Lately, Jung Heeyeon had been staying at home instead of going to the office with Director Yeon. This change came after the recent incident that had thrown Director Yeon’s mood into disarray. There had been no coercion in the process of convincing him. Only a subtle, cunning persuasion.
‘Just until your pheromones stabilize. There are too many alphas at the office. It’s not good for you.’
It wasn’t entirely untrue, so Director Yeon didn’t feel guilty about it. Jung Heeyeon had agreed easily, and Director Yeon now handled most of his work from home, working in the study. When he had to step out, Kim Jiwon, Lee Haejin, or Nam Soohyun took turns watching over the house.
“Oh, I need to visit Team Leader Shim Soocheon in the hospital…”
“Later.”
“Was he hurt badly?”
“Not too badly.”
“Please don’t be mad at him. I was the one who asked to follow along…”
“Yeah. I won’t be mad.”
Unlike the kind omega’s worry, Shim Soocheon had been running around like mad, finishing tasks. Director Yeon had told him to keep out of sight for now, and his pride must have taken a hit. But he would surely vent that frustration on the men who had kidnapped Jung Heeyeon.
“Yes, you’ve done well.”
“If I’ve done well, you should praise me.”
At his shameless request, Jung Heeyeon kissed the man with a gentle look on his face. The body nestled in his arms radiated warmth.
—
Director Yeon’s eyes snapped open to the unpleasant sound of a machine. The unfamiliar noise bothered his nerves, his body responding on instinct. He reached for the space beside him by reflex, then stiffened when he realized the omega who should’ve been sound asleep was gone.
Without hesitation, he threw open the bedroom door. As emotion began to erode his reason, his legs moved automatically, chasing the sound of the machine.
“Haa….”
Director Yeon let out a quiet sigh and swept a hand over his face.
“Oh…”
Jung Heeyeon was standing in front of the blender, doing something.
“Heeyeon, what are you doing?”
He made quite the effort to sound gentle, disguising a softened expression as he asked. Even though he knew Jung Heeyeon would never disappear without a word, his emotion still outpaced his reason. Chairman Jung was now thoroughly under his control, and the guards were stationed outside the door, but just the fact that Jung Heeyeon wasn’t by his side made his mind go crazy. It was nearly impossible to think straight.
Caught off guard by Director Yeon’s sudden appearance, Jung Heeyeon wore a startled expression and tried to hide the blender with his body. Seeing that his lover was safe, Director Yeon barely managed to regain his composure.
“If you’re hiding something from me, I’m going to be sad.”
Feigning a look of upset, he teased gently. Jung Heeyeon fidgeted with his fingers, then shyly stepped aside to reveal the blender and mumbled in a small voice.
“…I’m making tofu.”
“Tofu?”
“Why are you awake so early? I was going to surprise you…”
Hearing the disappointed tone in Jung Heeyeon’s voice, Director Yeon slowly walked over. The unfamiliar sound, as it turned out, had simply been the blender.
“That time, I bought tofu for you, but I didn’t get to give it to you. Did Team Leader Shim Soocheon tell you about the tofu?”
Director Yeon belatedly recalled the report from that day. There was a line about a squashed tofu pack found inside a black plastic bag along with his suit jacket in the back seat.
Director Yeon had been so focused on Jung Heeyeon’s physical condition that he had completely forgotten. Apparently, that crushed pack of tofu had originally been meant for him. What had that tiny head of omega been planning, exactly? The man, who understood the situation at once, finally let go of his tension and let out a curved smile.
“I heard about that. So, you were going to give it to me?”
He leaned in to peck Jung Heeyeon on the cheek with a loud smooch, a hint of playfulness in his voice.
“Yes. They say you’re supposed to give tofu to someone when they get out of jail.”
“But I didn’t come back from jail. Heeyeon, are you making your lover a criminal?”
Coming from a man who committed crimes without batting an eye, it was a pretty shameless thing to say. At the mention of turning his lover into a criminal, Jung Heeyeon blinked slowly, trying to gauge whether Director Yeon was teasing him again.
“…Team Leader Shim Soocheon said it’s right to give you tofu. He said he wasn’t teasing me.”
“Whose word are you going to trust?”
“Yours, Director.”
Without hesitation, Jung Heeyeon chose Director Yeon. It seemed likely that it was Team Leader Shim Soocheon who had been joking with him instead.
He had even gone out of his way to ask Doctor Kim Jiwon to get the ingredients in secret. He had soaked the soybeans all night in the guest room. Though he’d hidden them behind the bed so they wouldn’t be immediately visible if the door opened, which was exactly why he’d kept Director Yeon from entering the guest room last night.
