Go Igyeol drove the car Seo Dohyeon had prepared for him and parked it in a public parking lot far from the hospital. Then he caught a taxi nearby and got out in front of the hospital.
He was not late, but it had been close.
There were many people inside the hospital. Things he had not even really noticed when he first came stood out to him strangely clearly now. There were people who, like him, did not have visible bellies yet, and there were couples waiting together. What they all had in common was that the anticipation showed on their faces. The people talking with their spouses while stroking round, swollen bellies looked especially nice.
Even as Go Igyeol notified the front desk that he had arrived, he was busy looking around.
Did people come with their spouses from the early stages? Were they not busy? The fact that they could make time to come to the hospital together felt strange to him.
“Go Igyeol.”
“Yes.”
“Please come in.”
The examination room door opened, and Go Igyeol’s name was called. He had been sitting near the front of the waiting room, and he got up with a slightly stiff expression.
“Hello. Has anything happened over the past two weeks?”
The doctor sitting at the desk looked toward Go Igyeol. At the question, asked in a gentle voice, he hesitated briefly before slowly opening his mouth.
“My spouse… had his rut.”
“Oh dear, I see. May I ask what your spouse’s trait is?”
“…Dominant. And I don’t know whether it’s because of that, but my belly keeps… hurting a little.”
Go Igyeol could not hide the anxiety in his eyes as he confessed it. The doctor let out a long hum and rose from her seat.
“Did you tell your spouse about the pregnancy? Did he knot as well?”
“…Yes. He knotted… several times….”
“You haven’t seen any bleeding, have you?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Go Igyeol, who had risen along with her, answered quickly, and the doctor moved as if that was enough for now.
“Let’s check the ultrasound first.”
A tense Go Igyeol followed after the doctor. While he lay down on the bed and lifted his shirt, tears gathered in his eyes from the fear that something bad might have happened. At the sound of his sniffle, the nurse silently handed him a tissue, and the doctor soothed him.
“It will be all right. Fetuses are stronger than we think. Now, this may feel a little lukewarm. Don’t be startled.”
“Okay….”
The gel streamed onto his belly, and the ultrasound probe was immediately rubbed over it. Hmm, hmm, mm. After the sound of the doctor exhaling slowly through her nose, there came a series of clicks.
Go Igyeol’s gaze turned toward the monitor as well.
When he had first seen the baby, it had looked like a bean clinging to a tiny pouch, but today was different.
“Fortunately, the fetus has been growing well. The size is 2.6 centimeters, and you can see the head, arms, and legs here, right?”
“The baby… The baby is….”
“Just two weeks ago, it looked like a tiny jelly, but now it looks quite a bit like a person, doesn’t it? Usually, babies don’t move this actively around this time, but it seems like the baby is trying to tell Dad not to worry because everything is healthy.”
After checking the fetal heartbeat and heart rate one last time, the doctor ended the ultrasound exam. Go Igyeol wiped his belly with the warm wet towel the nurse handed him, then wiped the remaining moisture once more with a tissue.
“How was the morning sickness?”
The question came as soon as he came out of the ultrasound room and sat in the examination chair.
“When I receive pheromones, the morning sickness disappears completely, but otherwise, my stomach keeps feeling bad. And… I can’t put rice in my mouth.”
At his voice, which sounded sincerely distressed, the doctor smiled as if she had seen something cute.
“Rice?”
“Rice grains.”
“Mm, that can happen with morning sickness. For now, focus on eating plenty of what you can eat, and eat a lot of fruit and meat. You’re taking your nutritional supplements properly, aren’t you?”
Thinking of the supplements he had barely taken lately, Go Igyeol gave a slight shake of his head. The doctor, still smiling, told him it would be better to start taking them properly today at least.
“Even if you miss other things, you need to take folic acid faithfully until twelve weeks. As for the belly pain, nothing looks wrong on the ultrasound, but if the pain doesn’t settle, come back in. And refrain from knotting as much as possible until delivery. Also… mm, you’re scheduled for prenatal testing today.”
“Prenatal testing?”
“It’s to check the pregnant patient’s health. It’s best to do it before pregnancy, but since you’re already pregnant, we’re hurrying a little. This is to check things like your kidney function and whether there are any sexually transmitted infections, so there’s no need to be afraid.”
“Ah….”
The doctor wrote something in the chart, then met Go Igyeol’s eyes again.
“As I told you last time, receive your spouse’s pheromone shower often. Since you’re suffering from morning sickness, if pheromones help, you should make as much use of them as possible.”
“…Yes. But my belly… when will it start showing?”
At Go Igyeol’s question, the doctor and nurse’s eyes both landed on his flat belly. Looking at his abdomen, which was not swollen in the slightest, both of them scratched their cheeks.
“For people with smaller bellies, it still doesn’t show even around six months sometimes….”
“And sometimes it suddenly pops out too….”
