“…Really?”
He mulled over what the doctor and Hwalyeon had said. No major health issues, but a uterus had developed. A uterus. The organ for bearing children. Something that shouldn’t exist in an alpha’s body.
At that moment, his gaze went to Seunghyun, who was standing behind. This was the consequence of what they had done together. Thinking about it that way, it was a phenomenon he could somewhat understand. He couldn’t fathom why he had been so complacent. Suhwan bit his lip firmly.
And Hwalyeon’s gaze also turned toward Seunghyun. In that moment, murderous intent rose in her eyes, which had been calmly settled until then.
It was all because of this damn omega. Not knowing his place, doing such things to Suhwan… And in the end, making him experience unimaginable side effects?
Hwalyeon calmly imagined killing Seunghyun. Quietly, she needed to dispose of him without anyone knowing. Make it as if nothing had happened and return Suhwan’s body to normal. Right now, Suhwan was under this omega’s spell and couldn’t come to his senses, but he would soon realize how wrong this all was.
Although he would be in despair for a while, if he hadn’t been imprinted, Suhwan could quickly move on.
“Noona, I…”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been imprinted with Seunghyun.”
“…”
Suhwan confessed the truth with a shy face. He had said it because Hwalyeon’s gaze toward Seunghyun seemed ominous, but it seemed Hwalyeon was more shocked than he had expected. She looked at Suhwan like a creaking, rusty doll.
She belatedly regretted not interfering with Chairman Jin back then.
This wasn’t just a matter of blaming the innocent omega. She also shared responsibility for the abnormality in Suhwan’s body. A heavy sigh escaped Hwalyeon’s lips.
“For now, let’s get all the tests done and talk more later.”
“Yes, Noona.”
“Haah.”
Hwalyeon reached out and stroked Suhwan’s hair. Suhwan squinted contentedly at her touch. For some reason, he felt sleepy again. Was it because of the IV? In his drowsy state, Hwalyeon’s words gradually sounded more distant.
“For now, don’t worry about anything and rest well.”
“Mm… Noona.”
“…!”
Suhwan unconsciously used the term of address he had been accustomed to in his previous life. In the place where he originally lived, he had one older sister who, despite having a different name, looked identical to Hwalyeon. Perhaps because of that, he unconsciously used the comfortable term of address. Coming to his senses with a start, Suhwan looked at Hwalyeon with surprised eyes.
“No, I mean.”
“……”
Hwalyeon carefully considered as she looked down at the bewildered Suhwan. Noona. He called her noona. The formal title he had been using until now had only become fixed because the family elders had insisted on it due to their significant age difference.
Suhwan shrank back, expecting to be scolded, but Hwalyeon’s thoughts were different. Far from scolding him, she was pleased. Even though she had been angry enough about Suhwan’s recent side effects to consider burying someone.
“I like it. Better than the stiff ‘honorable sister’ title.”
“Oh… really?”
“Yes. Now we really feel like family.”
Family. Seeing Hwalyeon’s pleased face, Suhwan felt relieved. Then he smiled brightly. He had been keeping Hwalyeon at a distance in one way. Since he wasn’t the real Jin Suhwan, he didn’t want to deceive her. But now he realized that was pointless.
“Get some rest.”
“Yes, noo… na.”
“Hehe.”
Hwalyeon stroked Suhwan’s hair with eyes dripping honey, then turned around. As she did, her eyes met Seunghyun’s who was standing behind her. Instantly, Hwalyeon’s face turned cold.
With large strides, Hwalyeon quickly closed the distance between them. Grabbing Seunghyun by the collar, she whispered in a voice so quiet that Suhwan couldn’t hear.
“If anything happens to Suhwan’s body, I will stake everything I have to thoroughly destroy you and HS. Without leaving a trace.”
“…I’ll keep that in mind, Chairman.”
Seunghyun barely managed to reply with a hardened face. He, who had easily suppressed even a dominant alpha’s pheromones, could hardly breathe under the pressure of Hwalyeon, an ordinary alpha. It wasn’t because she was Suhwan’s family that she was being lenient. Hwalyeon was a person who overwhelmed others by her mere presence. And it seemed that her overprotectiveness of Suhwan made her pressure even more intense. In any case, she was dangerous in many ways.
