Strategic Mating Partner Chapter 77

“This crazy stalker! Why the hell do you know that!?”

Finally, unable to hold back, Taehyun kicked Sejin, who quickly opened the pizza box, pulled out a slice, and shoved it into Taehyun’s mouth. Then, he stepped back to create distance and answered.

“Mmph…!”

“I know everything about you, even the things you don’t know, hyung. I’m really your best choice.”

Is this guy some kind of miserable creep? Taehyun hurriedly chewed and swallowed the food to retort. The pizza was infuriatingly delicious. After nearly starving for a day, with his lower half, chest, armpits, sides, and even his knees and feet licked, sucked, and rubbed, his body was desperately craving calories. He’d planned to eat just one bite and then yell, “Stop talking crazy, you jerk,” maybe even throw a punch, but like a dog starved for ten days, he couldn’t stop chewing. As soon as Taehyun finished one slice and resolved to speak, Sejin drizzled hot sauce on another and handed it to him.

“The hot sauce is good too. Try it.”

At that moment, Taehyun got chills again. Five drops from the edge of the crust—exactly the amount he usually used, down to an uncanny degree. Swallowing the pizza hurriedly, Taehyun asked.

“Did you install CCTV in my house or something?”

Sejin answered with a smug expression.

“I saw it in episode 461 of Running Mate, the ‘Pizza Shop Part-Timer’ episode. You said this is the best way to eat it, hyung.”

“This lunatic. You’re seriously unhinged.”

Remembering a variety show he appeared on six years ago? Even installing CCTV would be creepy, but this wasn’t normal either. Why? Why on earth? Sure, their… sex was compatible now (though he didn’t think that was a normal or rational reason either), but if Sejin had been this obsessed before, there had to be a reason. It still didn’t make sense. Unable to contain his curiosity, Taehyun asked.

“Why are you so fixated on me?”

To Taehyun’s foolish question, Sejin gave another sage-like response.

“Because I fell for you, hyung. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“…….”

As Taehyun was left speechless, Sejin stuffed another hot sauce-drizzled slice into his mouth. As promised, the hot sauce was tear-inducingly delicious. If tears were welling in his eyes, it wasn’t because the sauce was too spicy. They were tears of disbelief at his own absurd situation, caught in this laughable, cry-worthy mess.

🤺

In the midst of this ridiculous chaos, they finished the pizza out of sheer hunger, and it was already past 11 a.m. He had to return today. Ignoring Sejin, Taehyun gathered his clothes, but Sejin grabbed him.

“I’ll drive. Don’t push yourself—just sit in the passenger seat.”

That pushed Taehyun’s buttons again.

“Then how are you getting back?”

“I’ll take a taxi.”

“No, I mean, do you even know how to drive? You said you don’t have a car.”

When Taehyun asked, dumbfounded, Sejin answered glibly.

“I don’t own a car, but that doesn’t mean the garage is empty…”

“Hah…”

All Taehyun could think was that this guy was a certifiable lunatic.

“So, get in the passenger seat.”

Sejin grabbed Taehyun’s bag and headed to the garage. Idiot. The car isn’t parked there. With the keys in the bag, Taehyun had no choice but to follow. Sejin, already at the garage, looked at Taehyun with a slightly panicked expression.

“You didn’t park it here.”

Taehyun left that one line and strode toward the gate. His car, parked outside for nearly two days, had a parking violation sticker slapped on the windshield.

“What…”

This shouldn’t be a restricted area, right? As Taehyun looked around in shock, Sejin flinched and explained.

“The residents here hire a manager to patrol. If a car isn’t registered as a resident’s and is parked like this, they sometimes stick these on.”

Why didn’t you tell me? It wasn’t even blocking anyone, but because it was in front of this infuriating guy’s garage, Taehyun’s poor compact SUV was now branded with a hard-to-remove sticker. Staring at it in despair, Sejin, noticing Taehyun’s expression, quickly added.

“I always open the garage when I’m here, so I didn’t think of it. Sorry. I’ll send you the garage code by message.”

Too late. Despite being an internal management sticker with no legal weight, it looked exactly like an illegal parking ticket, making him look like a violator until it was removed. Taehyun sighed heavily, and Sejin, gauging his mood, suggested.

“Should we stop by a repair shop on the way? They can remove it…”

If he had time for that, he’d rather rush back and grovel. Taehyun shook his head immediately.

“Forget it. The keys are in the pocket, so open the door.”

“Okay.”

Sejin climbed into the driver’s seat as promised. After glancing at Taehyun, he cautiously pulled the seat adjustment lever with a clunk, sliding it back. Taehyun burst into incredulous laughter.

“It’s not that serious.”

It was barely a 10cm difference, and Sejin was acting dramatic. It wasn’t like he was bragging about long legs, but as Taehyun thought this pettily, Sejin’s excuse was even more infuriating.

“N-no, it’s not that. I’ve never driven a car this small…”

“…….”

So now you’re saying my car’s crappy? Taehyun clicked his tongue, annoyed at everything. Sure, whatever. Must be nice being the heir to Ilwoon Pharmaceuticals. Swallowing his urge to snipe, he looked out the window as Sejin gripped the steering wheel with a visibly tense expression, like a pilot heading into a battle deciding a nation’s fate. Taehyun asked, voice dripping with doubt.

“You know where the brake and accelerator are, right?”

Was it safe to let this guy drive? Would they even make it to Jincheon, or would he die horribly? Taehyun glared suspiciously, and Sejin hurriedly clarified.

“Of course I do. Take a nap on the way.”

And then Sejin took a wrong turn at a junction halfway there. Taehyun’s contemptuous stare was, in a way, inevitable.

Finally back at the athletes’ village, Taehyun felt like he’d aged a decade. He desperately wanted to flee somewhere, anywhere. The coach and head coach, initially ready to scold him for missing training without notice, saw his drained expression and fell silent. They seemed to want to ask if his father had caused a major incident this time, but Taehyun exercised his right to remain silent. He couldn’t admit it was a lie and that he’d spent a full day getting pounded until his lower half was in tatters. Death would be preferable.

His face, practically halved in two days, spared him further questions. Though he insisted he could resume training, he looked so frail that the coach took him to the village’s clinic for an IV drip. After some rest and recovery, Taehyun went to the cafeteria, piling his plate with salad like an elephant and shoveling it in to fill his still-starving stomach. After skipping multiple meals, his stomach felt bottomless.

By the time he regained his condition, a week had passed since arriving. That meant Sejin would soon join him here.

🤺

Meanwhile, Sejin, having sent Taehyun off and returned to Seoul by taxi as promised, lay on the sofa, trying to calm his racing heart. The events of the previous night being real—not a dream—made him so exhilarated he couldn’t settle down. Talking so much was a first for him; by the end, he wondered if he was speaking proper Korean or accidentally slipping into French. It felt like he’d crammed three months’ worth of words into one hour.