By Zephyria He always wakes up at the same time.
Whether in midsummer or midwinter, he always showers with warm water and always has the same breakfast menu. His morning menu consists of crispy toast with nothing spread on it and warm milk with sugar. Though it’s rather modest for room service, it doesn’t look lonely compared to what’s prepared since his work phone, tablet PC, and morning newspapers are alongside it.
After finishing his meal, he immediately prepares for work. Though it looks no different from yesterday on the outside, he puts on a cleanly laundered shirt and ties his tie. He prefers a simple style without patterns and without flashy colors. On days with meetings or important appointments, he also puts on a vest. When it’s cold, he’ll add a coat and scarf over that, but since he spends most of the year indoors, weather doesn’t have much influence.
He always maintains his suit attire. His family has had a great influence on this. He grew up watching family members in wrinkle-free suits from childhood. Even outside of cameras, even inside the house, they never let themselves become disheveled. Even when hungry, they wouldn’t eat outside of designated places, and they avoided unnecessary conversation as much as possible. No matter how tired they were, they never carelessly revealed their condition to others. In his young eyes, they embodied the most perfect form of adults in the world.
He has a large age gap with his family members. He thought it strange that he alone looked like a child. He wanted to become an adult as quickly as possible. He thought that if he didn’t rush food even when hungry, and didn’t show signs of pain even when hurt, he too would become an adult. Indeed, that’s how he became an adult. Now he’s a proper member of the family.
He always commutes to work at the same time. Occasionally, due to bad weather or unexpected incidents, commuting takes longer than usual, so to prevent this in advance, he chose to leave an hour earlier. Therefore, his official arrival time at work is always the same.
After arriving at work, he spends busy time with work. The work content varies daily, but the essence doesn’t differ. After finishing morning work time that’s an hour longer than others, he always eats the same lunch box at the same time. The lunch menu is healthy food with added protein, fiber, and vitamins that he couldn’t get at breakfast. The menu changes once every two weeks, and no matter what menu it is, he never leaves anything. He doesn’t complain either. He doesn’t have picky eating habits and has no food allergies. He has no favorite foods either.
After finishing his meal, he takes a brief rest. He also exercises to promote smooth metabolism. Physical strength is competitiveness. He never neglects exercise. The exercise content varies depending on his condition, but even that doesn’t differ greatly. Exercise always ends with stretching, and after finishing a shower with warm water, it’s time to return to work.
His afternoon work hours are always busy. It’s a continuous cycle of meetings, reports, and approvals. His perfect family members have walked this path for a very long time. If it weren’t for him, there wouldn’t have been any blemishes on his perfect family members’ careers, so his responsibility is heavy.
He works. And he’s busy. Frantically busy. When he thinks about the financial damage he caused his family, the road ahead still seems long.
He eats dinner at a set time for regular meals. When there are business dinners, he eats outside, but most meals take place at the company. The dinner menu is a lunch box from the same place as lunch. Again, he never leaves anything.
His quitting time isn’t specifically set. It’s always like that. Sometimes it goes past midnight, sometimes it doesn’t. No matter what time it is, he takes a shower with warm water as soon as he returns to his hotel room. When he’s hungry, he sometimes eats fruit simply, but while handling various work tasks, the fruit is often pushed to the back burner.
Leaving the half-eaten fruit aside, he focuses on work. Sometimes he receives work reports or has video conferences due to time differences. His night isn’t much different from his day.
Still, the earth turns. When the morning sun rises again, he always wakes up at the same time. Goes to work. Works. Exercises. Works. Leaves work. Works. Goes to work.
A crack appeared in his regular routine.
It was on his way back home after finishing a short business trip. He was passing in front of the duty-free shop when he stopped in front of a certain store. It’s not that he had suddenly become interested in the duty-free business. He just paused for a moment, drawn by a familiar scent.
His accompanying secretary didn’t panic at his sudden action. He just calmly tried to fulfill his assigned duties. The accompanying secretary, who noticed his gaze, quickly made a report.
“It’s a chocolate specialty brand with an attractive rich flavor. It’s not yet distributed domestically, so it’s particularly popular among Korean tourists visiting overseas. Despite somewhat demanding storage requirements, it has a good reputation among chocolate enthusiasts…”
Indeed, he seriously listened to his secretary’s words. The accompanying secretary was deeply impressed by his superior’s dedication to market research even during business trips. His superior was truly remarkable.
“There are thirteen varieties in total.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“Buy one of each variety.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And.”
“Yes. Please go ahead, Executive Director.”
“Buy them by the box, not individually.”
Next must be the dessert industry! “Yes, Executive Director!” The accompanying secretary ran to the register with determination. It was a good opportunity to utilize his ability to speak five languages fluently. The accompanying secretary, who was accompanying his superior on a business trip for the first time, had been given a mission.
“…So, direct shipping to Korea is difficult?”
“Yes, that’s correct. They say the product texture that has the greatest impact on taste gets ruined.”
