Bad Relationship

“Do you want to do that?”

“I need to create an emergency exit, just in case.”

“Resolve this through conversation first. No matter how I think about it, they have absolutely no benefit in marrying you. That means they must have some other purpose, so figure that out.”

“I said I understand. Just go upstairs already.”

Finally seeing him turn and head for the stairs, Junghyun went straight to the living room and then toward the study at the far end of the first floor.

Then he began irritably scratching his hair.

It seemed like things had gotten seriously complicated.

This was never part of his plan from the beginning.

He had a rough idea why they were being so aggressive about the marriage, but it was problematic that they were fixating on him.

“Damn it…”

Feeling that the situation had grown bigger than expected, he went to the study and knocked on the door. A response to come in came quickly, as if someone had been waiting.

Surprised by the uncharacteristically quick and urgent response, he opened the door with his jacket in hand and entered to find a middle-aged man sitting at the desk, pressing his forehead.

The man had a sharp, sensitive face with strangely manic-looking eyes. Despite being middle-aged and approaching his senior years, he still looked young and handsome, and as always, tired.

Seeing him looking sensitive because things clearly weren’t going in the direction he wanted, Junghyun approached him.

“You called for me?”

“I’ve already heard everything from Juwon.”

At this direct statement without any greeting, Junghyun clicked his tongue.

That meant he already knew the situation, so don’t waste time with unnecessary talk or long explanations.

This man and his uncle, they’re so alike in character, and unnecessarily close.

“So, why does Cha Jaehyuk want to marry you?”

His face said not to pretend ignorance.

It was also a face full of confidence that Junghyun must know the answer.

“That’s for him to know, not me. I just went out after receiving Uncle’s call as soon as I woke up today, and was just unilaterally informed. Besides, that person doesn’t communicate properly. It’s like he’s lived his entire life just giving orders.”

“What do you suspect?”

“How would I know? How could I understand what someone I’ve only met twice is thinking?”

When Junghyun said he’d be making money with that ability if he had it, the man suddenly laughed.

As if it were ridiculous.

“Only twice, you say?”

At his tone suggesting Junghyun should say something believable, Junghyun just smiled, and the man leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Then, as always, he spoke coldly.

“Use your head, Lee Junghyun. You’re not that careless.”

“I didn’t know you thought so highly of me.”

As Junghyun continued speaking evasively with a mysterious smile that revealed nothing of his true thoughts, the man who had been smiling with just the corner of his lips lowered his gaze as if none of it mattered.

“Fine, whether you know or not doesn’t matter. Either way, there’s only one answer. You created this situation, so you take responsibility and resolve it. Either marry them, or make them give up.”

“I won’t get married.”

“I don’t intend to send you to Hanju either.”

“It’s fortunate we agree on that point.”

“That is fortunate. Even if you don’t marry, there’s no need to break off the marriage altogether. If it’s just changing the partner, I have no objections.”

It was frustrating because Junghyun could clearly see who his father had in mind as the alternative.

He had no intention of marrying Cha Jaehyuk, but he also had no intention of doing what his father wanted.

“You can discuss that with them yourself. Anyway, if you’re done talking, I need to go. I need to reach an agreement with them.”

“Resolve this as quickly as possible.”

“Just give me back my car. And stop putting people on me.”

“If you behave yourself, there’s no reason to follow you.”

“I’m a very well-behaved person as long as my profile isn’t circulating in the marriage market.”

“Since you broke up with Seojun, you should get married. There’s nothing more troublesome than an omega without a partner wandering around.”

“Say that to Jeonghoo.”

“No need. That kid has never been without a partner.”

“Well, he takes after someone.”

“I’ll find a suitable match for you, so pass that position to Jeonghoo. If possible, that is.”

Hearing his father’s words, still unable to let go of that position, Junghyun turned to leave, raising just his hand in farewell, having heard enough.

“Just send my car home. Stop trying to do business with your child.”

“You seem to be overestimating yourself. Business is done with proper goods. Defective products like you wouldn’t even make it to the shelf.”

“Thank you!”

