March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 107

“……”

Sehwa clumsily fumbled around his neck. His vocal cords felt bound by a tight rope. Just a three-inch piece of flesh had stiffened, yet a strange sensation filled every corner of his body.

If he exerted all his strength, he could manage a small, meaningless sound like “Ah.” But uttering proper words and sentences was difficult. It was a body part he had used without much thought, so he had no idea how to move it in this situation.

Well, whether his nose bled, his voice was blocked, or he went blind… none of that mattered. He was just frustrated that he couldn’t immediately ask about the child’s condition.

“First, let’s stop the bleeding…”

With that, Gi Taejeong somewhat sternly and carefully removed Sehwa’s hand, which was wrapped around his neck.

“It’s dangerous.”

He seemed worried that Sehwa might be trying to harm himself.

Sehwa stared indifferently at Gi Taejeong. His gaze was like that of an audience member who had lost interest in the play.

The tips of the man’s neatly trimmed eyebrows and fingertips kept twitching. His lips parted several times as if he had something to say. Yes, he was truly worried about Sehwa with his whole body.

Sehwa couldn’t understand. This was the man who had put a platinum and diamond collar on him, twisting his smile. Now, his own gesture was so powerless, almost like stroking skin. Was he worried his body would be harmed by just that?

Ah… Indeed. He had dragged him around by a ring embedded in his back, like a dog. To Gi Taejeong, Sehwa wasn’t a person but a possession, so he was clearly warning him not to handle that body carelessly. It wasn’t a worry; this was just another form of threat.

“When you had surgery, the bleeding wouldn’t stop, it was dangerous, Lee Sehwa!”

Gi Taejeong sharply scolded Sehwa, blocking him as he tried to dart forward again like a bullet.

“Didn’t you hear me say it’s dangerous? You almost died!”

Your nosebleeds, you must be confused, first the examination, your current condition, and then, what I want to ask you, what I was going to say… The man kept rambling on. Each time, his voice would get louder than softer, like a broken speaker.

He felt a similar sensation before… Sehwa blinked for a moment, then pushed the rising thoughts away. What did that matter?

“Okay, okay, just wait.”

The person Sehwa needed right now was Lieutenant Na, who had rushed out to prepare for examinations and treatment. Not Gi Taejeong, but a doctor who could clearly explain the child’s situation.

When was the last time he had been hurt and suffered so miserably by Gi Taejeong? What was the point of counting? Now, Sehwa didn’t want to question him about anything. He didn’t need explanations or justifications, and he wasn’t curious about anything else; he just wanted to know what had happened to the child.

Sehwa lunged forward again. He had only bumped against the man’s body, hard as metal, repeatedly, telling him to get out of the way, but his shoulder was already aching.

“Master Sergeant Choi, bring the wheelchair.”

Gi Taejeong, judging that he could no longer stop Sehwa, finally called Master Sergeant Choi, who was waiting behind him.

“Tell Lieutenant Na that we’ll stop downstairs and go straight to the examination room.”

“Yes, understood.”

Master Sergeant Choi left the room like the wind.

“I’ll show you the child.”

Sehwa’s gaze, which had been following the hurried footsteps, slowly turned to Gi Taejeong.

“He’s safe. The surgery went well.”

As if this topic was the correct answer, Sehwa, who had been staggering like a drugged animal, calmed down a little.

“He’s in the incubator now.”

Gi Taejeong pressed the tip of his sleeve against Sehwa’s philtrum and below his nose, wiping away the blood. Fortunately, the nosebleed seemed to be slowly stopping.

“He’s perfectly healthy, no issues.”

“……”

“He’s developing smoothly in the best incubator, so you don’t have to worry about the child at all.”

Only then did Sehwa relax his stiff body. The tips of his shoulders, which had been tense and upright, rounded and dropped.

Conversely, Gi Taejeong bit his lip, letting out a short grunt. He still didn’t know how much Sehwa remembered. He might have completely forgotten the time they spent together immediately after the surgery. Or he might be quietly suppressing his anger, having remembered everything.

Whatever it was, one thing was certain: the person dominating Sehwa’s mind was no longer him, but the child.

Gi Taejeong, unable to bear the sudden surge of anxiety, pulled Sehwa into an embrace.

