If You Want Me - Episode 1
<Episode 1>
“You’re pregnant.”
“What… did you just say?”
“You’re carrying a baby. It’s common to feel dizzy and have an upset stomach in early pregnancy.”
“……”
Seo-won blinked blankly at the doctor’s kind explanation.
He had suspected it. Recently, he felt dizzy with the slightest movement, his stomach felt a bit queasy, and the smell of food made him nauseous and want to vomit… He had symptoms similar to pregnancy. But he had come to the hospital denying that it could ever be that.
But pregnant?
His ears felt muffled as if he had tinnitus. As Seo-won nibbled his lower lip, not knowing what to do, the doctor congratulated him.
“Congratulations. It’s not easy for dominant omegas to get pregnant.”
“Are you sure I’m really pregnant? Is there no possibility of a misdiagnosis?”
“I understand your surprise. We also did the retest several times since you’re a dominant omega, but the pregnancy is certain.”
“……”
“We’ll need to do more tests to know the exact number of months, but since it’s early in the pregnancy, you need to be careful. No intense exercise…”
The doctor listed precautions in front of Seo-won, who had an unbelievable expression. But there was no way those words could properly reach Seo-won’s confused ears.
Because he was carrying the child of a man he should never have.
* * *
“Mmm, Mom… Where are you going?”
“Oh, you’re awake? The young master asked me to read him a book, so I’ll be right back. Seo-won, go back to sleep.”
It was late at night, when the clock pointed to twelve. Five-year-old Seo-won, who had woken up from sleep, grabbed the hem of his mother’s clothes with his little hand. Then, as she was about to get up, she spoke in a kind voice as if to appease him and kissed his white forehead.
Choi Ji-hee, Seo-won’s mother, was commonly referred to as a widow. When she was pregnant with Seo-won, her husband died in an accident early on, and she did everything she could to give birth to her beloved child.
Currently, she was working as a housekeeper in a chaebol family’s house, living there with meals provided. This was because she had been allowed to stay in a small servant’s room with her child as long as she wasn’t conspicuous.
She tried to quickly reassure Seo-won and get up, but for some reason, Seo-won’s black eyes sparkled with vitality, as if he had never been sleepy.
“Young master…?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go together. I’m thirsty…”
“If you drink water at this hour, you’ll wake up in the early morning wanting to pee.”
“It’s okay.”
Seo-won wiggled like a caterpillar and got up from his spot.
Ji-hee made a troubled face, knowing that if Seo-won drank water at this time, he would whine about wanting to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But it was a situation where the young master was waiting, so she had to go as soon as possible to put him back to sleep.
Thinking there was no other way, Ji-hee took Seo-won’s hand and said kindly,
“You have to drink water and come back quickly to sleep, okay? If you sleep too late, you won’t grow tall?”
“Yeeees.”
Seo-won replied sweetly and laughed, hehe. His mother always threatened that sleeping late would stunt his growth, but for Seo-won, who was only five years old, things like height weren’t very important. What he wanted to do right now was more important.
Seo-won held his mother’s hand and walked diligently to the living room with his short legs, waddling. Ji-hee poured cool water into Seo-won’s small yellow plastic cup that she had hidden in a drawer.
“Drink and go inside quickly. Leave the cup and go, Mom will clean it up.”
“Yeeees…”
Ji-hee spoke quite firmly and headed for the stairs leading to the second floor.
Left alone, Seo-won was sipping the cool water when he felt a small presence behind him. It was the sound of something moving slowly, swoosh.
Wasn’t there supposed to be no one…?
Feeling goosebumps, Seo-won slowly turned around. Then he saw that the small closet door next to the refrigerator was open unlike before…
And there was a dark figure standing inside.
“G-ghost!”
It was too eerie and shocking for a child of about five years old to see.
As the startled Seo-won was about to scream, the figure in the closet quickly came close and covered Seo-won’s mouth with his palm.
“Mmph…?! Mmph?!”
He struggled, begging to be saved, but there was no way a mere five-year-old child could shake off a person by struggling.
‘I’m scared, I’m scared!’
He tried hard to scream, calling for his mother, but then he heard a familiar voice.
“Be quiet.”
