“Tae-hyun, breathe! Take a deep breath, let it out, that’s it.”

If Seo Baek-han hadn’t caught him, he would have smashed his head on the solid marble floor. But could this be called fortunate? Wouldn’t it have been less painful to have his face shattered instead?

“Heuk, ugh…”

He could do nothing but choke back his sobs. This wasn’t some abstract metaphor. Joo Tae-hyun couldn’t keep his wits about him through the excruciating pain, as if all his internal organs were being twisted and contorted.

“Joo, Tae-hyun… Tae-hyun, Joo Tae-hyun!”

Seo Baek-han’s urgent voice, his hands kneading Tae-hyun’s own and checking the pulse on his neck, the icy chill of his skin as if from shock… Everything felt foreign. His flustered state was so unfamiliar that, even in this situation, it was the first thing Tae-hyun noticed.

“Please, just breathe. No, with your mouth. Yes, a little longer. Right, like that.”

Seo Baek-han’s face filled his blurry, tear-streaked vision. His pitch-black eyes, devoid of any light, felt strangely distant.

There was a time when he had wanted to see his own reflection in Seo Baek-han’s eyes from this very distance. He had wondered what it would feel like to be close enough for their breaths to mingle, to be able to gaze into each other’s faces.

“Ah, Joo Tae-hyun, what in the world… Doctor Woo!”

Suddenly, he felt his body sinking endlessly downward, as if pushed off a cliff. At the same time, Seo Baek-han’s pheromone assaulted every corner of Joo Tae-hyun’s body. The traces of him, which had been wandering aimlessly, soon rode through Tae-hyun’s veins and along his airways, fiercely digging into his heart.

Seo Baek-han embraced him, but he didn’t even have the strength to push him away. His familiar pheromone washed over Joo Tae-hyun. For a moment, he thought he could breathe a little more easily, but that didn’t last long.

Just as the sharp pain, like his flesh was being sliced away, made him wish for death.

“Joo Tae-hyun, all the waves are… so strange right now, could you be.”

Amidst his fading consciousness, a belated question surfaced.

Strange, I don’t think Hyung’s pheromone has felt this intense for a while.

Why was that?

“…By any chance, is your stomach hurting in particular? If it’s hard to speak, just blink twice.”

Ah, right. After I got pregnant, it felt like all of Hyung’s pheromone was flowing to the baby. I thought it was a relief, that I wouldn’t have to show him a disgraceful side of myself, like an Omega in heat…

“Ah… Tae-hyun, Joo Tae-hyun…!”

But why now…

“Gasp, Young Master! Young Master…!”

“Tae-hyun? Ah, my baby? My Tae-hyun, Doctor, ah, what’s wrong with our Tae-hyun…!”

A brief commotion arose, and then different voices were shouting his name.

“…It’s okay, you’ll be okay.”

Seo Baek-han’s chest, pressed against his back, rose and fell erratically. “Tae-hyun.” His voice, anxiously repeating his name, was so terribly frayed at the edges that it became increasingly difficult to understand. For a man who, just moments before, had been threatening him by mentioning a child who couldn’t even take human form, he sounded quite affectionate.

“…Problem, …seems to be.”

What is he saying… Doctor Woo, who had rushed into the bedroom, seemed to be defining the phenomenon. But Joo Tae-hyun’s five senses, which were slowly beginning to fail, couldn’t react properly to the external chaos.

“…The baby…”

“No, it can’t be… There’s no way…”

Against their joined skin, Seo Baek-han’s pulse raced wildly. Unable to bear his pheromone pouring down like a torrential rain any longer, Joo Tae-hyun finally closed his eyes.

An ominous flash seemed to flicker beyond his eyelids, and then peace came. Feeling the sharp pain that had been churning his stomach gradually subside, Joo Tae-hyun peacefully kept his eyes shut.

Cold, scattered tears streaked down Joo Tae-hyun’s gaunt cheeks. Shattered, they became deep cracks that could never be sealed again.

Ⅸ – Tense disagreement (2)

“Are you sure you don’t need an IV?”

