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“Hmm. Are you two done talking?”
At Dr. Nam’s call, Yeon Ji-ho straightened his body that had been turned towards Set. Swallowing a sigh, he slowly nodded to Dr. Nam.
“That’s understandable. Set wasn’t originally a shapeshifter, so he might not know how crucial imprinting is to shapeshifters.”
Of course, Yeon Ji-ho knew this too. But what was really frustrating was that he had already told Set before that imprinting involved biting the back of the neck.
‘How do you imprint?’
‘It’s biting the back of the neck… Of course, not all bites succeed. I don’t know the details, but they say the mental aspect is important.’
‘The back of the neck.’
He had even told him that after imprinting, they couldn’t be stable without each other’s pheromones, and that if one of them died, the other would live an unstable life forever. So why hadn’t he mentioned the fact that he had bitten Yeon Ji-ho’s neck?
There was a lot he wanted to ask Set right away, but with Dr. Nam in front of them, Yeon Ji-ho swallowed all his words. Meanwhile, Dr. Nam addressed the two of them.
“I heard you were separated for a long time during early pregnancy. You need to be extra careful now during pregnancy, but you should be cautious even after it’s over.”
“…Ah, yes.”
“As Set’s pain insensitivity improves, the pain he might have overlooked could hit him all at once. Be very careful about that too.”
Dr. Nam’s various pieces of advice passed by in an instant. Among them, there were many precautions especially for Yeon Ji-ho, who was currently pregnant.
“Always keep your pheromones released. If you must be separated, use marking or pheromone showers…”
“Marking? Pheromone showers?”
“Hmm, it means leaving your pheromones on your partner. Set is a dominant alpha, so he should be able to do it easily with a little concentration.”
Yeon Ji-ho’s pregnancy was now approaching 8 months. Thanks to regular visits to the obstetrician and Set’s excessive attention to his health, Bael was growing well.
While at the hospital, Yeon Ji-ho asked a few questions about the fetus.
“Um, doctor. Our child is… a bit on the small side, right?”
“Well, children grown in male omega wombs tend to be a bit smaller. Hmm… Even so, Bael is on the smaller side.”
At Dr. Nam’s words, Yeon Ji-ho’s expression became anxious. He had heard similar things from the obstetrician he had visited before, but hearing not much different from Dr. Nam left a very bitter taste in his mouth.
Yeon Ji-ho’s belly was much smaller compared to other omega mothers. Yeon Ji-ho thought that perhaps it was because he had overexerted himself too much in the early stages of pregnancy. At a time when he should have been resting as much as possible and focusing on prenatal care, he had gone to another world and moved around constantly. A storm of guilt about the baby swept through his chest.
Meanwhile, Set, who was beside him, began to ask Dr. Nam one by one the questions he had been curious about.
“In the case of male… omegas, I heard there are risks during childbirth. How severe are these risks?”
Although Set’s way of speaking was peculiar, Dr. Nam just laughed jovially, as if he had already heard about it from Seon-rok. Eventually, he gave an answer to Set’s question.
“Generally, the mortality rate for male omega mothers during childbirth is 10%.”
Set’s eyes widened. Just as Set’s hand was about to rise in disbelief, Dr. Nam hurriedly added.
“…But that’s on a global scale. In medical powerhouses like Korea, it’s less than 1%. There’s no need to worry too much.”
“D-Doctor. You scared us. Set, are you okay?”
Yeon Ji-ho hurriedly patted Set’s shoulder. Recently, Set had learned how to search the internet and often typed keywords about male omegas in the search bar, which led to stories about their pregnancies as a byproduct.
Given the vastness of the internet world, there were many ghost story-like tales, and Set would sometimes come after reading one of them, showing signs of anxiety. As Set’s fingertips began to tremble, Yeon Ji-ho gently wrapped his hand around them.
“But it’s true that it’s more dangerous compared to beta females or omega females. Ji-ho, you’re planning on a C-section, of course?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Before the advent of C-sections, there were countless cases of male omegas dying during childbirth. Recently, most male omega mothers opt for C-sections, so Yeon Ji-ho had been considering this method as well.
The problem was Set’s reaction, who was hearing about C-sections for the first time.
“…C-section? What is a C-section?”
“Well, it’s a method of cutting open the belly to take out the baby.”
At Dr. Nam’s simple and straightforward explanation, Set gasped. There was a loud crash as the chair Set had abruptly stood up from fell over. The loud noise startled even Yeon Ji-ho.
“Cut open, you’re going to cut open Ji-ho’s belly?”
