Marriage Mate: 24

“You’re awake.”

“Ahhh! Argh, you scared me!”

Letting out a loud scream, Yu-young clutched his pounding chest and whipped around.

Behind him stood Do-won, perfectly dressed, his face expressionless.

…Am I dreaming right now?

Mouth slightly open in shock, Yu-young looked up at Do-won, who stood there indifferently. He couldn’t believe this was real. Raising both hands, he gave his cheeks a couple of firm slaps. But no matter how hard he hit himself, the dream didn’t end—only his stinging skin confirmed that this was reality.

Do-won spoke in his usual cold tone.

“If you’re awake, go home now.”

“…Huh?”

“You still don’t seem fully awake. Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

Still slack-jawed, Yu-young struggled to make sense of the situation. So… this isn’t a dream…?

The deep, alluring scent of pheromones that filled the house wasn’t an illusion. The strangely familiar layout of the home wasn’t a coincidence either. It all made sense—because Do-won lived right across from him. Which meant… this place was…

“…Team leader… is this your place?”

Yu-young barely managed to squeeze out the question in a dying whisper, his pupils shaking like an earthquake. Do-won nodded.

“…Then, the person who brought me here was… was… you… team, team leader…?”

“If not me, then who else would’ve brought you to my home?”

Though Do-won’s voice was as curt as ever, Yu-young didn’t even have the luxury of feeling hurt or offended. He was too busy being utterly dumbfounded. In all his years of working, he had never once blacked out from drinking.

His voice trembled as he asked, “D-Did I… by any chance… make a mistake yesterday…?”

At that, Do-won let out a soft chuckle. His lips curved into a chilling smile, and Yu-young felt his blood run cold.

Yu-young had called Do-won unlucky to his face more than once—even when sober. Of course, back then, he had no idea that fate would be so cruel as to make him work under the very same unlucky bastard he had insulted. Now, considering he had been drunk and uninhibited… there was no way he had watched his mouth.

Do-won spoke with a blank expression.

“You bastard. Trash. I seriously hate guys like you.”

“…..”

Yu-young blinked, confused. Do-won had suddenly started listing off curses like he was reciting a poem. When Yu-young gave him a bewildered look, Do-won added, still expressionless—

“Those were your words, Han Yu-young.”

“…I… said that? To you?”

Yu-young’s jaw dropped at Do-won’s matter-of-fact tone. For a moment, he could see his own future flash before his eyes—being dragged into the CEO’s office, submitting his resignation, packing up his desk, and leaving while Yoon-seok and Ju-yeon sent him off with pitying looks.

This is the end. He had insulted his superior during a company gathering… in front of other people, no less. Just thinking about it made his head spin. He squeezed his eyes shut. The darkness behind his lids felt just as bleak as his future.

As if reading his mind, Do-won casually continued, “Aside from Kim Ju-yeon and Lee Yoon-seok, no one else heard you.”

“…Oh.”

“This is the second time you’ve been caught badmouthing me, Han Yu-young.”

Do-won smiled coolly.

“Once on the company messenger. And once, right to my face.”

“…..”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Do-won’s voice remained light, but there was an edge to it. If someone unfamiliar saw him, they might have been mesmerized by his cold, beautiful smile. But to Yu-young, who was on the verge of a panic attack, he looked nothing short of a psychopath.

“I asked, what are you going to do?”

The arrogant, icy tone made it clear that Do-won was no longer smiling. Yu-young bit his lip so hard it nearly bled before finally croaking out—

“…Should I… write an explanation report…?”

“…..”

“…A formal apology…?”

If this gets reported to the higher-ups, I’m done for. Just a few days ago, the manager had given him a gentle warning, telling him to be careful. If Do-won decided to escalate this, no amount of groveling would save him. With a deep sigh, Yu-young felt the overwhelming urge to drop to his knees and beg like a desperate fly.

Looking down at Yu-young, whose face had gone deathly pale, Do-won’s smile returned.

“At least you understand the weight of your actions.”

“…..”

“I’ll think about how to handle this and let you know. I have too many other things to deal with right now—besides the fact that you insulted and grabbed me by the collar.”

“…What? I… grabbed you by the collar too?”

Please tell me he’s joking. Yu-young silently prayed.

“…Yes. I’m sorry…”

“Then get going.”

Do-won jerked his chin toward the front door, his voice as frosty as ever. Yu-young scrambled to his feet. His nerves were so thoroughly shredded that even Do-won’s usual insufferable tone didn’t irritate him. If anything, he felt… grateful.

Rather than abandoning a drunken subordinate on the street, Do-won had brought him home and let him sleep there. For the first time ever, Yu-young felt not a single shred of resentment toward him.

