CH 19

“Ha-hyun-ah, wake up.”

When the warm thing next to him disappeared and felt empty, Ha-hyun woke up from his slumber. Just as he heard him calling, he (Ha-hyun) rubbed his heavy eyelids and his calloused hands (Cho-seung’s) stopped him.

“You will get hurt.”

He gently rubbed his eyelids and comforted Ha-hyun until he came to his senses.

As he began to doze off again due to his warm touch, Cho-seung hurriedly withdrew his hand. He guessed it was better to give up trying to pull himself out of sleep completely.

He seemed to be in a shallow state of consciousness, so Cho-seung spoke out in a quiet voice.

“Ha-hyun-ah.”

“Ung…”

“I have to go to work. I cooked something, so don’t buy anything and eat it.”

“Ung…”

Cho-seung laughed at Ha-hyun, who just nodded without knowing what he was saying. Tossing and turning at the sound of low laughter, he patted his body in a steady rhythm to put him back to sleep.

Cho-seung wrapped another blanket over his body as if to replace his missing body temperature, hugged him tightly, kissed him on the forehead one last time, and left the room.

* * *

Going to work with a pregnant partner was more insecure than he thought. Especially since he, a recessive omega, was pregnant with twins. Besides, since he had endured nine weeks, or more, without alpha pheromones, he might have been more anxious for some reason.

It would be nice if it could be filled (in with pheromones) at once, but it was a job that required time to fill in the missing parts, so it was burdensome to be away for a long time. When he came back from Busan yesterday, he repeatedly asked Ha-hyun if it was okay to be alone, but he just said that it didn’t matter because he seemed to be lacking in awareness.

“I should quit my job quickly…”

Cho-seung, who muttered while putting on his shoes with a stick, looked at the bedroom where Ha-hyun was sleeping. Apparently, there was one member of the team who applied for a leave of absence because his partner was pregnant, but he wondered how he endured it until the application deadline was reached.

Realizing that it was a big deal only when it became his time, Cho-seung scratched his head and took off the shoes he was wearing.

“Let’s just put pheromone so he can build a nest.”

He really should just do this and go to work. Really.

Unaware that this was the fourth time he had come back from the front door like this, Cho-seung took out the blanket from the sofa and his clothes from the dressing room.

He was sitting in the middle of the living room, smearing pheromones on his clothes one by one, when Ha-hyun came out of the bedroom.

“Oh?”

“Ah, are you awake?”

Ha-hyun looked at Cho-seung, who was still at home and at the clock hanging in the living room, then tilted his head.

“It’s 8:40.”

“Oh?”

It was merely reciting the time, but Cho-seung, startled, looked at his watch. He woke up around 6:30, but he didn’t know when the time became like this.

“Seriously…”

“Are you not going to work?”

“No, no! Wait a minute, I have to go.”

Cho-seung, who barely came to his senses at Ha-hyun’s words, hurriedly organized his clothes and headed for the front door.

Following him to see him off, Ha-hyun’s nose hit Cho-seung’s back when he suddenly stopped.

Hearing his pain, Cho-seung quickly turned around and bent down.

“Sorry, does it hurt a lot?”

“No… It’s fine.”

Ha-hyun, who was shaking his head while rubbing his nose, raised his head at the soft, wet touch he felt on his forehead.

“I put pheromones on the clothes I arranged in the living room. Use it to build a nest. And you should eat well, I’ll come back as early as possible. If you want something to eat, don’t go out and call me. Texting is fine.”

“You nag too much.”

“It can be dangerous, so don’t go out without someone accompanying you.”

I know, so go quickly. You’re late.

Not wanting to hear the nagging, Ha-hyun pushed Cho-seung’s chest hard.

Cho-seung, who had been pushed, soon turned around and put on the shoes he had already taken off four times.

“If you feel any pain, call me right away. Got it?”

“I get it, I get it.”

I’m old enough to be nagged.

Ha-hyun shook his head and kicked Cho-seung out of the house, telling him to go to work quickly, and sighed as he heard the front door closing.

The new housemate was nagging too much. Besides, he was very worried.

* * *

Meanwhile, for the first time in his life, Cho-seung was late for work and tried to adjust his expression while receiving stares. Embarrassed by the team leader’s words that he was concerned, thinking that he had been in an accident, he apologized and sat down.

Just because he decided to leave the company, the work didn’t disappear, but Cho-seung first started working as usual. Of course, he didn’t forget to ask the team leader to take some time to convey his words through his personal messenger.

If he thought of a takeover, he would be able to quit the company after a month, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold on until then. How nice it would be to quit after giving a resignation letter. Knowing that it wouldn’t be that easy, Cho-seung let out a sigh.

After spending the morning mechanically tapping on the keyboard, he stood up at the invitation of the team leader to have lunch together.

