A golden Saturday. After sleeping in leisurely and filling his stomach heartily at a fine Korean restaurant, they didn’t stop at just browsing—they actually bought a car worth hundreds of millions of won. When they ended up having afternoon tea at a hotel lounge with a panoramic view of the city, Hyedam had no choice but to voice what he’d only been thinking.
“Team Leader.”
“Is the tea alright?”
“Did you deliberately take time out of your Saturday because of the car I requested as a contract condition?”
“That’s part of it, and other things while we’re at it.”
“I’d like to know if today’s events are related to what you mentioned on Thursday.”
“The mistake?”
“Yes.”
Hyedam set down his fragrant peppermint tea on the table and adjusted his posture.
“Do you want it to be a mistake?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Sitting on the plush sofa with his long legs crossed, Leo took a sip of that bitter espresso and answered with a relaxed expression—Hyedam couldn’t understand him. Was he saying he would do as Hyedam asked? A mistake that happened by coincidence.
His answer right now meant that he was agreeing to Hyedam’s wish to maintain their relationship as nothing more and nothing less than that of a company superior and employee.
“May I ask about the next schedule?”
If that were the case, there was no reason to be having afternoon tea together like this. They were supposed to be the kind of relationship where they only spent time together when there was a purpose.
“In 30 minutes, I’ll be meeting with a personal shopper. You know we’re preparing for the Christmas year-end party, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be checking gifts and selecting outfits. We’ll have dinner after.”
“Must I accompany you to that dinner as well?”
“I always notice this, but Hyedam-ssi, you seem to find everything you do with me burdensome.”
“Honestly, even this current situation feels like something personal.”
“I told you, too much thinking isn’t good. I won’t talk to you until our next appointment, so rest comfortably.”
Leo ended the conversation first and turned his gaze to somewhere far outside the window. Hyedam took a small sip of the peppermint tea in front of him. Regardless of the situation, looking at the open view while relaxing music played in the lounge made his stuffy chest feel like it was clearing up.
At first, he was conscious of Leo and tense, but the dull pain that still faintly remained gradually made his posture slacken. Eventually, unable to resist the comfort of the sofa, Hyedam’s body sank deep into the single-seat sofa.
As the time spent sitting like that grew longer, he gradually forgot about Leo’s presence beside him. Feeling drowsy, Hyedam’s flickering eyes finally closed.
* * *
“Isn’t she pretty?”
“She’s really ugly.”
“Fix that habit of yours. Everything you like, you call ugly.”
“Her chubby cheeks are ugly.”
“Why can’t you just honestly say she’s pretty or cute? Do you have to say it like that?”
“It’ll jinx her.”
“Anyone who heard would think you’re actually Korean.”
“Half of me is Korean.”
Leo looked at the cute little girl smiling bashfully on the screen. He’d known Luna since childhood, and she was currently working as a personal shopper. He’d called her over, but all she did after coming was brag about her child. When he made one comment, she grumbled but still sat right next to him, forcing him to look at various videos and photos—the smile never left her face.
Even without asking, explanations about the little one followed naturally—that she could stand on her own now, that yesterday she called her “Mommy.”
“She’s my daughter, but she’s so cute!”
“She’s ugly, I’m telling you.”
Leo stopped looking at Luna’s photos and videos of her child and slowly rose from his seat to carefully examine the items prepared in the hotel suite’s living room. After indicating his preferences by tapping a few items, Leo’s footsteps stopped in front of a clothing rack.
“Why did you ask me to bring that size?”
“Are there cufflinks and watches that would go with this?”
Without answering Luna’s question, Leo pulled out a navy blue suit that seemed like it would look good on Hyedam and headed toward the table where the accessories were laid out.
“Things that go with navy are over here. For watches, silver tone rather than gold. By the way, how long are you going to stay single like that?”
“I need to be able to trust them, whether they’re a woman or an omega.”
Leo answered indifferently and picked up a clean silver-toned watch.
“Don’t tell me you’re still like that because of that incident?”
“Nonsense. Is this all the outerwear?”
Having selected a suit and watch, Leo headed toward where the coats were hanging.
“That was just that person being crazy—there are way more people who aren’t like that. Other people’s kids are cute, but do you know how adorable your own child is? Even when I saw my niece and nephew, I didn’t feel like this. Your size is on that side, and average sizes are over here.”
Even while looking at items and selecting them one by one, their conversation continued without pause.
“Don’t be so heartless about cutting off your family bloodline. It’s true your personality has problems, but your looks are at least perfect. I did prenatal care by looking at your photos. So your child would be even more perfect. Can I look forward to it?”
