Marriage Mate: 28

Yu-young watched a movie until late at night, and when he woke up after a good sleep, it was already ten o’clock. Stretching and feeling the sunlight gently coming through the curtains on his eyelids, Yu-young stretched his body. Without doubt, the hardest week of his life had ended, and it was finally the weekend.

The deputy manager and the team leader—what a true miracle morning with no need to see either of them. Rubbing his face in the blankets, Yu-young smiled like a cat. Just a week ago, the deputy manager was the person Yu-young hated most in the world, but now, compared to the team leader, the deputy manager was nothing.

“Seriously, what’s wrong with that guy? He asked about the photo yesterday, and then he made that weird face…?”

Yu-young pouted and recalled yesterday’s incident. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t understand the team leader’s attitude toward the photo. He had asked why he liked it, and when Yu-young explained enthusiastically, the team leader had made a very complicated expression. Then, out of the blue, he told him to leave if he was done and turned away. It was a truly absurd reaction.

“Is he maybe a psycho who doesn’t know what expression to make in certain situations? Like, he can’t even smile?”

Yu-young’s imagination ran wild, heading straight for absurdity. He burst out laughing at his own ridiculous thoughts, but strangely, the suspicion seemed to have some validity. After all, he had never seen the team leader smile.

“Ah, forget it. Whether he smiles or not, why should I be thinking about my boss on my day off?” Yu-young stretched lazily again and rolled around in bed. After a good rest, his body felt refreshed.

Since struggling with pheromones last week, Yu-young had been taking medicine diligently and even bought a portable pheromone monitor, measuring it regularly. Thanks to that, he was now able to manage his pheromones more consistently.

With work finished yesterday, what should he do today? Excited, Yu-young quickly got out of bed. He was thinking of going for a workout and then taking a bath afterward.

As he was putting on his workout clothes, Yu-young suddenly paused.

“…What if the team leader is at the gym?”

Then, Yu-young made a sound of disbelief. What did it matter whether the team leader was there? This wasn’t the office. He surely wouldn’t nag there, too. And his pheromones were under control, so there was nothing to worry about. They would just greet each other briefly and do their own workouts, right?

“Anyway, I’m acting so cautious. Why should I care what anyone thinks?” Grumbling, Yu-young put on the new sneakers he had bought last week. They were limited-edition sneakers he had waited six months to receive. Yu-young checked his feet in the mirror by the entrance and smiled happily before stepping outside. The new shoes made him feel amazing.

Starting the car and rolling down the window, he was greeted by clear, sunny weather—perfect for a day off. Whistling, Yu-young nodded his head to the rhythm of the music.

When he arrived at the gym, the trainer who used to be in charge of him greeted him warmly.

“Member, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’ve been a bit busy this week.”

“I see. It seems like everyone’s been busy. A lot of members haven’t come in the past week.”

Yu-young smiled and chatted with the trainer. He warmed up his body and then hopped onto the treadmill to get his heart pumping. He turned it on and pressed the speed-up button, making the floor beneath his feet move faster. Running lightly, Yu-young looked out at the windows.

Thinking about it, this was the same place where he first ran into the team leader… Shockingly handsome, but shockingly rude, Yu-young remembered their first meeting. Why did it feel like that was so long ago? It was only a few days ago.

Breathing harder now, Yu-young could feel his body getting tired, but his mood was soaring. As he ran, he looked out at the familiar view—the familiar trainer’s face, the familiar pheromones…

…familiar pheromones?

Suddenly, a chill ran down Yu-young’s spine. He turned his head sharply to the side. Right next to the treadmill, hanging from the pull-up bar, was the team leader. Yu-young was so shocked he screamed.

“AHHH!”

“Ah, are you okay?!”

He almost tripped while blinking in disbelief. A trainer who was passing by rushed over and caught him, and Yu-young realized how close he had been to falling and hurting himself. He screamed in panic.

“No way… Team leader!”

“Quiet. Keep it down. This is a public place.

