#73
Eun Jihwan’s face turned deathly pale at his son’s sharp demeanor.
“Do you really like that child?”
“That’s…”
Just as Eun Sajun was about to answer, the reception room door opened and two housekeepers hurriedly entered.
“What happened?”
They seemed to have heard the sound of the teacup Eun Sajun had thrown breaking. They soon discovered the broken teacup and looked surprised. Then they cleaned up the teacup while gauging the two men’s moods.
“Hah.”
Eun Jihwan stood up from the sofa as if dumbfounded. He looked like he couldn’t stomach being there any longer.
“I’ll be leaving now.”
“Do that.”
Eun Sajun also replied halfheartedly, as if he no longer wanted to deal with him. Then he left the reception room before Eun Jihwan. It was quite a cold attitude. Eun Jihwan looked at his son strangely and clicked his tongue.
“He really does like him.”
* * *
When his burning feelings for Eun Sajun reached their peak, Yeoul suddenly came to his senses.
“Ah, right. Chocolate.”
He had momentarily forgotten due to Eun Jihwan’s sudden appearance. He needed to quickly find out whether Eun Sajun liked chocolate before Valentine’s Day arrived.
What should he do? After thinking for a moment, Yeoul had a good idea. These days, Eun Sajun would buy anything Yeoul said he wanted to eat. The same would be true for chocolate. So he planned to offer chocolate and see whether he enjoyed it or not.
They were planning to go to the obstetrician together this afternoon anyway. He thought they could stop by a bakery or supermarket to buy chocolate then. Please, he has to like it…
As Yeoul was taking in chocolate videos while praying in his heart, the door opened and Eun Sajun entered.
“Eek!”
Startled, Yeoul quickly closed the chocolate video that was on the screen. Then, after composing his expression, he got off the bed.
“You’re here.”
“…”
Eun Sajun quietly looked at Yeoul for a moment. Somehow, unlike before, his eyes were dry. Feeling intimidated by the lack of emotion, Yeoul’s shoulders automatically shrank.
Did something bad happen? I remember the atmosphere wasn’t that bad when he was talking with his father earlier…
“Um… CEO?”
“I told you to call me jagi.”
A shadow of disappointment fell over his face, and then he embraced Yeoul tightly. Yeoul felt like his heart would burst at his sudden hug. At the same time, he felt his heart soften, sensing that something had happened.
“Jagi… did something bad happen?”
Suddenly, he felt a strong desire to know about his shadows. Eun Sajun’s mouth corners, which had been immersed in emptiness for a moment, gradually rose, forming a gentle smile.
“It’s nothing like that. Today is our day to visit the obstetrician, right?”
“Ah, yes…”
“They said we’ll do an ultrasound today, so we’ll be able to see the baby.”
“That’s right…”
And that made him even more nervous.
* * *
“My goodness. This is truly unbelievable.”
Eun Jihwan, who had left the mansion, got into the sedan he had arrived in. He alternated between scoffing incredulous laughs and sighs. There was a white-haired man in the driver’s seat.
“President, what’s wrong? Didn’t you just see the young master?”
“Right. But I feel like I’ve been blindsided.”
“What? Blindsided?”
“Mr. Han, you’ve been watching our Sajun for 30 years.”
“Yes… that’s right.”
The man called Mr. Han had been working as Eun Jihwan’s driver for 40 years. Initially hired on a three-month contract, he had planned to quit, but they worked so well together that he had stayed until now.
“Sajun has found someone he likes.”
“Oh? Well, he’s entered the right age for marriage, so that makes sense.”
Mr. Han added that it was a good thing. But Eun Jihwan touched his forehead and sighed.
“But the partner is too young. I don’t like it.”
“Come on. President, you always say you don’t like anyone whenever the young master says he’s dating someone.”
“Until now, I didn’t say much because he was just casually dating. But this seems different, and it makes me very uneasy.”
“So, what now?”
Mr. Han’s face tensed, as if sensing something ominous from Eun Jihwan’s reaction.
“For now, since the partner is an Extremely Dominant Omega and is pregnant, I can’t just tear them apart.”
“What? Pregnant? Then they should get married! This is great news!”
“What’s so great about it!”
At Eun Jihwan’s shout, Mr. Han’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he prudently closed his mouth.
“I’m very confused because Sajun has never acted like this before. Hah…”
He roughly brushed up his bangs. His expression showed that he wanted to compromise with reality but couldn’t accept it.
“For now, I need a child to continue the lineage, so I’ll watch and judge further.”
“Yes. After all, the young master’s happiness comes first. Above all, the young master is not normal—”
Mr. Han tried to speak about the truth regarding Eun Sajun but stopped mid-sentence as if realizing his mistake. And Eun Jihwan’s expression became unconcerned, as if he already knew everything.
“You don’t need to be cautious around me. I know better than anyone that Sajun is a psychopath.”
* * *
Yeoul entered the obstetrician’s office with Eun Sajun. Though they had been here before, he felt as if the atmosphere had changed in the two weeks since.
Kang Hyeok, who welcomed Yeoul warmly, finished a brief diagnosis and then entered an examination room of about five pyeong. There was a bed there, and opposite it were two monitors. Eun Sajun followed as well. At the same time, Kang Hyeok’s expression became awkward.
