#79
Hyun-oh suddenly felt heat rushing to his eyes. Even his vision seemed to blur, causing him to quickly lower his head.
He didn’t want to show such an unsightly appearance to Eunsol. The unguarded, raw emotions swirling within him felt unfamiliar despite being his own.
He tried to regain eye contact with Eunsol after composing only his blurred vision. This was because he feared that if he showed a face with tears streaming down, Eunsol might be startled and push him away again.
It was as he was taking a breath to calm his turbulent emotions that the touch tickling the back of his hand approached.
Eunsol, instead of using lips that could not speak, answered Hyun-oh’s question by lightly tapping his finger on the back of Hyun-oh’s hand where veins prominently showed.
“Ah…”
When their gazes met again, Eunsol’s throat made a sound. He wanted to say something, but what flowed through his lips was only an animal-like noise.
Eunsol’s eyes contorted painfully. It was Hyun-oh who became urgent at the sight of the quivering lips.
Hyun-oh quickly moved his hand and placed his palm against the white hand limply spread on the bed.
Between the slender fingers, fingers of noticeably different thickness nestled in as if finding their home.
The space between their touching palms quickly became damp. Hyun-oh’s Adam’s apple bobbed with tension. Just because Eunsol had allowed him to approach didn’t mean he could let down his guard like a fool.
This was because what he had done all this time weighed heavily on Hyun-oh’s shoulders, a weight that could not be lightened with just one forgiveness.
“…Do you have something you want to say to me?”
Eunsol wasn’t someone born unable to speak, but someone who had lost the ability to speak due to a terrible accident.
Hyun-oh couldn’t even begin to fathom how frustrating that must feel. He cleared his constricted throat and gently inquired about Eunsol’s inner thoughts.
His heart was beating uncontrollably, as this was the first time they had maintained eye contact for so long since Eunsol had regained consciousness.
Eunsol nodded slightly. Hyun-oh brought over the tablet PC that had been placed on the bedside table. His right hand still firmly held onto the small hand.
Though using only his left hand was uncomfortable as he was right-handed, instead of releasing his hand, Hyun-oh took a bit more time to set up the tablet PC for Eunsol’s convenience.
“Here.”
Hyun-oh carefully placed the tablet PC on Eunsol’s belly. The large eyes rolled around, trying to gauge Hyun-oh’s reaction.
At this sight, Hyun-oh bit the tender flesh inside his lips. He had turned Eunsol into this state.
He was in a position where he should be grateful just for Eunsol making eye contact with him, yet Eunsol was the one who seemed intimidated, as if he were the guilty one.
[Hynso]
The message Eunsol had typed with difficulty on the tablet PC screen, while constantly blinking his eyelashes, had incorrect spelling. Aware of this, Eunsol’s earlobes turned bright red as he brought his index finger to the backspace key.
“It’s alright. You can say anything…”
He wanted to tell Eunsol not to be self-conscious, but his throat tightened. Fortunately, in response to Hyun-oh’s words, Eunsol extended his fingertips which had been curled up and continued with what he wanted to say.
[Plese stay here wih me]
Hyun-oh’s eyes shook mercilessly. He had to think for a long time to determine if the characters he had just seen conveyed the meaning he understood.
A request to stay by his side? This was something Hyun-oh would be willing to kneel down for permission.
All this time, Hyun-oh had only been able to see Eunsol while he was asleep. Since his very presence was a significant stress to Eunsol, he couldn’t approach while Eunsol was conscious.
As Hyun-oh’s silence lengthened, Eunsol’s eyes sank downward dejectedly. The gaze that had been glancing at Hyun-oh occasionally disappeared. Only then did Hyun-oh speak, as if he had been doused with cold water.
“Are you really… alright with me continuing to stay by your side?”
The fact that Eunsol was currently in a stable state was evident just by the consistent machine sounds in the hospital room.
However, Hyun-oh had to seek Eunsol’s permission.
[Yes I wuold like that]
The index finger tapped on the screen, delivering the answer Hyun-oh had hoped for. It felt so dreamlike that Hyun-oh tightened his grip on the hand he was holding.
Though it should feel uncomfortable due to the moisture accumulated from tension, Eunsol merely twitched his fingertips without pushing Hyun-oh away.
“I will.”
Hyun-oh gazed quietly into the jet-black eyes and relaxed the stiffness around his mouth. The smile that had effortlessly filled his face when looking at the sleeping Eunsol now required desperate effort in this moment.
