hope that his father was living a decent life somewhere. It would be a small mercy if he was at least earning an honest wage as a day laborer. The next worst scenario was gambling, and the absolute worst was the fear that he was making money through crime. And how many parents were out there profiting off their children? Whenever Taehyun saw celebrities dragged into public humiliation because of their parents’ issues, treated like they were guilty by association, it didn’t feel like someone else’s problem. Wasn’t his father capable of doing something just as despicable? Taehyun feared he might be out there, using Taehyun’s name to scam people, just as he had deceived his mother. He was more than capable of it.

The only silver lining, if it could be called that, was that no news of him had come since the last police report. But even that was unsettling. If only Taehyun knew what he was up to. Either way, it was undeniable that his father’s existence was a massive obstacle to Taehyun’s romantic prospects.

‘Do I really need to drag someone else’s precious child into this hell…?’

A casual fling or a few light dates might be one thing, but marriage would bind a couple with a massive burden of shared liability. Just like what happened to his mother. If his father started secretly making demands of Taehyun’s spouse, claiming to be their father-in-law, Taehyun could easily imagine the kind of hell that would unfold. He shook his head again. He could never tell his mother this, not even if he had ten mouths, but Taehyun was certain he wouldn’t even dream of marriage until at least his sixties. That specific age was his rough estimate of when his father might naturally pass away.

With his handsome face, easygoing demeanor, and naturally kind personality, many people wanted Taehyun as a partner. But would anyone be okay knowing that Taehyun came with a disaster of a father as a buy-one-get-one deal? Most would probably run for the hills.

Finishing his brief reverie, Taehyun managed a smile and continued the call.

“Anyway, I’m glad it’s nothing serious. If anything else happens, call me right away. Don’t keep it to yourself because you’re worried about being a burden.”

Taehyun was far from a mama’s boy, but the guilt of knowing his mother hadn’t been able to leave her awful husband sooner because of him always lingered.

‘Don’t speak too harshly, he’s still your father…’

Even after being worn down by that man for a lifetime, she still said soft-hearted things like that, which made it impossible for Taehyun to fully detach himself from family matters.

“Okay, I got it. Train hard. I’m proud of you no matter what the results are…”

As his mother’s well-meaning but not particularly helpful encouragement continued, Taehyun let out a half-hearted laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, go back inside. I’ve rested a bit, so I need to get back to training. I’ll stop by the academy before I head to the training camp.”

“Alright, see you next time. Take care.”

“Yep.”

With a cheerful beep, the short call ended, and Taehyun’s head grew cluttered again. If he didn’t win a medal this time, it would be a disaster. Having already blown two chances and earned a bad reputation, failing a third time would render everything he’d built up meaningless—he’d become a national pariah. And if his father caused trouble using his name, it would be the absolute worst. No matter what, he needed a medal this time, color be damned. At the very least, it would keep him from being scapegoated and publicly shamed for his past failures.

“Ah…….”

Leaning against one of the meeting room walls, Taehyun closed his eyes tightly and sighed. This is really shitty. Even swearing didn’t change reality. The fact that he’d ended two Olympics without a medal, the issue with his father—it was all a reality he couldn’t escape. He had to grab onto any straw he could. After briefly groaning and avoiding reality, Taehyun finally turned on his phone screen and searched for a number. It had been four years since he last sent a text to this number.

2:51 PM

Got a minute?

Then, realizing he had changed his number, he quickly sent another message.

2:52 PM

It’s me. Save this number.

All he could hope was that Sejin would figure out who “me” was.