PIA 126

[A 790 Million Won Failed Engagement. JM Succession Shake-Up. Everything According to Jeong Hee-seo’s Plan.]

Clicking on the thumbnail with bold, provocative text revealed a video showcasing the hotel where the engagement ceremony was held. As filming inside had been strictly prohibited on the day, there was no footage of the actual event. Instead, they were showing blurred footage from some unknown couple’s wedding, presenting it as if it were real.

Moreover, they interspersed photos of guests taken outside the hotel that day, cleverly disguising it as fact. Fabricated red text captions were plastered over the mishmash of stitched-together photos.

Along with the captions, the distorted voice of a gossip broadcast BJ flowed, further riling people up.

[Interestingly, idol group member A attended the engagement ceremony that day, drawing people’s attention. Rumors are circulating that he’s sponsored by Jeong Hee-seo and is his marriage partner.]

“No! That’s not true!”

Ji-an didn’t know how many similar videos he had found already. Ji-an was shouting “It’s not true!” repeatedly while eating cake.

[When JM’s youngest grandson Jeong Han-joo’s engagement was announced, it caused quite a stir. This was due to Chairwoman Myeong Hyun-sook’s management policy of ‘giving opportunities to those who start families’. In fact, the eldest sister Jeong Hee-young received the entire hotel management rights as a gift when he gave birth to a daughter, so everyone was on high alert.]

[Many people made hasty predictions that Jeong Hee-seo, who had been considered the top succession candidate, would be pushed aside, and the less controversial youngest grandson would rise to the surface.]

[Thanks to this, stocks of affiliates associated with the youngest grandson’s potential partner surged, and there was non-stop debate among retail investors all last week.]

[But as expected, Jeong Hee-seo didn’t allow for variables!]

[Was everything within his plan? The engagement ceremony was spectacularly ruined for some reason. A whopping 790 Million won evaporated into thin air. It’s an enormous scale for money spent to suppress a sibling. I guess the rich really do live in a different world.]

[News of a violent dispute inside the venue. There are testimonies that blood was shed. An ambulance came to JM Hotel and chaos ensued. While the scene was thoroughly controlled, they couldn’t hide the fact that the person taken away was Jeong Han-joo’s fiancée.]

[Some media outlets exaggerated this as a ‘prince’s rebellion’ or whatnot, but I’m not so sure. Jeong Han-joo was defeated far too helplessly to describe it that way.]

[JM dismissed the allegations, saying the family’s private event has nothing to do with the corporate structure, but a post about a major personnel reshuffle last Friday appeared on an employee community site, adding weight to the facts. There are also rumors of Jeong Han-joo being sent abroad.]

[Meanwhile, regarding idol A who is rumored to be Jeong Hee-seo’s partner…]

“Want to try debuting as a model while we’re at it, Ji-an?”

“Oh, what are you talking about?”

Jeong Hee-seo, who was watching the video together with his chin resting on his hand, chimed in with a playful voice. He just kept smiling even as Ji-an returned an unimpressed expression. He raised his finger to wipe off some cream smeared on Ji-an’s mouth.

“I could easily set you up with an advertising gig. We can work around your inability to act as a concept somehow.”

“What if I can act well?”

“Hmm…”

He hadn’t thought that far. Jeong Hee-seo fell into momentary contemplation.

“If Ji-an finds it enjoyable, I can’t tell you not to do it. But if you get too busy, that would be troublesome for me.”

“I’m being serious, but you’re just joking around…”

“I’m serious too, you know?”

His gaze scrutinizing Ji-an’s features with his head tilted slightly was quite earnest.

“I think you’d do well, really.”

“…”

“Fashion would be good, electronics too… phones, yeah, I think you’d look good with them.”

Tsk. Ji-an picked up the empty plate and moved to the living room. Ignoring Jeong Hee-seo following him, he flopped down on the sofa and looked at his phone again.

Who is this idol A anyway?

Who are people mistaking him for?

There’s no smoke without fire, they say.

As Ji-an was intently searching with a prim expression, a hand suddenly entered his field of vision and snatched away his phone.

“Does Ji-an want to be on TV? Why are you looking so obsessively?”

“Ah, you know that’s not it.”

Come to think of it, Jeong Hee-seo had a sly side. At first glance, he seemed to tell everything honestly, but upon reflection, there wasn’t much substantial information. Apart from Kim Han-seok, he didn’t know any of Jeong Hee-seo’s friends, so that was all there was to it.

Ji-an didn’t know anything about who Jeong Hee-seo had dated or for how long before meeting him, which was frustrating, but asking directly would be embarrassing. Above all, the biggest problem was wanting to know but not wanting to know at the same time.

“Ji-an.”

Jeong Hee-seo sat halfway on the sofa and rested his arm on the headrest. Ji-an was suddenly caught between him and the sofa. With his hand sneaking under his t-shirt from that position, there was no way to fend him off effectively.

“Don’t do this.”

Pouting and holding onto his t-shirt, Ji-an resisted as Jeong Hee-seo gently tickled him.

