The Evolution of Species Chapter 6.1 - Possession - Main Story End!

[‘The Godfather’ Mexico’s Largest PMC CEO Officially Visits Korea]

[Martina Valcázar Invited by Seoran Group for Visit to Korea]

Martina Valcázar, the CEO of Martin & Yoon, a globally renowned private military company (PMC), will visit South Korea on the 29th at the invitation of Seoran Group, the country’s largest defense contractor. Martin & Yoon is a multinational PMC headquartered in Mexico, and Martina Valcázar is scheduled to visit Seoran Group’s Gwanghwamun headquarters to deliver a lecture to the company’s executives, including Chairman Kwon Myunghee, Vice President Kwon Sunghee, Executive Director Kwon Sunghyuk, and Executive Director Kwon Sinwoo. Martina Valcázar is also well-known for having remarried a Korean wife.

A splendid Korean restaurant. Traditional doors lined with hanji paper are all wide open, revealing a beautiful garden beyond. Neatly trimmed pine trees and vibrant red hydrangeas blend harmoniously. Instead of music, the sound of flowing water and birds chirping fills the air. A sparkling stained-glass chandelier hangs from the high ceiling. The floor is marble, but the dining table is made of rich, aged mahogany, exuding a sense of timeless depth. The chair legs, crafted from the same wood, are a rare blend of Rococo and Qing dynasty styles. At the center of the table, a stunning centerpiece of lilies and white phalaenopsis orchids is arranged in a long bamboo vase.

The spacious restaurant is occupied only by us.

The sliding doors opening to the hallway are closed, and no sounds of staff can be heard.

Well, even I wouldn’t want to come near this place if I were them.

The atmosphere is tense.

No bullets are being exchanged, but the glares between them are already more than that.

To be fair, it would be odd if the atmosphere were warm and friendly when a mercenary meets an arms dealer.

To explain this gathering, it’s something like this. Next to me sits my dad, and beside him, my mom. Across from me is Kwon Sinwoo, and next to him are Kwon Sinwoo’s grandmother, mother, and father. Naturally, this isn’t some mundane family get-together. This is a fierce negotiation and battle over the familial ownership of the fetus in my womb.

Of course, whatever the outcome of this negotiation and battle, it’s not my concern.

I stop thinking about it and pick up a piece of grilled marinated eel. The food is delicious. It’s perfectly salted, the marinade isn’t too spicy, and the eel is plump and meaty.

A clink sounds. It’s the sound of the ‘Chairman’ setting down her chopsticks.

All eyes turn to her.

“We’ve looked at dates. There aren’t many auspicious days this summer… June 17th or July 7th seem good. What do you think, in-laws?”

My dad gives a slight smile.

“We’ve also picked out dates. June 24th or June 29th. Since the wedding will be held in a church, wouldn’t it be better to combine the nuptial mass with a major feast day mass?”

Nuptial… what? Since when was my dad’s Korean this good?

“We’re not religious, so we were thinking of a simple hotel ceremony.”

The Chairman speaks again.

“It must be a church nuptial mass.”

My dad is firm, and

“Since a non-priest will officiate, a hotel would be better.”

The Chairman is equally firm.

Silence settles again. In the meantime, I decide to try the tteokgalbi and water kimchi. It’s nearly the end of the course meal. If I recall correctly, there’s something about sinseollo coming up, but it hasn’t arrived yet. As I eat the tteokgalbi, my eyes meet Kwon Sinwoo’s across the table. The corners of his eyes crinkle, and a kind smile appears. Tch… it seems this Alpha’s eyes can only see me, not the tense atmosphere. As a professional in social situations, I shake my head once to signal him not to interfere. Of course, Kwon Sinwoo doesn’t get it.

Kwon Sinwoo leans slightly toward me.

“Is it not to your taste?”

He naturally extends his chopsticks toward the tteokgalbi on my plate. Now all eyes are on Kwon Sinwoo. His expression remains unchanged. He picks up a piece of my tteokgalbi, takes a bite, and places it on his own plate.

“It’s cold.”

He presses a small bell to summon a staff member.

A stiff, stick-like employee enters. Kwon Sinwoo quietly instructs them to bring fresh tteokgalbi and to serve the next course. Hmm, fair enough. The food service has been a bit slow.

The sound of chopsticks and spoons stops, and the Chairman speaks again.

“Let’s do it at a hotel. We’ll take care of all the preparations, so you don’t need to worry, in-laws.”

“No, we’ve already arranged a church. The cathedral in Mexico City. We’ll send a private jet, so just come without any worries.”

“Since you’ve already arranged it… I’m a bit taken aback. Nothing’s been decided yet.”

“Isn’t that why we’re gathered here to decide? I’m almost embarrassed to say this about my son, but we don’t have much time, do we?”

As he speaks, my dad gives me a pointed look.

I decide to help him out.

“I’ve got plenty of time. Take it slow.”

I see veins bulge on the back of my dad’s hand. I pretend not to notice and look away.

More courses arrive. The staff comes and goes, a round of champagne is served, and the negotiations continue.

Who’s sending the private jet, whether a hotel is better, or if it must be a church… the conversation escalates, and soon they’re even discussing where the birth will take place.

“Of course, it should be Korea. We’ve already looked into doctors and hospitals.”

“What are you saying, madam? It should be Mexico. For citizenship, if nothing else.”

So many people are concerned about the fetus’s citizenship.

“For the infant baptism, Mexico is better.”

“Infant baptism? The child should decide their own religion.”

Of course, this ‘child’ isn’t me or Kwon Sinwoo—it’s the fetus that hasn’t even been born yet. And as the proxy for its decisions, I know full well it has no say.

