* * *
Misfortune and work arrive all at once.
That has been an unchanging truth since the beginning of time.
Jaehyuk, who had finally sat down at his desk when lunchtime arrived, loosened his tie with a rough hand, looking exhausted.
He had barely made it before the meeting, and in the midst of the already chaotic situation, a minor problem had occurred at the overseas factory that had been operating smoothly, leaving him without a moment to sit down all morning.
And after solving that, another problem arose at the new factory under construction. It was another trivial but annoying issue—nothing major, but with a strangely complicated procedure to resolve.
Feeling as if the alcohol from last night hadn’t fully worn off, Jaehyuk pressed his brow in fatigue, then picked up his phone from the desk and turned on the screen.
Instantly, his lips relaxed into a smile.
The reason he was able to suppress the irritation that rose with each problem today was thanks to this lock screen.
If not for this photo, he would have fired a few people today.
“So cute…”
Though it looked like a macaroni in every way, it was a cute macaroni.
As he stroked the small mass on the screen, thinking how cute it was now and imagining how adorable it would be after birth, a message popped up.
Instinctively frowning, thinking it might be his grandfather again, but no.
It was a video file.
Seeing that, he quickly unlocked his phone and checked the message to find the video he had requested in the morning had arrived.
When the dark-background video appeared on the screen, Jaehyuk couldn’t help but jump up from his seat.
Then he began pacing around his office restlessly.
He just needed to watch it. The video he had been wanting to see had arrived.
But now that it was time to watch, he couldn’t press the button.
It felt too precious.
The photos were already so cute—how adorable would the video be?
Feeling like each frame should be cherished separately, he couldn’t bring himself to press the play button and was pacing around the office like an excited child with the phone in his hand when a new message arrived.
[Jajangmyeon] I’m at the café on the first floor. Could you come down? I’ve made another mistake today that needs to be fixed.
Seeing Junghyun’s message appearing below the adorable video, Jaehyuk’s soaring mood plummeted to the ground.
And immediately, a curse escaped his lips.
“Damn Chihuahua…”
Furious that Junghyun had caused another incident right after yesterday’s major incident, Jaehyuk quickly grabbed his jacket and left the office.
Then, almost running through the corridor, he took the elevator and pressed the first floor button in one breath.
The entire way down, he cursed internally, wondering if this guy had no learning ability, or if he didn’t know that he was already angry, and then after a moment, grumbled about what kind of trouble he had caused this time. As the elevator arrived at the first floor, he composed his face.
With many eyes watching, he maintained his usual cold expression as he headed toward the café, where Junghyun, sitting inside drinking a beverage, raised his hand to show himself.
As always, dressed in a gray hoodie, jogger pants, and sneakers, Junghyun was still to his taste today.
Not his outfit, but his face.
Even if he had been passing by with no particular thought, he would have turned to look at least once. Or deliberately gone nearby to drink coffee.
That was the beginning of all the tragedy.
Annoyed at himself for feeling better just by seeing Junghyun’s face, Jaehyuk entered the café with a grumpy expression, and Junghyun greeted him first.
“You came quickly?”
As expected, today’s Junghyun was as shameless as ever.
He had seemed a bit subdued yesterday, but he had already bounced back.
His resilience was too good.
Thinking that made Jaehyuk slightly irritated again, so he approached with a kindly smiling face and spoke through his teeth like a ventriloquist.
“What kind of trouble have you caused this time?”
“Since we don’t have time, I’ll explain on the way.”
As Junghyun stood up with his empty cup, Jaehyuk reflexively wrapped his arm around Junghyun’s waist and whispered softly in his ear.
“So, where to?”
“I’ll explain on the way. There are too many eyes here.”
Being lunchtime, the first floor was full of people moving in and out of the building.
Most people don’t care about others’ business, but this was a time when, due to timing, people’s attention was focused.
Just now, a few people were seen glancing their way.
Saying they should talk outside, Junghyun returned his cup and put his arm around Jaehyuk’s waist. Then, unlike his usual self, he leaned his body against Jaehyuk.
Although Jaehyuk knew he was doing this because of the watching eyes, he frowned in disbelief at Junghyun’s uncharacteristically affectionate attitude.
“I’m still angry.”
“That’s one thing, but business is business.”
Jaehyuk understood that.
He just found Junghyun’s shamelessness incredible.
“Do you really have a good personality?”
“I get that compliment a lot.”
With a bright smile that seemed to say “see what I mean,” the two left the building and naturally headed toward the car waiting in front.
Just as they were about to get in, they saw the secretary in the passenger seat getting out faster than they could enter.
