Faced with the lawyer’s fluent patter, invoking the staggering tax problem, Cha Muyoung’s public image, preventing owner risk for the company, defending the stock price, and other things that realistically had to be worried about, Eunwon ended up nodding along too. "Ah… yes, yes, that’s right. It really is…"
But a ‘real marriage’ between him and Cha Muyoung, just like that?
For Eunwon, for whom even dating had been an unthinkable dream, who had barely managed to fold away his one-sided love, it was deeply bewildering.
Listening to Park Minho’s explanation, fidgeting on his seat as if on thorns, he finally glanced at Cha Muyoung — who was just silently staring at him — and carefully spoke up.
"But even so, how could I possibly have a ‘real’ marriage with you, sir… I don’t quite understand…"
"What don’t you understand? You were all set to bear some other bastard’s child, but you can’t do it with me?"
"No, it’s not that — it’s just, if word gets out that we married for love, wouldn’t that be bad for you, sir?"
At Eunwon’s hesitant question, Cha Muyoung’s brow crumpled.
"What’s bad for me about it?"
"Just… you’d lose out in a lot of ways. The elders of the family would be enormously surprised too… and later, when you have your ‘real’ marriage, it’d be a blemish…"
*Your later real marriage?*
Irritation flared, but Muyoung held it down like an adult, picking up the excuse Park Minho had mentioned in passing.
"Rather than being a shameless human trafficker who bought an omega with money and got him pregnant, isn’t it much better for my image to say I fell in love normally, married, and had a child?"
"Ah… that’s true, but—"
Inwardly he was of course snorting sideways. Sitting there looking like he might crumble any second, yet worrying about who right now.
Damn it, even Seo Eunwon being this irritating and frustrating was so lovely it was killing him. The look Muyoung gave Eunwon was full of loving spite.
"And you — are you asking that because you think it’d be better for you to do it with some other guy instead of me?"
Eunwon, who hadn’t even thought about his own position while worrying about Cha Muyoung’s ‘later marriage,’ rolled his eyes in deep thought for a long while, then shook his head.
"I think this way is better for me too. But—"
But what now. What’s the problem this time?
"…I think there’s a typo in the amount here…"
Where Eunwon’s finger lightly pointed was this sentence in the ‘prenuptial agreement’: "As a guarantee of the faithful performance of this contract and as compensation for Party A’s special maintenance of dignity and protection of privacy (confidentiality), Party B shall pay a lump sum of five billion won immediately upon execution of this contract. An interim payment of five billion won shall be paid upon medical confirmation of pregnancy, and a final payment of five billion won upon completion of childbirth."
—Ugh, I tried to talk you down and the amount only went up. —You have to give more to cover the taxes. —I know you’re rich, but still… doesn’t this insane amount of tax hurt? —Think of it as the price of the stamp for marrying Seo Eunwon. —Yeah, well… if you’re dying to give it, what can I do… but even apart from the tax issue, if you hand it all over from the start, will he still want to keep living with you? Give it to him little by little, sneakily, so he keeps wanting to live with you— —…Is that so?
It was the amount settled after yielding, in its own way, to Park Minho’s plausible advice —to pay it in installments, like gifts for special occasions.
"You mean this was supposed to be 500 million won three times, for a total of 1.5 billion? That’s already too much…"
For someone willing to bear his child, being scared of such a small number — knowing Seo Eunwon’s pea-sized courage, Muyoung didn’t want to bicker about it any longer.
"It’s not a typo. By my standards, it’s not excessive."
Muyoung gave Park Minho a light jerk of his chin, signaling him to move on to the contract review stage.
Quick-witted, Park Minho drew Eunwon’s attention — frozen stiff at the total of 15 billion won — back to the contract.
"Don’t worry about the amount, it’s already settled. Read the rest carefully. I’ll explain anything that’s hard to understand, and we can negotiate and change anything you don’t like, so read it carefully, okay? Please, carefully."
Having guided him so kindly, he snuck a glance at Cha Muyoung.
What he really wanted to shout was: *Hey, you cute kid of the Muyoung family, this contract is a real perverted piece of trash, so get your head straight and tear it apart — I’ll help you!* But since the one presenting this sinister contract was his VVIP client, he couldn’t give any more hints, which was lamentable.
He waited for Eunwon to find and point out the sinister energy of the prenuptial agreement — which held all the outrageous clauses he’d tried to put in, intact. No, wrapped in the shell of a ‘real marriage,’ it held even more blatant, sticky desire.