And this is now. Having safely returned to Korea, he’s giving a briefing in front of the entrance. Not the hotel entrance, but the entrance of the newlywed home he had set his sights on early. He no longer stays at hotels. He now has a home to return to.
“Can you see? As shown on the outside of the box, the product actually has this texture.”
He’s explaining the brand value in even more detail than what he heard from his accompanying secretary. His spouse is silently watching him. Looking back and forth between the thirteen boxes of chocolate placed before them and their husband who went on a business trip and returned with thirteen boxes of chocolate. Each chocolate box was individually wrapped and packed in an ice box. In other words, the volume was tremendous. If stacked in a row, it might exceed his spouse’s height.
“That concludes my presentation. Do you have any questions?”
The briefing was finally over. “Yes!” During the Q&A session that followed, his spouse raised their hand brightly.
“I’ll take your question. Please ask.”
“What’s the expiration date?”
It was a very sharp question. At this piercing question that struck at his weakness, his complexion noticeably hardened.
“Since it’s hard to store, it seems like something that needs to be eaten quickly… Oh, it’s cold.”
“……”
“Right?”
Oh no, blinded by the brand value, he had forgotten the truly important fact. His face turned pale at this beginner’s mistake that even a newcomer wouldn’t make. His spouse, who had been taking out chocolate to examine it, easily noticed this fact as well.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a particularly surprising sight to his spouse. If it were just once or twice, but his spouse skillfully handled the situation.
“Ah, it’s written here. Wow, it looks expensive but you can’t even eat it for long – that’s kind of stingy.”
The expiration date wasn’t long. To eat all thirteen boxes within the remaining period, they’d have to eat at least one box per day. His spouse said while taking out the remaining chocolate from the box.
“I should quickly share these with aunt and Min-young. Do mother and father like sweet things too?”
“There are separate gifts for family.”
Huh? His spouse stopped dismantling the ice box and tilted their head. As their head tilted to one side, their bare nape was revealed. His gaze also fixed on one spot. It seemed like the smooth nape was giving off a chocolate fragrance.
“Then all of this is mine?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
His spouse was silent for a moment. They just looked back and forth between the thirteen boxes of chocolate and him.
Could it be that they don’t like it? Just as he was naturally thinking that, his spouse smiled brightly.
“Thank you.”
His spouse smiled.
“I’ll enjoy eating it.”
They smiled looking at him. Their eyes crinkled softly and the corners of their mouth curved up gently. If his spouse had asked a question at this moment, he surely wouldn’t have been able to say anything. Every time his spouse smiled, he felt as if the world was warping. It had been that way ever since he got to know his spouse.
He familiarly ignored the sensation of his heart sinking. Unscientific phenomena that couldn’t be explained theoretically were of no help to work. Tests showed nothing wrong with his heart, so it wasn’t something to worry much about.
“But didn’t you buy too much? How am I supposed to eat all this?”
“Can’t you finish it all?”
“What?”
When he asked in surprise, his spouse immediately rolled their eyes. Huh, really. The exclamation came out naturally as if they were flabbergasted. At this dramatic reaction that he could never dare to imitate, he waited for his spouse’s next words with a quite interested expression.
“Just because my pheromones are like this doesn’t mean I’m crazy about chocolate. Yi-jin, you’re the same way, right?”
His spouse threw him a question. It was the kind he had never thought about. His spouse always showed him new worlds. After much consideration, he answered.
“Well, I’ve never thought about it.”
“Don’t you like mint?”
“I’ll think about it from now on.”
After deep deliberation, when he gave a serious answer, his spouse stared at him intently. Their upward gaze was full of mischief – he wondered what they were thinking. His spouse looked directly into his eyes and said:
“I like it.”
“…You mean mint?”
“Yeah.”
His spouse nodded playfully with a smile. He, who had said he would seriously consider it, forgot to think for a moment and was busy moving his gaze busily following his spouse’s face.
“I like it.”
“…Is that so.”
“Yeah, I like mint the most. I really like it.”
His spouse smiled. They smiled looking up at him. Ah, he couldn’t say anything and only moved his innocent lips.
“Oh, Min-young likes chocolate too, can I give her one?”
“Since I gave it to you, Seo-woon, you can do whatever you want with it. More than that, may I kiss you?”
“Huh?”
“I want to put my tongue in too.”
“…Yi-jin.”
“Yes, Seo-woon.”
His spouse, who had been excitedly opening the remaining chocolate boxes, stopped everything they were doing and spoke with a somewhat stiff expression.
“I told you not to ask about every little thing like that.”
“I’m sor…”
“Here.”
Then they closed their eyes on their own. Not only cutting off his words but even offering their lips. *Smack!* He quickly lowered his head and kissed his spouse. Even with a kiss after two days, his lips didn’t miss their mark. It was the result of diligently making out until the previous day, using a two-day business trip as an excuse.
*Smack, smack!* This time his spouse grabbed his face and kissed him. Next, as a natural progression, he was about to push his tongue in when his spouse whispered softly with their lips still pressed together.
“…Now it finally feels real.”
