March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 103

A heavy silence fell for a moment.

“…Death.”

Gi Taejeong repeated the words he had just heard, his voice devoid of emotion.

“…I’m sorry.”

Having fought countless battles, taking medication and undergoing various treatments, big and small, had become routine. And no matter what medicine he took or what measures were taken, there was always a warning at the end, assuming the worst.

But Gi Taejeong had never paid attention to those words. He was accustomed to the idea that he would recover quickly without any problems anyway.

His subordinates were the same. When they came back from fighting on the front lines, they would suggest various treatments, but no one worried about him. With a firm belief that this person would not go wrong, the treatment procedures would quietly conclude without much fuss. So, for Gi Taejeong, the procedure of pre-notifying side effects was merely a formality.

But now, Lieutenant Na’s words carried a different weight than what he had heard before. He felt a pressure so heavy that his shoulders slumped. Lieutenant Na was truly anticipating Lee Sehwa’s death.

“Mr. Lee Sehwa is not a robot. There’s no device to input, ‘accept this, don’t absorb that.’ So, I thought there must be clear criteria for filtering drugs within his body, and I tried to find them. …Until the surgery, which was originally scheduled for the fifth month.”

“……”

“The hypothesis I hastily formed is… it’s so inadequate it’s embarrassing to even call it a hypothesis, but I suspect Mr. Lee Sehwa’s body may have judged the baby as harmful.”

The suddenly formed uterus was incredibly weak, and he couldn’t eat properly, so his nutritional status was a mess. Not to mention the aftermath of the extreme stress he had continuously experienced. Yet, the fetus in his womb was remarkably healthy. Even though Lee Sehwa himself was dying.

“Since he has a stronger tendency to defend his internal body than others, as soon as his physical functions deteriorated, he seems to have judged the fetus as an enemy and tried to push it out somehow.”

“……”

“There are also too many other variables. If Mr. Lee Sehwa had never been exposed to the air of Zone 2 while wearing a patch, no… just taking off the gas mask itself would have had a negative effect. When manufacturing drugs, he might have only tasted a very small amount for a short time, but this time, he inhaled harmful substances every time he breathed, and for quite a long time.”

“So… you’re saying Lee Sehwa’s body filter is overloaded?”

“That’s what I think. After taking the anesthetic and having the baby removed through surgery, his body seems to have recognized that the risk factor was gone. Since the bleeding continued, his body’s filter, as you said, judged that a positive outcome would be derived.”

It seemed that as the unfiltered toxins began to accumulate everywhere, his body, unable to bear it, began to respond by shedding all its blood. Lieutenant Na bowed his head apologetically, saying he was sorry for only having uncertain hypotheses.

Gi Taejeong was also incapable of calm reasoning. He had no time to consider validity or calculate anything.

Beyond the unique characteristics of Sehwa’s constitution, Gi Taejeong knew well what miracles the human unconscious and its will could create.

He didn’t even need to go as far as the brilliant military achievements accomplished single-handedly. In a battle once, there was a soldier who was so severely wounded that it wouldn’t have been strange if he had died immediately. A large national flag was even prepared to wrap his body in the return vessel, but he did not die. He endured and endured until the end, and only closed his eyes as if he had completed his mission after his lover, who had come to meet him, touched his body.

The rumor that spread later said that he had told his lover, in a fading voice, that he was sorry and that he loved her. He had wanted to say those words and close his eyes because he was bothered by a big fight they had before he left. That determination to tell his beloved the words that had been weighing on his heart for the last time had kept an ordinary soldier alive at the crossroads of life and death for a long time.

So, the opposite case seemed entirely possible.

Lee Sehwa was truly fed up with being by his side. He had no reason to live, so he thought it didn’t matter if he died like this, didn’t he? If, as Lieutenant Na said, Sehwa’s body had also given up further defense, and his mind had also let go according to his will…

“Is there no other way?”

“…I’m sorry. Without this surgery… we can only pray that the bleeding miraculously stops.”

Either proceed with the surgery, taking considerable risks, or watch Lee Sehwa die without being able to do anything… There was only one of two choices.

