If You Want Me - Episode 49
<Episode 49>
The next day, Do-gyeom went to the hospital again to get examined but ended up getting diagnosed with one-sided imprinting once more.
“This can’t be. Is it really one-sided imprinting?”
Until they left the hospital, Do-gyeom kept repeating that he couldn’t believe it. Something’s wrong. This is absurd. Are you crazy? To this kid? And one-sided imprinting at that? It was evident that he wanted to deny reality.
Seo-won, who accompanied him, heard all his muttering and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. It was Do-gyeom who had one-sidedly imprinted on him, but it felt like Seo-won had done something wrong.
As a temporary measure, Do-gyeom received medication to suppress the imprinting pain. It only served as a painkiller and didn’t help break the imprinting.
Seo-won glanced at Do-gyeom’s expression and carefully opened his mouth when they reached the front of the hospital.
“Then I’ll get going.”
“What?”
“There doesn’t seem to be a way for me to help you, Young Master. The hospital said there’s no other treatment method, and you have to… um…”
He had to say to give up, but whenever he said that, Do-gyeom would jump up and down, saying he never even wanted it, so Seo-won couldn’t say it. Unable to endure Do-gyeom’s sensitive gaze, Seo-won spoke indirectly.
“Ah, anyway, I was going to help if there was a way I could assist with your treatment, but since there’s nothing I can do…”
“So you’re telling me to keep suffering?”
“That’s not my intention… Since you received tranquilizers, it should get better from now on.”
I don’t know why he’s interpreting my words that way.
Still, it must be difficult for him to think positively after being diagnosed with one-sided imprinting, so Seo-won was comforting him with kind words, but Do-gyeom didn’t have that kind of expression.
“You won’t even see me, so what if it doesn’t go away?”
“…”
Do-gyeom showed a weak side. It was a sight he had been seeing often recently, and at that worried voice, Seo-won bit his lower lip hard.
Even if he adamantly denied liking him, Seo-won knew that if he had been imprinted, the psychological impact would be enormous. Not only because his imprinting pain subsided when Seo-won was by his side, but also because he might want to keep Seo-won close due to the imprinting.
If that was the reason, Seo-won could understand his irrational behavior up until now. That’s why he could offer generous conditions like helping raise the child, and even now, he didn’t want to send him away.
Judging that Do-gyeom would be in a psychologically unstable state, Seo-won comforted him in the kindest voice possible.
“That won’t… happen. Since you imprinted for no reason, it might break for no reason too. And also…”
“Can’t you… not go?”
“…”
As Seo-won was carefully choosing his words to comfort him, Do-gyeom looked at Seo-won and pleaded.
For a moment, words wouldn’t come out as if something heavy was lodged in Seo-won’s throat. Do-gyeom was definitely far from being pitiful. Although the situation was a bit abnormal and not good, he wasn’t someone with a terminal illness, so there was no reason to pity him.
Last time too, he said his head hurt and that he had insomnia… Whenever he showed a weak side, Seo-won lost his resolve and wavered. Even though it was the same pattern every time, because he disliked seeing Do-gyeom become weak or because he himself became even weaker, he ended up giving in.
Moreover, last time it felt like Do-gyeom was acting weak, thinking Seo-won would accept it, but today, his hesitation felt sincere, making it even more heartbreaking. It felt like Seo-won had been pushing him away too much recently.
If he opened his mouth, he felt like the words that he understood and would stay by his side would come out impulsively. As Seo-won tried hard to keep his mouth shut and only blinked his eyes, Do-gyeom continued.
“I don’t need you to be a partner or a secretary. Can’t you just be somewhere I can see you?”
“I clearly told you in the last deal that I wouldn’t see you anymore…”
“You said you’d help with the treatment. Can’t you stay by my side until the imprinting breaks? There could be side effects with the imprinting suppressor, and it doesn’t completely subside even if I take it.”
“…”
“And it’ll be easier for you to go to the hospital if you’re in Seoul too. Isn’t that better? Is that bastard more important than the baby?”
“Ha…”
Even though Seo-won tried hard to push him away, Do-gyeom brought up what Seo-won had said before and added various reasons.
So there’s nothing I can do to help with his treatment…
For some reason, he had a vague feeling that it wouldn’t be easy to make Do-gyeom give up. A sigh escaped his lips.
* * *
“I’ll only stay for a while.”
The place Seo-won ended up arriving at in Do-gyeom’s car was his mother’s house.
Even as Do-gyeom drove him and dropped him off right in front of the gate, he had a somewhat displeased face.
“I’ll transfer the apartment to you right now if we go to the community center, so why don’t you stay there?”
“It’s hard to stay alone while pregnant, and I’m more comfortable at home.”
“If that’s the reason, you can go to my house.”
“Me? At your house? I don’t want to.”
“…”
When Seo-won refused right away without giving it much thought, Do-gyeom shut his mouth tightly. His eyes seemed to say, “Do you dislike it that much?” so Seo-won unknowingly made an excuse.
“It’s not that I don’t like your house… I prefer a familiar place. I’ve barely been to your house…”
“I guess so. I got it, so go in and rest now.”
Although Do-gyeom answered as if he wasn’t very curious, his voice still carried a lot of disappointment.
