I quickly grabbed his arm as his attitude clearly showed he was deliberately trying to avoid me.
“Let’s…”
I was about to ask if we could talk for a moment, but the words wouldn’t come out.
As I stood there, lips moving but unable to find the right words to say while holding his arm, a ringtone sounded.
It was coming from the phone in his hand.
So it was true that he had someone to call.
Feeling embarrassed about holding onto his arm in this situation, I let go, and he reached out to pat my head.
“Eat your meal.”
After gently stroking my head and reminding me to eat, he immediately headed toward the study.
As I watched his back while he began his call and walked away, I put my hands, now with nowhere to go, into my pockets.
It wasn’t strange that he was getting calls from various people after canceling his afternoon schedule.
Thinking there was nothing I could do for now, I slowly walked toward the bedroom.
The house was not just warm but almost hot. Too hot to keep wearing an outdoor coat, so I went straight to the dressing room and took off my military jacket.
Then I changed into a large t-shirt made of thinner fabric and jogger pants, and headed to the dining room with my phone in hand.
A meal for one person was prepared on the large table in the dining room.
Though I was hungry, I couldn’t bring myself to start eating.
I didn’t have much appetite.
Fortunately, the dizziness had subsided, but I still felt slightly nauseous.
Still, I needed to eat. Even if I had to force myself.
As I picked up a spoon, determined to eat somehow, a message notification sounded on my phone placed beside me.
[Yoonho hyung] Did you go home?
It was a message subtly trying to probe.
Ridiculous.
Not only did he call Jaehyuk hyung, but he obviously must have opened the door to the on-call room for him, yet he’s pretending innocence and trying to test me. Quite shameless.
He seems worried after causing trouble himself.
So to meet his expectations, I sent a message briefly summarizing the current situation.
‘See you tomorrow.’
After sending a message containing a slight threat and sincere anger, a quick reply came shortly after.
[Yoonho hyung] Talk properly with hyung. With your face looking like that now, it’ll be found out soon.
[Yoonho hyung] Honestly, it’s strange that hyung hasn’t noticed yet.
[Yoonho hyung] That hyung is definitely not a dull person, how did you brainwash him to not even consider the possibility of pregnancy?
I let out an irritated sigh at the rapid-fire messages that didn’t even give me time to respond, as if saying I had things to say too.
It was a sigh because everything Yoonho hyung said was right.
By any measure, telling the truth now would be the best thing to do.
But now Jaehyuk is avoiding conversation.
He’s not giving me any chance to speak.
[Yoonho hyung] He’s not an unreasonable person, so resolve it well. I can’t guarantee he’ll spare you, but he’ll spare the baby.
I immediately replied to Yoonho hyung’s most unnecessary meddling in the world.
‘Shut up. Traitor.’
After sending a petty message because I had nothing else to say, I flipped my phone face down on the table.
Then I picked up my spoon again and started moving.
I had to eat.
Somehow.
***
“…I’m not going. I came home early today because something came up.”
As Jaehyuk, who had entered the study and was taking off his coat, apologized for the suddenly canceled appointment, Suhyuk asked with concern.
— “Why? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No. The Chihuahua said he wasn’t feeling well.”
After casually draping his coat over the sofa in the study, Jaehyuk went to sit at the desk and immediately took out his tablet from his bag.
While he was checking his emails, Suhyuk asked in surprise.
— “Chihuahua? Junghyun?”
“He hasn’t been feeling well lately. Seems like he’s coming down with a cold.”
— “Ah, it suddenly got cold recently. Yeonwoo also says he’s been feeling under the weather. I’ve turned the house temperature up to maximum, but he still wears a robe around the house.”
Jaehyuk’s hand paused while checking emails at the story of someone feeling cold when it was almost too hot for him.
“Has he also been sleeping more?”
At this question, Suhyuk laughed lightly.
— “That’s beyond description. Nowadays he sleeps more than half the day. That’s why we went straight to the hotel to sleep after our wedding ended, and even postponed our honeymoon on purpose.”
“Is there some special hormone that only affects Omegas in winter?”
— “Of course not. You’ve known Yeonwoo since he was seven. Omegas do have hormone issues, but that’s limited to their heat cycles. They don’t react that strongly to seasons. Sleeping a lot and being exceptionally tired are typical pregnancy symptoms…”
Suhyuk paused as if something had occurred to him, then continued.