Everyone chimes in, their faces flushing. Voices grow louder as they worry about the fetus’s citizenship, religion, and even whether it’ll attend private kindergarten or elementary school.

The only calm ones are Kwon Sinwoo and me.

“Fine! As a compromise, we can send them to a boarding school in Europe or the U.S. for high school!”

“What does that even mean?! They should graduate high school in Korea, and as a huge concession, we’ll send them to a U.S. college!”

Hmm… at this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone pulled out a gun. No, wouldn’t pulling a gun be more natural?

Kwon Sinwoo has been cooking for three hours.

Of course, to me, cooking is about equivalent exchange for time, so I prefer making an omelet in one minute, frying bacon in thirty seconds, or pouring milk over cereal in five seconds. That doesn’t mean I dislike food made with care and time, though.

Especially if it’s Kwon Sinwoo.

Anyway, Kwon Sinwoo is the kind of Alpha who believes cooking is about precise recipes, quality ingredients, and accurate measurements, so he never fails, and I never have to eat food that’s under-salted, over-salted, burnt, or undercooked.

Tap, tap, tap. The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board comes at perfectly even intervals, like white noise.

I admire Kwon Sinwoo’s back. As the seasons change, his shirt has grown thinner, revealing the gentle movement of his shoulder blades. Each time he moves his hand to tap the knife on the board, his right shoulder blade shifts slightly up and down. Beep, beep. An alarm sounds. Kwon Sinwoo turns to silence it, opens the oven, and inserts a skewer into the chicken to check its doneness. The blue apron with white ruffles I bought him suits him perfectly. Hmm. An excellent choice, as expected.

After a moment of self-praise, I lower my gaze back to my phone.

A notification labeled ‘Today’s Info’ has arrived, coming in with a frequency not unlike spam mail. But this is no spam or gossip rag—it’s premium information. It’s from the best computer expert I know, who also happens to be two months ahead of me in pregnancy.

Today’s info includes a URL. I tilt my head and type a reply.

[What’s this?]

[Survey on sexual activity during pregnancy]

With deep curiosity, I click the URL. It’s a post from a group I recently joined on the strong recommendation of this computer engineer, called ‘Happy Mom, Happy Baby—Wise Pregnancy and Childbirth.’ The poster is a mother who was five months pregnant a year ago, and an incredibly fascinating and informative discussion is unfolding in the comments.

I read the discussion carefully, pausing at one comment.

I immediately stand and rush to the sink.

Kwon Sinwoo hears my footsteps and turns.

“Don’t run…”

Before he finishes, I wrap one arm around his waist and rest my chin on his shoulder. The solid Alpha’s back tenses noticeably. His back smells of spices and ingredients. Giggling, I shove my phone in his face.

“Look at this.”

Kwon Sinwoo lowers his head slightly to glance at my phone. His pretty eyebrows twitch at the raw, vivid comment. He covers the screen with his palm.

“Don’t look at this stuff.”

“Why not?”

As I giggle, Kwon Sinwoo’s brow furrows further, a shallow crease forming. But it’s brief. He sets down the knife he’s holding. Then he quickly turns, wrapping both arms around me. His lips press softly against my forehead.

“Did your friend send this?”

“Yup.”

“The friend you made in Korea, right?”

He’s interrogating me like that. Hmph. I just shrug. Kwon Sinwoo’s lips move from my forehead to my eyelids. A ticklish sensation crawls down my spine, and my fingers and toes tingle.

“Why did your friend send this?”

His quiet, low voice is rough, like it’s scratched, echoing as if from a cave. “What did you say to them…” The last words are almost a whisper, his lips now at my ear. Unable to hold back, I grab his shoulders tightly, tilting my head to press my lips against his. As our lips brush, my lower abdomen instinctively tightens.

After a brief kiss, I pull back and look up into his dark eyes.

“Why do you think they sent it?”

At my question, Kwon Sinwoo’s lips tilt. He smiles, slowly stroking my back from bottom to top.

“Not yet.”

He naturally covers my phone screen with his palm, taking my hand.

“The information on these sites isn’t accurate or safe. We have our doctor’s recommendations, so stop looking at this stuff.”

Then he kisses my cheek tenderly. A polite, gentle kiss that lingers briefly before pulling away. Not what I wanted, of course.

As his lips part, I grab his belt with both hands. Kwon Sinwoo looks down at me, and I meet his gaze, slowly sinking to my knees.

“Hakyung…!”

His composed face finally crumbles. His brow furrows, and his eyebrows arch as he looks down at me. I press my cheek against his groin. The outline of the Alpha’s penis is clear beneath the fabric. With only my eyes tilted upward, I stare at Kwon Sinwoo.

“Ugh…!”

He bites his lip briefly, groaning.

My mom said any Alpha who demands a blowjob deserves to have their dick snapped, but it’s fine if I’m the one offering, right?

I quickly undo his belt and, at the same time, pull down his zipper with my teeth. The zipping sound sends a shiver up my spine. Hooking my finger under the waistband of his underwear, I tug it down. His penis, already half-erect and somewhat confined, springs free.

Unlike his refined face, it’s menacing in appearance. In contrast to his straight, elegant nose, the shaft curves unnaturally to one side, and the thick glans, unable to bear its own weight, tilts slightly downward, looking like something out of a porn film. Yet, it’s a clean, pale pink, making the incongruity even more vivid. Unlike his kind eyes or pristine lips, this is undeniably an Alpha’s penis.

I eagerly take the tip into my mouth. The moment the thick glans brushes my lips, it twitches violently, growing harder. The tip pokes my cheek.

Suddenly, two large hands slide under my armpits, pulling me up. My body jerks upward, and in an instant, I’m eye-to-eye with Kwon Sinwoo.

