“Oh my! Is that true?”
Soohyun nodded slightly. Seeing the small scar that had suddenly appeared on Soohyun’s nape one day, Chaeho’s mom had roughly guessed the situation, but she didn’t particularly ask until Soohyun brought it up himself.
“Actually… a while ago, Jeongwon-ssi and I also imprinted… and.”
“Yes?”
“A baby… we’re having….”
Soohyun’s cheeks turned apple-colored. Though it was an embarrassing story, Soohyun was genuinely happy. The fact that he had a mate to be with and that he would have a family who shared his blood was a very exciting thing. When Soohyun carefully announced the pregnancy, Jeongwon was overjoyed and proposed to Soohyun.
“Oh my, I see. So when are you having the wedding ceremony?”
“We decided to do it simply like a bonding ceremony. It looks like we’ll be living together soon. So….”
Soohyun hesitated for a long time before presenting a bankbook in front of Chaeho’s parents.
“This is… what I’ve saved up little by little from working. I was so grateful that you took such good care of me and became my fence. Without you two, it would have been very difficult.”
“Soohyun! We don’t need this!”
Chaeho’s mom and dad were so surprised to see the bankbook Soohyun presented that they tried to give it back to him, but Soohyun bowed his head, saying he hoped they would please accept it.
“We decided to have the bonding ceremony in a month. I hope you both can come then. To me, you two are no different from family. I’m truly grateful.”
“You… make us feel bad. Why are you talking as if we won’t see each other anymore?”
Holding tightly onto Soohyun’s hand as his eyes welled up with tears, Chaeho’s mom also shed tears. Chaeho, who had been secretly listening to the conversation, also cried. It felt like one corner of his heart was stinging and he couldn’t breathe well. The fact that Soohyun was leaving home and going to someone else came to him as sadness and shock.
“Soohyun hyung…. Really… are you really getting married?”
“Chaeho.”
Happy to see Chaeho properly face-to-face for the first time in a long while, Soohyun opened his arms. Chaeho rubbed the bridge of his nose repeatedly, not wanting to show tears in front of him. He wanted to hide his pathetically wet voice, but from the moment he had already put the name ‘Soohyun’ in his mouth, his heart throbbed.
“Yeah. I’m getting married. You’ll congratulate me, right?”
He remembered the pure white smile when he first met him. Seeing the face of his beloved hyung smiling more happily than back then, Chaeho could only say congratulations even while sobbing. He liked him. He liked him so much—beautiful, kind, and warm—but Chaeho was too young.
“Hyung… congratu… lations. I hope… you’ll be happy.”
“Yeah. I will.”
Young Chaeho thought he wanted Soohyun to keep smiling. He liked the smile that bloomed on his pretty face so much that he wanted to think marriage or whatever didn’t matter at all as long as he could keep seeing that hyung.
He really thought that then.
* * *
“Ma’am, I’ll be a bit late today. Jeongwon-ssi and I have a lot to do.”
“Really? You must be tired since you’re not just on your own. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m okay. The morning sickness isn’t bad either. I’ll be back.”
Before the bonding ceremony, Soohyun was busy every weekend off from work preparing to live with Jeongwon. They decided to set up their newlywed home in the house where Jeongwon had originally lived alone, but there were things to buy among the large and small furniture and appliances. Following Jeongwon’s opinion that even if the ceremony was simple, they should at least take one photo, Soohyun decided to do a shoot at a wedding-exclusive studio today.
“Jeongwon-ssi! You’re already here?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Jeongwon waited for Soohyun in front of Chaeho’s house. Actually, Soohyun didn’t mind not doing a shoot or anything, but he pretended to be unable to resist Jeongwon’s insistence that he definitely wanted to capture pretty Soohyun’s appearance.
Soohyun, now twenty-one, had been persuaded by Jeongwon’s words that it could be regrettable later if they got married at such a beautiful age without a single photo, but when the day of the shoot arrived, his heart beat with nervousness and excitement. It felt like he was really getting married.
“Will it take a long time?”
“I don’t know. They said it would take about two or three hours. But since you have to put on clothes and get makeup done, it’ll be busy.”
“Make… makeup?”
“Yeah. Though Soohyun doesn’t need that since you’re pretty.”
