By Zephyria 
“Hui-won, don’t close your eyes. You mustn’t lose consciousness.”
Kwon Young-je kept talking incessantly. Because he was gripping Hui-won’s hand so tightly, his knuckles had turned white. Inside the ambulance speeding towards the hospital, the metallic smell of blood had been swirling since earlier. The bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Hui-won blinked his eyes slowly. The feeling of blood trickling from his body was horrifying, and the crushing pressure in his abdomen was painfully unbearable to endure. Each time his consciousness began to fade, the force gripping his hand allowed him to barely lift his eyelids.
Hui-won mumbled something. His faint voice was muffled by the oxygen mask. When he looked at Kwon Young-je with desperate eyes, the latter pushed away the restraining hand and lowered the oxygen mask Hui-won was wearing to beneath his chin. A small cough escaped him, and the paramedic sitting by his head held Hui-won’s shoulder firmly with worried eyes.
“Save… Yeoro.”
“…….”
“Promise… me. You have to save her.”
Kwon Young-je was not a god. No matter how capable he was, he was not in a position to control a person’s life. His shattered expression, seen for the first time, also drove a wedge into Hui-won’s anxiety.
But right now, Kwon Young-je was the only person Hui-won could rely on. Gripping his hand tightly, he pleaded again in a fading voice.
“Alright. I promise.”
Upon hearing the answer, his consciousness sank endlessly somewhere into the depths. Hui-won finally lost consciousness, and the oxygen mask covered his lower face again. Beyond the scenery rapidly passing by the window, the outline of the university hospital finally began to appear.
The medical staff on standby took the emergency patient away. A VIP patient who had fallen down the stairs, and moreover, was pregnant—there were countless things to check.
Among them, the obstetrics and gynecology professor’s face darkened as soon as he saw Hui-won’s condition. While emergency treatment was being administered, he examined the fetal condition in detail. Perhaps wondering if there was any possibility.
But as time passed, only a devastated expression grew deeper. The professor let out a sigh, removed his blood-stained gloves, and went outside.
After talking with the doctor for a while, Kwon Young-je stood before the surgery consent form. He had signed countless documents before, but this time, he couldn’t readily draw a simple stroke with the pen.
“…….”
Finally, the ballpoint pen tip scribbled a trail on the paper. The back of Kwon Young-je’s neck was soaked with sweat after signing. He leaned against the station shelf at an angle, pressing his forehead with his fingertips. Crushed by an overwhelming sense of guilt, he couldn’t even take a proper breath.
“Yo, Young-je. How is it? Is the baby okay? Can they save it?”
“…….”
“I’ll kneel and beg like this. I was really wrong. Young-ho… he’s been acting crazy lately.”
Jang Se-hee lay prostrate on the hospital floor, clutching the hem of Kwon Young-je’s pants. Perhaps knowing the situation was difficult to resolve, she was desperate to defend her son.
Kwon Young-je looked up at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes. His clenched jaw trembled. Why do the people in this family drive others insane like this? He felt like he was going crazy too, and a bitter laugh escaped him.
“Let go.”
“Young-je, huu, Executive Director Kwon! No, Vice Chairman! Please, just this once!”
“I told you to let go.”
At the chilling voice, Jang Se-hee quickly shook off her hand and whimpered. Kwon Young-je turned around and slowly scanned his surroundings. The emergency room scene resembled a funeral home. Even more so because of the families holding back their sobs.
Just then, the automatic doors opened, and the sound of dress shoes rushed in. Kwon Young-ho was being dragged in by burly bodyguards. He had already been beaten half-unconscious by Chairman Kwon.
“Damn! You son of a bitch!”
As Chairman Kwon roared like thunder, Kwon Young-ho walked forward timidly, his shoulders trembling.
“…I have committed a mortal sin.”
Before he could even finish speaking, Kwon Young-je’s kick flew in. His long leg struck Kwon Young-ho’s solar plexus, sending him rolling clumsily on the floor.
Kwon Young-je grabbed the collar of the fallen Kwon Young-ho and repeatedly drove his fist down. The punches mixed with resentment seemed intent on beating someone to death right there. But even as his lips split and cheekbones shattered, no one came to Kwon Young-ho’s defense. Finally, blood-mixed phlegm bubbled from Kwon Young-ho’s mouth.
“Aah! Father! Our Young-ho will die like this!!”
Seeing that, Jang Se-hee let out a piercing scream and rushed over. She pushed Kwon Young-je’s shoulder and tried to pull him away, but it was futile to stop a Dominant Alpha whose eyes had truly turned.
Kwon Young-je looked down at the bloodied Kwon Young-ho and swallowed his ragged breath. Although he hadn’t shed a drop of blood, a wholly metallic taste lingered in the saliva he swallowed down his throat. The eyes revealed through his disheveled bangs were stained with murderous intent, boiling and seething.
“…Ask for forgiveness from Hui-won, not me.”
“Ggh… Huh.”
“Only if he forgives you will you live.”
Kwon Young-je threw down the collar he was gripping. The pitifully beaten Kwon Young-ho was again seized by the bodyguards and dragged away. Jang Se-hee let out a shriek and ran after her son into a corner of the emergency room.
“Young-je.”
Young-je’s father cautiously approached and rubbed his son’s back. The back, still uncalmed from excitement, trembled as if convulsing, and unrefined Alpha pheromones ran rampant, spreading in all directions.
“Calm down, try to breathe.”
Despite his father’s advice, Kwon Young-je couldn’t stop trembling. Covering his face with blood-stained hands, he gasped for breath repeatedly. He, who had always shown only a cool and solid appearance, was crumbling in an instant.
