M 68

The connected controller was clearly state-of-the-art, but the massive window moved at a leisurely pace as if it had all the time in the world. Was it deliberately trying to get on his nerves? Ki Tae-jeong pressed the buttons repeatedly in frustration, only for the maddening message to pop up, saying the system had temporarily paused for safety reasons.

“Damn it…”

Lee Sehwa was taking deep breaths with his head turned towards the window. The bit of outside air seemed to help somewhat, as he wasn’t showing the violent vomiting symptoms from before. But he hadn’t returned to a normal state either. The dry heaving had barely stopped, but Sehwa was still trembling slightly and dripping cold sweat. He looked so pitiful that even his worst enemy might feel sympathy seeing him sprawled out like that.

“…-General.”

Why was he acting like this? Should I pour out the water from the flower vase, or maybe throw the whole vase? While pondering such things…

“Brigadier…”

Amidst all this, he thought he heard a voice calling him. Ki Tae-jeong turned around with a dubious expression. Did Sehwa really just call for him?

“Did you just call for me?”

His voice, unusually cautious, carried a hint of doubt. Of course, to Lee Sehwa, it probably sounded as cold and indifferent as usual, but Ki Tae-jeong’s intentions were different this time.

Just before, he had cut off everything Sehwa was saying and pushed forward with his own temper, leading to this mess. Sehwa’s condition had worsened but he couldn’t even speak up and was just suffering alone. With his strange constitution and now even pregnant, if things got worse from here it could truly become unmanageable. So from now on, he planned to at least pretend to listen when Sehwa spoke.

Of course, no matter what excuse was given, he wouldn’t back down on registering as the guardian.

“Ah, yes… I’m sorry, but could you…”

Sehwa closed his eyes tightly as if nausea was rising again and swallowed hard. But,

“Could you… come a little closer…”

The words he barely managed to utter through his dry throat were,

“You want me to come closer?”

It was something Ki Tae-jeong couldn’t have even imagined.

“To you? Me?”

Sehwa nodded. It was a pitifully small and labored gesture, as weak as his cracked voice.

Come closer… Ki Tae-jeong took a step as if entranced. It wasn’t a difficult request at all. It was almost embarrassing to even call it a request, just… It was the first time Sehwa had sought out his presence itself, so he felt a bit dazed. Even when feverish and ill, Sehwa had barely asked him not to leave, and even when he started to faintly become aware of his presence, he had apologized first.

Of course, he had shown some playful behavior before. Sehwa had complained about why he couldn’t go out when even dogs get to go for walks, and while being cautious, he had chattered on about various things. Compared to the beginning, he was certainly less intimidated by him.

But no matter how comfortable he got, he tried not to cross a certain line. He didn’t ask how things were going with Lieutenant Kim, or what his own role would be going forward. He didn’t ask what a check card was, and even when Ki Tae-jeong was away from the office more often, he just accepted it. Sehwa never even asked simple questions like when he’d be back, or made trivial requests like asking to buy something he wanted to eat.

“Even closer?”

“…Yes.”

For that guy, who would obviously be uncomfortable with him in this situation more than ever before, to beg him to come closer. While the reason was unclear and puzzling, it wasn’t bothersome or unpleasant. It was much better to see than him following behind like a ghost with a half-dead expression.

“Haah…”

As soon as Sehwa sensed his presence, he removed the hand covering his mouth and took a deep breath. Like someone who had just escaped from a cramped space. Like someone who had finally surfaced after a long time underwater. …Like someone who had desperately craved Ki Tae-jeong’s scent.

“The perfume smell must be strong, from me too.”

“It is, but… this still feels better somehow…”

Sehwa mumbled while averting his gaze awkwardly.

Ki Tae-jeong brushed his hands in the air. Just in case any flower essence had gotten on them.

“Alright, so rest now.”

Then he wrapped his arm around the shoulder of the foolish man who couldn’t even ask him to come a little closer. It was the most careful touch he had ever used with Sehwa, yet the exhausted and thin body stumbled greatly and collapsed into his arms.

“Oh my, is the madam ill? Your complexion…”

The staff member who had just brought the tablet rushed over in alarm.

“Should we call an ambulance? Or maybe a medical helicopter…”

The shadow that had briefly lifted from Sehwa’s face returned. Then he made a scratching sound in his throat as if about to dry heave again. Even the scent wafting through the air as people moved seemed difficult for him to bear.

“What the hell did you spray in the reception room?”

“Pardon?”

“What did you do to make someone like this… Never mind, isn’t there a room without flowers and air fresheners… without any of those damn fragrant… I mean, without any scented items at all?”

The staff member who had been confused for a moment nodded vigorously as if struck by realization.

“The morning sickness must be severe.”

“…Morning sickness?”

Ki Tae-jeong looked down at the top of Sehwa’s head with a face like he’d been struck. What? Morning sickness?

“Oh, have there been no symptoms until now? Seeing how surprised you are, Brigadier…”

So the reason Sehwa suddenly collapsed was.

“Hmm, I think it said 6 weeks on the hologram earlier. Then it’s about time for it to start.”

He can’t even handle a bit of incense and is struggling like this… because he’s carrying my child?

“I had pretty bad morning sickness too… Even plain water smells fishy, so I couldn’t drink anything for a while.”

A furrow formed between his brows involuntarily. The real-life example from someone with experience was beyond Ki Tae-jeong’s imagination. Unable to even drink water. Was morning sickness really that terrifying?

“There’s a small glass greenhouse just across the way. How about taking a short break there? The natural smell of greenery has never bothered me much, and I sometimes go there myself when I need a breather.”