His face is expressionless. His brow is slightly furrowed, his dark eyebrows straight. His lips are tightly closed, his jaw rigid. He breathes shallowly for a moment before speaking.

“Don’t do this.”

Hmph. Ignoring him, I leap up, wrapping both legs around his waist. Kwon Sinwoo stumbles back slightly but doesn’t falter. One of his hands supports my hips.

“Why? Don’t like it?”

Instead of answering, his eyebrows twitch. And the penis pressed against my hips twitches too. I reach back with my left hand and grab it firmly. It pulses strongly in my palm. His face hardens simultaneously.

“Hakyung…”

He calls my name in a slightly hoarse, cracked voice. His breath brushes my ear, making my shoulders flinch. I lower my eyelids slightly, staring at his lips. Should I kiss him now… But before I can act, Kwon Sinwoo, still holding me, takes large steps. Step, step, step, three more strides. Suddenly, I’m sitting on the island counter.

Kwon Sinwoo slides his body between my legs. His torso draws closer. His frame appears sleek at a glance but is surprisingly solid. His chest is thick with muscle, and his waist tapers along well-defined lats. As his heavy body presses toward me, his scent intensifies. Instead of his usual sharp, masculine cologne, there’s a sweet, appetite-stirring mix of rosemary butter, shallots, and lemon.

He reaches out and presses my lower lip.

His fingers are slightly cool, with a hint of moisture. His thumb slips between my lips. It presses upward against my upper lip with gentle force. I obediently open my mouth. His thumb touches my front teeth. His index finger follows.

His fingers delve between my palate and tongue. With his other hand, Kwon Sinwoo gently cups my jaw.

“Open wider.”

His voice whispers, soft as melting.

Instead of opening my mouth, I mutter one word. Pervert… But with his fingers inside, it comes out as an unintelligible mumble.

The corners of Kwon Sinwoo’s eyes crinkle.

With a suggestive smile, his gaze locks onto my mouth. He stares intently, slowly moving his fingers. Long, sturdy fingers swim through the space between my palate and tongue, like scooping jam from a full jar.

“Ugh, mm… mmm…”

Saliva spills past my lips with a wet sound. My vision blurs. Through the haze, I see Kwon Sinwoo’s lips curve softly upward.

Unable to hold back, I reach down with both hands and grab his cock firmly.

“Ugh…!”

Kwon Sinwoo’s eyebrows twist for a moment.

I grin, spreading my hand to gently envelop the glans. The tip presses into my palm, sending shivers up the back of my hand. With my other hand, I grip the shaft, slowly stroking up and down. The core hardens quickly, and slippery precum begins to coat my palm. Each time I stroke up to the base of the glans, wet skin rubs together with a slick, slick sound.

Kwon Sinwoo’s dark eyes pierce down at me. His cheeks are faintly flushed. At some point, he smiles faintly.

“You’re wet, aren’t you?”

In an instant, he grabs both my knees, spreading them wide.

“Ah! Wait, ah…!”

His lips reach between my legs. Like I did, but slower and more leisurely, he bites the edge of my pants with his front teeth and pulls them down. Soon, his handsome, pretty lips close over my penis through my underwear. My body jolts.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!”

Through the thin fabric, my penis is sucked forcefully into his mouth. My lower half grows wet in an instant, my penis twitching inside the underwear. My feet flail involuntarily, but the Alpha’s hands gripping my knees don’t budge. Each time he sucks me through the fabric, loud slurping sounds—tsup, tsup—echo. My whole body trembles, my hips tensing.

“Ugh, ah, ah, stop, gently, ahh…!”

I grab his head with both hands. His hair catches between my fingers. Kwon Sinwoo, undeterred, buries his face deeper between my legs. He pushes aside the underwear, pressing the bridge of his nose into the gap.

“Eek…!”

A strange, spine-chilling sensation draws a scream.

He presses my knees further outward. My thighs spread so wide the muscles inside tense. My underwear is already soaked front and back. The drenched fabric rolls into my crack, and Kwon Sinwoo tugs it with his lips. My toes curl, and a scream escapes.

“Aaahhh…!”

From my penis, fluid gushes out like an Alpha’s. It splashes in bursts onto Kwon Sinwoo’s pristine cheeks and forehead.

Kwon Sinwoo looks up at me with a wet face. His hair is disheveled, his lips glossy with my fluid, the corners slightly upturned. His dark eyes gleam with a sparkling light. Pale fluid drips slowly from his faintly flushed cheeks. The background behind him is blurry, but his face stands out vividly. I blink slowly once. A tear caught on my lashes rolls down. Before it slides off my chin, Kwon Sinwoo leans in and catches it with his tongue.

“Pervert…”

I whisper again.

“You liked it.”

Kwon Sinwoo whispers back, his fingertips brushing my cheek so lightly it tickles. His fingers reach my jaw, then pull away. They glide down from my collarbone. As they graze my chest, a soft moan—ugh—escapes.

“When you’re this wet…”

His voice echoes as if from far away.

His fingers don’t stop, slowly trailing down my body.

My breathing is too rapid. My chest heaves up and down. The moment the Alpha, cloaked in thick pheromones, presses my navel with his fingertip, my hips tense, and more thin fluid leaks from the tip of my penis.

“Ugh, ha, ha, ah, aahhh…”

A dazed moan spills out.

I wrap both legs around his waist, pulling him closer.

“Hurry, hurry…”

It feels like a fire’s lit in my belly.

His still-erect cock presses against my legs. I can’t wait any longer. As I reach to pull his shoulders, he pulls back. At the same time, he grabs my calves, lifting them high.

“Ah…!”

My back hits the marble.

My legs, spread wide, come into view, and between them, Kwon Sinwoo’s lips curl seductively.

“No way.”

His words register in my head a few seconds later.

