I've Been Possessed, But What If I Get Pregnant First? - C87
#87
Maybe because we went to a hospital close to home, we arrived home after just a few traffic signals.
“Yuwon, don’t you want to study again?”
Kwon Taebeom asked me as I laid down again, losing energy after returning from the hospital. Was I lying down too much? Indeed… How pathetic must I have looked, doing nothing all day and just wasting food? At his question, I slowly got up and apologized.
“…I’m sorry, I’ll do something.”
Thinking of at least emptying the trash can, I turned my eyes and Kwon Taebeom pulled my wrist. My shoulders shrank at the sudden movement.
“You don’t have to do this. No, don’t do it. When your body is struggling too.”
“Still… there’s nothing I’m doing…”
“What do you mean there’s nothing you’re doing? You just need to stay by my side like this.”
Kwon Taebeom whispered affectionately while hugging me, but the anxiety that settled in my heart had already sprouted.
Come to think of it now, why did Kwon Taebeom help me from the beginning? He didn’t want money, and he didn’t want my body either. There shouldn’t have been anything helpful to him, so why…
I started thinking that maybe Cha Yuwon and he actually knew each other. Could there be something between them that I don’t know? Then does Kwon Taebeom love… me, or does he love Cha Yuwon? My heart raced unsteadily.
Habitually biting my lower lip, I tasted blood on the tip of my tongue. Kwon Taebeom, checking the wound, clicked his tongue.
“It’s bleeding. I told you to stop picking at it.”
“Ah…”
He examined the torn lips carefully, frowning as if it hurt him more. Kwon Taebeom sat me back on the bed and carefully continued.
“You said you wanted to go to college. You promised Grandma too.”
“St- still, I don’t want to go outside…”
What if something like that happens again if I go out? When I shook my head, Kwon Taebeom brought up an unexpected suggestion.
“Then how about learning from Yoon Seolah, who we met last time?”
“Yoon Seolah…?”
Ah, come to think of it, I had completely forgotten about Yoon Seolah all this time. To the point where I wondered if it was okay to forget her existence this much, even though she’s the female lead of the original work.
“Yeah. I originally brought her here thinking she could tutor you too, killing two birds with one stone.”
Ah, right. That happened then… I do need to start studying again, and I don’t think Yoon Seolah would be very scary…Should I give it a try?
“Then I’ll think about it…”
“Okay, good thinking.”
Kwon Taebeom patted my head. What happened that day wasn’t Kwon Taebeom’s fault nor my fault, it was just an incident that occurred because of slightly bad luck. But my heart ached whenever Kwon Taebeom felt guilty.
He kept patting my head. My head that couldn’t sleep deeply due to nightly nightmares felt hazy. Hoping I wouldn’t have a nightmare this time, I tightly held Kwon Taebeom’s hand and sank into slumber.
***
“Hyungnim. It’s Junseok.”
“Come in.”
At the sound coming from outside the door, Taebeom carefully covered Yuwon with the blanket. Soon Junseok entered.
“What is it?”
“It’s a progress report on the merger and acquisition of the Hwarong Group.”
Taebeom checked the documents Junseok handed over with deep eyes and nodded.
“Proceed like this, as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, and we’ll likely be able to determine Jo Yeon-ju’s whereabouts by this evening at the earliest, or tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“Good work. Are you bringing her to Korea right away?”
“Yes, that’s the plan for now. And about that… it seems Hwarong provided the location.”
“Hwarong did?”
“To be precise, it’s been determined that Executive Director Jo provided it.”
Executive Director Jo was Jo Yeon-ju’s half-brother. Anyway, as long as they could find Jo Yeon-ju, it didn’t matter what route it was through. Taebeom could still vividly picture Yuwon’s appearance from that day in his head.
The first time he found Yuwon, he was really a mess. His whole body was soaked and limp from rain and sweat, and there were all sorts of scratches on his face. Especially his wrists were red and swollen, and he later found out his left hand had a large wound.
From a young age, Taebeom had no fear of blood. He was just used to facing blood all the time. But when Yuwon bled, his vision went white and he felt like his head would burst. Seeing Yuwon struggling to breathe and holding his belly, trying not to lose consciousness till the end, his eyes turned bloodshot. He wanted to kill those bastards right away.
The moment he heard at the hospital that the baby was safe, Taebeom ordered their disposal with a calmer mind than ever as Yuwon lost consciousness.
“Send them to Ganghwa.”
“I understand.”
This time, he definitely won’t let them live.
