CH 21

“Are you here?”

The manager, who greeted him as usual even though he saw him entering side by side with a man he had never seen before, brought out a box of prepared desserts.

Until then, Ha-hyun had been sulking with a little resentment left, but Cho-seung glanced at him and bit his lips tightly to hold back a laugh.

At first glance, his expression was the same as usual, but upon closer look, his facial muscles were subtly distorted. When he asked him if he was pissed, he seemed to pout.

“Here is the egg tart and grapefruit tart. Financier is here. Understand? If possible, eat it today or tomorrow.”

“I think I’m going to eat it all today?”

“Then it’s fine, well.”

After saying courtesy, he glanced up at Cho-seung.

Seeing his eyes full of curiosity, Ha-hyun followed the manager and raised his head to look at Cho-seung.

“My partner.”

The manager, who was nodding his head at what Ha-hyun said and blinked at the sudden question.

“Didn’t you say that you were going to live single?”

“I got him.”

“In that short time?”

“Somehow…”

There was no detailed explanation, but the manager, who decided not to be surprised by Ha-hyun’s incident, only nodded. His boss wasn’t even a child of one or two years old, so he didn’t have to worry about everything.

Cho-seung, who listened to the conversation between the two, was slightly moved by Ha-hyun’s words. He liked the words that were premised on the fact that they were living together and that he didn’t hesitate to say that they were partners.

“Here, I prepared plain yoghurt and Americano for you to eat on your way home.”

“Want some?”

Ha-hyun, who had just picked up the yoghurt, handed the coffee to Cho-seung and asked as he (Cho-seung) accept it calmly.

“Thank you.”

“No. By the way, are you going right away?”

“I haven’t eaten dinner, so I’m going. I will come again next time.”

“Tell me in the morning the next time you come. I’ll leave it separately.”

Ha-hyun nodded his head with a fresh smile at the words that made him feel good just to hear.

Cho-seung had a packed box of desserts, glanced at Ha-hyun, who left the cafe first, and followed him.

When Ha-hyun raised his empty hand to greet the manager for the last time, the silent Cho-seung opened the glass door with his body. Ha-hyun took a bite of yoghurt while heading to where the car was parked and suddenly stopped walking.

“What’s the matter?”

“I should have eaten strawberries…”

“Ah.”

Ha-hyun, who could eat strawberries without morning sickness as long as Cho-seung was around, clicked his tongue in regret. Now that the strawberry season was coming to an end, he thought he should buy some frozen strawberries.

“What about dinner? I bought the ingredients for buchujon, are you going to eat it?”

“Ung.”

“Okay. I’ll make it.”

As time passed, Ha-hyun, who forgot all about the grievances, sipped on the cold drink as he and Cho-seung walked along the road.

* * *

As the day for the fourth medical treatment approached, Ha-hyun looked at his calendar with a new feeling.

It’s week 11 now… what did you do in 11 weeks?

His stomach hadn’t showed it yet and he had a throbbing sensation in his lower back or a pulling sensation in his lower abdomen from time to time, but it wasn’t too annoying. He was as usual as if he would have forgotten that he was pregnant if it wasn’t for the morning sickness.

“I can go alone.”

“Are you ready?”

“Ung. I’m done.”

Would it be okay for a person who was about to retire to use half a day?

Ha-hyun, who had never been to a company, was curious, but he must have taken care of it, so he decided not to care.

“Do you have anything to check today?”

“Well. Wouldn’t we check just to make sure we’re healthy?”

On the surface, there seemed to be no problem, but the fact that it could be different after being tested made Cho-seung anxious.

* * *

The two went to the hospital and met the same doctor in the same clinic without fail and were invited to unexpected treatment.

“A dentist?”

“Yes. Usually, when you enter the 10th week, you will be checked for periodontal disease. It’s about heritage. Since it’s the 11th week now, it’s time for you to check that, so please make sure to go there.”

“Yes.”

Unlike Ha-hyun, who nodded with a bitter expression, Cho-seung seriously contemplated which dentist to go to. Should he go back to his usual place or should he look elsewhere.

“There is nothing wrong today either. Both the children and the mother are healthy. Do you have any particular pain?”

“Sometimes my stomach feels pulled.”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how much is your pain?”

“3? 4? It’s not that painful…”

Cho-seung, who didn’t even know that Ha-hyun was hurt, was surprised by his words.

He had been with him for several days already, but he didn’t even know he was getting a stomach ache. Was it because he was indifferent or was it because Ha-hyun didn’t want to talk about it. Still, he didn’t want to blame Ha-hyun, so Cho-seung decided to pay more attention to him.

“Does your partner pay attention to pheromones?”

“Yes. He replaces it with building a nest during the day. Is this helpful?”

“Yes. It’s best to share it themself, but it’s also good to let them build a nest.”

Ha-hyun, who listened to various advice, slowly put on a bored expression. He really thought about it every time, but the conversation was too long, perhaps because he was pregnant with twins and with the body of a recessive omega.