Gi Taejeong pressed his palm to his forehead. His hand slowly slid down, resting briefly over his eyes, and its tip seemed to tremble slightly. His prominent Adam’s apple, as if enduring something, moved slowly several times.

Soon, the large hand covering his eyes quickly swept over his nose, mouth, and chin. Even though he tried to erase his expression, the deeply stained emotions hardly diminished.

And Lieutenant Na, reading unspoken permission in Gi Taejeong’s actions, quickly pressed the call button. It seemed the discussion inside had already ended, as the person in charge rushed over with a tablet as if waiting.

“Please sign here.”

His dark gaze lingered near Lee Sehwa’s name. The hand holding the pen tingled as if gripping a thorn bush. Gi Taejeong closed his eyes deeply, then opened them, and wrote his name in the guardian’s signature box.

“Then we will prepare immediately.”

Lieutenant Na disappeared beyond the automatic door again. The sound of disinfectant spraying, clothes changing, various alarms, and shouting commands echoed busily.

“Um, General. I’m sorry, but you also need to check the incubator’s condition.”

Gi Taejeong exhaled a long breath, feeling his heart tighten. He was about to retort, asking why that mattered now, but then he remembered Sehwa, who had endured so much to protect ‘that’ from him, and he closed his mouth.

He probably would ask about the baby first, as soon as he opened his eyes. No, he definitely would.

If he answered that the baby was safe and healthy, lacking nothing… then the face that had stiffened whenever he saw him since he was brought here might relax a little.

“…Where is the child?”

“The child is in the incubator protection room, not far from here. It’s the highest-grade protection room, and it can care for up to three units inside. Currently, other than the General’s child’s incubator, the reservations are empty, so we can take even more meticulous care.”

The person in charge briefly explained what kind of care the child would receive in the protection room and what kind of growth process it would undergo in the incubator. Of course, none of it registered with him.

If Lee Sehwa had been by his side, he would have widened his eyes and asked various questions. He would have asked several times for reassurance that it was really okay to take the baby out so early, and then, nervously fidgeting his fingers, he would have headed to the protection room.

“Would you mind waiting a moment?”

The protection room had a large glass window, allowing a clear view inside. Even though the walls were the same white, the saturation inside was somehow different from the outside, making it feel cozy, not like a hospital.

• Guardian of patient Lee Sehwa, General Gi Taejeong has arrived.

The sound from inside the protection room flowed out through the speaker installed outside. The nurses, who had been gathered in the center, dispersed, and one of them pushed a wagon with an incubator on it and approached.

• Although it’s a bit earlier than expected, the baby’s condition is very stable. He’s a healthy son.

The numbers and graphs displayed on the cream-colored incubator surface were peaceful. The baby’s heartbeat, which Sehwa had worried about so much, was utterly calm.

• Since there were no specific requests, we have activated only the basic program for now.

Tracing the gently swaying small graph with his eyes, as if humming a tune, Gi Taejeong recalled the day he first heard the baby’s heartbeat with Lee Sehwa.

His side profile as he stared at the ultrasound screen, mesmerized, even while disbelieving and denying reality; his eyes sparkling with undisguised wonder; Lee Sehwa, on a certain day, anxiously stamping his feet, wondering if it was okay for the baby’s heart to beat so fast.

• As it’s a top-tier incubator, there will be no problem with development even with the basic program, but if you want other options, you can add them at any time. Please note that the earlier you apply them, the better the effect.

In the center of the incubator, a hologram floated. It was the image of the newborn from the growth prediction, a spitting image of Sehwa, which had left him speechless when he saw the projected screen.

Gi Taejeong unconsciously reached out his hand to the glass. The hologram precisely replicated the actual movements of the baby inside the incubator. So, the baby was sleeping in that position inside.

Of course, since it was only four months old, it was merely curled up like a fetus in an amniotic fluid-like environment, but strangely, his gaze kept being drawn to that image.

“…He sleeps the same way.”

Sehwa also slept curled up like a small animal. Then he would bury his nose and lips in the defenselessly exposed nape of his neck, savoring the unique sweet scent of his skin for a long time, and then close his eyes, clinging to him as if they had been a pair from the beginning.