At a distance so close that they couldn’t see each other’s faces at a glance, his lips trembled at the languid breath dispersing right in front of him. “What are you doing…” Finding this quite amusing, his spouse smiled and lightly bit his lips. With his lips being bitten, he met eyes with the two eyes looking straight up at him. Long eyelashes slowly blinked, carefully taking in his appearance. He had the strange experience of making eye contact with himself reflected in another person’s pupils. This too, he would never have experienced in his lifetime if not for his spouse.
Everywhere his spouse’s eyelashes brushed tickled. The tickling that started around his cheeks spread to inside his chest, making his whole body tickle. Looking down at his spouse, he was seized by the urge to scratch at his heart. If he could, he would have split open his chest right then and taken out his heart to scratch it roughly.
“Our Yi-jin, did you have a good trip?”
A soft breath carries with the whispered voice. Ah, again. A sweet smell comes from nearby. It was the sweet chocolate fragrance that had caught his attention at the airport.
He doesn’t originally like chocolate. He doesn’t dislike it either. Everything is like that for him. Perhaps because of the persistent low fever that had continued for nearly seven years, his sensory organs were surprisingly dull. Even taste and smell, which could most intuitively draw out sensations, couldn’t evoke any emotion in him. And yet.
“Thank you for the gift. I’ll enjoy eating… mmm…”
Was there ever such a time? The current stimulation is so intense that past memories feel this distant. He hastily pushed his tongue into his spouse’s mouth. He also inserted his thigh between his spouse’s legs. He could feel the body temperature of a living person. He tightly embraced his spouse’s body as it was pushed back, unable to resist his strength.
Even though their body was half pushed back, there wasn’t even a hint of surprise from his spouse. Rather, they relaxed their body to help him comfortably support and embrace them.
“Yi, jin, shoes, you didn’t take off your shoes… mm…”
“I’m, sorry…”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about… ah…”
“…ha…”
“Mm, yeah…”
The deepening kiss intensified the hands that were now exploring each other. He strode into the bedroom, firmly massaging his spouse’s hip, which was draped over his forearm. With every step he took, there was a heavy thud as if the weight of two people was being carried.
“…Seo-woon-ssi.”
Yeah…
What should we do today?
After laying his spouse on the bed, the first thing he did was ask for their opinion. He wanted to accommodate his spouse in every single detail. I wanted to please my spouse. I want to stay with this person for a long time to come. At that serious question, his spouse openly scanned his body.
Today…
Yes.
Take everything off.
Finally, the spouse’s order came down. He quickly began to undress.
Except for the tie.
His spouse subtly tugged at his tie. For him, who had almost no sexual experience before meeting his spouse, it was a gap he couldn’t even dream of closing. A turbulent heart and a strange sense of anticipation intertwined, fueling the excitement. Hah…! He grabbed his belt and threw it, then rushed toward his spouse in a panic. He still hadn’t taken off his shirt, but the shirt wasn’t his domain anyway. My spouse liked me taking off his shirt myself.
His spouse, straddling his thigh, skillfully began to unbutton his shirt. Even though my spouse doesn’t wear dress shirts often due to their profession, they seemed very accustomed to unbuttoning them. It’s been that way ever since his spouse first took off his shirt.
He unconsciously shifted his lower body, disrupting his partner’s touch. The spouse, whose lower body was pressed against his, stumbled, and their hand slipped. While I’m secretly thrilled by that fact, I’m also worried. He was caught between a rock and a hard place, repeatedly gripping and releasing his spouse’s waist tightly. From the entrance, he had been drawn to his smooth neck, and now he sharply bit into it.
“Ah…!”
“Are you in pain?”
A sweet scent invariably emanated from the nape of his neck, where the bite marks were still clearly visible. With a pained groan, he, who had been burying his face in his spouse’s neck, finally lifted his head. Before I knew it, his shirt was completely off. He’s only wearing a tie, a brightly patterned one chosen by his spouse.
Despite his childish interference, his spouse, who had successfully completed their mission, presented the smooth, unblemished nape of their neck, saying,
“It’s okay, so… just a little bit gently…”
“…sigh…”
“Oh! “I said, “Skin, skin, skin…”
“I’m sorry… Control is…”
His breathing, which had been barely maintaining a steady rhythm, suddenly became rough. He tore off his spouse’s clothes as if ripping them apart. The thin pajamas, still warm from his spouse’s body heat, fell to the floor, and finally, his hand reached between his spouse’s buttocks. My partner brought their moist entrance to the tip of my glans and gave me a slight smile.
“I loosened it beforehand because I thought this might happen…”
The entrance was soaked with the lubricant of the spouse. As he stood fully erect, his partner’s pre-cum gushed out onto his penis. As he carefully brought his finger closer, he touched the soft, melted inner wall.
How could something like this even exist? His vision went black. Covered in his partner’s pre-cum, his penis pulsed with veins as it released Cooper’s fluid.
Put it in right now! Ugh, wait a minute, ah!