Although the end of his voice sank heavily, it was a tender resonance that was hard to believe was Hyun-oh’s usual voice.
The speed at which Eunsol’s eyelashes blinked gradually slowed. As if he had only briefly regained consciousness, he was now helplessly collapsing under the sudden wave of drowsiness.
Hyun-oh gently released his pheromones. With the pheromones enveloping his body comfortably like midday sunshine, Eunsol’s eyelids completely settled down.
“Sleep well. …Eunsol.”
The space between Eunsol’s eyebrows rippled briefly before smoothing out neatly. However, Hyun-oh did not miss the movement of the fingertips that tapped the back of his hand.
The hands of different sizes remained intertwined as one until the wheezing breath could be heard through the slightly parted pale pink lips.
***
“Mmm…”
Eunsol squinted his eyes, roused by the wind tickling his face. As the sunlight poured through his opening eyelids, he created a shadow with his hand over his face, furrowing his brow due to the brightness.
“Where am I…”
His mind was foggy. The sights entering his field of vision were utterly unfamiliar.
Currently, Eunsol was lying alone on a wide hill covered with soft grass. The scent of grass brushing against the tip of his nose was so fresh that for a moment, forgetting the unfamiliarity, he took a deep breath, making his chest swell upward.
As the refreshing air spread throughout his body, a forgotten memory surfaced.
“Jeong-woo hyung!”
How could I have forgotten Jeong-woo hyung? Eunsol jumped up from his spot in panic.
He had clearly been in a terrible accident before losing consciousness. As the memory vividly returned, his breathing became rough, like someone being chased.
His small face instantly became soaked with tears. The yellow light filling his field of vision and the car spinning like a giant’s toy.
Then the sudden impact engulfing his entire body, the acrid smell piercing his nose, and the bloody scent.
The sight of Ryu Jeong-woo unconscious and bleeding filling his trembling eyes, and even the terrible sensation felt from below.
“Ah, Lucky…”
Eunsol clutched his flat belly and sank down. Though the pants he was wearing were stained with the indigo-like grass color, Eunsol’s mind was not in a state to recognize such things.
The belly, which had felt no pain when he first regained consciousness, now seemed to be seething with a terrible sensation.
“Daddy is sorry. My Lucky, daddy should have protected you…”
Eunsol was not so dull as to not know what the sensation that had dampened his lower body was.
The doctor had earnestly warned of the high risk of miscarriage, so Eunsol had looked up pregnancy-related information whenever he had the chance.
He also needed something to divert his attention when his mind became complicated with thoughts of Hyun-oh if he remained idle.
Bleeding was definitely not a good symptom for a pregnant person.
Though bleeding didn’t necessarily lead to miscarriage, it did increase the probability. Especially for a male omega like Eunsol with a high possibility of miscarriage.
“Hik, please don’t leave daddy alone…”
He didn’t know where this place was. Logically, if he had regained consciousness after a traffic accident, he should have awakened in a hospital. Yet, Eunsol was currently left alone on a hill, barefoot and wearing only thin home wear.
But Eunsol had no time to notice the strangeness, as he had to struggle not to die from the terrible sense of loss.
His rough breathing, far from subsiding as time passed, began to jump up and down irregularly.
A stiff pain also arose from his chest, which heaved with his breathing. The green grass was crushed under Eunsol’s grip.
Could this be a place one comes to after death?
With this sudden thought, Eunsol raised his tear-stained face. Following his blankly blinking eyes, his vision, which had been hazily blurred, repeatedly returned to clarity only to blur again.
“…Lucky.”
This was better, in a way. If it wasn’t just Lucky who had departed but Eunsol too had ceased breathing, if he could be with the baby here, then it wasn’t the worst situation for Eunsol.
Hyun-oh briefly crossed his mind, but Eunsol deliberately pushed thoughts of him deep into his unconscious.
It was because he felt he couldn’t handle the storm of emotions if Hyun-oh came to mind as well.
“Where are you, my baby…”
Eunsol staggered to his feet. He moved his gaze desperately. He clasped his hands together as if in prayer, earnestly hoping for something out of place to appear in his sight.
“…Lucky!”
Perhaps Eunsol’s desperate plea had reached the heavens. An anomalous movement in one part of the seemingly endless grassland caught the edge of his vision.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
