By Zephyria 
Side Story 4
Bang bang— A sound so loud it seemed the door might break woke Jeong-min with a start. Kim Ju-hwan was already awake and standing by the door. It wasn’t the wind. This… was a person knocking. As Jeong-min got out of bed to open the door, Kim Ju-hwan blocked him.
“Do you know who it is? Why open the door?”
“It’s a patient. Anyone knocking at this hour is either a patient or something happened at the hospital.”
Having experienced this several times already, Jeong-min quickly opened the door. Sure enough, an elderly man from the village stood there, his face drenched in tears. Jeong-min quickly supported him. He was an old man who couldn’t see due to acquired cataracts. For him to have come all this way at this hour, he must be in a very serious situation.
“My son!! My son is in danger. Doctor!”
“How is he in danger?”
“I think he’s going into labor.”
“Labor?!”
The old man’s son was an Omega male named Omondi. However, he was a minor, only 16 years old. Jeong-min hadn’t seen him recently, but when they first met, he wasn’t married and showed no signs of pregnancy at all.
“When did he get pregnant?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know!!”
“You don’t know?”
“Please save him. Please save him.”
This wouldn’t do. There was no time to talk to the old man. Jeong-min quickly dressed and packed the necessary tools.
“Where is your son now?”
“At home. He’s at home.”
The old man’s house was quite far from here. Perhaps because he had rushed from such a distance, his shoes were torn and his feet were a mess. To think he came all this way in that state… Jeong-min’s heart felt heavy, unable to even imagine the man’s desperation.
“Let’s go in my car.”
“Alright.”
Kim Ju-hwan carried the old man on his back and placed him in the backseat before heading to the driver’s seat. Jeong-min climbed in beside the old man, treating his feet while asking what had happened.
The old man said his son had been unwell for the past few days. While he had been anxious not knowing the cause, his son finally collapsed today, clutching his stomach in pain, and only then told the old man that he was pregnant.
He didn’t yet know who the shameless Alpha bastard who impregnated the boy was. Jeong-min’s head throbbed. It was sad, but common in this place. There were young Omegas who easily gave their bodies for just a potato or two.
After calming the old man and arriving at the house, Omondi’s water had already broken. The environment of the house was too poor for childbirth, so they immediately put him in Kim Ju-hwan’s car and headed for the hospital. Upon arriving at the operating room, the nurses, who had been contacted from the car, began rushing in.
“Where is Dr. Ha?”
Dr. Ha was the obstetrician in charge.
“Dr. Ha hasn’t arrived yet. He said he was going to the neighboring village today…”
Only then did it occur to him, and Jeong-min slapped his forehead. This was bad. Jeong-min could assist, but he couldn’t perform the delivery. He had the theoretical knowledge, but he had never actually done it. Especially for an Omega male, a caesarean section was mandatory. But he couldn’t just stand by and watch. Omondi was also physically weak from malnutrition, and every second counted. He wouldn’t be able to endure this pain for long. Nor would the baby in his womb…
Jeong-min clenched his fists and asked the nurses for help. There was no time to hesitate.
✽✽✽
“Haa…”
After finishing the surgery and taking the shower permitted only on surgery days, Jeong-min slumped onto a wooden chair, leaning forward to look at his two hands. Only now did his hands begin to tremble. He had held such a tiny life in his hands. The child, who had struggled to survive even in such a barren environment, was fortunately born healthy, and the mother also entered the recovery room safely. It was a true relief.
“Good job, Sunbae.”
Kim Ju-hwan sat beside him and handed him a cup. He could smell coffee. The scent of coffee beans he hadn’t smelled in a long time. Moreover, it was the scent of the beans from the cafe Jeong-min used to frequent.
“I had it flown in from Seoul. For you, Sunbae.”
“Kim Ju-hwan.”
“Yes?”
“I want to kiss you right now.”
“What?”
What could he not do for the saint who provided the water of life? He felt as if he could even ask him to suck his genitals right now. But he was too exhausted. He repaid him with a kiss and quickly drank the coffee. He felt like he was finally coming back to life. He hadn’t realized how much he missed this taste.
From afar, the cry of a baby could be heard. That crying didn’t sound annoying; rather, it sounded like a serenade.
“He’s crying quite loudly.”
“I know. But has this happened many times?”
“Why?”
“Earlier, I heard the nurses whispering that it seems to be the case ‘this time again’.”