Article 6 (Method and Procedure of Conception) 1. Pregnancy under this contract shall in principle be achieved through natural pregnancy via direct contact between Party A and Party B, not through medical assisted reproductive technology such as artificial insemination or in vitro procedures. 2. For the establishment of pregnancy, Party A shall have the duty to diligently engage in relations at the time and place demanded by Party B. 3. Until pregnancy is confirmed, the frequency, cycle, method, and other specific procedures of relations shall be decided entirely at Party B’s discretion, and Party A may not exercise a right of refusal absent specially recognized cause. 4. Even after pregnancy is confirmed, Party A must receive daily, as a duty, the pheromone showers, skinship, and other contact provided by Party B, for the maintenance of stable pheromone balance for the fetus.
Article 12 (Designation of Residence and Personal Protection) 1. Upon execution of this contract, Party A shall move into the place designated by Party B (hereinafter "Designated Residence") and shall in principle live in said residence until the contract ends. 2. This is for the safety of Party A and the fetus and for thorough confidentiality of this contract, and Party A may not leave the Designated Residence without Party B’s prior permission. 3. During the contract, all expenses necessary for Party A shall be borne entirely by Party B. 4. Under the pretext of maintaining confidentiality of this contract and protecting the fetus, when Party A goes out, Party B must accompany him or personnel designated by Party B must attend him. 5. Party B shall have the right to check Party A’s communications history, real-time location, contacts, and the like as necessary, and Party A must report private meetings with others to Party B at least six hours in advance and obtain approval.
Article 13 (House Rules and Health Management) 1. For the stable implantation of the fetus and Party A’s emotional stability, Party A shall within the Designated Residence— 2. Party A’s sleep hours, diet, supplement intake, exercise, and other daily health management shall follow entirely Party B’s control, and Party A has the duty to cooperate faithfully.
Contrary to all expectations — Park Minho’s and even Cha Muyoung’s — Eunwon, who they’d thought would be horrified and recoil in disgust upon learning these outrageous terms, was far too calm.
Thinking of all the gushing Muyoung constantly spouted about Eunwon — *he’s so smart, so good at studying, so sharp, so admirable, there’s no one in the world as pretty and bright as him* — ringing in his ears, Park Minho had been expecting Eunwon’s fearless objections. He was at a loss for words at Eunwon’s reaction that followed.
After slowly reading through the entire contract twice, Eunwon simply nodded obediently.
"Yes… there’s nothing I’d like to change."
What? Really?
He’s going to accept all that insane content?
Cha Muyoung and Park Minho looked at each other as if they’d planned it.
Neither the one who’d bullheadedly forced the clauses in, Cha Muyoung, nor the one who’d dressed them up in fancy vocabulary, Park Minho — birds of a feather — had expected such meek acceptance.
Of course, Eunwon was, in Cha Muyoung’s words, busily rolling that ‘tiny head’ of his and making his own deep judgment.
It had the fancy title of ‘marriage,’ but wasn’t the real purpose of this contract ‘Cha Mu’s heir’?
The fact that he was putting in a whopping 15 billion won on a contract that could be settled for 300 million, nothing more — that wasn’t because Cha Muyoung was a sucker, as he himself put it; there had to be something else. Eunwon wasn’t stupid enough to miss that either.
Seeing how he’d gone so far as to bring up direct relations, there were clearly some… *feelings* there.
He’d avoided skinship or sexual contact with others and kept his distance thoroughly, past thirty, because of the mental scars from his childhood trauma — but Cha Mu was an alpha and a man too; if it were possible, how could he not have desires?
Maybe it was because he’d already fully felt it, pretending not to notice — the hot body temperature and the burdeningly felt center occasionally pressed against him, all last weekend while he held and kissed him.
So seeing this contract, blatantly demanding cohabitation, sharing a bed, sex — like a kind of sponsorship proposal — wasn’t exactly shocking.
Rather, he’d convinced himself that to receive such an enormous sum, he ought to bear demands of this level. There was no such thing as free in this world, and trying to pocket a huge sum of money without giving anything would be a thief’s mindset.
He’d told himself that it was precisely because these secret, embarrassing, hard-to-accept conditions existed that this absurd amount was being given to him.
Since no one else knew Eunwon had reached that conclusion—
*’I wonder if he really understood the hidden meaning?’*
Doubtful, Park Minho was just about to point out the especially perverted clauses and explain them simply, when—
"Then sign it."
Cha Muyoung cut off Park Minho’s needless righteousness like a knife and tossed it out, and Eunwon — who’d been fiddling with the capped pen over the signature box — bit his lip lightly.
"There’s nothing I’d change… but could I propose just one additional clause?"
*Oh, so he’s not completely thoughtless after all.*
Park Minho inwardly sighed in relief, his chest settling. Cha Mu frowned too, but with a look that said ‘fine, what is it,’ generously tilted his head as if to hear him out.
Leave a Reply