Thud! His penis plunged deep inside me in one thrust. Although the inner walls were supposedly loosened beforehand, the sudden insertion seemed difficult, and the partner’s back was trembling continuously. His hand, stroking his spouse’s back, was also trembling slightly. It could be because I’m too excited, or maybe I still can’t believe this is happening. For him, every moment with his spouse was like that.
“…weird…”
Looking up at him like that, his spouse smiles. With bite marks covering his neck on both sides, he smiles sweetly, pierced by a large penis below. Huff, huff, huff… Overwhelmed with excitement, he panted like an animal. Smiling quietly and looking up at him, his spouse slowly pulled his tie. As the large body was led along obediently, the spouse lightly kissed his lips.
After that, there was no more conversation. The two of them sucked each other’s tongues as if they had made a pact. As the sensitive mucous membranes rubbed and intertwined, the real thrusting began.
“Why do you keep, um, biting…?”
The conversation resumed entirely because of the spouse. Taking advantage of the moment his lips parted, his spouse gently scolded him in a way that was pleasing to hear. He was burying his face in his partner’s chest and thrusting frantically.
“No, haa, you don’t like it?”
Just below his panting lips, his spouse’s nipple stood erect. Having been bitten and sucked so much, the nipple stood erect, covered in bite marks around the areola. The situation is not much different for the nape of the neck or the shoulders. Two days ago, the traces I left behind hadn’t even completely disappeared yet, and he was acting as if he were being chased by something, behaving impatiently.
“It’s not that I don’t like it, oh! Again…!”
“Your nipples are, stiff, ugh… standing up.”
“It’s because of you, ah, ouch!”
“It’s too, too sexy. You’re too sexy, Seo-woon-ssi…”
He repeated the same words and thrust his hips up and down like a madman. Oh, oh! Oh! Ah! My spouse’s moaning also grew endlessly louder. The chocolate scent deepened further amidst the moans that bordered on ecstasy. It was a scent far sweeter and more vivid than the chocolate outside the bedroom that had stopped him in his tracks. After two days, as he smelled his spouse’s pheromones again, he suddenly realized something.
Two days? It’s already been two days! He had been separated from his spouse for a whole two days! There was a reason for his impatience. My body just understood before my head did.
Once I realized it, the second time was easy. A justified sense of urgency pushed him forward desperately. We were only apart for two days, but it felt like a week. His spouse suddenly lost their ability to speak after coming out of the bathroom. They looked like they never dreamed they’d be doing it in the bathroom too. He gently laid his spouse down on the bed. I changed the duvet and sheets a long time ago. After getting married, he became a master at changing bedsheets.
“…Ah!”
“What’s the matter!”
Lying exhausted in bed, his spouse suddenly screamed. Their spouse’s voice was already hoarse.
“That one! Chocolate! Eat it now!”
“I don’t understand what you mean…”
“Bring it!”
His spouse gestured toward the bedroom door with an unhesitating hand. At the sudden command, he ran out of the bedroom without even knowing what it was. Fortunately, when he returned to the bedroom, he was holding the chocolate he had bought as a gift. That was because as soon as he stepped outside, thirteen boxes of chocolate greeted him.
He has never eaten food while lying in bed in his life. Especially not if the food is chocolate. However, he unwrapped the chocolate on the bed. The chocolate I just took out of the cooler was still cold and hard.
“Hurry, hurry.”
“It’s still cold.”
“Chocolate is originally delicious when it’s cold.”
“Is that so?”
He handed his spouse a chocolate. Despite the careful hands trying not to spill cocoa powder on the bed, there’s no sign of anyone taking the chocolate. Oh, he realized his mistake too late.
“Here it is.”
“Ah.”
As if he had been waiting, his spouse quickly took and ate the chocolate.
“How does it taste?”
He anxiously awaited his spouse’s evaluation. My spouse’s face hardened instantly, and they said,
“This tastes out of this world!”
“That, that bad, is it?”
“Yi-jin-ssi, try it once. It’s no joke.”
This time, his spouse fed him chocolate. Not only had he given someone a chocolate gift, but he had also never eaten food in bed, but that record was broken just now. Everything is broken. He awkwardly chewed the chocolate. Of course, it tasted like chocolate.
“Delicious, isn’t it!”
However, his mate, who had pheromones that smelled of cocoa, seemed to really like the chocolate he had brought back. The sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks of the spouse spoke volumes about their mood.
“…Yes, it’s delicious.”
Then that was fine too. The chocolate I shared with my spouse in bed was the sweetest in the world.
* * *
His daily routine revolved around company work. Therefore, he was living his usual, unchanged daily life. Although there had been the unusual incidents of him giving chocolate as a gift to someone for the first time and eating chocolate on his bed, these were ultimately due to his business trip, so there was nothing strange about it. If he hadn’t gone on the business trip, he wouldn’t have bought the chocolate in the first place.
That day too, he woke up at the same time as yesterday and went to work at the same time as always. A meeting was scheduled for the morning. He worked right up until just before the meeting, then headed to the conference room with the company executives who had been waiting for him.
