UR Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The conference room, which had been noisy with heated arguments until now, fell silent in an instant as if cold water had been thrown over it.

Everyone exchanged cautious glances, tense.

It was only natural—after all, the person directly involved in a matter that had never been mentioned beforehand had just appeared. And it was the chairman’s grandson, no less.

“Why do you all look so startled?”

He was dressed in a neat suit, as if he had just come from work.

With the broad shoulders and strong build of a tiger beastman, his firm-looking limbs and confident gaze radiated an overwhelmingly intense presence, even among them.

He was, without a doubt, the king of beastmen.

Though they had grown used to living alongside humans and had long forgotten that his very aura could make people kneel, the moment he entered, everyone’s shoulders shrank involuntarily.

“You’re here, sir.”

A few beastmen standing guard at the entrance greeted him. Their polite, natural movements showed they were not at all surprised by his arrival.

“Hello, granduncle.”

Eun Beom-ho sat down casually next to his mother, Vice Chairwoman Baek Yoon-seo. The seat was right beside CEO Eun Kang, who had been sitting further back.

No one dared continue their brazen discussions upon seeing him sit so confidently next to the chairman.

“Go on. Why stop talking midway?”

Eun Beom-ho spoke leisurely, arms crossed.

At his words, the room once again grew silent, as though cold water had been poured over them.

Every executive in the room shared the same thought.

This agenda is doomed.

Last time, a similar topic had come up during Samho’s founding anniversary. That topic had been cut short due to Eun Beom-ho’s strong objection.

In the pureblood beastman world, mating season was unavoidable.

For an adult tiger beastman who experienced it regularly to have neither a spouse nor even a partner was a serious problem.

For predatory beastmen, who valued outward strength, the ability to satisfy sexual needs was seen as an important capability.

He must have come to oppose marriage again.

Perhaps they would even need to reconsider the very legitimacy of the tiger beastman leader.

“Give it to me.”

He spoke leisurely, extending his hand.

His calm tone carried the unspoken warning that anyone who tried to offer excuses or lies in this situation would not get away with it.

Ho-seung hesitated, his usual smiling slitted eyes stiffening into silence.

“…What do you mean?”

It was often said that corporate politics were like pulling invisible ropes back and forth.

Innate strength was important, but who could press down decisively at the critical moment mattered more.

Even as Ho-seung hesitated, Beom-ho looked utterly unfazed—as if he could win this tug-of-war with one hand.

“My list of marriage candidates, of course.”

With a faint sigh, Ho-seung gestured.

A thick navy file that had been kept hidden far away was brought forward. The secretarial staff carefully passed it to him.

“You’ve prepared quite a lot, I see. Oh, there are humans on here. And ordinary beastmen too.”

Beom-ho murmured, flipping through the pages.

The room was so quiet that only the rustle of papers could be heard.

The list was packed.

It seemed to have been compiled from the lingering hope that if Beom-ho refused to marry a pureblood beastman, then perhaps an ordinary beastman would do.

And if not an ordinary beastman, then maybe even a human.

He read through the documents someone had painstakingly gathered and compiled.

With neat layouts and small ID photos attached, they looked almost like job applications from new recruits.

From humans of good families to children of respectable ordinary beastman households, and even half-blood beastmen from artistic families—it made him wonder when they had gathered so many and why they had never shown him before.

“None of them catch your eye?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Madam Baek spoke up, having told him to come and negotiate in person. Seeing him simply read through the list leisurely made her boil inside.

“If I hadn’t come, it could have been a disaster.”

The answer was vague but clearly negative.

It seemed he had indeed come to refuse marriage.

Seeing Beom-ho’s reaction, Ho-seung spoke.

“Well, even if you don’t get married right away, it might be good to stir up a bit of an issue.”

The old man’s tone and gaze moved slowly toward Madam Baek.

Catching his uncle’s intent, she nodded. Though they didn’t get along, their timing matched perfectly this time.

