There aren’t many people who visit the night duty room in the morning, so Junghyun wondered who it could be, but it was indeed Yoonho hyung.
He must have heard about it at the office.
He was strangely perceptive, and he had clearly come because he sensed something was wrong. After hesitating about what to do, Junghyun quickly made up his mind.
This person was already too deeply involved. So he had the right to know.
Having decided, Junghyun roughly wiped his face with a towel and pulled open the bathroom door. As expected, there stood Yoonho, dressed like the grim reaper as usual, standing rigidly in front of the door.
Judging by his large build, black turtleneck sweater, gray muffler, black jacket, and black coat on top, he had just arrived at work.
By any standard, he looked suspicious. Perfect for getting stopped by the police.
“Jisu said you were feeling dizzy, which sounded ridiculous, so I came to see for myself… but you do look pale. Did you eat something bad? Or is it gastroenteritis? Or maybe the flu?”
Based on his experience, Yoonho made the reasonable assumption that there was no other explanation for such a pale face. In response, Junghyun exited the bathroom and silently handed him a test kit.
“Huh? What is this…?”
Caught off guard by Junghyun’s natural handoff, Yoonho reflexively took it, about to ask why he was giving this to him, when he noticed two distinct lines in the result window and closed his mouth.
He stared intently at the kit once more, looked at Junghyun, looked back at the kit, and then stammered:
“…Um… so, is this… that famous pregnancy test? The one women and Omegas use to directly confirm pregnancy?”
“You know it well.”
As Junghyun looked at him with an appreciative gaze, confirming it was exactly that, Yoonho, still staring at the kit, asked again:
“…The result shows two lines… Two lines means negative, right? As in, not pregnant.”
“All kits show two lines for positive. It means there’s an antigen present.”
Saying Yoonho should know such basic facts, Junghyun sat down on the sofa in the officetel and tilted his head back, looking exhausted.
In this unbelievable situation, Yoonho, clinging to a last hope, asked:
“It could be defective, you know.”
“I took three tests.”
“…”
“I’m definitely pregnant.”
Hearing Junghyun’s tone that left no room for further confirmation, Yoonho sat on the bed next to the sofa, hesitating before managing to speak:
“I suppose I should congratulate you first?”
“No need to force congratulations. This just makes an already twisted situation even more complicated.”
“…Still, I’ll congratulate you. I seem to be the first person to know, and saying ‘Are you crazy?’ as my first response would be too harsh.”
“That’s how it sounds to me anyway.”
Having been considerably shocked himself, Junghyun mumbled in a listless voice, then fell silent again, staring at the ceiling. Yoonho carefully said:
“Your pregnancy might disrupt your plans, but given the situation, maybe it’s for the best. Use this opportunity to tell Jaehyuk hyung the whole truth and sort things out. That’s the best approach.”
“…”
“Hey…”
“…”
“Lee Junghyun, you’re not thinking of something else, are you?”
“…”
The silence was long.
Frowning as if disturbed by how quiet the usually talkative Junghyun had become, Yoonho pressed:
“Hey…”
“I’m still… thinking about it.”
“What is there to think about? You’re already married, and now there’s a baby, so you should confess about your stalking and establish a proper relationship.”
“…What’s the point of talking when we’re getting divorced anyway?”
“What do you mean ‘getting divorced anyway’? You’ve already registered your marriage…”
Yoonho stopped mid-sentence, sensing something was off.
“Wait. Wait, wait… What divorce?”
In response to Yoonho’s perfectly reasonable question about why divorce was suddenly being mentioned when they’d only been married for three months, Junghyun answered honestly.
There was no reason to hide anything anymore.
“We agreed to that from the beginning when we got married.”
“…Agreed to what?”
“It was a one-year contract. To live together for exactly one year and then divorce.”
After this clean answer without lengthy explanation, Yoonho, lost in thought for a moment, stammered:
“So you’re saying you had a contract marriage with Jaehyuk hyung? On the condition of divorcing after one year.”
“Exactly as I said.”
“Ah…”
Finally understanding the truth behind this seemingly absurd marriage, Yoonho let out a small exclamation.
“I thought so…”
There had been so many things about this marriage that didn’t make sense and seemed strange, but that explained it.
With this in mind, everything became clear.
It was an incredibly absurd story, but since it was the most plausible explanation realistically, Yoonho looked almost relieved.
“Okay. I get it. If your insurance policy was divorce after one year, I completely understand why you’ve been so relaxed about everything… That’s fine.”
Pausing there, Yoonho returned to the main point after a moment:
“But still, tell Jaehyuk hyung the truth. This isn’t something you can resolve on your own.”
“No, I can.”