“I’m telling you in advance because there are a lot of curious people, it’s okay to have sex if you enter the 12th week. To be honest, if you’re a recessive omega, you can do it even in the early stages, but it must have been difficult because you have twins. But it’s better to avoid knotting.”

The two, who had never had sex or even lightly kissed since their first meeting, looked at each other naturally. There was skinship, but they had no intention of having sex. Maybe it was because he was pregnant, but everything became plain.

“Then I’ll see you next week.”

“Yes.”

As Cho-seung led him, Ha-hyun continued to ponder. He was originally on the easy-going side, but he didn’t know what Cho-seung was like. Besides, he had never been attracted to sex or even masturbation, probably because he was pregnant.

But, wouldn’t Cho-seung be different? Besides, he’s not even pregnant like him. Ha-hyun, who got into the car, leaned back to his chair in a half-lying position and looked at Cho-seung, who was holding the wheel.

“What’s wrong, Ha-hyun-ah?”

Cho-seung, who was about to start going, took his foot off the accelerator and looked back at Ha-hyun.

“No… I just remembered it after hearing that it was okay to have sex, are you okay?”

“It’s not like I’m going to die if I can’t do it for just a few months. Besides, I’m not an animal.”

He’d agree that he wasn’t a beast, but the problem was elsewhere.

“How about your rut?”

In the case of omegas, the heat didn’t come naturally when pregnant, but it wasn’t the case for alphas. At Ha-hyun’s question, Cho-seung, who was pondering about the rut period only then, was relieved to realize that it was still far away.

“I can pass it with medicine? It’s about a month away, so I’ll have to go to the hospital before then.”

Cho-seung, who said it insignificantly, started the engine. At that moment, while (Cho-seung) taking out his cell phone to answer the call, Ha-hyun took out a snack from his car and held it in his hand.

“Yes, Mother.”

[It said dongchimi arrived today, are you outside?]

Cho-seung exclaimed at the news that it had arrived earlier than expected.

“I’m going in now. Shall I put it in the refrigerator?”

[Do you have a kimchi refrigerator?]

“Ah… It doesn’t seem like—”

“There is.”

After taking a bite of the chocolate bar, Ha-hyun chewed and said it. There was no room in the kitchen, so it was left out in the utility room. It wasn’t strange that Cho-seung didn’t know about it because Ha-hyun did it as an exercise to run the washing machine for a few days. (며칠간 세탁기를 돌리는 건 운동 삼아 하현이 했으니 초승이 모르는 것도 이상한 일은 아니었다)

“There is?”

“Ung. In the utility room.”

“I didn’t know.”

The two of them had a conversation until they heard a voice over the phone and realized that they were still on the phone.

[Are you with your partner?]

“Ah, yes. By the way, did I tell you I was moving the other day?”

[You did. You said you sold all your home appliances and packed your stuff? I’ll do that for you. To change some of the appliances in your hometown.]

Cho-seung, who was reluctant to leave Ha-hyun alone to do what he had to do for at least a day, was delighted.

He could only be stuck all day two days out of the week and he had to spend another day of those two days to do moving. That’s why he thought about moving in, but he couldn’t dare to do so.

After a while, Ha-hyun, who had eaten two chocolate bars by the time the call was over, was about to pick up another one, but Cho-seung intervened which made him pout his lips.

“You need to eat dinner.”

“Ung. But did Mother make dongchimi?”

“She said she just made it this time.”

It supposed so.

Ha-hyun, who spoke tearfully, blinked slowly as he looked out the window. It seemed that he wasn’t hated by his mother-to-be.

* * *

Upon returning home, the two were greeted by a big delivery box blocking the door. They didn’t know how she sent this big box, but both of them expressed a puzzled look at the larger amount than expected.

“I think we can eat it for a year.”

“Take it first. We should carry it in.”

As Cho-seung grabbed the edge of the box and pulled it away from the door, Ha-hyun pressed the keypad to open the door. Ha-hyun, who was trying to help him, was surprised when Cho-seung freaked out.

“Wh, why.”

“What is a pregnant person trying to do? I’ll do it.”

Thinking about it, he remembered that the doctor had told him not to lift anything heavy. He didn’t want him (Ha-hyun) to do it, so he decided to go into the house first and guide Cho-seung to the utility room.

“Come to think of it, did you do the laundry too?”

“Ung. I want to move a little.”

“Don’t think about heavy things. In the future, I will do it when I get back.”

Even though the gathered clothes weren’t that heavy, Ha-hyun just nodded his head.

After safely carrying the box of dongchimi, Cho-seung sighed involuntarily. There was no need to send them this much, but the word that his pregnant partner wanted to eat seemed to stimulate his mother.

“What do you want to eat today?”

“Nakjibokkeum. Do you want to eat it with dongchimi?” (낙지볶음, nakjibokkeum meant stir-fried octopus, here)

“Oh… do you want to order it?”

It turned out that dongchimi seemed to have stimulated another person.

Unfortunately, Cho-seung, who didn’t have octopus among the ingredients he bought, had no choice but to recommend the delivery food.