Dirty Switch

※ This work is set in a fictional constitutional monarchy called the Daehan Empire, with the premise that the peninsula was never divided after independence.

※ All elements in this work are fictional, based on the novel's internal world. They are unrelated to real people, places, institutions, laws, or systems.
※ The thoughts and values of the characters portrayed in the novel do not reflect the author’s beliefs.
 

Maybe it’s nothing.
They say even at the earliest stage, test results from a hospital aren’t always reliable. So, there’s an even higher chance the at-home test is wrong. Besides, it’s not like his body is a true Omega anyway. Joo Taehyun tried his best to believe only in the better outcome.
“…This much is still within a salvageable range. As long as we can explain the context behind that last photo clearly.”

Seo Baekhan flipped through the documents irritably. The sleeve of his dopo fluttered with each motion. His gestures weren’t even that exaggerated, yet every time he moved, the scent of peaches gently wafted out. That thick, sticky fragrance unique to fruit so ripe it’s on the verge of rotting. A scent that reminded one of lush summer nights—and Joo Taehyun had learned for the first time, through this man, that such a scent could feel so suffocatingly oppressive.
“Drug use? That kind of rumor will die down on its own as long as you confidently go in for testing.”
“……”

“So what if a chaebol went on a designer shopping spree? Unless you embezzled the foundation’s sponsorship funds, it doesn’t matter whether you spent company money on shopping or on travel.”
The documents Baekhan threw scattered across the couch and table. His pheromones clung to every sheet of paper so strongly, Taehyun momentarily forgot how to breathe.
“But, Taehyun.”

Shedding even the cumbersome outer garment, Seo Baekhan slowly rubbed at his forehead. It was a habit of his—one that came out only when he was really pissed—like he wanted to mess up that neatly combed hair.
“Cheating is unacceptable.”
Was it because even the dopo, his last line of defense, had fallen away? Or was it the surge of emotions? Now, his pheromones felt like they were tearing through Taehyun’s flesh.

Normally, he’d be soaked by now. Their heats would have synced—the Alpha’s and the Omega’s—and he’d be sobbing, begging Baekhan to do something, anything.
But this time, it didn’t affect him. Instead of the nausea that had churned in his stomach just moments ago, he felt strangely calm. The lightning-strike impact of Baekhan’s pheromones only brought relief.
“No matter what sort of agreement we came to between ourselves, the rest of the world calls sleeping with someone other than your spouse ‘cheating,’ ‘adultery,’ ‘an affair.’ And once that label sticks, not even money or the law can erase it.”

The veins on Baekhan’s hand popped beneath the skin, his pheromones spreading out like fog.
Up until now, Baekhan’s presence had swept over Taehyun’s skin with casual indifference. But now, it embedded itself in every cell. And even though he knew it was just a natural reaction to the bloodline growing inside him, Taehyun still felt a lump rise in his throat.
He didn’t need it to be tender.
He didn’t care if Baekhan didn’t cherish him.

But even like this—even if this was the only way—he wanted to ask for more of that scent. Craving it with his whole body, he barely held himself back as he admitted it to himself:
I’m really pregnant.
With his child.

The child of a man who thinks I’ve slept with countless other Alphas—whether that’s true or not, he doesn’t even care… the child of someone who doesn’t love me.
Taehyun glanced at the scattered pile of documents.
Confidential, top secret, embargoed.

The files had been printed instead of shared digitally to leave no trace, and even the words that caught his eye by chance were all terrifying. The contents were no doubt about condemning the behavior of Joo Taehyun, the youngest of DH Group…
So then, what now?
If I told him it was all lies—that I’ve only ever been with him—and that somehow, now I’m pregnant… would he believe me?

“Joo Taehyun, you want to keep this marriage going, don’t you?”
One thing was certain—Seo Baekhan would never welcome the existence of this child. The impossibility of conceiving was one of the reasons he had chosen a male Alpha as a spouse in the first place.
“Living as my spouse… you liked it. Didn’t you?”

Then what is it that I want now?
Can I really keep living by his side after this?
Can I attend couples events with him like nothing happened, smile in front of people as if I’m happy to be with someone I love, and sometimes sleep with him when he wants a convenient rut partner… Can I really go back to how things were?

