Crazy A Married Life

#05

“Gasp!”

This was the worst of the worst. Idam’s whole body froze at Taemin’s appearance. Cherry’s brow also furrowed as if greeting an unwelcome guest.

“Who are you? Don’t interfere.”

“Isn’t it interference to film without the subject’s permission?”

Taemin grabbed the protruding camera and pointed it downwards. It was a light yet terrifying gesture, like twisting a child’s neck. The man holding the camera frowned as if he was about to grab Taemin’s collar.

At that moment, Cherry stared intently at Taemin’s face and suddenly turned pale. He immediately stopped the man.

“Hey, don’t touch him.”

“Why?”

“Just stay still.”

Cherry, with a somewhat frightened face, took the man and left the scene. Idam unexpectedly managed to overcome the crisis thanks to Taemin. However, the person Idam fundamentally needed to run away from now was not Cherry, but Taemin.

It seemed Taemin had found Idam because of Cherry’s noisy behavior. He couldn’t understand why nothing was going right today of all days.

“Sigh…”

As he sighed, Idam felt his pheromones leaking again. He didn’t understand why his pheromone glands were acting up so tactlessly. Just as he quickly suppressed them and was about to slink away…

“Mr. Yeo Idam.”

“Gasp!”

Idam’s eyes widened at Taemin’s voice clearly calling his name. It was the moment that proved Hayun’s guess right – Taemin had come to the detective agency because he knew Idam worked there.

“Are you trying to run away again, like that night?”

“I’m… I’m sorry. That’s not…”

Idam couldn’t continue. His eyes grew hot, and feeling like he might burst into tears, he bit his lip hard. It was even worse because there was no one around. If he had known he would be caught like this, he should have agreed to talk at the cafe earlier.

“…”

Taemin, who had been staring at Idam, sighed.

“Let’s talk for a moment. We’ll move to another location.”

Honestly, Idam didn’t want to go. He felt that if they moved, an even more frightening situation might unfold. He wanted to just end it here.

“Did I say something strange that night because I was drunk?”

Honestly, Idam didn’t think he had acted flirtatiously as Hayun had guessed. But he asked, wondering if he might have done something similarly obnoxious. Taemin looked surprised for a moment, then his eyes curved gently.

“If so, what would you do?”

“I wasn’t in my right mind. Just think of it as nonsense and forget it. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Idam bowed deeply. Although he had no memory, he wanted to end it with an apology now. Taemin looked at the top of Idam’s head. His orange hair swayed gently in the spring breeze. Each time it did, Taemin’s blue eyes flashed with a greedy light before hiding it.

“Actually, that night, you, Mr. Yeo Idam, said you would grant my request.”

“I did?”

Idam looked up at him. Taemin nodded, smiling elegantly with his eyes.

“Yes. I should tell you again. But first, let’s not do this here. Let’s move to another location.”

“Gasp!”

No matter how much he tried to avoid it, it all came down to changing locations.

Soon, with the sound of an engine, a black sedan pulled up behind Taemin. The driver’s door opened, and a broad-shouldered man got out. He had an unfriendly expression and a cross-shaped scar on his forehead. He looked ominous. From any angle, he looked like a gangster.

Terrified, Idam stepped back. He felt hopeless, wondering if he was going to be dragged away and have his organs harvested. But now he was too scared even to try to escape.

In the end, Idam was practically kidnapped by Taemin and got into the sedan. His whole body trembled, wondering if he would be locked in some warehouse and beaten tonight.

* * *

Contrary to his wild imagination, the place Taemin took him to was a Korean restaurant converted from a traditional hanok. It had private rooms, and Idam sat facing Taemin across a table. The floor seating was warm with the heat from the ondol rising from the floor. But regardless of the warmth, the atmosphere was still awkward.

Soon, the door opened, and an employee wearing a modernized hanbok entered.

“CEO, shall we serve the meal as reserved?”

“Yes, please do so.”

It seemed he had already chosen the menu. As if he had anticipated meeting Idam like this. He looked at Idam with the kindest eyes in the world. According to Hayun, he was supposed to be difficult and gossiped about, but the more Idam interacted with him, the more he felt the opposite.

“It seems you don’t remember anything about that night, Mr. Idam.”

“No…”

Idam told the truth. A strange mischief settled on Taemin’s lips.

“I asked you to become my wife.”

At his shocking statement, Idam felt like his body was floating in the air.

Wife? He repeated the word several times in his mind, wondering if it was the same word he knew. But he realized there was no other word to replace it.

“And I… I accepted that request?”

Taemin nodded instead of answering. Idam felt like everything was going dark. Why had he made such a request, and how had Idam agreed? Feeling heat rushing to his head and his throat burning, he moved his lips.

“That day, I was very drunk, so I… wasn’t in my right mind…”

As he was about to continue, saying that he was really sorry but would have to refuse, Taemin cut in first.

“Don’t worry. You only need to be married to me for a week.”

Married for a week?

“Why should I do such a thing?”