Looking up, rolling his eyes, he saw the young master frowning and looking down at him.
Seo Do-gyeom. The young owner of this mansion, five years older than Seo-won.
Although the current situation wasn’t normal either, it was a relief to know that the one who came out of the closet wasn’t a ghost, a robber, or a thief.
As he stopped struggling, Do-gyeom slowly removed his hand that was covering Seo-won’s mouth.
As Seo-won was panting, catching his breath that had been blocked, Do-gyeom bent down to meet his gaze and said in a small voice,
“You, are you that auntie’s son?”
“Mmm… yes.”
Seo-won had often stolen glances at the young master from afar. However, this was the first time they had a conversation, as the condition for being able to stay in this mansion was to be as inconspicuous as possible.
When Seo-won replied politely, pondering whether to use honorifics or speak casually, Do-gyeom glanced at the stairs and urged him,
“Say you didn’t see me.”
“But I did…”
“I’m telling you to lie.”
“But lying is bad.”
“There are well-intentioned lies too.”
“Well-in…tention?”
“……”
What is a well-intentioned lie? He was a five-year-old who didn’t understand difficult words.
When Seo-won couldn’t understand, Do-gyeom swept his bangs with his hand as if frustrated, and this time he urged, as if threatening,
“Ha… anyway, if you say you saw me, you’ll be kicked out of this house.”
“Kicked out…?”
“Yeah. You don’t want to sit on the street and starve, do you?”
“Mmm… no.”
“Then say you didn’t see me.”
“……”
Still… Mom said lying is bad. She said not to do it…
As Seo-won’s black eyes were filled with hesitation, Do-gyeom grabbed both of Seo-won’s arms and said in a stern, lowered voice,
“Answer.”
Do-gyeom’s usual voice was originally like this. He had a voice that was hard to believe belonged to a mere ten-year-old child.
Until just now, he had tried to persuade the child rather kindly because he was so young, but as the child became an obstacle in an urgent situation and didn’t even understand, his true nature slowly emerged.
When Do-gyeom spoke coldly, Seo-won’s face filled with fear. Suddenly, with the change in voice and atmosphere, it felt like he had done something wrong. Like he was being scolded. His eyes turned red in an instant and tears welled up.
“Okay, okay, okay… hic.”
“What are you saying? Are you saying okay or not okay?”
“Okay…”
“Your words are a bit short?”
“Okay… sir?”
“…Hah.”
As Seo-won trembled with fear and couldn’t even speak politely, Do-gyeom laughed in dismay as if he had been pressing him. It was a reaction of absurdity.
“Well, what can I expect from a little kid.”
“……”
Seo-won mumbled, ‘I’m not a kid…’, but in fact, they were both kids. Seo-won was five years old, and Do-gyeom was ten years old. However, perhaps because Do-gyeom had lived twice as much life as Seo-won, Seo-won looked as small as a pea to him.
“Watch your mouth. I’m going.”
“Yes…”
As Seo-won nodded, Do-gyeom smiled slightly and slipped out of the house through the living room terrace.
Where is he going at this hour? He was curious, but even at this age, he had some sense. That he shouldn’t follow him. And that he had to keep the secret.
Seo-won put the empty water cup on the table and was about to return to his room. Then, his mother, who had gone upstairs earlier, came down again.
“Where did the young master go again… Oh, Seo-won. You haven’t gone inside yet?”
“I was just about to go in.”
“Go to sleep quickly. Ah, but did you happen to see the young master?”
At his mother’s question, Seo-won widened his eyes without realizing it. Even though he had just drunk so much water, his mouth suddenly felt parched.
“I… I didn’t see him.”
“Really…? Then when did he go out… Anyway, Seo-won, you should go inside and sleep. Okay?”
“Yes…”
Seo-won stuttered, not skilled at lying. But fortunately, it seemed his mother didn’t suspect him, as she didn’t ask further and hurriedly went to find Do-gyeom.
Seo-won returned to his room and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. However, his heart was still pounding.
“Mom said a scary man will take you away if you lie…”
He was anxious about whether this was okay. However, he couldn’t tell the truth because being taken away by a scary man was less frightening than Do-gyeom and being kicked out onto the streets, which he instinctively knew.
That was his first encounter with the young master.