“It’s still early…”

With a sweet, melting whisper, he lowers his head slowly. His eyes stay locked on mine as he tugs my underwear with his lips.

“Ha, ah, ah, aahhh…”

I couldn’t stop the sound, unsure if it was a scream or a moan.

His nose pressed against my perineum, and his tongue licked the opening. My toes curled convulsively. I could feel my lower half gaping and throbbing. An urgent pleasure made my body writhe involuntarily. I must have let out a piercing scream, because a laugh came from between my legs. That laugh, in the midst of this lascivious act, was unexpectedly tender, soft, and even cheerful in a way.

“Ah, ah. Ah, ah…”

Unrestrained moans spilled out, beyond my control.

My feet, dangling in the air, twitched, and my calves tensed and relaxed repeatedly.

“Feels that good?”

Kwon Sinwoo teased while sucking on my lower half.

“Want me to suck harder? Hmm?”

The sensation of his straight nose pressing and rubbing against my perineum drew another piercing moan. Kwon Sinwoo chuckled lowly. As I thrashed, veins stood out sharply on the back of his hands gripping my calves.

“No, ah, ah, put it in, put it in, stop this, ah! Ah! Aah! Ugh, ugh, uh, ah, ah, aahhh!”

My thighs stiffened, and my vision sparkled. A flood of liquid gushed from below. Sloppy, squelching sounds mixed with slurping noises followed.

The orgasm without penetration was prolonged. The Alpha’s pheromones and the mix of lascivious scents extended the climax. Kwon Sinwoo pressed his left cheek deeply between my perineum and balls, biting hard on the inside of my left thigh.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, with a small scream, thin fluid streamed from my penis. It didn’t stop, flowing like a weak fountain, drenching Kwon Sinwoo’s face.

He looked up at me without dodging, his expression still composed despite being soaked. His eyes crinkled, but his gaze was unusually suggestive. His glossy lips, slick with my fluid, parted slightly.

“Came while I sucked your hole?”

The Alpha, his face drenched with my fluid, tilted his head innocently and kept talking.

“Want me to suck again? From behind this time?”

“No…!”

And he did exactly as he said.

As a reward for indulging Kwon Sinwoo’s tastes, he tended to my bath. Like a slave in ancient Rome, he laid me in a foamy tub, washing my hair and massaging my feet and calves.

I stared intently at Kwon Sinwoo, who sat across from me, gently kneading my soles.

His disheveled hair, now wet, lay calmly. A few strands fell over his temples, giving him a softer look than usual. His expression was gentle, and he wore a faint smile, as if massaging my feet was the greatest joy in the world. A kind, compliant face. Hadn’t this same face, just thirty minutes ago, pinned me flat on the table like a frog? He’d sucked me down there like a dog. The caresses were so raw and depraved that I couldn’t even protest. I’d begged shamelessly for him to penetrate me, but he didn’t so much as slip a finger inside.

I narrowed my eyes and gazed at him steadily.

“What’s wrong?”

Kwon Sinwoo tilted his head slightly, asking tenderly.

Instead of answering, I lifted my still-trembling leg and pushed his cheek with my foot. It was practically stepping on his face, but Kwon Sinwoo’s expression didn’t change. Instead, he gently grabbed my ankle and took my toes into his mouth.

“Ugh.”

A shiver ran down my spine.

Kwon Sinwoo stared at me without flinching, opening his mouth wider to take my toes deeper. The sensation of his tongue wrapping wetly around my big toe hit me through sight and touch simultaneously.

My body trembled.

“Ah… ugh…”

I bit my lip. The sound of my foot being sucked—chup, chup—echoed loudly in the bathroom. The Alpha sucking my toes while staring at me looked like a scene from a perverse porno.

Unable to hold back, I pushed his chest hard with my other foot.

Kwon Sinwoo’s eyes crinkled as if he might burst into laughter, then he waded through the foam toward me. One hand braced the edge of the tub behind me, the other held my chin, and he kissed me.

After a long bath and an even longer kiss, I finally escaped the bathroom.

Sitting in a chair in the long powder room, I let Kwon Sinwoo dry my hair. The gentle breeze of the hairdryer and the Alpha’s long fingers, laced with rich pheromones, moved through my hair. I closed my eyes and nearly dozed off.

Wearing smooth silk pajama pants and a loose, comfortable T-shirt, I stepped out, only for Kwon Sinwoo to drape a heavy robe over me. I immediately shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor like a shed skin. Kwon Sinwoo bent to pick it up and stubbornly followed me.

“It’s still chilly.”

“It’s May.”

For the record, the indoor temperature, with floor heating, is 26 degrees Celsius.

Kwon Sinwoo tried once more to put the robe on me, but I dodged his hands and headed toward the kitchen.

“I’m hungry.”

At that, Kwon Sinwoo gave up on the robe, hung it on a high barstool, and approached the oven. The oven, long since turned off, still held a faint warmth, but the roast chicken inside needed either more cooking, reheating, or some kind of intervention. On the cutting board by the sink, half-chopped shallots and Brussels sprout pieces lay scattered.

To finish the undercooked chicken with the rosemary butter Kwon Sinwoo had prepared would take another two hours—the time we’d wasted on the table and in the tub.

I quickly decided.

“Let’s just order delivery. We’re in Korea, after all.”

With that, I opened a delivery app. Jokbal, chicken, boneless chicken feet, tteokbokki with sundae (and fish cakes too), or maybe gamjatang or budae jjigae… Then Kwon Sinwoo reached out and covered the screen.

“I’ll order. Anything you want?”

“Tteokbokki, sundae, fried squid, fried sweet potatoes, vegetable tempura. And fish cakes. Lots of broth.”

“Okay.”

Kwon Sinwoo smiled and picked up his phone.

