By Zephyria 
“Let’s end it here.”
Do-kwon spoke in a flat voice. Had the setting not been a bedroom, and had Eun-soo not been half-naked, he might have believed these were words spoken after a business meeting.
“……What?”
Unable to grasp his meaning immediately, Eun-soo asked back. However, Do-kwon did not provide an answer. But soon, Eun-soo came to understand in another way.
Do-kwon grabbed his jacket and rose from the bed. As he did, he spoke casually, as if in passing.
“Bom—no, get rid of the baby.”
“……What did you say?”
Eun-soo looked as if he had been struck hard in the back of the head. He looked like someone who had just been swindled out of his entire fortune in an instant, or someone who had accidentally discovered that the world would end tomorrow.
Get rid of Bom, get rid of the baby. The moment Eun-soo heard those words, he felt a shock similar to when he had heard the news of his parents’ deaths long ago.
Get rid of what?
Bom?
Why?
How? How could you say such a thing? How could you say that to me? I have nothing in my life as lacking as family; I finally have a family now, so how can you tell me to destroy it?
While Eun-soo stood there, mouth agape and lost, Do-kwon, unable to wait for a response, took it upon himself to elaborate.
“If it’s not my child, I don’t care whether you keep it or not. But if it is mine, get rid of it.”
“…….”
“Don’t make things tedious for me later.”
“…….”
“I’ll give you as much money as you need. That little romance game was fun, after all.”
“……Fun?”
Eun-soo repeated Do-kwon’s words in a hollow voice.
If it’s mine, get rid of it. Don’t make it tedious. I’ll give you money. Romance game. Fun.
The sentences Do-kwon spat out were shattered into words, then syllables. Eventually, they split into consonants and vowels, raining down on Eun-soo’s head like fist-sized hailstones. Simultaneously, heavy tears fell with a dull thud.
What, how, why, this, right now…….
His mind was a mess. Eun-soo simply froze, staring blankly. He was too shocked, the despair too immense, to even react impulsively. The only things moving were his pupils, twitching rapidly from side to side, and the ceaseless flow of tears. At some point, he had even stopped breathing.
While Eun-soo was falling down an endless cliff, Do-kwon crouched by the bedside. Then, he quietly met Eun-soo’s eyes.
“Let’s just end it here, Mr. Yoo Eun-soo, before things get any uglier.”
His tone was like that of someone soothing a child. Even so, the way he drew a line by using formal language was heartless.
“…….”
Eun-soo could not say a word.
Do-kwon stood up. Then, without a hint of regret, he turned his back. The bedroom door opened, and Do-kwon left. The sound of his footsteps receding, thud by thud, trampled over Eun-soo’s reason and thought.