Juheon returned to his office, changed his clothes, and leaned back in his chair without hiding his tired appearance. He picked up a file to start work, but the contents wouldn’t quite enter his eyes. Since he couldn’t concentrate anyway and thought it would be better to rest for a bit, he closed his eyes for a moment with his head against the chair. He clearly closed his eyes because he was tired, but sleep didn’t come and only his mood became uncomfortable. The wrinkles etched between his brows deepened as much as the time he kept his eyes closed.
“Stress… I’m really dumbfounded.”
Juheon, whose distracting thoughts only intensified even with his eyes closed, opened them. But even with his eyes open, Eunwoo’s voice muttering about stress in a voice as small as a mosquito didn’t disappear. Of course, Juheon knew too. That not everyone would like everything he said.
His prickly and cynical attitude, his persistence in pushing until he got the answer he wanted, and his pressuring until he got satisfactory results—he knew very well that he had all the elements that would make people uncomfortable. He was equipped enough with that level of self-objectification.
However, no one had ever openly mentioned being stressed because of Juheon’s behavior. In fact, it would be more accurate to say he never even thought that would happen.
Well, whether they did or didn’t, he wasn’t particularly interested. Juheon had never cared what emotions others had toward his actions and remarks until now. Because those were the other person’s emotional circumstances, not something he needed to consider.
Juheon had always succeeded in the projects he led. The results were always perfect, from satisfaction to completion. So no one could object to Juheon’s words, and they thought the discomfort that occurred in the process of leading work to success was natural.
Stress from work was just a natural process that came with completion. Both Juheon demanding something for work and the employees accepting those demands—it was all a natural thing everyone had to endure.
Since he thought everything was natural, he paid no attention to the stress that occurred in that process. Because it was so natural that it shouldn’t be received as stress. So hearing from someone’s mouth that his behavior was stressful was no different from hearing it for the first time in his life. And that over just one hamburger…
“It’s not even something else, but he calls it stress when I was being considerate thinking of his own body? Young as he is, talking back so firmly… And it didn’t end there, what else did he say?”
Juheon frowned even more as he retraced his conversation with Eunwoo. One-sided suggestions and notifications aren’t natural? Those were words that came from Eunwoo’s mouth as he closed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut as if his feelings were hurt.
‘Of course I understand you’re doing this thinking of the baby, but you usually notify me a lot… Later. I mean, after the baby is born. Even when raising the baby, they say it’s better emotionally to be exposed to a natural environment where the child judges for themselves rather than a controlled, manufactured environment of what’s good or bad.’
‘…Baek Eunwoo-ssi. We’ve gone too far from talking about hamburgers. I don’t know where you saw what content, but I’ll raise my child myself. Keep the line.’
‘It’s content I saw in a book and suddenly remembered. I’m sorry if you were offended. But right now the baby is in my belly, so I’m the one who has to eat what I want to eat anyway. So I should eat what I want to eat first too. I won’t eat strange food, so don’t worry.’
Juheon stared with his mouth open at Eunwoo about to leave after saying exactly what he wanted to say. With anxious eyes watching his mood, yet how well he spoke. If he was going to say everything he wanted to say like that, he shouldn’t make such expressions. It’s not even teasing.
“…What useless thoughts for so long…”
Suddenly checking the time, Juheon realized he had been lost in other thoughts for quite a while. He had never thought about anything other than work at the company, especially in his office, but Eunwoo’s stress remark must have been quite shocking. Just as he was about to prepare for work, he heard a knock from outside the door.
“Executive Director. You have a meeting with the Chairman and executives in 30 minutes.”
“I understand. Please prepare the materials without omission.”
It was a routine schedule notice as usual. Juheon was listening to the secretary’s words without much reaction when he called back the secretary who had gone toward the door as if remembering something.
“Have you heard of Gaon Medical near Gangnam Station? Gaon Medical Gangnam Center.”
Juheon remembered the hospital name on the business card the man with Eunwoo had handed over. Should I have just taken it to make it easier to find out? From the looks of never having heard of it, it didn’t seem like such a great hospital.
“I’m sorry, Executive Director. It’s a hospital I’ve never heard of. There are so many hospitals near Gangnam Boulevard.”
“Right. There’s a hospital in every building, so you might not know if it’s not special.”
“Do you have something you’re curious about regarding that hospital?”
Though the secretary didn’t know the hospital, she immediately sensed that mentioning the hospital meant Juheon wanted something.
“Look into that hospital a bit. How many directors, doctors, and staff there are, and which region and where the director and doctors are from. There should be someone named Kang Gyumin there. Look into that person in detail. The faster the better.”
“Yes, Executive Director. Understood.”
Juheon looked at the secretary who immediately responded to his words and recalled Kang Gyumin who had been with Eunwoo. A person he wouldn’t have been interested in if he hadn’t been with Eunwoo. Eunwoo’s expression and behavior while with him looked very uncomfortable. Even he who was watching from afar noticed Eunwoo’s uncomfortable appearance, so there’s no way he who was close by didn’t know.
