Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 127 - Epilogue

Who on earth ever said that the people getting married are the main characters of the wedding? Taehyun thought, having already been standing at the entrance greeting guests for an hour. No matter how he looked at it, this was not something done for the benefit of the main characters. This was the conclusion Taehyun had reached after shaking hands with hundreds of guests, taking pictures one by one, and even signing autographs.

December 28th. What in the world was all this chaos during the golden lunch hour of the last weekend, barely secured just before the year turned over. He glanced over at Sejin, who was on the opposite side. At first, Sejin had managed to keep the corners of his mouth pulled up, having been told by people until he was sick of it that he had to smile on a day like this, but it had been a long time since he had firmly pressed his lips back into their usual line.

“Oh my, the two grooms are so tall and handsome, they’re just radiant, absolutely radiant!”

Was it because they had already made such a fuss on several broadcasts? There were no people adding a comment or two about Taehyun being an omega, which did not match his appearance, but as strangers or people he saw so rarely it was almost the same as never seeing them kept striking up conversations, Taehyun also came to think that this was something he could not do twice.

It had already been a month since the variety show he appeared on with Sejin was released. During that time, Taehyun had quickly taken care of the tasks he had been putting off while being dragged here and there right after the Olympics. Wanting to focus entirely on Sejin during their honeymoon without being swayed by broadcasts or events, he had put his foot down, stating that he would not schedule anything for about a month after the wedding. On top of that, he hurriedly distributed wedding invitations to close acquaintances and people he would need to keep meeting for work, and went to the hospital with Sejin for a check-up, and just like that, it was the day of the ceremony.

‘Anyway, I’ve put out all the urgent fires.’

Once today’s chaos is over, it will be the end for a while. As he steeled his resolve and was in the middle of greeting guests, for a moment, it seemed like he saw someone who should not have been there.

“……?”

For a moment, Taehyun thought he had seen wrong and lightly rubbed his eyes. It was not like he had on heavy makeup, but he had received some light grooming to show his best self in front of many people, so he could not even rub them hard. No way. I must have seen it wrong. Doubting his own eyesight, he opened his eyes again, but unfortunately, there was no change in the scene before him.

“……”

Really, why? I did not even invite him, so how? It was so unbelievable that he found himself staring intently in that direction, and perhaps sensing his gaze, the person in question approached where Taehyun was. Next to him was a friend of Taehyun’s from his university days.

‘Ah.’

So he came with that person. Since they had been introduced through him, it would not be strange for their friendship to have continued until now, but. No, still, they came to a wedding together? Without a single word to me? For a moment, he was so surprised that he was at a loss for words, just watching the figure approach, when the person in question spoke first.

“……Hi. It’s been a while.”

“Uh… yeah….”

The person Taehyun faced with a hesitant expression had a familiar face. To be precise, it was someone he had once faced enough to become familiar with. Jet-black hair that looked intentionally dyed, skin so white it appeared pale, and lips that were vividly colored and plump. He had not expected in the slightest to meet a person he had not seen in over six years so suddenly at his wedding, so he was all the more bewildered.

“I asked Sunah to come with me. I felt like if it wasn’t today, I would never get to see you again.”

Taehyun inwardly blamed that ‘Sunah’ and swallowed a sigh. Why would she bring someone I didn’t even invite without telling me? It was no use regretting it now. From her perspective, Taehyun and the person before him had a relationship that once seemed close enough to be called intimate, and she would never dream of the fact that Taehyun and that someone were, for a brief time, a couple. That made this situation all the more awkward. He had no idea what intentions he had shown up with.

“…Right. It’s nice to see your face after so long, you seem to be doing well. Since you’re here, eat well before you go. We went with the most expensive course.”

So Taehyun forced a smile and made a joke. But the person in question stared fixedly at Taehyun with a face devoid of even the slightest smile, and then suddenly brought up a bewildering statement.

“You’re always like that. Making a fool out of people with your senseless talk….”

Taehyun urgently cut the other person’s words off. He was certain that whatever came next was not something to be said in this crowded place.

“Wait a minute, if we have something to talk about, should we go somewhere else for a moment? I don’t think here is the right place, okay?”