Yu-young, still clutching his racing heart, looked at the team leader. Meanwhile, the team leader, who had startled him, was completely unbothered. He glanced at Yu-young for just a moment before focusing back on his pull-ups, his low voice interrupting the rhythm of his movements.

“Why are you here…! No, when did you even arrive?”

“I’ve been here. You… didn’t notice.”

“Then at least say hello before you start scaring people like that.”

Yu-young was still stunned, but it seemed that the team leader could no longer ignore him. After making a face, he climbed down from the pull-up bar and stood in front of Yu-young.

“Alright. Hello. Good morning, Assistant Han.”

Looking up at the team leader, Yu-young could feel his face slowly turning red.

Seriously… Are you messing with me…?

Yu-young had completely forgotten the anger the team leader had shown when he was dressed in his formal suit. Now, seeing him in a tight short-sleeve rash guard, Yu-young couldn’t help but be drawn to the team leader’s muscles. Sweat was dripping down his neck and chin.

Yu-young instinctively stared at his defined muscles, only snapping back to reality when Do-won raised an eyebrow. Despite the heat radiating from his body after the intense workout, his expression remained as unreadable as ever.

“Isn’t Assistant Manager Han going to greet me? You were whining at me to greet you like that.”

Yu-young barely managed to part his lips, which had been pressed tightly together. For a moment, he had completely zoned out, too absorbed in admiring both the body and the face in front of him.

“…Ah, good morning, team leader.”

“Well, now that we’ve greeted each other, let’s get back to our own workouts. Have a nice weekend.”

Do-won muttered his words as if he were bothered, then turned around. Yu-young, who had been looking at him with an incredulous stare as he laid down on the bench press machine, got back onto the treadmill.

Seriously, this guy is relying on his face and body to act so annoyingly… I’m not going to play along anymore. Grumbling inwardly, Yu-young started jogging again. He was getting to the point where he almost wanted to request a refund for the membership’s fees and switch gyms. No one in the world would want to work out at the same gym as their boss.

But then again, if I switch gyms, wouldn’t that make me look too self-conscious? Yu-young pouted, feeling that his thoughts were starting to drift. Anyway, it doesn’t seem like the team leader has the slightest interest in me, so it would just be me making a fool of myself.

Yeah, why would I change gyms for anyone? It’s not like I get that upset when I run into him anymore. Well, okay, I still get a little irritated, but it’s not like before when I felt like I was about to grab his collar and yell at him.

It’s kind of sad but also funny that I’m getting used to his nagging. Collecting his thoughts, Yu-young got off the treadmill.

After over an hour of weight training and finishing with stretching, Yu-young felt great after sweating a lot. After taking a shower, he hummed happily and changed into clean clothes he had prepared.

As soon as he stepped out of the locker room, he ran into Do-won again, who was know heading to the cardio area. Yu-young awkwardly lowered his head.

“I’ll go ahead.”

“Go ahead.”

Do-won nodded acknowledging the farewell. He must have arrived earlier than Yu-young, and it seemed like he really liked working out. Yu-young walked past him without any hesitation and headed toward the parking lot.

While singing loudly along to the songs playing on the car stereo, Yu-young drove toward the supermarket. He’d pick up some groceries, go home, take a bath, and make lunch. Then maybe he’d take a nap. What should he eat for lunch? Since it’s summer, he was thinking of making cold udon and salad. Just imagining taste made his mouth water.

He thought to himself, It’s not like I’ll run into him here too, right? Yu-young glanced around for no particular reason. After all, they had just met, and even if they ran into each other again, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

However, by the time Yu-young finished picking out groceries and paid at the checkout, Do-won had not shown up.

Holding the shopping bag in one hand and the coffee he’d just bought in the other, Yu-young got into his car with a happy expression. With the windows down, he drove toward home.

But as soon as the elevator stopped in front of Yu-young’s door, he was so shocked that he had no choice but to drop everything he was holding.