“Do you know what the staff in my office have been saying about me lately?”

“…What do they say?”

“That I’m becoming cuter.”

“…”

“Woo-young said I’m starting to resemble you.”

“…How well does Secretary Yoon even know me?”

Even though he replied sullenly, the lack of strength in his voice was evident. The corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily into a smile. At this rate, he couldn’t possibly win. Summoning the last of his strength, he pressed his lips together and pouted stubbornly, only for Jeong Hee-seo to lean down and envelop him in a tight hug.

“All the videos will be taken down by today. Let’s stop being upset now, okay?”

“I’m not upset.”

“Alright, let’s say that’s true.”

“…Then, hyung—”

“I’ve never dated anyone. No one at all.”

Ji-an’s face turned red at his quick, decisive answer, leaving him speechless.

Even the large sofa felt cramped with two adults pressed against each other. Jeong Hee-seo, despite his large frame, forcefully burrowed into Ji-an’s embrace. He rested his head on Ji-an’s chest and lifted his arms to make Ji-an hold him. He could feel Ji-an’s pheromones leaking out bit by bit every time he nuzzled his face.

“Give me some of your pheromones too, hyung.”

“No.”

“…”

Rendered speechless, Ji-an went quiet, and Hee-seo’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“I prefer it when it’s just yours.”

“…Do you like my pheromones?”

As he asked, Ji-an felt somewhat complicated emotions. He couldn’t even remember what his original pheromones were like anymore. In their first meeting, Ji-an’s heat cycle and Jeong Hee-seo’s rut cycle had accidentally synchronized. As a result, Poggles was conceived.

Ji-an suspected that his pheromones had changed because of it. Recalling the playful tone of the voice mentioning ‘bewitching pheromones’ or ‘possession perks,’ Ji-an wondered if it might have played some unknown trick on his body.

Moreover, now that he was carrying Jeong Hee-seo’s child, perhaps Ji-an himself was the real variable in all of this, given that he met Hee-seo while armed with everything necessary to charm and captivate him.

“What do you like about me? Is it because I’m handsome?”

Jeong Hee-seo asked, as if reading Ji-an’s mind, with a confident smile as self-assured as calling himself handsome.

“Umm…”

“You were adamantly against marriage at first, so it can’t be my face.”

“I just—ah!”

Jeong Hee-seo hugged him tightly the moment Ji-an opened his mouth. As Ji-an gasped for breath, feeling like he might burst, Jeong Hee-seo suddenly released his arms and stood up. When Ji-an looked up at him with an expression like he’d just had his favorite stuffed animal taken away, Jeong Hee-seo adjusted his waistband with an apologetic smile.

“I think noona’s arrived outside. I hear something.”

“Ah.”

Before he could ask how he knew, Ji-an started to hear the noise from outside too. As he quickly stood up, he noticed the bulge in the front of Jeong Hee-seo’s pants.

“Oh, seriously, hyung…”

Jeong Hee-seo deliberately put on a pitiful expression and leaned against Ji-an. It was adorable how he pretended to be innocent while readily emitting pheromones at his touch, so Ji-an playfully bit his forehead. The more their bodies pressed together, the more faithfully Jeong Hee-seo’s lower half responded, but he just couldn’t let go, which was maddening.

As they opened the front door, they saw Jeong Hee-young had arrived with a large truck carrying Poggles’s playground equipment. More precisely, it could be called various play equipment for the garden. Ji-an had been looking forward to this ever since Jeong Hee-young had sent pictures as a preview.

“Hello, noona!”

When Ji-an called out a greeting from the top of the stairs, Jeong Hee-young heard and waved back. Jeong Hee-seo ran down first to open the garden gate wide. Ji-an also excitedly ran down the stairs as if receiving his own toys.

“Careful! Be careful!”

Ji-an paid no heed to Jeong Hee-seo’s warnings. There had been many changes in Ji-an’s heart since learning that Poggles was truly their child together.

At first, he had felt like he was taking responsibility for something he hadn’t done. He had decided to protect this precious life simply because it couldn’t be ignored, thinking it must be fate. But the events that followed were by no means easy for Ji-an.

However, as he acknowledged his feelings for Jeong Hee-seo and decided to be with him, he began to develop not just a sense of responsibility, but affection and desire for Poggles. Ironically, this made the very act he thought he hadn’t committed start to weigh on his mind.

The messy pregnancy had tormented Ji-an like a makjang drama.

Perhaps he had been unconsciously doubting his qualifications as a parent, because only after all the secrets were revealed could he finally express his affection for Poggles without hesitation.

Having shed the heavy stone he had been carrying unknowingly, his heart now felt as light as a feather, filled with excitement and joy.

“Wow!”

Ji-an exclaimed before they even started setting things up. The first thing unloaded from the truck was a small castle gate to be used as the entrance to the playground. Two white pillars supported a yellow conical roof, with an arched bridge connecting them.

Ji-an’s face flushed with excitement as he saw the sign clearly labeled “Poggles’s Palace.”