CH 8

Cho-seung, who was starved for lunch and dinner because he felt sick, lay down on the bed and sighed deeply. He wondered why he couldn’t get any food today. He was having some trouble.

He rubbed his hungry stomach and lay on the bed for a long time, trying to sleep because he couldn’t make porridge or eat at this rate, and when he was about to the bathroom, he noticed that there was no skin in the dressing table and touched his forehead. (스킨, I’m not sure about this “skin”)

“It’s all gone.”

He forgot to buy it on the way home. There were many twists and turns on the way, so he didn’t have time to think about it.

“I have to go.”

Breathing in the fresh outside air might make a difference. With such anticipation, Cho-seung went out with only his wallet and cell phone, and headed to the drug store he went to every time.

He felt refusal every time he passed the restaurant, but the cool evening air calmed him down. Cho-seung, who was walking with a calm smile, felt at peace, and his complexion turned pale in an instant at the perfumed pheromone he smelled.

“What scent…”

It had a plain fruity scent. More precisely, a sweet and sour strawberry scent with a pretty bright red colour. However, to Cho-seung, it was a disgusting scent that made him want to vomit.

Cho-seung quickly blocked his mouth and walked quickly to escape from the strawberry-scented trait and set foot in the drug store.

Thinking that the scent of cosmetics that spread inside the store would be better, he picked up the products he bought every time and when he headed to the cash register, there was a candy that caught his attention.

“…candy for morning sickness?”

It said that it was candy from Italy, and when he saw the wording that the sour lemon flavour was effective for morning sickness, he picked it up as if possessed.

Obviously, he was a male-dominant alpha, and although he never got pregnant, he was strangely attracted to it. So, it meant that wanted him to buy.

Cho-seung, who usually believed in his senses, decided to buy only one first. Although it was candy for morning sickness, it could work even for people with a bad stomach and he used to eat candy often.

Cho-seung, who bought candy along with the skin, spat out excuses to himself and came back home in a trudging way.

He felt restless because of the fact that he had a Taemong dream and the fact that he had bought candy for morning sickness.

He didn’t feel like eating right now, but Cho-seung, who threw them in the corner of his room, grabbed his growling stomach and boiled sungnyung (숭늉, meant scorched-rice water). I’m glad I can even eat this at least.

He took a deep breath and ate a piece of kimchi to relieve his hunger for a day. It would be difficult if it was like this tomorrow…

I guess I should at least bring misusgalu (미숫가루, meant mixed grain powder, here) tomorrow.

* * *

That’s fascinating.

For a few days, he had a good appetite, let alone morning sickness. It also turned so well. Breakfast was supposed to be skipped, but there was none.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he ate everything from morning to evening to late-night snacks. Ha-hyun, who was worried about what to eat for lunch while taking raw strawberries with a fork in peace today, realized that the day he had to go to the hospital was approaching.

“I think once a week is a bit too much.”

Ha-hyun, who muttered something that would be startling if the doctor had heard it, seriously thought about cancelling the appointment. Of course, he had to get a pheromone injection, so he just thought about it.

When the doctor said that it would be good to come twice a week, Ha-hyun put on a shocked expression without realizing it.

It was terrifying to even imagine that he had to go out two days out of seven. No matter how much he made an appointment, the hospital was boring because it was always a series of waiting. What could be done was limited.

Ha-hyun, who hadn’t had a proper social life and had a college life as he wanted, was weak at managing his facial expressions, and the doctor made an appointment for once a week without saying anything while looking at his expression.

Even if he didn’t hide his emotions, the change in his facial expression wasn’t that big, but it was obvious to the doctor who had developed his sense through his many years of social life.

As a result, Ha-hyun, who was able to continue his usual life thanks to the good-sense doctor, sat cross-legged on the bed and pondered what to do. He was best at lying on his bed and looking at his phone, but the realization that the baby was in his stomach raised questions about whether this was okay.

It didn’t mean that unemployed people were bad.

He chose to be unemployed because he didn’t want to suffer so much when he saw his parents who were struggling in the real estate business.

He felt like he had to pretend to be walking on a path similar to others and when his parents died in the year he was getting a job, his desire to get a job completely disappeared.

However, how would the parents who stayed at home all day look to the eyes of the child who was born?

He was worried about that. In a world full of people who worked each and every day, what would a child who had a parent standing alone think?

Of course, he had no intention of getting a job right away or giving up on his current life just because he was worried, but Ha-hyun suddenly had a thought.

It was just, it was such a day.

* * *

Crazy.