That was the most pleasing thing he’d heard from his father, and Junghyun immediately headed for the door. Just as he was about to open the door and leave, his father spoke again.

“Also, even if the marriage is called off, move out. I’ll prepare an apartment near the company.”

“I won’t.”

“How long are you going to live in that house?”

“Until the apartment collapses. I’m going now. And don’t contact me, I don’t want to hear from you. I’ll contact Uncle Juwon when things are sorted out.”

Quickly finishing his words as if he couldn’t stand to hear his father’s voice anymore, Junghyun hurriedly opened the door and left the study. Then, with his jacket draped over his right shoulder, he took out his phone and looked for the message he had received from Jaehyuk earlier.

“Ah, he sent quite a few.”

While checking the message section to dig up his texts, which were buried somewhere in the graveyard of countless messages, Junghyun finally found his number and sent a message.

‘Let’s meet for a bit. This isn’t something to discuss outside, your place or mine?’

Realizing this wasn’t a situation that could be ignored any longer, he sent the message, immediately saved his phone number, and switched his phone from silent mode to sound mode.

Then, as he was leaving the living room, a small voice called from the top of the stairs.

“Is the conversation already over?”

It was Uncle Juwon. He had told him to go upstairs and rest, but he must have come out again unable to sleep from anxiety.

Seeing him hanging on the second-floor stair railing looking down at him, Junghyun sighed.

“It’s over. He said to handle it myself.”

“He couldn’t do anything?”

“If he could do something, he wouldn’t have called me. We just stress each other out when we meet. Go and get some sleep. Do you want to be rushed to the hospital again?”

He told him not to cause trouble in the early morning and to go upstairs and sleep quickly, but Juwon was persistent.

“Do you think you can handle it?”

“Didn’t you say I should handle it somehow? Isn’t that why you tattled to Father?”

Though he didn’t say “That’s unfair,” Juwon would have understood. His eyes conveyed the insult.

“That’s because you caused trouble and were trying to flee overseas. This is a seed you planted, so you harvest it. Would I have done that otherwise?”

“That’s why I said I’ll try to handle it somehow.”

“Do you think you can?”

“There must be a way. If not…”

There was one card he could use in the worst-case scenario, but if possible, he wanted to save it. No, it was a card that shouldn’t be used.

To be honest, he didn’t want to go that far. It could make things even more complicated, and also…

“Well… if nothing works, I could get completely drunk and go make a scene at their house.”

“Hey!”

“Anyway, I’ll handle it somehow, so don’t worry and go get some sleep. Well, I’m going now.”

As Junghyun headed straight toward the entrance after saying that, his uncle called out anxiously.

“Wait, I’ll call a car for you. Take it.”

“No need. I’ll take a taxi.”

“You can’t catch taxis around here.”

“These days, there’s something called a taxi application.”

Junghyun waved his hand at Juwon, who knew nothing about the real world after a lifetime of being driven around by others. Then as he left the house again, he immediately hailed a taxi and checked his message window again.

But it was quiet.

He wasn’t sure if Jaehyuk was ignoring him or just hadn’t seen the message yet.

“Haa… this is such a pain…”

It was too late to regret why he had gone to that bar and gotten so drunk that day.

Thinking that this approach wasn’t working, he found Jaehyuk’s number again and pressed the call button.

Listening to the dial tone as he crossed the large garden, opened the main gate, and stepped onto the alley, the dial tone suddenly cut off. Just as he was about to call again, he stopped at the notification.

‘The customer cannot take your call. Please try again later.’

“Wow, unbelievable…”

It felt like he was getting hit on the head multiple times today, either from bad luck or something else.

Normally, if someone doesn’t notice an incoming call, the call wouldn’t connect, and a message about being transferred to voicemail would appear.

If it says “the customer cannot take your call,” it means they saw the incoming call and deliberately rejected it. It was unlikely that someone who had proposed marriage would block his number, so it meant he was deliberately not answering the call.

Of course, he might be in an important meeting or in a situation where he couldn’t answer the phone, but the fact that there was no reply to the message as well meant he was deliberately not answering the call.

Rejection is not just a refusal but also a kind of power play.