“Hey…”
“We already added that clause when we wrote the contract. If I happened to get pregnant, we agreed to terminate the pregnancy.”
Junghyun murmured that a child was unnecessary in a relationship that would end in divorce anyway, causing Yoonho to frown slightly.
“…Did Jaehyuk hyung suggest that?”
“Neither he nor I want a child born out of wedlock. Besides, Jaehyuk hyung probably believes I’m infertile. He saw all my medical records.”
Indeed, Jaehyuk was certainly someone who could obtain all of Junghyun’s medical records. Even unofficial ones.
And the fact that he married him despite knowing that…
“…Is that why he wanted to marry you?”
“It’s a self-defeating prophecy.”
So that’s why someone as meticulous as Jaehyuk had made a mistake—because Junghyun had set up so many layers of deception that even he couldn’t avoid them.
Junghyun had literally been caught in his own trap.
Thinking what a fiasco this was, Yoonho ran his hand through his hair in frustration, while Junghyun suddenly laughed.
It was a laugh of disbelief and absurdity.
“How can you laugh now?”
“It’s just… funny…”
“What is?”
“The thing I’ve wanted most my entire life was a family… And finally, the family I’m about to have is a child I absolutely shouldn’t have… It’s laughable. Talk about bad luck.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Would someone who wants a family put that kind of capsule in their bloodstream?”
“That was beyond my control. I told you. The reason my father brought me to that house in the first place was because Lee Jeonghoo was an Omega who couldn’t get pregnant.”
“So what does that have to do with you?”
“He needed merchandise to sell, but his beloved first son was defective. So he needed a healthy Omega son who could be easily sold after a blood test. When my mother happened to contact him, he thought it would be perfect and brought me. If my hormone levels had been normal, I would have been sold for a high price right after high school graduation, forget about college.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who would be sold so easily.”
“That’s why I wasn’t sold and have lasted until now.”
Knowing Junghyun’s family history, Yoonho couldn’t deny the possibility.
Somehow he had witnessed Junghyun buying drugs and conversing with his family, becoming deeply entangled, and as far as he knew, Junghyun’s father was definitely capable of such things.
The rumors in the industry weren’t favorable either.
“…No matter how I look at it, you definitely made a fool of him.”
“I call it survival tactics.”
Seeing that Junghyun’s conscience was intact enough not to completely deny it, Yoonho laughed as well.
The situation was so absurd that he didn’t even have the energy to be angry.
It was ridiculous, frustrating, and a little irritating all at once, so after laughing weakly, he spoke seriously for once:
“Still, talk to him. Whatever decision you make in the end, he has the right to know.”
“…”
“This isn’t something you can solve alone. Regardless of the contract clause, talk to him first.”
“…I’ll think about it.”
Satisfied with Junghyun’s noticeably softer response, Yoonho stood up.
“Good. I have a morning meeting at the office, so you should rest a bit before coming in. Your face looks terribly bad right now.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll go with you.”
“Look in the mirror before saying that. You look like you could collapse at any moment and no one would be surprised. I’m not heartless enough to work a sick pregnant person.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard that?”
When Junghyun scoffed, saying what conscience could someone have who took freshmen who didn’t even know what surfing was to an indoor wave pool and threw them onto 2-meter waves, Yoonho pressed down on Junghyun’s head.
“Seeing you run your mouth, you must be really fine. Rest for just one hour and then come in. Sitting around with a face like that would just inconvenience your coworkers.”
“…”
“Rest properly before coming.”
“…Thank you.”
Stroking Junghyun’s head as he unexpectedly said something nice for once, Yoonho stood up and left the night duty room first.
Left alone in the suddenly quiet room, Junghyun leaned back against the sofa and exhaled a long sigh.
He had been in a state of panic until just before Yoonho arrived, but his mind had calmed considerably after their conversation.
But his thoughts were still complicated.
He was still confused about what to do.
What to do about this child, and whether to tell him…
If he did tell him, he had no idea where to begin. Everything seemed overwhelming.
He didn’t think Jaehyuk wouldn’t listen to him at all.
At this point, he would probably listen quite seriously. They had developed that level of bond between them.
But listening and accepting were different matters.
If he heard the whole truth and was disappointed or angry with him…
Just thinking about that possibility made him feel like his entire body was sinking into cold water.
It had only been three months.
Just three months ago, he had been the one spouting that he didn’t care if Jaehyuk knew everything.
“This is karma…”
This was truly the result of all the misdeeds he had accumulated.
He had done something incredibly stupid.
He admitted that.
So now he needed to fix this situation.
He had to find a way that would cause no harm to Jaehyuk and wouldn’t hurt him.
The question was how.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