“Hyungnim, and once again, I apologize.”
Like Taebeom, Junseok’s face had also become very haggard in the past few days. Especially when Yuwon was kidnapped and he saw the photos they sent, he felt like his mind was going blank. Anyway, fortunately after seeing Yuwon and Taebeom were safe, Junseok had handed in his resignation to Taebeom.
‘Hyungnim, this incident occurred because I was lacking. I will take responsibility for this and resign.’
At those words, Taebeom silently looked at Junseok. Only the sound of the clock hand moving remained in the room. Before long, Taebeom opened his mouth.
‘If we must assign blame for this incident, it’s all my fault.’
‘Hyungnim.’
‘It’s my fault for not being careful after already experiencing that incident.’
‘……’
‘And it’s my fault for going to find Yuwon again after that.’
Junseok, keeping his mouth shut, looked at Taebeom wiping his haggard face. As if many thoughts occurred to him after going through this incident, his eyes had a very dark and deep light.
‘So stay by my side so I don’t make the wrong choice like I did then, Junseok.’
Hearing those words, Junseok couldn’t bear to leave Taebeom and Yuwon’s side after all. He could only be careful, and be careful again, so that this kind of incident wouldn’t be repeated.
“Mmm…”
“Okay, you can go now.”
Leaving only a short answer, Junseok gazed for a moment at Taebeom patting Yuwon, then deeply bowed and left the bedroom.
***
“Hello, Mr. Yuwon.”
“Ah… hello.”
Seeing Yoon Seolah sparkling like a bright spring day, my heart felt heavy. As I greeted her awkwardly, fumbling, Yoon Seolah smiled slightly.
“You heard from Mr. Taebeom what we’ll be doing, right?”
“Ah, yes, you’ll be… teaching me.”
“That’s right. You said you went to an academy before, so shall we check how far you’ve learned?”
I thought Yoon Seolah wouldn’t be scary since I had already seen her in the original work, but actually meeting her made me tense up as Secretary Kang came to mind. It was more of an uneasiness towards strangers, not necessarily her.
Then suddenly, her red earrings caught my eye. In the original work, Kwon Taebeom picking up those earrings for her was the starting point for their relationship to officially progress.
Seeing those earrings made my hand tremble unknowingly. Even my breathing quickened and I let out painful sounds like hic, ugh, so Yoon Seolah hurriedly brought a plastic bag and held it to my mouth.
“Exhale deeply, and let’s regulate your breathing while inhaling.”
“Huu, uh… ha, hoo… uh.”
Following Yoon Seolah’s words, I slowly regulated my breathing while feeling the sensation of air entering and leaving my lungs.
“Hoo… woo…”
“Are you feeling a bit better now?”
“Yes… th- thank you.”
“No problem, but has this happened before?”
I avoided her gaze as she stared at me intently, waiting for my answer. The way she familiarly regulated my breathing didn’t seem like it was just a day or two. But the first thought that came to mind was what if Kwon Taebeom found out if I told Yoon Seolah this fact frankly. As if she knew I was hesitating, Yoon Seolah comforted me not to worry.
“I won’t tell Mr. Kwon Taebeom. I’m asking because I want to help you, Mr. Yuwon.”
“……”
“Has this. Happened often?”
It has. To be precise, this has happened often since I found out I possessed Cha Yuwon’s body. Especially when I was alone or suddenly recalled something from the original work, my heart would sink and I couldn’t breathe well.
At first it was mild, but after returning from Hong Kong, the symptoms gradually worsened. Knowing this fact would worry Kwon Taebeom, so I always hid under the blanket or quickly went to the bathroom and waited for the symptoms to subside.
But why did it have to be when Yoon Seolah was here…
“Ple- please don’t tell… Taebeom… He’ll worry.”
Looking at Yoon Seolah with an anxious face, she held my hand and nodded.
“Of course, I promise.”
“…Actually, this has been going on for a while… Since early this year…”
I couldn’t bring myself to say the fact that I’m not Cha Yuwon. I knew the most fundamental reason was because of that, but I had neither the confidence nor courage to tell anyone this secret.
“Early this year, January? February?”
“February.”
After possessing Cha Yuwon’s body, sometimes when I woke up from sleep, these symptoms would repeat. I couldn’t even remember what kind of dream I had, but when I woke up, my body would tremble and everything felt so anxious that I couldn’t do anything.
“Hmm… then when you feel your breathing is unstable, what do you usually think, Mr. Cha Yuwon?”
“…Just that I shouldn’t be here…”