By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won’s day flowed by with excessive abundance and stability as time passed. Ironically, it was so peaceful that he wondered if he had ever been this relaxed in his life. After spending days suspecting someone, he spent weeks getting used to someone’s kindness.
After meeting Kang Da-hyun, he talked to him once or twice a day on the phone he had given him. He hesitated about whether to tell Song Hae-seop that he had a phone, but after telling him, he occasionally exchanged text messages with Song Hae-seop as well.
Most of the short conversations they had were about morning sickness or food. When he asked about his recent condition, Seo Jeong-won occasionally said that his stomach hurt, but quickly added that he was okay now, fearing it might sound like he was asking to be taken to the hospital. He would ask about it at the next regular check-up.
He didn’t want to worry him any more than necessary. Song Hae-seop asked one more time if he was really okay and said he would come on the weekend so they could talk in detail then. He also urged him to contact him if the pain got worse.
The pain soon subsided, making his worries about what to do if it continued to hurt seem pointless, and the weekend, not much different from the previous week, arrived. Seo Jeong-won stroked his quite swollen belly and headed to Go Jin-hee’s restaurant. The day was unusually cloudy.
“Noona, I’m here.”
“Oh, sit down. It’s too cold outside.”
“Yes, it’s cold. I think it’s going to snow. The sky has clouded over.”
“Really? Hae-seop said he was coming today, didn’t he?”
As soon as he sat down, a bowl of soft tofu soup with white steam rising from it was placed in front of him. Seo Jeong-won smiled and nodded at the savory smell.
“That’s right. I think it’ll be hard for Hyung to drive if it starts snowing…”
“I know, right? What a hard time he has every weekend. All the way from Seoul.”
Go Jin-hee, who had been rambling without thinking, looked at Seo Jeong-won in surprise. She quickly excused herself, saying that wasn’t what she meant.
“I meant it must be hard to drive long distances because it’s so far. Because of the driving.”
“I feel really… sorry to Hyung because he seems to be coming too often because of me.”
“Oh, don’t be sorry. I misspoke, okay? It upsets Noona when you make that face.”
Go Jin-hee, embarrassed, put a spoon in Seo Jeong-won’s hand. She always had to be careful with her words, but she had become close enough to Seo Jeong-won that she had let her guard down. She repeatedly apologized, watching him carefully as she saw his deflated expression.
Seo Jeong-won felt a strange sense of déjà vu at her attitude. Wasn’t she being overly submissive when it wasn’t necessary? As if she had done something wrong to him. Seo Jeong-won glanced at Go Jin-hee, who was making an uncomfortable expression, and changed the subject.
“The food is delicious. It’s really good.”
“Really? I’m glad. I heard you had a stomach ache. Hae-seop told me. Are you okay now?”
Go Jin-hee was greatly relieved that the subject had been changed and quickly chimed in.
“I’m okay now. I think I had a stomach bug. I’ve been eating well lately.”
“I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious. I’ll give you strawberries when you’re done eating. Strawberries are really good these days. They’re like sugar because they’re in season.”
Seo Jeong-won nodded without erasing his smile. He mumbled thank you and ate the food in front of him diligently, but gradually his spoon movements slowed down. He felt like he had become Pavlov’s dog. Just hearing the word “strawberries” made the rice grains feel like sand, and he didn’t want to eat any more. Was this what it was like to be pregnant, or was he just being too peculiar?
“Why, is it not good? Does your stomach hurt?”
“No, no. The rice is good… it’s just.”
“Just?”
“Since you said you’d give me strawberries, I want to eat strawberries.”
Go Jin-hee listened seriously and then burst out laughing without realizing it. Seo Jeong-won acted maturely for his age, but sometimes he acted like a child when it came to food. Was this how a mother felt when she promised her son candy if he ate well?
She finished her own rice and stew and quickly got up. She brought out a plate full of strawberries that she had washed and put in the refrigerator in advance, and Seo Jeong-won’s expression brightened noticeably.
“Stop eating rice and eat strawberries. Is it a girl?”
“Why?”
“One of my friends who had a son only ate meat for every meal when she was pregnant? I heard she grilled pork belly from morning. But my friend who had a daughter only ate fruit. You seem to eat fruit better than meat too.”
“Then is it a girl?”
Go Jin-hee shook her head at the question while putting a strawberry in her mouth.
“I don’t know. Ask them to tell you when you go this time.”
“I’m too nervous to ask.”
“Does Jeong-won want a certain gender?”
“More than the gender, I just hope he or she is born healthy. But… I think that’s greedy.”
