#93
Eunsol had no choice but to go sit on the sofa. Instead, he continued to follow Hyun-oh with his gaze.
The house was spacious so he couldn’t observe in as much detail as he could up close, but since Hyun-oh was so large, even the slightest movement created a strong presence.
“Ugh…”
But Eunsol’s ears caught a strange sound. Hyun-oh was hunched over his large frame, letting out a suppressed groan.
Though he had only just sat on the sofa, Eunsol abruptly stood up. Due to the sudden movement, a dull pain arose near his ribs. However, all of Eunsol’s attention was focused on Hyun-oh.
Recalling Hyun-oh’s strangely pale complexion throughout the meal, dark clouds gathered over his white face. Eunsol moved his feet to approach him.
“Uh…”
He wanted to ask if he was alright, but his vocal cords still wouldn’t obey their owner. Nevertheless, Hyun-oh, who quickly noticed Eunsol’s presence even at the small sound, turned his body.
With a flustered face, he covered his lower face and tried to back away from Eunsol. But since the sink was already blocking him from behind, he instead stepped sideways and left the kitchen.
“I’ll go in first. Eunsol, you should rest now.”
Before Eunsol could grab him, Hyun-oh disappeared. Eunsol’s fingertips, which had reached toward his arm, futilely grasped empty space.
* * *
The question of why Hyun-oh had behaved that way was answered by Kang Ye-ryeong.
Ye-ryeong had come to visit their home, and seeing Eunsol looking strangely dejected, her eyes turned cold.
“What did Hyun-oh do wrong again?”
It sounded like a question, but in reality, it was no different from a declaration. Ye-ryeong sprang to her feet. She seemed ready to march straight to the study where Hyun-oh was working.
Alarmed, Eunsol stood up with her, grabbed her sleeve, and shook his head slightly. At Eunsol’s restraint, Ye-ryeong took a deep breath and leaned back on the sofa. Eunsol naturally took a seat beside her.
“What happened? You can talk to me openly.”
Ye-ryeong took the tablet PC that was on the table and handed it to Eunsol. After hesitating briefly, Eunsol seemed to make up his mind and wrote what he wanted to say.
[Hyunoh is not eating well]
Having written in a hurry, the sentence was a mess. While Eunsol curled his fingertips in embarrassment, Ye-ryeong made a peculiar expression.
“Hmm. I have a suspicion, but I should go check to make sure.”
As Ye-ryeong rose from her seat again, Eunsol also got up. His slender fingertips hovered around Ye-ryeong’s arm. He was worried about potential friction between her and Hyun-oh.
“Just stay here for a moment. Don’t worry, I’m not going to fight with Hyun-oh.”
Unlike before, Ye-ryeong’s demeanor had softened considerably as she left the reception room. Eunsol fidgeted restlessly until she returned.
“This is really something else.”
When Ye-ryeong appeared, opening the reception room door a moment later, her expression had softened even more than when she had left. Her lips even twitched slightly as if trying to hold back laughter.
Ahem, clearing her throat and composing her voice, Ye-ryeong revealed the cause of Hyun-oh’s strange behavior in a tone full of delight.
“My child, Hyun-oh is having morning sickness instead of you.”
That’s not possible.
This was Eunsol’s first thought after hearing Ye-ryeong’s words. Although there were cases where husbands experienced morning sickness on behalf of their pregnant spouses, it wasn’t common.
And according to folklore, it only happens when there’s true love.
The moment Eunsol’s morning sickness disappeared, it seemed to have transferred to Hyun-oh. Eunsol fiddled with his fingertips at this strange phenomenon.
“Well, that’s good. Let’s eat something delicious. And preferably with Hyun-oh sitting right in front of us.”
Ye-ryeong was excited like a seven-year-old child. While Eunsol felt uncomfortable that Hyun-oh was suffering in his place, she seemed to simply enjoy the situation.
He wanted to stop her, but restraining her once her playful side was activated was truly difficult.
* * *
‘…His complexion has become even paler.’
Eunsol swallowed as he looked at the food-laden table and Hyun-oh’s face sitting across from him.
“Meals taste better when there are more people present.”
Ye-ryeong elegantly picked up her utensils and twirled pasta onto her fork.
“Try this. The sauce has soaked into the noodles perfectly.”
Ye-ryeong, who had decided to tease Hyun-oh, did something she would never normally do. Hyun-oh’s eyes hardened as he looked at the fork pushed right up to his lips.
In the tense situation, Eunsol urgently reached out. He grabbed Ye-ryeong’s arm and tapped his own lips.
