If You Want Me - Episode 79
<Episode 79>
As Seo-won’s expression stiffened due to being too flustered, Do-gyeom, who saw that, made a worried expression.
“Did I ask too late? If you don’t like neungi mushrooms, you can just eat the chicken meat. You said samgyetang is okay, right?”
“Ah, no. I don’t dislike it. I like it. I just didn’t think of that myself.”
“Ah. That can happen since I didn’t mention it beforehand.”
Do-gyeom replied softly as if telling him not to worry about such things.
I felt it in the car too, but when Do-gyeom acts like this, there’s a sense of unfamiliarity… It’s nice that he’s treating me kindly, but it feels like facing a different person, so Seo-won awkwardly opened his mouth.
“I’m grateful that you’re taking care of me, but… I don’t think you need to go this far.”
“What do you mean by ‘going this far’?”
“It seems like you’ve been overly concerned about me since yesterday. It’s a bit burdensome…”
“Me?”
Do-gyeom looked at Seo-won and raised one eyebrow. He seemed to have no idea what he was talking about.
“Yesterday, you even took me to the OB/GYN while being late for a meeting, and even when we talked in the evening, you wanted to take me to the hospital just because I slept a lot… You’re even taking care of my health food today.”
“…”
“Even if taking time off on the prenatal checkup day is understandable, the other things seem a bit excessive. It’s also that you keep worrying even though I’m not sick.”
It’s not only because it feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable, but I also felt guilty because he was accommodating me too much as if he was elevating me. I didn’t tell him to do that, and he voluntarily did it, but even sitting on needles, the seat didn’t feel comfortable.
When Seo-won mustered up the courage to speak, there was no answer from Do-gyeom for a while. He silently made a face as if thinking for a bit, then asked in a voice as if he didn’t understand.
“I’m sorry if you felt burdened… But is it wrong for me to do that?”
“What? It’s not that it’s wrong, but…”
“As I said in the car, I’m worried about you. I hope you don’t get sick. I hope Tteokbokki is born well and healthy even if we can’t rai…, raise him together. But am I wishing for too much?”
Do-gyeom seemed to have been trying to say let’s raise the child together but quickly changed course. It seemed he wanted to imagine a future where they raise the child together, but Seo-won probably wouldn’t allow that.
Tteokbokki wasn’t even born yet, but it felt uncomfortable as if they were separating the child and him for life. Seo-won’s case was different from now, but he felt that way more because he couldn’t receive his father’s love.
Also, what he was saying wasn’t an unreasonable request… When he spoke earnestly, pushing him away again saying it’s not okay was a bit…
As Seo-won looked at him in a difficult position, Do-gyeom must have read that hesitation and continued persuading him.
“Let me do everything I can to help you. You won’t even let me see you after giving birth to Tteokbokki, right?”
“That’s…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say no. Even today, the reason for meeting him was to receive his pheromones.
There was a saying that receiving parents’ pheromones during a child’s growth period helps with development, so there might be occasions to see Do-gyeom, but that was a problem for later.
As Seo-won moved his lips and stopped, Do-gyeom smiled bitterly as if he had expected it.
“Saying it like this makes it seem like I’m thinking of Tteokbokki as an excuse to meet you.”
“…”
I didn’t feel that way though…
As he was thinking that for a moment, he muttered self-mockingly and then looked at Seo-won again and said,
“Anyway, I know my feelings will only seem like a one-sided imprint to you, so it will look unpleasant. But at least for now, this is my sincerity.”
There was strength in his voice that gave a resonance. Since Seo-won wouldn’t believe him saying he had liked him since he was young, there was a wish that at least his actions moving sincerely wouldn’t be seen badly.
Was he good at persuading, or was Seo-won soft for him…? Seo-won looked at him with trembling eyes and let out a small sigh.
“Ah, I get it… But you don’t have to accommodate me too much.”
“I won’t think too much based on my standards.”
I thought he would refute and persuade again this time, but fortunately, Do-gyeom accepted it at this point.
I wish he would acknowledge that I’m not short and scrawny though… As he was thinking that alone, the door opened with good timing.
Feeling a presence, he turned towards the door, and an employee with neatly tied-up hair entered the room with large bowls in both hands.
“The samgyetang is here. Where should I serve the one with only neungi mushrooms without medicinal herbs?”
“Please give both of them to me.”
Even before Seo-won could say, “Give it to me,” Do-gyeom received both samgyetangs from the employee.
Didn’t he say the one without medicinal herbs and only neungi mushrooms was mine? As Seo-won looked at him puzzled, Do-gyeom put plastic gloves that came with the samgyetang on both hands and said,
“I’ll debone the meat for you.”
