“Mmm.”
A tongue entered between his lips, roughly rubbing against the roof of his mouth. While accepting the intense kiss, Suhwan also moved his tongue actively.
“Ha… Really.”
Usually, Seunghyun kept his pheromones so tightly sealed that it drove people crazy, but now he was releasing them so freely that it was driving Suhwan mad. Seunghyun broke the kiss and looked at Suhwan with disapproving eyes.
“Where did you learn to seduce like that? Hm?”
“Mmph.”
Seunghyun bit down hard on his plump lower lip and excitedly pressed his body against Suhwan’s. Staggering backward, Suhwan wrapped his arms around Seunghyun’s shoulders. Before they knew it, their bodies had moved through the hallway and reached the bedroom.
As soon as they entered the bedroom, Suhwan broke the kiss and said in a reproachful tone:
“You’re… the bad one. Coming back with someone else’s scent on you.”
“…”
“You’re mine… Ah!”
He was pushed back and collapsed onto the bed. Seunghyun placed his hand beside Suhwan’s head on the bed and smiled sweetly.
“I see. I was the bad one.”
“Yes… Ah.”
Soon, pheromones burst forth from Seunghyun as well. The mint scent was no longer detectable on him.
Inside the bedroom, the two men’s pheromones intertwined intensely for quite some time.
***
“Director.”
“…?”
Hwalyeon looked up from the documents she had been reviewing. Her secretary was standing in front of her. In a monotone voice, Hwalyeon asked:
“What is it?”
“I looked into the HS-related materials you previously requested. However…”
“However?”
Hwalyeon raised an eyebrow as she observed her secretary’s somehow strange demeanor. The secretary calmly handed over a file folder.
“One of the researchers who studied the new drug developed by HS in the past disappeared after attempting to interview with a newspaper.”
“Hmm.”
“The circumstances were suspicious, so I investigated further, but since it was such a long time ago, there wasn’t much information available.”
“I imagine not.”
If it wasn’t a simple disappearance but a deliberate elimination by someone, they wouldn’t have left any trace of evidence.
Hwalyeon’s eyes darkened. She had given instructions to her secretary with some suspicion, but it seemed that HS’s bankruptcy concealed greater secrets than she had anticipated.
“Is there anything else you found out?”
“That was the only suspicious circumstance. And…”
The secretary took something out of his inner suit pocket and placed it in front of Hwalyeon. Her eyes narrowed when she saw it.
“Hmm.”
“When I requested the investigation of materials, our attendants were being watched by a private company.”
“A private detective agency?”
“Yes.”
What the secretary had placed on the desk were blurry photographs. To avoid alerting the other party that they had been noticed, the photos were cleverly taken, resulting in uniformly poor focus.
Despite the blurriness, comparing the images revealed that these individuals were neither police officials nor newspaper reporters. Rather, they appeared to be professionally trained. The kind of people well-versed in this sort of activity.
“Perhaps they’re playing games within the same circle.”
“Should we dig deeper?”
“Yes.”
Hwalyeon slightly raised the corner of her lips in a faint smile at her secretary’s question.
“Let’s see who’s making a move.”
Her eyes transformed like a hunting dog eyeing its prey.
***
“What? This weekend?”
Washing dishes, Suhwan removed his rubber gloves and picked up his phone when it rang. Hwalyeon’s voice came through the receiver, saying she wanted to meet over the weekend.
Suhwan was taken aback. He had already made plans with Seunghyun’s brother for this weekend.
“I have plans on Saturday.”
—Is that so? Sunday doesn’t work for me. And I’ll likely be busy on weekdays this week.
“Ah…”
Hwalyeon, busy on both weekdays and weekends, rarely had time to spare. Even when Suhwan was hospitalized, she had barely managed to stop by briefly. Since then, they had only exchanged messages and calls without meeting in person.
—I want to see your face, even if just for a moment after so long.
When Hwalyeon said this, Suhwan’s resolve weakened. With no memories before his manifestation, he couldn’t recall his family from his previous life. Jin Suhwan’s family, which he had manifested into, was now practically his own, but his parents had passed away early, and he had a poor relationship with his grandfather. The same was true for Hwalyeon.
However, after clearing up their misunderstandings, he was able to maintain a good relationship with Hwalyeon. In fact, she was the only family member in this novel who truly cared for Jin Suhwan. Suhwan could feel this fact deeply.
“Um, since my appointment is in the afternoon, the evening should be fine.”
—Is that so?
“Yes, I’ll contact you again when I get home.”
—No. You’ll want to rest when you get home, so let’s not bother meeting outside. I’ll adjust my schedule and come to your place.
“You don’t need to do that.”
When Suhwan murmured quietly, feeling guilty, Hwalyeon repeatedly assured him it was fine. Having no choice, he agreed and ended the call.
“Oh!”
The sound of boiling water brought Suhwan back to his senses. He got up and went to the kitchen, re-read the instructions, and emptied the packaged ingredients into the pot.
After his previous cooking disaster, Suhwan had vowed never to attempt cooking again. However, since today was somewhat important for both him and Seunghyun, he had ordered a meal kit that even beginners could prepare and was setting the table.
Realizing that there wasn’t much time left before Seunghyun would return, he grew anxious. Reading the instructions in minute detail, he finally understood that he needed to adjust the heat. As the water boiled vigorously, Suhwan lowered the induction temperature a bit more.
In truth, if he had only controlled the heat properly last time, the cooking wouldn’t have been such a disaster. He regretted it belatedly, but still didn’t feel the desire to attempt cooking again.
Sighing, Suhwan moved about busily. Even to his inexperienced eyes, the meal kit dishes were coming together reasonably well.
“All done.”
Finally placing the bread that accompanied the beef stew on the table, he caught his breath. Though he had only heated and boiled things, it looked quite impressive. Suhwan smiled with satisfaction.
September 30th.
Today was originally the last day of the cohabitation period he had agreed upon with Seunghyun. Seunghyun had promised to break off the engagement if Suhwan didn’t touch a hair on his head until this day. But somehow, that promise had deviated and twisted along the way.
Though it was now a meaningless promise, as the day arrived, he felt a renewed sense of significance. It also reminded him that, contrary to their initial agreement, he and Seunghyun had decided not to break their engagement and continue living together.
With a shy smile, Suhwan smoothed the tablecloth with his hand when:
Beep beep.
“…!”
The sound of the front door opening was heard. Suhwan immediately moved toward it.
“You’re back?”
“I’m home.”
Seunghyun embraced Suhwan as he approached the entrance. When he caught a strong whiff of food from Suhwan, his eyes widened.
“Did you already prepare something?”
“Yes, nothing special though.”
Suhwan awkwardly replied as he took Seunghyun’s hand and walked to the dining table. The food he had prepared since the afternoon was set out on the table.
“Wasn’t it hard doing it by yourself?”
“These are all meal kits. Seriously, you just need to heat and boil them.”
The world has become so convenient these days. Adding this in a slightly embarrassed tone, Suhwan tried to hide his bashfulness. Seunghyun, who had been staring at him, kissed his adorable fiancé’s cheek with a small peck.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
