From Now On, A Marriage Proposal Is The Only Way To Survive - Chapter 79

Shin-Yeon spent a happy weekend with Kyo-Shin.

After a passionate Friday night, they went shopping on Saturday afternoon and stopped by the Seolgang family home.

They had dinner with his in-laws, with Shin-Yeon receiving plenty of affection from them, before returning home late that night.

On Sunday, the married couple slept in together and spent some intimate time together, making up for the time they hadn’t been able to share during the week.

On Monday morning, Shin-Yeon began getting ready for school with Kyo-Shin in the dressing room.

“Baby, wear a turtleneck today. I got a little too excited yesterday and made a mistake.”

As Shin-Yeon picked out a knit sweater, Kyo-Shin handed him a thin black turtleneck.

“Ah…”

Kyo-Shin ran his fingers over the reddish marks blooming like spring flowers across Shin-Yeon’s pale neck and smiled in satisfaction.

“I made peach blossoms bloom early all over my baby’s neck.”

“Mmm.”

Kyo-Shin wrapped his arms around Shin-Yeon as he stood in front of the mirror, then lowered his head and sucked deeply at the back of his neck as though biting him.

With his ears and face turning red, Shin-Yeon turned around, rose onto his tiptoes, and gave him a kiss.

“We won’t get to see each other much during the week again, right?”

“We see each other in bed at night. If you miss me, come to the company after school.”

Seeing Shin-Yeon’s disappointed expression, Kyo-Shin gathered him into his arms and comforted him with kisses all over his face.

‘When he looks this disappointed every time we have to part, it makes it impossible for me to leave.’

“By the way, are there normally this many drinking get-togethers at the beginning of the semester? Or is it because I’m a freshman?”

Shin-Yeon asked as he recalled the gathering schedule and the MT announcement he had seen in the group chat.

“They said we’re going on an MT soon, too.”

‘An MT…’

“Ah?!”

Kyo-Shin lifted Shin-Yeon, who was staring up at him, into his arms and carried him toward the wardrobe. 

He found a thin turtleneck and a cropped vest and began dressing Shin-Yeon as he spoke gently.

“You shouldn’t skip school events. You’re a freshman, baby. It’s good for you to experience different things.”

An MT would probably last anywhere from one night and two days to two nights and three days.

In stark contrast to his gentle voice, Kyo-Shin’s gaze turned cold. Keeping his face hidden from Shin-Yeon, he clenched his molars tightly.

He would prepare surveillance in advance, of course, but during that period Shin-Yeon would still be partially outside his field of vision.

The thought alone irritated Kyo-Shin considerably, and he buried his face against Shin-Yeon’s small, round head.

“Mmm… I am curious about MT, though.”

Shin-Yeon turned his head toward him, his face bright with anticipation, as though asking permission to make sure he really could go.

“You’re adorable. If you’re curious, then you should go.”

Kyo-Shin kissed Shin-Yeon’s cheek before taking a limited-edition jacket from his wardrobe.

“As expected, it looks beautiful on you.”

After dressing Shin-Yeon, who wore a dark inner layer, in the bright jacket, Kyo-Shin gently fiddled with its buttons.

“If a senior happens to ask to borrow your clothes, let them.”

“What if they lose it…?”

“They won’t.”

When Kyo-Shin had ordered Shin-Yeon’s clothes, he had specially requested that his initials be added to the inside.

He had done it because he suspected Kim Shin-Hee might take Shin-Yeon’s clothes and then pretend to know nothing about it. He hadn’t expected that precaution to become useful in a situation like this.

Kyo-Shin slipped a spring coat over his suit and left the house with Shin-Yeon, heading toward Korea University.

After dropping Shin-Yeon off at the College of Business Administration for his first Monday lecture, Kyo-Shin headed to Seolgang Group.

Kyo-Shin barely made it to work on time, where his secretary and aides greeted him.

As his secretary briefed him on the day’s schedule, Kyo-Shin removed his coat and immediately turned on his computer.

“Secretary Yu, you said your younger sibling is a university student, right?”

“Yes. They’re currently a third-year student.”

Secretary Yu, who worked directly under Kyo-Shin, felt his heart drop at his boss’s sudden interest.

‘Surely he isn’t thinking of scouting them…?’

After sitting down, Kyo-Shin turned on the tracker for Shin-Yeon’s GPS chip and activated the GPS chip he had secretly hidden inside the jacket.

Once he confirmed that the limited-edition jacket was showing up in exactly the same location as Shin-Yeon, Kyo-Shin began preparing for work.

“Then you must know what university students usually do for fun at MTs.”

“…Probably?”

At Kyo-Shin’s question, Secretary Yu thought of Seolgang Group’s unofficial “Baby Madam” and answered somewhat uneasily.

“My baby is going on an MT at the end of this month.”

‘Surely he isn’t about to order me to blow up the MT…?’

Secretary Yu tensed, worried that Kyo-Shin was about to ask him to do something far beyond his capabilities.

Instead, Kyo-Shin said,

“Find out what kids these days do for fun. It isn’t part of your official duties, so I’ll compensate you generously for the trouble. Here.”

Kyo-Shin pulled out his wallet and immediately handed Secretary Yu several checks.

“Th-Thank you.”

Having accepted the checks almost without thinking, Secretary Yu bowed and quietly left the office.

“Gasp.”