“What…? What, do I not have hands?”
“I brought you here to boost your health, so I can’t make you use strength. Wait.”
It meant that he was feeding him health food to gain some strength, so he couldn’t make him waste energy deboning the meat.
What’s so hard about deboning meat that he’s making a fuss? He clearly said, “I won’t think too much based on my standards,” just a few minutes ago, but he was doing this right away. It was a ridiculous situation.
There were many things to say, but the sight of Do-gyeom sincerely deboning the hot chicken meat didn’t look that bad. It felt like he could do that much since he made me suffer, and it felt like his sincerity was more evident in him doing it with care like that rather than solving it with money.
As he quietly watched because that feeling wasn’t too bad, Do-gyeom quickly deboned the meat and put it on the plate in front.
He was concentrating on deboning, then put the plate with chicken leg meat in front of Seo-won as if telling him to eat first and said,
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Yes… Please have some too, young master.”
“Not young master, hyung.”
“…”
Was he making a joke because he thought the atmosphere got stiff, or was he seriously emphasizing to call him hyung…?
It was absurd, but it was true that the heavy air in the room that had seriously sunk was refreshed. I was also glad that Do-gyeom wasn’t very hurt by what I said.
Seo-won put down some of the burden in his heart and put a piece of chicken meat that he had deboned in his mouth. He liked the clean taste that spread in his mouth and the red autumn leaves visible through the window.
* * *
“That was a delicious meal.”
It was a filling and delicious meal.
Except for sweet dessert types, such plain food suited his taste the best. Although he was also consistently taking medicine for morning sickness, the characteristic of foods that went down much more deliciously than before pregnancy was mostly like that.
After finishing the satisfying meal and coming out, Do-gyeom lifted the corners of his mouth contentedly.
“You ate well. Is it because you’re taking medicine for morning sickness?”
“Th- that, and I was hungry too.”
For some reason, it felt like he was teasing me for eating too well, so I ended up answering as if making an excuse.
“Right, it was a bit far, so we did ride the car for quite a while.”
Saying that, Do-gyeom naturally put a cigarette in his mouth. He naturally tried to light it, then suddenly seemed to remember something and looked down at Seo-won.
“Ah…”
Then, as if letting out a small sigh, he strangely averted his gaze. It was an awkward look.
Why is he suddenly acting like that? As Seo-won looked up at him curiously, he took the cigarette out of his mouth and said awkwardly,
“Um… Seo-won-ah. I’ll go in after smoking just one cigarette, so can you go in and rest for a bit? I’ll follow right after.”
“Ah, yes.”
I wondered why he was so anxious, but it seemed he realized he shouldn’t smoke in front of me.
Seo-won had also become more sensitive than before to the point of going out of his way to avoid places that smelled like cigarettes after getting pregnant. So without saying anything, he received the car key from him and walked alone towards where his car was parked.
He was about to open the door of his car and get in the passenger seat when he heard a loud voice from behind.
“Customer! Wait a moment!”
Customer? Since he was the only person nearby, Seo-won looked back. The employee with neatly tied-up hair that he saw earlier was running towards him in a hurry.
Was there some problem? As Seo-won approached, she thrust something towards Seo-won while breathing roughly as if she was out of breath from running in a hurry.
“You left your cell phone.”
Cell phone? His was intact in his pocket, so he thought she might have brought the wrong one. But looking at what was on her hand, it was Do-gyeom’s.
Did his phone fall out of his coat pocket as he sat down? It was unlike him to be so clumsy, Seo-won thought as he conveyed his gratitude and apology to her.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“Not at all. If you enjoyed the meal, please make sure to visit again next time.”
She smiled brightly and maintained her courtesy towards the customer until the end. As he was admiring that the food was delicious and the staff was kind, a long vibration rang from the phone on his hand when her back was about to disappear.
A call? As he was thinking he should bring it to Do-gyeom, he unconsciously looked at the screen, and Seo-won narrowed his brows upon seeing the name that appeared on the screen.
[Seo Chaeyeon]
“…Seo Chaeyeon?”
If it’s Seo Chaeyeon, she was an actress who was currently very popular with dramas these days.
And she was also currently active as an exclusive model for the department store Do-gyeom was managing. There was a possibility of a person with the same name, but it wasn’t a common name, and it was hard to think such a coincidence overlapped.
What reason would she have to call Do-gyeom directly? As he recalled her splendid appearance and past filmography, a chilling thought suddenly crossed his mind.
The fact that she was a recessive omega.
With that one thought, he somehow felt like he saw something he shouldn’t have.