“It’ll take about an hour. Is that alright?”

“Yeah.”

Not really, but what can I do?

I opened the fridge. It was packed with ingredients. Reaching between stacks of LocknLock containers, I pulled out leftover potato salad from yesterday. While I was at it, I grabbed a non-alcoholic beer from the wine cellar. Seeing me take it, Kwon Sinwoo, who was wiping the table, set the cloth in the sink and pulled two tall, slender glasses from the cabinet.

“You can drink alcohol.”

He just smiled instead of answering. Of course, there’s no alcohol left in this house. The wine cellar holds only non-alcoholic champagne and beer (except for the Bollinger we’re saving for a year from now), and the expensive brandy and whiskey once displayed in the glass cabinet have vanished. I just hope they weren’t poured down the drain.

We sat across from each other with the potato salad between us, sipping non-alcoholic beer, when Kwon Sinwoo suddenly spoke.

“I was thinking.”

I glanced at him.

Kwon Sinwoo’s face was soft and affectionate.

“How about inviting that friend of yours over for a meal?”

“My friend?”

Lee Youngjin?

“Yes.”

Kwon Sinwoo nodded.

“Since your friend is married too, a casual dinner with both couples shouldn’t be too much. I really want to meet Hakyung’s friend. You talk to them every day.”

Hmm… I’d actually been wanting to meet the husband of my only friend in Korea. Every time our calls went over thirty minutes, the whining in the background screamed jealous spouse, so I’d been meaning to meet him face-to-face…

I nodded.

“Sure. I’ll ask.”

“What’s your friend’s name…?”

The bell rang.

The tteokbokki, sundae, fried squid, fried sweet potatoes, vegetable tempura, and fish cakes must have arrived. Kwon Sinwoo stood first.

“I’ll get it. Stay seated.”

Soon, Kwon Sinwoo returned with his hands full of insulated lunchboxes wrapped neatly in white cloth. It was the same diner we’d ordered from a few times before. The lunchboxes were identical. They’d even included fried dumplings, which I hadn’t ordered.

“I should write a review for this place. It’s good.”

“I’ll do it.”

Kwon Sinwoo replied politely. I was about to say, show me later, but he opened the lunchbox lid and started taking pictures first.

Right on time, a message from Kwon Sinwoo came through.

[Make sure to stay hydrated and take your supplements. I’ll be there for the 5 p.m. prenatal yoga class.]

More messages followed, but I stopped reading and turned off the phone. I rolled around on the sofa for a bit, then sprang up, stretching deeply. Three in the afternoon. Bored. I checked my email out of habit. Nothing much. Three emails from Edmundo, but nothing significant. Work was on hold, so I really had nothing to do. Once again, bored.

I wandered to the kitchen. A centerpiece of white hydrangeas and roses sat in the middle of the long marble table, flanked by rows of supplement bottles. I passed the table and opened the fridge. Grabbing a bottle of sparkling water, I flicked the cap off with my thumbnail and chugged it on the spot.

Should I cook dinner tonight…

Hmm. Not a bad idea. I’ve been leaving the cooking to Kwon Sinwoo too much lately, so maybe I should take over for a day.

I mentally listed a menu. Potatoes, asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms, and about 100 ounces of tenderloin…

I turned on my heel.

Throwing on some clothes, I left the house.

In the elevator to the underground parking lot, my phone started buzzing. I thought it was a call, but it was a barrage of messages. I frowned. Two numbers were bombarding me with texts, like they were racing each other.

[Yo, what’re you doing?]

[You with that idiot Kwon Jaewoo right now?]

[You at your bro’s place, right?]

[If that guy shows up]

[I’m in front of your bro’s place]

[Don’t go with him]

[You’re reading this and ignoring me, I know it]

[Pick up the phone, asshole]

[Anyway, wait, I’m at your place now]

The spam-like messages kept coming, followed by a call. It was Shin Sangpyo’s number. As I swiped to end the call, another number called simultaneously, splitting the screen. My attempt to hang up accidentally answered the call.

[Yo!]

It was the idiot Kwon Jaewoo.

[Where are you?]

His voice, uncharacteristically groveling, sounded off.

Something felt suspicious.

I paused my attempt to hang up.

“Why?”

[Uh, I’m in your parking lot right now…]

Unlike Kwon Sinwoo, who manages his time well, this idiot didn’t seem to be making a fuss just out of boredom. My suspicions grew.

“Why?”

[You in the elevator right now?]

His voice suddenly brightened.

[Where you headed? I’ll drive you.]

“No need.”

[Come on, don’t be like that… I’ll wait by your car.]

In the penthouse’s private parking lot, Kwon Jaewoo stood fidgeting with a nervous expression. The moment he spotted me, he practically leaped.

“Yo!”

He rushed toward me, arms outstretched as if to wrap around my shoulders, guiding me toward his car.

“Where you going? I’ll drive. You’re pregnant, so don’t drive. Sinwoo hyung would worry.”

His nonsense went on endlessly.

I scanned him up and down, then glanced at the sleek navy four-wheel sedan Kwon Sinwoo had recently brought in. Noticing my gaze, Kwon Jaewoo grinned sheepishly.

“Well, I wanted to try driving that car. Two birds, one stone.”

Hmm. I was bored anyway… and curious about what this guy was plotting. I nodded and tossed him the keys. He caught them mid-air with both hands, grinning stupidly. But the moment our eyes met, he scrambled to open the car door and jumped into the driver’s seat.

I took the passenger seat. As he started the car, he leaned over to fasten my seatbelt. I wasn’t about to let him go that far. I jabbed my elbow into his right collarbone.

“Ow! Ouch! Alright! I won’t touch you! No touching, okay! Damn… you’re so prickly!”