Set spoke as if grinding his teeth, looking as if he might unleash his sword energy at any moment. If Yeon Ji-ho hadn’t grabbed Set’s waist to stop his movement, he might have destroyed the entire examination room.
“It’s not like that!”
“S-Set…?”
“Doctor, we don’t have any more questions, so we’ll be leaving now!”
Yeon Ji-ho hurriedly wrapped his arms around Set’s waist and dragged him out. Until the very moment they left, Set stared at Dr. Nam as if trying to memorize his face clearly.
Thud. Finally, the examination room door closed. Standing in the corridor with just the two of them, Yeon Ji-ho met Set’s angry gaze and said.
“C-section is… it’s not like that, it’s just one of the childbirth methods.”
Yeon Ji-ho added an explanation, waving his hands. When he mentioned that before the advent of C-sections, the mortality rate for male omegas during childbirth had approached 50% at times, Set’s demeanor calmed somewhat.
Set, who had momentarily lost his mind at the mention of cutting open Yeon Ji-ho’s belly, now seemed to have come to his senses and hesitated, looking at Dr. Nam’s examination room. Then Yeon Ji-ho said to Set.
“Set, would you mind waiting here for a moment? I have something I need to say to Dr. Nam privately.”
“…Something to say? What is it?”
“Well, that… It’s nothing much. Please just wait here for a moment!”
Yeon Ji-ho, fumbling his words, turned around and went back into the examination room. He came out in less than 5 minutes. For some reason, his face was flushed red.
“Then… shall we go?”
Finally, Yeon Ji-ho tightly grasped Set’s hand. Set glanced down at the small fingers that had slipped between his own, filling the gaps completely, and returned the grip with equal force. Then the two of them got into the elevator.
Set naturally pressed the B1 button, where Seon-rok and Soo-cheol would be waiting in the car. However, Yeon Ji-ho immediately pressed the button again to cancel it. Then the button that lit up was for the 1st floor.
“We’re not going to the basement?”
At Set’s puzzled question, Yeon Ji-ho briefly lowered his eyes to the floor. Set found this behavior strange and bent down to try to meet Yeon Ji-ho’s eyes. But the more he tried, the more Yeon Ji-ho avoided his gaze and wouldn’t make eye contact.
This naturally caused anxiety to surge in Set’s heart. Had he done something wrong?
At that moment, Yeon Ji-ho, still unable to make eye contact, opened his mouth.
“…Uncle Seon-rok and Uncle Soo-cheol have already gone back.”
This was the first thing Yeon Ji-ho said after hesitating and turning his head this way and that. Set finally saw Yeon Ji-ho’s face. His face was flushed bright red.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been out, just the two of us…”
“…”
“So I thought we’d go home late.”
Set paused at those words. Just then, the elevator arrived at the 1st floor and opened, and Yeon Ji-ho, still holding Set’s hand, led him out. As they passed through the quiet hospital lobby and went outside, they were greeted by the festive street atmosphere of the approaching Christmas, thanks to the hospital’s location in the heart of the city.
As the sun was setting, Yeon Ji-ho carefully said to Set beside him.
“I’ve made a reservation at a hotel for dinner… Let’s go there.”
Yeon Ji-ho spoke with an embarrassed face and strode forward, holding Set’s hand. In fact, it was the first time for Yeon Ji-ho to make a reservation at a hotel restaurant for dinner with someone.
A few days ago, he had asked Seon-rok for recommendations for good restaurants, and had even asked Apophis and Shango about the kind of clothes Set liked. Set probably thought they were just going for the imprinting test today.
“How long does it take to get there from here?”
“About 10 minutes on foot? Why?”
“It’s cold. Ji-ho, your scarf.”
Set readjusted Yeon Ji-ho’s slightly loosened scarf, securing it tightly. As he did so, Yeon Ji-ho naturally found himself looking up close at Set’s face as he slightly bent his head, concentrating on Yeon Ji-ho. Without realizing it, he buried his face in the scarf.
With his nose and mouth buried in the scarf, only his eyes rolling, Yeon Ji-ho finally confessed his true feelings to Set.
“Um, Set.”
“Tell me, Ji-ho.”
“…Do you know what hotels are for?”
Set, having finished adjusting the scarf, only blinked at Yeon Ji-ho’s question. Of course, although Set had been learning a lot about this world recently, there were still more words he didn’t know than ones he did. This was especially true for “hotel,” a place rarely seen in Sancheon where Yeon Ji-ho lived.
“It’s for lodging… that is, it’s a fancy inn.”
“…?”
At this point, Yeon Ji-ho rubbed his face vigorously with both hands out of embarrassment. With only his reddened ear tips showing, he said.
“…Would you like to stay at the hotel with me tonight?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
