CH 9

‘I’m nervous.’

For whatever reason, Cho-seung couldn’t shake off his nervous feeling after he had a strange dream in which turtles appeared.

He couldn’t stay still as if he had missed something he shouldn’t have missed. Even when he went to work and looked at the monitor, he couldn’t concentrate on his work.

Depending on his mood, he might be running around or pheromones started to come out, so it hurt his head.

Taking medicine or forcing the pressure down was only once or twice, and if this condition continued, it was a nuisance for the team members as well. In addition, it wasn’t easy to take drugs and control pheromones, so he began to get tired.

However, after a week of not being able to properly control the pheromone, someone within the team complained of discomfort. A personal apology was only a temporary solution and there was no real improvement, so he was wary.

“Assisstant Manager Kang.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

Cho-seung, who reflexively responded to the familiar voice, forced himself to swallow a sigh that came from within, feeling that something was coming. The team leader with an awkward smile tapped Cho-seung’s shoulder and pointed his chin to the bathroom.

Cho-seung, who got up and followed the team leader with heavy steps, closed the door of the bathroom and made eye contact with the team leader who turned around.

“It’s a little embarrassing to call you something like this, but…”

All he could do was put on an awkward smile at the act of pulling his tail. The team leader, who was determined at Cho-seung’s reaction, said straight-forward as he wanted to get out of this embarrassing situation quickly.

“Why don’t you take a half day today and go to the pheromone department?”

“Yes. I thought I should too.”

“If it’s something the hospital can’t do right now, I’ll try to get you to work from home for the time being.”

“Thank you for caring me.”

The team leader, who shook his hand, saying that it was natural and seeing Cho-seung bow his head, lightly tapped his shoulder and left the bathroom first.

Cho-seung, who was left alone, let out a sigh that he had been holding back the whole time and pulled the tie that tightened his neck.

“It’s not even rut, what are you doing like a child?”

It was embarrassing that an adult, not just a child, was warned of poor pheromone control.

Aside from the pain in the bones, Cho-seung sighed again, not knowing which hospital to go to, and picked up his cell phone first to look for a hospital near the company.

“There must be a lot of people in the university hospital…”

Still, even if he didn’t have to, he should.

Cho-seung, who confirmed that he could receive treatment today by calling the number provided on the Internet, went back to his seat and packed his belongings. Saying goodbye to his teammates and hurriedly out of the office, he went to the parking lot and got into his car.

* * *

On the way to the hospital on a quiet road in the middle of the day, Cho-seung glanced at the phone call and tilted his head in wonder.

“Yes, Mother.”

[Are you working?]

“No. I’m out of work for a while. Why?”

Turning on the turn signal, Cho-seung answered, turning his steering wheel when he received the signal. Cho-seung, who was happy to receive the call from her after a long time, was worried about his mother’s hesitation for a long time.

[Didn’t you cause any accident?]

“Yes? What accident?”

[Well, you know what. Like speeding.]

As she spoke while stretching put at the end, Cho-seung hardened his eyebrows.

He was glad by looking at her reaction, it didn’t seem like anything had happened to his mother. Speed violation wasn’t his daily life of a driver. It wasn’t very rude, but Cho-seung, who obeyed the speed limit only on surveillance cameras and in the children’s sanctuary, remained silent. (과속이야 운전하는 사람의 일상이 아니던가, not sure)

[Ah, it must be taemong as well.]

“Pardon!?”

[Oh, my. Didn’t you have a child?]

“No, wait a minute. I never said anything like that.”

[You’re really.] (얘도 참)

Saying as if she knew everything, she continued without paying attention to Cho-seung’s reaction.

[You didn’t answer because I’m right. Mom knows everything.]

“No, I thought you were talking about driving.”

[Really? So, it’s not a taemong?]

She kept mentioning taemong, so he thought it would be better to hear what the dream was first.

When Cho-seung asked what kind of dream she had, her mouth was itchy inside her and immediately continued.

[I was in a very white space, well, I could see some kids. You know how cute and lovely they were from the back? They were laughing and playing with what they liked so much, and after watching it for a while, the mother called the babies.]

“Called them?”

[Ung. Called by their names. Somehow, I knew it.]

She said that she just watched and that the names didn’t leave as if they were stuck in her head, but still vivid.

“What did they call them?”

