Marriage Mate: 44

“Team Leader…!”

With eyes wide like a rabbit’s, Yu-young whispered as he forcefully pushed Do-won away. Quickly escaping from Do-won’s arms, he anxiously stomped his feet, his face drained of color.

“W-What do we do?”

“Calm down. There are only betas in our team.”

Do-won spoke calmly, reaching out to straighten Yu-young’s disheveled clothes. He fixed the collar that had gotten messy from their heated exchange and wiped the lingering dampness at the corner of Yu-young’s lips with his warm, dry palm.

“No one’s going to barge into my office without knocking. So cool down that flushed face of yours.”

Like he was tending to a child, Do-won adjusted Yu-young’s appearance before walking over to the window and throwing it wide open. The thickly mingled pheromones in the room began to dissipate. Then, he approached Yu-young, who was still standing there, face burning, unsure of what to do, and extended a hand.

“I said it’s fine.”

As Do-won brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen over Yu-young’s forehead, Yu-young’s eyes widened. It was absurd, but for a moment, he thought Do-won’s touch felt… gentle. After tidying up Yu-young’s hair, Do-won placed the documents back in his arms.

“Now go call Assistant Manager Kim. I need to review the proposal.”

“…Ah, yes. Understood.”

The way Do-won switched back to his stiff, professional demeanor left Yu-young feeling dazed. He quickly bowed and practically fled the office, shutting the door behind him in haste. Only after settling back into his seat did he finally let out a long, stifled breath.

‘…I’m losing my mind. Get it together.’

Why had his heart been hammering so hard, so uncontrollably, since earlier? Yu-young tossed the documents onto his desk and buried his face in his hands.

“Hah…”

Sighs kept escaping him, as if from an endless well. Just a few weeks ago, his work life had been so dull he could barely stifle yawns. But now, in just a matter of weeks, it had turned into this whirlwind of tension and thrill.

Kissing the Team Leader, right in the office, with just a single door separating them from the rest of the staff…

‘…I must be insane.’

And the worst part? He had been the one to suggest it.

As soon as that thought hit him, Yu-young couldn’t even process anything else—he just slammed his forehead onto his desk.

At that moment, Ju-yeon, who had been approaching, gasped and rushed over.

“Whoa, Yu-young! What are you doing?!”

“Ah, Ju-yeon…”

Yu-young hurriedly lifted his head, rubbing his forehead as he looked up at her. Seeing his face, Ju-yeon immediately made a pitying expression before leaning in to whisper.

“Yu-young… did the Team Leader… completely go off on you?”

She was asking if he had been thoroughly scolded.

Awkwardly, Yu-young nodded.

“Not… completely, but yeah… I got an earful.”

“Then why are you banging your head on the desk?”

“Uh, well… never mind that. The Team Leader wants you to go in. He’s reviewing the proposal.”

“Oh, for—! Ugh, this is terrifying.”

Despite her complaints, Ju-yeon visibly tensed as she made her way to the Team Leader’s office.

Left alone again, Yu-young slumped over his desk.

Lunch break was over, and it was time to refocus on work. But with his mind in such turmoil, there was no way he’d be able to concentrate.

“Haaah…”

“Assistant Manager? Is something wrong?”

A familiar voice, followed by a gentle touch on his shoulder.

Startled, Yu-young bolted upright.

Normally, when Yoon-seok came over to give him a quick shoulder massage, it just felt relaxing. But maybe because of everything that had happened with Do-won just now, his body felt strangely sensitive.

Forcing a laugh, Yu-young awkwardly removed Yoon-seok’s hand from his shoulder.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing… I just came back from a report review.”

“Ahh, I see… Oh, but Assistant Manager.”

Yu-young, not thinking much of it, looked up at Yoon-seok—only to freeze at his next question.

“Did you change your perfume?”

“…What? P-Perfume?”

Yu-young’s voice came out startled.

He had always liked fragrant things and used plenty of scented products, but he never wore perfume. Most Alphas and Omegas didn’t.

Unlike betas, they had a natural scent of their own, so wearing perfume was unnecessary. In fact, mixing artificial fragrance with pheromones could sometimes create an unpleasant smell when interacting with other.

“N-No… But why?”

Now that he thought about it, this was strange.

Yoon-seok was a beta—he shouldn’t be able to detect his pheromone scent at all.

Then why was he asking if he had changed his perfume?

Confused, Yu-young stared at him with wide, questioning eyes.