— “Wait a minute. Could Junghyun be pregnant?”
“That’s not it.”
— “Have you been to the hospital? Have you checked?”
“No, but that’s not it.”
— “That’s uncertain. Since pregnancy test kits aren’t completely accurate, you should go to the hospital.”
Thinking Jaehyuk had done a home test since he was so certain, Suhyuk kept urging him to go to the hospital.
But Jaehyuk had reason to be so confident.
“It’s definitely not that.”
— “But the symptoms are early pregnancy symptoms?”
“He’s always been one to sleep a lot, and the cold-like symptoms are probably because he didn’t get proper rest last month when he was busy. Last month he was leaving work even later than me.”
At Jaehyuk’s casual remark that Junghyun didn’t even have days off, Suhyuk paused briefly, then continued.
— “…Is that so?”
“Due to the nature of his job, he works almost overnight when work piles up. He’s been feeling unwell for about two weeks now, probably because the tension eased after finishing work.”
— “But you’ve been out gallivanting all this time?”
At Suhyuk’s reproach about his five days of outings, Jaehyuk clicked his tongue.
Rumors spread fast.
“Seems like everyone has too much time on their hands.”
— “How could there not be rumors? Someone as high-profile as you suddenly disappeared and then reappeared?”
Suhyuk clicked his tongue, asking if Jaehyuk didn’t know that rumors had been circulating since the stock market opened this morning.
Since his marriage, Jaehyuk hadn’t shown his face at gatherings at all, spending all his exercise and hobby time with Junghyun.
Then suddenly, from Friday night throughout the weekend, he started appearing everywhere, so rumors were inevitable.
Thanks to that, divorce rumors about Jaehyuk and Junghyun were already circulating among gossips.
“I just stopped by Glam because Yejun hyung was feeling neglected. I haven’t been able to contact him for a while, and I always moved with hyung in winter, but this year I’m going with Junghyun, so I needed to explain. And on the weekend, everyone was clamoring to see my face, so I took care of it all at once.”
It was just like Jaehyuk to handle everything at once because he found multiple outings troublesome.
He was the type who hated cumbersome and annoying things, pursuing ultimate efficiency in a way.
But in another sense, it wasn’t like Jaehyuk at all.
No matter how much people whispered about wanting to see his face, he wasn’t the type to go out unless he felt like it.
Fundamentally, Jaehyuk was thoroughly self-centered.
— “…Is that really all?”
“What else should there be?”
As Jaehyuk resumed checking emails and answered calmly, Suhyuk finally accepted it.
— “If that’s the case, then good. Everyone was saying your face didn’t look good this weekend, so I wondered if something might be wrong.”
“That’s completely unnecessary worry.”
— “I suppose so.”
At the soft laughter that sounded like gentle tickling, Jaehyuk tried to wrap up the call.
“I’m sorry for suddenly canceling today’s appointment. I’ll reschedule for sometime next week.”
— “It’s not urgent, so it’s fine. I can get your signature anytime.”
“If you need it urgently, I’ll send Secretary Yoon, and you can send it through him.”
— “If it seems urgent, I’ll do that.”
“Get ready quickly. You can leave sooner once your documents are in order.”
— “That’s exactly why I’m hurrying as much as possible. Yeonwoo says his body is getting heavier, so he’ll leave first, and I’ll follow after finishing preparations.”
“You can’t send a pregnant person alone. Leave together even if it takes time. Or just depart now. We can handle the aftermath here.”
— “That still doesn’t work. I don’t even have a successor yet.”
“Just stick Yesung in there. That guy does good work.”
When Jaehyuk said Yesung just doesn’t listen, Suhyuk asked in surprise.
— “Yesung will do it?”
“What if he doesn’t?”
At Jaehyuk’s typical response—implying “what will he do about it” and “he’ll have to obey”—the sound of Suhyuk laughing awkwardly came through.
— “He would listen to you… but isn’t he overseas right now?”
“I found him and told him to return within two days. I even sent a private jet, so if he doesn’t come back, he’ll deal with the consequences.”
— “Ah… then he’ll come back right away.”
Though he was a troublemaker who wouldn’t listen to his parents or even his maternal grandfather, he couldn’t defy Jaehyuk, so he would definitely return.
Thinking about this, Suhyuk also felt rushed.
— “Then should I hurry even more?”
“Leave as soon as possible. In that condition, people will notice soon.”
— “Is that so?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
