MM 76

Normally, Han Yu-young would leisurely shower and relieve the fatigue of the day, but today, it was a bit difficult to do so. After quickly finishing his shower, Yu-young dried himself off and put on indoor clothes. His wet hair fell messily onto his forehead, and he casually brushed it aside with his hand. After applying lotion to his face, Yu-young stepped out of the bedroom and his eyes widened.

“What’s this? It smells so good?”

He thought he would just order food for delivery. ‘Was he cooking while I was showering?’ Yu-young hurried to the kitchen and saw Do-won cooking, his back turned to him.

He had only taken off his jacket and rolled up the cuffs of his sleeves as he focused on grilling meat. With skillful hands, he shook the frying pan a couple of times and then turned off the heat. The food, steaming with fragrance, was carefully transferred to a plate he had prepared and plated.

Yu-young watched him in a daze but quickly snapped out of it and approached him.

“Team, Team Leader, I didn’t expect you to prepare this all by yourself… I thought I’d be ordering food and just took a comfortable shower.”

“You did well. It’s the first day of moving in, so I wanted to do this for you, so don’t feel pressured.”

“Still… When did you even buy all these ingredients?”

“They were brought by the housekeeper from my family who was helping out earlier today.”

Now that he mentioned it, the house looked surprisingly clean, considering they had just moved in. Yu-young nodded and eagerly stood by Do-won’s side, helping with the small tasks. He poured water, set the utensils, and by the time he finished, the meal was ready.

“Wow, Team Leader. Is this… sirloin steak and burrata cheese salad?”

“We have the same taste, don’t we?”

They both laughed, remembering their first meeting. He really was meticulous. Yu-young, excited, sat down with Do-won.

“Then, thank you for the meal.”

“Eat a lot. Would you like some champagne?”

“Yes! I love it.”

Do-won stood up, took out the champagne, and soon, the two glasses were filled with a beautiful shade of champagne. Grinning playfully, Do-won gestured for Yu-young to make a toast.

“Assistant Han, try saying a toast.”

“…I’m shy about this… Ahem.”

Yu-young almost waved it off, but then he remembered that it might be a bit awkward to skip the toast after everything he had done, including the meal and the flower basket. His face turned red as he cleared his throat a couple of times.

“…Uh… to my happy newlywed life with Team Leader… Ah, no! Wait, wait a second!”

Startled, Yu-young let out a loud shout. He had only meant to say, “a happy life in the newlywed home,” but switching the order by mistake had turned it into something strange. To make things worse, even the word “newlywed home” had slipped out without thinking.a

Do-won, whose mouth was twitching as he tried to suppress his laughter, quickly covered his mouth with his large hand, just like when he had heard thunder from his stomach last time.

“Team, Team Leader! Don’t get me wrong! It’s just that… my parents keep talking about newlyweds …! It just got stuck in my head! I’ll start over!”

“Okay, let’s hear it again.”

Yu-young, his face bright red, quickly tried to explain himself again as he raised his glass.

“Uh… for the smooth execution of our contract and the promotion of our friendship, and…”

“Did you come for a workshop or something?”

Do-won interrupted bluntly with a frown. Yu-young, embarrassed, glanced at his face and suddenly felt a rebellious streak, sharpness in his eyes.

“Well, then you do it, Team Leader!”

“You sure have polite manners for your superior.”

“Hmph, are you going to keep doing this even after work?”

Seeing Yu-young sulking, Do-won chuckled lightly.

“Then I’ll do it.”

Do-won raised his glass slightly, and Yu-young followed suit. He looked at Yu-young with soft eyes and said:

“Here’s to our happy newlywed life.”

“…!!”

For a moment, Yu-young was taken aback. Do-won was reciting the exact words Yu-young had just clumsily said. His expression was completely serious, and the soft tone of his voice made Yu-young’s ears warm up.

‘What’s this? This really does make us feel like a real married couple…’

Unintentionally thinking that, Yu-young shook his flushed face and deliberately huffed at Do-won.

“I, I said that earlier.”

“I never said I didn’t like your toast.”

“…”

With nothing more to say, Yu-young sipped the nearly transparent golden drink. It spread sweetly in his mouth. After setting the glass down, Yu-young admired the table again. Come to think of it, the plating was incredibly well done.

It really looked like it would taste amazing. Yu-young took a bite of the steak and widened his eyes.

“Whoa, Team Leader! This is crazy… Sorry, I mean, it’s delicious!”

“Seems like it.”

Unlike the first time, when his use of casual language had gotten him scolded, Do-won didn’t seem to care about Yu-young’s comment now. In fact, he appeared even more satisfied.

