I've Been Possessed, But What If I Get Pregnant First? - C59
#59
‘Ho-ppang-ah, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.’
Ho-ppang, who had seemed so far away in my previous dream, came to mind. The image of him fading away as if he would disappear at any moment frightened me. Was it because I tried to give up on the child so easily back then? Was it because I was carrying a precious child when I was so unprepared? A terrible imagination that suddenly came over me sent shivers all over my body.
“Fuck, Cha, Cha Yuwon…!”
“Heuk, what do I, heup, what do I do….”
It felt like the man would grab my hair at any moment. His voice calling Cha Yuwon with a murderous tone was getting closer and closer. It made my breath catch in my throat, but I couldn’t stop walking. Just a little, a little more…!
“Heuk, Taebeom-ssi, Tae, Taebeom-ssi….”
In such a frightening situation, only Kwon Taebeom’s face came to mind. Even though I was the one who ran away, I missed him so much. Even at this moment, knowing that I shouldn’t think of Taebeom, I missed him so much. It may be selfish of me to even think this, but please. I wished that he would help the child and me just this once.
But now there was someone else by Kwon Taebeom’s side. At that thought, my heart sank. For a moment, my ankle twisted and I staggered.
“Ah…!”
My body tilted and the sloping hill came into view. With the instinctive thought that I had to protect the child, I wrapped my arms around my belly and squeezed my eyes shut. No matter what happened to me, if only the child could live. It was a brief moment, but hoping that at least the child would be safe, I firmly gripped my arms wrapped around my belly.
“Cha Yuwon!”
Then someone embraced my shoulders. A familiar scent seemed to be faintly felt following the wind. Was it an illusion I created because I missed Kwon Taebeom so much? If not, he couldn’t have found me this quickly. Still, I hoped it wasn’t that man from earlier….
“Cha Yuwon, Cha Yuwon!!”
Even at the voice desperately calling my name as if its throat would burst, strength didn’t enter my heavy eyelids.
‘Our Ho-ppang will be okay, right…?’
My body was so heavy that I couldn’t feel anything. Even the voice urgently calling my name while shaking my body grew distant. Through my hazy consciousness, the scent I had missed seemed to permeate.
***
“Cha Yuwon. Cha Yuwon!! Wake up, Cha Yuwon!”
Taebeom shouted, holding Yuwon, who had lost consciousness and gone limp. If he had been a little later, Yuwon would have rolled down this steep hill. Just the thought made his heart sink.
“Catch him!”
Junseok shouted, and the subordinates, with murderous eyes, chased the man up the sloping path in an instant as if to kill him. Taebeom looked down at Yuwon, who had turned pale and had his eyes closed as if he were dead.
“Yuwon-ah.”
At the sight of Yuwon’s pale face not moving at all, Taebeom’s heart beat erratically. With trembling hands, he placed a finger under Yuwon’s nose. Fortunately, although faint, Yuwon was breathing. Only then did Taebeom exhale the breath he had been holding tightly and spoke to Junseok.
“Get the car ready right now… Yuwon-ah…?”
Taebeom, who was carrying Yuwon and moving his steps, abruptly stopped at the damp sensation he felt at his fingertips holding Yuwon’s buttocks.
“Hy-hyungnim…!”
Before he could even check what had touched his hand, Junseok’s urgent voice was heard.
“…Cha Yuwon….”
Taebeom lowered his head, his face turning pale. Taebeom’s face crumbled as he discovered Yuwon’s blood staining his hand.
“No, Cha Yuwon!”
Gritting his teeth, Taebeom hurriedly went down the hill, holding Yuwon tightly. In what state of mind did he run down that steep path? Taebeom ran and ran, holding Yuwon close to his chest. Finally, having descended the entire hill path where the car couldn’t enter, Taebeom laid Yuwon in the backseat and roughly opened the driver’s seat door.
“Hyungnim! I, I’ll drive. You’ll cause an accident like this!”
Junseok, who had followed, hurriedly stopped Taebeom, who was about to get in the driver’s seat, when he saw him. It seemed like a bigger accident would happen if he left the driving to Taebeom in this state. Junseok roughly removed Taebeom’s hand and shouted as if to tell him to come to his senses.
“Hyungnim, please!!”
At Junseok’s voice, Taebeom’s eyes returned to normal. Taebeom hurriedly moved and got in the backseat. After seeing Taebeom embrace Yuwon, Junseok drove the car to the nearest hospital.
Please let nothing happen. Junseok’s hands, sincerely hoping that no sadness would come to them, turned purple with blood vessels rising.
***
In what state of mind he arrived at the hospital, Taebeom headed to the emergency room, holding Yuwon without even wiping his sweat-drenched face. While waiting outside the examination room for a long time as Yuwon underwent tests, Taebeom only felt pathetic that he couldn’t do anything.
