March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 68

The connected controller was clearly state-of-the-art, but the huge window moved at a leisurely pace. Was it trying to annoy people? When he quickly pressed the button repeatedly, a frustrating message popped up saying it would temporarily stop operating for safety reasons.

“This, sh….”

Lee Sehwa was gasping for breath, his head turned towards the window. Still, perhaps getting some fresh air helped a little, as he didn’t show violent vomiting symptoms like before. But he wasn’t back to normal either. Only the dry heaving had barely stopped, and Lee Sehwa was still trembling slightly and dripping with cold sweat. He looked so pitiful that even if Lee Sehwa’s sworn enemy came, they would probably feel pity just by seeing him sprawled out like that.

“……sir.”

Why is he doing that? Should I pour the water out of the vase, or no, should I just throw the vase itself… he was only thinking about such things.

“Gen…….”

Meanwhile, he thought he heard a voice calling him. Gi Taejeong looked back with a suspicious expression. Did he just call me?

“Are you looking for me?”

It was an uncharacteristically cautious question. Of course, to Lee Sehwa, it might sound as dry and indifferent as usual, but at least that was Gi Taejeong’s inner thought.

Just before, he had cut off everything Lee Sehwa was saying, pushing him to his own temper, and this mess happened. What if his condition got worse and he couldn’t even speak, just suffering alone? With his strange constitution and now pregnant, if his condition worsened further, it might truly become unmanageable. So from now on, he intended to at least pretend to listen when Lee Sehwa spoke.

Of course, no matter what excuse he made, he wouldn’t back down on the guardian registration.

“Ah, yes… I’m sorry, but just a… little….”

Lee Sehwa closed his eyes tightly as if he felt nauseous again and swallowed hard. But,

“Just… a little closer… could you come….”

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

“…Closer?”

It was something Gi Taejeong had never even imagined.

“To you? Me?”

Lee Sehwa nodded his head. It was a terribly small and difficult gesture, just like his hoarse voice.

Come closer…. Gi Taejeong took a step as if possessed. It was a request that was not difficult at all. It was so easy that it was embarrassing to even call it a request, but…. It was the first time Lee Sehwa had sought his presence itself, so he was a little bewildered. He only asked him not to leave when he was sick with fever, and even then, when he barely began to be aware of his presence, he apologized first.

Of course, he had acted cute, not cute, before. He would complain why he couldn’t go out when even dogs went for walks, and he would chatter on about this and that, even while being mindful of him. Compared to the beginning, he was definitely less intimidated by him.

However, no matter how comfortable he became, he never tried to cross a certain line. He didn’t wonder what was happening with Lieutenant Kim’s case or what he would have to do in the future. He didn’t ask what a check card was, and even when Gi Taejeong was away from the office often, he just took it in stride. He never asked light questions like, ‘When are you coming back?’ or made trivial requests like, ‘I want to eat something, could you buy it for me?’ Lee Sehwa never uttered a word.

“Closer?”

“…Yes.”

And that person, in this situation where he was clearly more uncomfortable with him than ever, was begging him to come closer. He was curious as to why, but it wasn’t annoying or disagreeable. It was much better to see him like this than chasing after him like a ghost with a dying face.

“Haa….”

As soon as Lee Sehwa felt his presence, he took his hand off his mouth and took a deep breath. Like someone who had been trapped in a narrow space and finally escaped. Like someone who had barely surfaced after a long time. …Like someone who desperately craved Gi Taejeong’s scent.

“You’ll smell a lot of perfume, even from me.”

“That’s true, but… still, this side seems better….”

Lee Sehwa mumbled, his gaze vaguely averted.

Gi Taejeong shook his hand in the air. Just in case there was any flower water on it.

“Okay, just rest.”

Then he put his arm around his foolish shoulder, who couldn’t even ask him to come closer. Even though it was the most careful touch he had ever used on Lee Sehwa, his tired and thin body swayed greatly and collapsed into his arms.

“Oh my, madam, are you feeling unwell? Your complexion….”

Just then, the official who had brought the tablet rushed over, startled.

“Shall I call an ambulance? Or a medical helicopter….”

A shadow fell back over Lee Sehwa’s face, which had seemed comfortable for a moment. Then he made a scratching sound in his throat as if he was about to dry heave again. It seemed even the scent in the air, stirred by people’s movements, was unbearable.

“What on earth did you spray in this reception room?”

“Excuse me?”

“What did you do to make someone like this… no, never mind. Is there a room without flowers and air fresheners… anyway, without any fragrant, damn, I mean, such things?”

The official, who had been puzzled for a moment, nodded greatly as if he had understood.

“You have severe morning sickness.”

“…Morning sickness?”

Gi Taejeong looked down at the top of Lee Sehwa’s head with a face like he had been hit. What? Morning sickness?

“Ah, perhaps you haven’t shown any particular symptoms until now? Seeing you, General, so surprised….”

So that’s why Lee Sehwa suddenly collapsed.

“Hmm, I think the hologram said 6 weeks earlier. So it’s about time it started.”

He couldn’t stand even a slight scent and was flailing… because he was carrying my child?

“I also had pretty severe morning sickness… I couldn’t drink anything for a while because even the water tasted fishy.”

A furrow naturally appeared between his eyebrows. The real-life case told by the experienced person was beyond Gi Taejeong’s imagination. He couldn’t even drink water. Was morning sickness that terrifying?

“There’s a small glass greenhouse right across the hall, why don’t you rest there for a bit? The natural smell of grass doesn’t bother me much either, so when I’m too tired from work, I sometimes take a breather there.”