As he entered the second trimester of his pregnancy, he had run away from Kwon Tae-hee, so he hadn’t even been able to get a proper Pheromone shower. He was increasing the amount of Pheromone Supplement he was taking, but he always felt sorry to the baby because that was all he could do.
“I feel like I’m just causing trouble for everyone around me since I got pregnant.”
“That’s not something to say while eating strawberries, you.”
“Ah…”
Go Jin-hee said, looking at the plate that was almost empty.
“Let’s just enjoy eating now. When you’re done with this, should we close the store for a while and go buy strawberries? Get some fresh air and change the mood. And give some to Hae-seop when he comes.”
Seo Jeong-won nodded vigorously at Go Jin-hee’s suggestion. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from getting too excited, but his mood didn’t calm down easily.
“I’ll go. I want to go.”
Go Jin-hee stared at Seo Jeong-won, whose voice was trembling at the end. He stimulated her protective instincts in the short time she had been watching him. He had touched her maternal instincts when they first met. Of course, he didn’t intend to show that side of himself, but Seo Jeong-won had a strange charm that made her want to do anything for him. She thought he was amazing in a different way, and that’s why Alphas went crazy for him.
“Eat slowly. You can eat all of it.”
“Yes.”
Seo Jeong-won, who had his mouth full of strawberries, suddenly turned around at the sound of the door opening. Go Jin-hee also stood up awkwardly, surprised by the sudden arrival of a customer.
“Oh, welcome.”
“I’m saved. CEO, are you open here?”
She wanted to say no, but Go Jin-hee couldn’t help but nod because Seo Jeong-won was staring at her with wide eyes.
“I have more people with me. But what day is it today? Most of the big restaurants were closed.”
“Oh, no? It’s not any special day.”
“Really? What is it, a lot of them were closed. Anyway, there are 7 more people besides us. Would it be better to unify the menu? Should we seat 3 people at each table?”
The man had a brief conversation with the group that came in with him and then continued.
Three servings of seafood knife-cut noodles per table, and one green onion pancake each. And put one bottle of soju and one bottle of beer on each table… Can we put the tables together?”
“Ah, yes. Go ahead.”
Seo Jeong-won watched Go Jin-hee take the order and cleared the table with a sense of tact. He stuffed all the remaining strawberries into his mouth and followed Go Jin-hee, who had gone into the kitchen.
“Noona, I’m going to go.”
“Just wait… no. Okay, go up.”
She was about to tell him to wait a little longer, but changed her mind and decided to send Seo Jeong-won away. The customers had even ordered alcohol, and there would be a lot of smells from preparing the food. It was not a good situation to keep Seo Jeong-won around in many ways. She awkwardly watched him leave the store and quickly left a message for Chief Jung.
[I was going to go buy strawberries with him today, but I couldn’t because customers suddenly came to the restaurant. Jeong-won was very disappointed. He eats strawberries well. And he said his stomach hurt. He said he told Song Hae-seop, but I’m telling you in case you didn’t get the message.]
Seo Jeong-won turned around before he completely left the store. Go Jin-hee was touching her phone and hurriedly waved her hand.
“Go carefully!”
“Yes, Noona. Have a good one.”
Go Jin-hee’s conscience ached at the sight of his pure and kind face waving back, but she quickly forgot about it as she prepared the food.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
Song Hae-seop headed to the East Sea with the strawberries he had unexpectedly received from Chief Jung. This time it’s strawberries. Song Hae-seop, who was looking at the strawberries neatly placed on the passenger seat with a mixture of envy and jealousy, cursed quietly as he checked the snowflakes scattering sparsely.
The East Sea was colder than Seoul, so he was worried that the snow wouldn’t melt and would accumulate on the road. Sure enough. The snowflakes got thicker as he drove to the East Sea, and by the time he arrived at Seo Jeong-won’s house, large snowflakes were falling and starting to accumulate.
Song Hae-seop resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t be able to go back today and finished parking. He leisurely pondered whether to take out an umbrella or not, but eventually decided not to, and instead took the strawberries that had been neatly placed on the passenger seat. They were white strawberries, like pink mixed with whipped cream instead of red.
“Eternal Snow.”
Song Hae-seop quietly read the name written on the packaging. He thought it went well with the weather today.
“Seo Jeong-won must be happy. All he has to do is say what he wants to eat and they’ll buy it for him.”
He muttered quietly and quickly got out of the driver’s seat. He roughly covered his head with one hand and hurried his steps. He shook off the snow that had accumulated on his shoulders under the porch installed at the entrance to avoid rain or snow, and rang the doorbell.