‘I should call Ha-hyun—’

Had he eaten. He was worried that he might have driven outside because he wanted something else to eat.

To be honest, even while working, he spent his time thinking about Ha-hyun, who was alone at home. It was safe to say that work efficiency had seriously decreased.

“So, what happened?”

After taking a bite of the doganitang that came out quickly and rinsing his mouth with water at the question, Cho-seung chose his words for a moment. (도가니탕, meant ox knee soup, here)

“I’m going to resign.”

“What?”

The team leader, who was making a list of what Cho-seung would say in his head, put down his spoon at the word resignation.

“Why? Did you get any good offers?”

There was a possibility. Cho-seung was a famous person in the industry. However, he had been treated pretty well by the company now, so he wondered if there could be a better offer than that.

“That’s not it. I’m going to be unemployed for a while.”

“What’s going on?”

“Because my partner is pregnant.”

When the word “partner” came out of his mouth, he unconsciously remembered Ha-hyun and smiled. The team leader, who was sitting across from him and watching him, calmed down his bewilderment.

“You know that our company can take maternity leave even if your partner is pregnant, right?”

“That period is not enough. My partner is a recessive omega. He happened to be pregnant with twins.”

“Ah… It would be a problem.”

The team leader, who immediately understood the reason for leaving the company, had a headache. If Cho-seung was a simple new employee, he would have just submitted his resignation without any hassle, but he was a key person in the department. As such, it wasn’t something that could be easily solved by hiring new recruits.

“First of all, I understand. It doesn’t look like you’re going to change your mind and it’s not even a matter of that. I’ll try to get the resignation date as soon as possible. But it will be two weeks at least.”

“Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”

Cho-seung, who received a clear answer, was satisfied. As he listened to the words of dissuade, his concerns that the processing might be delayed were to no avail.

After finishing the planned conversation, the two emptied the bowl cleanly while talking about work. As he was about to return to work, Cho-seung stopped walking when his phone vibrated.

“Shall I go in first?”

“Ah, yes. I will go in later.”

Ha-hyun’s name was on the screen, so he urgently wanted to check the contents, but he raised his head at the team leader’s sudden words. After a short conversation, he stepped out of the way and let out a smile at the content of the short text message.

[I want to eat kimchijjim.] (김치찜, meant braised kimchi, here)

He laughed when he saw a photo attached to prove that he had emptied the breakfast he had prepared in advance under it.

He couldn’t control the twitching of his lips. After repeatedly enlarging the picture that filled the screen with two fingers, he left the message app and immediately called Ha-hyun.

[…are you not working?]

“There’s such a thing called lunchtime.”

[Ah.]

As soon as the connection was made, the first thing he said was, “Are you not working.”

“I can make kimchijjim, but it takes a long time to eat it quickly. Are you okay though?”

[Then I’ll order the food.]

Order food. Recalling the stimulating taste unique to delivery food, Cho-seung made a disapproving expression, but he said he would understand it. How sad it was to not be able to eat what he wanted to eat.

“Alright, Ha-hyun-ah.”

[Uung?]

He seemed to have switched to the speakerphone as if he was already looking for a store. He stuck out his tongue at his quick execution and asked what he had forgotten.

“Do you like dongchimi?” (varian of kimchi that Cho-seung’s mom made)

[Dongchimi…? Ung. I want to eat it.]

Thanks to Cho-seung’s words, Ha-hyun naturally recalled dongchimi and swallowed his saliva. Cool, sweet soup and crunchy radish. When he thought of dongchimi with thin ice, his mouth drooled.

“Right. Anything else you want to eat?”

[Something else? Pajeon… No, I want to eat buchujeon.] (파전, pajeon meant green-onion pancake, here; 부추전, buchujeon meant chive pancake, here)

Fortunately, it was a quick dish. Cho-seung, secretly nervous about what to do if he said something like kimchijjim, was relieved. He thought it would be all he needed to buy pancake powder and chives when he left work.

[Ah, come to think of it, do you know hayan sundubujjigae?] (하얀 순두부찌개, meant white soft tofu stew)

“Hayan sundubujjigae?”

[Ung. I saw it on the internet today.]

What the hell is hayan sundubujjigae.

Cho-seung, who knew only the red soup for sundubujjigae, tilted his head slightly. Why ate it if sundubujjigae didn’t taste spicy?

[It looked delicious.]

“You want to go eat it?”

[Ung. Let’s go on the weekend.]

A voice filled with anticipation returned, probably forgetting that he had asked to go to Jeonju to eat gukbap.

Cho-seung decided not to remind him of the story he had already forgotten and replied that he would. The idea that he might be able to make it through a national tour by the time he gave birth seemed like it would really come true.