If You Want Me - Episode 115
<Episode 115>
“Preterm… labor?”
“Yes.”
When Do-gyeom asked again to confirm, she nodded her head with her eyebrows lowered.
Preterm labor. Before, when he went to the OBGYN with Seo-won, he had heard that he was a very weak recessive omega and his uterus was weak. When he was with him and frequently received pheromones, he was okay, but it seemed to rapidly worsen after being apart for two weeks.
Thinking that Seo-won’s condition suddenly worsening was because of him, Do-gyeom couldn’t stay still any longer. Do-gyeom squeezed out his nonexistent strength, put his two feet on the floor, and said,
“Mother. I have to go.”
“No. If your father finds out…”
“It’s because I’m not there. Seo-won’s body is already weak, and without alpha pheromones, it’ll be really serious. He might even lose the baby!”
Knowing Seo-won’s condition, he couldn’t just stay still like this. If he wasn’t there, something irreversible would happen.
He knew how much Seo-won wanted to give birth to the child. It was a child that came like a miracle, and he was even more desperate thinking it might be his last child, so he couldn’t just stay still like this. At least he had to go to his side and be of some strength to him.
As Do-gyeom got up from his seat and slid open the window, she looked at Do-gyeom with surprised eyes and stopped him.
“No! Are you trying to jump out again? No. You hurt your leg last time too. It won’t change anything even if you go. If I had known you would be like this, I wouldn’t have told you the news.”
Before, Do-gyeom had sprained his leg in the process of being subdued when he tried to escape through the window for the nth time. Because of that, his ankle had swollen up and he had a half-cast on, and his mother was shocked to see Do-gyeom get hurt like that for the first time.
Do-gyeom didn’t care how many times he fell and got hurt as long as he could see Seo-won. Especially in moments like now when Seo-won needed him even more so.
“It will change. Seo-won needs my pheromones right now.”
“So you’re going to see him even if you get hurt?”
“It’s a child that came like a miracle, and if he loses the child, he might never be able to have a child again. He really wanted to give birth. If I don’t go now, I’ll be ruining Seo-won’s life. I don’t care if I get a bit hurt.”
“Do-gyeom.”
“Mom, please… I’m begging you.”
“…”
When Do-gyeom called her ‘Mom’ first for the first time, she moved her lips to speak but pressed them shut. Although she didn’t say anything, it was visible that she was severely shaken.
Do-gyeom urgently grabbed her hands. Then he opened his mouth seriously as if he could promise.
“I won’t ask you to allow our marriage. I won’t tell you to hand over the company to Chaeyeon, and I’ll do as you say… Just help me meet Seo-won now.”
“…Sigh.”
When Do-gyeom begged earnestly, his mother sighed and looked at Do-gyeom with eyes full of thoughts. It was a gaze filled with worries about what to do with her only son’s request.
She moved her lips several times and sighed deeply as if the ground would sink, then finally opened her mouth seriously as if she had reached a conclusion after a long time.
“You don’t need to say you’ll listen well, and I still don’t like you meeting that child.”
“…”
Was she not going to allow it? In fact, there was no point in asking. It seemed his parents thought that if they kept him locked up like this, he would naturally give up.
As Do-gyeom was about to withdraw his gaze with the overwhelming disappointment, she continued as if she wasn’t finished yet.
“But I don’t want to… ruin that child’s life. Because we’re both omegas.”
His mother emphasized that she was allowing it after seeing Seo-won’s condition, then got up from where she was sitting on the bed.
As she turned the doorknob, the door that had been firmly closed opened easily. The person his father had hired was guarding right in front of the door, so he wondered if he could go out, but when his mother said something, he was seen stepping aside.
Now… did his mother allow him to go out? As Do-gyeom was still dazed and unable to grasp the situation, his mother turned back, made eye contact with Do-gyeom, and said,
“Change your clothes. Do-gyeom.”
It was his first outing in a whole month.
* * *
With his mother’s help, Do-gyeom got a chance to go out just once.
Do-gyeom forgot that he had to dress neatly to meet Seo-won, changed into whatever clothes he could grab, and headed straight to the hospital. While leaving the house, he encountered a few of the guys his father had hired, but it was resolved by his mother’s orders.
Like that, he left the mansion and ran to the hospital room his mother had told him, and he encountered a familiar face in the hallway. It was Seo-won’s mother.
Seeing Do-gyeom running up while panting roughly, she spoke to Do-gyeom with a surprised face.
“How did Young Master get here…? I heard you were confined.”
“I came out to see him after asking my mother. How is Seo-won?”