“I don’t know… how to tell him.”
“…….”
“I shouldn’t have… made that promise.”
Madam Im also approached and embraced her son. The family spread their arms to tightly cover him, preventing the heart-wrenching sorrow from leaking out. Within the family’s embrace, which he hadn’t even experienced as a child, Kwon Young-je quietly swallowed his tears. He and Hui-won had also wanted to protect their child like this, but now they could no longer do so.
*
Hui-won opened his eyes two days later.
When he lifted his eyelids, the hospital room, entirely washed in white, was the first thing to enter his sight. In his consciousness, which had been locked away and now surfaced, he slowly twisted his body, and a dull ache surged. For a moment, his ribs pulled so tight it was hard to breathe.
At the suppressed groan, Kwon Young-je immediately approached and stilled Hui-won’s movements. Seeing his face finally eased the anxious heart.
Hui-won slowly blinked and faced Kwon Young-je. Whether it was his mood or not, it seemed like he couldn’t look directly at him.
“…What happened?”
Hui-won opened his parched lips. His voice, used after a long time, was raspy as if scraped with sandpaper. When no answer came, Hui-won examined the rest of the hospital room.
In the single room where only he was present, only a quiet stillness flowed, and multiple IV bags hung from the pole. He couldn’t even guess what treatment had been done or how long it had been since he woke up.
His blurry gaze turned back to Kwon Young-je. It was definitely the Kwon Young-je he knew, but he looked unfamiliar, seemingly immersed in sorrow somewhere.
“Are you badly hurt?”
Kwon Young-je carefully brushed Hui-won’s forehead. Several layers of gauze were plastered on his temples and around his eyes. Still, it was fortunate it was only this much.
“You had a severe concussion, so they did a CT scan. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with your head, and while you have bruises on your ribs, they said if you rest, it shouldn’t be a big problem.”
“A CT… scan?”
Then the baby…. Hui-won hurriedly sat up and lifted his hospital gown top. His lower abdomen was tightly wrapped with bandages. Seeing the clear traces of surgery, he was momentarily speechless.
“The placenta had detached, putting you in a dangerous situation. By the time we got to the hospital, it was already too late to do anything.”
Kwon Young-je spoke in as calm a tone as possible. Reciting only the facts while closely observing Hui-won’s complexion.
Hui-won slowly turned his head. He didn’t need to hear more to know what had changed before and after his abdomen was cut open. His vacant eyes shook.
“…It’s gone now?”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”
Hui-won was too shocked to speak. In a daze, he only fumbled over his lower abdomen. The only sensation touching his fingertips was the rough surface of the bandage. Beneath the hard surface, he felt no movement at all.
Tears fell thickly from his widened eyes. There was no holding them back. Yet, no sobbing sound emerged. Clearly, his mouth was open, but as if his throat was blocked, no sound came out.
Faced with an unacceptable situation, Hui-won didn’t know what to do and trembled both hands. As he contorted his face and let out a choked cry, Kwon Young-je pulled him into an embrace and held him within his arms. The flowing tears now began to darkly stain Kwon Young-je’s shirt.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
The only words he could offer right now were apologies. He could feel Hui-won’s devastated heart but had no way to take it upon himself instead. Had there ever been a moment when he felt this incompetent? Kwon Young-je silently pressed down and swallowed the lump rising to his throat.
Just as only sorrowful thoughts drifted, knock knock, a knocking sound was heard. The sliding door opened, and a man leaning on crutches pushed in his swollen face from outside.
“I heard voices… thought you might be awake.”
Huu, Kwon Young-ho let out a trembling breath. After briefly checking the mood, he dragged his crutches and entered the hospital room. He was also wearing a patient gown. Having been beaten by several people, his once smooth face was now a mess, making it hard to find his original features.
He threw aside his crutches and prostrated himself flat on the bare floor. At the foot of Hui-won’s bed, he repeatedly bowed his head.
“Secretary Kim… please forgive me. I must have lost my mind for a moment then. Drunk, I did something I shouldn’t have, I… I’m really a bastard who deserves to die.”
Kwon Young-ho was in a cornered situation. If he couldn’t obtain Hui-won’s forgiveness, he faced being expelled from the family register. Pride be damned; to save his own skin, he had to prostrate himself and beg for forgiveness.
“If you just forgive me, I’ll do anything.”
“…….”
Hui-won looked down quietly at the bowed head with unfocused eyes. Suddenly, he pushed Kwon Young-je away and stretched his legs down from the bed.
Stepping on the ground barefoot, he slowly scanned his surroundings. Just then, he saw a suitable object on the bedside table.
He picked up the vase just like that. The heavy weight made his abdomen throb as if tearing for a moment, but gritting his teeth, he threw the vase.
“Hik!”
The vase narrowly missed Kwon Young-ho’s head and fell to the floor, creating a sharp shattering sound. Flowers, water, and fragments splattered in all directions.
“What can you possibly do?”
“Se, Secretary Kim.”
“Can you bring the dead child back to life? Will the child come back to life if you apologize?”
Hui-won picked up a glass fragment rolling on the floor and pinned Kwon Young-ho down. Despite his still unhealed body, the force pressing down on Kwon Young-ho’s lower jaw was vicious.
The sharply pointed glass fragment was aimed right between Kwon Young-ho’s eyebrows. Blood began to spread from Hui-won’s hand, trembling like an aspen leaf.
“If not that, then don’t even open your mouth. Never appear before my eyes again. If you dare show your face in front of me even once more, I’ll really kill you then.”