What time was it?
It seemed like I had fallen into a very deep sleep. Perhaps because of that, my mind felt hazy, and my eyelids were so heavy that I could barely open them.
But unlike the weakness and misery I’d felt from being sick yesterday, this time my body only felt sluggish because I’d slept for too long. I was floating somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, suspended in that hazy state after a deep slumber.
The high fever and aches that had plagued my entire body were gone. In their place was a much greater sense of relief.
However, for some time now, I’d kept hearing faint murmurs and buzzing sounds in my ears, like the indistinct voices of people having a conversation.
Wait a minute.
Why were there unfamiliar voices in my house?
In my bedroom, no less?
While I was still dazed and unable to understand what was going on, the conversation between the two men gradually became clearer.
—-“It’s not bad. Let’s go with that, then. But the most important thing is still Mr. Eun Woo’s opinion.”
“Leave that to me.”
My opinion was the most important?
What was he planning to handle himself, and why was my name coming up in their conversation?
I desperately wanted to know exactly what they were talking about, but the words kept fading in and out.
I wanted to sit up and demand an explanation, but my body refused to obey.
My eyelids felt as though they had been glued shut.
My throat and lips were painfully dry, making me desperately thirsty, while my back ached from lying down for so long.
Even so, I couldn’t just lie there forever. I summoned all my strength and tried to move my stiff body.
“…Ugh…”
“Huh? Baek Eun Woo! Eun Woo, are you awake?”
The person who reacted most strongly to my groan was none other than Director Cha Ju Heon.
The sudden sound of his voice left me dazed for a moment before memories of the phone call just before I lost consciousness gradually came rushing back.
Ah, right.
I’d passed out because I’d gotten sick.
So I hadn’t simply fallen asleep. I’d actually been unconscious.
Cha Ju Heon must have come all the way here because the call had been abruptly cut off.
I had no idea how he’d gotten into my home, but that was the only explanation I could think of.
For now, I needed to answer him.
“…Direc…tor…”
I’d intended to answer calmly, but the sound that came out was incredibly strange.
Against my wishes, my voice trembled and came out hoarse and raspy, like the tragic protagonist of a melodramatic movie who had somehow ended up sounding inexplicably whiny.
Yet Cha Ju Heon didn’t seem to care at all.
He hurriedly helped me sit up, slipping his large hand behind my back to support me.
When he saw me clutching my throat and asking for water, he immediately brought the glass to my lips.
Good grief.
What astonishing treatment.
“…Ah!”
The moment the sip of water went down my throat, I couldn’t help crying out.
“What is it? Can’t you drink it? I deliberately got you warm water. Is it difficult to swallow?”
My throat burned as though it were being pricked by needles, leaving me with no energy to answer him.
The coolness of the water was immediately followed by a stabbing pain that seemed to pierce straight through me.
I didn’t know whether my throat was swollen or scratched, but every time the water passed through it, it hurt terribly.
Without meaning to, I’d somehow turned into a weak, fussy person who couldn’t stop making a scene.
How embarrassing.
“Dry… cough, cough… I’m fine… cough…”
As if that weren’t enough, I followed it up with a violent coughing fit, taking my nuisance level to the absolute limit.
I was overwhelmed with embarrassment.
“You probably drank too quickly. Take it slowly. Breathe deeply. That’s it. Just like that.”
To keep me from feeling embarrassed about my flushed face, Cha Ju Heon gently reassured me.
It was the first time I’d ever heard him speak in such a gentle tone.
Perhaps he was only being this considerate because I was sick, but my cheeks still burned.
Maybe my fever hadn’t completely gone away yet.
“…Thank you.”
“If you’re tired, don’t force yourself to talk. It’s a relief that you woke up. You’ve been lying completely motionless since yesterday, and I was extremely worried. The doctors said that if you didn’t wake up by today, they’d have to consider another option.”
“The… hospital?”
While trying to soothe my throat after the coughing fit, I froze when I heard him mention the hospital.
Was this a hospital?
Only then did I notice the unfamiliar blankets and pillows around me and realize that Cha Ju Heon hadn’t broken into my apartment at all.
He’d taken me to the hospital.
I really wanted to ask what the “other option” he’d mentioned was.
I glanced toward the window.
The sky outside was completely covered in darkness.
It was already night.
Did that mean I’d slept for an entire day?
Rather than simply sleeping for a long time, I’d clearly been in a deep coma.
It was astonishing to open my eyes and find that an entire day had already passed.
