#96

After a long while, Jung-hyun opened his eyes due to a pain felt on the back of his hand.

Frowning, he examined his hand and saw that the IV drip had finished, and blood was flowing backward into the tube.

He pressed the call button to summon a nurse, but there was no response. Thinking they must be busy, Jung-hyun pulled out the needle himself.

Blood seeped from the spot where the needle had been. Pressing a tissue firmly against the area, he lifted his head and looked around the room. It was a spacious private room. There was also a bathroom on one side, though he hadn’t used it.

Quickly losing interest, Jung-hyun turned his gaze back to the back of his hand. He felt stifled, as if a heavy weight were pressing down on the center of his chest.

It was because the image of Shin Ho-jae, whom he had seen just before coming to the hospital, wouldn’t leave his mind. The wounded face, and the way he looked at Ki-hyuk with eyes full of trust.

“…….”

Belatedly, Jung-hyun let out a small, dry laugh.

Hadn’t he brought all of this upon himself? The choices he had made could no longer be undone.

All he could do now was watch from the sidelines as Kwon Ki-hyuk played the role of Shin Ho-jae’s benefactor.

Perhaps it was better this way. Kwon Ki-hyuk didn’t seem intent on ruining Shin Ho-jae’s career as an athlete. Yes, that alone was enough.

“Jung-hyun, are you awake?”

Just then, Kyung Seung-hee opened the door and approached him. Jung-hyun looked up at her. He saw a small box in her hand.

“How are you feeling?”

“I feel much better thanks to you. I keep causing you trouble.”

“Trouble? If it’s you, Jung-hyun, you can cause me as much trouble as you like.”

Kyung Seung-hee smiled, looking no different than usual, and opened the box to take out a plastic pouch. It looked like some kind of health tonic.

“Are the test results not out yet?”

Jung-hyun asked, glancing at the pouch. Though he had been half-asleep, he clearly remembered seeing Kyung Seung-hee leaving with the doctor earlier. He had assumed they were discussing the results.

“It seems it will take a bit longer for the exact diagnostic results,” Kyung Seung-hee replied with a composed face, tearing open the pouch and pouring it into a mug provided in the room.

“However, they said your immunity seems very low, so I picked up some medicine.”

“Medicine?”

“It’s a herbal medicine I used to take while recovering after my chemotherapy. I requested it urgently while you were sleeping and had it delivered via quick service, so it’s still warm.”

“…Thank you.”

Jung-hyun carefully took the mug Kyung Seung-hee handed him. A very bitter smell wafted up, causing him to instinctively frown.

Strangely, he didn’t feel like drinking it.

“Try it.”

At the urging, Jung-hyun cautiously took a sip. Kyung Seung-hee watched him without even blinking.

“Cough!”

Perhaps because that gaze was too burdensome, Jung-hyun choked and coughed for a long time. Droplets of the messy brown liquid fell onto the pristine white hospital sheets.

Kyung Seung-hee spoke with a tone of regret.

“…You mustn’t spill it. You have to take three pouches every day without wasting a single drop for it to be effective.”

But he felt as though he couldn’t swallow another drop. Since he had been vomiting everything inside him until a few hours ago, his stomach wasn’t in good condition; he felt that if he forced himself to drink it, he would just throw it all up again. Jung-hyun carefully placed the remaining medicine on the table.

“I don’t think I can take any more today.”

At that, Kyung Seung-hee’s face stiffened for a brief moment. Jung-hyun reflexively spoke.

“I’ll make sure to take it once I go home. Thank you.”

“…Is that so? Then it can’t be helped. Make sure to take it at home.”

As she smiled and spoke, Kyung Seung-hee seemed slightly different from usual, and Jung-hyun nodded, feeling a strange sensation.

* * *

Although he had told Kyung Seung-hee that, Jung-hyun chose to leave the medicine untouched instead of drinking it.

It was because the day after returning from the hospital, he had suffered from severe abdominal pain after warming and drinking the herbal medicine. It felt as if someone had reached into his lower abdomen and scrambled his internal organs.

It was a horrific experience. Naturally, he couldn’t bring himself to touch the medicine again. Since herbal medicine is originally prescribed to fit an individual’s constitution, he wondered if it contained an ingredient that didn’t suit him.

Kyung Seung-hee was strangely persistent, asking every day if he had taken the medicine, but Jung-hyun simply answered that he had each time. He felt sorry to tell the person who had gone through the trouble of prescribing the medicine that it had made him feel worse.

“Strangely, I feel like I’m marrying off a daughter. I thought my son would stay in my arms forever.”

Jung-hyun had visited the showroom of a famous furniture designer with his mother. It was to look at furniture for his new marital home.

A kind-faced employee praised the furniture incessantly, mentioning that it was a special order for a famous European film director. His mother, listening intently, said she would order the oddly shaped floor lamp and table the employee recommended right away.

“Come to think of it, have you been attending the pheromone center lately?”

“I’ve been so busy lately that it’s been a while since I last went.”

“Right. There’s no real need to keep going to the center now.”

Even so, his mother looked inwardly disappointed.

“Still, thanks to Athlete Shin Ho-jae, you received dominant pheromones for a long time. Maybe it’s just my greed, but it’s a shame.”

“…….”