“But that morning sickness…”

“Pardon?”

“…No, that glass greenhouse. Which way is it?”

Ki Tae-jeong cut off the thoughts that kept branching out. Ha. Now wasn’t the time to ponder what morning sickness was or how to deal with it going forward. Clinging to problems with no answers here would only make Sehwa’s body suffer more.

“I’ll guide you this way. It’s very close.”

Sliding his hand under Sehwa’s knees, he lifted him in a side carry. Supporting him while walking seemed difficult due to their height difference. And carrying him on his back worried him about the baby inside. More precisely, he was concerned that the tiny nail-sized being might get pressed and negatively affect Sehwa’s body.

No matter how he was carried, Sehwa buried his face in Tae-jeong’s torso without moving. Warm breath touched near where his heart was located. Somehow, that faint, weak breathing felt like it was piercing through his skin and wrapping heavily around the inside of his body.

***

Sehwa, who had been limp, opened his eyes hazily. All he could see was green. In this surreal space built entirely of glass, unknown plants were growing straight and beautiful. Despite the season and it being a time of day with considerable reflected heat, it wasn’t too hot. It was a comfortably warm yet cool temperature anyone would like. A gentle breeze caressed his cheeks, as if there was a built-in ventilation system.

Sehwa blankly stared at the fresh and artificial scenery, then buried his forehead again in what he was leaning against. He took a deep breath, inhaling the cool, familiar scent. Come to think of it, where was this? It didn’t seem like heaven. Thanks to the intense and unpleasant pain he had felt for the first time, his memories were intermittently cut off. He remembered being in so much pain that he asked Ki Tae-jeong for help, Ki Tae-jeong got angry, and then suddenly picked him up and started moving somewhere…

“…Ah!”

Sehwa, who had been sorting through his jumbled memories, suddenly lifted his head at a scene that came to mind. What he had been squashing under his cheek wasn’t some hard pillow, but… Ki Tae-jeong’s chest.

“Stay still.”

“Why am I like this…”

“I said stay still. Unless you want your head cracked open.”

The man clicked his tongue softly as he held down the flustered Sehwa.

“So, how’s your stomach? Still feel like throwing up?”

It was both startling and embarrassing. To think he had been peacefully sleeping on the man’s lap, resting his head on his chest…

Yet more than feeling sorry towards the man, a hint of spite poked through. No, “spite” is too cute an expression. “Resentment” would be better. Thinking back to the situation just before he collapsed, Ki Tae-jeong hadn’t done anything right either. He was scared of the people crowding around him with smiles, and their casual words made it hard to breathe. Loving husband, how nice for you, madam, guardian registration… Just recalling it made him feel choked up again. Meanwhile, Ki Tae-jeong got angry, saying every time he opened his mouth, was the guardian registration really that objectionable?

“…They say the morning sickness is severe.”

But the indifferent voice of the man pouring down on his crown, and the equally indifferent content of his words were so unexpected that,

“Morning sickness?”

Sehwa could only stammer, repeating what he had said.

“You say the morning sickness is severe?”

“…A symptom that appears when pregnant.”

Ki Tae-jeong swept his hair to the opposite side. It was a neurotic, no, rather… what should he call it. It seemed like an anxious gesture.

“You start disliking foods you usually enjoy. Certain smells become nauseating… You know, that kind of thing.”

“…Ah.”

Sehwa looked down at his thin belly with a dazed expression. Morning sickness? Not just stress-induced nausea? Having lived 21 years without ever thinking about pregnancy, he couldn’t immediately recall what these symptoms meant. And honestly… given the situation, he could only assume it was more likely due to stress than morning sickness.

“I see…”

“Anyway, true to whose blood it is, already throwing all kinds of tantrums, really…”

Ki Tae-jeong spoke harshly to the child in the womb with an irritated voice. He seemed to think the picky morning sickness symptoms were due to the baby’s personality. And that it took after him.

“Don’t curse.”

Sehwa, feeling suddenly indignant, found himself protectively covering his belly as he talked back.

“What?”

“Why are you cursing? It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose, and how much could a nail-sized baby really take after my personality…”

“What nonsense is that… ah…”

Ki Tae-jeong muttered, “This is driving me crazy,” as he roughly rubbed his dry face.

“No, I…”

Sehwa, still with his hand on his belly and chewing his lower lip, slightly raised his head, unable to believe the man’s faltering voice.

“Not you…”

What’s this? Surprisingly, Ki Tae-jeong looked… a bit flustered. Every time he let out a deep sigh, his mountain range-like broad shoulders heaved greatly. Sehwa held his breath and stole glances at this unfamiliar side of the man several times.

“…I meant it seems the kid’s temper is like that because it takes after me.”

“…Pardon?”

Hearing these unexpected words, his jaw slackened involuntarily. Sehwa stared blankly up at Ki Tae-jeong with his mouth slightly open like a fool.

“I meant that what’s inside is so troublesome because half of it is my bloodline. I wasn’t trying to curse at you.”

“Ah…”

Flustered, Sehwa aimlessly rubbed his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, just as Ki Tae-jeong had done earlier. He had naturally assumed it was meant to rebuke him.

“…Still, don’t curse.”

Sehwa pointlessly crumpled the hem of his top with his lost hands.

“The baby hasn’t done anything wrong.”

He knew well that it was just a tiny cell with barely a heart attached. But still, if all it remembered during its short life was being cursed at. “No matter who it takes after, the baby is innocent…”

If it had to hear such harsh words from the person who gave half its blood… that would be too pitiful.