“Twelve weeks is three months, so we’ll only be able to tell the size of your belly around then. Right now, we don’t really know.”
“…So you’re saying that by three months, my belly will show?”
There were only three weeks left until twelve weeks. At the idea that it might soon become noticeable, his vision already seemed to swim.
“Well, the uterus grows. The baby is only a few centimeters, but because of the amniotic fluid, it has to show eventually.”
“Ah… amniotic fluid.”
“You’re still in the early stages, so be careful about having sex too roughly. Shall I see you again in two weeks?”
Go Igyeol bowed his head at the doctor’s words and left the examination room. Following the nurse’s guidance, he had the prenatal testing done and even finished paying. Then he sat for a moment in the waiting chairs and organized his thoughts.
There was not much time left until twelve, but he could not move easily.
She had said his belly would show in just three more weeks.
That could not happen.
He could not be found out.
Go Igyeol’s eyes turned toward the pregnant patients around him. There were all kinds of people, from those with softly swollen bellies to people like him whose bellies did not show at all.
How long could he hide it?
Seo Dohyeon’s rut had only just subsided, so they would not have sex for a while. Even so, he could not feel completely safe. If Seo Dohyeon wanted it, Go Igyeol could not refuse, so he would have to do it….
This time too, Seo Dohyeon had pressed him down with force and thrust into him mercilessly, and only after Go Igyeol burst into sobs did he adjust himself.
“…Huh?”
If he cried… would Seo Dohyeon listen?
Go Igyeol stared into the air, his face as if he had suddenly found an answer. Now that he thought about it, whenever he cried, Seo Dohyeon had always stopped everything he was doing and comforted him, however clumsily.
It was not certain, but when Go Igyeol turned it over in his mind, it seemed true.
“…Then….”
Thinking that he should try crying if Seo Dohyeon made an unreasonable demand, he rose from his seat.
Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
“Hello?”
—Igyeol, where are you?
“Hm? Ah, I’m….”
Go Igyeol looked at the digital clock hanging on the hospital wall and hurried toward the stairs. It was not twelve yet. Had Na Seonwoo already come out?
“Where are you?”
—I’m at the bus stop. We said we’d meet here. Where are you? I’ll come that way.
“I’m almost there. I’ll be there soon.”
The moment Go Igyeol left the hospital building, Na Seonwoo’s back caught his eye. Before Na Seonwoo could turn around, Go Igyeol ran into the convenience store on the first floor. He bought two warm bottled drinks, paid for them, and walked slowly toward him.
Na Seonwoo, who had been sitting and staring hard at the road, was startled by the sudden warmth touching his cheek and sprang up from his seat.
“I thought you’d be later. Were you in front of the convenience store?”
“It was cold. Put this in your pocket.”
“What did you take here?”
“I brought my car. But there wasn’t really anywhere to park here, so I parked kind of… far away.”
Na Seonwoo nodded at the added explanation. Muttering that it must have taken Go Igyeol a while to walk over, he asked what he wanted to eat.
“I asked earlier too, but you just ignored me.”
“I was going to tell you when we met. I’d rather have noodles than rice. What about you?”
“I like noodles too. There’s a place here that makes incredible seafood jjamppong. Want to go there?”
Supporting Go Igyeol’s back as if escorting him, Na Seonwoo stopped him from going straight and corrected his direction. Then he laughed openly, as if something amused him.
“Why?”
“It just made me think of how you used to walk straight ahead even when you didn’t know the way back in school.”
“When I was with you?”
“Yeah, when we worked on assignments together. You don’t remember, do you?”
At the smiling question, Go Igyeol nodded awkwardly. To be honest, the only thing that remained in his memory about Na Seonwoo was the fact that he had been the class representative.
“I thought so. But it’s okay, because I remember everything.”
“……”
“It’s really nice seeing you again like this. Strange, too.”
“Me too. I’m really glad to see you… and, yes. It feels strange.”
As if pleased by Go Igyeol’s answer, Na Seonwoo smiled and suddenly took hold of his thin arm, pulling him closer. But when he sensed that Go Igyeol was covered in an alpha’s pheromones, he faintly frowned.
“Huh?”
“Watch out in front of you.”
“Why?”
“The sidewalk block is sticking up. A lot of people trip here.”
Go Igyeol murmured his thanks and awkwardly smiled as he pulled his captured arm free. Na Seonwoo looked down regretfully at the arm moving away, then smiled out of habit.
“How’s married life? Is it good?”
“…It’s just normal.”
“You must be really happy, right? Since you get to be with the person you love every day.”
At that buoyant voice, Go Igyeol’s gaze, which had been directed at the ground, lifted straight ahead.
From the time he married Seo Dohyeon until now, had he ever been happy while living with him?
Looking at Go Igyeol’s expressionless face, Na Seonwoo asked again, more seriously.
“No? Then do you regret getting married?”