Chapter 23
That day was unusually chaotic from the morning.
No, Jaehyuk remembered it as just a strange day.
Director Jang, who rarely ever came late, was late, and Jaehyuk, who rarely ever overslept, overslept.
Thanks to Director Jang arriving just in time to wake him up, he avoided being late to work, but he had to leave for work without having breakfast, barely showering, and not even properly drying his hair.
If he were to make an excuse, it was all because of his phone.
Ever since the incident broke, his grandfather had been tirelessly sending messages asking if the pregnancy was real, demanding evidence if it was, and questioning why he hadn’t been shown the ultrasound images. As a result, Jaehyuk had turned off his phone, which meant his alarm didn’t go off either.
“Damn it.”
Seriously considering whether he should block his grandfather’s number, Jaehyuk sprinted across the parking lot for the first time in a long while.
Of all days, he had an early morning meeting today.
Thinking he could arrive just in time for the meeting if he hurried, he was heading toward his designated parking spot when he saw someone who had arrived before him standing in front of his car.
Meeting the familiar face of a man of advanced age, he thought, “as expected.”
“The Chairman sent me. You’re unusually late today.”
After not receiving any response all night, his grandfather had sent someone directly.
That was so like his grandfather.
“I overslept.”
“You must be quite tired these days. Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
This meant he should call his grandfather during the time he would have spent driving.
Though he didn’t want to talk with his grandfather, right now was a crucial moment when he needed his help.
He was also a mess and needed to properly dress and fix his hair in the car.
So he obediently handed over the keys to the man.
“Thank you.”
As soon as he greeted him and got into the back seat, putting down his bags, the car started moving.
With the man’s driving as smooth and swift as his experience would suggest, Jaehyuk comfortably tidied up his clothes, roughly combed his hair, and finally turned on his phone.
As expected, message notifications flooded in.
Now he understood why Junghyun kept his phone on silent mode—this was exactly why.
Moreover, after confirming that most of the numerous messages were from his grandfather, even the thought of calling seemed bothersome.
So he sent a message instead.
[I’ll contact you later. I’m busy with meetings this morning.]
Without including any of the answers his grandfather wanted, Jaehyuk pressed send and put his phone on silent mode. Then he immediately spoke to the driver.
“Grandfather will probably call soon, but don’t answer. Tell him I’m busy with work this morning and will contact him directly in the afternoon.”
“Will do.”
Having worked under his eccentric grandfather for a long time, the driver understood exactly what Jaehyuk meant.
Also fully aware of the situation, he switched his phone to silent mode and quickly exited the underground parking lot.
In the newfound peace, Jaehyuk neatly tied his tie and took out the ultrasound image he had brought in his jacket.
Then, with a clear mind, he examined the photo again under bright light.
But it was still just a lump. Although this was supposedly the stage where limbs would be visible, he couldn’t make them out.
He could only see two circles.
Nevertheless, one thing was certain.
“It looks like me…”
At Jaehyuk’s soft murmur, the driver, who had stopped the car at a traffic light, asked.
“Pardon?”
In response to his question of whether Jaehyuk was talking to him, Jaehyuk leaned forward and showed him the ultrasound photo.
“Don’t you think the baby looks like me?”
The man squinted at the photo as if his eyesight wasn’t good, then smiled kindly.
“The long limbs suggest it’s big and resembles you, sir.”
“That’s what I thought, right?”
“Yes. The Chairman has been waiting a long time; he’ll be pleased.”
“Don’t you think the face looks like me too?”
Though it was a photo where one could hardly distinguish which part was the face, the driver smoothly evaded the question with a pleasant smile so as not to dampen Jaehyuk’s excited mood.
“My aging eyes can’t see the face clearly, but it does seem to resemble you when you were young. By the way, I heard these days they also provide ultrasound videos. Haven’t you seen it?”
As the light changed and the driver lifted his foot from the brake, naturally shifting the topic, Jaehyuk blinked in surprise.
“Videos?”
“Yes. I heard that these days they provide videos instead of just photos. You can hear the heartbeat and see all the movements.”
Come to think of it, everything is in video format these days. In an era where people struggle with excess phone storage capacity, there’s no reason ultrasound videos wouldn’t exist.
“…I see. If it’s him, he would have gotten it. But that guy won’t check his phone because he’s sleeping.”
No, even if he’s awake, he won’t check it. When he dislikes something, he simply doesn’t look at it.
