NOVEL NEXT -5-
-5-
Jeonggwan, who was expected to return to his original body immediately after the wedding photo shoot, surprisingly maintained his weight, fluctuating only 3kg up and down. In fact, he had been dieting intensely with the intention of eating everything he couldn’t once the photo shoot was over. However, thinking that if he returned to his original weight by eating whatever he wanted, people attending the wedding might be confused by the difference between the photo shoot pictures and the Jeonggwan entering the ceremony. So, he decided to maintain his weight until the wedding, and was still dieting now, a month before the ceremony.
There was one person who was anxious about Jeonggwan’s diet. Not counting Junjae, as that was expected, there were actually two people, and the other one was such an unexpected individual that even Junjae was puzzled.
“Is he sick or something? He’s lost too much weight.”
“…He had a health check-up and everything was fine.”
“It doesn’t look good when he’s too thin.”
“…He says he’s going to maintain it until the wedding.”
“He looks just right now. Junjae, the wedding photos were so beautiful.”
Won Youngjae, Junjae’s father, clicked his tongue with a seemingly displeased face. When the two finally decided to get married, Youngjae paid a hefty sum to a fortune teller, booked solid for the next three years, to check Jeonggwan and Junjae’s compatibility. This was a place Youngjae deeply trusted as it had advised and guided Won Group’s business, so he went with the serious intention of breaking them up if the fortune teller said they absolutely shouldn’t marry.
‘He’s a benefactor. From his name to his fate, he’s an incredible benefactor for your son. He must stay by his side. There couldn’t be a better spouse. The excess fat on his face is because he absorbs all the bad energy coming towards your son.’
However, the response was that this person was essential for his son. Youngjae felt like his eyes were going to pop out. From looks to name to family background, there wasn’t a single thing he liked about Jeonggwan, except for his strong personality. Yet this person was a benefactor to his son? Youngjae held his forehead, wondering if this fortune teller had lost their power, but,
‘My power hasn’t waned, President. I’m telling you the truth.’
The fortune teller even guessed these thoughts, making it impossible to deny the truth of their words any longer. Finally accepting that he had to allow the marriage, Youngjae sighed and stood up. But then the fortune teller closed their eyes, tapped the table in front of them a few times with their finger, and suddenly opened their eyes wide, warning:
‘Don’t let him lose too much weight. Your son might not be able to get married.’
Youngjae had scoffed then, thinking how that chubby guy would lose weight, but now this was no laughing matter. Seeing Jeonggwan dried up as if a whole person had left his body, he kept recalling the fortune teller’s words and felt anxious. Because they hadn’t specified why Jeonggwan shouldn’t lose weight, Youngjae was worried about various possibilities.
Maybe Jeonggwan’s health would severely deteriorate from extreme weight loss, or perhaps other alphas would cling to him, causing infidelity and ruining the wedding. Due to these concerns, he had been calling Junjae every day lately to probe if there were any issues in their relationship.
“Are you still getting along?”
“…We’re getting married in a month, do you still dislike me marrying Jeonggwan?”
“That’s not it,”
“…Father. I really love Jeonggwan.”
“I know, I know. But what I want to ask is…”
“I don’t regret it either. So please, give up.”
Even that was cut short by his son, who passionately declared his love, fearing his father might still try to interfere with the wedding. Youngjae felt a surge of anger, wanting to firmly oppose the marriage of this son who looked at his father with such contemptuous eyes, not realizing this was all for his sake. But feeling that doing so might cause an even bigger problem, he just suppressed his anger.
* * *
Still, just in case, Youngjae worked behind the scenes, though it wasn’t anything grand. He called Jeonggwan separately and made him take herbal medicine to strengthen his body, and every day he sent desserts that Jeonggwan loved to their shared home. At first, Jeonggwan refused to eat them, suspecting they might be poisoned, but when Youngjae sincerely expressed concern for his health, Jeonggwan couldn’t resist the temptation and ate everything that was sent.
In the end, Jeonggwan gained back 8kg of the 18kg he had lost, and Youngjae looked at Jeonggwan’s plump cheeks with satisfaction, believing he had prevented his son’s marriage from falling apart.
And this behind-the-scenes work was indeed well done. Because that fortune teller was truly skilled. Jeonggwan was waiting for Junjae at a trendy brunch cafe, and there appeared another destined partner for Jeonggwan, besides Junjae, who had shown up when the fortune teller read Jeonggwan’s fortune. Of course, the fortune teller didn’t mention this other destined partner to Youngjae, fearing he might cause trouble for an innocent civilian, and only advised on how to prevent Jeonggwan and that person from connecting.
