MM 60

“…Cough, cough!”

The food began to rise in his throat. He almost spat out the food he was chewing right onto the table. It was before he could fully process what Do-won had just said. Luckily, before such a tragedy could occur, Yu-young quickly covered his mouth and wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes from coughing.

Do-won clicked his tongue and handed him a napkin.

“Are you alright?”

“Cough, cough… No, I’m not… Hah.”

Fortunately, the food that almost got stuck in his nose was somehow cleared up, but his heart, which had started racing uncontrollably, refused to calm down.

As he wiped his face with the napkin, Yu-young couldn’t hide the expression of shock as he looked at Do-won. His eyes seemed to ask, “Are you out of your mind?” Do-won let out a short sigh.

“I didn’t intend to surprise you. Calm down a bit. I can explain if you do.”

“Would you be able to calm down, Team Leader…?”

Yu-young couldn’t hide his bewilderment. He never, ever expected such an absurd statement to come from Do-won.

‘What? What does he mean…? M-marriage? Did he eat something wrong?’

As much as he wanted to ask him this directly, the last thread of his rationality stopped him from doing so.

But what about everything they had done up until now to avoid marriage? They had lied to their parents and acted out all sorts of ridiculous stunts just because they didn’t want to get married. And now, all of a sudden, he was talking about marriage?

No, beyond all that, Do-won and I… marriage…?

Yu-young, staring blankly with a dumbfounded expression, saw Do-won calmly open his mouth.

“Calm down. I told you, it’s a contract.”

“…A contract?”

“Yes. Considering our current situation, I think it’s not a bad proposal.”

After a brief pause, Do-won licked his lips.

“To briefly explain my situation first, my father definitely likes you. He didn’t directly bring up marriage at the dinner table, but he subtly pressured me about it. And right now…”

Do-won suddenly frowned and pressed his temples.

“To be honest… if I don’t marry you in the near future, I’ll have to marry someone my family has been thinking about for a long time. I’ve been rejecting them consistently, and I have no intention of marrying them. That’s actually the reason I asked you for this in the first place.”

“…I see.”

“This is why I need you as my contract marriage partner. And…”

Do-won’s sharp gaze landed on Yu-young.

“Right now… your physical condition isn’t great, is it? Because of the pheromone issue.”

“It’s temporary…”

“Your parents even called me.”

“…What?”

This time, Yu-young widened his eyes.

“What… do you mean?”

“I think I’m somewhat responsible for your current condition. Whether I intended it or not, you’ve been constantly exposed to my pheromones, and since they were never fully resolved, the craving for them became more intense. Your parents were really worried about it.”

Do-won paused, and the room fell silent. Yu-young bit his lip without saying a word. Even without looking, he could clearly imagine his parents calling him in a frantic, worried state.

In truth, even without Do-won, this shock would have come. After all, he was that “an unbounded omega of marriageable age,” as cursed as that term was. His body was slowly transforming, desperately craving the pheromones and imprinting from an alpha. Sadly, there was no way for Yu-young to stop it. So, he couldn’t blame Do-won for the pheromone shock this time.

“This is what made me consider a contract marriage. Of course, I understand that you’re surprised by what I’ve said. I’m not asking you to answer right away. You can listen to what I have to say, take your time to consider it, and then give me an answer. But it’s for mutual benefit, so there shouldn’t be any significant loss for you.”

“….”

As Yu-young stared at Do-won in a daze, Do-won pulled an envelope from his briefcase and handed it over.

“Because of that, I’ve already prepared a contract myself. You can take your time reviewing it and give me your response later. Of course, you’re free to refuse or request changes. I’ve also summarized the contract on one page, so you can read that here if you want.”

“Ah… then… I’ll… I’ll read it now.”

Yu-young stammered, unlike his usual self. Taking a deep breath, he pulled out the contents of the envelope. As Do-won had said, there was a neatly arranged contract, along with a one-page summary.

