Flower Fiancé Chapter 61

The long eyelashes that had been languidly closing and opening, feeling the even breath tickling the nape of the neck, shut completely as if hypnotized.

∞ ∞ ∞

Ji Yeonwoo flinched and opened his eyes. Bright light was visible beyond the fully drawn curtains. Morning had apparently arrived before he knew it. His whole body ached, probably due to last night. The low-grade fever still hadn’t subsided, and now a headache had been added on top of it.

“…Huh?”

As Ji Yeonwoo shifted his aching body and tossed, he suddenly noticed the empty space beside him.

“…Managing Director?”

Only after turning around did he realize he was lying in bed alone, and he shot up. A wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him, perhaps because of the abruptly changed posture. Ji Yeonwoo hesitated, letting out a small pained sound while frowning with one eye and pressing his palm to his temple.

Even in the midst of that, he scanned the room, but no trace of him was visible anywhere. Was he in the living room? Wearing only his drawers with a shower gown draped over them, Ji Yeonwoo secured the belt at his waist and opened the bedroom door.

No one was in the living room, but the sound of water pouring came from the bathroom. Only then did he realize that Choi Moohyuk was showering, and the tension that had spread across his face slowly faded.

A growling sound came from his stomach. Come to think of it, he had no memory of eating anything since yesterday’s lunch.

“Could it be that I was dizzy from hunger?”

Muttering in a small voice, Ji Yeonwoo chuckled at the thought that such a day had come. He was hungry, and while Choi Moohyuk was showering, he thought about making something—the moment he stepped toward the kitchen.

— Beep beep beep.

Without warning, the sound of the house’s passcode being pressed was heard. Startled, Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes widened. It wasn’t a prank sound; it was the sound of someone entering the passcode precisely.

But he had definitely said he lived alone, so who would be coming in? And if they shared the passcode, that meant they were close…

While he hesitated in fluster, the door clicked open in an instant. Shocked, Ji Yeonwoo quickly turned toward the entrance.

“Hyung. Why aren’t you answering your phone…?”

A man opened the door and strode inside without hesitation. He paused only after seeing Ji Yeonwoo standing frozen in the middle of the living room.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a guest?”

Standing at a suitable distance and facing each other, his gaze drifted toward the bathroom where the sound of water continued.

Choi Moohyuk, who was washing up, and Ji Yeonwoo, dressed in a shower gown with no way of knowing what he was or wasn’t wearing underneath, were more than enough to provoke the imagination.

“But your attire isn’t exactly ordinary.”

His gaze, directed back at Ji Yeonwoo, sharpened in an instant. Ji Yeonwoo flinched and stepped backward.

He had a tall stature and good build comparable to Choi Moohyuk. Above all, he had handsome features similar to Choi Moohyuk, but the man standing before him possessed a somewhat slimmer and sharper image.

Standing at a distance, he swept his gaze over Ji Yeonwoo with a meaningful look. Feeling deeply suspicious of that gaze, Ji Yeonwoo clutched his shower gown and furrowed his brow.

“I apologize if I startled you. I’ve never seen anyone at hyung’s place before.”

“How did you get in here?”

He was on guard. He tried to gauge who this person could be to enter so familiarly. He couldn’t be family—his speech and attire, everything about him was vastly different from Choi Moohyuk. Even giving him the utmost benefit of the doubt as a secretary, his conduct didn’t seem entirely proper.

“Ah, this is something.”

As if the unwelcome treatment wasn’t entirely pleasant, his eyes seemed to slightly distort, but it was only for a moment.

Scratching the back of his head, he soon twisted up one corner of his mouth as if finding this situation amusing.

“I’m not a stranger.”

And then, as if to reassure the flustered Ji Yeonwoo, he extended his hand while keeping his distance.

“I’m Choi Minhyeok. I’m Moohyuk hyung’s younger brother.”

“Younger… brother?”

Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t believe his ears. They resembled each other, but he doubted whether he really was his brother. Aside from slightly similar features, his physique and overall aura were entirely different from Choi Moohyuk.

If Choi Moohyuk was a person who exuded a solid, weighted presence, Choi Minhyeok, who introduced himself as his brother, appeared infinitely lighter by comparison.

