#81
The fresh scent of pine enveloped Eunsol, greeting him warmly. It was somewhat different from Hyun-oh’s pheromones, but it definitely reminded him of the man.
A whirlwind of ambivalent emotions—missing him yet not wanting to see him—stirred within his heart.
Would Hyun-oh know about his car accident?
A sudden fear gripped him at the thought of how the other might react.
Throughout their marriage, Eunsol had been a burden to Hyun-oh. What if… what if Hyun-oh felt relieved seeing him collapsed? His breath caught in his throat.
Just as Eunsol bit his lip hard to keep from being swept away by the tempestuous emotions, he noticed a faint light streaming between what appeared to be ordinary thick tree trunks.
Eunsol reached his hand through the gap between the trees. If they were truly trees as they appeared, he should feel a solid surface, but instead his wrist and forearm slipped through as if there was another space on the other side.
It was at that strange moment when Eunsol pulled his arm back that—
“Rabbit…!”
Before he could stop it, the rabbit that had been staring up at him jumped between the trees.
What should I do? Hesitating anxiously, Eunsol finally squeezed his eyes shut and put his foot between the trees.
With his vision blocked, it didn’t feel like he was pushing through trees but rather walking forward into some kind of open space.
Even with his eyes closed, a dazzling light washed over his face, bringing tears to his eyes.
How much time had passed as Eunsol clenched his fists, struggling against the unfamiliar sensations?
Instead of the fresh air and warm sunlight that had surrounded him just moments ago, jarring mechanical sounds now pricked at his ears.
Following the faint smell of disinfectant, a pheromone that stimulated all his senses made Eunsol’s eyelids twitch. It was different from the pine scent he had encountered earlier.
There was one thing of his that Eunsol had taken when he fled from him. He had kept it because he feared the unbearable longing for this scent, and because he wanted to give the baby at least some trace of their alpha father.
Something had changed.
Instinctively, Eunsol realized he had left that dreamlike space.
His thin eyelids slowly rolled open. Whether from wanting to confirm where he was, he couldn’t stop them.
“…Mr. Lee Eunsol, do you recognize me?”
A familiar voice reached his dazed ears. With his vision still blurry, he slowly rolled his eyes toward the direction of the sound.
Even just moving his gaze felt exhausting, like someone who had been struggling underwater for a very long time.
The moment he faced that impossibly handsome face that always made his heart ache, Eunsol couldn’t help but let out a groan that sounded like a scream, his heart racing as if he’d been running for a long time.
“Ah…”
He was afraid. Despite how much he had wanted to see this person, when his face came into view, an overwhelming fear—like being trapped in a pitch-dark solitary cell as a very young child—constricted his airways.
As if his throat were being strangled, a hot sensation gathered around his eyes.
As his focus returned, his vision that had momentarily cleared became blurry again. Even with tears streaming down his temples, Eunsol couldn’t move a finger.
“Hng…”
He just wanted to escape from Hyun-oh’s gaze.
He had vaguely wondered what expression Hyun-oh would have while looking at his collapsed form, but now facing the reality, he lacked the courage to check the man’s expression.
If this time Hyun-oh were to look down at him with cold eyes, Eunsol would no longer be able to endure it.
With each breath, an aching pain rose from his chest. Eunsol reflexively tried to raise his hand to cradle his stomach, but all he could move were his tear-dampened eyelashes.
He wanted to check if the baby was alright. Being with Hyun-oh made all his nerves focus on him, causing his thoughts to break like bamboo joints.
Beep, beep, beep—
The steady mechanical sounds began to jump erratically, as if reflecting Eunsol’s emotional state.
Patter-patter, footsteps were heard, and soon others entered the space that had contained just the two of them.
“Patient, are you awake?”
An unfamiliar voice cut through the mechanical sounds. It was then that Hyun-oh, who had been frozen like a child playing freeze tag, moved.
Eunsol quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, fearing their eyes might meet again.
His mind, having wandered through dreams for a long time, still seemed quite hazy. Nevertheless, his complex feelings toward Hyun-oh remained vivid, kneading his heart as they pleased.
“I’ll check the vitals first.”
