Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 3
‘This isn’t the only suspicious thing.’
Ki-won paid 300 million won to Yeon-woo as soon as they signed the contract. Ki-won was also covering the living expenses and purchasing Yeon-woo’s personal items. Since there was nothing to spend 300 million won on, there should be plenty of extra money, so what could be the reason for wanting to do part-time work?
Was it to have time for secret meetings? Maybe he needed an excuse to say he was going to work. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Yeon-woo, but inferring without thinking too deeply, it was that sort of direction.
Just in case, the contact information he put in was the same. There didn’t seem to be anyone who would call in the early morning hours.
– Director Kwon, it’s been 3 minutes.
“Ah.”
At the voice of the secretary, Ki-won, who had been fidgeting with his chin, lowered his hand.
“It seems something has come up that needs to be looked into.”
– Yes, if you tell me the details and period, I will handle it quickly.
“It’s nothing major. I think a strange person has approached my spouse. I want to know if there’s someone he’s been meeting lately.”
– Excuse me…? Are you talking about Mr. Seo Yeon-woo?
“Do I have any other spouse besides Yeon-woo? Why are you asking again?”
– I’m sorry.
As if he decided not to add any more words, the secretary immediately said he would look into it.
“It would be good to also receive a report on his recent movements from the driver assigned to Yeon-woo.”
After ending the call, Ki-won stared intently beyond the door, resting his chin. His gaze was quite persistent, picturing Yeon-woo busily moving in the kitchen.
“He really has a talent for making people childish.”
Ki-won, who curled up the corners of his mouth, took Yeon-woo’s cell phone and left the study.
Coming out to the living room, he saw Yeon-woo already dozing off on the dining table. He seemed to be drowsy with heavy eyelids from sleeping a lot in the morning, and after eating rice, he was overcome with sleepiness. As he approached Yeon-woo, he could see his back puffing up with each colorful breath.
Ki-won quietly watched him for a moment, then moved his gaze in order from his shoulders, elbows, and jawline. Perhaps because his bone structure was thin and his skin looked soft, it seemed like it would feel soft and squishy to the touch.
“Mmm…”
Yeon-woo slowly lifted his eyelids, as if he felt the gaze in his light sleep.
“…Hyung?”
“I used your cell phone well.”
“Are you going to work now?”
“I have to.”
Ki-won ruffled Yeon-woo’s bangs and stepped back, putting aside his regret. It was time for him to leave slowly.
“Have a nice day.”
“Yeah.”
Yeon-woo, who let out a long yawn, rubbed his moistened eyes and greeted him. After a brief farewell with a light hand gesture, Ki-won was about to turn around. At that moment, a sweet scent brushed past the tip of his nose.
“Why are you doing that?”
Yeon-woo tilted his head, looking at Ki-won who suddenly stopped moving.
“No… it’s nothing.”
As if he had smelled wrong, the scent that had lingered for a moment cleanly disappeared as if it was an illusion. It was a moment when stickiness clung to each step.
***
Yeon-woo dozed off at the dining table for a long time even after Ki-won left for work. All he did was get up and eat, but his depleted energy made Yeon-woo lazy. Slowly lifting his head, Yeon-woo clenched and unclenched his numb arms repeatedly. A round, red mark had formed on his forehead, which had been constantly pressed.
The presence of the 500,000 won on the table was intense. Yeon-woo, who stared at the money as if having a staring contest, took it as if he had lost.
‘What should I do about the part-time job?’
Countless worries were etched in his steps as he returned to the bedroom. If he hastily worked part-time, he could get caught by him or arouse suspicion with frequent outings. So he decided to pay back this month with the money he gave and the cash withdrawn from the card, and when an opportunity arose while being careful, he would do daily part-time work.
‘It won’t seem strange if I withdraw a little money frequently.’
If about 1 million won was spent at once, he might be curious about where it was used. So he decided to withdraw little by little, save it up, and pay it back. He felt uneasy as if he was arbitrarily using Ki-won’s money to pay off his debt, but there was no suitable alternative. If he didn’t send 1.5 million won to the loan sharks by the date they mentioned, they would try to find out his location to meet him. If they found out that he married Ki-won in the process… He didn’t even want to imagine it. They would surely change their target and clamor for Ki-won to pay back the money.
Such a thing should never happen. Yeon-woo shook his head furiously to drive away the unlucky imagination. There would be no shame like that. No, not only shame was the problem. A terrible situation could arise where the contract would be terminated and he would have to pay a penalty.
Yeon-woo, who let out a deep sigh, was about to head to the bathroom to prepare to go out. Just as he felt heat rushing to his face, a sweet smell wafted up.
“What the…?”
Looking around, Yeon-woo immediately buried his nose in his own skin. It was the scent coming from his own body, as he had doubted. Yeon-woo, who widened his eyes, made a dumbfounded face and hurried his steps.
Oh my gosh. As soon as he looked in the bathroom mirror, a red flush was the first thing that caught his eye. His pale skin had lost its original color and was flushed. It was a sight that could be believed if he had a bad cold and had a fever. As if bewildered, Yeon-woo, who kept touching both cheeks, rushed into the shower booth and turned on the cold water. It was so urgent that he belatedly thought he should take off his clothes.
