Flower Fiancé Chapter 101

His mother smiled and spoke to Choi Moohyuk.

“He eats anything well.”

“If you say that, you won’t get fed. You have to tell me what you want to eat so I can make it.”

Hearing his mother’s characteristic playful reply, Choi Moohyuk gave a relaxed smile.

“If it’s food that my mother-in-law has made, isn’t it all delicious? Whatever you make, I can eat it well.”

“Oh my, really. How can you speak so prettily?”

His mother laughed, hoho, and looked at Ji Yeonwoo standing beside her. Meeting her eyes, Ji Yeonwoo felt his shoulders puff up for no reason.

Ji Yeonwoo rolled up his sleeve and checked the time. Before he knew it, it was approaching 10 p.m.

“We’ll be going now. I’ll call you, Father, Mother.”

“Alright. You must be tired, so go ahead.”

“Go carefully.”

After offering his greetings in turn to his mother and father, Ji Yeonwoo got into the back seat with Choi Moohyuk. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been watching his parents receding through the car’s rear window, straightened his body and sat up.

From beside him, he heard a deep exhale. Choi Moohyuk, sinking his body into the back seat as if burying himself in it, loosened his tightening tie. Perhaps because the tension had eased, his face was now showing the effects of the alcohol rising.

“Uhm, are you sure you’re okay?”

As Ji Yeonwoo raised himself and moved closer to Choi Moohyuk’s side, Choi Moohyuk slid and leaned onto Ji Yeonwoo’s shoulder.

“If your stomach feels bad, should I buy you some medicine?”

“Just, let me stay like this for a bit. I drank too much.”

“How much did you drink?”

“About, six bottles?”

“Wha-at? Of soju?”

He hadn’t seemed that drunk, so Ji Yeonwoo had thought he’d drunk only a little and talked a lot, but six bottles? Now that he was speaking, he could smell the sharp alcohol scent.

“No, what kind of drinking…. You didn’t just drink whatever was given to you, did you?”

“How could I refuse the drinks Father offered?”

“Even so, there are limits. My goodness…”

Choi Moohyuk, resting his head on Ji Yeonwoo’s shoulder, laughed loosely.

“There was no other intention, I think he just wanted to test me. To see what I’d look like completely drunk…”

“You realized that and just stayed still?”

“Because I understand. This time, he just wants you to live happily, doesn’t he? If I were in the same position, I probably would have done more.”

With his eyes closed, leaning on Ji Yeonwoo’s shoulder, Choi Moohyuk spoke in a languid voice. Ji Yeonwoo, with drooping eyes, stared intently at Choi Moohyuk.

This kind of test from his parents could have felt unpleasant, but Choi Moohyuk didn’t show any sign of it at all. Ji Yeonwoo felt both grateful and sorry for his consideration in understanding his parents’ intentions.

“You worked hard.”

Ji Yeonwoo whispered, stroking Choi Moohyuk’s face.

“Still, I’m glad Father liked you.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. Father usually isn’t very expressive, but the fact that he personally brought you honey water with ice in it means he really approved of you.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried.”

“What is there to worry about? Someone like our Moohyuk has a free pass.”

Choi Moohyuk slowly raised his head and stared at Ji Yeonwoo. When Ji Yeonwoo met his eyes and smiled, Choi Moohyuk kissed him on the cheek and buried his face deeply in his neck.

“Your father worries about you a lot. So I felt even more responsible, and I thought I should treat you well.”

“Really?”

“It’s not just to make you feel good, it’s true. It was nice. Because it was my first time drinking with Father. Toward the end of the drinking session, I felt like I’d gained another father.”

Choi Moohyuk’s unusually languid, relaxed voice was pleasant to hear. Ji Yeonwoo laughed lightly and leaned his cheek against Choi Moohyuk’s head.

“So now we just have to live happily together, just the two of us. That’s all that’s left.”

Choi Moohyuk pulled Ji Yeonwoo’s waist close and buried his face deep in his neck.

“Ah, this is so good. Our Yeonwoo’s scent.”

Ji Yeonwoo felt his touch and breath and closed his eyes gently. It was a moment when he realized that happiness wasn’t so far away.

