Chapter 1: Mask

Compared to the evaluations of others, Jaeha's life is in fact nothing special.

As proof, he was now about to request a divorce at the very hotel dining room where he had proposed to his spouse.

Every year after their marriage, he had reserved this spot for their anniversary. They weren't the kind of close couple who even celebrated each other's birthdays, but they always spent the wedding anniversary evening together.

The fact that he found himself having to demand a divorce on such a day…wasn't that proof his life was nothing special compared to others'?

They had lived as a married couple for four years in total. During that time, Jaeha felt he knew nothing about his spouse.

"Who's this divorce supposed to be for?"

Meaning, he didn't understand why such words were being spoken.

In truth, preparing for the divorce was purely for his spouse's sake. And yet, who was it for? When he asked that, Jaeha was instead left speechless.

Across from the table where Jaeha sat was an alpha whose presence felt as jarring as a carnivore using a knife instead of fangs.

He simply lifted the silver-plated knife with just his index and middle fingers. The clean knife plunged into the lamb cutlet.

Watching this, Jaeha unconsciously pressed down the eyebrow that had twitched slightly upward. He couldn't grasp what the alpha seated across from him was thinking.

However, as if he had no interest in Jaeha's questions, he parted his lips, which looked to have a pleasing texture. Despite the slight upward quirk at the corners, he didn't seem to be in a good mood.

"If we get divorced."

"……."

"Then it's as if we were never married."

It was a voice like a beast's growl. Hiding his fluster, Jaeha responded with the clearest voice he could muster.

"Mr. Jang must know as well. There's no meaning in continuing this marriage any longer…"

At Jaeha's words, Jang Taegun tilted his head sideways and leaned his upper body against the back of the chair.

Though he appeared to be sitting loosely, the air in the room had grown taut. Even among alphas, he was a man fundamentally different from Jaeha.

The thinly layered alpha pheromones were evidence that he was displeased with this situation. When not in a bad mood, the scent he gave off was a bit different—like coastal rock roses and a hint of sea salt.

But if forced to describe it now, it was the scent of waves churning in a storm. Jaeha had to brace himself to avoid being swept away.

Taegun spoke without even smiling in that state.

"Am I Department Head Lee Jaeha to you? Do we work for the same company?"

"...Titles aren't what's important right now."

"Then, what the hell is important? I genuinely don't understand."

He was a man who hadn't sworn in front of Jaeha since their marriage.

Even though the man's family business involved rough dealings that went against public morals, Jang Taegun had never once shown a coarse side to Lee Jaeha.

Unless one counted the intimidating pheromones faintly emanating from him.

Even after four years, three of them fully lived, by his side, a tension that never became familiar sent shivers down Jaeha's spine.

Over the past few years, the two had only shared a bed during Jaeha's ruts. It was intercourse no different from a 'medical procedure.'

An alpha's body wasn't naturally accommodating for receiving something so substantial, so Jaeha had to prepare meticulously. Once prepared, he would wait blankly in the room, and Jang Taegun would silently push his penis in from behind.

That alone would subside Jaeha's rut. It wasn't that the period of heat ended from the satisfaction of being penetrated somewhere, but rather, the skin-to-skin contact with Jang Taegun itself suppressed the rut.

But beyond that, they hadn't touched. They used separate rooms, didn't seek each other out except for events, and that relationship had continued for years.

Given that even their couplings were a duty, there was no affection between them. So, the displeasure at the divorce request likely stemmed from the advantageous position Lee Jaeha held.

Though Jaeha felt a sense of futility that he had to say this himself, he had no choice but to open his mouth.

"...I know what Mr. Jang is thinking. But it seems I have nothing left to offer you now. Yushin isn't in good shape, and I'm already in a position where even my last threads of connection are severed."

Taegun stared expressionlessly at Jaeha for a while. Jaeha couldn't avoid his gaze.

Daring to enter this marriage pact had been Lee Jaeha's audacity. Lee Jaeha couldn't promise Jang Taegun an heir, and what was brought as a 'marriage portion' had long since become shares in Taegun's company.

Jaeha's family home, Yushin, was once a solid conglomerate with many subsidiaries, but after Jaeha's marriage, it had entered a decline.

Now, there was no further benefit for Jang Taegun in this marriage. Pushing through the marriage recklessly, Lee Jaeha had always felt a sense of indebtedness toward Jang Taegun.

So, this was about letting go. I have nothing left to give you, so I'll at least grant you freedom. Lee Jaeha's affection had always shone in that way.

However.

"Mr. Lee Jaeha."

"……."

"I knew you were a man of few words, but I didn't know you had a talent for unfunny jokes."

"Mr. Jang."

"So, for four years, I was the one fucking that hole. What kind of damn 'Department Head' bastard are you handing me off to that you can't even drop that title? Are you my spouse, Lee Jaeha, or just one of the countless 'Department Head' bastards littering the streets?"

...How could the streets be littered with department heads? To be a department head, a company usually needs to be large, and Korea isn't overflowing with large corporations.

Jaeha blankly thought that. That thought came even before all the insulting words Taegun had spat at him.

As if knowing exactly what he was thinking, Jang Taegun stood up, fastened the last button of his jacket, placed both hands on the edge of the table, and leaned his upper body toward Jaeha.

