PIA 10

“My wish is not connected to Han-joo. Even if it were, not like this, not in this way. Moreover, marrying Jeong Hee-seo, and then dating his younger brother? Is that really necessary?”

―I gave you an opportunity. If you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. Do as you please. Whether it makes you miserable or whatever, the choice is yours.

He seemed to be furious. After shooting out with an enraged voice, he fell silent.

“Hey… How can you kill a perfectly fine baby just to give me a chance at dating?”

“Hey, did you really go?”

“Don’t break into my savings!”

Ji-an tried calling him several more times into the void but eventually gave up and closed his mouth.

An opportunity…

It was at this moment that he became resentful of his older brother, who had written such an unconventional plot development. He wasn’t the kind of person capable of doing that, nor did he have the means for such a plan. Ji-an shook his head . His hand unintentionally rested on his stomach.

Why was he given such a painful choice? What was that guy trying to achieve by tormenting him like this?

Can I trust him?

∞

It seemed bad things kept coming one after another. Maybe he felt that way because everything that came his way seemed bad when he was mentally and physically weak, but he had lived with that perception. So even though he had prepared himself…

Ji-an frowned deeply as he received the photo pushed towards him. Despite warning himself to be careful in front of his grandma, he was unable to control himself.

“What should I do with this person?”

“No, why is he like this today? Daughter in-law, did you make him do it? Do you want him to pretend he doesn’t understand what I’m saying? Do you want him to grab this old lady by the back of the neck and fall down?”

If Ji-an didn’t listen, the blame turned back to his mother. Maybe this kind of thing was the same everywhere.

“Oh, no… Mother, why are you saying such things? Why would I ask a child to do that? Ji-an, can’t you answer properly when the adults ask you?”

“Haa…”

Ji-an also understood everything. He understood it so well that when his grandma showed him the photo, he knew exactly what she was going to say next. It was a subtle hint to go meet the person in the photo. He’d be a fool if he didn’t realize that.

However, he pretended not to understand not because he couldn’t understand, but because it was hard to believe.

“Is this person really a dominant Alpha?”

“Why does his appearance matter? Alphas are supposed to be sturdy and square-shaped like this. How robust.”

Square-shaped. How could a person’s skull be square like this and his front teeth this big too?

“No matter what, Grandma, I have my preferences, and I have eyes.”

Ji-an barely resisted the urge to crumple the photo and handed it back to his grandmother. The taste of the meal disappeared altogether. Ji-an stood up reluctantly.

“I’ll eat later.”

“Ji-an, don’t. Have some grilled sea bream; it’s delicious. Have a drink and relax.”

“How did you raise a child so that he refuses to take on the role of an adult at his age.”

“Mother, what are you talking about?”

“Did I say something wrong?”

It was also suspicious that her son, who had stopped coming to his parents’ house after finding an officetel. Despite being treated to his favorite shopping, he seemed disinterested, adding to Yoon Ok-hee’s growing concerns..

As the days passed, not only did Ji-an’s complexion worsen visibly, but for the past few days, it seemed like he was sleeping more like a corpse.

Yoon Ok-hee, who had managed to drag her son out and make him sit at the table, was in tears when she saw that her son woke up without even a single drink because of her mother-in-law.

Ji-an, who was finally coaxed into sitting at the table, observed the lavishly set meal, then glanced at his mother Yoon Ok-hee and, finally, looked at his stubborn grandmother, who was glaring at him with a frown. It was a combination that naturally made him sigh.

“It will be enough if I go, right? I’ll go.”

Taking the photo from his grandmother’s hand, Ji-an peeled off the yellow memo attached to the back. It had a name, contact information, appointment time, and place written on it. He crumpled the photo, only keeping the memo, and left the dining room.

After all, he was going to leave this country. There would be nothing good in upsetting his grandmother’s mood until he was ready to board the plane and disappear. Once he disappeared, it wouldn’t be easy for his mother either.

Ji-an returned to his bedroom, saved the Alpha’s phone number, and sighed heavily.

After hearing the results at the hospital, Ji-an decided to escape to a foreign country after days of contemplation. He chose a country with well-established medical facilities and a vast land where his mother and grandmother would find it difficult to locate him. Changing his identity and hiding seemed daunting, something he had only seen in movies, but with enough money, he felt there was nothing he couldn’t do.

‘Even though I borrowed this body, as long as I’m using it, I can’t let the baby die.’

