By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won hesitated for a moment, unable to shake off his lingering doubts. Song Hae-seop, unaware of his inner turmoil, took the lead before turning back to look at him. He slightly raised and lowered his neatly groomed eyebrows, offering a small smile.
“I was thinking to myself while waiting for you, Jeong-won. I told you to contact me anytime, but it might be sudden. So, I was wondering… did you run away? Do you need help with something like that?”
“…Did you contact Executive Director?”
“It’s been ages since I cleaned up my contacts. Even if I knew his number, I wouldn’t call him in a situation like this. It’s an interesting situation, isn’t it? Terrible if I were the protagonist, but especially fun when I’m just a supporting character or extra 1 or 2.”
Seo Jeong-won felt relieved at his smiling words. He didn’t know what was so amusing, but it seemed true that he hadn’t contacted Kwon Tae-hee.
“It’s cold. Is that your pajamas?”
He had chosen clothes that looked somewhat like outerwear, but it seemed others didn’t see it that way. At the teasing remark, Seo Jeong-won nodded and followed Song Hae-seop, his steps lighter with the partially resolved suspicion.
“Have you had breakfast? I haven’t either. Want to grab something?”
“…Anything is fine. Thank you.”
“I don’t know if my guess is right, but you’ve given me a front-row seat to a good show, so I should be the one thanking you.”
Seo Jeong-won didn’t know how to react to Song Hae-seop’s response and gave a slightly awkward smile. Not hiding his embarrassment, he acted self-consciously, and Song Hae-seop, noticing this, reached out and tapped his shoulder.
“Well, this isn’t a topic to be taken lightly, is it?”
“…….”
“It was supposed to rain, but the sky is clouding over quickly. I wonder if it really will….”
Song Hae-seop muttered to himself as he led Seo Jeong-won. He tagged a card at the villa’s communal entrance, and the door opened. He led Seo Jeong-won into the elevator, which was stopped on the first floor.
“Fourth floor.”
“…Yes.”
“Your clothes are too thin. Aren’t you going to catch a cold, Jeong-won?”
“I’m okay.”
Seo Jeong-won replied, shaking his head. Song Hae-seop also closed his mouth, not continuing the conversation. The elevator quickly ascended to the fourth floor. As the doors opened with a cheerful chime, Song Hae-seop moved first. He stopped in front of the front door, scanned his fingerprint on the door lock, and opened the door wide.
“It’s a bit cramped, so it might be uncomfortable, but come on in.”
Song Hae-seop gestured, standing slightly aside. Seo Jeong-won bowed his head and mumbled an apology for intruding. The house, where he took off his shoes and entered, had a structure where the living room and kitchen were visible at a glance. It wasn’t cramped as he said. Compared to his house in Seonam, this was a playground.
“Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Ah… water, please. Thank you.”
“I’ll order food, okay? I drank a lot last night, so I need to get rid of this hangover.”
“Yes, anything is fine for me.”
His morning sickness wasn’t severe these days, so he had no choice but to vaguely believe he would be okay. As he sat on the sofa, Song Hae-seop brought a mug.
“Drink up.”
“…Yes.”
Song Hae-seop sat on the floor, quietly watching Seo Jeong-won drink water from a cup as big as his face. He wanted to find the right timing to ask how he ended up contacting him, but he felt uncomfortable pressing him when he hadn’t even eaten.
“So…….”
“Yeah. You want to talk? Now?”
“Would it be better to talk now?”
“I’m curious, but if you’re hungry and have no energy, I’d rather feed you first and then listen.”
Seo Jeong-won smiled faintly at his concern. He muttered that he wasn’t without energy and paused to gather his thoughts. Where should he start, and how much should he reveal? Even in this situation, he was worried about such things. He was afraid that the way others looked at him would change.
“…So, I.”
Seo Jeong-won, wetting his lower lip, briefly confessed with a sigh.
“I ran away. I just… couldn’t live like that anymore.”
Song Hae-seop smiled awkwardly at the very short confession. He cleared his throat, sighed once, and then opened his mouth.
“…Actually, I don’t really understand, Jeong-won. I can’t really understand just from hearing that. It seems like there’s a problem involving your Hyung, but with this much information… from my perspective, both of you seem abnormal.”
“I don’t know if I can tell you everything. After hearing it… Hyung might feel bad too.”
“That might be the case, but if you’ve come to me for help, it’s better to be honest. That way, I can either help you or send you back. Aren’t I the most rational person to look at the situation?”
At the gentle yet firm words, Seo Jeong-won slightly raised his head. He hesitated, moving his lips as if he was about to speak, and then began to tell the story of how he and Kwon Tae-hee had come to be in this relationship.
