By Zephyria 
“Is there anything else you would like to eat?”
Butler Do placed a plate of fresh strawberries in front of Seo Yi-kyung. A sweet scent wafted through the air. Clear droplets of dew gave them a glossy sheen.
Yet, Seo Yi-kyung did not readily reach out. As if accustomed to this, Butler Do looked around the hospital room, giving Yi-kyung time to eat slowly.
The items from the bag they had brought were already laid out, and there were two hospital beds separated by a curtain.
Butler Do moved between the two beds, checking the sheets, pillows, and blankets.
The attending physician seemed to have prepared everything so that Han Seung-jae would have no discomfort while resting, but there was no expecting Han Seung-jae to actually rest comfortably here, regardless of what was provided.
* * *
Inside the fast-moving car.
Since it was summer and the days were long, the outside was still drenched in hot sunlight despite it being quitting time. Han Seung-jae lowered the tablet PC he had been reading and gazed out the car window. His eyes were cold, but his mind was filled with other thoughts.
As Seo Yi-kyung’s due date approached, he had begun leaving work relatively earlier than before. Even so, he would usually arrive home, have dinner with Seo Yi-kyung, and then go up to the study to continue working.
However, starting today, Seo Yi-kyung was in the hospital rather than at home. It wasn’t a suitable place to conduct business. Nevertheless, Han Seung-jae set the tablet PC down on the seat as he looked at the Haseon Hospital building.
It wasn’t as if Han Seung-jae himself were the one hospitalized to give birth; he was simply going there to keep watch, essentially just showing his face. But the thought of Seo Yi-kyung being hospitalized made him pay meticulous attention to every detail, including the hospital environment. Had it been anyone else, he wouldn’t have cared much.
Whenever he thought of Seo Yi-kyung, Han Seung-jae felt his cells become sensitive, and his nerves grew taut as if someone were pulling a string. Han Seung-jae opened his lips, which had been pressed together in a neat line.
“Did he eat something?”
Even during their dinner times together, Seo Yi-kyung had been lingering, barely eating.
Secretary Park, sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head slightly and murmured.
“He said he ate lunch at home before leaving. Other than that, I am not sure.”
Even though the subject of the sentence was missing, Secretary Park’s answer was prompt. The conversation in the car flowed without a hitch.
Was Han Seung-jae the kind of man who cared about who ate what? Therefore, the person he was referring to could be no one other than Seo Yi-kyung. Secretary Park didn’t even need to think deeply about it.
“…….”
A strange silence filled the car. Secretary Park, still with his head turned slightly back, asked.
“Shall I check?”
Secretary Park reached into his inner pocket and pulled out his phone, intending to contact the attending physician immediately.
“Leave it. Is that even necessary? I’ll see for myself when I get there.”
Han Seung-jae murmured, his eyes fixed outside the window. It wasn’t Secretary Park’s imagination that Han Seung-jae’s eyes looked even colder in the rearview mirror.
When the sedan stopped, Secretary Park stepped out of the passenger seat and opened the rear door.
“You’ve arrived, Director Han. I was just waiting for you to arrive.”
Having received the call, the attending physician had rushed down and was barely managing to straighten his white coat in front of the building. Stepping out of the car, Han Seung-jae looked at him and spoke coldly.
“Are you being sarcastic right now? Suggesting that I am a shameless bastard for not sending a pregnant person to the hospital sooner?”
“Ah, ah! It’s not that. I just……”
The physician unconsciously gasped. Before the physician could continue his explanation, Han Seung-jae coldly brushed past him and walked up the stairs.
Secretary Park, following behind, glanced at the physician from the corner of his eye. Meeting his gaze, the physician whispered in a very low voice.
“Did my words sound like that?”
Instead of answering, Secretary Park remained silent as he climbed the stairs. The physician was clearly flustered in many ways. Nevertheless, Secretary Park could vaguely guess why Han Seung-jae was so displeased.
Following the morning, none of the people Han Seung-jae met in the afternoon had managed to secure an investment from him. Having wasted so much precious time, Han Seung-jae was currently in a very foul mood.
In times like this, the best course of action was to either choose one’s words with extreme care or simply keep quiet. Right now, there was a high probability that Han Seung-jae would pour out criticism regardless of what was said.