Grumbling, Kwon Jaewoo gripped the steering wheel.

“You need to accept people’s kindness gracefully. Tone down that attitude. With that personality…”

I should ask Kwon Sinwoo for a single pistol.

Until then, I’d have to settle for blasting music to drown out his voice.

As we exited the underground parking lot, Kwon Jaewoo glanced at me.

“Where to?”

“Department store.”

I answered vaguely, recalling a large grocery section in the basement of a nearby department store. Kwon Jaewoo made a noncommittal sound, neither a reply nor not, and turned his head forward. I narrowed one eye, side-eyeing his profile. His face was rigid, and his gaze, fixed straight ahead, didn’t waver, as if avoiding mine.

Whatever he’s scheming, it’s probably something trivial.

I turned my attention to my still-vibrating phone.

Messages from Idiot #2 kept pouring in. This was practically spam.

[Yo, asshole]

[You’re with Kwon Jaewoo, aren’t you?]

[I’m telling you for your own good]

[That guy right now]

Intrigued, I stared at the screen, then blocked him.

The car had joined a long line in the first lane of an eight-lane road, waiting for a left-turn signal. I glanced up at Kwon Jaewoo again. His face was pale, one hand on the steering wheel, the other fidgeting with the gearshift, unable to stay still.

“Uh, not hot?”

Out of nowhere, he cranked the AC.

Then, moments later,

“Heated seats on, right?”

He tried to heat my perfectly fine butt.

I stared at his profile. His shoulders twitched. He stiffly turned his neck, desperately avoiding my gaze.

“Traffic’s bad.”

Then he fiddled with the AC, raising and lowering it, turning the heated seats off and the ventilation on, bustling about.

I watched him steadily before speaking slowly.

“So, right now…”

“Huh? What? Yeah!?”

“Where are we going?”

“De-department store!”

He answered like he was screaming.

“To the department store! We’re going! Traffic’s bad!”

He kept shouting, his face red, cold sweat dripping from his temples. Hmm. I silently stared at his flushed, crab-like face, tapping the now-quiet phone screen with my fingertip.

I recalled the spam messages Shin Sangpyo had been frantically sending.

Hmm.

Whatever. It was bound to happen eventually.

I crossed my arms and looked out the window. Between tall buildings, Namsan Tower jutted sharply. The scenic mix of mountains and buildings flickered in and out, blocked by commercial structures, as we crawled through traffic.

“Sorry!”

Kwon Jaewoo suddenly shouted.

“The Chairman told me to bring you!”

A random confession is one true, but why yell so loud my ears hurt?

“The Ch-Chairman, I mean, my grandma, you met her at the meeting, right? That Chairman. She, uh, she wanted to talk to you, not that I planned this. I mean, it’s the Chairman’s orders, so I had no choice…”

“Shut up.”

I kindly stopped his rambling.

“I know where we’re going, so just drive.”

He shut his mouth, face red.

After about ten more minutes, we turned onto a quiet, wide road. It was winding, slightly sloped, with an endless wall running alongside. We drove for another five minutes at 20 kilometers per hour, and Kwon Jaewoo stopped the car in front of a large parking lot gate.

His face was now completely pale, his temples and neck soaked with cold sweat, like someone sick. It was almost pitiful. Clutching the steering wheel with both hands, he stammered on with a grim tone, as if leaving a will.

“S-S-Sinwoo hyung, I-I really tried, tell him…”

I didn’t listen further and got out of the car.

There were no armed guards. Instead, the gate opened, and a woman in a semi-formal white shirt and black pants walked out quickly. She looked about forty, with a smooth face. Taller than me, muscular. I’d seen her before… right. One of the bodyguards who’d picked up Kwon Jaewoo at an underground fight club. Jung, was it?

“How was your trip? The Chairman is waiting… As for young master Jaewoo…”

Her eyes slid past my shoulder. I shrugged. Two more people ran out behind her, opening the driver’s side door and pulling Kwon Jaewoo out as he stumbled.

I lost interest in the idiot.

Manager Jeong naturally approached half a step behind me, extending one arm to guide the way.

“Please come this way.”

I followed him.

The garden was somewhat rustic. A mix of natural stones, pine trees, and grass made it neither Western nor Eastern in style. I passed through the path lined with granite tiles, feeling no particular inspiration.

The building was just so-so. But the view was beautiful. Beyond the pine trees and the fence, the mountain slopes and the city’s forest of buildings could be faintly seen in the distance.

In the large, slightly dim entrance lobby, I changed into indoor slippers and stepped inside. After passing through a couple of corridors and living rooms, I was guided to the inner part of the first floor. The door was a heavy wooden one that opened on both sides, and the ceiling seemed to be about three meters high. The building itself appeared to be around forty years old, not particularly ancient, but there was a heavy yet somehow stuffy smell of aged wood and furniture lingering here and there. It was quiet, and the angle of the sunlight streaming in was exquisitely adjusted, casting diagonal patterns on the walls and ceiling.

Manager Jeong silently and carefully opened one side of the door, glancing at me. I shrugged my shoulders once and strode into the room.

Unlike the dim corridor, the room was flooded with sunlight. Half of the room was bathed in bright light, while the other half was shaded by a large folding screen. In front of the screen stood a long couch, a low table, and three or four armchairs, with a tall, narrow scroll hanging on the wall. The scroll had some Chinese characters written on it, but I couldn’t read them at all.

The space was less a room and more like a parlor in size, with tall, vertical French windows adorned with classic mullions. The windows, half-open, let in both sunlight and a breeze.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Yeah. Orange juice.”

At my response, Manager Jeong bowed his head expressionlessly and retreated.

