Even with that nerve-grating sound from the phone he was hugging while asleep, he didn’t wake up or move at all, so honestly, I thought he was dead.
That’s why I was even more surprised.
Thinking there was a corpse right next to me, I panicked and quickly placed my hand under his nose, and fortunately, he was still breathing.
That made me even more furious.
Just please turn off the alarm.
“That alarm is loud enough to wake the neighbors, how can you sleep through it? And why are you hugging your phone while sleeping? If you’re not going to wake up, at least turn off the alarm.”
“That’s how I manage to wake up, you know.”
“Haven’t you ever received complaints from your neighbors?”
“That’s why I installed triple soundproofing in the bedroom. I also replaced the window frames with the thickest material available.”
That was something Juwon had done for him, but thanks to that, the house was definitely soundproof, insulated, and heat-resistant. It was better than many luxury mansions.
“That’s good, but… how can you function in society? How did you manage school and work?”
“When I was in school, the old man would wake me up with a phone call, and at work, we have flexible hours. I often work from home too.”
As the traffic light changed, Jaehyuk lifted his foot from the accelerator, then slowly pressed it again, realizing something strange.
“Wait, someone who wakes up to a phone ring can’t wake up to that noise?”
“I can never hear alarms no matter what, but I can hear ringtones.”
“Then why not set your alarm to a ringtone?”
“I’ve tried that too, but then I stop hearing ringtones as well. So I need to distinguish between ringtones and alarm sounds.”
Matching his speed to the slowly moving car ahead, Jaehyuk immediately questioned this bizarre logic.
“What kind of twisted reasoning is that?”
“Maybe my body wakes up when there’s a call but refuses to wake up to an alarm?”
After trying every possible method and even installing a camera in his bedroom to analyze his sleeping habits, that was the conclusion he had reached.
He slept well. Extremely well, in fact.
Insomnia might as well be a foreign language to him—he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and slept without moving. Like a corpse.
And he couldn’t wake up.
Jaehyuk had mastered this process at hyper-speed in just one night.
And his conclusion about it was consistently the same:
“…I think you need to go to a hospital.”
Recalling the location of a nearby hospital, Jaehyuk turned on his blinker to make a left turn.
As Jaehyuk was filled with determination to take Junghyun to the hospital no matter what, Junghyun quickly tried to dissuade him.
“I’ve been to hospitals, but they all say I’m normal, so let’s go to the office first. Then we can look for other solutions.”
“What other solutions?”
“If I search the internet, I’m sure I’ll find a few more people like me.”
When he said he would try their solutions, Jaehyuk glanced at Junghyun sitting beside him.
It was a familiar look that said, “Could there really be anyone else like you?”
“Anyway, I’ll try to wake up properly from now on. I can’t promise, though.”
“You’d better. If tomorrow repeats like today, I might throw you out the window.”
“Do you happen to have anger management issues?”
If he really did have that disorder, it could be a significant problem for their married life in the future, so he wanted to address it now, but Jaehyuk threw an unexpected question.
“Do you know my life principle?”
“What is it?”
“I never use even the slightest violence against those weaker than me—excluding alphas, that includes the elderly, women, and omegas. But for you, I might break that principle.”
Though his explanation was long and verbose, the point was simply to shut up.
“I’ll turn off the alarm.”
“If you turn off the alarm, how will you wake up?”
“Couldn’t you wake up and call me?”
“You wake up immediately to a phone ring?”
“No. Maybe after about ten calls…”
Unable to estimate Junghyun’s peculiar sleeping habits, Jaehyuk stepped back from his previous conclusion and suggested another solution.
“Fine. Starting the marriage by going to a hospital doesn’t look good, and if there’s nothing physically wrong with you, it must be a matter of willpower. So, from today, I’ll fix your rotten determination. From the ground up.”
“Since we’re going to divorce anyway, do you really need to put in that much effort?”
“I suddenly feel like doing it. If I fail, it’ll be an excellent reason for divorce.”
At Jaehyuk’s firm answer that he wouldn’t accept any objections, Junghyun immediately raised both hands in surrender.
If someone could help him wake up in the morning, he would be grateful.
If they were even offering to fix his determination, there was no reason to refuse.
“If you insist, I won’t stop you. Good luck. Oh, please drop me off right ahead.”
“What time do you finish work?”
“Since I came in early today, around 4 pm? If there’s not much to do, I sometimes just work the morning and go home.”
“Can a company survive with that kind of work ethic?”