∞ ∞ ∞

After dinner, he brewed a cup of coffee and came to the sofa. Choi Moohyuk, sitting close beside Ji Yeonwoo who was wrapped in a blanket, gave him a light kiss. Just as the playful kiss was deepening, a familiar name flowed from the television they had left on.

[It has been revealed that the mastermind behind the recent controversial new drug case is Mr. Lee, the eldest son of the JT Group. Mr. Lee, a Woosung Alpha, recently went through a divorce and also developed pheromone deficiency, and stated that he impulsively turned to drugs, but investigation has uncovered evidence that he had been systematically diverting and personally using drugs for 4 years. In response, the police…]

Turning his head to look at the television, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes narrowed. The man walking, led by police with a hat pulled down low and both hands cuffed in front of him, was Lee Hyunjoon.

Watching Lee Hyunjoon, who had fallen past rock bottom and reached the entrance to hell, Ji Yeonwoo picked up the remote, turned off the television, and leaned his body against Choi Moohyuk.

Now Lee Hyunjoon might not even get out of prison. It wouldn’t be easy for him to expect help from his family either. Being caught with such clear charges meant that his family had effectively abandoned Lee Hyunjoon.

“See? I told you I’d take care of Lee Hyunjoon myself.”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been sitting on Choi Moohyuk’s thighs with his face against his firm chest, snapped his head up.

So, does that mean Lee Hyunjoon getting caught was all part of the plan?

“Now, don’t worry about scum like Lee Hyunjoon, just think about me. Okay?”

At this moment, Choi Moohyuk felt more reliable and magnificent than anyone else in the world. It felt like being with this person meant there was nothing to fear.

Ji Yeonwoo lifted the corners of his lips in a smile and nodded. He wrapped his arms around Choi Moohyuk’s neck and leaned his face against his shoulder. A large hand stroked down his thin back and wrapped around his waist.

Choi Moohyuk, who had been pressing kisses to his ear and neck, raised his head as if something had occurred to him.

“Ah, come to think of it, is it tomorrow?”

At the sudden change of subject, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes widened. ‘Tomorrow?’ As he repeated the word and retraced his thoughts, Choi Moohyuk continued.

“The move, I mean.”

“Ah. Right. It’s tomorrow.”

“Is there anything to prepare?”

“Not really, I don’t think so. It’s just a matter of going there and picking up a few things.”

After greeting both families in turn, Ji Yeonwoo had brought up the idea of moving in together with Choi Moohyuk first. In fact, they were already waking up in the same bed in the morning, but even though he had closed the shop, he needed to settle the matter of the house he had kept due to the lease contract. Conveniently, the lease on his original apartment was ending and the renewal period was approaching, so he needed to make a decision either way.

Since they would be combining households once they got married anyway, and there was almost no luggage at his original place, he judged that it made sense both economically and efficiently to clear that place out and move into Choi Moohyuk’s house.

Upon hearing Ji Yeonwoo’s decision, Choi Moohyuk, instead of saying anything, held Ji Yeonwoo tightly. With his face buried in his neck, he said thank you for speaking up first, his voice trembling faintly. Ji Yeonwoo had thought there would be no special excitement since they were already living together, but seeing Choi Moohyuk’s reaction, unable to hide his nervousness as if it were his first love, made his heart pound somehow.

“Are you sure you don’t want to call anyone to help?”

Ji Yeonwoo, looping his arms around Choi Moohyuk’s neck and bringing his face close, gently rubbed the tip of his nose against his.

“It’s just a few bags of clothes at most, really.”

“It’s not about how much or how little luggage you have; moving is inherently a very arduous task.”

“If there were a lot of large items, that would be different, but I can’t have someone else pack my clothes for me.”

Choi Moohyuk, listening quietly, nodded. Hearing that, it did make a certain amount of sense. He felt both sorry for him trying to do it alone and also impressed.

“Then let’s do it together. I’ll be at home tomorrow too.”

He said this, pulling Ji Yeonwoo’s slim waist close and kneading it gently. At that, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes widened.

“Huh? Aren’t you going to work tomorrow?”

Unlike the flustered Ji Yeonwoo, the one who had actually spoken, Choi Moohyuk, answered as if it were no big deal.