That was not exactly the kind of thing someone asked while walking down the street.
Go Igyeol turned away from the empty air he had been staring at and looked at Na Seonwoo, then let out a dry laugh. The sound rang lightly, as if he found the whole thing absurd.
“You got married so young… I thought maybe you might feel that way.”
“I don’t regret it. Let’s go.”
Go Igyeol answered flatly and started walking. He did not know the way, but he still moved several steps ahead. Na Seonwoo let out a faint sigh, rubbed at the reddened rim of his ear, then started after him.
“We only have to go a little farther.”
“How far?”
“Right past the intersection.”
“Is this your office?”
Go Igyeol asked as he pointed at the black sign hanging overhead.
Na Seunghee Law Office.
Looking at the name written in neat letters, Go Igyeol remembered meeting Na Seunghee.
The first time, he had been too tense to understand it clearly, but when they met again, he had known exactly what Na Seunghee felt. A feeling obvious enough without having to look closely. When he was showing so plainly that he liked Seo Dohyeon, how could Go Igyeol not know?
“Yeah, that’s right. This is it. Do you want to stop in for a minute later?”
“No. I just saw it while we were passing by, so I asked.”
“My cousin went to court for a trial, so no one’s in the office. He said he wasn’t coming back in today.”
“…Maybe later.”
As Go Igyeol began walking again, Na Seonwoo came close beside him and asked how he had been lately. His mouth did not rest once until they reached the restaurant. Go Igyeol answered him as sincerely as he could, with suitable words and nods, since Na Seonwoo was trying hard not to make things awkward.
If not for Na Seonwoo, he would not have had any excuse that let him go to the hospital.
“Go in. It was a little cold for a walk, wasn’t it?”
“No, I’m fine. The weather feels mild today.”
With his cheeks flushed red from the cold, Go Igyeol stepped through the door Na Seonwoo held open for him and murmured his thanks. Maybe because it was lunchtime and there were many offices nearby, the dining area was packed with office workers. When an employee asked them to wait a little, the two of them took a number ticket and went into the small waiting room.
“Sorry. There are way too many people.”
“That’s what lunch hour is like.”
Maybe because the smells of several different Chinese dishes were mixed together, his stomach, which had been fine outside, began to turn. Go Igyeol wrinkled the bridge of his nose and breathed out in short bursts. Na Seonwoo was too busy looking around the dining area to see when a table might open.
“Ah, wait….”
“Huh? The bathroom?”
“Yeah, a little….”
Go Igyeol clapped a hand over his mouth and faltered, not knowing where to go, so Na Seonwoo grabbed him by the shoulders and guided him himself. When Go Igyeol’s back lurched because he could not hold back the gagging, Na Seonwoo was even more startled than he was and nearly jumped.
“Are you okay? Wait, here, go in here!”
Go Igyeol pushed through the red door and went straight into an open stall, where he threw up the nuts he had eaten before leaving.
The retching sounds came one after another, while Na Seonwoo fidgeted helplessly outside the door. By the time he knocked on the bathroom door with a hollow BANG, BANG, BANG, Go Igyeol had emptied his stomach, pressed down the toilet lever, and pulled himself upright from where he had collapsed.
He pressed hard around his eyes for a moment, drained, then opened the door and went out. Na Seonwoo, who had gone just as white as he had, took one step back.
“Are you okay?”
“…I’m okay.”
“Is your stomach really bad?”
“A little.”
Standing in front of the sink, Go Igyeol rinsed his mouth and glanced through the mirror at Na Seonwoo behind him.
Had he noticed?
“Why are you watching my face like that?”
“…Sorry.”
“I thought you were going to pass out. You scared me.”
As Go Igyeol wiped his wet mouth with a paper towel, he thought it would be difficult to eat here. But he felt bad asking Na Seonwoo to go somewhere else. As if he had looked inside Go Igyeol’s head, Na Seonwoo said they should leave.
“The wait’s too long anyway. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“…….”
“Do you still want noodles?”
“…Rice isn’t really…”
Na Seonwoo seemed to think of a suitable place. He snapped his thumb and forefinger together with a sharp click and smiled.
“This place is better for a drink after work, honestly.”
“…….”
“But it happens to be open right now. It’s kind of shabby, but there’s never a wait. Let’s go.”
Na Seonwoo wrapped an arm around Go Igyeol’s shoulders and pulled the sleeve of the sweatshirt he was wearing under his thin padded jacket down long. He muttered something incomprehensible like, “Just a second,” then used it to cover Go Igyeol’s nose and mouth.
He even raised and lowered his brows in a playful little gesture, smiling lightly.
