Flower Fiancé Chapter 22

Just as he was about to open the door, Ji Yeonwoo came dashing over in a hurry, wedged himself between Choi Moohyuk and the door, and blocked it with his whole body. Blocked, Choi Moohyuk looked at Ji Yeonwoo with puzzled eyes.

“Could you… look at this later?”

“Is it the bedroom?”

Ji Yeonwoo nodded, a troubled look on his face.

“Well, what’s the big deal. All lived-in places are the same.”

As Choi Moohyuk moved to step around Ji Yeonwoo and reached out his arm, Ji Yeonwoo desperately followed him, blocking the door.

“No, it’s not about that….”

The sight of Ji Yeonwoo blocking it desperately was unfamiliar. The fact that he couldn’t even give a clear reason for not letting him in made him wonder if there wasn’t some other reason besides just not having cleaned.

“Don’t tell me you have some secret private life in there that you can’t show?”

“Something I can’t show?”

This time, Ji Yeonwoo blinked his wide eyes in puzzlement.

“For example, adult toys?”

“What? No? I don’t use things like that.”

Ji Yeonwoo exclaimed, horrified. As he’d felt last time, though Ji Yeonwoo himself probably wasn’t aware of it, his reactions were on the large side, making it subtly fun to tease him.

“What kind of things are those?”

“Th-that… what?”

Even stumbling over his words, Ji Yeonwoo’s face was colored with fluster.

“Normally, when you say adult products, wouldn’t most people think of something like condoms? Why are you horrified?”

“I, I was also, thinking of condoms when I said it?”

“Are you sure?”

“….”

“I don’t think so.”

As he kept catching the trailing end of his words and dragging it out, fluster spread across Ji Yeonwoo’s face. The lips that had been opening and closing repeatedly like a fish pressed firmly shut. Then, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, looking at Choi Moohyuk, narrowed thinly.

“Is it fun for you, Managing Director, to tease me?”

“Did it look like I was teasing?”

“Yes.”

At the unexpectedly firm tone, it was Choi Moohyuk this time who was at a loss for words. Ji Yeonwoo just kept his mouth closed and stared at Choi Moohyuk. This reaction, too, was a first. There was so much tension in Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes that he almost wondered, is he angry?

“Anyway, I’d prefer it if you didn’t go into the bedroom.”

The mood had flowed in an unintended direction. This wasn’t the reaction he’d wanted.

With sharp eyes, Ji Yeonwoo, who had been looking at Choi Moohyuk, tried to pass by him. Choi Moohyuk reflexively grabbed Ji Yeonwoo.

“Mr. Yeonwoo, just a moment…!”

— Grumble.

It was that moment. A rumbling sound came from somewhere. Hearing the noise breaking the quiet stillness, Choi Moohyuk’s eyes widened. So did Ji Yeonwoo’s, who had stopped abruptly in his tracks after being caught by Choi Moohyuk’s hand. The source of the sound was Ji Yeonwoo’s stomach.

∞ ∞ ∞

Ji Yeonwoo froze in place as if he had turned into a stone. Moving only his pupils, Choi Moohyuk scanned him. Beyond his face full of embarrassment, even his ears had flushed red. Seeing Ji Yeonwoo’s even wavering eyes, it seemed like an almost exact guess.

“Don’t tell me, it’s before dinner?”

Choi Moohyuk carefully leaned his head toward Ji Yeonwoo’s face. Flinching and stepping back, Ji Yeonwoo hastily wrapped his arms around his stomach. I must be crazy, being fine all day and then doing this now. At the small muttering sound, Choi Moohyuk couldn’t help but laugh. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been mortified enough to blush all the way to his face, reluctantly confessed.

“Actually, I haven’t been able to eat a single meal today.”

“Ah.”

The sound had been unusual, so he had expected it to some degree, but to think he hadn’t eaten a single meal. Choi Moohyuk let out a low sigh full of sympathy.

“Today, customers just kept flooding in, so I missed my mealtimes.”

“If I’d known, I should have had you eat before coming in.”

“Anyway, I usually hardly eat dinner or just eat something simple when I get home. Though it’s rare that I miss every meal like today.”