That’s why Director Jang is actually faster.
Now that he knew about it, he desperately wanted to see it.
Feeling anxious, Jaehyuk sent a message to Director Jang asking her to tell Junghyun to send the ultrasound video when he wakes up. Then, restlessly, he started taking pictures of the ultrasound photo with his phone camera.
In the confined space of the car, he shuffled around, changing angles until he got a clean shot without reflections or shadows. After a while of rustling about, Jaehyuk finally seemed to have obtained a satisfactory photo, smiling as he set it as his lock screen.
But he didn’t send it to his grandfather.
Honestly, he didn’t want to.
A fundamental question arose about why his grandfather should have a photo of his baby in the first place.
He could show the photo as something to boast about and then take it back, but it didn’t seem right to send the photo by message. So, ignoring all his grandfather’s messages, he only sent brief messages to his brothers who might be worried.
Saying that the child resembled him a lot.
* * *
“The Director is asking if you could send him the ultrasound video file?”
Just as Junghyun, who had woken up late and was about to have breakfast doubling as lunch, was about to take a spoonful of seaweed soup, he blinked at Director Jang’s relay of the message.
“…Video?”
“Yes. He contacted me as soon as he arrived at work. He mentioned that they provide videos these days?”
After not saying a word all last night and leaving this morning without waking him, Junghyun had been feeling a bit deflated… but this was somewhat unexpected.
From yesterday’s expression, he definitely knew the child was welcome, but he hadn’t expected him to request a video immediately upon arriving at work.
“Yes. Well… I’ll send it soon.”
“And one more thing: the Chairman has been in an uproar since this morning. The Director has been contacting everyone saying that the baby resembles him a lot, and now the Chairman keeps contacting us demanding the photo immediately.”
Hearing this bizarre story, Junghyun paused again just as he was about to take another spoonful of seaweed soup.
His face seemed to say, “What did I just hear?”
“…So… you’re saying the child in that photo resembles hyung?”
“Yes.”
“…But it’s a kidney bean.”
“I know.”
“Even being generous, it’s at most a cashew nut… and he says it looks like him?”
“I guess it looks that way to the Director’s eyes.”
“…A nut resembles him?”
Seeing Junghyun’s expression and tone that suggested he couldn’t understand at all, Director Jang smiled as if she had expected this reaction.
“It seems all the pregnancy symptoms have gone to the Director.”
“…Symptoms?”
“Besides morning sickness, during pregnancy, hormonal changes often make people very emotional, or they become sensitive due to changes in appetite or preferences. It seems the Director is experiencing all of that.”
At Director Jang’s kind explanation suggesting that this might explain why he had been vomiting and becoming sensitive over the past month, Junghyun looked at her as if he were watching something occult.
“…Does that… happen?”
“They say it can happen when a husband loves his wife too much.”
Although it wasn’t readily comprehensible, Junghyun accepted it more or less.
“…Yes… well, the human body is mysterious…”
There’s also such a thing as phantom pregnancy, phantom pain, and even people who have frozen to death in cold storage that wasn’t actually turned on…
After convincing himself this way, he resumed eating, but he could see Director Jang’s phone glowing in her apron pocket beside him.
In fact, it had been flashing continuously for a while.
He had just been pretending not to notice because it was bothersome.
“It seems the phone keeps ringing.”
“It will stop soon.”
At her tone suggesting it was too troublesome to respond to each call, Junghyun rolled his eyes as if thinking about something, then spoke again.
“Answer the phone.”
“He’ll just ask for the photos again anyway.”
“Just put me on.”
“…You’ll speak to him directly?”
“Yes. Usually people would give up by now, but seeing that he’s still contacting us, I don’t think he’ll ever give up.”
When discussing Jaehyuk and his grandfather before the marriage, someone had used the term “two peas in a pod,” which he had doubted, but it turned out to be true.
It was fine to continue blocking and ignoring calls coming to him, but the problem was calls directed to Director Jang.
With this level of persistence, it would be better to resolve it now.
In this state, he might even barge into the house soon.
Of course, that would also be fine if they simply didn’t open the door, but that was his perspective, and Director Jang’s might be different. So he gestured for her to answer quickly. Sensing Junghyun’s thoughts, she took out the heated phone from her pocket.
As she began the call, Junghyun took a large spoonful of rice and put it in his mouth.
It was time to end the pregnancy showcase.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
