By Zephyria Kwon Tae-hee recalled the phone conversation he had with Lee Ye-rim on the way to the East Sea. She explained about the rupture of membranes and premature birth. If the amount of amniotic fluid leaking increased, premature delivery would be inevitable, but the good news was that since it was past 30 weeks, the baby’s chances of survival were high. However, she added that because it was a premature birth, the baby would have to be hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit for quite some time after birth.
“Don’t cry.”
A gentle hand wiped his soaked eyes. Seo Jeong-won moved his dry lips and finally managed to speak.
“How long have you known…”
“From the beginning.”
“But why…”
“You were acting like you needed time, Jeong-won. So, did you think it through enough?”
Kwon Tae-hee continued, as if soothing a troublemaking younger sibling. His soft palm cupped Jeong-won’s tear-soaked cheek, and he carefully moved his thumb.
“What if Song Hae-seop did something bad to you? Why do you trust people so easily?”
“…”
“Huh? I’m the only one you can trust, Jeong-won. Why do you get fooled like a fool? It upsets me.”
There was a faint smile in his blaming voice. But in the end, he nodded as if it didn’t matter at all.
“It’s because you’re naive. Because you’re too kind.”
“…”
“That’s why I—”
Kwon Tae-hee swallowed the words he was about to say, looking at Jeong-won’s helplessly shaking eyes. Instead, he gazed at Jeong-won’s eyes, filled with anxiety, and his tear-soaked face with affectionate eyes, smiling. He wanted to captivate Seo Jeong-won, who sometimes stared blankly at his wonderful smile, making him look up at him resentfully. To make him forget everything and just live looking at him. It wasn’t a difficult task, was it? Falling in love and pretending to be a fool who knows nothing and nestling in his arms.
“I don’t know if this will happen again, but from now on, if someone offers you a favor without expecting anything in return, suspect them first. If anyone helps you for no reason, it’s because they got money from me. Understand?”
“Executive Director, I…”
“I didn’t want you to come back like this, but I understand. Or, to be exact, I’m trying to.”
Kwon Tae-hee said, looking into Jeong-won’s black eyes, filled with confusion. At first, he didn’t plan to reveal it this way, but his patience ran out faster than he thought. He was only left with the urge to bring Seo Jeong-won to his side right away, so he didn’t have the luxury to think of a more gentlemanly method.
“Right now, the most important thing for you is to rest. I heard your water broke. Did you hear? Danpung should still be in his dad’s belly, but it seems like he wants to come out.”
“I heard. But I don’t know what to do. The baby—”
“They said the only thing we can do is monitor while getting shots to prevent premature birth. First, we’ll transfer you to Seoul once your condition recovers enough to travel long distances. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of everything.”
Despite hearing about the reason why he needed to rest, Seo Jeong-won couldn’t calm down. He kept crying, fidgeting, and being afraid. Kwon Tae-hee reached out and gently stroked his tear-soaked face.
“Calm down. Unless you want to make the situation worse, there’s nothing you can do right now except lie down.”
The hand that had been wandering over the blanket finally moved towards Kwon Tae-hee. He grabbed the hand that was cupping his cheek, pulled it down, and held it tightly with both hands.
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have done this. I just, I just thought if I didn’t do this…”
“I know. That’s why I said I understand.”
Kwon Tae-hee recalled the day he tried to see things from Jeong General manager’s perspective through Chief Jung. Of course, he couldn’t fully understand, but he at least understood why Jeong-won had chosen to leave him to some extent.
“Really…?”
“Yes.”
Seo Jeong-won groaned softly, listening to Kwon Tae-hee’s words, which were difficult to understand whether they were sincere or not. No, he couldn’t even hear them properly. The only thing that kept swirling in his head was the words that the baby was trying to come out. It all felt like his fault.
The doctor who came to check on the baby and his condition said that it wasn’t a dangerous situation ‘yet,’ but that made him feel even more hopeless. It sounded like a warning of the worst-case scenario.
