MM 71

“Huh? …Me?”

It was a completely unexpected response. Yu-young widened his eyes in surprise.

‘Could it be that my pheromone scent leaked out again?’ The test I did this morning showed everything was normal. What should I do? While flustered and trying to contain his pheromones as much as possible, Do-won’s hand gently took his.

“Calm down. I wasn’t talking about pheromones.”

“Huh? Then…?”

“I meant your body scent.”

With a strange expression, Do-won continued.

“Assistant Manager’s body scent.”

In that instant, Yu-young’s breath caught, and the next reaction was the heat flooding his face. With his face as red as a tomato, he quickly turned his head away from him, unable to look at Do-won due to his rapidly pounding heart.

‘Really… Am I losing my mind? How can he say something like that so casually…!’

“Sir? How is the bed? Do you like it?”

“I-I’ll go with this one. Now, Team Leader, let’s hurry and choose your bed.”

With a crimson face, Yu-young blurted that out and quickly got off the bed, heading in the opposite direction. The staff member, who had appeared with a bright smile a moment ago, looked utterly confused and started following him. Do-won also followed slowly behind them.

“Excuse me, sir? Have you already decided on this bed? But why are you looking at another one…?”

“Well, we’ll be using two beds. There are two bedrooms.”

The staff member narrowed her eyes slightly, as if not understanding for a moment, but soon tried to hide it with a forced smile. Was it just for the show? But they looked so affectionate earlier. Especially the way that man, who clearly seemed like an alpha, looked at him. Despite that thought, the staff member faithfully showed them different options, as requested.

About 30 minutes later, after selecting all the beds and completing the contract, the two of them were finally able to leave the store.

“Ugh…”

Yu-young, showing signs of exhaustion, let his shoulders slump, and Do-won gave a faint smile before placing his hand on Yu-young’s shoulder.

“If you’re tired, let’s stop here. How about we go for lunch?”

“Yes… I think that’s a good idea.”

Even if they were to choose more items, he knew he couldn’t continue. After hearing Do-won’s words, his stomach growled at just the right time. It had already become close to lunchtime.

They went up to the 7th floor, which was filled with restaurants. There were enough options, from casual eateries to more sophisticated ones, so they could choose based on their preferences. Standing in front of a kiosk that offered restaurant information by floor, Yu-young and Do-won quickly flipped through the available menus with their fingers.

“Team Leader, what do you like?”

Now that he thought about it, Do-won always asked him what he wanted to eat, but Yu-young realized he had never turned the question back on him. They had eaten together many times, but it was usually at events like family meetings, or eating something Yu-young liked, or at the company cafeteria, one of those three.

Do-won gave the same usual answer.

“I’m fine with anything clean and simple. So, pick whatever you like, Assistant Han.”

“No, today I want to eat what Team Leader likes. You always eat what I prefer.”

Yu-young answered without backing down. Whether it was accepting a ride or choosing a meal, he realized just how much consideration Do-won had shown him over time. It must have been so natural for Do-won that Yu-young hadn’t noticed it until now.

With a faint smile, Do-won looked down at Yu-young.

“Is today some special occasion? You’re offering to drive and asking me to eat what I like.”

“Well, it’s not really an occasion… I just feel like I’ve always received so much consideration from you, Team Leader. I just wanted to do something for you today…”

Yu-young mumbled, trailing off at the end. They weren’t even in a romantic relationship, yet admitting how accustomed he had become to his kindness made him feel even more embarrassed.

“Anyway, it feels good. I’ll gratefully accept the consideration Assistant Han is giving me.”

Do-won spoke cheerfully and led Yu-young to a suitably elegant Italian restaurant. Sitting down, Do-won naturally handed the menu to Yu-young.

“Pick what you want to eat.”

“Yes. And today, I’ll pay for the meal.”

“That’s not going to happen. I’ve never had a team member pay for my meal.”

He smiled gently but firmly rejected Yu-young’s offer. Without saying a word, Yu-young nodded in agreement.

Although Do-won had only joined the team as the team leader a few months ago, he had earned the respect of every team member, and that was no exaggeration. Do-won was a responsible leader and a capable pillar of support for the team.

His s self-awareness as a team leader was clear, and he was very sensitive to any issues with his team members, whether it was missing a meal, falling ill, or getting injured. He viewed those situations as a sign of his own incompetence. He was the kind of person who took excellent care of his team members, both physically and mentally.

