“I’ll be in the living room for a bit, so be comfortable. If you’re bored… it’s okay to come out to the living room too.”
“Mm-hm.”
Yoo Seonjae left the room. After staring at the door he left through for a long while, I turned on my phone. There were several missed calls from Kim Yeonghyo, but that wasn’t what was important.
“Doctor, doctor…”
I searched for my attending physician’s phone number. The doctor I met at the hospital I found as soon as I came to the mainland took care of me from A to Z, saying pregnancies for extreme recessive omegas have many difficulties.
He might have seemed suspicious, volunteering to be the attending physician for a patient he’d never met before and taking care of me, but somehow I didn’t dislike him.
That person, who was as comfortable as someone I’d known for a long time, became a support I could lean on when I couldn’t remember anything.
[Han Yeoul, if anything bad happens, call me. I’ll come pick you up anytime.]
His words circling in my head now were like a lifeline to me. Thinking I had to go to him to protect the baby, I pressed the call button without hesitation.
[Han Yeoul?]
“D-doctor.”
[What on earth happened? Yesterday was your regular checkup day, why didn’t you come to the hospital? I was worried and was about to call—]
“Doctor! Please help me.”
[What? What’s wrong?]
“I’ll explain when we meet, I’ll go to Korea University Hospital tomorrow, so please come pick me up.”
[Korea University Hospital?]
“Just don’t ask anything for now, please.”
I didn’t know when Yoo Seonjae would come in. My voice speaking in a lowered tone while looking at the closed door was tinged with urgency. The doctor seemed quite flustered but soon answered that he understood.
[Alright. What time?]
“2 PM.”
[By any chance, is it a situation that’s difficult to talk about? Are you being held somewhere or—]
“…Yes.”
[Okay. Then the closest to the main entrance is Parking Lot A. I’ll have a car waiting at A2-6.]
“Yes. Thank—”
Before I could finish speaking, I heard the sound of Yoo Seonjae grabbing the doorknob and hastily hung up.
“Uh, uh, why?”
“Yeoul. You know you have to go to the hospital tomorrow, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“It’s until 2, so rest comfortably and come out. I’ll have everything prepared.”
“Mm-hm.”
Tomorrow is when Yoo Seonjae made an appointment on his own, saying it was the hospital I originally went to. At first, I was flustered by Yoo Seonjae unreasonably pushing me around. There was also anxiety about not knowing what they might do to me at that hospital. But thinking about it now, since there was no opportunity to go outside except for the hospital, it was rather fortunate.
*
“Yeoul. We’ve arrived, wake up.”
In the car heading to the hospital, I deliberately pretended to sleep. If I didn’t, I’d have to chat about this and that with him, and if I did that, I felt like I’d make a mistake without realizing. I felt like I’d be caught that I’m afraid of Yoo Seonjae right now.
While pretending to sleep during the entire trip, my nerves were sharply on edge. Perhaps noticing my state, Yoo Seonjae released warm pheromones to soothe me.
Thinking of the baby, running away is right, but feeling the pheromones soothing me like that made me sad. The thought of wanting to stay by Yoo Seonjae’s side kept surging up, so I squeezed my closed eyes tightly.
The baby is in danger.
So it’s an unavoidable choice.
This is natural.
Won’t Yoo Seonjae… understand later?
By the time we arrived at the hospital, I was on the verge of losing my mind. My heart beat like crazy. The doctor said he’d be waiting in the parking lot, and my worries about how to get to the parking lot became moot when I realized I was at Parking Lot A, making my heart beat even faster.
A2-6.
Confirming the direction where the doctor’s car was, I got out of the car pretending nothing was wrong and walked toward the elevator with Yoo Seonjae. Yoo Seonjae tried to hold my hand, but feeling like my rapidly beating heart would be discovered if he held my hand, I casually put my hands in my pockets.
Yoo Seonjae seemed disappointed by that and looked at my hand for a long while before placing his hand on my shoulder.
—Ding-dong
The elevator arrival sound rang, and that moment when the door opened felt like eons.
“Yeoul, are you nervous? What’s with you? It’s the hospital you always went to.”
“Right, maybe it’s because I don’t remember.”
Yoo Seonjae patted the hand on my shoulder.
“It’s okay, everything will be okay.”
Right. It’s okay. Everything will be okay. It was the moment the elevator door was about to close.
“Whoa! Yeo, Yeoul!”
I pushed Yoo Seonjae hard and quickly escaped from the elevator. Through the closing door, I saw Yoo Seonjae, who had fallen, getting up. Leaving behind his face looking at me with a flustered expression, watching the door close, I ran hastily.
“A2-6, A2-6”
I kept muttering while running toward where the doctor’s car was parked. I felt like I mustn’t forget. I felt like I mustn’t get confused about where the car was. If I did, it felt like this time, everything would really be over for good.
“Hurry and get in, Han Yeoul!”
The door opened and at the doctor’s shout, I quickly got into the car. Almost simultaneously with the car door closing, the car started. The car that slid out of the parking lot went to the hospital’s back gate and raced through winding alleys, weaving here and there.
“Catch your breath, they won’t be able to follow easily on this road unless they’re familiar with it.”
“Huk, huk.”
Even though I was gasping for breath, I couldn’t breathe properly. My heart beat so crazily it felt like it would burst through my chest.
“Breathe, Han Yeoul.”
“Huk, huk.”
Glancing at me not breathing properly, the doctor handed me a plastic bag. When I barely grasped it with my trembling hand, the doctor said.
“Put it to your mouth and take deep breaths. Hurry.”
“Huk, huk. Huk.”
I wanted to take deep breaths as the doctor said, but it didn’t work as intended. Strange hiccupping sounds kept circling in my ears. The car’s speed seemed to be gradually slowing. At this rate, it seems like I’ll be caught by Yoo Seonjae.
I wanted to turn my head to see whether Yoo Seonjae was chasing or not. But if I did that, I felt like I’d face Yoo Seonjae who had already caught up right to my chin.
I can’t forget Yoo Seonjae’s face the moment the elevator closed. Those sad eyes visible behind his surprised face kept reproaching me.
“Huk, huk, huk.”
“Han Yeoul, get a hold of yourself, get a hold of yourself!”
I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Seonjae.
Continuing to mutter words of apology that no one could hear, I breathed in. Bound by the dizzily tangled emotions inside me, my breath couldn’t go out of my mouth and only kept coming in.
It was overwhelming. It was too much. Along with the thought of not knowing what to do, my vision gradually became distorted.
“Han Yeoul! Han Yeoul!”
The doctor’s voice calling me kept scattering in the air.
“Damn it! Yeoul, Yeoul!”
The doctor, who had been continuously glancing at me, urgently pressed the call button.
“This is Oh Yeonwoo. I have an emergency patient heading your way right now. It’s urgent, Han Yeoul, 28 years old, extreme recessive omega. Pregnant.”
My vision kept darkening from the continuously rushing breaths. Losing consciousness was just a moment.
To be continued in Volume 3
