Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 126 - END.

“After the divorce, the assault and financial demands continued, so I reported my father several times and proceeded with criminal charges, and I was constantly afraid. What if someone found out about my father, and what if that responsibility came back to me? There were actually times when my mother could not report him, afraid that it might harm me in some way. That is why the more love and support I received from the people of this nation, the greater the burden seemed to become.”

What was so hard about that? Why did it take so long to say it calmly? Taehyun picked up the microphone again, facing the interview venue which had fallen into a cold silence.

“At this point, I am sure some of you are curious. About why I am able to tell this story now, and also this… haha….”

This was, in fact, the main highlight. Taehyun finally managed a genuine smile and glanced at Sejin. Meanwhile, Sejin’s eyes, looking at him, were full of concern, worried about Taehyun revealing his family matters. I’m about to drop a bomb on you too, are you okay with that? There was no need to ask. He already knew the answer would be, ‘I actually like it.’

“It is embarrassing, but for the reasons I mentioned earlier, I thought it was my fate to live alone forever. I did not want to burden the person I love with such family matters and various other problems. Because I was sorry and ashamed.”

And then Taehyun took a moment to catch his breath. His heart seemed to be beating faster than when he was revealing the matter about his father. Fortunately, his face was not flushing yet, but his ears grew hot and his breathing trembled strangely. The moment he thought he might be more nervous than he was right before the final match, Taehyun finally continued speaking.

“Very thankfully, there is someone who knows about my situation and still cheers me on, believes in me, and told me that it is okay, that he wants to be with me…. With this person, I gained the conviction that I would not be afraid no matter what happens in the future, that it would be okay, so I wanted to take this opportunity to be the first to deliver the good news.”

The moment Taehyun finally dropped the bombshell, a tremendous sound of camera shutters, like a torrential downpour, erupted. That Sung Taehyun, who had always shown a relaxed and composed demeanor like a sly fox, was being shy. And he was doing it while completely denying the scandal that had recently heated up the internet. The entire nation started buzzing again with the real-time news alerts that went up.

⤷ Crazy, Sung Taehyun just announced his marriage.

⤷ They called him the Emperor of the Night, what the hell is this?

⤷ Marriage?????? Sung Taehyun is getting married?????

⤷ Wow, he’s announcing it as if he was waiting for the moment he won the gold medal lolololololololol

⤷ So that’s why he was so damn desperate for the gold medal lolololololol

⤷ Excuse me????? Oppa, we haven’t even registered our marriage yet, what are you doing announcing it first?

⤷ The nation’s number one son-in-law, completely blocked off lolololololololololol

Regardless of all that, Taehyun looked only at the person in front of him and spoke again.

“To be honest, I had a lot of worries. As you know, I was absurdly involved in an unfortunate scandal recently, and since my partner is still on the younger side, I worried if this was okay… since it is not a matter to be decided hastily. But… this is a bit foolish of me, but I started to feel like it would be fine if it was this person, to the point that such worries felt meaningless…. I did not have the confidence to go back to a life without this friend, so I just decided to be the shameless one.”

Taehyun finally caught his breath and smiled at Sejin. His eyes, wide with surprise, were so lovely. The corners of his eyes, which eventually curved softly to follow his own, were so pleasing that it seemed everything would be okay.

“From now on, I will not be the national athlete Sung Taehyun, but I will greet you anew as the spouse of our player, Joo Sejin. I look forward to your kindness.”

Then, he held out his hand to Sejin, who looked back and forth between Taehyun’s face and hand with trembling eyes. Boasting in front of the whole world was probably supposed to be about the wedding, not this, but so what if it was a little early? He did not want to wait until a wedding announcement. Anywhere was fine, as long as it was a place where he could proudly reveal that this person loves me and I love this person in front of everyone, with no more need or reason to hide. Taehyun smiled and added to Sejin, who had frozen, unable to say a word.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take my hand?”

At those words, Sejin momentarily turned his head.

“……!?”

Was the public confession of immense impact being rejected? Could it be that dropping such a huge bombshell in this situation was something they had not agreed on? Just as everyone watched with bated breath, Sejin with great effort lifted his head and took Taehyun’s hand. And the moment everyone confirmed the face of the recipient of this bombshell confession, they all burst out laughing at the same time. The Fencing Crown Prince, famous for being so calm that he was nicknamed the Ice Prince, was nowhere to be found; there was only a twenty-two-year-old kid who was so happy in front of the person he liked that he did not know what to do. As soon as the atmosphere turned, Taehyun pulled Sejin into a full-body hug to shield him and spoke into the microphone one last time.

