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assisted reproductive technology and fetal surrogacy management agreement male omega pregnancy is contract marriage legal or illegal? how much dowry do you get for contract marriage?
It was a rare chance to chat comfortably with his secretarial-office colleagues, but Eunwon couldn’t quite join the conversation, lost in his own dazed thoughts.
Even as Team Leader Jeong, Kim Seoyeon, and the others laughed and chatted, Eunwon — a step removed — had his eyes and attention glued entirely to his phone screen.
But no matter how he dug through the search results, he found no real firsthand accounts of contract marriage or exact figures — the things Eunwon wanted.
There were only hundreds of blog posts that started with "Shall we learn about dowry systems around the world?" then splattered keywords and emojis everywhere without giving any real information, ending with "That was our look at ‘What Is a Dowry?’~ Hope it was informative and answered your questions!" while begging for likes and follows.
Even the posts that seemed genuine were full of secret-only comments, offering details by DM — no way to learn the contents right away. It seemed these were such secretive contracts, with such strict confidentiality clauses, that it couldn’t be helped.
In the end, Eunwon decided to rely on the AI, PurPle.
Me: Is it really common for people to exchange dowries in contract marriages…?
He half-hoped PurPle would just say no — but the oblivious PurPle was nothing but sunny.
PP: The dowry system in marriage does carry the risk of power imbalance, and it does violate our country’s long-standing good customs — but concluding contract marriages in exchange for capital has been happening openly among the "new humanity, the trait-holders" who emerged about a hundred years ago.
Trait-holder marriages in particular are classified under special law as "special unions, partnerships," so they’re regarded a bit differently from non-trait-holder common sense —concluding a "pre-marriage contract" first is one of those things.
Me: Really…? Trait-holders do contract marriages a lot? Really?
PP: There are three main reasons trait-holders choose contract marriage. • First, "bloodline investment" to monopolize dominant genes. • Second, "pheromone partnership" to manage physiological risk. • Third, "a minimum economic safety net" for omegas. Marriages like this — which state the purpose of the marriage and come with a clear contract assigning obligations — actually increase mutual trust, letting people start a rational, equal partnership life without unnecessary misunderstandings or emotional drain, so more and more people prefer them. There’s even the advantage of being protected within the bounds of the law. Was that helpful? If you have more questions, feel free to ask.
Me: …How much dowry does the omega side usually get for a contract marriage with an alpha?
Thinking it was nonsense that such things happened openly, Eunwon’s fingertips trembled faintly as he read the answer and typed his question. The question he most wanted — and most feared — to ask. Asking the "price" of selling himself off, it felt sorrowful and heavy.
PP: There’s no detailed statistical figure, but the commonly known average right now is about 300 million won after tax. Of course it can vary by individual contract or options! According to interviews with specialist lawyers, dominant omegas sometimes get over a billion. But why are you asking about this stuff? How come you’re suddenly interested in contract marriage?
300 million…?
Eunwon sighed. The amount was smaller than he’d expected. Of course, to twenty-five-year-old broke Seo Eunwon it was a lot of money — but nowhere near the "life turnaround" level his uncle and the loan sharks had blathered about. After paying off the uncle’s newly acquired debt, there’d hardly be anything left.
Though of course he had absolutely no intention of paying off his uncle’s debt…
Me: The amount’s less than I expected…?ㅠㅠ
PP: Right, it can feel that way. To explain in more detail, the amount I just told you is purely what the omega receives as compensation "when the marriage goes through." On top of that, the contract agency’s fee, marriage registration and legal counsel costs, essential living and medical expenses, housing, clothing and dignity-maintenance for social and public activities, education, property division and alimony plus resettlement support when the contract ends (divorce) — all those incidental costs are usually borne separately by the alpha. Details naturally vary by contract, but they say some contracts guarantee additional incentives for bearing children. So think of it as: the omega gets food, clothing, shelter, and living expenses guaranteed for at least the marriage period, plus a net profit of 300 million won and then some.
Me: By agency you mean like "middlemen"? How much is their fee?
The profit the loan sharks were after was probably here, so he couldn’t help being curious.
PP: Right. They handle matching and management services and take a fee. Think of it as usually around 100–200 million won.
"…….?"
That changed the math again. Thinking fast, Eunwon swallowed dryly. If the loan sharks deducted the debt as their brokerage fee, the remainder was considerable. Not life-changing, money-raining-from-the-sky level like that absurd flyer — but enough to try Mom’s new-drug treatment once or twice.
