I've Been Possessed, But What If I Get Pregnant First? - C22
#22
“Co-, cough, m-… me?”
Words I hadn’t expected flowed from Kwon Taebeom’s mouth. He said I’m going too? Where…? It couldn’t be… Hong Kong, could it…? When I blinked my eyes, asking what he was talking about, Kwon Taebeom pointed at me with his chin as if it were obvious and said,
“Who else would it be if not you, Yuwon?”
Kwon Taebeom told me to keep that in mind and took his eyes off me to read the newspaper. Speaking of which, Hong Kong….
‘I absolutely have to say I can’t go, no matter what. What will Yoon Seol-ah do if I go!’
After that, I was busy running away, subtly avoiding Kwon Taebeom. The routine of running away was simple. In the morning, no matter how much he shook me, I absolutely wouldn’t open my eyes, using the excuse of being tired. During the day, I spent most of my time holed up in the glass greenhouse, and in the evening, I had no choice but to eat dinner with him, but after that, I went to my room and went to bed early, no, pretended to sleep. Ignoring the sharp gaze piercing my face, I forcibly yawned.
‘Look, factory worker, I’m very tired right now!’
“Going to bed early again today?”
“Yawn…. That’s right, I don’t know why I’m so tired these days, haha.”
When I awkwardly covered my mouth while yawning, he stared at me intently. As if trying to figure out my intentions. Avoiding Kwon Taebeom’s unique observant gaze, I put the last remaining meatball in my mouth.
“Th-, then I’ve eaten well-“
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
At times like this when Kwon Taebeom was in a bad mood, it was best to obediently listen to him. I sat down, sticking my butt tightly to the chair, and swallowed my saliva.
“I’ve been thinking hard about why you’ve been acting like this for the past few days.”
“……”
‘Did he… catch on? Nah. How could he think I don’t want to travel when Koreans love traveling so much-‘
“Is it because you don’t want to go to Hong Kong with me?”
“Puhup-“
This devilish guy. I hurriedly covered my mouth, wiping the saliva on my palm with… a handkerchief. I felt offended by his frowning face as if I was dirty. Tsk, whose fault is this right now?
“Is that really why?”
Kwon Taebeom let out a hollow laugh and put down the newspaper in his hand. In this situation where I was eventually caught, I chewed my trembling lips and finally opened my mouth.
“Th-, that’s right. I… can’t go to Hong Kong.”
“I thought we already settled that.”
The sight of him wiping his hands with a handkerchief overlapped with the image of him wiping copious amounts of blood in the novel. It felt like my fiercely pounding heart would burst through my throat and pop out, but I barely endured it by biting my tongue hard. It’s scary, but I have to say what needs to be said. I can’t go to Hong Kong. Even if I want to go, I shouldn’t.
“I-, I have ac-, acrophobia too. Ah! I don’t have a passport either. And I can’t speak a word of English or Chinese. I only know thank you, hi, xie xie to that extent!”
I followed closely behind Kwon Taebeom, who was cleaning the table as if he didn’t want to hear it, and rambled on with various reasons.
“I’m really going to die-“
I grabbed Kwon Taebeom’s hand as if snatching it as he put the dishes down in the sink and turned around. Looking up at him with teary eyes, Kwon Taebeom looked down at me coldly.
“If you have acrophobia, we’ll travel by ship. The passport is already made. You won’t need to use English or Chinese. Is that good enough?”
“I-, Taebeom…? That’s not it, I’ll be a burd-“
“If you’re going to say you have claustrophobia, should I tear off your room door right now?”
Tsk…. This crazy guy really seemed like he could do that. In the end, I gently released my grip on Kwon Taebeom and smiled with trembling lips.
“I feel like I’ll be a burd-…en to you. I-, I’m really happy, haha. When did you prepare the passport…? You’re really capable… Making someone else’s passport without identification… Haha….”
I laughed hard at his expression that seemed like he would knock and tear off my room door at any moment. Yeah, let’s laugh. Laughing is the only way to survive. Kwon Taebeom passed by me, who was smiling brightly, and headed to the refrigerator. He bent over, took out a wide bowl from the freezer, and handed it to me.
“What is this… Whoa!”
I thought he was suddenly giving me something, but it was shine muscat grapes.
“Wow! These are really expensive.”
He even sensibly froze them slightly! I was a bit annoyed at Kwon Taebeom for trying to take me forcibly, but the shine muscat grapes were so welcome that all those feelings disappeared. In the past, a small bunch of shine muscat grapes used to cost well over 10,000 won, so I only ate them on my birthday.
To have so many of such a precious thing….
When I looked up at him with eyes filled with emotion, Kwon Taebeom spoke to me with a nonchalant face.
“It’s late, so only eat a few and eat the rest tomorrow during the day.”
“Taebeom….”
“Make sure to brush your teeth after eating. Or else these will rot.”
Kwon Taebeom said, tapping my cheek.