“Ah, and also, a while back I said I thought the more children the better, and I got a lot of flak with people asking if I was going to be the one giving birth to them. Yes, I will be the one giving birth, so you do not have to worry. We will live well, in a way that is not shameful, as much as you have supported us. Thank you.”

It was an unnecessary remark, but there was no harm in driving a final nail into the controversy’s coffin. That damn Emperor of the Night or whatever, he was so sick of it. As Taehyun turned off the microphone completely and placed it on the table as if to say he would not be taking any more questions, the surroundings instantly became chaotic. Is he talking about his secondary gender, saying he’s an omega right now? The whispering reporters began to type diligently one by one, posting breaking news. An official, anticipating chaos from the unprecedentedly one-sided interview, quickly crossed the event hall to escort Sejin and Taehyun out first, and the commotion started again.

The reporters rushed out of their seats and followed, but both Taehyun and Sejin just strode forward as if they were marching in a parade through the crowd of countless journalists. Taehyun promptly tucked Sejin under his arm and even waved at the press as he left, a scene that spread in real time through major broadcasting companies as well as various streaming services and internet communities. In the process, a picture of Sejin, his face bright red and looking like he had clearly been crying, peeking his head out from behind Taehyun’s back, became a hot topic.

⤷ I can’t even imagine how much whipped cream he’s going to ask for now hehe;

⤷ ‘Our’ player Joo Sejin lolololololololololol

⤷ He must have found the rumors hilarious himself, being rumored to command a legion of omegas when he has an alpha lover he’s discussed marriage with lolololololololololol

⤷ I know it already came out in an interview that Joo Sejin is an alpha, but I really didn’t expect Sung Taehyun to be an omega.

⤷⤷ His image is really not that of one, so I didn’t expect it at all.

⤷⤷ Can an omega even come from those genes??? It’s such a mismatch, I’m so shocked.
⤷ Didn’t Sung Taehyun have a scandal once before??? Is it okay for a male omega to date a woman?

⤷⤷ There’s no problem with it. Just because he’s an omega doesn’t mean he’s not a man, right?

⤷⤷ I heard that male omegas are no different from betas if they take medication.

⤷ Ah crap, Joo Sejin is holding onto Sung Taehyun’s sleeve lololololololololol

⤷ Joo Sejin is too young though. He’s only twenty-two now, so marriageㅠㅠㅠ His partner is in his late 20s, popular, and has enjoyed everything he could enjoy ㅜ

⤷⤷ Judging by his usual behavior, Sung Taehyun is overwhelmingly the better catch, so it’s fine.

There were pros and cons debated in many ways, but the conclusion was that everyone wondered who would take the famous Nation’s First Love and Nation’s Son-in-Law, and it turned out to be the guy famous for being a total jerk; it seems it is true that men do not look at anything else if a guy has a pretty face. No matter what they chattered about, neither Taehyun nor Sejin cared. They had come this far because they believed they would be okay together even if they were in a situation where they were not supported. They knew that whatever happened in the future, they would be together, so such trivial things would not be able to affect their relationship.

After finally shaking off the press and getting into the car that the agency had prepared in advance, Taehyun smiled and looked at Sejin.

“Were you uncomfortable because I revealed it without your permission?”

Sejin immediately shook his head. The reason he had suddenly burst into tears was not because he disliked it. Honestly, he was a little dissatisfied that he could not reveal it first and had his turn stolen, but there was no way he could object to Taehyun declaring him as his own in front of everyone.

“Then why did you cry?”

Taehyun asked with a smile as he tidied the corners of Sejin’s eyes, and Sejin’s small lips parted slightly.

“Because, I was happy….”

So happy that if this were a dream, he would never want to wake up. But thankfully, it was reality.

“Why cry when you’re happy? You should look at me properly and smile. I like your smiling face more.”

At that, Sejin seemed to grow shy and hugged Taehyun to hide his face. The sound of his heartbeat, loud enough to burst one’s eardrums, was both funny and cute, and Taehyun burst out laughing again. I’ll definitely have to have a small wedding to keep him from getting dehydrated. So we can finish it quickly and go on our honeymoon. Regardless, Sejin just tightened his grip, holding Taehyun firmly in his arms, as if to trap him securely in his embrace. As if he was completely his own, with no intention of letting him run away ever again.