Once outside, Secretary Yu discreetly unfolded the checks. Upon discovering that each was worth one million won, he bit his lip.

‘This side income is seriously good…!’

At this point, he had no choice but to make sure the Baby Madam became fully invested in university life.

“Sweet, sweet side income… side income…”

***

Shin-Yeon had expected to run into the seniors who had tried to force him to lend them his clothes again fairly quickly.

Contrary to his expectations, however, he didn’t encounter those seniors on either Monday or Tuesday.

“Shin-Yeon, did you join Everytime too?”

“No, not yet.”

With some free time between classes, Shin-Yeon headed toward the campus cafeteria with Park Kyung-Joo and Han Tae-Young.

“By the way, the student council has their eye on Bo-Yoon, so he’s thinking about joining.”

Park Kyung-Joo, who had grown closer to Hwang Bo-Yoon after the semester-opening party, chattered away.

“That suits his personality.”

Han Tae-Young, wearing a black cap beneath his hood along with a mask, answered while looking at his phone.

Shin-Yeon carefully studied Han Tae-Young, who seemed thinner than when they had first met.

Noticing his stare, Han Tae-Young lightly pushed Shin-Yeon’s head away with his hand.

“Ah!”

“What are you staring at?”

“You look thinner than you did at the beginning of the semester.”

Watching Shin-Yeon push his hand away, Han Tae-Young thought he looked cute, like an angry puppy.

“I’ve been working out and watching what I eat lately.”

“Are you dieting?”

“Working out is my hobby.”

“My high school friends liked working out too. Maybe all alphas like exercise.”

Shin-Yeon readily agreed with Han Tae-Young, thinking of his high school friends Seol Yi-Jun and Ji Wo-Min.

Even in high school, the two of them had gone running and worked out every morning, while Seol Yi-Jun had even taken martial arts lessons in the evenings.

“Do you have a lot of alpha friends?”

“I only have two alpha friends from high school. They’re both dominant alphas, and they both attend Korea University.”

After answering Park Kyung-Joo’s question, Shin-Yeon opened the cafeteria door and stepped inside.

“Tae-Young, can you find us a table? You want an Americano, right?”

“Iced, with an extra shot.”

Han Tae-Young answered Park Kyung-Joo as he headed toward a table by the window.

Meanwhile, Shin-Yeon looked over the café menu with Park Kyung-Joo.

“I’ll have a grapefruit honey black tea.”

“Me too. Let’s get honey bread as well. It’s seriously amazing.”

Park Kyung-Joo was scrutinizing the dessert menu like a hawk, and Shin-Yeon nodded.

“Let’s order two.”

Shin-Yeon approached the counter, leaving the actual ordering to Park Kyung-Joo, and quietly pulled out his card to hand to the employee.

Just then, an arm clad in black suddenly reached past him from behind and offered another card.

“Please charge it to this.”

Han Tae-Young, who had gone to secure their seats, had returned. With his other hand, he placed Shin-Yeon’s card back into his hand.

“I’ll pay this time.”

After paying, Han Tae-Young led Shin-Yeon and Park Kyung-Joo back to their table and dropped into his seat.

Just then, an idol song began playing throughout the café.

Park Kyung-Joo immediately brightened.

“Oh, I love this song!”

“Really? What is it?”

“What? You don’t know them? They’re really famous.”

“I told you before, I don’t really know much about that stuff. My family wasn’t the type to watch music shows either, and I mostly just studied…”

That conversation made Han Tae-Young understand both why Shin-Yeon hadn’t recognized him and why Park Kyung-Joo had noticed but pretended otherwise.

Blaze wasn’t that famous of a group, so it was understandable that Shin-Yeon wouldn’t know them. Park Kyung-Joo, on the other hand, clearly seemed interested in idols.

“Shin-Yeon, you’re seriously a total muggle. Is your family really strict?”

“Ah… My older brother was the type who played around a lot, so my parents kept warning me because they were worried I’d turn out the same way.”

Park Kyung-Joo immediately understood what the atmosphere in Shin-Yeon’s household must have been like. He clicked his tongue before tilting his head.

Was Seolgang Group that kind of family? I don’t think so…

“Then do you know the idol group Blaze?”

Park Kyung-Joo glanced subtly at Han Tae-Young before teasingly asking Shin-Yeon.

“I’ve heard the name before. Were they a five-member group?”

“…Seven members.”

‘He seriously doesn’t know anything.’

Han Tae-Young muttered quietly to himself, secretly relieved.

Park Kyung-Joo knew his identity but was considerate enough to pretend otherwise, while Shin-Yeon genuinely had no idea.

‘So I can just be an ordinary friend around them.’

Meanwhile, Park Kyung-Joo began complaining to Shin-Yeon about how difficult their assignments were.

“Honestly, I do the assignments, but I keep wondering whether I’m even doing them right.”

“Same.”

Shin-Yeon also struggled to figure out whether he was approaching his assignments correctly and had even asked Kyo-Shin to check his work for him.

Bzzzt—!

“Looks like our drinks and desserts are ready.”

“I’ll get them. Stay here.”

When the pickup pager vibrated, Han Tae-Young stood from his seat.

While he was gone, Shin-Yeon and Park Kyung-Joo discussed working on their assignment together.

Then the café door opened.

A group of upperclassmen walked inside. They spotted the two of them—

and began making their way over.