Muheon and his husband’s overly affectionate displays were intriguing but also annoying.
Here they were, a couple of people who had never been in a relationship, and they just wouldn’t come out of their own little world.
Hwang Young, with a crooked smile on one side of his lips, tapped the table.
Hakyung, recognizing his signal, finally turned his body back from Muheon’s direction.
“I get it, you two have a thousand-year love story. Now hurry up and pick something.”
Hakyung quickly replied and meticulously examined each jewel in the box.
From perfectly round ones to geometric shapes, they were all unique and beautiful, making it hard to choose just one.
The fact that each jewel supposedly possessed a different ability made the decision even more difficult.
In contrast, Muheon picked a jewel instantly.
Naturally, it was a pink jewel, similar to Hakyung’s hair color.
When Muheon held out a jewel smaller than his pinky fingernail, Hwang Young burst into laughter.
It was quite amusing to see the outwardly and inwardly dark man present a pink jewel.
That jewel is really pretty, and my hubby has great taste…
Hakyung pouted, feeling that Hwang Young was laughing too openly, even for a close friend.
While the “dolphin” was upset about his husband’s taste being belittled, Muheon, who was the actual target of the mockery, didn’t care whether Hwang Young laughed or cried.
Instead of paying attention to Hwang Young, it was more productive to soothe Hakyung, who had a pouting lip.
“He’s just not very sensitive,” Muheon said, tapping Hakyung’s protruding lip.
Hwang Young made an incredulous face at being talked about so openly, not behind his back, but Muheon didn’t stop.
He didn’t even shy away from personal attacks, saying that Hwang Young lacked social skills because he’d never had a lover and only collected shiny things.
Hwang Young bit his lip tightly, feeling his blood pressure, which shouldn’t have been rising, actually rise.
In the now quiet CEO’s office, Muheon fussed over Hakyung, showering him with affection.
With his efforts, Hakyung’s lips returned to their normal position.
After pondering for a long time, Hakyung finally picked the one he liked best.
In his hand, a black jewel gleamed resplendently.
“I’ll take this one.”
“Well, you two are perfectly matched. Oh, you both picked things that don’t suit you at all.”
The black jewel Hakyung chose had a subtle red glow when it caught the light.
It didn’t suit Hakyung’s cute and refreshing image at all.
Though it seemed Hakyung and Muheon had both chosen jewels similar to their partners.
Hwang Young sighed deeply and handed them each the opposite jewel.
“This would be better. Even if it’s a job where we do what the client wants, I don’t want to force something that absolutely doesn’t suit them.”
“Oh… yes, I see. This pink jewel is fine too. Since the CEO picked it!”
“Alright, we’ll do that.”
At Hakyung’s affirmation, Muheon also quickly nodded.
Hwang Young looked at Muheon with soulless eyes.
Lee Muheon, you’ve become a complete romantic.
Muttering to himself, Hwang Young got up.
It had been amusing, but not something he could watch for long.
“I’ll send them to you on your wedding day. Now, put the rings here.”
“Please take good care of them.”
“Understood. Hakyung, please meet me separately later and sing a song for me.”
After giving a final reminder about the song, which he had momentarily forgotten, Hwang Young left.
Hakyung, who had unconsciously been clutching his neck, let out a sigh of relief.
Hwang Young didn’t look like the scary witch from The Little Mermaid, but his gaze somehow made him feel like his voice would truly be stolen.
Hakyung shivered once and leaned on Muheon’s shoulder.
“Your friend, the CEO, is really scary.”
“Well… what do the kids these days call it? An otaku? Anyway, it’s something like that.”
“Yeah, I know. That fanaticism. Because I’m a Lee Muheon otaku.”
Muheon chuckled at Hakyung’s out-of-this-world flirting.
At his laugh, Hakyung lifted his head quickly and bumped his lips against Muheon’s with a small laugh.
Those small lips were swallowed by Muheon in an instant.
***
Starting with Hwang Young, Muheon’s guests began arriving in Korea one by one.
While they weren’t figures known to the general public, at least the governments of East Asian countries, including Korea, had to react sensitively to their presence.
The Korean government, in particular, was extremely sensitive, worrying that imugis or shapeshifters from other countries might cause trouble on Korean territory.