“But that morning sickness….”

“Yes?”

“…No, that glass greenhouse. Where do I go?”

Gi Taejeong abruptly cut off the branches of thought that kept extending. Ha. Now was not the time to ponder what morning sickness was or what to do next. Holding onto problems that had no answers here would only make Lee Sehwa’s body suffer more.

“I’ll escort you this way. It’s right nearby.”

He slipped his hand under Lee Sehwa’s hamstrings and lifted him up sideways. If he tried to help him walk, the height difference was considerable and he seemed like he would struggle. But if he carried him on his back, he was worried about the baby inside. More precisely, he was worried that the tiny thing might be crushed and have a bad effect on Lee Sehwa’s body.

No matter how he was carried, Lee Sehwa buried his face in Gi Taejeong’s torso and didn’t even move. A warm breath touched the area where his heart was. That faint and weak breathing somehow felt like it was piercing his skin and heavily wrapping around the inside of his body.

Sehwa, who had been slumped, slowly opened his eyes. All he saw was green. In an unrealistic space built entirely of glass, unnamed plants grew straight and beautifully. Even though it was the season and the radiant heat should have been considerable, it wasn’t too hot. A moderately warm and cool temperature that anyone would like. Perhaps there was an internal ventilation system, as a gentle breeze caressed his cheek.

Sehwa stared blankly at the fresh, artificial scenery, then buried his forehead back into what he was leaning on. He inhaled the cool, familiar scent and let out a deep breath. Come to think of it, where was he? It didn’t seem like heaven. His memory was fragmented due to the intense and unpleasant pain he felt for the first time. He remembered being so distressed that he asked Gi Taejeong for help, and he got angry, and then suddenly he picked him up and started moving somewhere….

“…Ah!”

Sehwa, who had been sifting through his jumbled memories, suddenly lifted his head as a scene flashed into his mind. What he had been crushing under his cheek wasn’t a hard pillow… it was Gi Taejeong’s chest.

“Stay still.”

“Why am I….”

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

The man held the flustered Sehwa and clicked his tongue softly.

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

He was both flustered and embarrassed. To be sitting on his lap, leaning his head on his chest, and sleeping so peacefully….

And yet, instead of apologizing to the man, a bit of spite welled up. No, ‘spite’ is too cute a word. ‘Resentment’ would be better. Recalling the situation just before he collapsed, Gi Taejeong hadn’t done well either. He was scared of the people who rushed towards him with smiles, and their casual remarks choked him. ‘Affectionate husband,’ ‘You’re lucky,’ ‘Madam,’ ‘Guardian registration’…. Just recalling it made his chest feel tight. And in the midst of it all, Gi Taejeong got angry, asking if he disliked the guardian registration so much every time he opened his mouth.

“…They said you have severe morning sickness.”

But the indifferent man’s voice, pouring down from above his head, and the equally indifferent content of his words were completely unexpected.

“Morning sickness?”

Sehwa merely stammered, repeating what he had said.

“You have severe morning sickness?”

“…A symptom that appears during pregnancy.”

Gi Taejeong swept his hair back on the opposite side. I was nervous, no, rather… a restless gesture.

“You know, when you dislike things you usually eat. And certain smells feel repulsive… things like that.”

“…Ah.”

Sehwa, with a bewildered face, looked down at his thin stomach. Morning sickness? Not just indigestion from stress? He had lived for 21 years without ever thinking about pregnancy, so he couldn’t immediately grasp what these symptoms meant. And honestly… it was a situation where he had no choice but to presume it was stress rather than morning sickness.

“I see….”

“Anyway, just like whose bloodline it is, it’s already throwing all sorts of tantrums, just….”

Gi Taejeong grumbled in an annoyed voice, spewing harsh words at the baby in his belly. He seemed to think that the fussy morning sickness symptoms were a matter of the baby’s personality. And that it was like him.

“Don’t swear.”

Sehwa, feeling a sudden surge of irritation, unconsciously wrapped his arms around his belly and talked back.

“What?”

“Why are you swearing? It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose, and how much could a tiny baby, still just a fingernail-sized thing, resemble me in personality….”

“What nonsense is that…, ah….”

Gi Taejeong muttered, ‘This is driving me crazy,’ and roughly rubbed his dry face.

“No, I….”

Sehwa, still holding his hand on his belly and biting his lower lip, somewhat hesitantly lifted his head, unable to believe the man’s wavering voice.

“Not you….”

What was it? Surprisingly, Gi Taejeong… seemed a little flustered. His broad shoulders, like mountain ranges, twitched greatly every time he sighed deeply. Sehwa held his breath and repeatedly stole glances at the man’s unfamiliar appearance.

“…I meant the kid’s temper is like that because he’s like me.”

“…Huh?”

Hearing the unexpected words, his jaw naturally relaxed. Sehwa looked up at Gi Taejeong blankly, his mouth slightly agape like an idiot.

“Half of it is my blood, so the thing inside is acting up like that. I wasn’t trying to swear at you.”

“Ah….”

Flustered, Sehwa aimlessly rubbed his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, just as Gi Taejeong had done a moment ago. He had naturally assumed he was being reprimanded.

“…Still, don’t swear.”

Sehwa, with a lost hand, needlessly crumpled the hem of his top.

“The baby didn’t do anything wrong.”

He knew well that it was just a tiny cell with barely a heart. But if it only remembered being cursed at during its life, even like this. “No matter who it resembles, the baby did nothing wrong…”

And if it heard such harsh words from the person who shared half its blood… that would be too pitiful.