MM 65

And so, the preparations for the wedding began.

The first step was informing both families about the decision. As expected, both families warmly welcomed the news. Excluding one person who openly disliked the idea, the other three all congratulated and welcomed them. In particular, Yu-young’s mother shed tears in front of him.

“Oh, Yu-young. I can finally… see you getting married.”

“Ah, mother. Please… don’t cry.”

Yu-young, feeling slightly embarrassed, muttered, but his mother, still tearful, stroked his face.

“How happy I am! Do you know how much my heart hurt when you collapsed from the pheromone shock a few days ago? Oh… but now, I’m so relieved. Really, so relieved…”

After shedding her tears, his mother quickly returned to a bright expression and grabbed Yu-young’s hand tightly.

“When should we have the wedding? Where should it be? Hmm? We’ll invite a lot of people, of course. It’s our son’s wedding, so it should be the grandest.”

“Ah, mother, the thing is…”

This was, of course, an anticipated obstacle, so Yu-young calmly began to persuade his mother without panicking.

“Well… these days, when people’s hearts or bodies don’t match… they easily split up, right?”

“What kind of unlucky thing are you saying?!”

His mother’s eyes widened in disbelief, but Yu-young firmly held her hand and continued speaking calmly.

“No, mother. It’s not that I’m sure it will happen. You never know with people, right? I haven’t been with Team…, I mean, Do-won for that long, and I’m just saying this just in case. That’s why these days, the trend is to live together for about a year before deciding on things like the wedding or the mark. It’s an informal relationship.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!”

As expected, his mother’s eyes grew wide, and she began to stomp her feet, saying such things don’t exist. However, surprisingly, Yu-young’s father, who had been listening quietly, supported Yu-young’s idea.

“Dear, let’s go with what Yu-young said.”

“Dear!”

“I’ve heard about it too. Kids these days do that. And, like Yu-young said, they haven’t been together long, right? So let’s do it that way. After all, we were in a rush because of Yu-young’s pheromone shock. If they live together, the pheromone situation will naturally settle.”

His father said, then looked into Yu-young’s eyes.

“Even so, you two are going to live together in the same house, right?”

“Ah, well, of course! Definitely.”

Yu-young forced a smile and nodded. Only then did the hint of disappointment fade from his mother’s face.

“Right, of course, you should live together in a house. So, it’ll be exactly one year, huh? After one year, will you have the wedding right away? We’ll register the marriage and have the marking too!”

“Yes… haha… yes, of course.”

“It’d be nice if you had a baby soon. Oh, how cute would a little one, like Yu-young, be… moving around, so adorable…”

A baby… the word seemed so distant from him, and he instinctively felt a bit of resistance. But he didn’t want to break the cheerful atmosphere. Seeing his mother already imagining pink scenarios, Yu-young scratched the back of his head. He had expected her to be happy, but he hadn’t anticipated this much enthusiasm.

Fortunately, it seemed Do-won had persuaded his parents with the same reasoning.

“Did your father say he’s okay with the informal marriage?”

“He said he’s fine with it as long as we get a newlywed home soon. He doesn’t mind if it’s for about a year.”

It was a relief that they had come to a smooth agreement. As Yu-young had mentioned, living together first and then registering the marriage and marking was becoming more common these days, so persuading their parents wasn’t that difficult.

When the idea was finally accepted, the process went so smoothly that Yu-young couldn’t help but think, “Why is this so easy?” Thanks to their parents accepting it as if they’d been waiting for it, Yu-young and Do-won were able to move on to the next task more quickly.

“…Here, from here?”

“Look through it and pick the places you like.”

Yu-young took a sip of the yogurt smoothie placed in front of him. They were at a café they visited every day after work.

Since meeting too often near their office might attract attention, they had decided to meet at a café near their apartment building.

Now that the doctor had confirmed that Yu-young’s pheromone had stabilized, there was no reason they couldn’t be in a confined space together. Although it would be more comfortable to talk at home, after ‘that day,’ it felt a bit awkward to visit his house without hesitation or invite Do-won to his own house. The day when Do-won came with porridge and suddenly asked if he could kiss him…

“…Let’s focus. Focus.”

