The Main Character is Obsessed With a Foreign Substance

“…Yes.”

Suhwan’s solicitous inquiry seemed to make Dowun uncomfortable, as his voice became slightly muffled. However, being the professional he was, he soon spoke his business matter-of-factly.

“The Chairman asked if everything is finished. He seems to want you to go on the blind dates soon.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Suhwan recall his promise to Chairman Jin. In exchange for breaking off the engagement with Seunghyun, he had agreed to meet three omegas of the Chairman’s choosing.

Chairman Jin had a fiery temperament and was extremely impatient. If not for Dowun, who delivered messages calmly, the relationship between Jin Suhwan and Chairman Jin would have fallen apart long ago. So this kind of urging wasn’t particularly surprising. The problem was that Suhwan hadn’t yet received Seunghyun’s permission to break off the engagement.

“Well, about that…”

Of course, as the head of Hwamyeong, Chairman Jin could probably force an end to the engagement regardless of the other party’s wishes. Just like how he had forced the engagement in the first place. But the Chairman was peculiarly stubborn in odd ways. It seemed that while forcing an engagement was acceptable, arbitrarily breaking it off was not.

That’s why he was going through the trouble of getting Seunghyun’s permission. Otherwise, Chairman Jin would nag and be a nuisance. Unfortunately, Suhwan hadn’t yet received permission to end the engagement. Moreover, to get that permission, he needed to live quietly for a month, and he was already struggling with even that.

There was no way he could explain this straightforwardly to Dowun.

“Um, actually… it might take some time.”

“Pardon? Is something wrong?”

I have a lot of work. So much work. But I have no idea what to do.

Suhwan suppressed his desire to speak honestly. Dowun’s caring voice made him want to say everything he shouldn’t.

“It won’t take too long, maybe about a month?”

“May I ask what the issue is?”

Wariness crept into Dowun’s voice. He seemed worried because the previous Jin Suhwan had caused so many problems. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Suhwan cleared his throat before answering.

“Well, Seunghyun asked for some time to think.”

“Ms. Lee Seunghyun?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

His flat tone suggested disbelief. Suhwan could understand that feeling. He had felt similarly when Seunghyun had postponed the engagement breakup. Barely suppressing a sigh, he continued.

“So please tell Grandfather to wait a little longer.”

“Sigh, a whole month…”

Hearing the response that sounded full of fatigue, Suhwan frowned.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’ve already set dates for the blind dates?”

“…”

“Wow, really?”

He had suspected it, but this was ridiculous. Though he could sense Chairman Jin’s fiery temperament from just a few meetings, he hadn’t expected this kind of rush. Asking him to go on blind dates when the engagement hadn’t even been broken off yet. Suhwan inwardly clicked his tongue.

“When are they? Can’t they be postponed a bit longer?”

“I’ll speak to the Chairman once.”

“Yes, please explain it well.”

He made the request thinking that Dowun would handle it better than himself with his poor communication skills. Originally, according to the plan, after breaking up with Seunghyun, he had intended to meet each of the blind date candidates just once with a light heart. The Chairman had asked him to go on blind dates, not to get married. Having only been in this body for a short time, marriage was already too burdensome a topic.

Still, being born into a chaebol family, he would probably have to marry someone he didn’t love eventually. Feeling uncomfortable in a corner of his mind, Suhwan hung up the phone and leaned his head against the sofa.

As he closed his eyes, his heavy mind gradually lightened. Not realizing this was the state before falling asleep, Suhwan helplessly lost consciousness.

Click, beep.

A faint noise was heard. Suhwan’s eyelids fluttered.

“Hmm?”

He felt someone’s gaze on him. Opening his eyes slightly, Suhwan discovered Seunghyun looking down at him.

“Oh… you’re back?”

Seeing Seunghyun, his drowsiness vanished instantly. Getting up from the sofa, he looked up at Seunghyun standing before him.

“Welcome home. You’re early.”

After saying this, Suhwan noticed it was already dark outside, making him feel a bit embarrassed. As he gave an awkward smile, Seunghyun tilted his face slightly downward.

“I’m back.”

“Yeah.”

