By Zephyria 
―Don’t let it drag on too long. And don’t think that time will solve everything.
“Why would I? Nothing is solved by time. Old emotions don’t fade as time passes; they only grow more toxic.”
―…….
And an empty stomach only gets hungrier as time goes by. Just as I was opening the refrigerator to see if there was anything to eat, I heard the sound of the front door lock being pressed from outside.
“I think Kwon Yi-kang is here. I’ll call you back later.”
―Do that.
After hanging up, I scurried to the entrance and saw Kwon Yi-kang walking through the door. As I stood there waiting for him, Kwon Yi-kang, having closed the door, stared at me intently.
“You’re here?”
“To have someone welcome me home from work… it feels good.”
“Since when are you like this?”
“I don’t know. It just feels unexpectedly good.”
Taking off his shoes, Kwon Yi-kang reached out and lifted me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rubbed my cheek against him as he naturally carried me into the bedroom.
“You didn’t answer your phone, so I thought you were sleeping.”
“I just woke up. Father called.”
“You didn’t answer my call, but you woke up to answer your father’s?”
“I guess it was just the right timing to wake up.”
Why is he jealous of something like that? He can just think that I woke up because the phone kept ringing.
As I scolded him by tugging at his hair, Kwon Yi-kang laid me on the bed and lay down beside me, pulling me close.
“You should change your clothes. Did you eat dinner? I’m hungry.”
“Let’s stay like this for just ten minutes. I’ll make you something delicious.”
“Why are you acting spoiled all of a sudden? Did something happen?”
“No.”
He pulled me closer with a firm grip around my waist and rested his face on my chest. The cold air that had clung to Kwon Yi-kang vanished, and warmth bloomed from where our bodies met. In a languid and peaceful mood, I reflexively stroked Kwon Yi-kang’s hair with my fingers.
“I didn’t know living with someone would be this nice.”
“What’s so nice about it?”
“Having someone who waits for me to come home, having someone to lie here and share warmth with, seeing the face of the person who fell asleep holding me when I open my eyes in the morning… it’s truly wonderful that every part of my daily life isn’t alone, but with you.”
“…You must have been lonely too.”
There were moments when enduring everything alone felt piercingly lonely. The fact that my existence felt trivial, and that no one would remember me even if I vanished from the world, made me solitary. I couldn’t find a purpose or meaning for why I had to endure and live.
Just knowing there is a warmth to hold onto when I reach out gives me the will to live. That was what Kwon Yi-kang meant to me.
“We should get married quickly.”
“That’s why I ran away from home, isn’t it?”
“The baby will be born soon, so we have to hurry.”
“What baby?”
I chuckled, taking Kwon Yi-kang’s words as a joke. While I would eventually have to have a child, for some reason, it didn’t feel like my own reality.
Just as the old Min Jae-hee felt like he was imagining a non-existent entity when he thought of the words ‘family’ or ‘parents.’ It felt like thinking of imaginary creatures from a fantasy, like dragons or unicorns.
“I think the house is almost built by now.”
“House? What house are you building? Are we really moving?”
“We have to move, but our child must be working hard to build a house in here too.”
Kwon Yi-kang seemed convinced that there was a child in my womb. As if he wanted to play house, he stroked my flat stomach over my clothes and whispered in a soft voice.
“Build a sturdy and pretty house and grow up healthy, our baby.”
“Gross.”
Feeling a tickle, I pushed away Kwon Yi-kang’s hand from my stomach, but he stubbornly kept it wrapped around me. As he caressed me as if cradling something precious, a warm sensation pooled deep inside my abdomen.
“Do you want to have a child?”
“Of course, if it’s a child between you and me.”
“I’ve never really thought about giving birth myself.”
Still, since he wanted it this much, I felt like I might give him one. If I could actually get pregnant. I’m an Omega, so I can get pregnant, right? Probably?
I imagined a child who looked like Kwon Yi-kang. And Kwon Yi-kang standing beside the child. And me beside them. It was a vision of a family I had only ever drawn in my imagination. Ah, so this is what a family is. Not someone else’s family that I only watched from a distance, but my own. A family that includes me.
“If I can have a child, I want to have your child.”
“Our child.”
“Yeah, our child. But thinking about being pregnant and giving birth is a bit scary.”
I couldn’t imagine a man giving birth. It was the limit of my meager imagination.
Since the Omega father gave birth to Cha Soo-kyung, it’s certain that men can give birth if they are Omegas. Then, since I have an Omega’s body now, I should be able to have a child.
