By Zephyria Seo Jeong-won’s morning sickness began. Just as the doctor had said. It wasn’t that he couldn’t eat anything at all, but the absurd thing was that he would retch and head straight to the bathroom whenever he saw Kwon Tae-hee’s face.
“Ugh…! Haa, ugh!”
“…Jeong-won, are you okay?”
“Ugh, no, ugh…!”
Tears welled up in his eyes, blood vessels bursting. His small face turned bright red. Kwon Tae-hee gently stroked Seo Jeong-won’s back as he shook his head, trembling. He was in denial. He wanted to believe that Seo Jeong-won’s morning sickness, which made him gag at the sight of his face, was just an act to make fun of him.
“Sorry, haa, I’m sorry.”
Seo Jeong-won, who had been sitting slumped and shedding tears, became limp as if exhausted. Kwon Tae-hee pressed the lever for him and supported his weak body. Seo Jeong-won’s whole body trembled slightly from the effort of vomiting up his empty stomach. His bright red face quickly turned pale.
Kwon Tae-hee stood Seo Jeong-won in front of the sink, leaning his head against his chest, and turned on the water so he could rinse his mouth. It was the moment he was about to wet his hands and wipe his chapped lips.
As soon as Seo Jeong-won moved his gaze and caught Kwon Tae-hee in the mirror, he heaved again. Unable to bear the nausea, he pushed him away with his weak hands and grabbed the toilet again. Kwon Tae-hee sighed and turned away, about to sit down and pat his back. There was nothing he could do by his side. If he saw his face again, Seo Jeong-won would only suffer more from the rising nausea.
“Jeong-won, I’ll wait outside, so call me if you need anything.”
“Ye, ugh…! Okay, haa, ugh—!”
Kwon Tae-hee, looking at Seo Jeong-won with pitiful eyes as he trembled and couldn’t even apologize properly, quietly left the bathroom.
As soon as the door closed, Seo Jeong-won’s expression changed. He rubbed his lips, making loud noises as if he still couldn’t stop vomiting. After retching appropriately, Seo Jeong-won wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and stood up.
As the doctor had advised that morning sickness would begin, the smell of food began to bother him. And from then on, Kwon Tae-hee began to take care of him with extreme devotion.
He said he was busy with work, but unless it was a meeting he absolutely had to attend, he stayed by his side all day. Moreover, the frustrating situation of not being able to leave the house was terrible. He naturally became more sensitive.
Thinking he needed time alone, he tried gagging when he saw Kwon Tae-hee’s face. Even when he saw him retching and running into the bathroom, Kwon Tae-hee didn’t think he was doing it because of him. He just thought morning sickness had started.
So he started to gradually increase the number of times he gagged when he looked directly at his face. Every time his eyes met or his face came into view, he ran into the bathroom, and Kwon Tae-hee called the doctor.
He didn’t know what he heard during the call, but from then on, he tried his best to hide his face. He felt a subtle sense of satisfaction at the sight. Seo Jeong-won intended to do this until he gave birth, as long as he wasn’t caught faking morning sickness.
He washed his face cleanly and rinsed his mouth again. When he finished brushing his teeth and came out, Kwon Tae-hee, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed, quickly got up. Seo Jeong-won deliberately looked only at his feet. It was his own gesture that he would throw up again if he saw his face.
“Are you feeling a little better?”
Kwon Tae-hee reached out as he approached. Seo Jeong-won covered his mouth and just nodded slightly. When he gasped for breath, he took a step back. He nodded again at the suggestion to go out first and moved his feet.
Kwon Tae-hee treated Seo Jeong-won like a glass bead that would break if he touched it. He was overly pleased with the fact that Seo Jeong-won couldn’t move a single step in his house without his permission. However, the problem he faced with the onset of morning sickness was quite regrettable.
“I’m going to the hospital tomorrow.”
“…Why, hmm, why are you going to the hospital?”
Kwon Tae-hee frowned slightly at the cracked voice. He couldn’t even stroke his cheek at times like this. He couldn’t help but sigh. He had already spoken to the doctor because Seo Jeong-won was gagging whenever he saw him all day, but he wanted to get a more accurate confirmation from the hospital that there were cases of morning sickness caused by seeing the spouse’s face.
