UR Chapter 38

Chapter 38

“President! President!”

From far off, Eun Sung-jun came running, completely out of breath.

So it’s finally come. Eun Beom-ho glanced at Sung-jun’s pale face, then at his wristwatch. It had been five minutes since he had sent word to Samho’s executives about his blind date partner.

“You’re going on a blind date?”

Sung-jun fired the question without even catching his breath. Behind his glasses, his wide, glaring eyes trembled violently.

“Yes.”

Beom-ho nodded and handed him his suit jacket. Looking flustered, Sung-jun took the jacket. Formalwear—something Beom-ho rarely wore—always felt like a suffocating restraint to him.

He hooked a finger under his tie knot and tugged it loose. The silk tie slipped down from his taut neck muscles and fell away.

“Was this decided in the executive meeting?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

No denial, nothing unclear—just a simple nod as he picked the fallen tie off the floor and set it on the table. Then he pressed the buttons on the internal phone quickly. The extension lit up, and a small voice answered, “Yes?”

“Secretary Lee, please take care of my jacket. And bring me a change of clothes from the lounge.”

—Understood, sir.

Sung-jun stood there blankly, watching Beom-ho move briskly. His large eyes, fixed on him, still carried a trace of hurt.

“Why did you do it?”

“What?”

“You went there to negotiate about the marriage, didn’t you? I thought you were going to reject that ridiculous proposal.”

A deep shadow fell between Sung-jun’s serious brows as he stepped closer.

“Why?”

Suddenly, he grabbed both of Beom-ho’s hands.

“Did Samho threaten you?”

“……”

“What happened? Did the cheetah beastman get something on you? And the vice president—no, your mother—she didn’t say anything?”

As if holding back a flood of words, he fired his questions like bullets. Beom-ho’s expression hardened in confusion. His smooth brow furrowed slightly.

He seems to be misunderstanding something.

“You said you’d met someone you fell for at first sight.”

“Sung-jun.”

Beom-ho spoke his name.

Sung-jun’s lips trembled, whether from anger or the verge of tears, it was unclear.

Even though he said his name with firm weight, the man still seemed to be under a serious misapprehension.

“Samho’s executives have no shame. Just because they think you’re mild-mannered and quiet, they think they can do this? You’re the chairman’s grandson!”

“Sung-jun.”

“This is no different from treating you like a joke. I don’t know what leverage they have over you, but you can’t let them push through such an absurd, unfair marriage!”

“……”

“And why should a tiger beastman be the one to fix a cheetah beastman’s mess?”

They shouldn’t have caused trouble in the first place, he muttered bitterly.

“And pairing a pureblood beastman with a half-beastman—where did they even learn to negotiate like that? And a canine, no less? Do they not know you’re a feline beastman? Did the chairman just sit by and watch?”

“Ugh…” Sung-jun groaned in frustration, shaking Beom-ho’s wrists back and forth in desperation.

He felt wronged. Ever since he first got to know Beom-ho—since learning that he was both the heir of Samho and a pureblood beastman—he had taken pride in serving him. Now, it felt like that pride was being trampled.

The Beom-ho he knew was calm and quiet, but capable of surpassing everyone if he wished. He was nothing like the easy target Samho’s old foxes might think. That was why it infuriated him—why he worried that perhaps, simply because Beom-ho lacked real power within Samho, he was being treated unfairly.

“Did you get angry at them?”

Sung-jun looked up at him with a pleading expression.

In the long run, Samho’s power would return to Beom-ho, but reality was complicated. His father, Eun Pyeong-hwa—the son of CEO Eun Kang—had no interest in actual management.

That left most of the authority to the vice president, Baek Yoon-seo, Beom-ho’s mother, while the Eun relatives constantly watched for a chance to take Eun Kang’s position. Samho’s executives were busy gauging the power balance and whispering about which side to back.

In the middle of this, Beom-ho had founded his own company and gone independent. Some people welcomed it, others regretted it.

Amid these tangled relationships, all Sung-jun felt was frustration.

“How could they think to pair a canine with a feline? It’s too much!”

“Sung-jun, let go.”

Sung-jun shook him like a madman, but Beom-ho’s upper arm was as unyielding as solid rock. Thick veins twitched under the heavy wrist he was holding.

“Calm down.”

“Do I look like I can calm down? It seems like you were treated badly at Samho—how do you expect me to feel okay about that? Isn’t this practically the executives disrespecting you? What did the vice president and the chairman say? And you just stayed quiet?”

“……”

Beom-ho’s mouth, which had been telling him to calm down, stopped moving.

“How can they, in their right minds, tell you to marry some stupid canine beastman? I told you before, didn’t I? About that dog beastman I used to have a crush on—”

“Yeah. You told me last time. The one you liked, but she had such a bad memory she kept confusing you with someone else.”

Beom-ho patted his shoulder and replied calmly.

“Exactly! What good is a dog’s sociability? Compared to felines, they’ve got less social skill and no tact. I’m really angry—maybe I should go talk to the vice president myself.”

“…Sung-jun. I appreciate the loyalty, but—”

“Should I tip off the press? We can’t just let such an unfair thing slide. I know a few reporters—”

“Wait.”

Beom-ho stopped calling his name and just froze mid-action. Since he rarely got worked up, it was easy for him to simply stand there and watch the other man flail. Sung-jun’s face was red, then pale, then red again.

“Or how about this? Suspend negotiations with Samho for a while and go somewhere else. Better to get away than be stuck with a ridiculous marriage proposal. I’ll find a place right away. I don’t see why you should have to take the fall for this.”

A half-beastman? For Eun Sung-jun, it was the most absurd blind date proposal he had ever heard. It was even worse than pairing a human with a pureblood. A blind date was supposed to match set conditions—how could anyone accept a match with such a huge gap in status? That kind of thing wouldn’t fly even in the wildcat clans that lived with near-total freedom.

“Anyway, it makes no sense.”

“Sung-jun, the thing is…”

With a short sigh, Beom-ho placed a hand on his shoulder. The solid weight of it made Sung-jun’s upper body sway.

“I’m the one who proposed that match.”

“I’ll buy some ti—what?”

Twitch. The blue vein that had been pulsing at his temple just vanished as if deflating under the impact of Beom-ho’s bombshell. What did I just hear? Sung-jun’s eyes went wide, as if he’d misheard.

“I chose the person for the blind date.”

“So… why, exactly?”

Sung-jun stammered, his words trailing off. Beom-ho spoke with composure.

“And you’ve got it wrong—he’s not completely canine. He’s more human, really. Half-beastmen are closer to humans than to beastmen.”

“……”

“And he’s not stupid. He’s a Kang family dog. Isn’t that cute?”

The stern line of his mouth curved into a soft smile, as though he were picturing something pleasant. Sung-jun’s mouth hung open. The sudden, easy smile on his usually composed boss’s face felt strangely unfamiliar.

“Cute… you say?”

“……”

“Wait a second, sir.”

If they had something on you, I’d do whatever it takes to handle it as your secretary. Watching Sung-jun’s tangled expression, Beom-ho crossed his arms.

“Maybe I’m imagining things, but… do you already know your blind date partner?”

“Sung-jun.”

Hearing his name spoken by his boss, Sung-jun stared at him in a daze before stammering, “Y-yes, sir.” He adjusted his glasses, eyes wide, while Beom-ho chuckled quietly at the sight.