By Zephyria As if exhaling all the blocked breath at once, a sudden big breath burst out. At the same time, his tense shoulders slumped and his whole body lost strength. Winston immediately approached Yu-jin, who was taking rapid breaths, and said.
“It’s over, so lie down now.”
His commanding tone was still the same, but he didn’t have the余裕 to feel bad about it. Obediently lying down on the bed, Yu-jin closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. The dizziness that had rushed in due to his rapid breathing gradually subsided. Winston was just watching him. Even though he knew his gaze was fixed on him, Yu-jin closed his eyes and desperately avoided it. The tense atmosphere kept making his nerves on edge. Yu-jin ignored Winston and focused only on regaining his reason.
“The reason you weren’t in a hurry is because you already guessed it?”
When Yu-jin opened his eyes and asked when he had calmed down to some extent, Winston easily answered.
“That’s part of it.”
It was a reaction that didn’t seem to hide anything. Well, did that man have any reason to hide or deny anything from the other person? He would think nothing of the law.
A chill ran down his spine as he recalled that he had tried to handle it himself without even handing it over to the police. He himself is no exception. Maybe that man is leaving Yu-jin alone because he can secretly dispose of him at any time. Because he’s still useful.
Because there’s a will.
Harold had ended up protecting him. Isn’t that ironic? If he hadn’t left such a will in the first place, he wouldn’t have been in this situation.Why did Harold…….
He hastily erased the question that had returned to the beginning. The important issue now was how to get past the man in front of him and this situation.
“When I first asked, why did you say Gordon took her?”
Yu-jin asked, even though he already knew the answer. Still, he didn’t want to abandon the possibility that he was wrong, but that wasn’t the case.
“If you had accepted that and backed down, I was going to handle it my way.”
Again, Winston answered without any hesitation. The businesslike tone, devoid of any emotion, made it all the more real.
“Did you want that?”
At the question asked with courage, Winston twisted his lips and chuckled briefly.
“If you saw that woman’s face, you would have weakened and said something about forgiving her.”
Then, he opened his narrow eyes and looked at Yu-jin, adding,
“Wasn’t I right?”
“…Then why did you wait? Knowing this would happen.”
His tone became sharp as if protesting. Even so, there was no strength in his voice, so he didn’t feel intimidating at all. Winston tilted his head briefly, as if to a child, and asked.
“If I had handled it my way without telling you, you would have been angry, right?”
“Weren’t you going to do whatever you wanted anyway, regardless of my intentions?”
As he spoke, his tone became more stable, as if he was calming down. Winston looked down at Yu-jin and replied.
“I didn’t.”
With that short word, he suddenly felt all his energy drain away. But that didn’t mean he wanted to back down just like that.
“You’re talking like you held back because you thought I would hate it if you did whatever you wanted.”
This time, Winston closed his mouth. Yu-jin, who had been so sarcastic, was rather flustered and blinked his eyes. The silence wasn’t long, but it was enough to make Yu-jin conflicted. And Yu-jin stared intently as he slowly opened his mouth.
“If I had handled it the way I wanted, you would have said my head was messed up again because of pheromones.”
It was the first time he had spoken with emotion. It was a very faint self-deprecation, but Yu-jin was once again surprised and lost for words. Winston, unconcerned, returned to his previous tone and concluded.
“It doesn’t matter, everyone says I’m crazy anyway.”
Yu-jin still had nothing to say. What he had said was no different. Silence returned, but it was different from before. He felt an uncomfortable feeling, different from tension, in the dark and damp air that had settled down. He wanted to say something to break this silence. Yu-jin quickly moved his head and opened his mouth, making a difficult sound.
“Gordon or… Campbell, the wife, what did they say? About this… this matter.”
They certainly wouldn’t have stayed still. They would have tried to take Charlotte away, but it was strange that Winston had made a choice for Yu-jin. Was he just trying to publicly punish someone who had challenged his authority?
“Then it would have been difficult to get a proper answer. I was guessing the reason, but it’s more certain to hear it from the person himself.”
“You don’t believe what your family said? Your mother and brother?”
It was an unexpected remark. Wasn’t Winston very trusting of them?