“You want to watch too?”
“Of course. It’s my child too.”
Kang Hyeok hesitated for a moment, looking troubled, then nodded. Eventually, he gave instructions to Yeoul.
“Since it’s early, we’ll do a probe examination.”
“Ah…”
Then… will that be inserted between the buttocks? Yeoul felt strange at the thought of something other than Eun Sajun entering there.
“First, you need to go to the changing room and put on a gown for the examination. You can keep your top on and wear the gown over it, but you must remove your bottoms, including underwear.”
At Kang Hyeok’s words, Eun Sajun’s eyes sharpened.
“Can’t we do an abdominal ultrasound yet?”
“No. It’s not even 5 weeks yet, so that’s not possible.”
“Hah…”
Eun Sajun didn’t seem to like the current situation at all.
Yeoul was also embarrassed, but he went to the changing room and followed Kang Hyeok’s instructions to put on the gown. He kept his relatively thin shirt on and completely removed his bottoms before putting on the gown and coming out.
“You can lie down on this bed.”
“Yes…”
Yeoul lay down as instructed by Kang Hyeok. He could see the monitor in front of him. Kang Hyeok picked up the probe and began the examination. Yeoul momentarily frowned at the unfamiliar foreign sensation. Soon, the ultrasound screen on the front monitor displayed Yeoul’s uterus.
“Perhaps because you’re Extremely Dominant, the child’s growth is faster compared to Betas or regular Dominants. The gestational sac is quite large too. Look here.”
Yeoul and Eun Sajun stared intently at the monitor. Since it was the first ultrasound they were seeing, they honestly didn’t know what the gestational sac was.
“Which part is the gestational sac…?”
“This black part.”
Kang Hyeok gestured toward the screen.
“Ah…”
Yeoul’s eyes widened. Something about half the size of a fist came into view. Kang Hyeok continued with explanations about the gestational sac. The more he listened to his words, the more vividly he felt that a new life was growing inside him. His heart trembled even more. It was so unbelievable that he wondered if he was dreaming.
After completing the examination, Yeoul and Eun Sajun moved to the consultation room. Kang Hyeok smiled in surprise.
“When the fetus grows a bit more, you’ll be able to hear the heartbeat.”
“Yes…”
“How is Yeoul’s condition?”
Eun Sajun’s tone suggested that Yeoul’s physical condition was more important than the baby. Because of this, Yeoul felt his heart tingle once more.
“Don’t worry. His temperature, pheromone levels, and other indicators are all normal.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Just keep taking good care of him like you’ve been doing.”
“I will.”
Eun Sajun answered softly.
* * *
After the examination was completed, the two left the obstetrician’s office.
At the same time, Eun Sajun firmly held Yeoul’s hand. Yeoul also grasped his hand in response. When their body temperatures met, his heart pounded like it was playing music.
“Shall we stop by a bookstore today?”
“What? A bookstore?”
“I thought we could buy some children’s books.”
“Ah…”
It seemed he was suggesting it for prenatal education. Since Yeoul was happy to do anything with Eun Sajun, he naturally accepted.
“I found out there are many beautiful picture books these days. I thought about buying e-books, but since the charm of books is in the paper, I think it’s better to buy physical copies. Do you like books?”
Yeoul hesitated for a moment on how to answer his question.
For Yeoul, books were a sanctuary to escape to whenever difficult things happened. The more difficult the book, the more he could concentrate and avoid other depressing thoughts. Is that what it means to like them? Feeling ambiguous about how to answer, Yeoul thought for a while, then decided there was no need to explain all these inner feelings, so he simply nodded.
“Yes. I like them.”
“That’s good. There’s a large bookstore nearby, so let’s go there.”
“Alright.”
* * *
The bookstore Eun Sajun mentioned was inside a famous shopping mall. It was a two-story space that was beautifully decorated to feel like a bookstore from a fairy tale.
“Wow! It’s really big.”
Having only ever been to libraries or neighborhood bookstores, this was Yeoul’s first time in such a spacious place. Being large in scale, it was also quite crowded.
“The children’s books are over here.”
Eun Sajun quickly headed to a corner, as if he had been here before. Yeoul followed him with quick steps.
“Wow, it’s really big.”
The bookshelf occupying an entire wall was full of prenatal education fairy tale books. It was overwhelming to the point of not knowing what to look at first. Yeoul’s eyes moved rapidly. Eun Sajun looked at Yeoul adorably and grinned.
“Choose everything you want to see.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. Even 100 books is fine.”
“Gasp. I can’t choose that many…”
There seemed to be hundreds of types, but that was impossible.
“I’m joking. Don’t feel pressured. Just comfortably choose what you want to see.”
“Yes…”
Yeoul nodded. He had only read children’s books until elementary school. It felt strange to encounter them like this as an adult. And since there was also a space set up for reading, he thought he could choose more carefully. Just as he was about to start looking at the books.
In contrast to the seemingly peaceful bookstore, the back view of a man in gloomy attire caught his eye. Feeling somehow familiar, he stared at him intently. At the same time, Yeoul’s eyes widened.
The man was his uncle, who had borrowed money from Shin Taeon again, putting him in trouble once more.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