“Seeing your expression, it was worth cooking this.”

“It’s really delicious. Do you have a cooking certificate or something? I’m good at cooking too, but yours is really amazing.”

“I don’t have any certificates. I just try cooking dishes that left an impression on me.”

Yu-young, eyes wide open, tasted everything on the plate, going back and forth between the salad, steak, and champagne. Everything was truly delicious.

“Oh, by the way, Team Leader, did you hear about this? This Saturday.”

“I heard. Our parents are coming for the housewarming.”

“Hah… It would have been a big problem if we hadn’t gotten the house ready.”

“Seems like it’s hard to cover up issues like this.”

Chewing his food, Yu-young nodded. The fact that he was still deceiving his parents hadn’t changed, but now that they were really living together, the lie felt less guilt-ridden than before. After all, he couldn’t just call this reality all a lie.

After dinner, the two stood side by side, washing the dishes. This time, Yu-young ignored Do-won’s insistence to rest. He had no reason to just receive his consideration.

“Now that I think about it, I think we need to have a more detailed discussion about household chores.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Since Assistant Han and I are out of the house a lot, and the house is so spacious, managing it will be difficult. What do you think about hiring someone to help?”

“Oh, I’m fine with it.”

The house he lived in before was also large, but not to this extent, so he hadn’t needed help. However, this house was so big that without consistent management, it seemed like it would be overwhelming. Getting help wasn’t something unfamiliar to Yu-young, so he readily nodded.

“Alright. Then let’s plan to have someone come a couple of times a week during the day. I’ll look into it.”

“Yes, thank you. Then, should we take turns preparing meals? We can do the dishes together like we did today.”

“Let’s do that.”

After finishing the dishes, Yu-young dried his hands and glanced at the clock. It was already close to 10 PM.

“……”

“……”

If they were a real married couple, after finishing all the housework, they would probably sit down together on the sofa and chat about the little things that happened during the day. They might share a beer while watching a movie or look through a photo album together.

But since Do-won and him weren’t that kind of relationship, there was no reason for them to stick around now that the meal and dishes were done. Breaking the awkward silence, Yu-young spoke first.

“Um, Team Leader, thank you for preparing the meal today. Next time… I’ll do it.”

“You really don’t need to worry about it.”

“Yes. Anyway… well then… have a good rest, and good night. …I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright. Get plenty of rest.”

Was this really something that people who just gave a toast to “a happy married life” would say? It was more like something exchanged at the office when leaving work.

Yu-young went to the right side of the partition, while Do-won went to the left. When Yu-young saw him head straight to the study, it seemed like he was going to work or read. When they were arranging the room earlier, Do-won had asked if Yu-young wanted a study too, but Yu-young had preferred reading in the bedroom and working in the living room, so he had declined.

Yu-young entered the bedroom, brushed his teeth, and plopped down in the rocking chair.

‘I guess I’ll look at the photo albums before bed.’

He pulled out a couple of photo albums from the new bookshelf. Leaning back comfortably in the chair, he leisurely flipped through the pages from start to finish. With a much more relaxed mood, he got up from the chair, turned off the lights, and lay down on the bed. It was almost 11 PM, and it seemed like it would be better to go to sleep a bit earlier for tomorrow.

However, falling asleep right away wasn’t going to be easy. The unfamiliar bedding, the unfamiliar feeling. The pillow mist he had sprayed on the blanket smelled the same as the one he had used before, so it was familiar, but it didn’t do much to dispel the awkward feeling he had.

Without thinking, he took out his phone and started fiddling with it, and before he knew it, it was almost midnight. He really needed to sleep now. But even when he turned off the screen and tried to close his eyes, his vivid consciousness didn’t seem to blur at all.

After tossing and turning, changing positions dozens of times, Yu-young finally got up.

‘…Should I have some warm tea? Or maybe wine?’

Even if there was some noise, it wouldn’t bother Do-won much since the house was so large. Come to think of it, what would he be doing right now? Sleeping? Probably not. He was known for working late into the night.

Carefully opening the bedroom door, Yu-young saw a faint light leaking from Do-won’s room.

‘Team Leader isn’t sleeping either.’

For some reason, that thought made Yu-young feel a little more at ease. It was like the loneliness he felt when he couldn’t sleep alone was now gone. He felt like he could understand a little of what people living with their partners must feel.

Just then, the slightly open door to the study swung open, and bright light poured out. Do-won, who had come into the living room, looked surprised when he saw Yu-young standing there.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Oh, well… I couldn’t sleep.”