At the bewildered Yu-jin, he chuckled, making a sound like wind escaping his lips.
“Honey, I stopped trusting people a long time ago.”
Then, Winston asked softly in a sweet voice, different from before.
“Who do you think is to blame?”
Yu-jin said nothing. His eyes, once full of love, were now empty. He no longer trusts even the person he loved the most. Then who on earth does he trust?
I have Angie…….
His heart ached as he thought of his child, who had always been by his side to give him strength when he was in pain. Following that, he hurriedly asked about Angela.
“What about Angie? What is she doing? She mustn’t know I’m hurt, what if she cries, ah!”
Without realizing it, Yu-jin hurriedly tried to get out of bed, but soon inhaled and stopped moving. Haa, haa, Winston, who had been silently looking down at him as he breathed roughly, opened his mouth.
“She said she’s going to be hospitalized for a while because of the baby.”
“…Baby?”
At first, he didn’t understand what he was saying. He asked between ragged breaths, and Winston replied, yes.
“Your and my child. The one in your belly.”
In that moment, Yu-jin was grateful for his pain. He could think that his pale face and shocked expression were all because of the pain.
…Does he really think that?
He hadn’t asked about the baby in his belly once since he woke up. Is that possible? If you had an accident while pregnant, that would be the first thing you’d worry about. The real Yu-jin had been like that too. Even now, when he thought about how he almost lost Angela, he felt suffocated and his whole body trembled.
Winston, who had been looking down at Yu-jin for a while, opened his mouth.
“I didn’t do the test. If you don’t feel well, we can do it tomorrow morning…….”
“It’s, it’s okay.”
Yu-jin hurriedly cut him off.
“The baby is safe… I was hurt in the chest, and my belly wasn’t hurt.”
Was that too fast? What if he thinks it’s unnatural? What if I’ve made him suspicious instead…….
His heart was pounding like crazy. Yu-jin was sweating behind his back and watching Winston’s reaction. He felt the time, which was only a few seconds, as long as eternity, when Winston opened his mouth.
“If you want, we can do that.”
What?
For a moment, Yu-jin thought he had misheard. He blinked his eyes and carefully looked up, and Winston was looking down at him with his unique expressionless face.
“If you’re okay, we don’t have to do it. Like you said, you were hurt somewhere else.”
Yu-jin was once again stunned by the reaction that gave in so easily. This man is strange today. Maybe his head is really messed up. But anyway, if he gives in here, it’s just fortunate for Yu-jin. Yu-jin decided to choose what was advantageous for him. What does it matter, he was going to deceive this man from the beginning anyway, and if that was maintained even outwardly, it was all good.
“…I want to rest now.”
Yu-jin muttered. This time, he was sincere. He was so tired. He felt like he was sweating all over his body, and he lay down on the bed listlessly.
“I want to be discharged tomorrow…….”
“No.”
He still spoke in a barely audible voice, but the answer that came back was firm.
“You have to stay here for at least a week. I’ll bring Angie when you’re more stable, so you can focus on getting better.”
“I can’t live if I can’t see Angie for a week!”
At the violent reaction, Winston coldly pointed out.
“If Angie sees you like this, she’ll cry her eyes out. Do you really want to see that?”
He had nothing to say to that. He continued to speak to the hesitant Yu-jin.
“She knows she’s just resting for a few days because of the baby and she’s bearing it well. Shouldn’t you be able to bear it better than Angie?”
There was still no way out. He wasn’t dealing with someone who would listen if he insisted like this. Eventually, Yu-jin, exhausted, sighed and offered a compromise first.
“I’ll stay for three days. That’s enough.”
“Whether it’s enough or not is up to me to decide.”
He returned to his arrogant, powerful self. It completely broke Yu-jin’s will. He didn’t even have the energy to speak anymore, so he closed his eyes and shut his mouth. He felt a gaze watching him for a moment, but it wasn’t long. Soon he heard footsteps, and Yu-jin thought it was over now. Winston was leaving the hospital room, and he was finally going to be alone.
Thud, the sound of a chair being dragged made Yu-jin open his eyes and turn his head without realizing it. Surprisingly, he saw Winston dragging a folding chair and sitting next to the bed.
“What, what are you doing?”