“It’s not the child, it’s you that’s the problem.”

“……”

“Lee Sehwa, you were very sick.”

From Sehwa, who refused to even look at him, the day he had dragged him from Ward 2 overlapped in his mind. Sehwa, who had fainted and then woken up, stroked his stomach in the bedroom, whispering various things to the child. The voice calling the budding life “Bud” was sweet. The bed, where the reading lamp’s light spread in a circle, looked infinitely cozy and warm. And he felt as if he would never be invited into that gentle world, woven from light and sugar.

Somehow, a similar, sharp, stinging sensation rose from deep within him. All he felt from Lee Sehwa, who kept his mouth tightly shut, was clear rejection.

“You can go see the child anytime, so for now, just confirm he’s well and get your examination first.”

“……”

“…And we can talk afterwards.”

“……”

“You want to question me, don’t you?”

“……”

“Because I have a lot to explain to you too.”

He slowly released his arms, stroking Sehwa’s terribly thin back.

A beam of light, filtering through the window following the movement of clouds, swept through the room like a spotlight. Each time the light shimmered, the color of Sehwa’s eyes changed slightly. His pupils also repeatedly dilated and contracted.

Was that why? Sehwa felt strangely unfamiliar, like someone he was seeing for the first time. Indeed, he had never received such a gaze before. Even when he cried and screamed at him, or when he was too terrified to even look up, he had never had such empty, glassy eyes…

Gi Taejeong felt his breath catch for a moment. Yes, no. Even simple, one-word answers would be fine; he wanted to hear something from Sehwa. Then, perhaps, this uncomfortable and awkward feeling might lessen a little. But looking at Sehwa, whose intentions were now completely unreadable, unlike before, no suitable words came to mind.

“Brigadier General.”

While Gi Taejeong was choosing a suitable topic, Master Sergeant Choi, sweating profusely, brought a wheelchair to the door.

However, Sehwa ignored him and stepped out the door. He wasn’t unable to move, but he didn’t want to rely on someone else’s hand, specifically Gi Taejeong’s, to move.

“Lee Sehwa.”

“……”

“You were said to be critically ill. If you overexert yourself like that…”

He hated the way Gi Taejeong kept trying to grab his arm and shoulder, so he finally couldn’t stand it and shook him off with all his might. The sound was quite loud, enough to make the startled Master Sergeant Choi gasp. Still, Sehwa didn’t look back. It would have been a trivial force that wouldn’t even leave a tooth mark on the man anyway. He knew it wouldn’t hurt him at all.

Of course, he was somewhat prepared. Things like grabbing his hair for being insolent, or dragging him and throwing him onto the bed… Well, if he wanted to, he could. Sehwa had nothing to fear now.

But surprisingly, Gi Taejeong showed no reaction as Sehwa took several steps. Master Sergeant Choi kept swallowing, and it was silent behind him.

After a moment, a deep sigh was heard, and Gi Taejeong strode over to his side. But he didn’t do anything; he just walked slowly, matching Sehwa’s pace.

He thought it was unexpected. Given his temper, he would have unleashed all sorts of hell on him. At least he wasn’t presumptuously touching him to help him, so that was a relief.

Anyway, Sehwa limped on his right leg and came to the elevator by himself. Perhaps his body was getting worse, as he was already sweating profusely on his forehead from just this short walk. Gi Taejeong twitched his hand several times but didn’t grab him without permission.

“…Hmm, if he doesn’t have a name yet, they ask for a fetal name.”

Perhaps finding the accumulating silence awkward, Gi Taejeong cleared his throat softly and spoke.

“Of course, he’s registered with an incubator code, but…”

“……”

“Bud, that’s the fetal name, right?”

It was a question he wouldn’t have bothered to answer even if his throat had been fine. Why did he keep asking about the child? Was it for the trial? Even so, the child’s name or health wouldn’t matter to Gi Taejeong at all. Why was he suddenly acting so interested in Bud?

“Do you have a name in mind?”

Sehwa’s eyes remained stubbornly fixed on the dashboard. Gi Taejeong tried to speak a few more times, but Sehwa responded with a silence that was a mixture of helplessness and deliberate refusal. Fortunately, the incubator nursery wasn’t far, so the awkward and precarious situation quickly ended.