Idam asked, feeling his head getting tangled. Taemin continued his explanation as if he understood Idam’s feelings.

“I like alphas.”

“Ah…”

If this was the first time he had encountered this fact, he would have been quite surprised, but since he had already heard it from Hayun, he remained calm. However, for some reason feeling disappointed, Idam unconsciously clenched his fist.

“I know my identity isn’t normal. So I’ve had a lot of worries since I was young. My father, who values continuing the family line, tried to change my orientation, but it wasn’t easy. And now I’ve reached the age for marriage. My father tried to arrange a strategic marriage with an omega from another company. I refused because I didn’t want a loveless marriage to begin with. But he kept insisting.”

“I see…”

“Currently, my father is in Hawaii due to a new business issue. He’s planning to come to Korea soon. So I want to show my father that I’ve married another omega and avoid the arranged marriage.”

“So your father will be in Korea for a week?”

“Yes, that’s right. You just need to help me during that time.”

Idam never thought he would encounter an arranged marriage like this, which he had only seen in dramas. Being a commoner to the bone, this situation felt unreal to Idam.

“You’re an omega, right?”

Come to think of it, he already knew Idam’s name. Then he should naturally know his phenotype, so why was he asking? But feeling he should answer, Idam nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

“Then how old are you?”

“Tw-twenty years old.”

He probably knew his age too, so Idam didn’t understand why he was asking.

“Most omegas marry at a young age, so you’re not a bad match for me.”

He was right. Omegas, with stronger reproductive urges than betas, tended to marry early. Even Hayun had expressed his ambition to marry within the next two years.

“There must be many better omegas than me…”

He wondered why he was making this proposal to him, an extremely recessive omega. Moreover, he seemed to have a wide network of connections.

“I couldn’t find a suitable partner.”

Idam wondered what the criteria for “suitable” were that made him propose this to him. He was curious but swallowed his questions, feeling it was inappropriate to probe further.

“I didn’t think I would end up making this request when I went to that dinner. Jiwoo and I are hometown friends. He suddenly said he had work at the company and asked me to fill in for him. So I had no choice but to do him the favor.”

As Hayun had guessed, they did know each other. It seemed that human relationships shouldn’t be judged based on superficial observations. Even so, why did they pretend not to know each other when they encountered each other at the bar where they enjoyed entertainment? Was there some circumstance? Questions arose, but feeling like he was digging too deep, he stopped.

Amidst all this, another question sprouted. If he had come in place of his friend, couldn’t he have just stayed for a while? Why did he suggest going for a second round and such? He didn’t know how awkward that had made him. He was contemplating whether to ask this or not.

“What is it? Do you have something you’re curious about?”

Taemin asked as if he had read Idam’s mind. For a moment, Idam was flustered, but deciding to be honest since it had come to this, he opened his mouth.

“Well, then why did you suggest going for a second round that day?”

“Jiwoo said he had promised to go for a second round with the omega he was supposed to meet. He said he had even reserved a room and prepared a room service event.”

“What?”

Hayun had said he just needed to sit there for two hours, but what was this? It was confusing how things had turned out.

“So I was planning to finish that event and leave quickly. But suddenly I had an urgent matter and had to leave first. However, it felt impolite to just leave like that, so I returned to the restaurant to say goodbye. But you were too drunk to control your body. Do you remember this?”

“Yes… only up to that point…”

Taemin continued speaking as if he had anticipated Idam’s answer.

“After that, you lost consciousness, and we had to go to the room.”

“Ah…”

“We weren’t in a condition to receive room service, so I cancelled it, and not long after, you woke up. I was about to leave, but you grabbed me first. Then you suddenly told me your real name.”

“Gasp, I did?”

Instead of answering, Taemin nodded and continued.

“Yes. You even told me the company you’re currently working at and your home address.”

Idam thought he must have done something rude, not only revealing all his personal information to someone he had just met.

“Then, was there anything else I said?”

He was worried that he might have mentioned his extremely recessive phenotype or pheromone disability.

“You said you had come in place of a friend. Then you asked if there were any good job opportunities.”

“Sigh…”

Usually, Idam was under a lot of stress because of money. Especially at that time, he had just lost his weekend part-time job, so he was feeling more anxious. It seemed these thoughts had come out unconsciously under the influence of alcohol.

“Then, was that all?”

“Yes. You didn’t say much else.”

Taemin’s gaze was firm as he nodded. For better or worse, it seemed he hadn’t mentioned his phenotype. Well, if he had known he was an extremely recessive omega, he wouldn’t have made this request. But realizing that his drunk behavior wasn’t good, Idam thought he shouldn’t drink excessively in the future.

“I also needed help from an omega. So I asked if you could be married to me for just a week.”

“It seems I accepted…”

“Yes… You answered so well that I thought you weren’t that drunk.”

Even with Taemin’s explanation, Idam couldn’t remember anything. It seemed he had really blacked out. Although he had grasped the situation to some extent, he still had more questions.

“Then why were we naked?”