In reality, Ji-an’s mother was not a person who showed tender motherly love to Ji-an. When she was drunk, she had a habit of saying that she almost terminated Ji-an during her difficult time, and when her tired body was overcome by alcohol and she fell asleep, she always added this.

‘But even so, I couldn’t just let you die when you came into me, right?’

There were more things that were disappointing rather than grateful to his mother, and there were many times when tears welled up because she didn’t share even half of the affection she gave to his older brother. However, the fact that she saved him couldn’t be denied.

Her decision became the universe and life for Ji-an.

‘Even this life inside me has been burdened due to bad luck. Taking care of it is the right thing to do.’

The voice may seem stupid and frustrating, but this was the conclusion Ji-an reached.

He would transfer enough money to comfortably live for about a year and then leave while pretending to cooperate with his grandmother until he obtained a fake identity. 

Then, he would give birth to the child, and by the time a year was over, he could return to his mother. Perhaps he could save one child this way. It seemed much more rewarding than a short-lived fake romance.

While fiddling with his phone, he noticed that Jeong Hee-seo’s phone number was saved there. His thoughts naturally drifted to him.

‘They must have looked alike.’

The image of Jeong Hee-seo sitting in front of him, eating a hamburger, appeared in his mind. Long arms and legs, fingers as long as his, and… a cold face that softened unexpectedly when he made expressions. Ji-an thought that a baby born with such features would undoubtedly be adored by everyone.

“Hey, did you hear? I have decided! I’m not a psycho like you.”

The voice may have become sulky, but it did not appear again after that. It has appeared and disappeared repeatedly since he first came to this world, and it has been the longest since it has kept its mouth shut, perhaps because it has no intention of appearing this time.

“Hey, don’t mess around over there. I’ve said it many times, but especially if you touch my savings, you’ll die for real.”

Ji-an scolded into the air, not knowing if the voice was listening or not. Doing this somehow made him feel at ease. Perhaps he didn’t realize he was exaggerating his behaviors because he was trying to suppress his anxious feelings.

He collapsed onto the bed as if the strength had left him, and dust settled like falling particles on a bed. The search history on his phone was filled with keywords related to pregnancy, childbirth, omega, newborns, etc. If his mother were to see it, it would be a search history that would upset her.

It said Jeong Han-joo is my wish?

In this situation, everything else seemed less important. It was not like he developed paternal love or anything like for the existence in his stomach, but who could have romantic feelings in such a difficult situation?

It was a one-sided love that he couldn’t easily give up. Perhaps he enjoyed the pitiful emotion of unrequited love itself, unable to obtain it. He heard that some people enjoy unrequited love itself, so he might be that type.

“I’m a fool.”

Ji-an closed his eyes, lying down, and mentally organized the things he had to do next. Making compromises satisfying his grandmother, obtaining money, creating a fake identity for use abroad… Perhaps due to mental exhaustion or the fact that he hadn’t properly eaten for days, he fell asleep.

Pi-rong-pi-rong.

He was drifting off to sleep. The sound of the cell phone ringing right next to his face woke Ji-an up.

“Hello.”

He absentmindedly answered the phone with his eyes closed. In a state between sleep and wakefulness, he behaved as he did in the original world. He didn’t check the caller ID.

―Ji-an, were you asleep?

His eyes snapped open. Ji-an sat up as if he had never slept.

“Ha, uhmm, Han-joo hyung?”

He called out in a hoarse voice, the person on the other end responded with that refreshing laugh that was pleasant to hear.

“What are you doing today? Should we meet for a bit?”

Just when he had finally given up on unrequited love, what was this unexpected turn of events? Ji-an swallowed a dry saliva.

―I came to the Hanseong Hotel for a seminar, and I had the whole afternoon free. You like bingsu(shaved ice), right?

The place where Jeong Han-joo was having a seminar happened to be the hotel where the prior appointment was made. Ji-an furrowed his brow. Even this felt like some dramatic compulsion. It was a forced plot device, linking characters to somehow induce a miscarriage and let the story proceed as originally planned.

As he thought about it, the uneasy feeling that had momentarily surged subsided.

“Oh… I have an appointment there today. I guess I can have bingsu as hyung suggested.”

If it were a typical drama, it was obvious that if Jia-an hid his appointment and rejected him, they would certainly run into each other by chance. Ji-an decided to take the straightforward approach.