But now, being told tofu wasn’t a thing after all—he couldn’t help pouting in disappointment. Still, he’d already started making it. He had even ground up the soybeans in the blender. He wanted to finish what he’d begun and give the tofu to Director Yeon.
When Jung Heeyeon glanced over at Director Yeon, he saw the man letting out a rare audible laugh. That made him feel a bit more confident.
“I still want to make it for you.”
“Should we do it together?”
Jung Heeyeon hesitated for a moment. To be honest, he wasn’t confident doing it alone. He had looked up recipes online and studied them carefully, but no one knew better than himself that he wasn’t exactly gifted with his hands.
“But I wanted to make it for you, Director. If we do it together, it’s not really the same…”
“Then I’ll just help on the side.”
Sensing the hesitation in Jung Heeyeon’s fidgeting fingers, the man gently coaxed him.
“Seems like you don’t want to do it with me, huh?”
“Pardon? No, that’s not it!”
The man’s smooth little trick worked like a charm. Jung Heeyeon shook his head in alarm and then looked up at Director Yeon with clear brown eyes.
“Do you want us to do it together?”
“Yeah, I want to do it together.”
“Alright. We can do it together then.”
This was making him crazy. Director Yeon couldn’t help but press his lips firmly to the edge of that mouth that always said such lovely things. The omega, now completely used to his kisses, accepted the sudden shower of affection without a fuss.
“What should we do first?”
“We need to boil this.”
Following the gentle instruction, the man naturally took out a pot and poured in the finely ground soybeans.
“Since I’m the one making this for you, I want to do the stirring.”
“Got it.”
Director Yeon stood behind him, arms wrapped around a body that barely came up to his chin, as Jung Heeyeon stirred the soybean mixture.
It would probably go terrible if they had sex in the morning. But the sight of his lover waking up at dawn just to make tofu was so endearing that Director Yeon felt an overwhelming urge to embrace him in his arms. Thankfully, his self-restraint was on the strong side.
“When it starts to boil, I’m supposed to turn the heat off.”
“What comes after that?”
“Then I have to pour it here and squeeze it.”
“That part’s hot, I’ll do it.”
“Pardon? No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s hot.”
Jung Heeyeon meant that he would do it himself since it could burn Director Yeon. Objectively speaking, Director Yeon was much better suited for this kind of work than Jung Heeyeon. Touching something hot didn’t even count as difficult work for him. He let out a quick chuckle as he wondered if being adored meant Jung Heeyeon wanted to take on rough tasks like this with his delicate fair hands.
“That’s exactly why I should be the one to do it, not you, baby.”
“No, I’ll do it. I was the one who said I’d make it for you. I just don’t want you to get hurt because it’s hot…”
“Heeyeon, is that part of how you show affection too?”
“Pardon? Yes. I don’t want you to have a hard time, Director. So I’ll do it.”
The way his lover insisted on doing it was adorable, but there was no way he would let those pale hands touch something scalding.
“You need to squeeze it tightly to actually make tofu, but our Heeyeon is not exactly the strongest.”
Jung Heeyeon compared their hands, then quietly stepped back. The man who had been standing behind him now stepped forward and began to squeeze out the mixture. Even though he was wearing gloves, it was obviously hot—yet his expression didn’t change. Jung Heeyeon alternated between looking at his own smooth hands and the veiny backs of the man’s strong hands.
“What’s next?”
“Ah, once I boil the soy milk that came out, it turns into tofu. I’ll do this part now. You can sit down.”
Jung Heeyeon recited the recipe from memory and lowered the heat. Then, he carefully poured in the bittern that Kim Jiwon had provided. Just like he saw in the internet, he let it trickle over the spatula.
As he stirred the heating soy milk, white curds began to form and clump together.
“It turned into soft tofu.”
“Yes. Isn’t it amazing?”
Jung Heeyeon thought to himself that he definitely would’ve failed if he’d tried this alone.
“Hmmm, is it? Looks like we could make soft tofu stew with this. Do you want me to make some? You said you were craving it.”
Jung Heeyeon hesitated, wondering if he should press it into a proper square shape like the tofu he originally planned to give Director Yeon, or just turn it into a stew. At the end, he nodded.
“Then, let’s have it as stew. Director, the one you made last time was better than the one we ordered.”
“Okay. I’ll make it not spicy for you.”
Director Yeon smiled sweetly and bit gently at the lips that only ever spoke such lovely things.
—
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