Dirty Switch

“You must be tired from the long trip, Seo son-in-law.”

“W-What do you mean, son-in-law?!”
From the moment she heard that Seo Baekhan was visiting, Joo Yoonwoo had been irritated, and now she spun around in horror at Director Yoo’s shameless use of the term “Seo son-in-law.” Judging by their silence, her brothers weren’t any more pleased.
Joo Taehyun didn’t show much reaction outwardly, but internally he was mortified. Seo son-in-law? That was way too serious a label.

“There’s less than a month until the wedding. You all need to get used to it. I know it feels weird since you’ve known him since you were kids, but you can’t keep calling him just ‘Baekhan’ anymore.”
“Ugh, but still—‘Seo son-in-law’ sounds way too greasy.”
“What’s greasy about it? When Taehyun goes to Pyongyang, he’ll be ‘Joo son-in-law’ too.”

“Our baby boy, called Joo son-in-law?!”
Seo son-in-law. Joo son-in-law.
…It wasn’t that he hated it. Just that it made him feel shy.

After all, this marriage was more like a contract or negotiation, and even Taehyun was pretending on the surface that he no longer had feelings for Seo Baekhan—so it didn’t quite feel real yet.
Show-window marriage. Merger. Temporary agreement… Call it whatever you wanted, but the bottom line was: the two of them were getting married.
Seo Baekhan would become Joo Taehyun’s husband. Joo Taehyun would become Seo Baekhan’s husband. Their names would appear side by side on official documents.

Husband Seo Baekhan. Husband Joo Taehyun…
But the small flutter of excitement Taehyun felt didn’t last long.
“Oh, so you’ve arrived.”

“Good to see you, Chairman. Or rather, Father.”
Chairman Joo, who had clearly known a guest was coming but deliberately appeared late, frowned deeply the moment Seo Baekhan called him Father.
“Have you been well? Feels like it’s been a while.”

“…”
“I heard you recently returned from an overseas business trip. Visited the DH Motors European branch, right?”
Baekhan greeted him with his usual warm tone, but Chairman Joo didn’t reply. He just turned and headed for the dining room. Baekhan still wore his practiced smile. It was Taehyun who looked like he wanted to crawl under the floor from embarrassment.
“Hyung, I think Dad’s just tired today. From the trip…”

Taehyun whispered, trying to excuse the cold reception. Baekhan just chuckled softly.
Aside from Director Yoo, who remained welcoming, everyone else was eyeing Baekhan as if testing him. But he didn’t seem fazed. He approached Chairman Joo, the brothers, and Yoonwoo at the right moments, and offered polite greetings to the sisters-in-law and even the young nieces and nephews.
At first, Taehyun had nervously trailed him, but seeing how Baekhan was acting even gentler than usual actually helped him relax. Or more precisely—he fell for him all over again, leaving no room for anxiety.

“The newlywed house.”
The moment everyone—Chairman Joo’s direct family, including the youngest kids—sat down and lifted their chopsticks, the chairman finally revealed what had soured his mood. The icy tone of his voice immediately snapped Taehyun out of his Baekhan-induced daze.
“You divided the space between you two as if it were a land dispute.”

Taehyun making the unilateral decision to transfer to Pyongyang University, which led to the house being set up there before anyone could object. The house itself was modest, even if it was close to Yeonhwagung. Chairman Joo had repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction about it. Taehyun expected a lecture about why Baekhan—who had plenty of money—chose such a small house instead of just accepting help when it was offered.
But instead, the chairman brought up something completely unexpected.
“No one here got married for love. We reviewed conditions, signed contracts, and then picked a wedding date.”

A love marriage? Where the hell did that come from?
“So no one expects the two of you to act all lovey-dovey like it’s a romance. But—if you’re going to be married, shouldn’t you at least share a bedroom?”
“Dad, that’s—”

“If you chose this person «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to be your spouse, your partner for life, shouldn’t you make the minimal effort to build affection?”
Taehyun knew that both families had reviewed everything from the blueprints to the construction photos and walkthrough videos. He’d noticed the sour looks from his parents every time—but he never imagined the reason was the separate bedrooms.
That carefully divided floor plan… Well. Sure, he’d been a little disappointed when Baekhan first brought it up—but only because of his own secret hopes. Not because he resented Baekhan. Of course not. He wasn’t supposed to expect things like that anyway.

“Dad, I was the one who suggested it. I’m uncomfortable sleeping with someone else… If it bothered you, you could’ve asked me. Why say it like this in front of him?”
“No, Taehyun, your father’s not wrong. Thank you for your concern, sir. I’ll make sure the house has more shared space.”
He hadn’t intended to defend Baekhan. He just didn’t want him to get scolded in front of everyone like some deadbeat husband who refused to sleep next to his spouse. But the fact that their precious youngest son was already taking his husband’s side only seemed to make the chairman angrier.