In fact, he still couldn’t believe it. But no matter how much he didn’t want to accept the current situation, he didn’t think Seo Jeong-won would make up such a lie. It was too awful. Vomiting in front of someone. So he wanted to know how to alleviate the symptoms.
“Your morning sickness is getting worse and worse. So I’m going to see if there’s any way to calm it down. And to check if our baby is growing well.”
“…”
“Shouldn’t we give our baby a nickname soon? Our baby has ears now.”
Seo Jeong-won had been spending weeks pretending to have morning sickness, and he occasionally worried about the nickname. At first, he thought about giving it a random name, but then he felt sorry for the existence in his womb. Wasn’t it the baby that made his situation so miserable? He resented it, but then he felt bitter thinking that the baby was not at fault. If the baby could have chosen its parents, it would never have come to him.
“…How about Danpung?”
“Danpung?”
“Because it came to me… in the fall.”
“That’s pretty. It sounds even prettier when you say it, Jeong-won.”
Kwon Tae-hee was actually going to reject it if it sounded too common or had no meaning. But the nickname Seo Jeong-won said was unexpectedly pretty. The word itself and the way it sounded were good. It was also a nickname that seemed to be made with the baby in mind. He had been looking at Jeong-won every day, and then he thought of it when he saw the leaves changing color.
“Should we think of a few more?”
“No, I like it too. You must have had a harder time because of the morning sickness, so thank you for coming up with it.”
His hand, which had been about to lift Seo Jeong-won’s chin as a habit, stopped in the air, unsure where to go, and then gently stroked his round head.
“We should have lunch.”
“I don’t feel well. Executive Director will be here the whole time, and I don’t want to show you me throwing up. And it’s easier to throw up on an empty stomach.”
“…”
“I’m not hungry. So it’s okay.”
Seo Jeong-won realized that it was easier to get what he wanted from Kwon Tae-hee by telling him indirectly rather than directly. He also knew that if he added pitiful words as if everything would be fine if he just endured it, he would listen much better.
“I’ll be on the second floor, so eat and rest comfortably.”
“…”
“I’m worried that the morning sickness will get worse before it ends. Danpung shouldn’t bother his father too much.”
Kwon Tae-hee smiled without realizing it as he mentioned the nickname Seo Jeong-won had given him. He went into the dining room with him and turned around as soon as he sat him down. Of course, he wanted to have a meal together, but he held back. He was worried that he would see his face and throw up everything he ate again.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Seo Jeong-won thanked Kwon Tae-hee’s back as he walked away, then picked up his spoon. He was hungry because his stomach was empty. He put meat and vegetables into his mouth evenly and chewed them carefully. What if I go to the hospital tomorrow and they find out that my morning sickness isn’t that bad? But is there a way to tell the difference between real and fake? Still, I feel a little nauseous.
Seo Jeong-won, who was slurping rice in seaweed soup with plenty of beef, popped the tteokgalbi in front of him into his mouth. His appetite was so strong that it was embarrassing to lie about morning sickness.
He emptied a bowl of rice and finished off the fruit. Kim Jae-sik was always in the kitchen, and he would appear like a ghost when Seo Jeong-won finished his meal and ask if he wanted anything else.
“Would you like some ice cream?”
“Ah… no. I’m full.”
“Please tell me if there’s anything you want to eat.”
He was as polite as the day they first met. Seo Jeong-won was about to ask him if he knew about his Hyung, but he closed his mouth. He had been cooking in this house for a long time, so it was obvious that he had prepared food for his Hyung to eat.
“Yes, I will.”
Kim Jae-sik, who had been standing next to him without moving because he hadn’t heard his answer, finally bowed his head. Seo Jeong-won got up instead of sitting there and left the dining room. He thought about going into the bedroom, but he crossed the living room and went out to the terrace.
He slipped out through the door that was slightly open for ventilation. He walked barefoot on the cold terrace floor, slowly walking back and forth a short distance.
“Haa…”
He didn’t want to be with Kwon Tae-hee, so what should he do? Seo Jeong-won thought as he looked at the trees whose leaves had changed color in the autumn sun. He wanted to leave this house altogether, not just separate spaces, but he couldn’t think of a way to do it.
His head was full of thoughts that he didn’t want to safely hand the baby over to him. Not even a grand revenge… he just wanted him to be as heartbroken as he was.