“The father is probably some outsider who comes and goes. There are many such bastards. Since this is a place lacking food… they use that as a pretext to do bad things to children. Omondi isn’t the first. In the three months I’ve been here… there were maybe two more. Those children didn’t make it to birth; they miscarried halfway through, but…”
“Hmm… why didn’t they tell their mothers? Then there might have been a way in the middle.”
“It’s because they’re young. And they know nothing… Omondi probably didn’t even know he was pregnant… and by the time he did, it was already too late. There would have been no way to handle it.”
Jeong-min gripped the mug tightly before taking another sip. The bitter taste of coffee traveled down his esophagus.
“It’s admirable that he endured. He really held on well.”
The future might be an even bigger problem, but for now, he wanted to feel relieved and blessed that both were safe. He hoped for nothing but peace on the path of these two lives.
✽✽✽
From somewhere, a cute and lovely song was heard. At first, he thought it was the cry of the newborn baby, but listening closely, it sounded like a bird… yes… that’s right, a bird. The chirping of a baby bird.
The small bird that was always there on the way to the hospital seemed to be singing to him today for some reason, which made him feel good. Jeong-min smiled unconsciously.
“Sunbae.”
The bird’s song stopped abruptly, and Jeong-min snapped his eyes open. Surprised by the face of someone both familiar and strange before him, he blinked, and the events of yesterday came back to him.
Ah, right. He had returned home early this morning and seemingly fallen fast asleep.
“What time is it…”
“It’s almost 11 AM.”
Kim Ju-hwan said as he handed Jeong-min some water. He had already informed the hospital, so waking up at this time was fine… no, actually, he wanted to sleep more… As Jeong-min’s body slid sideways again, Kim Ju-hwan quickly caught him and carefully laid him back on the bed.
“Sleep more.”
“Mm…”
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Mm…”
Watching Jeong-min mumble in his sleep, Kim Ju-hwan chuckled and kissed him. Then he got out of bed, made a phone call, and drove toward the site where the hospital was to be built. He had intended to take a bit of a break, but after seeing the situation at dawn, he felt he couldn’t afford even a moment’s leisure. If things had gone slightly differently, both the pregnant woman and the child could have been in danger. Honestly, Kim Ju-hwan didn’t care what happened to them. But when Jeong-min was involved, the story changed. If they had come to harm, Jeong-min would not be sleeping peacefully like this. He was a person who pretended to be strong but had a tender heart. He would have blamed himself for the rest of his life. Such a thing must never happen. The only person Jeong-min should think about for the rest of his life was Kim Ju-hwan—himself. He didn’t want anything else to remain in Jeong-min’s heart.
“If we hurry from now, I think 90% will be completed in about a week. However, the electricity and water immediately…”
Even before coming here, he had heard reports about the situation and knew it was dire, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. Despite preparing everything as quickly as possible, supplying electricity and water remained difficult. Water, in particular, could not be simply hauled in; they had to find a way to build and connect waterways. The only saving grace was that they had been working with the government to create these waterways before he arrived.
“I understand. Please hurry as much as possible.”
“Yes.”
Looking at the trucks filled with temporary water supplies, Kim Ju-hwan thought back to the conversation he had with Jeong-min on the way home at dawn, after the surgery was finished.
‘Sunbae.’
‘Yeah?’
Seeing Jeong-min leaning back in the passenger seat, exhausted and eyes closed, Ju-hwan felt a pang of pity and threw out a joke to cheer him up.
‘Want to have sex?’
Of course, with 50% sincerity mixed in.
‘What are you talking about all of a sudden….’
As if he didn’t even have the strength to respond, he murmured with his eyes still closed.
‘Come to think of it, I brought some water. A whole truckload. You just showered, Sunbae. After we do it, you can just wash again with that, right?’
‘No… can’t.’
He continued to mumble, reaching out to pat Kim Ju-hwan’s arm. As if telling him to calm down. And pitifully, that action was enough to push Kim Ju-hwan’s sincerity up to 99%. If Jeong-min had just a little more strength… or if he had at least kept his eyes open, Kim Ju-hwan might have just held him ruthlessly right there on the road in the middle of nowhere.
‘The patients… need to use it… water will be a big help…. Thank you….’
Watching Shin Jeong-min stroke his hair with a voice that sounded as if it might crumble at any moment, Kim Ju-hwan felt a tickle in his chest. It was enough to make all the lewd thoughts he had just a moment ago vanish.