“In reality, people don’t work that many hours in the office. It’s because of the timing of workflow that people work overtime. In smaller companies like ours, the communication system is faster, so major tasks can be wrapped up in four or five hours.”
Jaehyuk nodded, thinking that could be true. Honestly, it was more likely that Junghyun just handled work as he pleased.
“Then, what time do you usually go to work?”
“10 am? 11 am? Sometimes even 2 pm?”
When he added that he often stayed late instead, Jaehyuk raised another question.
“Wait, then why did you set your alarm for 7 am?”
“Because that’s what gets me up by 9 am.”
Almost slamming on the brakes, Jaehyuk barely controlled himself, managing his anger that was boiling from his core as he slowly moved to the right lane and decreased his speed.
Then, doing Lamaze breathing, he spoke as kindly as possible.
“Turn off the alarm from tomorrow.”
“In exchange, you need to wake me up around 9 am. So I can go to work.”
“I’ll do that. A morning call would look good to others anyway.”
“Yes. A newlywed couple’s morning call is very nice.”
“It would be good for spiritual discipline too. We’ve arrived.”
At Jaehyuk’s request to please get out of his car now, Junghyun unfastened his seatbelt and was about to open the door.
But it seemed too casual.
Not wearing a suit was one thing, but having no bag was another.
Wondering if it was acceptable to go to work like that, Jaehyuk asked again.
“I forgot to ask earlier because of the alarm, but where’s your bag?”
“Bag? Why would I carry such a thing?”
“Don’t you carry documents or a laptop?”
“I left my laptop at the office, and why would I carry documents? To work after I get home?”
Junghyun stared at Jaehyuk with a face that suggested he was the one who was more bewildered, as if asking what era he was living in.
At Jaehyuk’s suggestion that they commute together for a while, Junghyun had gone to work with just his phone, without even car keys. Looking at him for a moment, Jaehyuk’s lips moved as if he was about to say something more, but then he turned his gaze away.
Let it go.
The more he tried to understand, the more it just gave him a headache.
“What are your plans after work today?”
“Normally I would have gone to watch the playoff game, but since this isn’t the time for that, I’ll quietly go home, unpack, and watch the game.”
“At least you’re normal in that respect, which is a relief.”
“I’m quite reasonable, I tell you. Well, I’m getting out now. Have a good day.”
With those words, Junghyun got out of the car and was about to close the door when Jaehyuk, unlike his manner inside the car, spoke in an ostentatiously affectionate tone.
“I’ll be late today. Have dinner and rest first. We need to talk about something tonight.”
Junghyun fully understood what Jaehyuk wanted to talk about.
It should have been discussed yesterday, but yesterday was so chaotic that there was no mental space for such a conversation.
Honestly, it was a miracle that he had walked back to that house.
“I have some work to do too, so I’ll wait. Oh, and just in case, I’ll send a scheduled text around 10 pm asking when you’ll be home.”
As if pleased that his mind was working well, Jaehyuk nodded, and Junghyun closed the car door and waved.
Seeing that smile like someone sending off a truly loved one, Jaehyuk in the driver’s seat couldn’t help but laugh incredulously.
He knew Junghyun was shameless, but he was surprisingly good at being a con artist too.
From any perspective, he was the perfect marriage partner.
If only it weren’t for the alarm issue.
After convincing himself that nothing could be perfect, he shifted gears again and slowly moved into the left lane.
And so began a chaotic day.
* * *
“What’s going on? The deputy manager coming in for morning work? Did getting married suddenly reform you?”
As Junghyun entered the office carrying coffee, he waved off the employee’s greeting that immediately came his way.
“I had to commute with my partner. But I’ll leave early today.”
“Wow, marriage has really changed you. Your style has changed too.”
Since he usually came to work in training clothes and slippers, the CEO, Yunho, would beg him to at least wear jeans and sneakers, if not a full suit. It was surprising to see Junghyun dressed in a neat, light blue loose-fit knit shirt and white slacks for once.
His hair was still somewhat wild, but thanks to being forcibly groomed yesterday, it looked neat even in its disheveled state, making him look completely different from when he used to walk around with messy hair and large horn-rimmed glasses.
More than reformation, it was a complete transformation.
“Anyway, I’ll take it as congratulations.”
“Of course it’s congratulations. Congratulations on your marriage. You should treat us.”
“Yes. I’ll treat you all generously.”
“Looking forward to it.”
With a refreshing laugh at those words, Junghyun took his seat and pulled out his phone, which he had been ignoring all weekend.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
