Baek Woojin whispered to me. As I felt when we first met, Baek Woojin’s low tone was so pleasant to hear that it tickled my eardrums.
“Yes… I got a shot and I’m full… so I think that’s why…”
I muttered while blinking my eyelids that kept closing drowsily.
“Please sleep.”
In this state…? That doesn’t seem polite…
“No… I should see you leave… until when…”
Why isn’t this man going to work…
Work hours had already passed long ago, and when he took that phone call earlier, he seemed very busy too… when exactly is he planning to go to work…
No, and something…
“Woojin-ssi…”
“…Yes.”
“Your scent… is… nice…”
“……”
Somehow Baek Woojin seemed to smell really good. Is it because he’s an Alpha? Since I’m an Omega, am I drawn to something called Alpha pheromones…?
“…I like yours too.”
That’s when a faint smile appeared on Baek Woojin’s lips along with his quiet voice. My dim consciousness gradually sank down.
*
How long had I been sleeping? I woke up after sleeping soundly without even dreaming. What fully awakened my consciousness was smelling a very delicious aroma.
A tremendously loud rumbling sound echoed from my hungry stomach.
“Mmm…”
I scratched my belly with my hand and opened my eyes drowsily.
“Are you awake?”
“Huk…!”
At the doorway stood the ajumma I had seen yesterday, wearing an apron. I was startled and bounced up from the bed.
“Oh my, don’t get up so hastily. You still seem to have a fever… I’m sorry if I woke you unnecessarily.”
“Oh… no, I woke up earlier… earlier…”
Did she hear it…? I was embarrassed thinking she might have heard that thunder-like sound from my stomach.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Pardon? Yes…”
She apparently did hear it. When the ajumma asked with a smile, I quietly nodded.
“Let’s see… it’s still early for a meal, would you like to have a snack with Kkotsu?”
“Kkotsu? Did he come back from kindergarten?”
“Yes, right next to you…”
“…?”
I turned my head right next to me following the ajumma’s gaze.
“Oh… Kkotsu?”
At some point, Kkotsu was peeking his face out from between the blankets.
“Tea… teacher… does your… belly hurt…?”
Kkotsu rubbed my stomach with his hand with a worried expression.
“Uh, yes…? Oh… no, it doesn’t hurt. Kkotsu.”
Kkotsu must have heard the stomach clock sound exactly. It’s not that it hurts, I’m just hungry… Looking at Kkotsu’s serious expression, he seemed really worried.
“No, no, here… sca-scary… sound… came…”
“Ahahaha! Kkotsu, don’t do that, shall we go eat snacks?”
I blocked Kkotsu who was pointing at my belly with his finger and shouted heartily. Then Kkotsu opened his eyes wide, looked at my face for a moment, then smiled brightly.
I ate the snacks the ajumma prepared with Kkotsu. My body was completely refreshed as if I had never had cold symptoms or muscle pain. Having returned to top condition, I played with dolls together with Kkotsu.
Knock knock.
“Kkotsu, it’s time to study Korean.”
In the middle of that, a tutor came to teach Kkotsu pronunciation correction. While Kkotsu was taking his lesson, I looked through the luggage Hyeol had mentioned in the room.
“What is this…”
Whether it was packed in a real hurry, or just randomly stuffed… Chae Seungyeon’s luggage was much smaller than Hyeol’s bag. Inside the bag were just a few sets of clothes Chae Seungyeon wore, underwear, a few novels, medicines Chae Seungyeon took, and an old diary.
“This is too much, did they throw everything away…”
I sighed and neatly folded the clothes and underwear to put in the dresser in the guest room, placed the books on the small desk. And what remained…
“Somehow I feel like I’ll get depressed if I look at this…”
I debated whether to open and look at the diary. It seemed like Chae Seungyeon had written diary entries or quotes in it…
Still, I didn’t know what content might be inside. Perhaps I could get hints about the direction I should live going forward, or even though he was an orphan, there might be contact information for blood relatives. There might also be secrets about Chae Seungyeon I didn’t know.
I tried to calm my heart and opened the diary, turning page by page to read carefully.
How much time had passed like that…
When my shoulders felt a bit stiff, I let out a deep sigh.
“Hah… I can’t read any more…”
I ended up closing the diary without finishing it. At that moment, teardrops fell onto the diary.
“Huh, what’s this…?”
I hadn’t been conscious of it at all, but tears were flowing from my eyes. I frantically wiped them away with the back of my hand, trying to let the emotions flow away.
Creak.
That’s when Kkotsu, who had opened the door and quietly entered, approached me. The child used his tiny hands to continuously wipe away the tears flowing down my cheeks.
“It’s okay, Kkotsu…”
“Ye-yes…”
Kkotsu, who looked at my face, was about to cry with teary eyes. I felt sorry and carefully wiped Kkotsu’s hands that were wet with my tears using tissue.
“Thank you.”
When I expressed gratitude with a slight smile, Kkotsu smiled along with me with bright, sparkling eyes.
“Did you listen well to your Korean lesson?”
“Ye-yes…”
Kkotsu gripped the tear-soaked tissue tightly and nodded slightly. But unlike his answer, he looked somewhat dejected. It seemed different from listening to lessons and studying together with friends.
“Kkotsu finds it more fun to be at kindergarten with friends, right?”
“N-no…”
“…Huh?”
Oh, did I guess wrong?
I looked at Kkotsu with a troubled expression at the unexpected answer. Then Kkotsu also seemed flustered and dropped the tissue he was holding.
“Fr-friend… didn’t c-come… today…”
“Friend? Kkotsu’s friend? Why didn’t they come to kindergarten today?”
“C-caught… a cold…”
A cold…? What is this, I’m getting a strange sense of déjà vu…
Ding dong.
Just then, as if it were a signal, the doorbell rang and I could hear the ajumma outside answering the intercom.
“Teacher, your son is here.”
“Ah!”
It was Hyeol. I grabbed Kkotsu’s hand and quickly rushed out of the room. I thought I should welcome Hyeol more warmly than anyone else.
“Ah…!”
Then I stopped short. When I suddenly stopped, Kkotsu clung to one of my legs with a puzzled look.
No, wait, surely…
‘I’m sorry, but we don’t provide school bus service.’
Then whose car did Hyeol come in? Did Woojin-ssi go pick him up? Or did he call a driver ajussi?
I checked the intercom with uncertain thoughts. In the blue screen, only Hyeol was standing there alone. Sure enough, Hyeol’s expression didn’t look good either.
Gasp, don’t tell me mother-in-law pulled some trick again…!
Clunk.
In the meantime, the ajumma was opening the front door wide.
“Oh! Ajumma, wait a moment…!”
“Yes?”
But it was already too late. Through the gap in the front door that the ajumma opened, I could see Hyeol standing there blankly, just like in the screen.
“Hyeol!”
I moved quickly and ran to Hyeol. I was planning to quickly bring only Hyeol inside. Just as I was about to embrace Hyeol.
“Brother-in-law, it’s me.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