The conference room was on a floor below his office. In fact, all conference rooms were below his office level. His office was located on the very top floor of the headquarters building. In accordance with XX Group’s horizontal organizational culture, they didn’t install a dedicated elevator. Nevertheless, the gold elevator located at the far left from the entrance was always empty, so he always used the gold elevator. When his uncle and other family members visited the company, they all used the gold elevator as if by agreement.
He didn’t know this, and probably never would, but there was an unspoken rule in the company regarding the gold elevator. It was an unwritten rule that you shouldn’t use it carelessly unless it was really urgent. Of course, this didn’t apply to him.
That day too, he boarded the gold elevator with the company executives. If the elevator hadn’t stopped in the middle, they would have reached the conference room without incident.
“Oh!”
The employee who stopped the gold elevator full of the company’s key personnel looked obviously young at first glance. Tsk…! Ahem! When the company executives openly showed their displeasure, the young face turned pale. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!” the employee bowed and apologized. Strictly speaking, there was nothing to apologize for, but the executives didn’t seem to think so.
“Intern Park! I told you to hold the elevator, what were you… S-sorry.”
The apologies doubled. It was an employee who seemed to be several ranks higher than the one called an intern.
“It’s my fault for not giving proper notice beforehand. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm, hmm!”
“Then please go ahead.”
“Wait a moment.”
At his single word, the elevator doors opened again. Everyone, including the executives, was looking at him. He looked at the employees outside the elevator and said:
“You look like you’re in a hurry. Why don’t you ride together?”
“Oh, no! It’s fine. Please go down first…”
“Is it because it’s cramped?”
He looked around. Indeed, there was severe space wastage compared to the number of passengers. “Everyone, please take one step back.” he said. Ha, haha… The executives’ awkward laughter immediately followed. …Hiccup! There seemed to be a hiccup sound from somewhere.
“Now everyone can really fit!”
“The managing director is so considerate.”
“As expected of the managing director!”
“We could probably fit even more people, haha!”
When the executives each stepped back, sufficient space was created. With a clear view, ‘that thing’ became more visible. Indeed, he hadn’t seen it wrong.
“Please get on.”
“Really, it’s fine…”
“Come now, when the managing director has gone this far to say so.”
Hiccup! At the tone that was close to criticism, another hiccup sounded. The intern quietly covered their mouth and boarded the elevator with their supervisor. With just two people’s entrance, the average rank in the elevator dropped dramatically.
“May I ask a few questions?”
“Yes, managing director!”
The person who appeared to be the supervisor answered loudly. The executives briefly frowned, but when his gaze fell on them, they quickly put on smiling faces as if nothing had happened. Since he had initiated the conversation, there was nothing they could do.
“What is that?”
“Pardon?”
“That pen.”
The two people were holding small work diaries. Both diaries had identical pink pens inserted in them, making it look like a rabbit was poking its head out. It was a pink rabbit with large ears and round eyes. It was also a rabbit he had seen many times before.
“Oh, this? I bought it at a pop-up store.”
“We all got matching ones with our team members.”
“A Toking pop-up store opened?”
…Was that character’s name Toking? Yes, that’s right… The two exchanged glances silently. Not only did he know the character’s name, but his voice asking about whether there was a pop-up store sounded strangely excited. Yes… When the intern nodded awkwardly, his eyebrows twitched.
“I see. Thank you for the good information. Then may I ask more questions?”
“Yes? Yes…”
“What color is that pen? I’m also curious about how many colors there are in total. Is there only one type of pen? Are there perhaps other products besides pens? If so, what are the categories?”
The conversation continued even after they arrived at the floor with the conference room. Actually, it was too one-sided to be called a conversation. Their conversation only ended after he secured the URL for the Toking pop-up store. The problem occurred after that.
“Cancel lunch for today.”
The first thing he did after finishing the meeting and returning to his office was to have his secretary cancel his lunch box. Even when there should have been a flood of instructions related to the meeting he attended, the mention of a lunch box was completely unexpected, but the secretary maintained a professional demeanor.
“Understood. Shall I prepare something simple like toast?”
“No. I’ll be away from the office, so it’s fine.”
As far as the secretary knew, his superior had no external schedule today. He didn’t have a lunch appointment with his spouse either. Then why? With the most likely candidates that would draw his superior outside the company eliminated, only questions remained.
“…Is there something going on?”
The secretary asked, risking impropriety. He was already sitting at his desk, working. He answered while leisurely turning through documents.
“I’m going to stop by the department store for a moment.”
“If you need anything, I can go instead.”
“No. I need to check it myself, so I’ll go.”
Could his executive secretary have been right about considering importing the chocolate brand? As if to plant certainty in the secretary’s speculation, he slipped out of the office like a ghost as soon as lunchtime arrived. Just as the secretary began studying chocolate brands, he was at the center of chaos.
“Excuse me, are you the person who was in line earlier? Your clothes seem to be a different color.”
“Don’t push! You can’t get in anyway!”