Suhwan nodded, feeling dazed. He hadn’t expected to be greeted like this.

“I’ll change and come back out.”

“Okay.”

He nodded as if entranced, watching Seunghyun’s back as he turned and entered his room. He had expected Seunghyun to coldly interrogate him about what he had done to his friend when they met at home, so it was surprising that he let it go so quietly.

No, this could actually be the calm before the storm. Suhwan tensed up and waited for Seunghyun.

Click.

Shortly after, the sound of a door closing was heard softly, and Seunghyun walked out of the room. After glancing at Suhwan, who was sitting stiffly on the sofa, he approached.

Suhwan couldn’t quite look him in the eye. His heart was pounding, but for some reason, it felt like his head was thumping too. As he fidgeted nervously like a child waiting for punishment, Seunghyun came close and plopped down next to him on the sofa.

“…?”

Sitting nonchalantly on the sofa, Seunghyun turned his head to the side and glanced at Suhwan. Having Seunghyun sit right next to him felt somehow surreal. Like the amazingly sharp bridge of his nose and those eyes that looked like they had jewels embedded in them.

Looking at Suhwan who was staring blankly at him, Seunghyun opened his mouth with sharp eyes.

“At school earlier, what did you talk about with Kwon Heeyoung?”

“Huh? Kwon Heeyoung?”

“…”

“Oh, that girl from earlier?”

Only then did Suhwan learn the name of the girl he had been trying so hard to remember. So her name was Heeyoung. He had remembered the ‘Hee’ part at least, what a shame. As he nodded to himself, agreeing with his own thoughts, he turned his head to find Seunghyun staring intently at him with eyes that somehow seemed sharper than before.

“We didn’t really talk about anything special.”

Feeling awkward, he scratched his nose and mumbled, but Seunghyun pressed for an answer.

“I’m asking what she said.”

“Nothing much. She just asked how I was doing during the break?”

“Was that really all she asked?”

“Yeah.”

The contact information Heeyoung had given him seemed to rustle in his pocket, as if announcing its presence.

But he couldn’t just confess everything to Seunghyun. That he might have done something terrible to his friend in the past but couldn’t remember it. And that his friend seemed to want compensation from him.

Suhwan wasn’t thick-skinned enough to say such relationship-breaking words to someone he lived with.

“Heeyoung isn’t the type to be interested in others.”

“I’m not just ‘others.’ We’re in the same club.”

Even though he had forcibly joined the club just to stalk the main omega, they did have a connection. A very thin, flimsy one, but still.

Seunghyun’s eyes sharpened again. Suhwan seemed to be under the illusion that he was covering up well, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was obvious he was lying. The way he kept avoiding eye contact was proof.

Somehow, Seunghyun felt his insides boiling. He had been somewhat relieved when Suhwan didn’t seem to remember Heeyoung’s name, but seeing him act as if he was hiding something made his temperature rise sharply.

“Please be honest with me.”

“I-I am being honest.”

“No, you’re not.”

When Seunghyun spoke in an agitated tone, Suhwan cowered, shrinking his shoulders as if frightened. It was strange. The Jin Suhwan he knew wasn’t this kind of man. Despite thinking that it was odd to see such a shameless and despicable man acting like a scared small animal, he couldn’t stop his impulsive behavior.

“You’re definitely lying. Why do you keep trying to hide it?”

“Uh…”

To be seen through so easily. Suhwan now realized for the first time that he wasn’t good at lying. Yet he wasn’t this bad with other people; he didn’t understand why he kept acting like a fool in front of Seunghyun.

Feeling anxious, he rubbed his cheek with one hand. Then Seunghyun reached out and grabbed the hand that was rubbing his cheek.

“I’m your fiancé. So…”

Fiancé.

Somehow, that word seeped into Suhwan’s heart. Though he shouldn’t, his heart began to race. Perhaps Seunghyun’s eyes, which momentarily looked sorrowful, were making him misunderstand.

“I’m sorry. Actually…”

Suhwan reluctantly took out the contact information Heeyoung had given him and held it out. He still felt embarrassed as one of his hands remained caught by Seunghyun. However, unable to ask him to let go, he simply held out the note to him.