And then, Yoon-seok’s next words made him go pale.

“Well… you smell different from usual.”

“T-That so?”

He stuttered without meaning to.

Yoon-seok, who was supposed to be a beta, was picking up on a scent with the sensitivity of an alpha or omega.

It was impossible, but…

If Yoon-seok really was smelling his pheromones right now…

Then he would know.

That Yu-young and the Team Leader’s pheromones had blended into something unmistakably suggestive.

But that couldn’t be. Yoon-seok was definitely a beta.

Yu-young forced a smile and shook his head.

“…Ah, actually, I did change my fabric perfume recently. Maybe that’s why?”

“Is that so…?”

Yoon-seok still looked doubtful, tilting his head. Yu-young playfully pushed his back.

“Never mind that—go open the files already. Did you finish the performance analysis I asked for yesterday?”

“Oh, that… I’d appreciate it if you could check it later. I finished up to the part you mentioned, but I still have three or four pages left.”

“I’ll come by your desk later. Let me get some work done first.”

“Alright, thanks.”

After sending Yoon-seok back to his seat, Yu-young let out another long sigh.

What was that? Why was Yoon-seok suddenly so sharp?

He couldn’t pinpoint anything specific, but something about the situation felt dangerously close to being exposed.

Next time, he needed to make sure this kind of thing didn’t happen at work.

Then again, doing it at home wasn’t exactly ideal either… Wait, then where would they even do it next time?

That thought made Yu-young flush all over again. He fanned his face with both hands, trying to cool the heat rising up his neck.

Just until Saturday.

It wasn’t like this was something they’d keep doing forever.

As long as he got through Saturday, everything would be fine.

Friday passed in a complete blur, leaving no room for idle thoughts.

Calls kept coming in from the logistics center manager that Yu-young was responsible for. On top of that, the accounting and general affairs teams within the center took turns calling him, leaving him stuck on the phone all day.

And then there was the report that Do-won had asked him to revise.

By the time he finally finished everything, it was impossible to avoid working overtime.

The entire team had been swamped that day, so even though it was a Friday, they couldn’t leave until close to 10 p.m.

At least, thanks to Do-won’s insistence, they had managed to grab sandwiches in between.

If they had left work together, maybe they could have mixed their pheromones again, but Do-won had been so focused on his work that he hadn’t even seemed to have the time for that.

When Do-won told him to leave first, Yu-young hesitated for a moment but decided to just go along with the rest of the team. If anything, they could just take care of it tomorrow.

As soon as he got home, completely exhausted, he collapsed into bed early.

Tomorrow was the day he would finally meet Do-won’s parents.

Even though he hadn’t had much coffee, his heart was pounding too hard for him to fall asleep right away.

Tossing and turning, he eventually drifted off.

…

The alarm he had set the night before jolted him awake.

‘That’s right—today’s already Saturday…!’

With a nervous expression, Yu-young shot up from bed.

By the time he had finished a quick shower, Mrs. Park, whom he had made an appointment with, knocked on his door.

Walking in with a bright smile, she chuckled.

“Wow, Yu-young. What’s going on? You’ve been going on blind dates practically every other day lately!”

“It’s not a blind date… Just make me look especially good today.”

“Oh? I’ve never seen you this enthusiastic before.”

Up until now, styling Yu-young had felt like dressing up a cow being led to the slaughter. But today, he was brimming with energy, and that surprised Park.

Still, she quickly got to work, styling his hair and applying a light, natural-looking touch of makeup.

After 30 minutes, she stepped back, satisfied, and grinned.

“Alright, all set. Hope it goes well, Yu-young. At this rate, I’m going to be out of a job!”

She was joking since he always came to her before his blind dates.

Yu-young gave an awkward laugh and waved his hand.

“Thanks as always. I’ll be in touch again!”

“Sure thing. Good luck, Yu-young!”

With a playful fist pump, she left.

As soon as she was gone, Yu-young pulled out the two suits he had picked in advance and held them up against himself in the mirror.

After switching between them for about five minutes, he finally decided on a subtle navy-colored suit. It complemented his pale, delicate features perfectly.

[Team Leader, I’m heading out now.]

[Alright. I’m leaving now too.]

With everything ready, Yu-young took out his phone and texted Do-won.

Seeing the instant reply, it seemed Do-won had just finished getting ready as well.

‘Alright… Let’s do this.’

With a determined expression, Yu-young opened the front door.