By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won listened to his words silently, nodding quietly. If you marry someone you love and get pregnant, even that process would become a cute memory. But his pregnancy wasn’t like that. At the end of the chattering voice, he suddenly thought of Kwon Tae-hee. Like Song Hae-seop said, he had never once told him that he wanted to eat something.
In the early stages of his pregnancy, he deliberately pretended to have morning sickness whenever he saw Kwon Tae-hee’s face. Eventually, Kwon Tae-hee chose to separate at that time, and even if they were in the same space, he wasn’t with him. It was always Chief Jung or Kim Jae-sik who asked him what he wanted to eat. But at that time, even just eating rice was so delicious that he emptied everything that was served without leaving a single grain, so he didn’t want to eat anything more.
Even if he didn’t ask, all kinds of fruit were already prepared at home. After meals, he always ate sour and tangy fruit for dessert. Before the real morning sickness started, he sometimes ate more fruit for dessert than rice. Some days, a fruit he had never seen before was so sweet and delicious that he ate only that all day. At least back then, there wasn’t a day when he felt sad because he couldn’t eat what he wanted.
As his thoughts continued to spin, he suddenly wanted to eat the fruit he had eaten back then. Just thinking about it made his mouth water.
“Jeong-won? You weren’t listening to me, were you!”
“Huh? Ah, no… I’m sorry. If you could tell me again—”
“I want to eat watermelon. Why do I suddenly want to eat watermelon so much?”
“I want mangosteen…”
Seo Jeong-won was surprised by the answer that came out before he even realized it. He reflexively covered his mouth, and then his face flushed with sudden embarrassment.
“Mangosteen? The white stuff inside?”
Song Hae-seop was just as surprised, his eyes widening. He repeatedly asked Seo Jeong-won, who had been gagging just a moment ago, if he really wanted to eat it.
“…That white flesh, that’s what I want.”
“I see. That, that, have you ever eaten it? No, do you really want to eat it?”
Seo Jeong-won thought he had said something unnecessary at that reaction. He smiled awkwardly out of embarrassment and nodded, then turned his head away. He quickly added that it wasn’t like he couldn’t stand it, worried that Song Hae-seop might think, ‘Why is he telling me this?’
“That’s amazing. I guess you really start craving things when you’re pregnant.”
Even though his mouth watered every time he thought about it, Seo Jeong-won just acted like it was someone else’s story. This kind of talk would only burden Song Hae-seop. He wasn’t asking him to buy it, but he was worried that it might have sounded that way. Desperate to change the subject, he blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Hyung, aren’t you busy?”
“Huh? Me? I’m super busy. Is it because it’s getting colder these days? We have so many more dine-in customers than takeout. But the cafe isn’t big enough to hire several employees, so we can’t increase the staff.”
“Ah.”
“It’s so busy during lunchtime. Saying it like this makes it sound like it’s someone else’s store.”
He had no choice but to leave it unattended for a while, but it was fortunate that he would have more free time if he was away from Seo Jeong-won. As soon as he arrived in Seoul, he planned to give his employees, who had been struggling, a reward vacation and a bonus.
“I wish the store was just a little bigger. Enough to put about ten tables in the hall?”
“Ah.”
“Well, I think it might be possible.”
Song Hae-seop, who was chuckling and laughing to himself, was startled and looked at Seo Jeong-won’s face. He hadn’t had a separate conversation with Kwon Tae-hee, but it was so obvious that he would receive compensation from him that he spoke without thinking.
“It would be possible if I made a lot, a lot of money. That’s what I meant.”
“Yes. I’m sorry for making things uncomfortable for Hyung for a while because of me.”
“Don’t worry about that. Enough… Anyway, uh. It’s okay. We arrived quickly while talking. You can go in by yourself, right?”
After having a trivial conversation, they arrived in front of the low wall before they knew it. Song Hae-seop opened the wooden door that came up to his waist and let only Seo Jeong-won in.
“You can sleep alone, right? If you’re bored, watch TV or browse the internet. You need to know what’s going on in the world. There’s a laptop and a tablet too.”
“Yes.”
“Go in. I have to see Jeong-won go in before I leave.”
Song Hae-seop waved his hand. Seo Jeong-won, who carefully moved his feet and stood in front of the front door, looked back one more time. When he was urged to go in again, he lightly bowed his head and pressed the password to unlock the front door lock.
Ting-a-ling— At the same time as the cheerful mechanical sound rang out, Song Hae-seop felt a complete sense of liberation. He felt sorry for Seo Jeong-won, but he felt like he had finally removed the painful, heavy, and worrisome burden.