I took a lap around the room. I ran my hand along the window frame and lifted a picture frame to check behind it. I looked under the bookshelf, beneath the couch cushions, and under the table. No surveillance cameras. No listening devices. No obvious booby traps either. After a reasonable check, I threw myself onto the couch and sat back leisurely. A beam of light filtering over the folding screen shimmered on the low table.

This place was quiet, serene, and somehow peaceful. It felt a bit like Kwon Sinwoo. Come to think of it, since this was Kwon Sinwoo’s grandmother’s house, he must have come here often as a child, right? His childhood, Kwon Sinwoo’s childhood… I pictured Kwon Sinwoo’s upright, kind face in my mind and tried to imagine a much younger version of him.

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t easy.

While I was lost in thought, squeezing my imagination with my arms crossed, a soft knock snapped me out of it.

“Come in.”

I responded, erasing the completely blurred and muddled image of Kwon Sinwoo’s face from my mind. I’ll just ask him to show me a photo later.

The door opened, but it wasn’t Manager Jeong who entered.

A tall, broad-shouldered elderly woman walked in, holding a small square tray in one hand. A familiar face. Kwon Sinwoo’s grandmother, the “Chairman” herself.

She approached me with long, steady strides, never pausing. Her face was wrinkled, but her brow and nose bridge were still sharp, and her jawline hadn’t sagged. Her back was straight, her chest broad and open. I’d heard she was in her eighties, but she looked far younger.

I had met her only once, at a gathering where both families were vying for familial ownership of a fetus, but she wasn’t the kind of person you could easily forget.

She came up to me and bent down to place the tray on the table herself. It was the orange juice I’d requested. Well… I’m a guy who knows manners. Korea is the land of Eastern courtesy, and the Chairman is way older than me.

“Thank you.”

I lifted the glass with both hands and bowed slightly.

She looked down at me silently for a moment before turning to sit on the couch across from me. She sank deeply into the backrest, crossed her legs at an angle, and tapped her slipper-clad, slender foot toward me. Hmm. Thankfully, it seemed the Chairman wasn’t too hung up on formalities either. I immediately switched to holding the glass with one hand and gulped down the juice. My throat had been parched.

The moment I set the glass down, as if she’d been waiting, the Chairman spoke.

“I called you here to have a talk, Saeaga.”

“Hm. Yes.”

While I was wondering if “Saeaga” was my new nickname, she continued. Her voice wasn’t fast, her pronunciation was clear, and her tone had a certain authoritative edge.

“I didn’t call you here to make some crude threats.”

That was obvious. If she’d meant to threaten me, she would’ve used a different approach. Probably with guns or knives involved.

I nodded, and she tilted her head slightly, looking at me at an angle. Her eyes were dark. I couldn’t help but admit that those eyes reminded me a bit of Kwon Sinwoo. I steeled myself against softening.

In Korea, isn’t it polite to wait for the elder to speak first?

I kept my mouth shut and finished the orange juice. I placed the empty glass on the table.

I waited briefly for her to say something.

It was getting a bit tedious, but I held back without showing it.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before she spoke again.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’ve helped Sinwoo a lot with his work.”

“Hm. To be honest, I pretty much handled it all. Yo.”

I answered politely.

The Chairman closed her mouth and stared at me intently.

I spoke again, just as courteously.

“No need for thanks. Yo.”

As I said that, it suddenly occurred to me to wonder if she knew about the platform’s ledgers and such. I looked at her. She was still looking at me, and our eyes met for a few seconds.

A moment later, she let out a “Hmph” and clicked her tongue. She was smiling. I gave her a small smile back. It felt good.

“Hmph, hmph…”

She kept laughing.

It was starting to get boring. Just as I was about to give in to my impatience and ask her about Kwon Sinwoo’s childhood, she finally got to the point.

“I’m not saying I don’t understand the opinions of the honorable in-laws.”

What opinions?

“There’s no time to waste, and I thought it’d be better for both sides to hurry things along, so I called you here.”

Hurry what along?

Expressions without objects were vague and hard to follow.

I blinked at her to ask for clarification, but she didn’t seem to pick up on it at all. It seemed the Chairman wasn’t exactly quick on the uptake either.

She just narrowed her eyes and gazed at me steadily. Her gaze slid slowly from my eyes, down my body, and lingered stickily on my lower abdomen. It was an unsettling look, and I found it increasingly hard to maintain my manners.

“Well, these days they call it a dowry, don’t they? Still, it’s not exactly something to brag about.”

“What?”

I asked the right question at the right time. I couldn’t keep listening to object-less sentences forever. Especially since the Chairman was Kwon Sinwoo’s grandmother, wasn’t she?

She bit her lip tightly and shot me a glare. Uh-oh.

I didn’t panic and gave her a bright smile. When you mess up, you’ve got to stay calm to recover.

“Sorry. I’m not great at Korean. Honorifics are tough. Yo.”

Another silence.

I was getting tired of these repeated silences.

After a while, the corner of her mouth twisted slightly.

“Indeed. You should study Korean more.”

As she said that, she uncrossed her legs and shifted her posture. She stretched out a long arm and rested it on the armrest. Deep wrinkles creased her forehead, and her thick, dark eyebrows arched high at the ends, making her look vaguely angry at first glance. Of course, she couldn’t actually be mad. Why? Because I’m “Saeaga,” right?

“Anyway, it must be tough for you, being in the middle.”

“Not tough at all.”

It wasn’t just empty words—I really wasn’t struggling.

I’d blocked my parents’ phone numbers. So, naturally, I wasn’t in the middle, and I wasn’t struggling either.

“Anyway.”

The Chairman said it again, a bit more forcefully.

“Speak well to the honorable in-laws. A wedding held on our side would look better to others, don’t you think? There’s no time to waste.”

I was about to say that wasn’t true, that there was plenty of time, repeating what I’d told my dad, but the Chairman continued a bit faster.