His shoulders trembled as the stream of water hit his skin coldly. He was taking the cold water head-on, hoping the heat of his body would go down, but even as time passed, the heat did not subside. As expected. Yeon-woo wiped his face, which had quickly turned pale, and came out of the booth. It seemed… the symptoms of the heat cycle were starting to appear.
‘Did I bring suppressants?’
He tried to recall if he had brought suppressants when he moved to his house. However, there was no clear memory in his mind, clouded by hazy fog. That was because Yeon-woo’s heat cycle was so messed up that it was practically non-existent. Since his last heat cycle was a year ago, he had completely let his guard down.
‘Is it also the effect of staying next to a dominant alpha?’
Originally, even if the heat cycle started, the symptoms were distinct. It wasn’t vague symptoms like feeling weak as he did now. He guessed that staying next to a dominant with strong pheromones had brought some change in him. He should have prepared in advance, but he was complacent.
‘I thought there would be no change even if I was next to a dominant.’
Yeon-woo had a problem with his pheromone gland due to an acquired condition. The cause was a traffic accident that occurred when he was very young. He had to be hospitalized for a long time due to a big accident, but he had no clear memory of why it happened. They said it was temporary memory loss caused by a strong impact to the head. However, contrary to the doctor’s opinion, the lost memory had not returned even after decades.
Where and how he got hurt, why the accident happened. Everything was known only to his biological father, Seo Taeman, but no matter how much he asked, he wouldn’t answer.
‘Well, with Dad gone like that, there’s no one left who knows about the accident….’
There were also other aftereffects of the accident besides memory loss. It was something he found out after manifesting as an omega. There were issues with the parts related to pheromones. Not only could he not handle pheromones, but his heat cycle was a mess.
When he visited the hospital again after several years, he was diagnosed with a problem in his pheromone gland. The doctor speculated that it was an extension of the childhood accident. As he was recalling the past, the doctor’s words that ‘it’s a heavenly fortune just to have intact limbs’ echoed in Yeon-woo’s ears.
In fact, Yeon-woo didn’t really welcome the heat cycle, so there was no shock about the aftereffects of the accident. In terms of convenience alone, a life free from the pressure of the heat cycle further improved Yeon-woo’s quality of life. If he had to point out the inconvenience that arose after the accident, it was the cycle that came abruptly as if telling him not to forget about it.
Yeon-woo, who took off his wet clothes, took out a towel and tapped the moisture. Fortunately, the heat cycle had not fully started yet. If he took suppressants now, the heat would subside without any problems. Yeon-woo, who put his hands through the shower gown, hurriedly tied the ribbon knot. Hoping that the suppressants were mixed in with the luggage he had brought.
His legs, taking big strides, grew heavier as time passed. Yeon-woo rummaged through the drawers, ignoring the sweet scent rising from his body. Unused bags, pant pockets, coats deeply buried in the closet. The longer the search went on, only the dizziness grew, and the desired suppressants were nowhere to be seen.
Just as he was thinking of giving up and going to the pharmacy, something fell on the messy desk with a thud. It was the marriage contract he had stored on the bookshelf. It seemed that the contract had been pushed forward while rummaging here and there. To make matters worse, the clip holding the papers together seemed to have come off, and the liberated documents invaded even the floor.
Hot breath escaped through his teeth. Yeon-woo, who rubbed his throbbing forehead, lowered his body and started picking up the scattered contract. He was going to roughly restore the messed up items to their original state and then go to the pharmacy. What caught Yeon-woo’s eye was a part of the last contract he picked up. To be precise, his gaze was fixed on one clause and didn’t move.
‘Consolation payment to be paid after divorce… contract extension?’
Yeon-woo read the sentence one more time with narrowed eyes. The letters shook arbitrarily back and forth, then became docile as if surrendering to Yeon-woo’s persistence.
Come to think of it, there was such a clause. A consolation payment of 100 million won added each time the contract was extended as a token of gratitude. Yeon-woo counted the numbers listed one by one to see how much consolation payment would be paid.
‘One ten hundred thousand ten thousand…’
Yeon-woo’s lips quivered at the string of ‘0’s. The consolation payment started at 200 million, not 20 million or 2 billion. How could he forget this? Yeon-woo looked at the detailed clauses more closely.
– The consolation payment to be paid after divorce is added by 100 million won on each contract extension date. Party A deposits the scheduled consolation payment into Party B’s account every 3 years. After the first deposit date, the consolation payment restarts at the basic payment of 200 million won.
Yeon-woo pinched his cheek, forgetting the fact that he was organizing the contract. A tingling pain rose from the pinched part.
If he extends the contract, he gets 400 million won every 3 years. He knew there was a consolation payment, but he didn’t know it was this system. That was because even the contract fee of 300 million won was a large sum, so his attention didn’t go to the consolation payment. It was fine with or without it. Yeon-woo’s attention was solely focused on the contract violation clauses or cohabitation and other clauses that carried risks.