Taegun's eyes darkened and simmered. Jaeha suddenly thought this was the first time Jang Taegun had looked at him with such eyes.

"I like living with you, darling. Don't think otherwise. I have business to attend to, so I'll be leaving first. Finish your meal properly."

...Since when have we ever lived as 'darling' and 'you'?

Jaeha wanted to ask that, but the man had already turned his massive frame and opened the room door.

An employee about to knock while holding a tray of food pretended to be startled, then took half a step back and bowed to Taegun.

Looking down at the top of the employee's head, Taegun said.

"If that person leaves food, tell the head chef to call me directly. Since I paid this much, I should at least hear the bastard's voice, even if it's to complain about the dog porridge[[d27jf6]]."

And with that, he left the room. Jaeha barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping.

He made eye contact with the employee. Jaeha shook his head slightly.

"...It's not dog porridge. The food is delicious."

"...Yes. Thank you."

And so, that day ended with him having to return home after an awkward meal, a futilely filled stomach, and no answer to his divorce request.

Three days later, Taegun's grandfather, Jang Changsik, passed away.

***

That day, Lee Jaeha left home unprepared to face fate.

He had to attend a gathering he didn't really need to go to, and he couldn't skip it because it was the wish of Kim Ranhee, his stepmother and the mother of his younger brother Jaeho.

Kim Ranhee persistently kept Jaeha in check. Sometimes blatantly, other times indirectly. Admirably persistent.

But the will of his grandfather, Lee Wonwoong, was firm. Though now deceased, as the spiritual pillar of the Yushin Group, his father Lee Ikhyeong couldn't fully satisfy his new wife. Perhaps he didn't love his new wife enough to defy Lee Won-woong's will and completely cast out Lee Jaeha.

But Kim Ranhee wasn't a woman to back down easily. Since his mother's funeral, Jaeha had grown weary of bothersome situations and usually let most things slide, but today he was slightly annoyed.

Because drugs were circulating at the gathering.

Surrounded by a crowd engaging in low-class antics, the shallow scheme to lower Jaeha's standing was transparent.

Kim Ran-hee probably knew too. That Lee Jaeha saw through her tactics.

But she kept trying, and Lee Jaeha didn't avoid them. It wasn't that he didn't avoid them out of stubbornness or defiance. He was just annoyed.

That day was also one of those tedious days. Attending a place he didn't need to go was because dealing with Kim Ran-hee's persistent nagging was even more bothersome.

"There's plenty to eat, I don't know why you're only drinking. If you're bored, chew some mint gum."

"...I don't have that hobby."

Someone whose name he couldn't even remember approached and spoke to him.

Thanks to that, he had to straighten his posture, which had relaxed slightly, as if bracing with steel. At gatherings like this, even if everyone else loosened up as if by agreement, it had nothing to do with him.

Because Lee Jaeha and the masses were different people. The ennui that had clung to him like a chronic illness since a very young age, of which he was acutely aware, was partly the fault of those around him. Among the causative factors of this ennui, suffered like an illness, his stepmother, Kim Ranhee, held the largest share.

Her pretense of constantly summoning him to such places to somehow tarnish Lee Jaeha's reputation was precisely why he was here, annoyed.

Even though it was the kind of gathering where there was no one he could call a friend, and even the acquaintances he occasionally associated with wouldn't consider attending, saying the level was too low.

Only Jaeha attended, suffering the ennui at Kim Ranhee's urging. So how could there be anyone he knew?

For Jaeha, whose mind registered a company's financial statements before the face of the person in front of him, an unfamiliar face meant a person not worth responding to. But he suddenly grew curious.

Two people not blending into this wretched crowd, standing alone. One was Jaeha himself, so he wondered about the other's name.

Among the rabble, especially the drug-addled fools, what was the name of that alpha shining alone? That degree of curiosity felt unfamiliar even to him.

And the person babbling beside him, as if finally serving a purpose, followed Jaeha's gaze and called out the name for him.

"Janghan Construction, Manager Jang Taegun."

A teasing tone was evident in the voice of the person who provided the name.

Janghan Construction was what's known as a corporate gangster[[r6xwxi]] company. Not that it was newly risen; it was a third-generation construction company that started in the back alleys of Jongno.

In the construction sector, it was somewhat solid and had a position, but even so, it had lost metropolitan apartment construction projects to other companies and maintained its existence by extorting other corporate gangster companies.

In the eyes of Lee Jaeha, a director of Yushin, which ranked within the top ten of the financial standing rankings announced annually by the Bank of Korea, it was just as pathetic as any other outfit of its kind.

And yet, his eyes were drawn.

"……."

"……."

Around that time, the other person also began to look this way. There was no time to avert his gaze.

Their eyes tangled in the air. Suddenly, a hot sensation rose from somewhere deep in his lower abdomen.

Startled, Lee Jaeha took a step back. Someone called Jaeha's name, but he turned and walked straight out of the place.

Until he took a sip of what passed for alcohol and summoned a driver he didn't usually call, getting into the back seat, Jaeha didn't realize why he had fled.

That kind of flight was a first in his life. Being flustered by the sight of someone was also a first.

And that night, a sudden rut descended upon Lee Jaeha. That was the first meeting between Lee Jaeha and Jang Taegun.