“Due to crowds on this final day of the event making the store very congested, there will be temporary entry restrictions for smooth operations. If you wait from now, entry will be possible in 40 minutes, and there are purchase limits per person regardless of item…”
“Excuse me! We’ve been waiting for 28 minutes now and you want us to wait another 40 minutes here?”
“We’re truly sorry, customer. As you can see, the store size is limited and there are constraints in accommodating everyone. If you could just wait a little longer…”
“What? No, what do you mean purchase limits? What about people who came on behalf of others!”
“Are you discriminating against people from the provinces!”
This was pure pandemonium, hell itself. He stood dumbfounded in the middle of a battlefield. Thanks to his above-average height, he towered alone above everyone else. He calmly observed the situation below. There were a total of 27 competitors ahead of him. The situation behind didn’t matter, so he didn’t bother counting the back of the line.
The types of competitors were diverse. From office workers like himself who had sacrificed their lunch break to rush here, to students in school uniforms, to parents who couldn’t resist their children’s nagging and had no choice but to stand in line. What was certain was that they were all formidable opponents. He had to endure 37 minutes of hell-like time until the entry restrictions were lifted, worse than anyone else.
Looking back now, it would have been faster to acquire the Toking brand, but rational judgment was impossible at the time. That’s how crowd psychology works. Among people hoping their share of goods would remain, he trembled with anxiety together and forged comradeship.
“Excuse me, can’t you see there’s a line here?”
“…Do I have to stand in line here too?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“Get in line.”
Of course, it was utterly useless in the face of material desire. After finally making it into the store, now the checkout line welcomed him. Having never stood in line to purchase items directly like this, the situation was quite unfamiliar to him.
Another eternity-like wait began. Still, being in the checkout line now was much better. When waiting for entry, he thought the world was collapsing, wondering what would happen if things sold out. While he, whose face was positioned higher than others, seriously watched the checkout situation from above, another customer who found him suspicious attempted to cut in line.
“If you’re not going to pay, please step aside.”
It was a bold attempt possible because there was nothing in his hands as he stood in the checkout line.
“No. I’m checking out.”
“You’re checking out?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Dressed in a suit that could appear in a magazine photo shoot, he stood there without even a bag. Even his jacket pockets weren’t bulging. The customer found him puzzling but couldn’t push in further and had to reluctantly step back.
That was the beginning. He had to repeat the same words several times until he reached the checkout counter. This was largely due to his displaying the most alien presence in the store.
“I’ll help you check out. Do you need a bag?”
Finally it was his turn. Instead of handing over items, he began asking questions.
“What exactly is the purchase limit?”
“Excuse me?”
“Is it a limit on quantity?”
“Yes, yes?”
“I’m asking whether it’s impossible to purchase more than a specific number of the same item, or if there’s a quantity limit when purchasing the same product regardless of item category.”
The employee seemed momentarily flustered but soon calmly began customer service. The service industry inherently means facing various types of human nature.
“When you say item category, you mean product categories like stationery dolls, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“There’s no item category limit, but there is a quantity limit when purchasing the same product, customer.”
“I see.”
“Customer, if you haven’t decided yet, I’ll help you check out later.”
“No. You can do it now.”
While holding nothing, he took out a card from inside his jacket.
“Please wrap up one of everything here.”
Mission clear! He successfully completed his mission.
That day he left work earlier than usual. Today was the opportunity, as his spouse had dinner plans. Upon arriving home, he called his spouse first before beginning the full-scale work. Considering work efficiency, it was most effective to distribute work time according to target time.
Perhaps enjoying themselves, his spouse didn’t answer the phone immediately. Meanwhile, he glanced at his phone while removing packaging plastic. Unwrapping each package was also work. There was even more plastic to remove ahead. How much time had passed? A call came from his spouse.
– “Yeah, it’s me. Did you call?”
“Yes. I called exactly 23 minutes ago.”
– “I didn’t even know the phone rang. Why did you call?”
Not knowing a call came for a whole 23 minutes, asking why he called! At his spouse’s shocking statement, his hands stopped busily unwrapping packages.
“Why didn’t you know?”
– “Huh?”
“And must I only call when I have business? You definitely said before that I could contact you even without business.”
A brief silence followed. Having poured out everything he wanted to say, he waited grumpily for his spouse’s response. “Ahaha, right. You’re right, I was wrong.” What came back was sweet laughter. He momentarily forgot to breathe and focused on his spouse’s voice coming through the phone. His spouse whispered sweetly in a voice mixed with laughter.
– Did our Jini get surprised?
“…I wasn’t surprised.”
– I see, then let me explain again. It was so noisy I didn’t even know the phone was ringing. I should definitely switch it to vibrate.
“That would certainly be more efficient.”
– You really do love efficiency. What time are you getting off work today? Should I come pick you up later?
“I’ve already left work. I’m already home.”
– Huh? Really?
“Yes, that’s right. When are you planning to come home, Seo-woon?”
Hmm, what time is it now… His spouse’s voice grew distant for a moment as if checking the phone’s time.
– By the time I get home, it’ll probably be around 11:20.