“But does pregnancy just happen? Are there no special conditions or processes?”
“The child is already here, so you should think about raising them well and giving birth.”
“What do you mean I’m pregnant? Why are you so sure?”
“It would be strange if you weren’t pregnant after I poured into you so diligently. It wouldn’t be strange at all if there were twins in there.”
Is that the only evidence he has? I laughed because it was absurd, but Kwon Yi-kang’s faith was steadfast.
“I should visit a hospital soon.”
“Are you serious? Can I laugh a little?”
“I’m serious. But if it’s funny, you should laugh.”
Because if the daddy is happy, the baby will be happy too. I finally burst into laughter at the small, mumbling voice. He really seems to be longing for a child.
I truly hadn’t thought or expected pregnancy, but I should start thinking about it seriously. Since he’s expecting this much, I should meet those expectations. A child that looks like Kwon Yi-kang… I, too, began to feel an expectation I never had before.
∞ ∞ ∞
“As expected, other people’s flesh is best when it’s meat. Especially beef.”
“Then let’s go eat meat next time.”
It wasn’t the right thing to say after eating a lavish spread of sashimi, but nonetheless, Kwon Yi-kang listened to my words as if they were a very important opinion.
“Are you really coming along?”
“You said he told us to come together.”
“That’s true, but I don’t know why that man is calling. And you shouldn’t just go whenever he calls. He’ll develop bad habits.”
Kwon Yi-kang’s shoulders shook as he laughed at my words. It felt more like he didn’t want to send me alone rather than just following a summons, so I didn’t stop him from coming. Still, I hated the idea of Kwon Yi-kang appearing to follow orders to come and go.
“I just don’t know why he’s calling. And to a place like this.”
I clicked my tongue in disapproval while watching the floor numbers appear in the elevator.
“Shh, you have to think positively. If the daddy is in a bad mood, the baby will be in a bad mood too.”
“I really think I need to go to the hospital. Because you keep saying that, I feel like something is squirming in my stomach.”
“It’s probably not time to feel fetal movement yet.”
Then it must be roundworms. Either way, I feel like I should go to the hospital.
With a ding, the elevator opened, and I stood before the door immediately in sight. I pressed the doorbell and looked back at Kwon Yi-kang standing behind me.
“We came because we got the call, but we have nothing to be ashamed of, so absolutely do not act submissive. We aren’t the ones in need. Especially not with the eldest Hyung.”
“Sure, sure.”
“I’m telling you to take this seriously. I don’t know what the business is, but I already don’t like the fact that he called us to come to where he is. So, no matter how much of a scene I make, you have to take my side.”
“Whether you do something or not, I am on your side.”
“I like that attitude.”
The moment I nodded with satisfaction, the door opened. When I frowned, wondering if I had come to the wrong house because the face visible through the gap was a stranger, the face facing me also crumpled and retreated behind the door.
“Come in.”
The figure vanished, and only the voice remained. As I stood still, wondering if I had come to the right place, an irritated voice flew back, “I said come in.”
Who does he think he is, giving orders? I opened the door with a bang and walked inside. In the living room of a residential home where someone clearly lived, the eldest Hyung was leaning back on the sofa as if sprawled out.
“If you call someone, you should at least come out to see them. You’re letting a stranger in? Did you never learn manners?”
“That personality is still the same.”
“Get up, will you? I’m not the only one who came.”
Why don’t you just lie down? As I pointed this out while looking down at the eldest Hyung, who was lounging and laughing loosely, he barely managed to pull himself up to a sitting position.
“Our dear little brother is so prickly. It must be a chore to put up with all that. You have a great personality, brother-in-law. Ah, I can call you brother-in-law, right?”
“Please do, Hyung-nim.”
When did we ever get close enough for this? This must be the second time we’ve met, the first being when I went to greet him. Even then, he didn’t say a single nice thing and just kept glancing at me before shutting his mouth.
Anyway, no one is faster at switching stances than the eldest Hyung. I knew it from the moment I called him a snake, but he was a master of reading the room, perhaps even more than I.
“What’s the need to stand up stiffly and greet each other between us? Just sit comfortably.”
Since he told me to sit comfortably, I wouldn’t decline. I sat opposite the eldest Hyung and rested my legs on the table in the middle. Facing a loose posture with a loose posture is equal in many ways.
“Where is this place?”
“One of the things I own?”
“Must be nice to be the firstborn and own so many things. I have nothing, so I just left the clothes I was wearing when I ran away from home.”
“Ah, I heard about that. You did something quite outrageous. I didn’t think our dear brother would go that far.”