As soon as they left through the door they had come in by, Na Seonwoo took his hand away from Go Igyeol’s face.
“That was okay, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Let’s go. This place I’m talking about has seriously, seriously incredible udon. And it’s close.”
Na Seonwoo walked briskly toward an udon shop not far from the Chinese restaurant. Every so often, he checked Go Igyeol’s pace, then pointed at a restaurant with an old sign.
“There. We’re almost there.”
Go Igyeol’s gaze moved along the end of his finger. The sign looked old, and because a few of the lights had gone out, parts of it were dark. Still, it definitely seemed less crowded than the Chinese restaurant from earlier.
“This is one of those real hidden places only people who know about it come to.”
“Really?”
“They only sell udon. So the only smell is something salty and savory.”
Go Igyeol followed Na Seonwoo through the entrance of the low building and up the stairs. When he had looked up at the building from outside, he thought it would smell musty, but strangely, there was no smell at all. When Na Seonwoo pushed open the black wooden door, the old hinges turned with a CREEEAK.
“Boss!”
Na Seonwoo called familiarly to the man making something in the kitchen.
“Hm? Oh? Seonwoo, you’re here? Here for lunch?”
“I brought a friend. I told him there’s a place with killer udon.”
A man with a hearty look came out to greet them. He wiped his damp hands on the apron tied tight around his waist and showed them to a table.
“I don’t normally give this kind of service, but this is the first time Seonwoo’s ever brought anyone here, so I’m doing it for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Goodness, your friend is so delicate and handsome. This way, this way is warm. The warm air blows straight down over here.”
The man brought a heater from behind the counter, fixed its head in Go Igyeol’s direction, told them to wait just a little, and returned to the kitchen.
“The owner seems really nice.”
“He has a great personality, and his cooking is even better.”
Since there was nothing in particular to talk about, Go Igyeol ended with a nod and looked out the window. There were especially many people on the street who looked like office workers. Seeing that each of them was holding a coffee with a green sleeve around it, lunch hour seemed to be coming to an end.
“But are you okay on time?”
“Time? Ah, lunch? Of course. I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“Because of me, are you going to have to work without even getting a proper break?”
“Seunghee isn’t in today, so I can slack off as much as I want. I’m almost done organizing the documents too, so it’s really fine. Don’t worry.”
Na Seonwoo held up both hands and waved them emphatically, telling him not to mind. Go Igyeol swept up the bangs that had fallen over his forehead and smiled awkwardly.
That was when a question he had not expected suddenly popped out of Na Seonwoo.
“That… earlier, that was morning sickness, wasn’t it?”
“…What?”
“No? I saw my older brother do that a few times when he was pregnant. His morning sickness was so bad he could barely eat properly.”
“…Na Seunghee?”
“No? My actual older brother. Seunghee’s my cousin.”
Na Seonwoo laughed as if he had heard something ridiculous. Then he composed his expression and continued carefully.
“Seeing you earlier, it looked exactly like when my brother had morning sickness. And your pheromones were so… It was only your spouse’s scent on you. Did he deliberately cover you in it? My brother said that’s what you’re supposed to do for a pregnant patient.”
Today was the first time Go Igyeol learned that when a person was too shocked, words truly did not come out.
His mouth would not move, as if it had hardened shut.
All he could think was what he should say to make this pass as if he were not pregnant.
“Go Igyeol?”
“…How did you…”
“I mean, if that happens in a restaurant, isn’t that naturally the first thing you think of? You’re married, and you’re an omega. Isn’t that what would naturally come to mind?”
At Go Igyeol’s anxiously wavering eyes, Na Seonwoo realized something was strange.
Was he not supposed to let on that he knew?
Or was Go Igyeol not pregnant?
If it was not pregnancy, what else was left? Indigestion? Or if not that…
“…Na Seonwoo, listen.”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah.”
“…No one knows yet, so maybe…”
“…….”
Go Igyeol wet his dry lips with his tongue and opened his mouth. As if he had no idea how to ask, he stumbled over his words and kept watching Na Seonwoo’s face. His large eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck them.
“This might sound strange… but can you pretend you don’t know? No one, no one knows yet.”
“…No one knows? Shouldn’t at least your spouse find out quickly? Or not? My brother called every single person in the family the second he took the test and told them. But… the only comparison I have is my brother, so I’m not sure either, but even if the people around you don’t know, your… your spouse should know right away, I think.”
“…It’s still the early stages. It isn’t stable yet, so I’m keeping it secret. Of course I’ll tell him. It’s a baby he’s been waiting so much for. Everyone, the whole family, has been waiting for this baby.”