His attire was like that too. It was a suit, all right, but the buttons undone down to below his collarbone and the improperly put-together appearance looked utterly delinquent.

It was the typical attire that delinquents wore. For instance, gangsters or people of that sort.

But seeing how he spoke, he might indeed be his brother, or he might not be, so Ji Yeonwoo was staring at him with a meaningful face while remaining wary, when Choi Minhyeok raised the awkwardly extended hand slightly and continued.

“I’ve given my name. Shouldn’t you at least tell me your name as well?”

Hearing that rebuke-like remark, Ji Yeonwoo felt his tension deflate. Come to think of it, he was right. Brother or not, at this point, he seemed to be someone deeply connected to Choi Moohyuk, so Ji Yeonwoo thought he shouldn’t act any more rudely.

“Ah, I’m Ji Yeonwoo.”

Only then did Ji Yeonwoo release the shower gown he’d been clenching and grasp Choi Minhyeok’s hand.

“Ji Yeonwoo? A name that suits you well. Your age?”

Hearing the name, Choi Minhyeok grinned, and gripped Ji Yeonwoo’s hand—which was lightly holding his—with force. Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes colored with a flustered light as he hastily pulled his hand away and stepped back again, putting distance between them.

“I asked because hyung doesn’t seem likely to tell me. I’ll apologize if it offended you.”

As if sensing the guardedness in the gaze fixed on him, Choi Minhyeok raised both hands. And yet, Choi Minhyeok still wore an expression of intrigue.

“Then let me change the question. This is a bit cliché, but what’s your relationship with hyung?”

His mood soured at the increasingly overstepping rudeness. Had he been staying still, did that make him look like someone to be taken lightly?

“Don’t you think that question just now was also rude?”

When Ji Yeonwoo sharply retorted, contrary to his gentle appearance, Choi Minhyeok finally showed a slightly surprised look.

“I know. I know it is, but it’s quite an important issue for me.”

“An important issue?”

“Haa, I wondered if you might be the central figure in whatever our hyung-nim is concerned about…”

After posing the question and scanning Ji Yeonwoo, Choi Minhyeok abruptly furrowed his brow.

“I don’t think I need to hear the answer. I think I already know.”

Hurriedly concluding his words, Choi Minhyeok swept his fingertip over the tip of his nose with a frown.

“Just how much did this hyung pour on? He’s completely drenched in pheromones, absolutely drenched.”

Drenched in pheromones? Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t hide his puzzlement at his words. Well, he had been with Choi Moohyuk continuously, so it might only be natural that his pheromones had clung to him. But judging by Choi Minhyeok’s reaction, he wasn’t just talking about simply having pheromones on his body.

“The fact that he’s unaffected despite this level of marking means he’s not an omega. He’s pouring that much dedication into a beta? Has hyung’s taste changed recently?”

Choi Minhyeok muttered as he rubbed his lower lip with his index finger. His gaze was directly meeting Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes, which were wavering as if flustered.

“Anyway, I think I’ve more or less finished sorting out the relationship…”

“…”

“I’m asking this out of an abundance of caution, but you do know what kind of work hyung does, right?”

Unlike the questions that had been unhesitating up until now, this one came back cautiously, as if to confirm something.

Rather, feeling even more uneasy at that demeanor, Ji Yeonwoo hesitated and answered.

“Seonwoo Mulsan Managing Director… is what…”

“…Excuse me?”

Hearing the stammered answer that came out, Choi Minhyeok raised his voice as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“No, well, that’s not wrong either but… good grief.”

Choi Minhyeok, who had been faltering like a broken robot, eventually let out a low sigh. Ji Yeonwoo had to shut his mouth there.

Could it be, there’s another side to Choi Moohyuk that I don’t know?

The Choi Moohyuk that Choi Minhyeok spoke of seemed like a person from a different world that Ji Yeonwoo didn’t know.

The person who appeared looking like a gangster and called himself Choi Moohyuk’s brother, the questions asking if his taste had changed, the deliberate asking of whether he knew what work he did—it all felt far removed from ordinary.

He couldn’t grasp what was going on. Could he still be dreaming?