The gentle smile and affectionate tone were full of arrogance. Since he received such a gaze, it was natural that Eunwoo was uncomfortable. He must have always looked down on Eunwoo from that position of power.
He recalled the conversation Eunwoo had with the cafe owner. The son of a house where he had to rely on them when circumstances became difficult. Though they were friends, it’s certain the relationship was somehow complicated. That name that keeps appearing is incredibly irritating. Anyway, his contractor carrying his child received such treatment, so his pride was strangely hurt.
Setting aside his bad mood, if Baek Eunwoo continued to be entangled with them and his heart was uncomfortable, his health would definitely not be good either. Baek Eunwoo must be healthy and also free of worries and concerns.
“…Are there many doctor gatherings held at our hospital?”
“I don’t know the hospital-related schedule in detail, but I know that all important conferences and training sessions gather at Chasung Hospital.”
He asked knowing that the Executive Director’s secretary couldn’t know hospital-related work in detail, and the secretary answered to the best of her knowledge.
“I see… I didn’t know doctors from such neighborhood hospitals also gathered.”
“Regardless of hospital size, it’s a gathering to discuss work related to their specialty, so many doctors in active practice attend.”
“I need to know how many gatherings are left.”
“I should look into it too, but typically reservations are made until next year. Should I look into the dates in detail and report to you?”
Juheon, who had been thinking about something for a moment, looked at the secretary and continued speaking quickly.
“No. Connect me with the hospital person in charge by today. I’ll call directly.”
It seems the gathering location needs to be moved elsewhere. Even if they say the urgent ones can’t be changed right away. At the very least, it would be good to eliminate all doctor gatherings held at Chasung until Baek Eunwoo gives birth and stabilizes.
Baek Eunwoo is a precious person who must maintain the best condition to carry the baby and give birth with a healthy body. If Kang Gyumin is a seed creating anxiety for Baek Eunwoo, then such anxiety factors should be cut at the root, and if he’s a thorn in Baek Eunwoo’s eye, he could just pull it out and eliminate it. So he can’t approach.
***
—What did you eat today? Did you eat your meals well without skipping?
Today as well, without fail, a text from Cha Juheon checking on my meals arrived. He sends texts at the same time like this, asking what I ate and how I spent my day like it’s his job. Consistently, like an important duty that can’t be missed.
Starting with a light question about meals at first, now it’s reached the point of asking about sleep patterns. What time I fell asleep and what time I woke up, whether the quality of sleep was good or bad—he’s been continuing with quite specific questions. Of course, I’m always diligently answering him. Because this is something I stamped my seal on in the contract.
This isn’t surveillance, and it’s not a matter to discuss whether it’s bothersome or not—it’s business. Since we made a mutual contract, it’s a natural thing we should keep. My current life is an extension of the contract itself, so I too am trying to sleep better and making an effort to eat good food. However, his forceful notifications were occasionally burdensome.
Just like the small quarrel over hamburgers not long ago. His method is always notification. He thinks about everything by his own standards, decides, and demands and notifies as if it’s natural.
Since he’s always been in the position of power, such behavior and stance would be natural, but I was very uncomfortable. Even if it’s a relationship by contract, there are times when I think it’s excessive.
He must be like that because he’s a young master who grew up preciously, pampered at home. While I was only guessing, I learned that his forceful tendencies were due to obsessive-compulsive disorder from his mysophobia. Since meeting Cha Juheon, I’ve been studying about mysophobia symptoms in my spare time so I wouldn’t make any more mistakes in meetings with him.
Then I learned about the obsessive symptoms that naturally follow mysophobia. Those with severe mysophobia seem to have their own thorough standards that they must absolutely keep.
Therefore, their behavior is accompanied by forceful demands toward others along with severe nagging. So these strong tendencies sometimes lead to friction with people around them, but Cha Juheon hadn’t had such friction yet thanks to his position as a chaebol executive director.
I understood that as someone whose position of power had become a natural daily life, he couldn’t understand others’ discomfort from his behavior. But while I understood, the prospect of having to endure that personality until giving birth was daunting.
I know it can’t be helped. It’s something I chose, and it’s true that some things are comfortable thanks to receiving a lot from the contract. Moreover, I couldn’t deny that Cha Juheon was taking care of me quite a bit more than expected.
—I will also go with you to the performance part-time job you mentioned today.
Just like this. I stared blankly at his text that just arrived. What about other contractors? They can’t meet each other, so such behavior would be impossible. Not contacting each other is a basic contract rule for surrogates. Meetings are prohibited because they don’t know how hearts might waver after seeing each other’s faces.
However, my case is a bit different. I’m not just receiving genes from lovers or a married couple and giving birth to the baby for them. My genes directly combine with Cha Juheon’s genes in a contract where Cha Juheon’s baby receiving my blood will be born.
So we can be said to be a rather unique case. Since both this relationship and situation are different from others, it can’t help but be a bit complicated. But it can’t be helped. Even if it’s a bit uncomfortable, since it’s something I chose, I have no choice but to try to navigate the relationship with Cha Juheon a bit more wisely.