Cho-seung, who rolled the sour lemon-flavoured candy that occupied his mouth, couldn’t hide his excitement.

This is a revolution.

In a nutshell, this candy was more than just candy. He wanted to see how much more candies, which weren’t medicines, were effective for soothing the stomach, but Cho-seung, who felt the effect directly, criticized the paranoid thoughts of the past.

If only medicines were effective, why was there such a thing as a placebo effect? He apologized to the person who made the candy inside.

As he regretted the days he had stubbornly thrown it into the corner of the room, he put another melted candy in his mouth and tapped the keyboard with a comfortable face.

One week.

After suffering for a full week from the day he vomited at the tonkatsu store, he was happy with the peace he had felt after a long time.

Now, even if a team member made a mistake, he could accept it with the same heart as a Bodhisattva. The past week had been hard enough to bring that kind of tolerance.

“Assistant Manager Kang, are you not going to have lunch today?”

Cho-seung, who showed a benevolent smile to the teammate who asked with a worried face, shook his head.

“I want to eat today, where are we going?”

“Really? That’s a relief. We’re going to eat kimchi stew today, are you okay with that?”

“Good. It’s been a while since I will eat well.”

After carefully saving the work he was working on and checking it, Cho-seung organized his seat and got up. He approached those who had already gathered.

When Cho-seung arrived, they then rushed outside and walked to the restaurant they often went, telling him that they were worried and that they were happy because he was in good condition today.

After accepting them appropriately, Cho-seung naturally headed to the back of the group. It was because he knew very well that no matter how easy he was to tell them to treat him comfortably, his position was still high.

“By the way, Assistant Manager Kang, do you have a lover?”

“Me? Um, I don’t?”

Cho-seung, who whispered back to the member whispering to him as he approached closer, tilted his head. Why do you ask that?

“Ah, it wouldn’t be without them. I must be worried about you.” (노파심, meant excessive solicitude or I told it to you because I deeply worried about you, here)

As he scratched his head and smiled, his doubts deepened. Worried? Worried about what?

“What is it? Just say it.”

The employee, who waved his hand, saying it was really nothing to the urging Cho-seung, then took one more step closer to him after confirming that the other team members were taking the lead.

Cho-seung, who followed with the gesture as if he was trying to tell a secret, hardened his expression slightly. He was serious about what he was trying to say.

“One of my acquaintances has a trait. Of course, that friend is also an alpha. There was a day when my acquaintance felt sick and couldn’t even get any food just like you, but then he found out that his partner was pregnant and he himself had morning sickness.”

The employee, who took a beat off by swallowing saliva, quickly recited the rest of the story.

“That’s why I asked if it was possible that Assistant Manager might be in a similar situation. But you said you don’t have a partner.”

Was he really worried?

Haha, unlike the appearance of the employee, who smiled awkwardly and swept  the back of his back awkwardly, Cho-seung was stiff and hardened. This raised another suspicion that the omega, who had a wonderful night with him, might be pregnant.

“Assistant Manager, Assistant Manager?”

“Ah, yeah. I think you’re mistaken. As Employee Yoo said, I don’t have a lover, so I don’t think it’s morning sickness. It’s just that I wasn’t feeling well.”

Cho-seung, who tried hard to smile and gently tapped the employee’s shoulder, sweated inside. He was still having a strange dream and was hard to digest, but he even heard of a morning sickness case as a probability.

Of course, it was just a story he had heard, so it shouldn’t be generalized, but it was crazy to know the importance of similar precedents.

Rather, if the morning sickness candy didn’t work, he would take it as a joke. Why did he even hear about morning sickness as a probability today?

Cho-seung forcefully swallowed a sigh that was about to come out reflexively in frustration.

* * *

The morning sickness that had visited Cho-seung returned to Ha-hyun as he ate the candy and the situation gradually improved.

Ha-hyun, who had been happy for a while, started crying while cutting strawberries again as his morning sickness-like symptoms continued, and Cho-seung, who couldn’t hide his anxiety, swept his chest with relief.

‘I still don’t know!’

‘It’s okay, we have a lot of time left.’

‘What is that lemon again?’

‘Um… anyway, let’s see next time.’

The one returned while stomping his feet to comfort the other who was in as he circled the side of Cho-seung and left. (발을 구르며 심통을 내는 이를 달래며 돌아가자 말한 이는 초승의 곁을 한 바퀴 맴돌다 곁을 떠났다, forgive me, this one doesn’t make sense)

It seemed that there was still a long way to go for Cho-seung to notice. It was a day when small mischief swept the two of them and spring was still in full swing.