Because of this, the team members always received plenty of support from him, but no one had ever managed to buy him even a cup of coffee.

‘…But why do I feel like this?’

Without realizing it, Yu-young raised his hand and gently touched his chest.

Even though it was a holiday, they had come to the department store together, hearing constant praise about how well-matched they looked while picking out refrigerators and beds. Still, Do-won continued to see their meals together simply as a moment between a boss and subordinate.

‘Yeah, that’s right. I know that’s how it should be.’ But strangely, it felt like a small piece of his heart had fallen away. However, Yu-young purposely chose a bright tone as he picked out the menu, trying to hide his feelings.

“Well, you know I eat a lot, right? I’ll really order whatever I want.”

“Sure.”

Do-won chuckled.

“Go ahead and order whatever you want. Let’s see the face of the Assistant Han eating like a hamster.”

Yu-young couldn’t tell whether he was joking or just being playful. He’d laughed while watching him eat last time, too. Yu-young glared at him before pointing to the very bottom of the menu with a mischievous look.

“Well then, I’ll have the most expensive steak, the most expensive salad, and the most expensive pasta.”

“Alright. Is that enough? Don’t you want to drink the most expensive wine, too?”

Do-won replied nonchalantly with a relaxed smile.

‘Hmph, if I wasn’t driving, I would have really gotten the most expensive wine.’

Yu-young huffed and called over the waiter to place the order carefully.

After placing the order, his hunger intensified. Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten breakfast properly because he’d been too nervous. As he reached for a glass of water to ease the feeling of emptiness in his stomach, that’s when it happened.

His stomach grumbled loudly, the sound echoing between them, a long “grrrowwwl” reverberating through the air.

“……”

“……”

Even the background noise from the nearby conversations momentarily stopped. The loud rumble felt as though it had struck them like thunder.

Pfft, the sound made Do-won’s face subtly twitch. With his shoulders trembling slightly, Yu-young couldn’t hold back the embarrassment as he looked directly at Do-won’s head.

“Ah, Team Leader! This is so embarrassing! You need to pretend you didn’t hear that!”

“That wasn’t exactly a volume I could ignore, was it?”

Do-won didn’t even try to hide his laughter. Yu-young, now a tomato-red color, glared at him.

‘Ha, seriously. His personality’s the worst. Laughing out loud like this…’

Yu-young quickly turned his head to avoid looking at him, but it was hard to push down the feelings in his chest. Despite all the times they had spent together, Yu-young realized he had never seen this side of Do-won, which was now so relaxed and open, as though it was someone he didn’t know.

His smile so refreshing. His eyes were full of playfulness, and his well-defined lips added to his charm.

He’d never seen Do-won smile like this, and now, seeing this unfamiliar side of him, a warm feeling rose in his chest.

‘Are you crazy, Han Yu-young…?’

Yu-young’s fingers trembled slightly. He couldn’t understand why, after hearing the thunderous growl from his stomach and seeing Do-won laughing at him, the sight of his face looked so incredibly handsome to him.

No matter how much he liked beautiful things and even though Do-won was handsome enough to rival celebrities. He was still his boss.

“Here’s the salad to start with.”

“…Thank you.”

Perfect timing. A server approached with a big plate of salad and set it down. Yu-young inwardly sighed in relief and smiled brightly at the server.

The two of them began eating peacefully. Fortunately, Do-won didn’t seem to want to tease Yu-young anymore during the meal. Though, every now and then, he’d let out a little chuckle while watching Yu-young eat. …No, it wasn’t just sometimes, it was pretty often. Maybe he was still thinking about the hamster comment.

After finishing their meal and walking out of the restaurant, Yu-young looked thoroughly satisfied. His steps had slowed down as he was full. Do-won matched his pace and walked alongside him. As they took the escalator down to the next floor for coffee, Yu-young suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

“Ah, Team Leader. I’ll be right back, I need to use the restroom.”

Yu-young nodded at Do-won, who gave a small gesture, and then went to the restroom. After using the restroom, he adjusted his hair in the mirror and washed his hands.

After such a satisfying meal, he was in a good mood and even found himself humming. Not seeing where Do-won had gone, Yu-young looked around the area.

“…Oh.”

He spotted him inside a camera store.