The familiar silence was agonizing. The backs of his eyes burned, sharp and hot like flame. As always, Baekhan was waiting for Taehyun to speak first. Here, Taehyun’s opinion didn’t matter. The answer Baekhan wanted had already been decided.
Following the noisy clinking sound, Taehyun’s gaze slowly drifted over. The ice in the teacup Baekhan had set down was melting, sinking into the liquid. Its once-sharp edges had rounded off, sticking messily together.
And somehow, watching it, Taehyun felt something inside him slowly cracking apart.

“Your quantitative specs are far from what I expect in a spouse. Not even close.”
“Taehyun, since we’re on the subject, let’s make this clear—I don’t plan on dating anyone. Honestly, I just don’t have the time or energy for that kind of thing. But I do want to have sex once in a while.”
“Let me know which pheromone neutralizer you prefer. I’ll make sure to manage it so it doesn’t bother you when you come over.”

He’d loved this person for such a long time, and even though he knew that love would never be returned, he’d endured it all.
The one who married Seo Baekhan was Joo Taehyun. No matter who Baekhan met or slept with, the only one who could stand beside him officially was still Taehyun.
Blinded by the sweetness of that title, Taehyun had built walls around his heart. So he wouldn’t be able to deny this suffocating one-sided love, even to himself, he’d stabbed a spike into his chest every moment to keep from collapsing.

“Let’s not make this more complicated.”
Even when he heard from Baekhan’s own mouth that he’d spent a rut with someone else… Even when he realized Baekhan seemed proud of how well he suppressed his feelings to maintain the image of a proper chaebol heir… Even when Baekhan didn’t reject sleeping with him after a single mistake—not because it meant anything, but simply because he didn’t care enough to stop it… He still liked him. Still loved him.
The moment he finally faced the pathetic past and the reality he’d been denying, the wall Taehyun had built around himself crumbled all at once. He no longer had the strength to protect this feeling.

He should’ve stepped back when Baekhan treated him like a clueless little kid…
The thought that maybe now—now that he was pregnant—he could finally use that to bind Baekhan to him, flashed through his mind for a moment, and he was disgusted with himself for it.
Even if all the misunderstandings were cleared up now, even if the pregnancy was somehow accepted and dealt with peacefully… He couldn’t stand next to Baekhan anymore as if nothing had happened. He was too broken.

A solid lump, losing its shape.
How was he any different from those melting ice cubes—turning into a dirty, shapeless mess all on their own?
Once it starts to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} melt, ice can never return to its original form. In the end, it only ruins the taste of the coffee, clouds the once-clear liquid into a muddy mess, and leaves behind an unwanted stain on the table.

“Let’s get married.”
Even if you called it unrequited love, something sweet and pretty, in the end, it was just one-sided obsession that the other person never wanted.
Dirty things need to be cleaned.

Useless things should be discarded.
So let’s end it here.
I just want to stop here.

“…Hyung.”
“Yeah, go on.”
His dry gaze settled on his hands, neatly placed on his thighs. Praising himself for not trembling, Joo Taehyun slowly lifted his head. All he could hope for was that his expression was as indifferent as his body, which no longer reacted to the other’s pheromones.

“I… want to stop now.”
Seo Baekhan usually wore hanbok instead of coats. Sometimes it was a durumagi, sometimes a cheollik, and today, like now, it was a dopo.
It had been the same when they first met. Back then, Baekhan had casually draped the robe over his jacket, and Taehyun had found it fascinating. Even though he was seven years older, he wasn’t old by any means, yet the traditional attire suited him so incredibly well.

Because of that uncommon sight, Taehyun couldn’t help but look his way again and again, and before he realized it, his heart had been completely stolen.
But now, it’s truly over.
Lingering over moments the other doesn’t even remember.

Wanting to assign too much meaning to something as simple as breathing.
All of it.
“…What?”

“…Let’s get a divorce.”
It’s time to end this pitiful, dirty one-sided love—his first love—that has left him with absolutely nothing, stripped bare by Seo Baekhan.