Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 78

But Sejin no longer wanted to stay silent in front of Taehyun. He wanted to confess that he liked him, not just for a convenient relationship but for a lifetime together. The old Sejin wouldn’t have understood the meaning of such a thing, but now he did.

If you don’t speak, nothing changes. He knew he couldn’t reach the place he desired without action. Sejin didn’t want to be just another background character; he wanted to stand by Taehyun’s side, be someone who could help him. He wanted to be the first person Taehyun would turn to for help. No longer a kid who needed help, but the closest person to him, someone Taehyun could show his vulnerabilities to without hesitation.

Though it was embarrassing that, once again, he ended up being the one helped instead of being asked for help by Taehyun, laying everything bare had relieved his vague anxiety.

“…….”

Sejin knew that, despite Taehyun’s friendly demeanor, he was deeply guarded and had sworn off relationships. So, he wasn’t unaware of how Taehyun acted when drawing boundaries. And just moments ago, Taehyun’s behavior clearly showed he couldn’t fully draw that line. That alone was proof enough. This wasn’t a one-way street. That realization made his heart feel like it might burst.

“Haa…”

Sejin, his head a mess, ruffled his hair and curled up on the bed. Taehyun’s traces still lingered vividly on the sheets. Perhaps due to the suppressants Taehyun said he’d taken, he responded to Sejin’s pheromones but didn’t enter a heat state. That meant he accepted Sejin while mostly rational, walking in on his own, fully aware.

Sejin buried his face in the blanket, cheeks burning. The moment Taehyun’s scent hit him again, his lower belly tightened, even though his rut had subsided. Pheromones aside, Sejin was always ready to get as excited as a beast in heat around Taehyun.

I like you, I love you—simple words couldn’t capture the depth of his feelings. Some animals can’t distinguish between hunger and lust, but for Sejin, it was the opposite: a predatory craving. He wanted to be the one person Taehyun desperately desired. He wanted to give Taehyun everything he needed, to become indispensable. Just possessing him wasn’t enough.

In fencing, there’s no halftime. They were past the midpoint, nearing the end of the second round. Sejin’s style wasn’t to seize victory early but to corner his opponent gradually, making them concede defeat by the second round’s end. Now, all that remained was to secure the win. This was when Sejin shone brightest.

🤺

As Sejin’s arrival at the athletes’ village neared, Taehyun felt like his blood was drying up. He mechanically went through his trained routines, but his mind was elsewhere. It had to be. When he failed at his first Olympics, Taehyun was bitter but confident it wouldn’t define his life. With no major setbacks, he’d have another shot at the Olympics. Back then, he had no doubts about his skills, believing a medal at the Asian Games would be enough to satisfy his career.

But after winning gold at the Asian Games and consistently holding the top rank, his ambition grew. Last time was just bad luck. If no upsets occurred, he could shine at the Olympics too. That confidence left him fearless. So, he enjoyed his youth, even dating his last partner before setting boundaries.

But after his second failure, he had no room for distractions. The self-assurance he’d built crumbled, and he scrambled to hold himself together just to survive.

During those years, love and dating were someone else’s story. But it wasn’t a bad choice. He knew he had the worst conditions to be someone’s partner or spouse. If breakups were inevitable, causing pain, he’d rather endure loneliness alone. He let go of lingering attachments, convincing himself that’s how the world worked.

What could he do? Just as one can’t choose where to be born, having a trash father was his unchangeable fate. His strong body and handsome face weren’t earned through choice or effort, just like his family wasn’t.

He wasn’t incapable of imagining a normal life—meeting a good person, starting a family, raising kids who resembled them both. But he’d resigned himself to it being unattainable. It was unavoidable, all of it… beyond his control. He’d persuaded himself of that.

But what if some foolish person, knowing his cursed father, still wanted to bear it with him? What if they dismissed it casually? What if they weren’t just boastful but had the means to solve his problems? Taehyun shook his head. No amount of money could stop his father’s chaos. It’s not like he could be locked away or erased from existence.

“…….”

Taehyun’s face paled as he entertained the absurd scenario. Could a chaebol heir like Ilwoon Pharmaceuticals’ third-generation make a few people disappear unnoticed? As he seriously considered it, doubt flooded in about the stupidity of such thoughts.

No, whether possible or not, accepting Sejin’s feelings was out of the question. This was a burden he’d carry alone for life. The shame of his tainted blood wasn’t something to share but a task he had to bear alone. Even if Sejin wanted it, it couldn’t happen. You want to give only good things to someone you love, show only your best side. Knowing he had an unsolvable flaw, burdening someone else was unthinkable.

Plus, Sejin was only twenty-two, naive about Korean society. He likely underestimated how a parent’s stigma shackles public figures. Taehyun couldn’t exploit or toy with such an innocent kid’s feelings. It was laughable, given he’d used Sejin’s body and pheromones without conscience, but that was just who Sung Taehyun was. As a kid, he thought light relationships were fine, but not now.

Sejin’s feelings didn’t seem like mere curiosity, unlike past lovers he could casually date and part with. The best course was to gently persuade him to give up to minimize hurt.

But how? Taehyun hit a wall. Persuasion requires communication, right? From the moment Sejin arrived in Korea, Taehyun had observed him. Sejin seemed rational enough but could be oddly erratic and stubborn, ignoring nagging, feeling like a brick wall at times. Above all, the fact that he’d deceived Taehyun so thoroughly until now was chilling. Taehyun hadn’t even known Sejin could talk that much.

To be fair, they’d spent less than a year together, so not knowing everything made sense. But still! They’d been as close as it gets, and to be this clueless? Taehyun was bewildered.