Whew… so this is what an emperor’s confinement is like…. He said it’s not confinement, but if it’s like this, it’s really nice….
I picked up the shine muscat grape with the largest berries and popped it into my mouth. The cool, refreshing, and sweet taste was really perfect for my mouth. After only eating grapes that were withered from markdown sales with missing berries, it was the first time in my life eating such plump shine muscat grapes.
“Delishush… sob… it’s so yummy….”
I’m really pathetic…. Why are tears coming out from eating something delicious? Come to think of it, I thought of Cha Yuwon’s grandma too. They say you think of family first when you eat something delicious, and before I knew it, I had grown fond of Cha Yuwon’s grandma as if she were really my own grandma.
I wonder if grandma is doing well…. I talk to grandma on the phone every morning, but it was different from seeing her in person. It felt like longing was overflowing. This unfilial jerk. Belatedly recalling grandma’s existence, I covered my face as I put down the bowl of shine muscat grapes on the table.
“Hic… sob….”
“…Cha Yuwon. Are you crying?”
“Gr-, grandma…. Waaah. Hic….”
Suddenly, emotions welled up and grandma’s wrinkled face came to mind.
“Sob, I’ve been so ba-, sob, bad…. Grandma, I wan-, hic, ted to see you but, sob….”
The sweet juice flowing in my mouth mixed with tears and snot, tasting salty. Grandma’s wrinkled hands came to mind. Grandma’s face smiling as she handed me money was vivid.
“Hic…. Tae-, sob, beom. I want to go ho-, home.”
I pushed the bowl all the way across the table and approached Kwon Taebeom.
“My grandma… sob…. Even then, I co-, hic, couldn’t see her and just ca-, came, waaah….”
My vision was blurred with tears. Kwon Taebeom’s face became hazy and I couldn’t see his expression. Still, I really wanted to see grandma.
Recently, my emotions went up and down dozens of times a day. I was happy about trivial things and too sad about trivial things. Is this what omegas are usually like? Even thinking about it alone was strange, but anyway, I was so sad right now.
“Yuwon.”
Kwon Taebeom swiftly lifted me up and sat me on his lap. I bit my lower lip and took a deep breath to keep the crying from leaking out. Kwon Taebeom doesn’t like crying. It’s not just that he doesn’t like it, he really hates it. Knowing that, I had to stop crying, but it was difficult to stop the sounds that kept flowing out of my mouth.
“So-, sorry. Sob, but I suddenly felt so sad….”
Kwon Taebeom wiped my tears and brushed my forehead.
“What on earth should I do with you?”
“Tae-, sob, beom…. I miss grandma… hic….”
When someone patted me, tears burst out even harder. Maybe it was because he was the only person I could rely on right now, but I wanted to act like a baby even more.
“I got it. Let’s go to bed early today and visit grandma tomorrow. We’ll buy lots of fruits that grandma likes too.”
“Hic, okay….”
“If you cry more here, your head will hurt. Stop now.”
Kwon Taebeom rubbed my reddened eyes with his hand and shook his head back and forth. At the words that I could see grandma tomorrow, the welling emotions subsided a bit and my heart gradually stabilized. Belatedly, the fact that I cried and wailed like a child in Kwon Taebeom’s arms was embarrassing. I wiped my elongated nose with the tissue he handed me and covered my swollen face.
“Taebeom…. I’m sleepy now….”
My eyes were blinking and my head kept falling down at the steady patting on my back. I shouldn’t sleep right after eating, but my daily routine these days was always a repetition of this pattern. Maybe it was because I fell asleep every day while pretending to sleep, but I got sleepy even though it was still early in the evening.
“Did I bring a child or a lover?”
Amidst my fading consciousness, I heard Kwon Taebeom say something with a sigh, but I was too tired right now. I squirmed and burrowed into his warm embrace. I closed my heavy eyelids and leaned into that embrace.
I was sure that if I fell asleep like this, Taebeom would carry me to my room. The thought that I could see grandma when I woke up made me fall asleep instantly.
***
“Oh! Horang!”
Baekho came to see me for the first time in a while. Putting down the shine muscat grapes I was diligently eating at the face that looked even more handsome today, I greeted the tiger.
“Phew- Ah, that tickles!”
The tiger must have missed me a lot too, as it kept licking my face and growling “Krrr-” as soon as we met.
“Have you been well? Was it okay there last time?”
I finally got Baekho off me and checked, and the wound on the nape of his neck was still there. But seeing that the area around the long wound had already healed, it seemed to be an old wound.
“Eesh… Next time, just run away no matter what. Running away is the only way to survive. If you recklessly take on someone stronger than you, you’ll only lose. Got it?”
Or you could smile brightly and plot for later like me, but it didn’t seem like Baekho would ever smile brightly. I told him it was advice for his sake, putting my mouth to his ear, but Baekho turned his head as if I was annoying.