“I agree with Uncle. How about just letting people know you’re thinking of marriage, Director Eun? Would that be so hard?”

“Right, you don’t have to marry right away…”

As the two executives chimed in, Beom-ho closed the file.

The thick navy binder landed with a sharp thud.

“That’s not it.”

“Hmm?”

“The species I want isn’t on the list.”

“What do you mean?”

“Add half-beastmen to the list.”

“…What?”

Executives who had been bracing themselves for Beom-ho’s roar lifted their tightly shut eyes and stared.

Half-beastmen?

They were neither human nor beastman, living in isolated communities and leading closed-off lives.

In short, they were considered lower in status than ordinary humans.

“Wait a minute. Causing a stir to cover up a scandal is still just a show, Director Eun.”

One executive, riled by the word “half-beastman,” raised his voice.

“You might be the most suitable among us for this, but the status gap is just too big. Do you really need to go that far?”

Even when hastily choosing a partner for a publicity marriage announcement, there was still a hierarchy.

If human, then human. If beastman, then beastman.

Originally, it had to be a pureblood beastman, but they had already been willing to lower the bar to an ordinary beastman.

Now, with the suggestion of including half-beastmen—ranked even lower than humans—groans of disbelief spread across the room.

“Is there really a need to lower the bar that much?”

“That’s an insult to pureblood beastmen.”

“Why go to such lengths to sacrifice yourself?”

These were the same people who had previously treated marriage purely as a business matter, and yet now they acted as though personally offended—faces red with anger or pale with shock.

Beom-ho stared at them as if he understood exactly what they were thinking.

“Sacrifice? Insult?”

A chill lingered on his expressionless face.

“I’m not someone who picks a marriage partner like I’m choosing from a shopping list for charity, unlike you.”

His calm words left everyone speechless.

Not at all like the people who had been so passionately debating moments earlier.

“What I’m saying is that I already have someone I want to marry.”

After saying only what he wanted, Eun Beom-ho stood up from his seat.

* * *

“Uh…”

After finishing his part-time shift, I-bom was taking off the work vest he had been wearing when he spotted something familiar in a corner of the convenience store.

It was a yellow eco bag with a cute character printed on it.

“This looks like Soo-hyun hyung’s.”

Muttering to himself, I-bom picked up the bag.

Given how scatterbrained Soo-hyun usually was, it wasn’t surprising.

He had probably stopped by when the store was busy, grabbed only a pack of jerky, and left his bag behind.

I’ll drop it off for him on my way home.

With a sigh, I-bom slung Soo-hyun’s bag over his shoulder.

Although Aji Village was run-down, there was one house that stood out—a single, striking mansion.

That was the home of President Kang, where Kang Soo-hyun lived.

Unlike I-bom’s rickety rental house, which swayed whenever a typhoon blew or rain poured, Soo-hyun’s family home was the only upscale residence in the village.

It was said that a famous architect had designed it, and it looked like something straight out of a drama.

A dark green roof imported from overseas, long stretches of beautiful marble, large floor-to-ceiling windows, thick insulated sashes that kept out the wind, and a balcony.

Even the garden, created for privacy, was perfectly maintained.

The stately mansion, blending seamlessly with nature, was flawless every time he saw it.

Knock knock.

I-bom lifted his hand and lightly knocked on the mansion’s door.

The housekeeper, who worked there, recognized him and happily opened the door.

“Oh my, I-bom! What brings you here?”

Pointing to the bag on his shoulder, I-bom replied,

“Soo-hyun hyung left his bag at the store, so I came to bring it to him.”

It seemed the bag was familiar to her as well, for she nodded and then pointed toward Soo-hyun’s room.

Located close to the living room, Soo-hyun’s room was a place I-bom had visited many times before, so he knew it well.

He changed into slippers and slowly made his way toward the room.

“Hyung—”

From the slightly open door, the murmuring sound of the TV drifted out.