Soohyun’s cheeks turned peach-colored because he liked the word “pretty” from Jeongwon more than from anyone else. Jeongwon’s eyes dripped with honey every time he looked at Soohyun, who had become his mate, because he was so pretty and beautiful.
After getting makeup and hair done at the shop, Soohyun dressed in a white suit sparkled and shone. Though he was already pretty without dressing up, when dressed up well, his beauty was enough to make any celebrity step aside.
“Is it… okay?”
“Huh? Uh… wow… you’re so pretty.”
Soohyun liked Lee Jeongwon’s easygoing, good-natured smile. He liked his kind eyes visible beyond his glasses, the warmth like sunshine in his eyes looking at him. The two held hands amicably and headed to the studio. They finished shooting in a cheerful atmosphere and ate a nice dinner near the studio.
“I’m glad the morning sickness isn’t severe. Still, today was hard, right?”
“No. It was fun. I think taking photos was a good idea, just like you said, Jeongwon-ssi.”
“Yeah. If Soohyun is happy, then I’m all good.”
Their conversation ripened without noticing the time passing. They smiled happily while having conversations that engaged couples might have, like what decorations would be good to put in the house or how to decorate the baby’s room.
“Soohyun, it’s gotten too late. I’ll take you home.”
“Jeongwon-ssi put in a lot of effort today.”
“What did I do? For me… I’m unconditionally happy when I’m with you.”
“Jeongwon-ssi.”
“Soohyun, I love you. I’ll make you happy.”
His sincere confession always made Soohyun tear up. He liked him who gave love to an excessive degree. If he was with him, it seemed like he could live in this world even if he didn’t have much. Because he was no longer alone. The fact that he had someone he could call family, that there was a love for which throwing away everything he had wouldn’t be wasteful, was really good.
* * *
On the way back home, rain drizzled down. With rain falling on the dark night road, Jeongwon carefully gripped the steering wheel and drove calmly, constantly checking the front and surroundings.
“It’s raining too much.”
“I know. I hope it’s just a shower, but I’ll go slowly.”
“Yeah, there’s no need to rush.”
There weren’t many cars on the weekend night streets. Perhaps because of the heavy rain, other cars drove through the streets at a slower speed than usual.
“Looks like we’re almost there. Go in and rest well.”
“You too, Jeongwon-ssi. You must have been tired today.”
“I’m okay. I want to hurry and have the ceremony and live together.”
Could the words “let’s be together” be such good words? Young Soohyun’s chest filled with heat. When he first mingled bodies with him, and when they imprinted, when he learned a baby had been conceived, Soohyun was afraid, but on the other hand, he was happy. Everything Jeongwon gave him was something he was experiencing for the first time, and he was glad that Jeongwon was the one sharing those firsts with him.
Honk—
While waiting at a signal, a horn sound came from the opposite side. Jeongwon thought it was something that commonly happened on rainy streets and just waited for the traffic light to turn green.
Honk—
Along with another long honking sound, a freight truck was rushing from the opposite lane. It was too fast for a rainy road. Jeongwon had a bad feeling somehow and roughly stepped on the gas pedal as soon as the signal changed.
“Um… Jeongwon-ssi!!”
“Huh?? Wh-what!!”
But the freight truck on the opposite side was faster. The freight truck that slipped on the rainy road rushed quickly toward Jeongwon’s car.
“Jeongwon-ssi!! No!!”
“Aaaah!!!”
Jeongwon instinctively turned the steering wheel. At the same time, he saw the face of Soohyun screaming from the passenger seat.
Screeeech—
Jeongwon, who had been trying to turn the wheel counterclockwise, deliberately turned it clockwise and collided directly with the slipped freight truck. Though the body wearing a seatbelt flew up high and the airbag deployed, the freight truck was too fast and too heavy.
“Jeongwon-ssi!!”
Inside the stopped car, Soohyun screamed. He didn’t care about the pain that struck his whole body. At the sight of Jeongwon covered in blood with his face buried in the steering wheel, Soohyun screamed and struggled.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
The sound of rain falling pitter-patter could be heard over the half-destroyed car. Soohyun’s screams were buried in the sound of pouring rain. Cars around stopped at the sudden accident, and soon the sound of sirens was heard.
“Soo… hyun.”
“Jeong… Jeongwon-ssi… hic.”
