Chapter Two #3
He waves this off with a flick of his wrist. “I didn’t know her well.
We saw each other maybe twice a year at family gatherings, and she always looked down on me because she was older and had been groomed as the heir.
” He rolls the stem of his wine glass between his fingers.
“But she was the only female heir in our generation. And now that she’s gone, that leaves me as the only living Seo heir of my age. ”
I chew on a piece of wagyu and think about that. “Isn’t that a good thing? That means you inherit everything, right? The whole hotel and tourism chain, the stocks, the real estate, the subsidiaries. All of it?” I gesture with my fork for emphasis. “That’s billions of won.”
“You would think.” Hyunwoo leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, his jaw working.
“Except that my grandmother, who is like eighty thousand years old and should honestly be in some kind of preservation tank by now, has gotten it into her iron-clad head that she wants a great-grandchild before she dies.” He picks up his wine glass again and swirls the contents without drinking.
“She was already pushing for it before the cousin died, but now that I’m the sole heir she’s in overdrive.
She’s insisting that I produce a child before I can receive my inheritance, and she means business.
She’s even threatening to restrict my parents’ access to family funds unless I comply, which means my mother and father are now breathing down my neck too because they’re not about to have their lifestyle curbed because their son won’t settle down.
” He takes a drink and sets the glass down harder than necessary.
“Everyone in the family is on my ass to bond with an omega and make a baby. Yesterday, if possible.”
I laugh loud enough that a couple at a nearby table glances over. “Has your grandmother even met you? You, bonded?” I shake my head. “When hell freezes over, maybe. You can barely commit to the same restaurant for more than two visits, let alone an actual human being for life.”
Hyunwoo smirks and tips his glass toward me in acknowledgment.
“You get it. But no, seriously, she’s driving me crazy.
My mother calls every day now asking if I’ve found a suitable omega yet.
My father keeps sending me profiles of eligible omegas from established families like they’re shopping for a new car.
” He pulls out his phone and scrolls to something, then turns the screen toward me.
I catch a glimpse of what looks like a formal profile with a headshot and biographical details before he pulls it back.
“And my grandmother apparently told my mother that if I don’t have news for her by the end of the year, she’s going to start the process of redistributing the inheritance to a more distant branch of the family. ”
I let out a low whistle and swirl my wine, thinking about it. “Well, but you don’t actually need to bond with an omega to have a baby, right? What your grandmother really wants is a great-grandchild, a Seo heir. So maybe you can just pay a surrogate or something? Plenty of wealthy people do that.”
Hyunwoo considers it, tilting his head to one side.
Then he shakes it. “My family wouldn’t abide it.
Too many legal risks with a surrogate, too much potential for scandal or complications, and they’d never consider it proper for a Seo heir to be born through such an impersonal arrangement.
The family is traditional about these things.
Almost archaically so.” He taps his finger against the tablecloth.
“But it’s not a bad idea in principle. Just finding someone who might be willing to have my baby without the whole bonding thing.
The problem is most omegas get super clingy once they’re pregnant, hormones and all that shit, and they might change their mind halfway through and pitch a fit about me claiming them, or try to use the pregnancy for a bond.
” He pauses, frowning. “And with a beta there’s too much chance of producing another beta, which my family would absolutely lose their minds over.
The Seo line has been alpha heavy for generations and my grandmother would probably disown me on the spot. ”
I make an amused sound into my wine glass. “Sounds like you have a real problem on your hands.”
Hyunwoo grunts in agreement and taps his fingers on the table impatiently, turning to look out at the city lights with his brow furrowed in thought.
I can practically see the wheels turning in his head, restless energy buzzing as he works through it.
I go back to my food because whatever solution he’s cooking up is his problem, not mine.
Then he turns his head to look at me.
His expression transforms. His eyes go wide, then bright with something I can only describe as the look of a man who thinks he’s just had a revelation, and a slow grin spreads across his face that immediately makes my stomach clench with foreboding.
“Hey, wait a minute,” he says. “Yugyeom. You’re an omega.”
