Dirty Switch

“So… please don’t worry about what I said back then. I—cough—I’m only proposing this because, well, if we look at it in terms of conditions, I believe marrying you would be beneficial… so I hope you’ll consider just that aspect, hyung.”
What is love? What are feelings? Those were questions that couldn’t be answered with logic or evidence—but something unspoken, something quietly intense, was sitting in Joo Taehyun’s eyes.

Had he not brought up marriage, Seo Baekhan might have praised his ability to deny his own feelings. Regardless of how he really felt, the fact that he could suppress personal emotion in public matters—that was precisely the kind of attitude Baekhan considered ideal in a future spouse.
“So really, forget what I said back then—”
“Of course I should.”

He cut him off with a sigh, and Taehyun bit down on his lower lip. Baekhan crossed his legs at a slight angle and rested his clasped hands on his knee.
“Taehyun. If you brought up marriage for a reason like that, I’d be disappointed in you. Deeply.”
His anger had mostly settled, but that didn’t mean he felt any better. Still, there was no use venting endlessly at a kid seven years his junior. It was time to wrap this up.

Honestly, hearing Taehyun beg just one more time to sleep with him because he still liked him would’ve been less revolting than hearing him justify marriage using the DH Group’s name. Baekhan had no desire to waste another second on this brat.
“You said I’m the best choice you could make.”
“…”

“Really?”
He knew it would sound like mockery, but he couldn’t help the bitter scoff escaping his throat.
“Sorry. Never thought I’d be the one spewing this kind of childish nonsense out loud…”

Seo Baekhan decided to reject Taehyun’s clumsy, clingy affection outright—just as he had ignored his coffee preference earlier.
The precious youngest son of the DH Group, Joo Taehyun.
The wealthiest twenty-something in the Daehan Empire.

Graduated early from an international school and now studying abroad in the U.S.—the textbook model of a chaebol heir.
In other words, a pampered little prince with no real power yet—utterly useless.
“Your quantitative specs? They don’t line up at all with what I want in a spouse. Not even close.”

A marriage alliance with a conglomerate family? That would invite endless accusations of favoritism every time he proposed a policy.
Hidden slush funds, questionable accounting, dodgy inheritance transfers, legally grey lobbying efforts…
All the dirty laundry typical of major corporations were ticking time bombs for someone like Seo Baekhan.
In short, none of the flashy labels attached to Joo Taehyun held even the slightest appeal for him.

“And it’s not like your qualitative specs are compelling either. You seem to know who my matchmaking candidates are… so you should have a pretty good grasp of my type, shouldn’t you?”
Ideally descended from independence fighters. And if that wasn’t possible, at least not from collaborators.
They didn’t need wealth—but they had to be well-respected in their field.

A background in education or research, not business.
And above all—
“I don’t find male Omegas attractive.”

They had to be a female Alpha.
The only box Joo Taehyun checked was being a descendant of independence fighters.
“Good match… Sure, you’re right about that. Love and marriage are two different things. I do put the other party’s qualifications first. But it’s not like I’m so desperate that I have to give up my basic preferences.”

Baekhan thought back to the market cap of the DH Group, which had been in the news just days ago.
Even if it didn’t compare to the obscene wealth Taehyun held in his hands, Baekhan—eldest son of a family that had produced ministers for generations—had never once lacked money.
Of course, the more assets the better. But he’d already far surpassed the threshold. He wasn’t hungry for more.

Even if he removed all emotion from the equation, this proposal—this marriage—offered nothing of value to him or his family.
“We still have a little time left.”
“…”

“Anything else you want to say?”
Taehyun remained silent, eyes lowered with his usual unreadable expression. If it weren’t for the way his index finger kept scratching nervously at his thumbnail, no one would’ve guessed what a storm was churning inside him.
Tsk. Baekhan clucked his tongue inwardly and began thinking about what kind of work he might assign Taehyun within Haechi in the future. He was disappointed—clearly, the kid was even more immature than expected—but that was just personal feeling.

Taehyun’s position would remain useful for as long as he lived. And his blank, almost mask-like demeanor could be a strength when dealing with people. So—
“…You’ve heard of a drug called Switch, haven’t you.”
Taehyun’s voice pulled Baekhan out of his practical considerations.

It wasn’t until he noticed the pale flesh below Taehyun’s chin—once drained of color, now slowly regaining its tone—that he spotted a small mole near the left of his jaw. It was tiny, barely noticeable unless viewed this close, and yet it snagged Baekhan’s gaze ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) in an oddly persistent way.
“How could I not. Legalization and commercialization of Switch is one of my research priorities.”
“I… I’ve been taking it regularly. Switch, I mean.”

The whisper in Taehyun’s voice drew Baekhan’s eyes upward—and only then did he realize how long he’d been staring at the boy’s lips.
“I like getting fucked by another Alpha.”
Just now, Joo Taehyun had spoken an utterly vulgar line that didn’t suit him in the slightest.

“I know it’s legal in the U.S. and illegal in Korea. And I’m well aware that some forms of Switch are classified as narcotics…”
Switch, as the name implied, referred to any drug that temporarily altered one’s secondary gender traits.
If an Alpha wanted to be with another Alpha—or an Omega with another Omega—the one taking the drug would experience temporary sensitivity to the partner’s pheromones. Their body would soften, slicken. Even a male Alpha’s ass would loosen like an Omega’s.

It didn’t allow Alphas to get pregnant, or Omegas to impregnate each other. It was simply a tool to express love without regard to gender or role.
But ever since its explosive debut a few years ago, Switch had been banned in the Daehan Empire. More conservative countries had begun accepting it, but here, it remained taboo. From the start, the Crown Prince’s faction launched an aggressively moralistic smear campaign against it—insisting that only sexual deviants would ever need such a drug.
They painted the Prince of Conciliation, who supported Switch, as a pervert. Corporations with vested interests backed the Crown Prince, and the media outlets in his pocket followed suit.

What truly turned public sentiment against Switch, though, was a study that revealed that some variants produced narcotic-like effects.
“We have to legalize Switch. As soon as possible.”
The Prince of Conciliation had once said this to Baekhan with a face that looked like he was biting down on an unlit cigarette.

“This isn’t just about letting people with the same traits have sex. Public opinion on traited individuals is at a four-year low. Even government-funded suppressant programs are being protested now.”
“That’s the same old trick from the Crown Prince’s side—‘Your tax money is being wasted.’”
“And it works, every time. God… the biggest issue is that some forms of Switch really do behave like drugs.”

“But like you said, it’s only some. Other countries are finding regulatory solutions. We should do the same. It’ll take time to filter out dangerous compounds, but we can’t afford to sit idle. Beyond human rights, this is about tech gaps. Once we fall behind, we’ll never catch up. That’s why Jejungwon needs support now more than ever.”
“I know. But to make that happen, we’ll need funding first. I can scrape something together short term, but to avoid getting canned as just another throwaway project, we need even a token budget officially allocated. But…”
“With the Crown Prince stonewalling everything, unless we can present overwhelming justification, we’re stuck.”

“Exactly. That’s the real issue.”
And now—Joo Taehyun was saying he’d been taking Switch?
“Since you said you prioritize conditions, I’ll be honest. My family—no, the entire DH Group—is prepared to go all in on this.”

For the first time, the twenty-year-old brat born with a diamond spoon in his mouth spoke without stuttering, without flinching.
“They’d never let their beloved youngest son live with the stigma of having done something akin to drugs. Not in a million years.”