“……”
To shut up Luna who was chattering away endlessly, Leo selected two coats and placed them in her arms.
“Don’t you want a baby that looks like you?”
“No.”
“No?”
A child that resembled him.
Recalling his childhood marred by wars with paparazzi made him melancholic, and if he added what Luna had just mentioned in passing, it was literally no different from hell. Just as his parents had done, he too would do his best to protect a child, but preventing every incident and accident was impossible.
On top of that, he had never liked anyone until now, nor had he ever had a relationship beyond friendship. So romance and children were outside his interest, and he had never even thought about them.
To him, Hyedam was truly a new existence. Wondering what food he liked, how he spent his personal time—Hyedam was the first to make him curious about such things, the first to capture his attention with trivial gestures and actions.
He’d given Hyedam a vacation out of consideration, but because he missed him, he tried to make up any excuse to meet. He pressured Robert, and upon learning that Hyedam still hadn’t specified what type of car he wanted, he headed to his house without thinking ahead.
His phone was off, and the doorbell seemed broken since no matter how much he pressed it, it wouldn’t ring. In the end, what he chose was to knock on the door.
And the face he encountered was one filled with drowsy sleepiness. When thoughts of pulling him close, kissing him, and indulging in him swept through suddenly, he had to flee from his house in a hurry.
He quickly contacted Robert and asked him to find a place where they could eat something light on an empty stomach. He fed Hyedam, who acted nonchalant despite his stomach growling. He bought him a car using the excuse of fulfilling the employment contract.
He called out Luna despite her being busy, and he had afternoon tea to buy time. Perhaps still tired even after sleeping, Hyedam kept yawning secretly while they were walking around, and then fell asleep under the gentle sunlight.
Thanks to that, he got to admire his sleeping face to his heart’s content. Not wanting to wake him from his deep sleep, he carefully lifted him in his arms and brought him to the hotel room. He put more care into selecting Hyedam’s items than his own.
But Luna made him see Hyedam from a different perspective with just a few words.
What if it were a baby that looked like Hyedam? If the baby had big eyes like his and even dimples? Just imagining it brought a faint smile to Leo’s face. What if that baby’s face also had parts that resembled him?
“Answer me clearly—do you really not want one?”
“It would be the worst.”
Though he wavered briefly at the thought of a child resembling Hyedam, Leo answered Luna’s question firmly. Above all, pregnancy and childbirth for male omegas was not an easy matter, and all of that burden would fall on Hyedam, not himself.
* * *
While having afternoon tea with Leo at the hotel lounge, Hyedam had only closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them—yet he found himself lying on a soft bed. He rolled off the bed as if tumbling. Looking around the dim place, Hyedam listened carefully to the voices and presence of people coming from outside.
An unfamiliar woman’s voice and Leo’s voice. The two were bickering casually without formality. He couldn’t hear every word exactly, but he could figure out various things from the conversation he heard in bits and pieces.
From mentions of clothes, watches, and cufflinks, he learned the woman’s profession was personal shopper, and this seemed to be a hotel room. Since he couldn’t pretend to be asleep forever, Hyedam combed his hair with his hands while waiting for the right moment, straightened his clothes, and carefully opened the door.
“How can you not want children?”
“Not wanting is not wanting……”
The moment he opened the door and took one step out, his eyes met Leo’s.
“When did you wake up?”
The spacious hotel suite living room was filled with numerous clothing racks and items. Seeing Leo standing in the middle and the woman stuck right beside him, Hyedam first gave a slight bow of his head.
Watching Leo smile brightly and stride over on his long legs, Hyedam awkwardly swept his hair back once more with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry. What can I do now?”
“If you hadn’t woken up, I was going to wake you in a bit. Hyedam-ssi, you don’t need to rush—there are things I need to do for you, so would you like to eat something before that?”
Was he possessed by a ghost that died from not being able to feed someone? Why did he keep trying to feed him? Leo placed his hand on his lower back and guided him somewhere—Hyedam quickly straightened his back.
“I’ll! I’ll find something to eat myself.”
“Sit here. Water should be fine, right?”
He hurriedly said he would take care of himself, but after seating Hyedam on the sofa in the living room, Leo went directly to the bar to get a bottle of water.
“I’m fine……”
Leo pressed down on his shoulder, so he sat deeply on the sofa, but then stood up awkwardly, unable to do one thing or another. Hyedam awkwardly accepted the water bottle that Leo personally opened for him.
