Marriage Mate: 21

Do-won clenched his teeth and tossed Yu-young into the back seat of the car like a piece of luggage.

“Ah… ugh…,” A faint groan escaped from him, but Do-won ignored it and shut the door.

Letting out a sigh that seemed to rise from deep within his core, Do-won gave a slight nod to the chauffeur.

With the sound of the engine starting, the car smoothly pulled away. Sitting in the passenger seat, Do-won cast another glance toward the back.

Under the streetlights, the sleeping man’s face looked absurdly small. His mouth was slightly open, and he lay sprawled across the back seat of his superior’s car, sleeping so peacefully that it was almost infuriating. Do-won let out another sigh and turned his gaze forward.

He had accepted every single drink offered by the deputy manager, the manager, and the team members without refusing even once—yet he had remained perfectly fine. But now, his head was suddenly pounding.

How did I end up stuck with this?

Do-won roughly ran a hand over his face, scowling. From the very beginning, this guy had been a nuisance.

Back at the fitness center, he’d been brazenly releasing those alluring pheromones, as if trying to seduce everyone around him. What was he, some kind of flower trying to attract insects? It was infuriating how Yu-young flaunted his presence, completely indifferent to whether an Alpha was in the same space or not.

Do-won had encountered plenty of Omegas who tried to use their pheromones to clumsily seduce him. They were always looking at him with that expectant expression, as if they wanted something from him. He found them irritating.

Especially after his childhood best friend had manifested as an Omega. The person he had always considered just a friend had suddenly begun using pheromones to entice him—it had been deeply unsettling.

After experiencing that sort of thing multiple times, over and over again, Do-won had grown disgusted by Omegas altogether.

And yet, the man currently sleeping in his back seat had a special talent for completely wearing down Do-won’s patience.

At the gym, he’d kept sneaking glances at him while shamelessly releasing his pheromones. And then, just the other day, he’d been caught with his nose buried in Do-won’s underwear in front of his own house.

The sheer revulsion Do-won had felt in that moment had been overwhelming.

For a brief second, he’d even wondered if a stalker had followed him home. The thought had sent chills down his spine. But no—absurdly enough, Yu-young was simply his next-door neighbor. That alone had been annoying enough.

Omegas weren’t exactly rare, but the odds of an Omega moving in right across from him were slim. And yet, somehow, it had happened.

To make matters worse, this guy had the audacity to get angry at him afterward.

He was irritating, shameless, and a complete nuisance.

And the trouble hadn’t ended there.

When Do-won transferred to his new job, he had planned to spend his one-week gap before starting work relaxing, maybe exploring his new neighborhood. It had been so long since he’d taken a break that even he couldn’t remember the last time.

So, he’d made a rare reservation at a restaurant known for its refined cuisine. But the moment he stepped inside, he spotted his next-door neighbor—the Omega—sitting alone at a the table.

And the guy had the nerve to make a face like he was utterly miserable to see Do-won.

The audacity.

Who exactly had the right to be annoyed here?

“You’re such bad luck. Bad. Luck. What, first time hearing that? Ha, I doubt it.”

On top of that, the guy had been insufferably rude, and every word he uttered had been ridiculously childish.

Do-won quickly decided he wasn’t worth his time. He had tried to erase the guy from his mind as fast as possible.

But then, Yu-young started flooding the air with his pheromones. It was impossible to ignore.

So, Do-won had reacted more sharply than usual, but the whole situation left him feeling strangely hollow.

Why was he even arguing with this guy like some petty child?

His irritation toward Yu-young had only grown stronger when the man briefly left his seat.

Not long before that, at a nearby table, an Omega had “accidentally” spilled coffee on an Alpha’s sleeve. But the Alpha must have found the Omega attractive, because instead of getting upset, the two had exchanged contact information under the pretense of paying dry-cleaning fees.

Then, as if following a script, Yu-young returned from the restroom and reenacted the exact same scenario.

The moment Yu-young “accidentally” spilled coffee all over Do-won’s sleeve, he couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.

“That’s a bit too cliché, don’t you think? That same trick was already used at the table over there. It’s downright lazy”

It was pathetic.

Why did Omegas always have the same goals, the same tricks?

One minute, he was glaring daggers at him, and the next, he was pulling these childish, boring moves.

What exactly did this guy want from him? Money? His genetic status? Either way, it made Do-won sick.

Yu-young’s smug expression had faltered, and he’d fumbled awkwardly to retrieve something from his pocket before mumbling an apology and offering a business card.