“Is Athlete Shin doing well? He was close with our Jung-hyun, so he must have been quite shocked by this incident.”

The smile on Jung-hyun’s face stiffened slightly. Just those three syllables brought memories rushing back like a wave. If he didn’t escape quickly, he would be drenched to the crown of his head.

“He wasn’t shocked… he was likely very disappointed. So, Mother, please stop thinking about Athlete Shin now.”

“I feel upset for no reason. All because of that vermin of a reporter.”

His mother spoke with a voice laced with anger.

“If they were going to settle so easily, why write such an article and put our Jung-hyun in a difficult position? Because of that article, both Ki-hyuk and you had to suffer so much emotionally.”

“…….”

Jung-hyun smiled faintly.

His mother’s words, describing the feelings of a son who had taken the fall for his half-brother’s assault charges as mere ’emotional suffering,’ felt particularly bitter today. As did her attitude that all of this was solely the fault of one person, Kim In-jung.

“Let’s only think of good things. Writer Kyung said the new house is truly wonderful. It makes me happy to think of my son living there well without any worries. How far along is the interior design?”

“Ah….”

It was just as Jung-hyun was about to give a light answer. Suddenly, an abdominal pain so sharp it turned his vision white struck him, and he hurriedly grabbed the chair in front of him.

Had he gotten indigestion again? He had intentionally avoided meal times to meet her, fearing he might vomit in front of his mother.

His mother approached Jung-hyun with a startled face.

“Jung-hyun?”

Goosebumps prickled. He felt a sensation as if his underwear were becoming wet. Jung-hyun managed a smile as he answered his mother, who was grabbing his arm.

“Mother, please stay here for a moment. I need to go to the restroom.”

“Are you alright, son? Your face is pale.”

“I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Jung-hyun entered the restroom, he locked the door. As he lowered his underwear, he felt the damp fabric peel away from his skin. Jung-hyun immediately narrowed his eyes.

……Blood?

It was closer to a dark brown than bright red, but it was definitely blood.

Blood. Had he developed some kind of colorectal disease? Cancer or something like that?

It was strange. The health checkup results Kyung Seung-hee had given him the other day showed no particular problems.

“…Jung-hyun? Are you okay?”

His mother’s worried voice drifted in from outside the restroom. Jung-hyun quickly adjusted his pants, washed his hands, and stepped out.

“Mother, I completely forgot that I was supposed to meet Seung-hee today. I’m sorry, but may I leave first?”

“Is that so? Yes, then you should go. Is the pain okay?”

“Yes. I think I just had a brief stomach upset. I’ll call a driver for you when you’re ready to leave.”

“Then that’s a relief…. I’ll look around slowly and find my own way back. Don’t worry about me.”

“Then, please excuse me.”

Jung-hyun quickly left the showroom. He hurried to start his car and searched for a hospital. The name of the hospital he usually attended appeared immediately on the screen.

After a moment of hesitation, Jung-hyun decided to find somewhere else. The hospital he usually went to was connected to his father. If he really had a serious illness, he wanted to find out first. Fortunately, there was another hospital not far away.

“You said you’ve had constant indigestion and frequent vomiting recently. And today, you noticed blood from behind?”

“Yes.”

The doctor with short, salt-and-pepper hair pushed up her glasses and stared silently at the monitor.

“Your registered gender is Beta male, correct?”

Jung-hyun nodded. The doctor cleared her throat and spoke to him.

“First, let’s start with a pheromone level test and a blood test.”

“Pheromones?”

“It’s a basic test. There are diseases that occur when specific pheromone levels are high.”

“Ah, yes.”

Jung-hyun nodded silently and rolled up one arm.

And a short while later.

Jung-hyun headed to the ultrasound room after being told to have an abdominal ultrasound. He tried his best to maintain a composed face, but his insides were burning with anxiety.

The doctor stared at the ultrasound screen without saying a word, then called Jung-hyun back into the consultation room. Upon hearing the doctor’s words, Jung-hyun frowned as if he couldn’t believe it.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You can see that the pheromone level has slightly exceeded the baseline.”

Jung-hyun stared at the monitor screen the doctor was pointing to. There, he saw a number labeled ‘Omega Level.’

“This is a level that can be seen in a recessive Omega. Seeing as you are registered as a Beta, it seems you manifested recently. Did you have any manifestation symptoms?”

“Manifestation… you say.”

“You would have had manifestation symptoms, such as a high fever, a persistent cold, or smelling scents you couldn’t normally perceive.”

The doctor elaborated. Jung-hyun murmured blankly.

“I did have… a fever, but I just thought it was because I often suffer from seasonal colds…”

But hearing the doctor’s words, the unusual states he’d experienced recently came back to him one by one. The seasonal cold that wouldn’t go away, the strange smell he felt whenever Kyung Seung-hee touched him…….

“Manifestation after adulthood is a very rare case. Furthermore, since you fall into the category of extreme recessive among recessives, the trait-bearers around you likely didn’t notice.”

“…….”

“Moreover, since you are currently in a state where pheromones are not being released, that would have made it even more so.”

Just as he narrowed his eyes, not immediately understanding her words, the doctor spoke with a gentle smile.

“You’re pregnant. You’ve just entered your sixth week.”

“……What?”

97 – Puck Drop