“Since our dear child says he wants to eat it, of course I should feed him.”
Fortunately, it seemed Ye-ryeong had no intention of playing beyond a certain limit. Eunsol carefully chewed the pasta she fed him while checking Hyun-oh’s complexion.
Hyun-oh was picking out vegetables without sauce from the salad bowl, nibbling on them. Yet whenever Eunsol’s gaze fell on a dish, he pushed it closer to make it easier for Eunsol to eat.
After the meal that had felt like a war, Ye-ryeong said her goodbyes with a regretful voice.
“I’d like to stay longer, but I have an important appointment. I’ll take care of the urgent matters and come back.”
If Eunsol’s condition had been poor, she would have postponed everything, but fortunately, he was fine. Rather, it was Hyun-oh who looked like he might collapse at any moment, but being inherently robust, she believed he would manage well.
Secretly, she also felt proud that he was experiencing morning sickness on behalf of Eunsol.
Eunsol bowed his head slightly toward Ye-ryeong. She smiled lightly, stroked his clear cheek once, and left.
‘…It feels like a storm has passed.’
The relationship between mother and son wasn’t bad. It’s just that today, Hyun-oh’s condition was as precarious as a bomb with its fuse lit.
“If you’re uncomfortable with my mother visiting, I’ll ask her to refrain from coming as much as possible.”
As Eunsol walked through the long corridor to the living room, Hyun-oh came out to meet him. Perhaps because the food smell had dissipated, he looked more relaxed than during the meal.
Eunsol wasn’t uncomfortable with Ye-ryeong at all. While she was difficult to approach initially, thanks to her constant affection toward Eunsol, she was the person he felt most comfortable with after Ryu Jeong-woo.
The one who was actually uncomfortable with Ye-ryeong was clearly Hyun-oh. It might not be an illusion that the shadows under Hyun-oh’s eyes looked especially dark today.
Eunsol approached Hyun-oh and pulled one of his hands. Hyun-oh naturally turned his palm upward.
‘Just do that until the morning sickness disappears’
Although Ye-ryeong wasn’t uncomfortable, it wasn’t pleasant to see Hyun-oh struggling because of her. Hyun-oh rubbed his palm, which had a ticklish sensation, at the words Eunsol wrote with his fingers.
Then he moved his hand to grasp Eunsol’s.
It was a part he didn’t want to be discovered. Given Eunsol’s character, he would certainly be immersed in worry if he knew Hyun-oh was experiencing morning sickness in his place.
However, seeing him worry about himself was quite a pleasant thing.
After looking down at their intertwined hands for a while, Eunsol raised his head again and met his gaze.
This time, he wrote what he wanted to say on the back of Hyun-oh’s hand, where veins were clearly visible.
‘From now on, I’ll eat alone’
Hyun-oh, who was concentrating on what else Eunsol might write, slightly tightened his grip on the hand. When Eunsol met his gaze, Hyun-oh lightly kissed the bridge of his nose.
Eunsol reflexively closed his eyes at the tickling breath that accompanied the lips. Hyun-oh caressed the slightly furrowed eyes with his thumb and whispered softly.
“I have no intention of letting Eunsol eat alone. Don’t worry about my physical condition.”
And for the time he was at home, Hyun-oh wanted to personally take care of Eunsol’s meals. Even if he could only manage simple cooking since preparing meals himself was difficult.
“It would be good to rest in the bedroom.”
Being pregnant meant that intense biological activities were taking place inside the expectant parent’s body even while they were still.
Eunsol, whose physical strength had weakened further, would have his eyes drooping and closing after just eating.
Even now, he wanted to discuss the meal issue further with Hyun-oh, but as he said, his eyelids were slowing in their descent.
“Sleep well.”
A small yawn escaped at the soft sensation of the bedding against his back. Eunsol was already lying on the bed, led there by Hyun-oh.
After wiping away the tears pooled in his eyes, Hyun-oh left a kiss on his white cheek and meticulously pulled up the blanket to cover Eunsol.
‘I need… to talk about this again…’
Hyun-oh’s jawline had always been quite sharp, but lately, it seemed like he had even less flesh on his face than Eunsol.
Following his closed eyelids, Hyun-oh’s face floated against a black background. As Hyun-oh said, he preferred eating with him, but he couldn’t just indulge his own desires.
But it was impossible to push away the incoming waves of sleepiness. A smile crept onto his lips as he smelled Hyun-oh’s pheromones embedded in the bedding.
Eunsol stroked his thin stomach and fell into a deep sleep. However, the peaceful sleep that seemed like it would continue indefinitely was broken not long after he fell asleep.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