In the end, all the thoughts that had filled his head were devoured by self-reproach for doing unnecessary things. Regret that he shouldn’t have done it slowly swallowed Seo Jeong-won.
Listening to the steady beeping of the machine, Seo Jeong-won felt despair. He realized now that there was nowhere else to run and that no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t escape Kwon Tae-hee’s side.
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It wasn’t long before a hospital room was assigned. Even after being moved to a private room, Seo Jeong-won couldn’t do anything for himself except lie down. The doctor in charge told him to refrain from moving as much as possible and to only get up when he needed to go to the bathroom. He wasn’t even allowed to sit.
Thanks to Kwon Tae-hee, who had drawn back the curtains, Seo Jeong-won could at least look out the window while lying down. As he stared at the clear sky with empty eyes and began to sink into deep thought, Seo Jeong-won’s eyes slowly moved at the sound of a voice that interrupted him.
“…Yes?”
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
Whether it was because of the Pheromone that Kwon Tae-hee had lightly released, or because his stomach was empty, he felt more nauseous than hungry.
“Ah…”
“Do you want to eat mangosteen? You ate that well. Or strawberries?”
So, this man was behind that too. Then was that house also Kwon Tae-hee’s house? It was too clean and well-maintained to be a house that had been left unattended for a long time. If he had thought about it a little, he would have known that something was wrong, but why didn’t he realize it then?
Was that really Song Hae-seop’s hometown? Uncle… Well, even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be surprising now. Seo Jeong-won, who was staring blankly at Kwon Tae-hee, flinched at the sound of his voice calling him again.
“Jeong-won.”
“…I’ll have mangosteen. Thank you for sending them all that time. They were delicious.”
“I’m glad. I’m glad you liked them.”
Kwon Tae-hee went to the refrigerator and took out a container filled with only the white flesh, which had been cleaned. He placed it on the table next to the bed.
“Stay still.”
Seo Jeong-won took the strength out of his upper body, which was reflexively trying to get up. Instead, he lay flat and gently stroked his aching stomach. In the meantime, Kwon Tae-hee washed his hands and came back. He opened the container, took out the white flesh one by one, and brought the softly crushed pulp to Seo Jeong-won’s mouth.
His dry lips hesitated and then slightly parted. A finger with juice on it brushed against his lips and fell away. At first, he didn’t feel it was intentional. He just thought it was a graze while putting the flesh in his mouth.
As if to prove that his thoughts were wrong, Kwon Tae-hee’s finger dug more blatantly into his mouth. All he could do was be startled when the tip of his finger touched his tongue. Even if he pulled his head back, all he did was dig a little deeper into the soft pillow.
“Is it good?”
“…Yes.”
Kwon Tae-hee smiled, took the flesh attached to the segments, brought the juice that had flowed to the edge of his hand to his mouth, licked it elegantly, and then reached out again. Seo Jeong-won hesitated and opened his mouth.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, so I couldn’t even imagine it, but it’s quite nice. Taking care of you when you’re sick, feeding you, and doing what you need. I like it.”
“…”
“It’s dangerous to move alone, so tell me when you want to go to the bathroom. And drink this, it helps increase amniotic fluid.”
Seo Jeong-won took the ion drink as Kwon Tae-hee told him to. He wanted to stop drinking, but Kwon Tae-hee didn’t let go of his hand, so he had to force himself to swallow a few more sips.
“Do you want to drink a little more? Or should I get some other fruit?”
“…I’m okay now. I ate a lot.”
The white flesh that had filled the container was almost gone. Seo Jeong-won felt confused by Kwon Tae-hee’s attitude, who had been acting as if nothing had happened since the emergency room. If he were angry, he would at least explain why he had done this, but he felt that Kwon Tae-hee didn’t want to have a conversation at all, ending with the word ‘understand.’
Maybe he thinks there’s no need to.
“Executive Director.”
“Yes, Jeong-won.”
“…”
“Do you want to go to the bathroom? Well, it’s about time you went. Wait, I’ll help you up.”