Hwalyeon glared at Seunghyun as if she would kill him at any moment, then released his collar. She pushed him away and walked forward. As soon as she left the hospital room, her secretaries all rushed in. It seemed she had come to the hospital, pushing aside all her busy work. Suhwan watched Hwalyeon’s departing figure with worried eyes.
“…Hyung.”
“Ah, Seunghyun.”
Suhwan now properly faced Seunghyun. He had thought imprinting might create some special feeling, but everything felt the same as usual. Seunghyun was still his special and only person. Suhwan tightly grasped Seunghyun’s hand with his hand that didn’t have an IV.
“Are you okay? Are you really not hurt anywhere?”
“I told you I’m fine. How about you? Did they say there are any side effects?”
“I’m fine.”
Seunghyun’s body was perfectly fine. Despite his pheromone levels being so high that he had gone crazy, there was nothing wrong with him. The side effects appeared only in Suhwan’s body. Seunghyun bit his lip.
“I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”
“How is that your fault?”
Suhwan said with surprise. He had never thought it was Seunghyun’s fault, and it hurt to see Seunghyun blaming himself. Suhwan quickly raised his hand to stroke Seunghyun’s cheek.
“And we agreed not to regret anything, remember?”
“That’s…”
“I… I like being embraced by you.”
Now Suhwan felt like he could accept his body’s condition. Beyond being an alpha, or any sense of dignity, he simply liked Seunghyun. And he didn’t want to deny the pleasure he felt being held by him. Above all, if he could bear children himself, it would solve his previous worries.
“And if possible, I want to have your child.”
“What did you say?”
But Seunghyun seemed to think differently, as his fine eyebrows contorted. Suhwan hadn’t expected him to readily agree, but the reaction was more intense than he had anticipated, causing him to open his eyes wide in surprise.
“But, noona also said we should have children… and I want to keep… being with you. If the tests say it’s okay, I can…”
“No.”
“Why?”
Seunghyun pressed his throbbing head with his hand. He couldn’t believe Suhwan would say such a thing. It might be better if he got angry and resentful instead. Seunghyun continued with a deeply furrowed brow.
“Even if the current tests say it’s okay, we don’t know what might happen later. And how precarious would it be to have a baby in a womb created by side effects? It’s too dangerous.”
“……”
It was all valid reasoning. Suhwan, who was already not good with words, had nothing to counter with and closed his mouth. Still, not wanting to nod in agreement, he kept moving his lips restlessly.
“But.”
“If we need to have a child, I’ll do it. Even without direct means, I can get pregnant. That would be safer.”
Though he would hate having another alpha’s child with every fiber of his being, the other person was Suhwan. He could bear and give birth to his child without hesitation. Though he didn’t think he could love a child more than Suhwan right now, to be with him, he needed to bear a dominant alpha who would continue the Hwamyeong line. He had no major objections to this. He thought it was naturally his duty.
But then for such an abnormal situation to arise. Even worse, Suhwan was being strangely aggressive about it. This couldn’t happen. Nothing that would put him in danger should ever occur. Absolutely not.
“Can’t we think about it a bit more? We don’t even have the test results yet.”
Whether the test results came out or not, Seunghyun’s thoughts wouldn’t change. Nevertheless, he weakened at the sight of his lover asking with a downcast face.
“…Alright.”
When he answered with a small sigh, Suhwan’s face brightened a little.
“I love you, Seunghyun.”
“I love you too.”
He answered reflexively while patting Suhwan’s chest as he lay on the hospital bed. Perhaps because of the imprinting, they could sense each other’s emotions more intimately and in greater detail, but since he had been obsessively observing and watching Suhwan from before, it wasn’t particularly new.
Seunghyun naturally turned up the corners of his mouth as he smelled the kind and warm pheromones emanating from Suhwan. And he firmly believed that this matter would unfold according to his plan.
***
Time passed quickly, and the seasons changed. In the middle of the cold winter, consecutive bombshell news shook the small land. The fall of Hansung and the return of HS. The Korean peninsula buzzed with what seemed like drama-like stories.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
