#131
Five days had passed.
The university hospital corridor was busy. Doctors and nurses were passing by with quick steps, and there were patients in wheelchairs with their guardians here and there. Amidst the commotion, Idam clung tightly to Taemin’s arm. He felt like a cicada clinging to a sturdy tree, but he had no choice as he had left his crutches in the car.
They had come to the hospital today because they received word that Rickdi, who had finished surgery, had stabilized somewhat in the recovery room. Before leaving home, Taemin had asked Idam several times if he would be okay meeting Rickdi. Idam repeatedly answered that he would be fine.
When he first heard a few days ago that Taemin was going to visit Rickdi in the hospital, he honestly thought he would be afraid to face Rickdi, but perhaps because some time had passed, his fear had considerably diluted.
“If it becomes too much to deal with Rickdi in the hospital room, don’t hesitate to tell me. We can leave anytime.”
“Okay. I understand.”
Idam nodded. Taemin gently stroked Idam’s head as he continued speaking.
“We need to visit Im Hoyoung in the afternoon.”
“Yes, I remember.”
It was to hear the results of the tests Idam had done at the obstetrics clinic in Cheongdo last time. At that time, the doctor had said the results would be out in a week, but due to a system problem, it was delayed by two days, and they only got the news today. Originally, they would have had to go down to Cheongdo, but Im Hoyoung said he had received the test results from the doctor and would let them know instead.
Actually, he wasn’t too worried. Surely the baby would be healthy.
Taemin seemed to share Idam’s thoughts, as there was no sign of concern on his face.
“After we’re done, let’s go see the sea together.”
“What? The sea?”
Idam’s eyes widened.
“It’s the last day of our married life. Let’s have a meal to commemorate it.”
“Ah…”
A week had already passed. Throughout that time, he had taken care of Idam to the extent that he felt like a servant.
They did various prenatal activities. In fact, just seeing Taemin’s face was enough for prenatal education. Encountering this new side of him, Idam’s heart fluttered even more. He felt sure that Taemin would be a loving father to their baby fairy.
His heart kept fluttering and racing. He felt his feelings for Taemin growing stronger. He felt he should now convey his feelings to Taemin, but for some reason, he hesitated, feeling like he was being presumptuous.
“Here it is.”
A single-room door appeared in front of them. Idam felt the tension that had been quiet start to rise. Taemin also opened the door with nervous hands.
Amidst the bleak gray walls and floor, a bed was visible. Rickdi was lying face down on it. As he was wearing a hospital gown, the state of his back injury wasn’t visible to the naked eye. But as soon as Idam faced him, the moment of being kissed by Rickdi flashed back, and he unconsciously gripped Taemin’s arm tightly.
“Ugh…”
Rickdi, sensing their presence, raised his head.
“What the…”
Surprised, he quickly sat up facing forward.
“Why did you both come?”
His pupils shook as if facing unwelcome guests.
“Why? We came to see how you’re doing.”
Taemin spoke calmly as he approached the chair next to the bed. He seated Idam first, then took the seat next to him. Rickdi, looking back and forth between them, turned his head away as if facing something too painful to look at.
“How’s the post-surgery progress?”
“They say it’s good.”
“I heard you narrowly avoided a vital spot. That’s fortunate. You’re lucky.”
Taemin answered shamelessly as if it wasn’t something he had done. At this behavior, Rickdi frowned as if his mood had soured.
“Why did you come when you know what I did to Yeo Idam? Did you come to finish strangling me?”
“What if I did?”
“Fuck, you…”
“Apologize to Idam first.”
Taemin ordered with eyes colder than ice.
“I really want to rip your jaw off for doing such a thing to a pregnant person, let alone someone who’s not alone.”
“What? Pregnant?”
Rickdi’s pupils dilated. Then he looked at Idam and immediately let out a sigh.
“I thought it was suspicious when you went to the obstetrics clinic last time, but it turns out you really are pregnant.”
Rickdi looked at Idam’s belly with dejected eyes.
“Even for an extreme heat omega, it must have been possible because your father was a test subject.”
Then he turned to Taemin with a sharp expression.
“So, are you planning to pretend you don’t know after Idam gives birth?”
“What?”
Taemin’s face crumpled at Rickdi’s attack.
“It’s true that our grandfather did trashy things, but I’m not like that.”
“Considering what my mother went through, I can’t trust you.”
“Are you telling that lie again?”
“I told you it’s not a lie.”
“Shut up.”
A tense atmosphere hung between the two. Because of this, Idam felt suffocated and recalled what Rickdi had told him before.
‘My mother also dealt with Ji Hyeongman, Ji Taemin’s father, a long time ago. But after Hyeongman found an extreme heat omega that matched him better, he tried to kill my mother to silence her.’
At the same time, his guess grew closer to certainty, and Idam quickly spoke up.
“Are you two half-brothers by any chance?”
“What?”
Taemin looked shocked and surprised.
* * *
“Is everything prepared for the cruise ship event? Yes, yes! I’ll be there in the evening.”
Secretary Kang, who had driven Taemin and Idam to the hospital today, was currently waiting in the parking lot. After finishing the call, he shoved the phone into his pocket.
“Oh my, CEO. How extravagantly are you planning to propose today?”
In fact, Taemin, who had twisted Idam’s ankle a week ago, had started preparing for the proposal the next day. He had his employees research popular proposal events among the MZ generation and made plans.
With his eyes full of crazy pink, he was frantic about somehow capturing Idam’s heart. Even a Samulnori performance wouldn’t be this noisy. Secretary Kang had been briefly hospitalized due to a head injury, so the proposal preparation was temporarily halted and another employee took over, but as soon as he was discharged, he immediately took on the task.
And tonight. It had become the day of the final battle.
“I hope the madam will accept the CEO’s feelings…”
If Idam refused again, he didn’t know what the out-of-control Taemin might do to him.
“Please, marry him thinking you’re saving a life…”
Secretary Kang prayed towards Idam, clasping his toad-like hands together. How much time had passed? He felt a shadow approaching the driver’s seat of the sedan.
“Ah, are you back?”
Thinking it might be Taemin, he opened the car door defenseless. At that moment, a wrinkled hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Secretary Kang’s neck.
* * *
“You’re saying I’m brothers with this bastard?”
Taemin’s expression became even more disbelieving. Idam nodded.
“Yes… It seems so.”
The two men’s appearances seemed different yet somehow similar. Moreover, their two mothers with the same traits had similar pasts. Ji Hyeongman was at the center of it all, so their relationship could be guessed.
“The reason I followed you today, CEO, was because I was curious about this fact. Is my guess correct?”
Rickdi’s expression became one of facing the truth.
“Idam is right.”
“What?”
Taemin’s face completely distorted. Rickdi shared Taemin’s sentiment, but he was hiding it.
“Originally, our mother dealt with your father, Hyeongman, before your mother did. But afterwards, she was abandoned and almost killed. But luckily, she survived and met our current father, starting a new family. However, not long after meeting father, she found out she was pregnant.”
“…”
“Naturally, due to the timing, it was known to be Hyeongman’s child. Father, who loved mother so much, decided to embrace that child too. That’s me.”
Rickdi’s expression was full of gratitude towards his current father.
“Then, is your mother a foreigner?”
“Yes… She was born and raised in San Francisco. She came to Korea as a tourist and met Hyeongman.”
“So you’re saying you’re mixed-race? Why did you hide that until now?”
“My current father is American, and my mother is American too. There’s no way a mixed-race child could be born between them. That’s why I hid it.”
“Ah… I see…”
“Honestly, my appearance was closer to a foreigner than mixed-race.”
Taemin glared at Rickdi, looking displeased.
“I heard your mother passed away, but who’s the person by your side now?”
“She passed away two years ago. I just didn’t tell you about it.”
“…”
“That’s why I didn’t want Idam to meet the same fate as our mother. Moreover, I didn’t think a promiscuous bastard like you, Ji Taemin, would be any good for Idam.”
“Ha… But father didn’t know about your existence?”
“Of course, because mother hid the pregnancy out of fear of being killed. Also, disguising herself as a dominant omega was to avoid danger by changing her identity. That’s how I was able to grow up peacefully.”
Everyone had to disguise themselves as dominant omegas to hide their extreme heat omega trait. Idam found this reality quite bitter.
After finishing his explanation, Rickdi started drinking water. But Taemin’s aggressive eyes didn’t soften at all.
“If what you’re saying is true, why don’t you have pheromone aversion? You’ve been dealing with omegas normally, haven’t you?”
“I found it strange too, so I got tested, but I don’t have it.”
“How is that possible? Are you sure it’s not fake?”
“But mother had documents of a DNA test between Hyeongman and me. It was a 100% match.”
“Ha…”
“I learned that even if you inherit your family’s blood, aversion doesn’t necessarily develop.”
“I’m envious of that one thing.”
Taemin muttered as if dumbfounded.
“Envious…”
Rickdi’s eyes gradually twisted as he muttered softly. But Taemin, not noticing, glared at Rickdi sharply.
“Even if you had such circumstances, you know what you did to Idam was too much, right?”
“I know. That’s why I’m being punished like this.”
Rickdi said, touching his back.
“I have something I want to say to Idam. Ji Taemin, could you step out for a moment?”
“What? How can I trust you and leave you two alone!”
Taemin, outraged, shouted and grabbed Idam’s hand.
“Let’s just go. We don’t need to listen to this bastard anymore.”
Idam’s eyes wavered for a moment. But soon, he gently let go of Taemin’s hand.
“No. I… I want to hear it.”
“Idam…”
“I also have something to say.”
Taemin seemed reluctant to accept Idam’s stubbornness, but he eventually stood up as if he had no choice. However, he didn’t leave right away. He brought a towel hanging on the hanger and tightly bound Rickdi’s arms like handcuffs.
“What the fuck, suddenly?”
“It’s to prevent you from doing anything dirty to Idam again.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