Just thinking about that day made Yu-young’s face turn red, so there was no way he could invite him to his house again. Do-won had also stopped asking him to come over to his place. It used to be a place they freely visited when they were mixing pheromones, but now it felt awkward. How could they live together in the future with this kind of nervousness?

Clearing his throat a couple of times to refocus, Yu-young took the tablet that Do-won had handed to him with a serious face. As he scrolled down, his eyes grew wider.

“What? A house this big? Isn’t this… a bit too much for just the two of us?”

“I think so too. A 330 square meters is a bit excessive for two office workers.”

Do-won added with a bitter smile.

“It seems like they want to do a lot for us.”

“Yes, I understand my father’s feelings too. My mother is also insisting on providing all the electronics.”

This wedding was something both families had eagerly awaited. It was understandable that their parents wanted to do everything they could for them.

In particular, Do-won’s father had sent them a list of houses, saying that he wanted to provide them with a house and to choose one they liked. So, the two were now looking at the list and considering their living arrangements.

But even so, a 330 square meters uxury apartment was a bit too much for two office workers. They would be leaving early in the morning and coming back late at night, so they wouldn’t even have time to be at home. The two exchanged light smiles.

“…Then how about this one? Team Leader.”

While scrolling and looking through the listings, Yu-young finally found a satisfactory option. It wasn’t too big, nor too small. It seemed perfect for the two of them since they had to live together but also independently. If the space were too small or cramped, that would be problematic.

The house Yu-young chose was a 165 square meters apartment. The interior, which was mostly white and wood tones, had a partition in the middle of the spacious living room to divide the space without making it feel excessive. It seemed like a very suitable choice for them. There were plenty of rooms, and with three bathrooms, it didn’t seem like there would be any inconvenience living there together.

Do-won also nodded as he looked at the house Yu-young had pointed out.

“It’s beautiful. The interior is elegant.”

“Yes. The location is only 15 minutes from the office, and the area is quiet.”

“If Assistant Manager likes it too, then let’s go with this one.”

“Sounds good.”

Although it was all due to a contract, Yu-young couldn’t help but feel excited about the big changes coming. Moving out of the place he had lived in for several years was already a big deal, let alone living with someone else. And that someone was none other than his boss.

If the contract period had been shorter, Yu-young wouldn’t have wanted to move at all because he liked the house he was currently living in. But the contract he had agreed to with Do-won was for three years, and during that time, he couldn’t leave the house vacant. More importantly, if their families found out they were living separately, they would immediately become suspicious, so Yu-young had no choice but to decide to move out. Do-won had no choice but to do the same.

“Team Leader, you’ll be moving again right after you move in.”

“Well, what can we do?”

As they spoke, they laughed. This was because the turbulent events that had happened between them after Do-won moved in flashed through their minds.

“Once we choose, my father will take care of the housing contract. We’ll probably move in next weekend or the weekend after that.”

“Wow, that soon?”

Do-won nodded and tilted his head slightly, meeting Yu-young’s gaze. Then he stared at Yu-young silently.

Yu-young felt a bit flustered by the intense gaze suddenly focused on him.

‘Why is he staring like that… making me feel all nervous.’

Trying not to show it, Yu-young asked with forced calmness.

“…Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“There’s something on your lips.”

Do-won said, offering a napkin with a restrained smile. Yu-young’s face turned bright red. Quickly wiping his mouth, he found a few large crumbs from the cookie he had eaten with the yogurt smoothie.

Yu-young glared at Do-won openly and muttered.

“You’re really making me embarrassed.”

“What do you mean? Should I just leave you with crumbs on your face?”

“Ha… whatever.”

Yu-young pouted, making a sulking expression, and Do-won leaned forward, still with a smile in his eyes.

“Are you free this weekend?”

“…This weekend? Yes, I’m free, but…”

Yu-young, who didn’t understand at first, widened his eyes as Do-won continued with a suggestive expression.

“Then let’s go look for home appliances.”