Every time they met in a haphazard way, their parting was also vague, with no clear beginning or end. But now it was different. He could at least take out all the words piled up in his chest so no regrets would remain.
I should have said this. I should have treated you this well. I should have done it that way. Did I do something wrong? Did some problem occur? There was no reason to live his whole life carrying unspoken words and curiosities like these.
He had told him about the baby, told him he had no responsibility, and now all the complicated emotions of resentment, lingering attachment, and regret toward him had all disappeared.
Hyedam’s face was peaceful as he spoke his honest feelings, and his voice was calm. However, after finishing his words, Hyedam couldn’t look at Leo. He couldn’t take his eyes off the ring on Leo’s left hand.
Just as he had removed the ring from his own hand, he needed to take that ring off his hand too, but he couldn’t touch his hand. He knew he was slowly raising his buried head, but still couldn’t look at him.
If he held his large hands full of warmth and met his warm gaze, his firmly set mind seemed like it would waver.
The emotions he felt during the time they spent together didn’t seem like lies. Leo really had cherished and loved him. Unlike himself, who couldn’t properly express his inner feelings, he had said countless times things like “I want to see you,” “I like you,” “I want to be with you.”
At first, he was flustered and felt strange when he called him ugly, but now he even liked that word. It was because he knew the mischief filling his eyes when he said “How can you be so ugly?” and the emotion contained in the hand that swept back his hair.
“I’m at the beginning, so why is our 못난이 only looking at the end? Even after spending time with me like that, you still don’t know me?”
Leo’s movement grew larger, and the left hand he had been looking at disappeared. And when he felt a heavy feeling on his right leg, Hyedam’s gaze naturally turned there.
He had no intention of meeting the eyes of Leo, who was resting his chin on his right leg and looking up at him. However, the moment he saw his face grinning at him under the bright sunlight, Hyedam’s lips pressed firmly together.
His brown hair sparkled gold in the sunlight, and his eyes, which had a fresh green tint, shone like jewels.
“I also agree with not returning to work at the company. Because our 못난이 is no longer an employee serving me. But shouldn’t you give me a chance to serve and live with our 못난이 for life? And when I’m here, why would you be alone for life, and we should raise Alkong and Dalkong together, so why are you thinking of raising them alone again? Please fix that bad habit of trying to do everything alone.”
What came back to his words bristling with thorns was magical words that melted all those thorns away. Leo’s hand touched Hyedam’s dimple where it would sink in.
“What did I say I’d do if you showed your dimples?”
Even before Leo’s words ended, Hyedam released his tightly bitten lips. “Ah, you should have kept it like that a bit longer. You erase it right after I say something?” When the fingertip that had been touching the dimple now touched his lips, Hyedam flinched and leaned his upper body back to avoid his touch.
“Look at this, this. You’re honest when you sleep, so why are you like this as soon as the sun rises? Who was it that held my hand tightly yesterday telling me not to go and slept? I had so much trouble because you wouldn’t let go of my hand every time I came. And yet when you see me, you only say these mean words you don’t mean, like you hate it and it’s annoying.”
Though he had brought up the topic with difficulty, as always, Leo’s finger that had knocked his soul out with embarrassing words moved flexibly, and before he knew it, the ring he had barely taken off with a heavy heart was fitted back on Hyedam’s finger.
“I don’t know about other things, but our 못난이 needs to learn how to speak honestly.”
Leo, who had been kneeling in front of him just moments ago, smoothly got up and sat in the seat next to him, and while he was dazed, a finger food filled Hyedam’s mouth completely.
“If you’re hungry or uncomfortable, you might say mean things, so first eat and take a nap, and after resting, your mood…”
Hyedam, who had barely finished eating the finger food that entered his mouth, shouted “Hey!”
“Why.”
Along with Leo’s answer, the corners of Hyedam’s eyes rose sharply as he ate the strawberry dipped in whipped cream that entered his mouth. Someone just barely managed to say what they’d been agonizing over, but what’s with this atmosphere? What’s with this situation?
Is this guy not even listening to me with one ear? I gave you a chance. A chance!