At her unexpected appearance, Jaehyuk looked at Junghyun and her in confusion.
At Jaehyuk’s look that asked how they could talk with those two people around, Junghyun shrugged.
“You said to go around with her, right?”
So that’s why he brought her.
That was well done.
Yes, it was the right thing to do.
Although it was a bit annoying, it would make it easier to move around.
So he decided to confirm just the most important thing.
“So, where are we going?”
“To see the baby.”
* * *
“You should tell me these things in advance. That way, I can mentally prepare before coming out. Coming so suddenly like this isn’t good for my heart.”
“If your heart is that bad, you shouldn’t be surfing either.”
At Junghyun’s practical advice as he came out of the blood collection room, Jaehyuk managed to suppress his rising anger once again.
As Yoonho had said, Junghyun didn’t say wrong things.
It was just that he made people furious.
“I’ll have to carry sedatives because of you.”
“Yes, you should prepare that. Everyone around me carries one or two Uhwangchungsimwon pills as emergency medicine. Besides, you need to eat lunch, right?”
At Junghyun’s look suggesting that they should eat first since they had to wait for the blood test results anyway, Jaehyuk shook his head.
“After the examination.”
“They said it would take about 40 minutes?”
Although they had brought all the records from the previous hospital, this was the first visit to this hospital, so they had started with a blood test.
Normally, results would take a day, or at the fastest, about 2 hours, but at this hospital, they said it would only take 40 minutes.
It seemed to be some kind of VIP premium service.
“We don’t have anything particular to do, so let’s eat.”
“No. I don’t think I can swallow any food.”
“Why…”
About to ask if he was having digestive issues, Junghyun immediately closed his mouth.
At his curious attitude, Jaehyuk looked down at Junghyun, who was pressing on his blood collection site.
With a suspicious look.
“Why did you stop mid-sentence?”
“…Well, Director Jang mentioned earlier that it seems like you’ve been having morning sickness on my behalf. I thought, morning sickness on behalf of someone else? This isn’t some kind of shamanism with a doll absorbing bad luck… but it turns out it’s an actual medical condition. It’s called Couvade Syndrome.”
“…Couvade Syndrome?”
“Yes. It’s when the husband experiences his wife’s pregnancy symptoms. Except for increased sleep time, I don’t have any symptoms like morning sickness, depression, sensory sensitivity, or insomnia.”
Honestly, even to himself, he had so few symptoms that he doubted whether he was really pregnant. He had thought it was a bit strange, but that explanation made sense.
As Junghyun looked up at Jaehyuk, suggesting it seemed like a hormone transfer symptom, Jaehyuk was about to refute that it made no sense, but then closed his mouth as if something had occurred to him.
Too many things seemed to match.
The vomiting, dizziness, insomnia, lethargy, and fatigue that had persisted for the past month.
Above all, the extreme emotional instability was the biggest evidence.
It wasn’t an emotional issue but a hormonal one, all of it.
“You have no symptoms at all?”
“No.”
Come to think of it, Junghyun’s condition was too good.
Except for sleeping and eating.
If that was the case, it meant that he was experiencing all the pregnancy symptoms on Junghyun’s behalf…
“…Damn it…”
So that’s why he had been so sensitive.
If it was Couvade Syndrome, it would end when the baby was born, which was fortunate, but…
As Jaehyuk frowned at the strange feeling, Junghyun patted his shoulder as if to cheer him up.
“I’ll be counting on you in the future too. The labor pains as well, if possible.”
“Get off.”
Just as Jaehyuk brushed off Junghyun’s hand, saying he wasn’t in the mood for that, his phone lit up.
It was a message from the hospital.
“…They’re asking us to come to the examination room now.”
“Already?”
“They must have run a simple test. And since they already received your medical records, they want to proceed directly to the ultrasound.”
The blood test was just a formality, a display procedure because so many people asked for proof, so honestly, there would be no problem moving straight to the ultrasound.
“Then, let’s go right away.”
As Junghyun, who had been pressing on the blood collection site, removed the alcohol swab and threw it in the trash bin, heading toward the elevator, Jaehyuk, walking nervously alongside him, suddenly asked as if remembering something.
“Wait. Didn’t you say in your message that you had caused trouble?”
In the confusion of suddenly being told they were going to see the baby, he had forgotten, but Junghyun had definitely sent such a message.
When Jaehyuk asked what was going on, since he wouldn’t refer to going to the obstetrics department as “causing trouble,” Junghyun rolled his eyes for a moment.
“…Ah… well…”
“Well?”
“You’ll know when you see it.”
“See what?”
“The examination room.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