11:20! He quickly checked the remaining time. Since he needed plenty of time for things he was doing for the first time, his spouse’s estimated arrival time seemed very appropriate.
Mission! Complete all preparations by 11:20! The final command had finally been input. All that remained was to charge forward.
“Good. Then I’ll hang up now.”
– What? That’s it?
“Yes. My business is finished.”
– …What. You were the one who called because you had something to discuss!
“…That’s right.”
Indeed, his spouse was amazing. Possessing both sharp perception and keen insight. I’m sorry, he apologized politely. Then he proceeded with the final confirmation. Double-checking was essential for busy modern people.
“So you’ll come at 11:20.”
– I might be able to come earlier…
“No! Come at 11:20.”
– What?
“Then I’ll see you later. Take care.”
– What?! What are you doing right now… Hey!
Though he was usually good at listening, right now he couldn’t hear anything. Nothing could stop him now that he only had to rush toward his goal.
He first removed the remaining plastic wrapping. Then he began sorting the items by category. Toking pens went to stationery, Toking umbrella to miscellaneous goods, Toking face wash headband to beauty products, Toking earrings to… Wait, did his spouse have pierced ears? It seemed like he was about to hit a snag, but fortunately his moment of concern didn’t last long. His body figured it out before his mind did.
The unpierced earlobe was smooth and soft, nice to nibble on. When he slowly licked around the ear and lightly bit the earlobe, goosebumps would rise on his spouse’s ear. The body that easily responded to even small stimuli was always hot and sweet, making him frantically rush toward his spouse.
He was always the one who lost his reason and rushed forward, and it was his spouse who received him. His spouse was gentle yet passionate, soft yet firm, so even while finding his rushing overwhelming, never pushed him away. No matter what he said, no matter what mistakes he made, it was the same. His spouse never rejected him.
He had been late to speak compared to his peers and late to learn to read. Considering that his babbling was apparently faster than anyone else in the family, it might not have been his nature. However, since the nanny who could prove this had already passed away, there was no way to confirm it.
Despite this, his manifestation had occurred several times faster than others. Neither he nor his family knew this fact. As a result, he had to endure manifestation fever for as long as he had lived. Just 1°C – the abnormality brought by a slight fever to him, who had high body temperature as a child, was not something a child could handle, and it made his internal clock slow down. It took him longer than others to do things for the first time, and it was difficult for him to understand sensory systems that were natural to everyone else at once. He was different from others.
His spouse never said that such a version of him was strange. Always, it had been that way. Even when seeming troubled and smiling at his words, his spouse would listen to him again. Look at him. Listen to him. Accept him. Tell him as many times as needed until he understood. Smile while looking at him. His spouse had been that kind of person from the moment they first met.
He recognized his spouse at first sight. And almost lost him. He had almost lost his spouse to another alpha by a hair’s breadth. Whether their meeting was a mistake, misunderstanding, or error – none of that mattered. The fact that he had actually stolen his spouse from another alpha was the same.
To be stolen from – who dared to speak of being stolen from? Just imagining it made the back of his neck ache and his fingertips grow cold. He was slower than others but more rational than anyone. He was someone who knew how to protect what was his most completely in the world, even if it took a little time. His material achievements proved this.
So even if he had been stolen from, the result wouldn’t have changed. He would have stolen him back again. No matter how he thought about it, the conclusion was always the same.
Ah, this won’t do. At the familiar sensation that came at some point, he looked down at himself. Continuously thinking about his spouse had made his lower body feel heavy. Fortunately, since this wasn’t the first time, he was used to calming his swollen member. The expansion of blood vessels due to peripheral nerve stimulation was an extremely natural phenomenon that occurred in humans with sexual desire. It was also a symptom that occurred when he thought of his spouse.
At the office it would calm down easily, but at home, filled with traces of his spouse, it took longer to settle down. In the end, he had to take an unscheduled meditation break in the middle of his work. Indeed, he had done well to secure sufficient spare time. His plan was perfect.
“An Yi-jin!”
That was why he could remain unflurtered even by the variable of his spouse’s early return. It was 45 minutes earlier than scheduled. His spouse had come home.
“You’re back.”
“You, huff, what have you been doing!”
His spouse who entered the front door clearly showed signs of having rushed here urgently. Even while breathing hard and gasping for air, he was busy looking around various parts of the house including him. He seemed to think that he had hidden something behind his spouse’s back.
Indeed, his spouse was quick to catch on. He was inwardly excited to see how his spouse would react. With swelling anticipation, he followed closely behind his spouse who was exploring the house. Unfortunately, miracles didn’t happen easily.
“There’s no one here?”
“That’s not correct. Please look carefully once more.”
“…Did you really hide something?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What?!”
“Please hurry and find it.”
He said with a proud face. To his spouse, he looked like a bastard boldly confessing to an affair.
“No. I’m not looking. Did you forget that surprises involving physical labor are prohibited?”
“…No. I didn’t forget.”
“Then tell me directly. What is it this time?”