[Bo-reum-ah, Geum-eum-ah. They called them.] (보름, can be translated into Full Moon, and 그믐, can be translated into Eve. Yup, they will become the kids’ name later. Um, but I’m not sure if it’s the right ones)

Bo-reum and Geum-eum.

Even though he wondered why the names of the babies were like that, Cho-seung couldn’t shake the familiar feeling. Come to think of it, there were also two moons from the turtle dream he had. Full moon and crescent moon (보름달이랑 그믐달).

[But I’m a little worried.]

“What do you mean ‘worried’?”

[Ung. It’s the child called Geum-eum. It was very small compared to Bo-reum. I think it’s a boy…]

Taking a deep breath, Cho-seung hardened his eyebrows unconsciously. It was just a simple dream, but it was a dream that could happen in real life and it felt like hearing that his child was actually sick.

[Anyway, check it out and if it’s an accident, call your mom?]

“Yes. I understand.”

Even if it was true that the accident was right, there was no way to check it, but Cho-seung answered that he understood and hung up the phone.

As he pulled into the hospital parking lot and let out a sigh that he didn’t know how many times he had exhaled, he slammed his head into the steering wheel, feeling frustrated.

He didn’t want to believe the dream. He didn’t know anything yet, but it was foolish to believe in a dream and move on.

But what if Ha-hyun was really pregnant? And if one of the twins was really weak as his mother dreamed. It was probably close to impossible for Ha-hyun to stand alone without his pheromone.

“I hope not.”

It shouldn’t be. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be strange if anything happened while searching for Ha-hyun to check the facts.

He regretted that he should have had his phone number if he knew this would happened and regretted that he should have stepped back when he found out he didn’t have a condom.

Nothing changed even he thought about the past, but there was nothing he could do, so Cho-seung shook his head and headed to the hospital.

Contrary to expectations, Cho -seung, who completed the examination with ease due to the small number of people, waited in front of the treatment room to see the doctor for the last time.

“Kang Cho-seung-nim, please come into the second treatment room.”

Cho-seung, who had been waiting for a long time, finally entered the treatment room. The doctor, who was only staring at the monitor, raised his head at the approaching presence. When he sat down at the guided seat, the doctor displayed a graph on the monitor that Cho-seung could see.

“Can you see this?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t know what it meant apart from what it looked like. All he knew was that there was something wrong with the extreme soaring graph.

“There’s nothing wrong with the pheromone system. There are quite a few alphas who can see this graph.”

The doctor who moved the mouse and displayed the CT image taken today emphasized again that there was no big problem.

“Do you have an omega partner?”

“Why is that…”

“When your partner is pregnant, the alpha changes its pheromone.”

Pregnant.

As soon as the doctor uttered those words, the doubt turned into certainty. The doctor, unaware of Cho-seung’s inner thoughts, whose expression slowly hardened, continued with his business-like tone.

“Usually, it’s okay to spend some time with your partner, but the problem is when you’re apart. Pregnant omega that has passed four weeks without alpha pheromone is considered to be able to survive alone for two weeks. If you stay away from each other more than that, not only it will affect the omega, but it will also affect the alpha.”

The doctor lifted up the glasses that were flowing down from his nose and pointed to the raised part of the graph.

“It’s easy to think of pheromones as instinctively trying to find their partner omega. The easiest way to solve that problem is to spend at least an hour a day with your partner omega.”

Of course, there were some who couldn’t afford it, that’s why there were medicines and he would prescribe them if he wanted to, so Cho-seung just nodded with a bewildered look at what the doctor said.

After leaving the treatment room half-conscious, Cho-seung sat down on a chair in the lobby with a prescription.

“Crazy…”

How to find him.

He had to find him. He absolutely must find him.

It was difficult to keep going to the hospital. It wasn’t easy for an ordinary office worker to receive treatment on time at the hospital.

No, even putting these issues aside, he didn’t expect Ha-hyun to be pregnant. He felt even more confused when the doctor diagnosed him and confirmed what he had been thinking about.

He couldn’t help but find him. The more he heard that he was pregnant, the more likely his dream would come true. Besides, he was also responsible for his partner’s pregnancy, so it was natural for him to bear with it together.

So, I have to find him…

“Haa—”

It was a daunting task regardless of what he thought, so when he took a deep breath, Cho-seung noticed the scent of ylang ylang from the lobby and turned his head.

It was the only opportunity that came to him.