Of course, spilling coffee on someone else’s clothes meant he was socially obligated to offer compensation. But the whole thing had played out exactly like the incident from ten minutes ago. It was so contrived that it made Do-won’s skin crawl.

So he hadn’t even glanced at the card. He’d just walked straight out of the restaurant.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

They ran into each other again in the elevator.

Yu-young, standing right there, wearing the same expression of blatant distaste.

Then he stumbled—and nearly spilled coffee on Do-won’s clothes again.

And of course, his damn pheromones were still everywhere.

…Ha.

That had all happened just a few days ago.

It had been irritating—no, deeply irritating—but Do-won had assumed he could just ignore the guy and go about his life.

After all, what were the chances they’d run into each other often?

But then, on his very first day at his new job, the moment he saw the guy come rushing through the door, Do-won had been hit with a horrible realization.

The one and only person in this neighborhood that he knew—and wished he would never see again—was now his subordinate.

“Do you even realize what time it is, Assistant Han Yu-young?”

There was no way he could see this guy in a good light.

Just last weekend, he had been standing there, arrogantly holding his head high and firing back at Do-won without backing down.

And now?

Now he was showing up late, looking like a kicked puppy.

The sheer ridiculousness of it all made Do-won want to laugh.

Why the hell did this guy have to be on his team?

What kind of cruel joke was this?

The report in hand was another headache. Not because it was poorly written, but because the responsibility for it was clear at a glance. It was obviously not something that a mere assistant manager should be handling.

Do-won first called in the deputy manager and sternly reprimanded him. As a superior, failing to properly guide his subordinates was bad enough, but pushing his own work onto them was one of the things Do-won despised the most. After ordering the deputy manager to rewrite the report from scratch, Do-won slowly reviewed it once again.

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad report. It was solid enough to be considered above average. Do-won knew from years of experience that in such cases, a compliment followed by gentle suggestions for improvement would suffice.

However, when he faced that small, sharp-featured face—resembling a feisty little puppy—the words of praise simply wouldn’t leave his mouth.

The moment he pointed out an issue, Yu-young had bristled and petulantly asked, “Then what’s the purpose of writing a report?” which was laughable. So, Do-won had simply told him. Without mercy, without a shred of leniency, he listed out every flaw in the report, watching as Yu-young’s face visibly darkened in real-time.

Sigh.

After sending everyone home, Do-won noticed Yu-young staying behind to finish the report. He considered going out to help but hesitated. However, the moment he opened the team leader’s office door, his expression inevitably twisted into a scowl once more.

A blend of refreshing lemon, sweet vanilla, and the crisp scent of pine needles—an intoxicating mix that filled the entire office, enough to overwhelm one’s senses.

“…Again with this?”

Clenching his jaw, Do-won strode toward Yu-young. It was unmistakably the scent of a dominant Omega—potent and alluring. For the first time, he found an Omega’s scent pleasant. It was dizzyingly seductive, clouding his thoughts. But it was far too strong for a professional setting, making him unwilling to tolerate it here.

Tilting his head slightly, Do-won tapped his fingers against the desk.

He was beginning to feel a little confused. Was this really another clumsy seduction attempt, or was there another reason behind it? No sane person would release their pheromones so recklessly in front of their workplace superior. Then again, considering the stunts Yu-young had pulled over the past few days, maybe he really was out of his mind.

However, when Yu-young suddenly stood up and glared at him with watery eyes, Do-won found himself momentarily taken aback.

Yu-young’s face was flushed, and with every breath, his pheromones trembled slightly in the air.

“I’m… not feeling well right now. I can’t control my pheromones properly.”

Yu-young’s voice was strained, but his next words carried an undeniable sharpness.

“I get that I might not meet your standards, Team Leader. But I genuinely don’t understand why. Is it because I’m an incompetent team member who can’t manage my schedule or take care of my health? Or is it simply because I’m an Omega?”

The question was too piercing to be dismissed as mere frustration over a failed seduction attempt. And that was when Do-won finally understood.

Yu-young hadn’t even realized his pheromones were leaking.

Seeing him working overtime without even having the time to go to the hospital because of the tasks he’d been given made Do-won so irritated he could barely contain it. So he’d lashed out.

Watching Yu-young’s retreating figure, his expression on the verge of tears, left a bitter taste in Do-won’s mouth.

One way or another, this guy was unbelievably annoying.

Yet, when Yu-young resubmitted the report, it was even better than expected.

If it weren’t for his brash personality—or that damnably irritating pheromone—he would have undoubtedly been an outstanding subordinate.

“We’ve arrived.”

The voice of the chauffeur pulled Do-won from his thoughts.