“The first call I got was… from Hyung, saying that he was in a coma and they were going to remove his life support. They said they needed family consent.”
“If they take that off, he’ll die, right?”
“…Yes. The hospital said there was no hope anymore.”
Seo Jeong-won tried his best to clearly convey the situation he had been in. Each time he paused, unable to think of a word, he glanced at Song Hae-seop, whose expression grew heavier.
“That’s when I found out. What kind of contract Hyung had with Executive Director. I refused Executive Director’s offer to take over the contract and paid the hospital bills with the money I had saved.”
“…….”
“Then, I didn’t have enough money to pay for the hospital bills, let alone the nursing care, so I took out a private loan using the flower shop as collateral. They said they would force him to leave the hospital if I didn’t pay the hospital bills right away… I borrowed it to put out the immediate fire, but no matter how much I worked, I couldn’t keep up with the rate at which the interest was growing.”
“Yeah, private loans are like that.”
“In the end, I had no choice but to go to Executive Director. I went to beg him to help me, and he said he would accept, so at that time… I was just grateful. But if you think about it a little deeper, it’s an absurd thing. It’s not easy for a Beta to go into heat, and it’s really ridiculous… Besides, I even met Hyung on the first day I went to his house.”
Seo Jeong-won took long breaths in between the embarrassing and pathetic stories he was telling. At the confession that he had hidden his heat, Song Hae-seop widened his eyes in surprise and even gave him a thumbs up. Then, he smiled gently and encouraged him to continue.
“After Hyung’s funeral, I said goodbye, thanking him for everything, since we wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore… and then he told me I was pregnant. He said they did a blood test when I collapsed.”
Was he rambling a bit? Seo Jeong-won looked back at what he had said and lowered his head.
“I felt a bit fluttered when I met Executive Director. Every time that happened, I felt like I was such… such trash.”
His voice, which had been calm as he spoke, contained undisguised sadness. Seo Jeong-won blinked his large eyes before tightly closing them.
“I told him I wanted to quit because I felt like I was sinning against Hyung, but Executive Director said… it was ridiculous to say that after Hyung died. I think he’s right. I kept trying, kept trying to please Executive Director because of the money.”
“Wow, it hurts even though it’s not my story.”
Song Hae-seop was certain that the actual conversation was much more direct than Seo Jeong-won’s account. It was obvious. Kwon Tae-hee probably didn’t even realize that his words were throwing stones at Seo Jeong-won’s heart.
“Jeong-won.”
“But after knowing everything, after realizing why Hyung made that choice… from then on, I only felt resentment and animosity towards Executive Director. So I thought I should really end it now, but Executive Director said that even if Hyung died, the contract couldn’t be undone. The paper we each have is what that means. If I want to leave, I have to give birth to the baby and leave it behind. But… I don’t want to. I don’t want to do that.”
His voice trembled, tinged with tears. At some point, Seo Jeong-won vaguely regarded the being growing in his womb not as Kwon Tae-hee’s baby, but as his own. As he said, he was definitely going to leave it behind, but every time he felt the baby growing day by day, he shamelessly wavered at the fact that he had a family. He doubted every moment whether he could really just leave the baby behind.
“Jeong-won.”
“…I even met Executive Director’s parents. Executive Director said he would become my spouse. He also said he would be a good… father to the baby. How can he say such things so easily when he doesn’t even like me? How can you get married… how can you get married if you don’t even love each other? How can I marry someone who Hyung loved?”
Tears welled up in his large eyes and streamed down his flushed cheeks. Seo Jeong-won felt increasingly terrible as he spoke.
“It’s so… disgusting. Both me… and that person.”
Song Hae-seop blinked at the flood of information before taking a long breath. He shouldn’t make hasty judgments or become emotional himself. He waited for a moment to see if Seo Jeong-won was finished talking, then stammered.
“So, first of all… uh, I think it’s better if I think about it and then talk. Rather than saying things rashly, uh, I’ll think about it. First… you don’t want to go back, do you, Jeong-won?”
Seo Jeong-won wiped the tears from his chin with a trembling hand. He sniffled once and nodded.
“Okay, I understand…….”
Song Hae-seop patted Seo Jeong-won, who was sobbing, and couldn’t shake the thought that the story he had heard was much more shocking than he had anticipated. It was quite complicated.
“Let’s… eat first. Let’s eat first, Jeong-won.”
“…Don’t you think I’m weird, Hyung?”
“No, you’re not weird. If we’re going by that standard, I’m weirder than you.”
At the gentle voice, Seo Jeong-won raised his lowered gaze. As soon as their eyes met, Song Hae-seop shrugged.
“I told you what kind of world I belonged to, didn’t I?”