That was the best he could do for now. Because the person in front of him was Shin Yunji, a former idol who these days had transitioned to acting and was making a decent showing in the drama scene, and also Taehyun’s old girlfriend. He had no idea what other strange, embarrassing-for-others-to-hear things he might say here, so shutting his mouth was the priority.

“……”

As Taehyun urgently gestured for him to follow, pointing to the empty waiting room that was normally used as the bride’s room but was unused due to the absence of a bride, Yunji obediently followed Taehyun. It seemed there was a moment to spare to step away, as he had met most of the people he needed to greet in person. But he never thought he would be using that time like this, and a sigh escaped him automatically. Having moved to the other room, Taehyun forced his expression to calm down and asked.

“What’s going on, so suddenly.”

He could not outright ask what purpose he had in coming, so he phrased the question a little more delicately. Yunji replied with a displeased expression.

“Do you know how hard it was for me after we broke up? It wasn’t even a serious thing, I was just complaining lightly, and you said ‘okay, let’s break up’ as if you’d been waiting for it. Do you have any idea how I felt?”

“……”

Taehyun had no excuse even if he had ten mouths. It was someone he would not have dated if he had not been confessed to in the first place. He had not liked him enough to cling and hang on with a long, drawn-out story. If one were to count Taehyun’s crimes, it was the crime of dating him without even liking him, and the crime of ultimately not being able to genuinely like Yunji.

“I wondered if there was something really wrong with me, if I was that unappealing. I wondered if there was someone else you were moving on to. I thought all sorts of things.”

“……”

None of the three were the right answer. First, back then, Taehyun was also young and had not even considered that accepting a confession without liking the person could be rude to them. Second, he had misjudged that if his own feelings were casual, the other person would also be casual, and they could maintain a friend-like relationship where they neither interfered with nor obsessed over each other too much. He had been too insensitive. This was a fact, so Taehyun offered a belated apology.

“I’m sorry. I was shortsighted and mistakenly thought you were as casual about it as I was. I wasn’t ready to be in a serious relationship with anyone back then…. I thought continuing to see you would also be rude to you….”

While he was apologizing because he had done something wrong, a slight feeling of defiance simultaneously began to bloom. But is that something to hold a grudge over to the point of showing up at someone else’s wedding six years later to talk about it? Isn’t that a bit much? Just as he was beginning to feel suspicious and puzzled, Yunji let out a scoff.

“That’s not it. It was never going to work with me in the first place, was it.”

“……?”

Now what is this about. As Taehyun narrowed his eyebrows and looked at Yunji with an expression that showed he did not understand, Yunji scoffed, ha, one more time.

“You were going to marry an alpha anyway. Couldn’t you have at least told me that? How could you deceive me so perfectly?”

“Ah.”

So that was the issue. Taehyun himself had always thought that, completely separate from his secondary gender, he preferred female partners over male partners, so it was an issue he had never even considered. Now, however, Sejin had come in and crushed all his preferences, and Sejin alone had become the standard for all preferences.

“Up until I was dating you, I had never dated a man. My presentation itself was on the later side, so I lived almost my entire life thinking I was a normal beta male. What was there to hide or not hide? Just because the word written in my secondary gender column changes from beta to omega doesn’t mean the preferences I’ve had my whole life change in an instant, you know.”

Why am I even explaining this? Just as the question popped into Taehyun’s head, Yunji raised his bag to hit Taehyun’s shoulder, but then saw Taehyun instinctively raise a hand to cover his stomach, and instead lowered his hand, his voice trembling as he shot back.

“Forget it. Don’t make excuses when you were going to marry an alpha anyway. You bastard.”

After spitting out a line typical of a tragic heroine in a drama, Yunji turned around and left the waiting room. What was that? Taehyun watched Yunji’s retreating back as he ran out with a beet-red face, still dazed, and clutched his shoulder that had not even been hit. Well, it was not entirely… impossible for him to feel a sense of betrayal this late in the game, but…. Still, he had been so taken aback, not expecting him to show up and lash out like this, that he stood dumbfounded in the waiting room for a moment. Then, from the doorway Yunji had left through, he sensed someone’s presence.