“I am sorry, Director Han. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Inside the elevator, the physician was on edge. He looked at Han Seung-jae anxiously, making groaning sounds as if he were suffering from some internal distress. Regardless, as the elevator reached the upper floor and the doors opened, Han Seung-jae stepped out.
The physician hurried along, his legs moving busily. While constantly reading Han Seung-jae’s mood, he knocked on the hospital room door with his fist.
“Tsk.”
The physician flinched instinctively. Han Seung-jae’s scathing tone followed.
“Are you protesting against me right now?”
“What? Protesting? Absolutely not.”
The physician’s eyes widened in sheer terror, as if he might faint.
“How could I possibly do such a thing……”
“Then why are you knocking so loudly?”
As he entered the opening room, Han Seung-jae’s eyes were quite extraordinary.
“Ah, I just……”
Ignoring the physician’s words entirely, Han Seung-jae entered the room. Butler Do, who had stood up upon hearing the knock, bowed his waist toward him.
“You’ve arrived.”
His voice was quieter than usual. However, Han Seung-jae pushed aside the curtains surrounding the bed and looked down at Seo Yi-kyung, who was lying there.
“He underwent a few tests upon arriving at the hospital, and he seems to have fallen asleep a moment ago, perhaps because he was tired.”
Butler Do’s voice was very soft, but it wasn’t difficult for Han Seung-jae to understand. Above all, Han Seung-jae was well aware that the voice was kept low because Seo Yi-kyung had fallen into a labored sleep.
Hadn’t Han Seung-jae personally seen Seo Yi-kyung spend countless nights wide awake for days on end?
Out of habit, Han Seung-jae reached his hand toward the sleeping Seo Yi-kyung’s forehead, but then vaguely curled his fingers in mid-air. The physician, who had approached from behind, mumbled with his head bowed.
“They were necessary tests, so it couldn’t be helped.”
The physician looked troubled. He felt almost guilty, as if he had done something he shouldn’t have.
“I am sorry.”
Regardless, he felt as though he had committed a grave error. It was then, as the physician bowed his waist, that Seo Yi-kyung’s eyelids trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing this, Han Seung-jae turned around coldly. The physician, who had just straightened up, parted his lips toward Han Seung-jae.
However, Han Seung-jae was faster than the words that leaked out. He was obviously not speaking to the physician.
“Are you awake?”
After looking at the physician as if to overwhelm him with his gaze, Han Seung-jae sat down in the chair by the bedside without hesitation.
“When… did you come?”
Seo Yi-kyung murmured, rubbing his eyes.
Han Seung-jae spoke again.
“A moment ago.”
The physician unconsciously swallowed hard. Han Seung-jae’s tone didn’t change much. The only difference was that when Seo Yi-kyung made a gesture to sit up, Han Seung-jae pressed the button to raise the top of the bed, and when Seo Yi-kyung looked around, Han Seung-jae accurately picked up the glass of water among the strawberries and water on the nightstand and gave it to him.
“Here.”
And Han Seung-jae continued to maintain a conversation with Seo Yi-kyung.
“What about dinner? Did you eat something?”
Since Seo Yi-kyung was drinking the water, the answer came from Butler Do.
“He did eat some fruit.”
On the nightstand sat the strawberries, which looked as if they hadn’t been touched.
As Seo Yi-kyung lowered the glass, Han Seung-jae took it and placed it on the nightstand. Watching this sequence of events, the physician was nearly speechless.
‘Director Han is attending to him.’
Until just a moment ago—that is, from the moment he stepped out of the sedan—hadn’t Han Seung-jae blatantly displayed feelings of displeasure toward the physician?
But now, such a demeanor was nowhere to be found. Though he maintained an expressionless face and acted without hesitation, it all seemed to be tailored perfectly to Seo Yi-kyung.
“Since you’re out, would you like to go to the Ivory Pavilion? Don’t you like the food there?”
Seo Yi-kyung fixed his clear eyes on Han Seung-jae at his words. He didn’t particularly want to eat anything, but for some reason, the savory taste of the food he had eaten at the Ivory Pavilion lingered in his mouth. His Adam’s apple moved slowly. However, since entering the hospital, he had become aware that there wasn’t much time left until the baby came into the world.
“Let’s go eat there together after I’m discharged.”