Baekhan gently placed a hand on Taehyun’s arm, silently telling him not to step in. He remained unbothered by the chairman’s comments, calmly promising to fix whatever was needed. Every complaint was countered with solutions; his warm, impenetrable smile never wavered. One of the siblings muttered, “Ugh, watching him be so perfect this close up is even more annoying.”
In the midst of it, no one noticed that Baekhan had agreed to increase “shared space” but never said anything about actually sharing a bedroom. Only Taehyun, who hung onto every word, understood—and smiled bitterly to himself.
After the awkward dinner, they were on their way to have tea.

“Oh, here. These are some of Taehyun’s childhood photos. Aren’t they cute?”
Baekhan had probably just glanced at the cabinet in passing. But his second brother couldn’t resist gushing.
“We fought all the time about which photo with us he liked best, so Mom and Dad just cleared a whole display shelf for them.”

“Really?”
“Yeah. We still switch them out when we visit.”
It was true. Since his brothers got married and their kids were born, more family photos had appeared all over the house—but the row of frames above this cabinet hadn’t changed in years. No matter how much time had passed, all those moments with their beloved youngest remained there, untouched.

“Let’s look through the album while we drink tea. Baby pictures of our precious baby.”
“Oh, good idea. We’ve got printed ones and digital albums too. Baek—no, Seo son-in-law, which do you want to see?”
“What? No way!”

Taehyun raised his voice—rare for him. He didn’t want to act childish in front of Baekhan, but this was too much. It slipped out before he could stop himself.
“Why not?”
His siblings looked genuinely puzzled. The captions on their faces might as well have read: Our baby was the cutest angel ever—why not show him off?

“Oh, this one’s my favorite.”
His eldest brother managed to dig up a photo of newborn Taehyun wrapped in baby clothes, looking more like a red sweet potato than a human child. Yet he beamed at it like it was a treasure.
Taehyun was grateful his family loved him so much, really—but still. In front of other people, especially Seo Baekhan, couldn’t they stop calling him baby, youngest, angel? He was a gloomy six-foot guy now, not a doll.

His face flushed, and he bowed his head low in embarrassment. He couldn’t even glance over to see Baekhan’s reaction.
“Nowadays, people always say he’s tall and handsome, but when he was little? Our baby was an actual doll.”
Not true. He may have been “pretty” for a boy, but his expression rarely changed. He wasn’t some sweet little angel—he was a gloomy kid no one found easy to approach.

“Oh, I remember this.”
No way Baekhan actually remembered. He could barely recall where they’d first met. Back then, they’d barely exchanged greetings. How could he possibly remember this?
Besides, at that time, Baekhan was constantly flying between Korea and the U.S. He’d often reply to messages a day or two late—if he even replied at all. Eventually, he stopped responding and just left the “read” receipt.

He always had a girlfriend. It wasn’t like he had time to spare for some kid he barely knew.
“Taehyun was cute.”
And yet Baekhan acted as if he remembered it all vividly. Like earlier, brushing off Chairman Joo’s scolding with a smooth, pleasant face.

Whether it was the chairman’s nagging or the family’s love-fueled bragging, it was all just part of the same social script for Baekhan. Something to get through cleanly, without conflict or mess.
“I think I’ll head upstairs.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”

“I mean, you flew here from Pyongyang, and they won’t even let you sit and eat in peace. Standing in the hall, being interrogated… I’ll go rest in my room and come back down later.”
Once he saw it clearly—that Baekhan was just performing, because he had no real emotional investment—Taehyun couldn’t watch anymore. Sure, Baekhan was good at this stuff. Maybe even better than most. But even if this was easy for him…
I still like him.

Taehyun had a habit of worrying about Baekhan whenever bad weather was forecast. Even though he had a great car, a great house, and could probably walk from his garage to his lab without getting wet, Taehyun still worried. He’d lie in bed wondering whether to text him: Don’t forget your umbrella tomorrow, and fall asleep before hitting send.
So was it really so strange that he didn’t want to leave Baekhan in this uncomfortable mess?
They say the one who loves more always loses. And Taehyun’s love was nothing if not completely one-sided. He knew Baekhan didn’t care. He knew Baekhan didn’t mind navigating people. But still, he couldn’t bear to leave him in this small, stifling theater of politeness.

“Right. Seo son-in-law is staying here tonight, isn’t he? Go wash up, rest for a bit, and come back down later. Forget the tea—let’s have a drink.”
Director Yoo chuckled behind her hand and glided out, nudging Chairman Joo in the ribs and scolding him with her eyes.
“Uh…”

His siblings, on the other hand, coughed and exchanged looks like something was off. As the family faced off with Baekhan in a weird standoff, Taehyun was about to scold them for acting like that in front of a guest when—
“Baby. Remember what Dad said earlier? Keep the door open even after you go upstairs.”
“…What?”

“And shower separately. You two haven’t even had the ceremony yet.”
His eldest brother’s face was unusually serious. His fist clenched, veins visible—like he was ready to punch someone if needed.
“…Hyung.”

“Haha, yeah. Don’t worry, we will.”
What the…? Taehyun was too stunned to speak, and for the first time since setting foot in this house, Seo Baekhan actually laughed. Not the perfect PR smile he used for press photos—but a real laugh, like he couldn’t help himself.