If he found a good contract, wouldn’t it be even better? Like… a chaebol-family contract, for instance.
The moment his thoughts got that far, the contract he’d seen under Muyoung’s desk flashed through his mind like lightning.
"Party A, Cha Muyoung"
How much would be written in his contract?
No sooner did Eunwon genuinely wonder than he sank into miserable self-loathing. What would he do with that knowledge? Step up in front of him and beg him to use him?
"You’re insane. That’s really insane, Seo Eunwon…"
Eunwon muttered, chewing his lip. That — that above all — could never happen. Even if, bending over backwards, a day came when he chose to marry someone to pay off debt, he would never, ever let Muyoung know.
That was beyond comparison with hiding the fact that he was an omega. It was a secret — a shame — to guard with his life.
Rather than be found out as someone in the position of marrying as if sold off, he’d rather die. How could he live with the wretchedness.
And besides, he wasn’t even qualified to stand beside Cha Muyoung through such a contract in the first place. The omega he wanted would obviously be… a perfect dominant omega.
…Eunwon grew gloomy. And at the same time, one corner of his chest stung. Imagining Muyoung standing beside some beautiful dominant omega, beaming as he held a child who looked just like him — it made him miserable.
When he’d had his foolish crush on him, he’d been a beta, so of course — and even after becoming an omega, he’d never once imagined building a family with him, bearing his child. So why, now of all times, was he newly disappointed that he couldn’t stand beside him? Like an idiot.
"Oh, why’s the sky suddenly so dark? Looks like rain. Eunwon-ssi, look outside."
"…Huh? Oh, it really is."
Kim Seoyeon’s voice — deliberately coming over to look out for him — snapped Eunwon back to reality. Following her pointing finger to look outside the café’s glass wall, he saw the sky that had been clear and blazing when they’d come to work now darkened gray, as if it would pour any minute.
"I didn’t bring an umbrella — this is bad. I don’t think the forecast mentioned rain either, right?"
"…Yeah, I didn’t see rain in the forecast either."
While Eunwon had been staring at his phone, lost in thought, the café had grown even busier and noisier. Afraid someone might see, he turned off the screen and pocketed the phone — and Kim Seoyeon, who’d been rambling on with empty chatter beside him, stopped and leaned in subtly, whispering.
"So, Eunwon-ssi. I’ve been wanting to ask — are you and the CEO really—"
At the quietly uttered word "CEO," Eunwon’s heart dropped. Right — he’d briefly forgotten, but there was an unfinished conversation with Kim Seoyeon. That coffee time that had fizzled out when they’d run into Muyoung’s mother last time.
He’d expected her to ask about his relationship with Cha Muyoung, so Eunwon steadied his startled heart and swallowed hard. But.
Ding!
Bzzz.
"Huh? It’s a message from Deputy Kang. Something up at the office?"
The cheerful chime and vibration rang out on everyone’s phones at once, and Kim Seoyeon had no choice but to close her mouth, her question forever unfinished.
Team Leader Jeong, first to open the chat window, furrowed his brow. Kim Seoyeon checked next, blinking as she read the message.
"The CEO’s urgently looking for Seo-bi… uh-oh!"
But before the words were even out, the café door flew open. And there stood Cha Muyoung, his face like a wrathful demon’s. The noisy café’s air froze ice-cold in an instant.
Since the café was on the first floor of the company building, most — no, all — of the people there knew the face of their CEO, Cha Mu.
With no time to care about the atmosphere, eyes fixed on only one person, Muyoung strode urgently to the table where the secretarial staff sat and reached out without a moment’s hesitation.
"Sir, do you have instructions for us—"
Team Leader Jeong stepped forward, feigning calm thanks to having read Deputy Kang’s warning a few seconds early — but Muyoung didn’t spare him a glance, only pulling a card from his wallet and pressing it into his hand.
"One hour."
"…Yes?"
"The whole secretarial office — take an hour’s break. And use this to cover everyone’s coffee here too."
Then he roughly snatched the wrist of Eunwon, who’d gone pale and frozen blank.
"You — come with me."
It was an overwhelming grip that gave no chance to ask why or resist. Eunwon could only stare with wide eyes as he was helplessly dragged out, leaving his horrified colleagues’ gazes behind him.
***
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