I don’t know why he’s so eager to transfer the apartment as soon as possible when I’ll receive it when the time comes anyway. And I don’t know why he’s suddenly inviting me to his house when he didn’t really like me going to his house until now.
Even though Seo-won had been partners with him for a long time, the number of times he had let Seo-won into his house could be counted on one hand. There wasn’t much need for Seo-won to go to his house, and Seo-won himself didn’t really like going to his house either.
Not long after returning from the US, Do-gyeom moved out of the mansion where he had been living with his stepmother and father and started living alone. His stepmother was the type to give overflowing attention to Do-gyeom to the extent that it wouldn’t be awkward to give her the nickname “son-crazy”. Perhaps because she felt sorry and worried that she couldn’t see her son often due to his consecutive study abroad and independence, she had people report all of Do-gyeom’s actions.
The fact that Seo-won had been partners with him for a long time was only known to Secretary Bae, and she knew that Seo-won was by his side as a secretary. Even that, she didn’t really like it. The time when that was outwardly revealed was when Seo-won visited Do-gyeom’s house.
Whenever he visited Do-gyeom’s house, without fail, his stepmother would contact him. It would come not when he was with Do-gyeom, but when he was on his way home after parting ways.
“You two are close, and since you’re a fervent omega, I’m not too worried. But what if a scandal breaks out and you go into the house?”
“You have to be careful with your behavior. Don’t ruin the child’s bright future and be careful.”
It wasn’t that Seo-won didn’t understand her feelings, and it wasn’t a comfortable thing to spend the night with Do-gyeom and then receive a call from his mother. So, even though there were already few opportunities to go to his house, he gradually stopped going.
If he went there swayed by his appearance, he would probably receive a call from his stepmother again.
“Young Master, please take good care of your health too.”
Seo-won tried hard to compose himself. Leaving a farewell to Do-gyeom, he opened the gate and went inside.
Do-gyeom’s gaze followed behind his back. He wanted to look back, but he tried hard to ignore it, fearing his heart would weaken.
As he was about to pass through the yard and enter the house with a complicated heart, the front door opened before he could even insert the key.
“What happened that you’re staying for two days?”
Ji-hee welcomed Seo-won with a happy face but asked as if she was curious. It seemed she had received the contact and was waiting, then heard Seo-won coming in.
“Oh, Mom. I’ve been coming too often, haven’t I…?”
It was embarrassing to keep coming even though he had said he was moving out of Seoul.
As Seo-won smiled with a lot of embarrassment, Ji-hee brightly raised the corners of her mouth as if to say there was no need to mind.
“I’m so happy to see my son often. Come in quickly.”
She wrapped her arm around Seo-won’s back and led him inside.
Now that he was home, he was trying to relax, but strangely, Ji-hee led Seo-won towards the dining table.
She naturally sat Seo-won down on a chair and sat across from him, leaning forward as if curious.
“I saw that you came with the Young Master yesterday and today. What’s going on that you’re constantly with him and staying in Seoul?”
Why did she suddenly bring him to the dining table…? Now that he thought about it, Ji-hee seemed to want Seo-won to tell Do-gyeom.
Last time, she had sharply criticized that Do-gyeom liked him, and even if that wasn’t the case, he was trash for acting like that, so she seemed to be expecting that Seo-won had told the truth and things had worked out well.
That’s not it… Seo-won smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
“It’s not what you think, Mom.”
“Then?”
“Actually… yesterday and today, I went to the hospital.”
“Hospital? Why the hospital again? Are you sick somewhere? It’s not even time for a checkup yet, why the hospital again?”
At the mention of the hospital, Ji-hee’s face hardened. With the atmosphere becoming serious at once, Seo-won hurriedly waved his hands, saying there was no need to worry.
“Ah, no. It’s not that I have a problem… The Young Master has some issues.”
“The Young Master? But why did he go with you?”
At the words that it wasn’t Seo-won who was sick, Ji-hee softened her expression a bit, but still had a serious air. Although they weren’t as close as family, she seemed worried since she had known Do-gyeom since he was young.
Seo-won pondered for a moment if it was okay to say this, then carefully confided as if telling a secret.
“Well… The Young Master one-sidedly imprinted on me.”
“…What? One-sided imprinting?”
“Since I moved to the countryside, the Young Master has been constantly coming to see me. The reason was that when he was away from me, his head hurt and he couldn’t sleep due to insomnia.”
“…”
“Somehow we ended up going to the hospital together… and that was the result, so I don’t know what to do.”
Seo-won briefly explained how the situation turned out.
Then Ji-hee blinked her eyes as if she hadn’t expected it, and after a while, she burst into laughter.
“Haha, I told you I was right. The Young Master does like you.”
“Ah, no. The Young Master said he has never liked me, so there’s no way he imprinted. That’s why he said it might be a misdiagnosis, so we got tested again today. But it was the same… I think maybe when his rut came last time, he lost his reason and ended up imprinting.”
Seo-won explained that it was definitely not for that reason, his ears turning bright red. Even though she roughly knew the situation since he was pregnant, it was still so embarrassing to confess about his sexual relationship to his family.
As he lowered his head deeply in embarrassment to cool off, Ji-hee reacted nonchalantly.
“Eh, if it was something like that, would all alphas get imprinted while experiencing a rut? Imprinting doesn’t happen that easily. Imprinting is when you reach the point where you can’t live without the other person.”