“He’s lying in the hospital room waiting for the surgery time. Go in and see him quickly.”
When Do-gyeom asked while panting roughly, she answered with a bitter expression. Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t gone into surgery yet.
Do-gyeom thanked her and immediately entered the hospital room. As he slid open the closed door and entered, he saw Seo-won lying in the single room.
Seeing Seo-won’s appearance after a long time, he felt like he would cry right away. It was a face he missed and wanted to see that much, and Seo-won’s face looked very sick after seeing him for nearly a month.
“…”
His already pale face looked even sicker without any vitality. He couldn’t wake up the sick Seo-won, and his body was frozen so he couldn’t do anything.
Instead, Do-gyeom stood by the bed and released his pheromones. It was based on the judgment that although there could be other factors like stress causing Seo-won’s condition to rapidly worsen, one reason could be that he couldn’t come in contact with his pheromones for a while.
It might be too late, but he hoped his pheromones would help even a little…
As Do-gyeom thought that and poured out his pheromones over the sleeping Seo-won’s body, Seo-won, who was asleep, seemed to feel his presence and trembled his eyelashes, raising his eyelids.
He blinked with hollow eyes and quickly focused. As if he hadn’t imagined Do-gyeom would come, Seo-won trembled his fingers in surprise and opened his dry lips as if a drought had come.
“Uh… Hyung…? How… did you get released?”
“I came out for a bit with my mother’s help.”
“I see… Are you okay, Hyung? You… look like you had a hard time.”
Seo-won looked at Do-gyeom pitifully with a face that looked like he was about to die.
At that, Do-gyeom felt a bit absurd. It was true that Do-gyeom’s condition had also worsened during the month they couldn’t meet, but it wasn’t something Seo-won should be saying right now. Who was the patient here, who was worrying about whom?
“That’s what I want to say. What happened? I heard you’re having surgery.”
“…Hyung.”
“Yes, Seo-won.”
Do-gyeom answered right away. During the month they couldn’t meet, he wanted to hear anything about what he had been doing, if he was in a lot of pain, or anything.
As Do-gyeom waited for the next words with such expectations, what came out of Seo-won’s mouth was unexpected.
“I’m scared.”
“…”
“The hospital keeps saying scary things… What if… we lose Tteokbokki?”
Seo-won asked, making eye contact with Do-gyeom with teary, small eyes.
Seeing Seo-won looking at him with frightened eyes, Do-gyeom pressed his lips together, and Seo-won continued.
“I’m going to have surgery… but they said they don’t know what will happen to Tteokbokki…”
“…”
He had heard that there were signs of preterm labor, but it seemed the situation was bad enough for the doctor to say such things.
Do-gyeom had come knowing that Seo-won was sick and it was an anxious situation. However, he never imagined that he would be driven to the edge of a cliff like this during the time they couldn’t meet. While he was suffering because of the one-sided imprint, he thought it was fortunate that Seo-won hadn’t imprinted on him. He had thought he was the only one suffering and felt relieved thinking that way.
The Seo-won he had seen was soft-hearted but also firmer than anyone in some ways. He thought he was a pure child who didn’t lose hope no matter what difficult situation he faced. But seeing Seo-won afraid of the situation where he might lose Tteokbokki, he also felt like his heart was crumbling.
Do-gyeom had always coldly thought that patients should know the worst-case scenario, and that only saying flowery words was not helpful. But as he looked at the frightened Seo-won, he erased all such values as if he had never had them. The situation was bad, so they must have said that, but he thought those damn doctors unnecessarily scared Seo-won.
“That won’t happen. Don’t worry. That child strongly survived even when it was that difficult, right?”
Do-gyeom was also afraid that something might go wrong with Seo-won or Tteokbokki because of the surgery, but he comforted him as much as possible, pretending not to have such feelings. It was because he knew that if he was also afraid, Seo-won would have no one to rely on.
And saying this wasn’t just to say anything to comfort him. Even when Seo-won was running away here and there and living a hard life to avoid him, Tteokbokki was doing well. Even though he must have lacked his pheromones, the child stuck to Seo-won like a nickname and wouldn’t let go.
So this hardship too. He would be able to overcome it well.
“So it’s okay. Think only good thoughts.”
…That’s how it had to be.
As Do-gyeom spoke as if chanting a spell to himself, Seo-won nodded his head and made eye contact with Do-gyeom. Seo-won’s eyes were still filled with hesitation as if he couldn’t erase the fear.
What else could he say to reassure him even a little? As Do-gyeom was racking his brain, Seo-won suddenly spread his arms out to both sides.
“…Please hug me.”