Tell his spouse directly! A command had been input from his spouse. He obediently pointed to his spouse’s feet. His spouse’s gaze naturally directed downward.
“Oh? It’s Toking!”
There were pink fuzzy slippers. His spouse was even already wearing them without realizing it. They were winter slippers with a Toking doll attached to the toe. There were summer ones too, by the way.
“This is the one from the beauty app we use, right? Wow! It must have become a character.”
His spouse immediately showed delight. Even while being annoyed, something pleasant was still pleasant. “That’s right.” He answered with a proud voice.
…Wait, could it be… Only then did his spouse belatedly look around. Until just now, they had been focused on finding the hidden ‘person.’ Whether it was their imagination or not, the surroundings seemed to have turned pink. No, they had turned pink. A rabbit filter had been applied to various parts of the modern, chic house interior. It was the Toking filter that the two of them loved to use.
“Wh-what is all this…”
“Do you like it? By the way, there’s still more.”
“…Is that possible?”
“Yes, it’s possible.”
It was true. In the bathroom there were Toking bathroom slippers, Toking toothbrush, Toking toothpaste, Toking shower ball, etc., and in his spouse’s workspace there were Toking ballpoint pens, Toking notebook, Toking mouse pad, Toking laptop pouch, etc. The highlight was the bedroom. A Toking doll was placed in the middle of the bed. It was so big, he thought it was a totem pole standing there.
“Do you like it?”
Even at his question, his spouse still seemed unable to grasp the situation.
“What is all this?”
“It’s Toking.”
“I have eyes too, you know. Explain how this happened.”
“By chance, I learned about Toking’s pop-up store and visited it personally during lunch today. Fortunately, I learned about it on the last day and was able to successfully secure the goods. Currently, online sales are undecided and there are no plans for a second pop-up store either.”
“Wow, Toking was quite something.”
“That’s right. Thinking about it again, it was incredible. It reminded me of that zombie drama you showed me recently.”
His face naturally became solemn as the daytime carnage came back to mind. Oh, his spouse didn’t spare their enthusiasm for his vivid battle review.
“It was that intense?”
“Yes, it was incredible. Indiscriminate cutting in line and shouting – it was the end of order, but there were still gains.”
“Gains?”
“A limited edition doll that can only be obtained at the pop-up store.”
He said with the proudest face in the world. The Toking doll, called a limited edition, was about the size of his spouse’s torso, with only slight exaggeration. His spouse carefully touched the Toking doll. Though they had never actually touched a rabbit, it was as soft as they had imagined. His spouse, who had been caressing the doll with gentle hands, asked in a voice as gentle as their touch:
“So did you eat lunch before going?”
“No. I didn’t eat.”
“…At least you could rest while eating.”
“I’m sorry. It was an emergency situation so it couldn’t be helped. Even then, items were selling out one after another behind me – if I had gone just a little later, it would have been a disaster.”
It was a secret that he had a significant impact on the sellout crisis. His spouse, who couldn’t know this fact, looked somewhat complicated.
“…Your first time skipping work was to stand in line for Toking goods…”
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“Do you perhaps not like it?”
Even so, they kept shaking their head at his question. He anxiously waited for his spouse’s answer. His spouse was wise, considerate, and warm-hearted – a person he couldn’t dare fathom.
“…Thank you.”
His spouse said while hugging the Toking doll and looking up at him. His heart tickled at the gentle gaze, but it wasn’t the answer he wanted. He asked:
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah. So much.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Of course. How could I not like it?”
“People’s tastes are extremely subjective, and everyone has different personalities as evidence…”
“Oh my.”
His spouse blocked his mouth with the doll’s ear. When the soft fur touched his lips, he unconsciously frowned. “Haha, did you hate it?” His spouse laughed and offered their own lips instead of the doll.
Ah. He quickly devoured his spouse’s lips. Slurp slurp, he licked his spouse’s lips and lightly bit them.
“Mmm… gently…”
When he finally took the earlobe with no holes pierced into his mouth, he unconsciously applied force and bit it. He had seriously considered it many times, but he had no way of knowing why his heart became so impatient whenever he saw his spouse.
That day his spouse fell asleep wearing Toking pajamas, wearing a Toking sleep mask, and hugging a Toking doll. Even after his spouse fell asleep, he watched his spouse for a long time. Today, for the first time, he had returned to work past lunchtime, skipping both lunch and afternoon exercise. His regular daily routine, which revolved around company work, had been disrupted. He had purchased dolls that he thought had no efficiency as objects, and had stood in line mixed with other people at a department store. Watching people happy about buying Toking goods, his heart somehow wouldn’t calm down, so he had hurried home from work.
It’s strange. It’s a strange thing. Something unimaginable and impossible for him was happening. His leaving work kept getting earlier and his weekends not going to the company were increasing. He was still maintaining his arrival time at work, but even this might break at any time.
Since when? Since when had it become like this? He realized very late the crack that had come to dominate his daily life. Even so, he didn’t think anything was wrong at all – rather, his heart swelled so much that he ultimately couldn’t fall asleep.