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As soon as Seo Jeong-won entered the house, he took off his outerwear, which he felt was warm, and hung it on the dining table chair, then slowly looked around the room. His eyes were drawn to the places he hadn’t been able to see in detail because Song Hae-seop had urged him to leave quickly.
It was definitely an unfamiliar place, but strangely, the mood felt familiar. Was it just his imagination? He stroked his stomach quite naturally and moved to the place that had caught his eye since he first entered. A wide window facing the sea. He sat on the cushion that was placed as if knowing he would like it, and leaned his back against the wall, and the sound of the waves crashing in filled his ears.
“Danpung, this place is really nice.”
It was warm and peaceful. But he sensed that he couldn’t stay here for long either. Something felt strange. All the situations seemed to mesh together as if they were waiting for him. It was too good of a timing to dismiss as a coincidence.
He didn’t want to have bad thoughts, but he couldn’t help but feel that way. Could Kwon Tae-hee’s hand have reached this far? Song Hae-seop said he would never contact him. He felt sorry and guilty for constantly suspecting him.
“…I don’t know.”
Was it right for him to be so carefree? But he couldn’t just leave for another place without a plan. Seo Jeong-won, who leaned his forehead against the cold glass, which was different from the indoor temperature, and closed his eyes for a long time, slowly opened his eyes and got up to find the laptop that Song Hae-seop had mentioned.
It wasn’t difficult to find the laptop because the structure was all visible at a glance. It was placed on the table in front of the sofa, next to the tablet. Seo Jeong-won quietly moved, took the laptop, and sat back on the cushion in front of the window. As soon as he turned on the power, he immediately opened an internet window.
“…Huh?”
Kwon Tae-hee’s photo and article were on the main page of the green portal site. The title, ‘Taehwa Construction Executive Director Kwon Tae-hee, Currently in a Passionate Relationship with a Non-Celebrity,’ was written explicitly. Just as he was about to click on the article to check the contents, he was startled by the sudden ringing of the doorbell and got up.
“Who is it?”
“Delivery!”
“Delivery? Delivery…?”
He had only arrived here for the first time today, but a delivery? He carefully opened the front door, and the man holding a box in his arms flipped up the helmet screen and stared at him.
“This is the item, and please sign the receipt. Here.”
“…This.”
Seo Jeong-won, who took the box that was thrust into his arms and signed as instructed, was just confused because he didn’t know what was going on. As he kept muttering that he didn’t order it, the delivery driver shrugged his shoulders, saying that he didn’t know the details either.
“They said it was fruit. I don’t know what kind. Goodbye.”
“Ah, thank you. Goodbye.”
Seo Jeong-won bowed his head and said goodbye, and only after confirming that the driver had turned around did he close the front door. He placed the box on the dining table and stared at it intently before tearing off the sealed tape.
“…Oh.”
Inside, there were individually wrapped mangosteens. Seo Jeong-won stared down at the contents in a daze before taking one out as if possessed. The outer skin was soft enough to eat right away. He hurriedly took out a mangosteen and put the white flesh in his mouth without even caring that his fingertips were stained red.
The sweetness spread throughout his mouth. Seo Jeong-won involuntarily exclaimed in admiration. Saliva pooled in his mouth as if his salivary glands had exploded, and the bottom of his tongue tingled. He became impatient. Without even thinking about sitting down comfortably to eat, he hurriedly ate more than ten of them on the spot. It was only after he had filled his stomach to some extent that he came to his senses. The red liquid that flowed from his palms drew a long line to his elbows.
The table was a mess with red peels. Even though he was full, his appetite took precedence over the thought of cleaning up. Before he could even swallow what was in his mouth, his hand reached out first. At the moment he put what he had wanted to eat so badly in his mouth, he felt like only he, his baby, and the mangosteen were left in the world.
“…Delicious.”
He felt like he was going to cry. Because the sudden morning sickness unexpectedly stole his entire appetite, he had to eat a lot when he could. Seo Jeong-won, rummaging through the packaging, took out another one. He repeatedly took out only the flesh from the easily peeled skin and swallowed it all in one bite, and before he knew it, he had eaten everything that was in the box.
“What if I get a stomachache?”
He was belatedly worried, but the satisfaction of eating as much as he wanted was more intense, and he smiled. In addition, he was a little embarrassed as he looked down at the empty box, the messy table, and his red hands.
“I have to say thank you, Danpung.”
He felt sorry for suspecting Song Hae-seop right after entering the house. He still thought he was a good person and reflected on himself while cleaning up. He vowed never to suspect Song Hae-seop again.