“You! You hate babies. Plus you hate omegas, and you know I’m a beta but I’m pregnant with your baby, so why aren’t you even thinking it’s strange? That I have ill intentions and am trying to trap you like this…”
From Hyedam’s mouth, which had been speaking roundly as a human who received higher education until just moments ago, primitively straightforward words poured out. He had spoken indirectly but if he didn’t understand, direct speech was the only answer. However, even those words couldn’t be spoken satisfactorily as Hyedam’s voice gradually became smaller and couldn’t form a complete sentence.
It was because Leo’s face, which had been smoothly diffusing the atmosphere with a sly smile as always, suddenly froze coldly. Not the expressionless cold face that appeared when dealing with people in business, but the moment he read the emotion deeply contained beyond the expression, he couldn’t say anything.
“……”
When silence fell between them, what filled that space was the sound of waves.
Ha.
What broke the tense atmosphere that seemed suffocating was Leo’s hollow sigh.
“I just need you. You, sitting in front of me right now. I think I know what kind of misunderstanding you have about me, but do you still think of me that way?”
Hyedam’s head moved side to side at Leo’s calm words. What the brief silence brought Hyedam was the truth about the prejudices he had about him just now. Whether he really hated omegas, whether he only thought of him as a partner, whether he really hired him because he was a beta secretary, and many other things.
Weren’t there more things he thought about alone, speculated about alone, and judged alone that he would be like this? Because he was the only son of an incredible family, he must be like this. He must be like that. The many prejudices ordinary people had about chaebols, things like that.
“I was dull and stupid so I didn’t realize quickly, but there’s no alpha who would question that their pair is carrying their child. I’ll explain everything later about putting on the blind and what happened because of it, so don’t think like that now. No matter what harsh words you say or if you run away and hide again, I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth to find you and wait until you accept me, so remember that for sure. And once we’re paired, you can’t do that anyway.”
Hyedam looked straight into his eyes as he gently held his left hand and spoke carefully while making eye contact.
“We’ve never even imprinted. And what’s this about a blind?”
Hyedam, who touched the nape of his neck with his right hand, couldn’t grasp Leo’s grinning expression. Whether he had been enchanted by him again, the emotions that had been rampaging unstably all disappeared when he made eye contact with him like this.
“There is such a thing. Anyway, just know for sure that I’ll die if our 못난이 runs away. If you say harsh words again, I’ll really get angry then. It would be good if you could keep that in mind too.”
“Even if we like each other, in your family…”
Unlike himself who was swayed by emotions, seeing Leo quickly grasp the situation and resolve problems before they became serious, Hyedam brought out one more thing he had buried in his chest.
“…I’m dead now.”
The moment he saw Leo’s face filled with despair and letting out a deep sigh at the same time as bringing up the family topic, Hyedam’s heart sank heavily. Right. Even if everything else worked out somehow, that part was clearly something he couldn’t guarantee. And above all, Hyedam had no intention whatsoever of separating him from his family.
He would leave with Alkong and Dalkong if he had to. Severing the heavenly bond between parent and child was something he had never even thought about.
“Right? I guess…”
“If I tell them all this, Komom or Daddy might really kill me. Even if not that, they might strike me from the family register, but still, our 못난이 can’t abandon me. Got it?”
“They would cast you out if anything. Would they really do that to you, their son? They seemed like good people…”
Looking at Leo suddenly holding both his hands tightly and making an absurd request, Hyedam mumbled his words. When he met them on Christmas night, they seemed like good people. And it also seemed like they were rooting for him and Leo, and thinking that his decision now would hurt such people made his heart heavy again.
“Whether I die or live, let’s think about that later. Even if I’m kicked out, I can just live with our 못난이 forever. Now what should we do? Ah! It would be best to have the wedding as soon as possible, right?”
Have a wedding when we don’t even know if the family will give permission or not?
“Where should we do it? Do you have a lot of people to invite? This island is nice too… We can have the wedding here and guests can stay at a nearby resort.”
“…So we’re getting married and all living together with Alkong and Dalkong?”
Hyedam simply organized the conversation he’d had with him until now and spoke it out loud.
“Shall we organize things here and discuss that part carefully?”
The corners of Hyedam’s mouth rose slightly as he looked at Leo smiling brightly. Leo’s lips, who had gotten up from his seat, touched Hyedam’s dimple spot before settling on his lips.