“This cafe smells really good, like bread.”
“That smells like omega pheromones.”
The man had such an excellent physique that everyone turned to look when he entered the cafe, and even Jeonggwan, who usually remained unimpressed by celebrities, gasped at his appearance that perfectly matched Jeonggwan’s taste. It was to the extent that if he had been an idol, Jeonggwan might have followed him around with a camera.
“Hey, he’s cute. Isn’t he your type, Jaejun?”
“Yeah, his face is my type, but…”
“He flinched when he saw you earlier. Go ask for his number.”
The man’s friends created an atmosphere encouraging him to approach the cute person sitting by the window, but the man just smiled and shook his head. Being a model, he typically preferred people as thin as himself, and he thought that if that person had been just a bit thinner, he would have been exactly his type, and he might have approached directly without his friends’ prompting.
“But he could really be your destined partner.”
“…”
“Bread and milk, you know.”
Plus, his pheromones smelled like bread. The man’s pheromones smelled like warm, rich milk, and since childhood, everyone had teased that his destined partner would smell like bread… Could that person really be my destined partner? The man hesitated a bit.
“Hey, really, go for it. I’m telling you, your eyes sparkled when you saw him earlier.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah, it was like the look you’d have if you’d just had a major fan moment with a once-in-a-millennium idol.”
Moreover, with his friends encouraging him like this, he started to feel like he might regret it forever if he let this person go. So, just as the man seemed to have made up his mind, taking a deep breath and about to stand up—
Ding-.
Along with an intense strawberry jam scent, someone with a physique that drew gasps different from when the model and his friends had entered, walked into the cafe. The man and his friends, being familiar with clothes due to their modeling work, immediately recognized that the three-piece suit he wore wasn’t ready-made but custom-tailored, and his aura of wearing genuine luxury items from head to toe that most people wouldn’t recognize, indicated he was definitely not an ordinary person.
Everyone was staring at him with their mouths agape, when suddenly the cute person that the man and his friends had thought might be his destiny raised his hand and called out to him.
“Hyung! Pick up the food on your way. Number 13!”
“Ah, okay.”
What? Are they together? The man with the good voice, seeming familiar with the situation, picked up two trays of whatever had been ordered and approached the window seat. He carefully placed the dishes on the table and naturally took a seat across from the other. The two seemed so happy about something, their faces breaking into smiles as soon as their eyes met.
“Hey, looks like that’s his boyfriend…”
“I definitely thought earlier when that guy was alone that if Jaejun asked for his number, he’d be like ‘Thank you!’ and give it to him a hundred times over. But now that he’s with that man, I feel like he’d look at you with a contemptuous expression like ‘You? Me?'”
“Hey, Jaejun is popular too. Don’t put our boy down.”
“That’s how impressive that man’s aura is, is what I’m saying.”
Jaejun hadn’t even considered making a move, but his friends were making a fuss. To be honest, Jaejun also thought that if that man had appeared later, he would have approached quite confidently, thinking it would be easy for someone like him to get a number. Earlier, he had hesitated thinking “if only he were a bit thinner…” but now, realizing the person already had a partner, he just felt regretful.
“Hyung, look at that man.”
“I’m really going to get upset.”
“No, no, that’s not it. That person is the model I saw in a magazine earlier.”
“…To be honest, when you saw him in the magazine, he was your type, right?”
“So that means I shouldn’t be honest about it now, right?”
Junjae bit his lip and stared intently at Jeonggwan. It meant he was a second away from getting upset. And seeing Junjae like this, Jeonggwan burst into bright laughter. Every time he teased Junjae, the reaction was so satisfying that even though he knew he’d be the only one suffering at night if Junjae got upset, he couldn’t resist the temptation.
In truth, Jeonggwan was startled when he first saw that model. There’s such a thing as being attractive in a way that perfectly matches one’s taste, right? If he hadn’t been a month away from getting married, if he didn’t have Junjae as his fiancé, wouldn’t he have kept looking at that model? After all, he had flipped back to look again when he saw him in the magazine because he was so handsome.
Moreover, the model, probably an alpha, had a strong pheromone scent, and interestingly, it smelled like rich, warm milk. Of course, Jeonggwan preferred spreading strawberry jam on bread rather than dipping it in milk, so from the moment Junjae entered, all he could smell was the scent of strawberry jam.