He heard the doctor who approached saying something, but Eunsol couldn’t properly listen and tried to hold his breath as much as possible.
The emotions from when he had fled from Hyun-oh had unconsciously resurfaced.
He had deceived him and left divorce papers on the desk in the study before running away. That surely must have angered him.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to come looking for him. It was also entirely questionable why he was the first person Eunsol met upon regaining consciousness. His mind was as jumbled as a scattered puzzle.
“Hng, ugh…”
He wanted to suppress his breathing, but the pain rising near his chest due to his erratically beating heart made groans continuously escape his lips.
Eunsol’s small face became drenched with tears and cold sweat.
Though he had safely regained consciousness, he still didn’t know what had happened to Ryu Jeong-woo.
Before losing consciousness, what had been gradually spreading across his lower body was definitely blood.
If something had happened to the baby…
As that thought reached him, Eunsol tried to move his body. He needed to somehow grab the doctor examining him and ask about the child and Ryu Jeong-woo.
He strained his eyes, consciously trying not to look in Hyun-oh’s direction. Eunsol barely managed to grab the edge of the nurse’s clothes who was hanging an IV pack on the stand.
“The baby…”
“Ah, patient. Just a moment.”
The nurse showed Eunsol a smile with a troubled expression before turning away. Seeing her avoid giving an answer made Eunsol’s breathing even more unstable.
Click.
Faintly, the sound of a door closing was heard. Then, a doctor in a white coat hurried toward Eunsol.
“Mr. Lee Eunsol, I’m Dr. Lee Soo-cheol, your attending physician. Do you remember what happened before you lost consciousness?”
Eunsol blinked his eyelids slowly. How could he forget? Even now, the sensation of being helplessly shaken inside the spinning car remained terribly vivid.
“Hng, baby… Jeong-woo, hyung…”
He didn’t care about his own condition. He just needed to confirm that the baby and Ryu Jeong-woo were safe.
The doctor, who somehow understood Eunsol’s mumbling, continued his explanation calmly.
“Fortunately, both you and the fetus have overcome the dangerous crisis. Mr. Ryu Jeong-woo, who was admitted with you, is currently receiving treatment in another intensive care unit.”
“Ugh…”
Like a puppet with its strings cut, Eunsol lay stretched out on the bed, gasping for breath. It was a relief.
As long as the child and Ryu Jeong-woo were safe, that was enough.
Eunsol squeezed out his last strength to stroke his flat stomach with his fingertips. All he could feel was the smoothness of his own skin, but even that made breathing a bit easier.
With his most pressing concern resolved, an overwhelming fatigue washed over Eunsol like a tide.
“Don’t worry and get some good rest.”
The kind doctor’s voice settled on his ears like a blanket. Thoughts of Hyun-oh, which had momentarily disappeared, filled his mind again but were soon pushed aside by his heavily drooping eyelids.
‘…pheromones.’
The fresh pine scent drifting around like an afterimage was the only trace of Hyun-oh that Eunsol could sense.
* * *
“…Mr. Lee Eunsol.”
Just as he was on the verge of waking up, a deep, profound voice called Eunsol’s name.
The breath he had been exhaling comfortably suddenly stiffened, as if hitting an obstacle.
“This is Han Hyun-oh.”
Even without opening his eyes, he immediately recognized who was calling his name from the pheromones that seemed to seep into his skin.
“Are you in pain anywhere? Should I call a doctor right away?”
It was definitely Hyun-oh’s voice that Eunsol knew. The pheromones were also unmistakably his—refreshing and heavy, as if one had entered a forest.
The issue was the tone of his voice addressing him. The gentle resonance, as if coated with a layer of honey, felt uncomfortable, like being forced to wear ill-fitting clothes. Hyun-oh had never called him with such a voice before.
Sometimes Eunsol had imagined him being affectionate, but reality and imagination were clearly different. The unfamiliarity even evoked fear in Eunsol.
After hesitating briefly, Eunsol opened his eyes. Before his focus could return, Hyun-oh’s eyes met his, as if he had been waiting, making Eunsol feel as if tiny thorns were pricking his fingertips.
Like a terrified small animal, Eunsol avoided Hyun-oh’s gaze and opened his lips.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