I stare at him over my fork. “How shrewd of you to notice after only twenty-six years of friendship. Truly remarkable observational skills.”
He waves this off impatiently, leaning forward in his chair. “No, like I mean—you can get pregnant. You have a womb.” He points at my midsection. “A functioning one.”
I jerk back in my chair as I start to see exactly where this is going, eyeing him with growing wariness. “What exactly are you getting at?”
Hyunwoo’s eyes are gleaming now, convinced he’s the smartest person in the room, which is never a good sign for whoever’s sitting across from him. He leans forward on his elbows and says like it’s the most reasonable suggestion in the world, “You can have my baby.”
I choke on the piece of wagyu I’d just put in my mouth. My fist hits my chest twice before I manage to swallow it, eyes watering, and I grab my water glass and take a desperate gulp. “Have you completely lost your mind?” I wheeze. “Has the altitude up here cut off oxygen to your brain?”
“No, come on, think about it, Yuggie.” He’s fully committed now, manic energy building behind his eyes as he latches onto the idea.
“You’re an omega with a perfectly good working womb, and more importantly, you’re someone I can actually trust. You’re not some random omega who’s going to get all swoony and emotionally unhinged and demand a bond.
We’ve known each other our entire lives.
I know your character inside and out, there’s no risk of you turning clingy or making demands.
” He spreads his hands like he’s presenting a gift. “It’s perfect.”
“It’s insane,” I correct him flatly. “I’m not volunteering for that. Absolutely not. No way.”
He keeps going, completely undeterred, clearly building momentum with his scheme now.
“But it can be good for both of us, Yugyeom. I’ll pay you.
A lot.” He leans forward, his voice dropping.
“You said you’re late on rent, right? Three months behind?
Drowning in student debt? Still getting scammed by crypto bros on the internet?
” He ticks each item off on his fingers.
“I can give you a portion of my inheritance as a surrogate fee. A generous one. And in the meantime, you can just stay at my place during the pregnancy. You won’t have to pay rent or worry about bills or anything.
I’ll take care of all expenses—food, medical, whatever you need.
” He sits back with a satisfied expression, like it’s completely solved. “It’s a win-win.”
I scoff and set my fork down because I’ve lost my appetite, which is saying something given how good this food is.
“Hyunwoo. Have you even considered that would make the baby also mine? I’m not ready to be someone’s daddy, okay?
I can barely keep a houseplant alive, let alone be responsible for a tiny human. ”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” He waves a hand at me dismissively.
“My family has an army of nannies and nursemaids at the estate. It’s practically a full-service childcare operation.
Once the baby’s born, we just send it to the family estate and my family’s staff will raise it.
We won’t have to keep it or be hands-on parents at all.
” He shrugs. “I’m not ready to be a father either.
I have zero interest in changing diapers or waking up at 3 AM.
I just need to produce an heir to satisfy my grandmother and unlock my inheritance. ”
“That’s all horrifying in its own way,” I say, “but it still doesn’t eliminate the most glaring problem.” I point my fork at him. “How exactly would I get pregnant in the first place?”
Hyunwoo frowns like he genuinely doesn’t understand the question. “Has no one ever told you how babies are made? Did you sleep through every health class we ever had?”
I kick him hard under the table. The silverware rattles and his wine glass wobbles dangerously. “I’m not fucking you,” I say through gritted teeth.
Hyunwoo winces and reaches under the table to rub his shin. “Who said anything about you fucking me?” He grins despite the pain. “You really don’t know how babies are made, do you?”
“I’m going to kill you right here on this fancy patio if you don’t shut up.”
He holds up his hands in surrender, still grinning.
“Okay, okay. But listen, it would be strictly business. Nothing emotional or weird. Besides, what’s the big deal?
I’ve seen you naked thousands of times. Locker rooms, saunas, that time we went skinny dipping at the beach house in Jeju, all those years of changing together before and after practice.
” He shrugs. “There’s nothing new to see. ”
“It’s different,” I say, voice strained. “Obviously. And if you’ve been paying so much attention to that particular part of my body all this time, we should be having an entirely different and much more concerning discussion about our friendship.”