“Ah…”

Gi Taejeong’s throat ached, making it difficult to even swallow.

If Lee Sehwa… didn’t open his eyes like this.

If his last memory of life was just him deceiving him over and over again.

If everything ended with him misunderstanding that he had planned to film useless footage from the beginning…

Gi Taejeong leaned his forehead against the glass window. With a thud, a little forcefully.

…What should I do? What should I do now… to turn things back?

At first, he had planned to put Lee Sehwa in the courtroom. Then he changed his mind to replace it with a hologram containing his testimony, and now he didn’t even want that. He wouldn’t expose Lee Sehwa to a situation where he would clearly be torn apart by hyena-like people.

There was no need to explain the natural shift in his emotions. Because Sehwa always interpreted it on his own and willingly accepted it… Gi Taejeong had approached their relationship somewhat carelessly and arrogantly.

So, now that Sehwa was gone, he was completely lost. He was just wandering like a buoy on a dark sea.

• Do you have a name decided for the child? A prenatal name is also fine.

To the nurse’s words that she would input it if he told her, Gi Taejeong could not answer. The child had a cute and lovely prenatal name, Saessak. However, that was a name he was not permitted to use. No, it was a name he shouldn’t even reveal that he knew.

His fingertips pressed against the glass wall, turning white from the force. The baby in the incubator, knowing nothing, yawned softly. Looking at that innocence, a painful tremor that started near his heart spread throughout his body like a large ripple. Gi Taejeong’s hand, which had been enduring all this time, slid down in a crooked trajectory.

Lee Sehwa did not regain consciousness for several days.

The surgery continued for quite a long time. After pouring several bottles of A7, the bleeding was fortunately stopped, and there were no other significant abnormal signs afterward. His inflammation levels, heart response, breathing… everything else was stable. It was just that the person himself was not opening his eyes, as if dead.

Gi Taejeong was staying in the waiting room directly opposite the intensive care unit. As a hospital boasting the best 5-star facilities, even the space decorated for guardians was luxurious. To the point where it felt somewhat guilty towards the patients struggling inside.

He ate the meals brought by his subordinates or the person in charge, washed when it was time… and then continued to work without sleeping. He reviewed agendas, mechanically approved documents… and even then, he somehow found time to skim through the side effects of A7. Then, when he suddenly looked at his watch, strangely, not much time had passed, but the date had abruptly changed.

Perhaps it felt more so because he hadn’t properly slept since Sehwa collapsed. If his dry eyelids felt like they were burning, he would close his eyes for a moment while sitting, but even that didn’t last long.

In the dream he created, Sehwa was gently stroking his slightly swollen belly. Various kinds of flowers grew haphazardly in the desolate garden of the official residence, and he basked in the sun, wearing the shoes Gi Taejeong had bought him. At his feet, an unknown small sapling swayed in the gentle breeze.

Gi Taejeong just gazed at Sehwa. It was a beautiful sight that he felt he would never forget, even though he knew it was a fantasy.

He couldn’t bear how much he already missed that miraculous moment he had never had. If nothing had happened, if he hadn’t broken Lee Sehwa like this… he felt as if this scenery would have been his.

Can I also stroke your belly? Can I call the baby… Saessak? He would try to endure it, but when he finally couldn’t bear the emotions boiling inside and tried to speak, he would inevitably wake up from the dream. As if he would never have such an opportunity, even in his imagination, his eyes would always open at this point, as if cold water had been thrown on him.

“…Ah.”

Gi Taejeong blinked blankly. He was still alone in the large waiting room, like a hotel suite, and there was no news from Lee Sehwa today either.

Slowly slumping his straightened upper body, Gi Taejeong repeatedly rubbed his dry face. Throughout signing dozens of documents, the moment he wrote his name on Sehwa’s additional surgery consent form kept overlapping.

Lieutenant Na’s voice, telling him to consider death, Sehwa’s voice pleading that he hated sex and would use his hands or mouth instead… and the gentle voice from sometime ago, calling him “General,” all tangled together and wouldn’t leave his ears.