Under the guise of treating them as state guests, they assigned numerous public officials to Muheon’s guests.
As a result, the number of unfamiliar faces in the company increased daily.
It was only natural for Hakyung, who had been happily working with a mere twenty or so “hyungnim” (older brothers/colleagues), to feel nervous.
Even when he was cleaning the stairs, unfamiliar eyes followed him, and while working on documents, he constantly felt a burning sensation at the back of his head.
The curiosity showered upon the husband of the West Sea Imugi made Hakyung’s stomach ache.
Hakyung’s face grew paler by the day from the stomach pain he had never experienced before.
Muheon, for his part, was also spending busy days attending to the guests who had come to congratulate him.
He had never sent out wedding invitations to anyone, so it was clear that Hwang Lin was the one who had spread the news of the wedding.
The annoying thing was that Hwang Lin, the mastermind behind this situation, was nowhere to be seen.
Clasping his aching temples, Muheon cursed inwardly.
“150 years ago, I turned back when I heard you were asleep, but then suddenly you’re getting married! This is truly something you’d expect to hear when the sun rises in the west, so I rushed over!”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
It was an unbelievably short reply compared to the other person’s lengthy explanation.
However, the other person continued to talk about his recent activities as if he hadn’t been affected at all.
The problem was that the “recent activities” covered 150 years.
Even though he was annoyed, this person had come all the way from the Middle East to congratulate him, so he decided he would listen for exactly three more minutes and then kick him out.
BANG BANG!
A frantic knocking sound was heard, and then the CEO’s office door burst open.
It was Ki Sang-oh who opened it.
“Muheon-nim! Hakyung-nim…”
“What is it?”
At Ki Sang-oh’s unusual expression, Muheon sprang to his feet.
Without any further explanation, Ki Sang-oh led the way, and Muheon followed with a rigid expression.
They rushed to the restroom. And in the innermost stall, he found Hakyung crouching in front of the toilet.
“Kang Hakyung!”
Muheon shouted, wrapping his arm around Hakyung’s shoulder.
Hakyung was trembling, his face pale.
“What’s wrong? Where does it hurt? Huh?”
“Ugh, my stomach hurts.”
His fluttering eyelashes were wet with tears.
Muheon, listening carefully to what Hakyung was saying, gently stroked Hakyung’s eyes.
Hakyung leaned his forehead against Muheon’s cool palm.
He must have had severe indigestion from breakfast; his solar plexus was throbbing, and his whole stomach felt tightly squeezed.
“I think I have indigestion…”
“Alright, does your stomach hurt a lot? Let’s go to the hospital quickly. Ki Sang-oh, call the hospital.”
“Yes, Muheon-nim.”
Outside the restroom, a crowd of company employees had gathered, unable to bring themselves to enter.
They all looked worried for Hakyung.
Hakyung had tried to say he was okay due to the worried gazes of his “hyungnim” who had followed him since he felt nauseous and ran to the restroom, but he could only manage a pained groan.
He wasn’t okay, not even as a formality.
He was trembling all over because he’d never felt this kind of pain in his life.
Even after throwing up everything in his stomach, the nausea hadn’t subsided.
He finally understood what the elders meant when they said acute indigestion was the scariest.
“Ugh…!”
Hakyung covered his mouth as another wave of nausea rose.
Seeing his eyes welling up again, Muheon placed his hand beneath Hakyung’s mouth.
“If you need to throw up, do it. Don’t hold it in. Huh?”
At Muheon’s words, Hakyung just shook his head.
No matter what, throwing up into someone’s hand was something he couldn’t do.
He was about to ask to be put down, thinking he should at least go to a toilet, but they had already arrived at the car.
Hakyung was carried to the hospital in Muheon’s arms without being able to move.
Thankfully, the mishap of throwing up on Muheon’s hand or in the car didn’t happen.
Still, he couldn’t smile because the pain was overwhelming.
Every time Hakyung groaned, Muheon’s brow furrowed deeper.
How he wished he could hurt in Hakyung’s place, but that was beyond his power.
“Just bear with it a little longer, okay? We’re at the hospital.”
Muheon whispered softly in Hakyung’s ear.
He was so pitiful, trying to nod at his words even while sweating profusely.
Muheon waited with an aching heart for Hakyung’s examination to finish.