Choi Moohyuk turned his body and faced Ji Yeonwoo. Still wrapping his arms around his stomach, Ji Yeonwoo looked up at Choi Moohyuk and smiled awkwardly.

“It’s fine. I didn’t have a separate dinner arrangement anyway. I can eat after you leave, Managing Director. So….”

“How do you know when I’m leaving?”

“Pardon?”

He thought Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t have not known what he was hoping for when he had initially asked to see his place. But it felt spiteful that he had brought his alpha, who had become his lover, all the way home, only to be waiting for him to leave.

Half of the reason Choi Moohyuk had been drawn to Ji Yeonwoo was curiosity about a pheromone-less omega, and half was because his first impression had been quite striking. Though it was flowing a bit differently from the typical trait-person romance led by pheromones he’d had until now, his nature couldn’t change all at once.

It meant that even if there were no pheromones, he couldn’t become a saint who would simply look at an omega who was now undeniably his lover, like a picture of a rice cake, while being in the same house.

“What do you….”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been looking at him with finely trembling eyes as if gauging the meaning of Choi Moohyuk’s words, barely opened his mouth. Standing with both hands in the pockets of his suit pants and staring fixedly at Ji Yeonwoo, Choi Moohyuk then brushed right past him.

“First, let’s eat something, then talk.”

As he walked, Choi Moohyuk unbuckled his belt with neat, crisp motions and took off his jacket. He draped the jacket as if hanging it over the back of the sofa and turned his steps toward the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator door. The visible ingredients were varied. Still, since it seemed he did cook and eat something, most of the food ingredients were fresh and highly versatile.

After scanning roughly with his eyes, Choi Moohyuk closed the refrigerator door and turned around.

“Do you have pasta noodles at home?”

“Yes. Over there….”

Ji Yeonwoo said, approaching from behind Choi Moohyuk. As if it were his own home, Choi Moohyuk opened the door of the shelf where pasta noodles were likely to be. He saw storage containers holding noodles for Korean dishes and pasta noodles separately.

“Is pasta okay? This seems like something I can make simply.”

Leaning his back against the island, Choi Moohyuk spoke while undoing the cuff links fastening the wrists of his shirt.

“Yes. I eat it well, but….”

“Then sit down. I’ll make it in no time.”

Watching him, Ji Yeonwoo swallowed dryly.

Choi Moohyuk turned around, filled a pot with water to boil the pasta noodles, put it on the stove, and prepped the ingredients. In the meantime, he heard the sound of a chair scraping behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Ji Yeonwoo sitting at the dining table with his chin propped, watching him. Choi Moohyuk softly raised one corner of his lip. He was glad not to have spoiled the mood with talk about how they could just order food since it was late.

While the water boiled, he prepped the ingredients. He sliced whole garlic cloves, took out frozen shrimp and washed them, and cut bacon into bite-sized pieces. The hand doing the cutting was unhindered.

Pasta was one of the dishes Choi Moohyuk often made for himself when he had no appetite or felt lazy. It was also a dish that was easier to make than most Korean food.

What was born in an instant from Choi Moohyuk’s hands was bacon shrimp cream pasta.

“Try it. I can’t guarantee the taste.”

He pushed the plate of pasta in front of Ji Yeonwoo. Seeing the pasta, rolled up neatly and beautifully plated on a moderately sized dish, with parsley powder sprinkled lightly on top, Ji Yeonwoo looked at Choi Moohyuk as if amazed. His eyes asked where he had found this without being told.

Choi Moohyuk lowered his rolled-up shirt sleeves and sat down in the seat next to Ji Yeonwoo. Ji Yeonwoo, who had been looking back and forth between the pasta and Choi Moohyuk, picked up his fork and twirled the cream-drenched pasta noodles starting from the edge. After chewing a few times, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes flew open.

“Managing Director.”

He hadn’t even chewed what was in his mouth a few times, but Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes grew large as he turned to Choi Moohyuk.

“Why. Is it not good?”

“No. It’s really delicious. I’d believe you if you said you sold this.”

At the innocent reaction, Choi Moohyuk chuckled.

“Don’t flatter me too much.”

“I mean it. It’s the most delicious pasta I’ve ever eaten. Do you cook on the side too, Managing Director?”