“And you should talk some sense into Sinwoo.”

Kwon Sinwoo?

Me?

Talk sense into him?

“Sinwoo has never once been irresponsible. But lately, it seems his mind is elsewhere.”

Hmm. I could guess why. He was distracted with things like buying dozens of outfits in every color for a baby that hasn’t even been born, collecting shoes smaller than the palm of his hand, gathering mobiles, Legos, and rattles, purchasing strollers by function, type, and brand, or researching baby food menus.

“Even if it’s a matter of great human importance, he still has work to do. Don’t you agree?”

While I was looking up “matter of great human importance” on my phone, she said something I couldn’t just let slide.

“And then there’s the matter with Youngwoo…”

My ears perked up.

Kwon Youngwoo, maybe?

I looked up, and the Chairman gave a faint smile.

“Since I don’t have children of my own, I’ve poured a lot of affection into my nephews and grandsons. Sinwoo, Youngwoo, all of them. Anyway, they still have things to settle.”

Hmm… That matter.

I tilted my head slightly and looked at her.

“So, you should talk to Sinwoo and…”

“Grandmother.”

“Grand…!”

Of course, I politely declined her suggestion.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Sure, we’re going to be family, but we haven’t reached an agreement on family business matters yet, have we? So, calling me here to talk about this isn’t exactly polite.

The Kwon Youngwoo issue? I’ll take care of it.

Anyway, I’d heard everything I needed to, and unlike the Chairman, I stayed polite to the end. I even finished the orange juice she’d served me, didn’t I? I stood up from my seat.

Oh, right.

I turned back to her mid-step and made a polite request.

“And since Kwon Sinwoo is mine now, please don’t tell him to work or bow.”

No matter how much she tells that kind, gentle alpha to work or bow, what’s he going to do? He’ll just end up with a stomach ulcer from stress. I don’t even know how to bow anyway.

The wrinkles on the Chairman’s forehead deepened, and her eyebrows shot up even higher. At that moment, a knock came from outside. The knock was so sudden that her face turned red with surprise. Old people often jump at the smallest things, so it wasn’t surprising.

I turned my head toward the door.

No one said “come in,” but the door opened, and as expected, Kwon Sinwoo stood there with a picture-perfect smile.

He bowed his head slightly.

“Chairman.”

That was his greeting.

Then he walked straight toward me.

“Hakyung. I’m here to pick you up.”

“Kwon Sinwoo! You!”

The Chairman leapt to her feet and shouted. Unlike Kwon Sinwoo, her greeting was intense. Kwon Sinwoo turned to face her, raising one hand slightly.

“Manager Jeong, please tell the Chairman I’ll visit again.”

Manager Jeong raised one eyebrow, looking back and forth between Kwon Sinwoo and the Chairman, seemingly at a loss.

In the meantime, I grabbed Kwon Sinwoo’s arm and slipped out of the room.

Kwon Sinwoo followed me, his eyes shyly drooping with a gentle, wistful expression.

“Did Kwon Jaewoo tell you I was here?”

“I’ll talk to Jaewoo.”

He dodged the question. I shrugged.

“I’m not mad, you know? I had to meet the Chairman at some point anyway.”

“Are you okay?”

He asked with a serious, slightly somber expression. His long eyelashes cast shadows on his refined cheeks beneath his drooping eyes. He was probably thinking of a K-drama. But those things only happen in dramas.

I stood on my toes and kissed the corner of his eye.

“Of course I’m fine. I’m great with elders. They love me. Oh, there wasn’t anything we needed to coordinate beforehand, right?”

Kwon Sinwoo’s eyes softened, and he bent down to kiss me.

“No. There wasn’t anything we needed to ‘coordinate’ in particular.”

It was the sweetest, most affectionate grammar correction I’d ever received.

We retraced our steps and left the mansion. The rustic garden didn’t seem so bad walking through it with Kwon Sinwoo.

Once we got in the car, Kwon Sinwoo glanced at his wristwatch.

“Since we’re already late for prenatal yoga, how about we skip it today and eat out instead?”

For this diligent alpha, it was a rare suggestion. There was no reason to say no.

He took the wheel, smiling as he spoke.

“While we’re at it, let’s do some shopping. The baby fair is on until this week, right?”

Hmm. The baby’s wardrobe is already bursting with clothes and shoes, but, well, sure. I decided not to take away his fun.

Just then, Kwon Sinwoo’s phone, resting on the console, started vibrating. My eyes flicked toward it. [Father-in-law] I looked up at Kwon Sinwoo. He reached for the phone but froze when our eyes met. He hesitated, stopping short of answering.

The phone kept vibrating.

Like my dad’s persistence…

And then I realized what my dad, who I’d blocked, had been up to all this time.

I looked at Kwon Sinwoo for a moment before speaking slowly.

“You know, my dad and your grandmother are both being super annoying. Can’t we just have a simple wedding?”

The moment I said that, Kwon Sinwoo reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a thick leather folder. He handed it to me. I opened it.

[Marriage Registration Form]

“The witnesses are lawyers, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

Kwon Sinwoo explained calmly. I slowly scanned the document. Every field was already filled in, except for one blank space. I let out a small laugh and looked up at him. He was gazing at me with the softest, most loving eyes in the world. I took the pen tucked into the folder and wrote my name in the one remaining blank.

I closed the folder and handed it back to him. He opened the car window and held it out. A pair of hands, waiting who-knows-where, politely took the folder.

I watched for a moment, lost in thought.

“Hm. How about Paris for the honeymoon? I’ve never been.”

Kwon Sinwoo answered immediately.

“There’s a private jet on standby at the airport. It’ll take about two hours to get takeoff clearance, which is perfect timing.”