Chairman Joo and Doctor Woo asked one after another, but Yoo Yeong-hwa just shook her head. An IV? What damn IV? Her fingertips, which had turned white from clenching her fists to keep from screaming at Seo Baek-han, still tingled, but thinking of her youngest son, whose heart must be in turmoil, she couldn’t even bring herself to complain of pain.

‘I’m sorry. For coming back so suddenly when it’s not even a school break.’

‘Oh, my baby. It’s not like you came somewhere you shouldn’t. You came home, what’s there to be sorry for?’

‘That’s right, Tae-hyun. It’s okay, whatever it is, just tell us. Is it because studying is too hard?’

Six years ago.

The couple, already worried about their youngest son who had suddenly gone to study abroad at such a young age, had subtly suggested he return home. It pained them to think about what could have possibly made the boy, who had always studied so quietly, suddenly undertake such a long journey.

Are those bastards in the lab giving him a hard time? If something so unpleasant happened, I won’t let them get away with it, no matter who they are. She was steeling herself with that resolve when he spoke.

‘It’s not that… Um, I think… I have to get married.’

‘Ah, right, marr— Tae-hyun, wait a minute. What did you just say?’

Before they could even ask what on earth he meant, Joo Tae-hyun coolly held out the phone in his hand.

‘I asked Baek-han hyung to marry me today. I even tried writing up a prenuptial agreement… Please take a look.’

Six years ago, their youngest son, who had just turned twenty with the new year, had suddenly returned home and announced to his family, out of the blue, that he was getting married. And the partner, he said, was the hyung he had been trailing after since he was a child, a man seven years his senior.

‘I know you must be shocked. But, um, a reason has come up for why I absolutely must marry Baek-han hyung.’

In front of his family, who were too dumbfounded to know what to do, Joo Tae-hyun calmly explained his orientation.

That he liked a man, another Alpha. That while studying in the United States, where they were relatively tolerant of shifters, he had become curious about a drug called switch. And that it happened to suit his body very well.

‘Hmm… First of all, thank you for being honest with your family about your situation, Tae-hyun.’

‘That’s right. Your mom and dad know very well that it’s not an easy topic to bring up. But marriage, at your age.’

Although Joo Tae-hyun had come with his own preparations, in the eyes of the adults, they were full of holes. It would be one thing if he asserted his value as the precious youngest son of DH Group, but to say he had to marry Seo Baek-han for that reason? It was obvious that Assemblyman Seo’s family would also object if Joo Tae-hyun presented them with the same logic.

Above all, the man he wanted to marry was no pushover.

Seo Baek-han.

That Seo Baek-han, who, despite his young age, was already being called Prince Lee’s political successor?

‘I understand what you mean, but I think your mom and dad need some time to think.’

It was a gentle refusal. The reason they hadn’t taken any further action after putting it that way was because they believed there was no way Seo Baek-han would accept the proposal.

Even if Assemblyman Seo and Director Ahn were pleased, what good would it be if the man himself was against it? Moreover, Seo Baek-han already had a history of scoffing at a decent marriage offer from the imperial family.

On the other hand, it was also bitter. They had known for a long time that their youngest had trailed after only Seo Baek-han since he was little, but to think he still had him in his heart after growing up so much.

I don’t know what our child is lacking to be suffering from a one-sided love. But it’s not like I can go and yell at that Seo Baek-han, who seems to exclusively date women, and ask him why he doesn’t like our son…

‘Mom, Dad! Are you busy this weekend? Baek-han hyung wants to come to our house to greet you.’

‘…Huh?’

‘He said that instead of us just talking amongst ourselves, getting formal permission from the adults should be the priority. I only realized there was an order to things after hearing Hyung say that, I’m sorry.’

But he said that Seo Baek-han had readily accepted the proposal. He had said with his own mouth that he would gladly welcome Joo Tae-hyun as his spouse.