As soon as the door opened, a large sign was displayed, so Sehwa could proceed towards Bud alone, without Gi Taejeong’s guidance. Of course, he was still closely behind him, like a guard.

After passing through the hallway, several nurseries with large glass windows appeared, and Gi Taejeong’s footsteps, following behind, also slowed at one point. Bud seemed to be somewhere here.

Sehwa wiped away the still trickling blood with his sleeve. Then he blinked rapidly, trying his best to clear his vision. Thinking he could see the child, he suddenly didn’t feel any pain at all.

• Brigadier General Gi Taejeong has arrived.

The place he stopped at was the first nursery. The nurse inside recognized the man and greeted him warmly. He didn’t know the principle, but even with such thick glass walls, people’s voices were clearly audible.

• Oh my, are you perhaps Ms. Lee Sehwa, the mother?

Sehwa nodded vigorously and approached closer.

• How are you feeling?

He heard the sound of wheels rolling inside. Sehwa, knowing it was impolite, craned his neck and peered past the nurse. Regrettably, all his attention was focused on the child, leaving him no room to even offer a brief eye-greeting to the kind person welcoming him.

• Haha, you must be very curious. As you heard, he’s healthy. He’s your son.

Ah. As the nurse stepped aside for him to check, a cream-colored incubator came into view. Something like a pale egg on a silver wagon was approaching him.

Sehwa felt a lump in his throat and cautiously placed his hand on the glass. He knew he couldn’t hold or touch Bud that way, but his body moved on its own.

• The hologram floating above accurately reproduces the baby’s movements inside the incubator. As you can see, he’s very active. His development is also excellent, so you don’t need to worry.

In the hologram, Bud was curled up, diligently playing with his feet. Below, approximate statistics were displayed. He didn’t understand much else, but he clearly recognized one thing: the heartbeat graph he had often seen on ultrasound screens was moving perfectly normally. It was completely different from the last time, when there was almost no movement.

Ah… Sehwa couldn’t hold back the surging tears and bumped his forehead against the wall. He cried with a metallic sound, not caring about shame. He was just grateful and sorry that the child hadn’t left his pathetic, weak self who had collapsed, and that he was healthy despite Sehwa having done nothing for him.

Perhaps because he had surgery while unconscious, he still didn’t feel like the child had been taken out. Even now, he still felt a sharp pain in his stomach, as if he were still carrying Bud.

But seeing the child he had seen in the growth prediction moving around in the hologram… he could truly feel that there was nothing wrong with Bud. The child was safe. And healthy. That fluttering heartbeat was indeed his child’s…

• Belated congratulations, Ms. Lee Sehwa.

In the most common fetal position, Bud wiggled his feet incessantly. His tiny movements were so adorable that Sehwa involuntarily opened his mouth slightly and just stared at the incubator.

“You’ve confirmed he’s healthy, so now you need to go for your examination.”

It was the man’s firm voice that pulled Sehwa, who had been in a trance, back to reality.

“You can come see him again tomorrow.”

“……”

• Yes, the person in charge is here 24 hours a day, so you can come see him anytime. By the way, ma’am. Haven’t you given him a fetal name? Please call him by it. The baby will like it too.

Ah… Sehwa’s face went pale then, and his hand dropped. He felt as if his blood had turned cold.

He had thought it didn’t matter how his body was broken… but it did. He didn’t know why his voice wouldn’t come out suddenly, but if he continued like this… he might never be able to call Bud.

Instead of saying wonderful things like you’ve worked hard or I love you, he was a pathetic father who couldn’t even properly call his child by name… Bud hadn’t even been able to choose the person who would carry him, so how resentful must he be of Sehwa?

“…Ah.”

He strained his blocked throat with all his might, but all he managed was a meaningless sigh, not words. Even that was so faint only he could hear it. He tried several times internally, but nothing changed. But then suddenly,

“Lee Sehwa.”

At the urgent call, his body spun halfway around. Gi Taejeong, who had been standing silently by his side, had a pale, hardened face and stared intently at Sehwa’s face, especially his mouth, for a long time.

“…Why aren’t you saying anything?”