It was difficult to review the entire contract right then, so Yu-young decided to first look at the summary. The terms were briefly outlined as follows:

1. Maintain the contract marriage for 3 years, then proceed with divorce procedures immediately after the contract ends.

2. After maintaining a de facto marriage for at least a year, officially register the marriage.

3. Both parties must strictly adhere to prohibited actions during the contract period.

Yu-young read through the terms with a look of shock and confusion, but when he reached the “prohibited actions” clause, he paused and looked up.

“Prohibited… actions?”

“Since it’s a contract marriage, I thought these terms would be expected. Do you think differently?”

“Ah, no, I think it’s perfectly reasonable.”

The content he had written under the “prohibited actions” clause was as follows:

‘No physical relations, imprinting, or pregnancy.’

However, under “physical relations,” there was an additional sentence:

‘However, it is the responsibility of Do-won Choi to ensure that Han Yu-young does not experience pheromone shock.’

As Yu-young read that sentence, his face immediately flushed with embarrassment. This meant that if he experienced another pheromone shock or wasn’t in good condition… would that mean he would have to… engage in such a relationship with him?

“Team Leader. Th-this… this is…”

“This condition is here because, without it, there would be no reason for you to hurry into marriage with me,” Do-won said.

“Then… could you explain… what you mean by ‘responsibility’?”

“Calm down. I’m not saying we have to be in a relationship immediately. There’s pheromone showering and similar acts. That clause is for your benefit in this contract, so I’ll do everything I can to improve your condition, by any means necessary. Of course, only within the limits you agree to.”

Though still flustered, after a brief moment, Yu-young nodded with a red face. While he couldn’t fully accept this clause right away, he could understand why Do-won added it.

As he had said, what was urgent for Do-won was a marriage of convenience, and for Yu-young, it was avoiding the pheromone shock. Most importantly, if another pheromone shock happened, his parents would fundamentally doubt the nature of their relationship. That would undo everything they had done so far, causing them to be embarrassed and putting them back into that nightmare of kidnapping and forced matchmaking.

The rest of the clauses didn’t seem particularly objectionable, so Yu-young nodded in agreement. Whether he accepted the contract marriage or not, clauses like ‘no pregnancy and imprinting’ weren’t difficult for him to agree to.

However, another sentence in the contract caught Yu-young’s attention.

“What… What’s this clause?”

“This one is because I believe it would be better for both of us after the contract ends,” Do-won replied.

‘Do not fall in love.’

It was an overly sentimental phrase to be written in a contract.

Yu-young raised his gaze from the contract and blankly stared at Do-won’s face. Despite making such a huge proposal, his expression remained almost the same as usual. But there was no mistaking his sincerity. As he looked into Yu-young’s eyes, the shock slowly began to subside.

But upon calmly thinking about it, as he had said, it seemed like a long-term matter. Yu-young couldn’t give an answer right away. Just ten minutes ago, he had never even considered the idea of marriage, let alone a “contract marriage.”

While Yu-young continued to stare at Do-won without giving an answer, an employee re-entered the room and placed a dish on the table with a smile.

“This is caviar with cod sous-vide and yuzu sauce.”

The cod dish, which often appeared in a multi-course meal, was one of Yu-young’s favorites. Normally, he would be smiling at the beautifully plated dish, but right now, there was no room in his mind to care about the cod or the caviar.

Seeing Yu-young in a daze, Do-won let out a short sigh. The dish in front of him remained untouched.

“I didn’t expect you to be so shocked. If I surprised you, I apologize.”

“Oh, no, it’s just… it’s just so sudden…”

“As I said before, take your time reading the contract and then let me know your decision. For now, eat. You didn’t seem to eat much for lunch.”

Yu-young blinked in surprise. As he had said, lunch today was a menu Yu-young didn’t particularly like, and with everything related to Yoon-seok in the morning, he hadn’t been able to eat much. So, he had been extremely hungry by dinner.

How did Do-won know that? He had also mentioned earlier that “there’s a certain look on your face when you’re eating something delicious.” Somehow, Yu-young was starting to feel increasingly strange. He tightly gripped his fork and knife.