On Taebeom’s hands, clenched into fists with an anxious face, there were clear traces of blood from untreated wounds that had burst open and blood stains from Yuwon.
“Cha Yuwon patient’s guardian-nim.”
The word ‘patient’ attached to Yuwon’s name didn’t suit Yuwon. Taebeom clenched his teeth and headed to the doctor.
“Fortunately, there are no abnormalities in the health of the fetus and the mother. You don’t have to worry too much.”
“Thank… you.”
Only then did Taebeom let out a deep sigh of relief. Brushing his tired face, Taebeom spotted Yuwon coming out of the examination room behind the doctor’s shoulder. The color had returned to his face that had been deathly pale. Taebeom caressed Yuwon’s face, who had fallen into a deep sleep on the bed, with a carefulness that was heartbreaking.
“It seems that the guardian was very startled, but fortunately, it’s not vaginal bleeding but implantation bleeding. It’s not a rare phenomenon, but the amount was a bit much compared to the mother’s physique. It could be caused by acute stress, so please let her rest as much as possible. And it’s better to eat foods high in protein and iron, if possible.”
At the mention of acute stress, Taebeom’s eyes narrowed. A little while ago, he had received a report through Junseok that they had identified the personal information of the man who had been with Yuwon. Taebeom’s jaw hardened as he recalled that man.
“And losing consciousness like this is not good for the mother or the fetus. Especially since it’s early in the pregnancy right now, it’s a time when you need to rest and rest again.”
When Yuwon lost consciousness and even bled, Taebeom felt like his heart was sinking for a moment, thinking something had happened to him. Fortunately, they said there were no abnormalities in his health, but he must have been so startled to the point of fainting.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Are there any other problems? Since we’re at the hospital, I’d like to get him checked.”
The doctor, who had been looking at the chart and explaining this and that, noticed the wounds left on Taebeom’s hands and hesitated for a moment before continuing.
“Perhaps because the mother is young and a male omega, the baby is growing well. The fetus is quite large for the number of weeks. For now, we’ll check if the mother wakes up first and then proceed with additional tests.”
“Yes, I understand.”
He wanted to move Yuwon to a large hospital in Seoul right away, but it seemed better to get additional tests done first to see if there were any other abnormalities before moving him. Taebeom followed Yuwon to the single room and tightly held his thin hand.
“Hyungnim.”
“What happened?”
Junseok handed a tablet to Taebeom, whose face had become haggard in half a day.
“This is the footage from the dashboard camera of a nearby vehicle. Let’s check it first.”
Taebeom took the tablet PC handed by Junseok and stared at the screen. The 10-minute compressed video showed Yuwon climbing the stairs to the high ground.
Yuwon slowly wandered in front of the closed store and sat on the pyeong-sang in front of it for a long time. And then someone approached Yuwon. It was a man Taebeom knew. It was the person who had hurriedly followed Yuwon down the hill a little while ago.
“This is….”
“His name is Park Hyun-joong, 32 years old, and according to Mr. Park, all he did was briefly ask for directions.”
Junseok, hesitating before opening his mouth, looked at Taebeom, whose expression had hardened in bewilderment, and continued.
“But suddenly, sister-in-law was startled and started struggling…. He said he approached him out of concern, thinking it might be because of his younger brother who suffers from asthma.”
“So….”
“But he was having such a fit and was so frightened that even when he took his hands off him, he ran down the hill like someone being chased.”
Taebeom recalled the image of Yuwon he had watched from afar. He was running with a face full of fear, as if he were truly being chased by someone. Even at that moment, the will to protect the child could be seen in his arms firmly wrapped around his belly.
Taebeom played the video again and focused on the screen. As Junseok said, the man gestured something toward Yuwon, and Yuwon suddenly fell to the ground, shouting into the air.
“Is it… a hallucination?”
“It seems so.”
“…Haa. Go out for now.”
Taebeom handed the tablet to Junseok and turned his head toward the sleeping Yuwon. Recently, his sleepwalking symptoms had decreased a lot, and he seemed to be doing well since coming to Gangneung. But that wasn’t the case.
Taebeom rubbed Yuwon’s chapped hand and sighed. However, the large hand holding the small hand had even more wounds. Taebeom buried his face in Yuwon’s hand and closed his eyes.
“No. Not like that time, Cha Yuwon. Rather, forget it. Forget everything, Yuwon-ah.”
Taebeom’s face as he raised his head was filled with an anxiety and uneasiness he had never felt before about possibly losing Yuwon. Looking down at Yuwon’s tranquil face, Taebeom picked up his cell phone with a determined expression.
“This is Kwon Taebeom. There’s something I’d like to briefly discuss with you regarding Yuwon.”
***