That was the biggest reason why Chairman Joo and CEO Yoo, who had been nothing but distraught since their youngest son’s sudden marriage announcement, decided to permit the union. Because the person their son was head over heels for had personally and politely expressed his desire to marry him. And because that person was none other than Seo Baek-han.

‘Alright, we’ll clear our schedule for the weekend. Did Baek-han say he’d come to our house? If it’s more comfortable to meet outside, that’s fine too.’

‘No, he said he wants to come to the house.’

They say a parent can’t win against their child, and that child was Joo Tae-hyun. Chairman Joo and CEO Yoo hid their turmoil and forced a smile.

I don’t know what that Seo Baek-han’s true intentions are, but if that spirited young man, who even growled at the imperial family, went that far… Maybe he’s not entirely without feelings for our son. If that’s really the case, is there any reason to oppose this marriage that our youngest son desires so much?

‘I’ve arrived, Chairm— Ah, no. It’s okay to call you Mother and Father now, right?’

But Seo Baek-han’s attitude when he came to Seoul to greet them was far different from what the couple had expected.

‘I should have greeted you right away, I’m sorry.’

A positive sense of wonder filled the corner of her heart that had felt uneasy.

Trying to be polite and friendly to his elders was one thing, but Seo Baek-han, who was famous for drawing a sharp line with others, had a surprisingly soft spot for their son.

Was his string of rumored affairs with women a kind of smokescreen? If he really doesn’t mind men, then he must be quite taken with our Tae-hyun, she had thought.

Now the only remaining problem is that thing called dirty switch…

Not intending to pry into every detail of his adult son’s private life, Chairman Joo dropped all further investigation after confirming that Joo Tae-hyun had indeed purchased dirty switch. Since it was an illegal drug in the country, it wasn’t something to be carelessly recommended, but if his preferences were that firm… If that was why his youngest son truly wanted this marriage, he felt it was his duty as a parent to help.

But only four years after the wedding, her youngest son, so precious she couldn’t bear to see a speck of dust on him, had returned a complete wreck. To the point where she couldn’t even begin to fathom how to soothe his broken body and mind.

“Doctor, Doctor Woo!”

As she pressed her temples, enduring a severe headache, a sharp call suddenly echoed through the house. It was the voice of Seo Baek-han, whom she didn’t even want to let set foot in this house if she had her way.

Where does that bastard think he is, raising his voice. Her displeasure flared up due to her already foul mood, but CEO Yoo quickly realized this was not the time for that. For the man who had just been spouting all sorts of unspeakable things in front of his father-in-law and mother-in-law to be calling for Doctor Woo of all people meant…

As if on cue, Chairman Joo, CEO Yoo, and Doctor Woo all moved at once.

“Gasp, Young Master! Young Master…!”

“Tae-hyun? Ah, my baby?”

She didn’t know how she managed to get up the stairs. The three of them, barely reaching Joo Tae-hyun’s bedroom, were rendered speechless by the devastating scene before them, and could only call out for Joo Tae-hyun, each in their own way. There was nothing else they could do. Even to CEO Yoo’s medically untrained eyes, her son’s condition looked extremely grave.

“My Tae-hyun, Doctor, ah, what’s wrong with our Tae-hyun…!”

“We need to call an, an ambulance right away! Please contact Donghwa Hospital as well!”

“I’ll call them now, just wait a moment!”

“Yes, and Director Seo, please hold the Young Master a little tighter. Yes, your pheromone needs to be able to reach every part of the Young Master.”

Despair clouded the doctor’s face as he checked the panel.

“What in the world, what is going on? Huh?”

“We’ll have to run a proper examination at the hospital to know for sure, but, um. If these numbers are accurate.”

Doctor Woo, who had been staring intently at the fluctuating graph with his hands on his hips, gave a short shake of his head.

“It seems there’s a problem… with the baby.”

Not with the Young Master, but with the baby in the Young Master’s womb.

By Zephyria

Hello, I'm Zephyria, an avid BL reader^^ I post AI/Machine assisted translation. Due to busy schedule I'll just post all works I have mtled. However, as you know the quality is not guaranteed. Maybe just enough to fill your curiosity.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *