Chapter 150
Bringing a chair to the bedside, Yoo Siwoon moved closer to the sleeping Eunseong. With careful hands trying not to disturb the arm with the IV drip, he tucked the blanket snugly up to Eunseong’s neck and gently patted his chest.
Yoo Siwoon took Eunseong’s free hand and held it firmly between both of his own. He kissed the back of Eunseong’s hand and tenderly rubbed his cheek against it repeatedly. Deep concern permeated every breath he exhaled. Each breath carried self-reproach for being unable to do anything while Eunseong was in such pain.
Tears seeped from Eunseong’s closed eyes. Yoo Siwoon’s trembling hand gently caressed Eunseong’s face as tears trickled down the corners of his eyes.
“…Eunseong?”
With great effort, Eunseong opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at him. He saw the man sitting beside him, firmly holding his hand between both of his, looking at him with eyes full of heartbreaking concern.
“Are you okay? Are you awake now?”
“…”
“Why are you crying? Are you in pain? Where does it hurt? Hmm? Tell me where it hurts.”
“…”
Tears flowed ceaselessly from Eunseong’s eyes, trailing down his face and into his ears. Yoo Siwoon grabbed a tissue and wiped away the tears.
“Did something happen?”
“…”
“It’s okay, you can tell me.”
He asked as if he would give Eunseong his liver or gallbladder if needed. Yoo Siwoon was at a loss watching Eunseong cry silently. The more anxiously he asked, the more violently Eunseong cried.
Eunseong felt as though his chest was being torn apart. It hurt so much that he bit his lip and clutched at his constricting chest, rubbing it desperately.
“Does your chest hurt? Is this where it hurts?”
His hand approached to rub Eunseong’s chest instead. Eunseong shook his head.
“Then what’s wrong? Talk to me. It’s okay, anything is fine.”
“…I can’t believe it.”
Eunseong finally spoke. His tear-filled eyes stared blankly as he murmured.
“What do you mean? You can’t believe what?”
“Just… I can’t believe it.”
“What can’t you believe?”
“Everything… all of it. Everything, all of it.”
Eunseong closed his eyes, blurred with tears. He ignored Yoo Siwoon’s questions and touches. He turned his back to Yoo Siwoon and lay on his side, burying his wet cheek in the pillow. He hunched his shoulders and shrank away whenever Yoo Siwoon’s hand touched him. Though there was nowhere deeper to hide, he curled up as if trying to burrow further whenever he felt the man’s touch.
“Ahjussi, I think I’m going to throw up.”
“I’ll take you to the bathroom. Can you get up?”
“No. Ahjussi… I think I’m going to throw up because of your smell.”
“…What?”
“I think I’m going to throw up because of your smell.”
Eunseong’s rounded back twitched as if he couldn’t bear Yoo Siwoon’s scent and was trying to suppress his nausea. Then, as if it wasn’t just a metaphorical expression, he suddenly covered his mouth with his hand and made a retching sound. His back arched dramatically as he heaved. Eunseong abruptly raised his upper body and actually vomited.
Uwaeeek…
Having thrown up as if expelling his internal organs, Eunseong coughed and sputtered, shuddering from the physiological aftermath of vomiting. When Yoo Siwoon hurriedly brought towels and tissues to clean up the vomit, Eunseong started dry heaving again after smelling his scent. Eunseong gestured for him to stay away.
The alarmed Yoo Siwoon called for Director Nam.
Director Nam was equally shocked seeing Eunseong’s condition. He rushed in to clean up the vomit-soiled bedding and support Eunseong. Yoo Siwoon could only stand at a distance, watching blankly. Whenever he tried to approach, Eunseong would retch and his back would heave at just the smell, even without seeing him.
Director Nam changed Eunseong’s clothes, quickly replaced the bedding, and cleaned him with a warm, damp towel. He looked quizzically at Yoo Siwoon, who was keeping his distance, but turned away when Eunseong started shuddering again.
“Eunseong, are you okay? I’ll call the doctor again. CEO, please contact them!”
“No!”
“…Eunseong?”
“No, no! No!”
“…”
“I’m fine now… I’m fi—, uwuek, waek!”
His face, turned deathly pale, shook violently in protest before he started retching again. It was intense nausea as if his internal organs were being pulled out.
Only when his exhausted body collapsed from repeatedly vomiting despite having nothing left to expel did the retching finally stop. Yoo Siwoon’s face had also turned ashen. Director Nam changed Eunseong’s clothes again, replaced the bedding once more, and busily tidied up. He reconnected the IV drip to Eunseong’s arm where the needle had come out.
Though not unconscious, Eunseong lay with vacant eyes, completely drained of energy, his lips turned chalk-white. He barely moved them to speak.
“…What did you say?”
“…Everyone out.”
Though faint, the small voice spoke clearly.
Everyone out.
“Eunseong.”
Yoo Siwoon had only taken one step forward, but Eunseong’s body jerked violently. As if his approaching figure and scent were all painful, Eunseong turned his head sharply and covered his mouth and nose with his hand.
Yoo Siwoon froze like stone at the sight of Eunseong so clearly rejecting him. Director Nam instinctively moved to block Yoo Siwoon’s body, though he hadn’t approached any closer.
“For now… CEO, for now it would be better if you left, if you waited outside.”
“…”
“I think it’s best to leave him alone for now.”
Director Nam forcibly pulled the rigid Yoo Siwoon out of Eunseong’s room. Dragged out helplessly, Yoo Siwoon stood numbly before the closed door, staring at it as if trying to see through to the other side.
“What suddenly happened?”
“…”
“CEO, why is Eunseong suddenly acting like this?”
“…”
“Well, since he doesn’t want a doctor, I’ll call and explain the situation to get advice on what to do.”
“…”
Leaving Yoo Siwoon standing there, ignoring his words, Director Nam called the doctor who probably hadn’t gone far yet and explained the situation.
“CEO, the doctor says to give him some warm water to drink and bring him to the hospital if he shows symptoms of fever or diarrhea in addition to the vomiting. He says they can’t treat him here.”
“…”
“CEO, are you listening to me?”
“…I am listening. Please give him some warm water, then.”
Director Nam brought some warm water. When he opened the door, he saw Eunseong who had barely managed to quell his nausea, slowly blinking his eyes, looking like a dim lamp flame flickering precariously in the wind.
Yoo Siwoon didn’t enter the room but stood at a distance, watching Director Nam give Eunseong the warm water. He just stared, like someone in a trance, at Eunseong’s pitifully beautiful form as he leaned against Director Nam’s arm, pale-faced, barely managing to swallow the water. After giving him water and laying Eunseong down, Director Nam approached Yoo Siwoon who stood watching them.
“Eunseong doesn’t have a fever, but his body keeps trembling, which is concerning. You have sleeping pills, don’t you?”
“No. I don’t.”
Director Nam, remembering that Yoo Siwoon had sleep disorders, had asked, but he answered that he didn’t have any.
Director Nam exhaled a tired breath and anxiously glanced at Eunseong’s door. It wasn’t that Eunseong had calmed down; his body had merely collapsed from exhaustion after so much retching. There was no telling when he might relapse.
“I have some tranquilizers. Perhaps we should give him those?”
“It’s fine. Just leave him be.”
“I’m suggesting this because he doesn’t look fine. We should at least help him sleep.”
“No. That’s not necessary.”
Yoo Siwoon was firmly refusing medication. Director Nam looked at him with incomprehension, then suddenly started.
“…CEO, surely you don’t think…”
“…”
“That he’s… pregnant?”
“…”
Yoo Siwoon didn’t respond and kept his gaze fixed on Eunseong through the open door.
Director Nam, who had been hoping against hope, ran his fingers roughly through his hair with a sigh, as if to say the inevitable had finally happened. He pulled at his hair so hard that his scalp hurt, then turned his gaze to Yoo Siwoon who wore a cold expression.
He wasn’t happy, nor was he sad. He didn’t seem worried about Eunseong. There was no sign of regret for what he had done. Nor was he excited with joy. His face showed no emotion whatsoever. Only Director Nam was frantically holding his own face in his hands, repeatedly rubbing it dry as if going mad, making his skin red and irritated.
Though they would need to confirm, it wasn’t impossible, and since Director Nam had been extremely worried about this possibility, he desperately hoped his intuition was wrong.
The important thing was that despite clearly knowing all of this was wrong, everything seemed to be flowing exactly as Yoo Siwoon wanted.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