Lost in those thoughts, Yu-young frantically patted the couch, searching for his phone. Meanwhile, Do-won turned away and disappeared into the kitchen.

Where the hell is my phone…?

No matter how much he searched on and under the sofa, his phone was nowhere to be found. I didn’t drop it at the barbecue restaurant, did I? If not, then where could it be? Maybe it’s in this house? Unashamed, he decided he’d have to ask his boss to call his phone just once.

As he was thinking that, the sound of a blender whirring came from the kitchen.

Yu-young, who was about to go and ask directly, instead plopped back down on the sofa. He’s not about to cook up something elaborate at this hour, so it should be quick.

His gaze naturally drifted back to the picture frames on the sofa. Now that he thought about it—why were there only three seasons? There were photos for spring, summer, and fall, but winter was missing.

“…Did he take these himself? No way. A cold-blooded guy like him could never capture this kind of emotion…?”

“Why are you still here?”

Startled by the sudden voice, Yu-young’s eyes widened as he turned to see Do-won walking back out from the kitchen into the living room.

“You’re not expecting me to make you breakfast too, are you?”

“No, that’s not it… I just… I can’t seem to find my phone.”

The sarcasm in Do-won’s expression faded as he suddenly turned around. Yu-young’s phone was sitting far off on the island counter.

As Do-won walked over and handed it to him, Yu-young awkwardly lowered his head.

“You were staggering so much last night, I was worried you’d drop and break it, so I put it aside.”

“…Thank you.”

Bowing once more, Yu-young got to his feet. He quickly straightened his disheveled clothes and turned on his phone to check the time. It was just past six.

He subtly checked the screen to make sure it was intact. Back in college, every time he got wasted, he somehow always ended up with a cracked phone screen. But this time, thankfully, it was perfectly fine.

…This feels strange.

Now that he thought about it, maybe Do-won wasn’t the absolute worst person in existence after all. By Yu-young’s standards, Do-won had every reason to just leave him at the barbecue restaurant or dump him at his own front door. And he definitely had no obligation to care whether Yu-young’s phone got smashed.

But he didn’t do any of that. Instead, he let in a drunken subordinate who had cursed him out and grabbed him by the collar, and on top of that, even made sure his phone wouldn’t break.

“Uh… I’m really sorry. I’ll… get going now.”

After giving a hesitant bow, Yu-young stepped toward the entrance. Do-won was still standing there, silently watching him.

Slipping on his shoes, Yu-young bowed once more.

“I… I caused you a lot of trouble last night. I sincerely apologize.”

“……”

“…Then, I’ll see you later.”

After that, Yu-young quickly slipped out, shut the door behind him, and rushed into his own apartment. He let out a small sigh.

It had only been a day, but he felt overwhelmingly relieved to be back home.

Stepping into the bathroom, Yu-young took one look at his swollen face, complete with a full-on bird’s nest of hair, and nearly collapsed in shock.

Seriously? I spent the night at my boss’s place and talked to him looking like THIS?

Clicking his tongue at himself, he hurried into the shower and brushed his teeth.

As he scrubbed away, he desperately searched his mind for answers.

Wait a sec… I cursed at him and even grabbed him by the collar yesterday? That can’t be right…

Tilting his head, Yu-young suddenly froze in place.

Still covered in toothpaste foam, a cold sweat broke out on his skin as fragments of last night’s disaster began surfacing in his memory.

The first scene that came to mind was him clutching Do-won’s collar, sobbing and clinging to him.

N-no, but seriously… I really do hate you, boss… I really… ugh… I hate you so much… sniff… ugh…

What the hell…?!

Just that one memory was enough to make his brain short-circuit. Yu-young spat out his toothbrush and sank to the floor, burying his face in his hands.

This… This is insane. How could I do something like that?

As more pieces of the night surfaced, his face felt like it was heating up by a degree each time.

He had grabbed Do-won’s collar, cried and wailed, been restrained by Yoon-seok and Ju-yeon, cursed at his boss, and—W-wait… why the hell did I sniff his pheromones too…?!

“AAAHHHH!!”

With memories flooding back that he would rather have forgotten forever, Yu-young let out another helpless scream, covering his face.

Damn it, just go die, Yu-young…

If you had just cursed and grabbed him, at least it’d be consistent. But what the hell was with the pheromone sniffing?!

The worst part? In just a few hours, he had to sit in the same office as Do-won, pretending none of this had ever happened.

The same boss he had clung to, cursed at, and—worst of all—rubbed his face against like some kind of deranged lunatic.