“It’s good that you’ve woken up, but your voice still sounds terrible. You need to be careful.”
“…Chair…man?”
A familiar voice came from behind Cha Ju Heon.
I looked over and saw the Chairman sitting there, watching me.
Oh my goodness.
Even the Chairman had come here?
So surprised that I could barely process it, I called out to him in my hoarse, croaky voice.
He immediately raised a hand, signaling me not to strain myself, then gestured for me to lie down and rest.
“I heard you were sick, and I was so worried that I took the liberty of coming here to see you myself.”
“Oh, no, Chairman. Thank you for coming to visit me.”
“There’s no need to thank me. Of course I had to come. Would you like to lie down and get more comfortable?”
“No, I’m fine sitting like this.”
“All right, then.”
Respecting my wishes, Cha Ju Heon carefully supported my back and helped me sit against the headboard.
The Chairman stood beside him, watching the way he took care of me with an extraordinarily intrigued expression, as though he were observing some rare mythical creature.
Once my mind had cleared a little, I remembered the most important thing and asked Cha Ju Heon:
“The baby… is it okay? Since I got sick, did anything bad happen to the baby?”
My heart tightened at the thought that my health might have negatively affected the baby.
My concern wasn’t simply because of the contract anymore.
I genuinely worried about the tiny life growing inside me.
Whether or not he understood what was in my heart, Cha Ju Heon let out a sigh and carefully pulled the blanket up over my stomach.
“The baby is perfectly fine, of course. But right now, you shouldn’t be worrying about the baby. You need to worry about your own health first. I’m sorry I let things get this far without realizing what was happening.”
A man like Cha Ju Heon, whom I’d always assumed had never apologized to anyone, was now apologizing to me.
My illness wasn’t his fault.
His sudden remorse left me extremely flustered.
“My grandson still has a lot to learn. I should have paid more attention too, and I’m very sorry. Making a young student like you struggle because of this contract was already something I felt guilty about, and now I’ve let you become this sick. I really have no face to show you.”
“Oh, no, Chairman. It’s because I didn’t know how to take care of myself…”
“The problem is… this time, it isn’t a matter of whether you knew how to take care of yourself .”
“Pardon?”
“The doctor will explain everything in more detail during rounds later, but… I’ll explain first so you can understand the state your body is currently in and why you became ill.”
“Director… why are you saying that? Is something seriously wrong with me?”
Cha Ju Heon’s hesitant attitude made me suspicious.
Could something have gone wrong with the pregnancy?
He gently shook his head to reassure me, then, after hesitating for a while, finally began to speak.
While I was listening to the explanation that my illness had been caused by insufficient pheromone interaction between the two of us, the doctor came in and went over everything in greater detail.
Thanks to that, I finally understood the problem.
In short, I’d gotten sick because my body was deficient in Cha Ju Heon’s alpha pheromones.
There had been a few jackets he’d infused with his pheromones for me to use before, but because both of us had been busy, we’d become careless and stopped doing it.
That was how things had ended up this way.
The more Cha Ju Heon explained, the more clearly I understood all the strange symptoms my body had been experiencing.
Why did I always feel so much healthier whenever I was around him?
It turned out it hadn’t been my imagination.
Even the faint traces of pheromones he naturally released in his everyday life had been enough to have a positive effect on my body.
“From now on, your health must be the top priority. If this happens again, it could become truly dangerous.”
“I understand… If I get sick, the baby won’t be in good condition either. I should have paid more attention too…”
“I’m not talking about worrying about the baby. I’m talking about you. Your health is the most important thing right now. The baby and the surrogate pregnancy contract come after your health.”
Cha Ju Heon frowned as he emphasized that I myself was his number-one priority.
Hearing him firmly insist that I mattered more than even the baby made my face flush again.
It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but this was the first time anyone had ever worried so much about my health.
I felt awkward and embarrassed, so I quickly changed the subject.
“Then… is there anything we can do? We should figure something out, because everything can only proceed smoothly if I’m healthy.”
“The best solution is for us not to be separated. We need to stay together.”
“Ah, not be separated… stay together… stay together…? What?”
I repeated his words like a machine, then suddenly blurted out the last word when I realized what he meant.
What?
“What do you think about living with me?”
His serious expression left me completely frozen.
I wasn’t sure what exactly he meant by “living together.”
Was he talking about some kind of residential arrangement?
Surely he didn’t mean something like dormitory life…
“What do you mean…?”
“Eun Woo. From now until the contract ends, stay with me. I’m suggesting that we live under the same roof for the time being.”
What… what?