March Novel (Completed) - Chapter 79

“……”

A small bird, appearing from nowhere, began to scurry around the bottom of the screen. With a body like a white lump, as if made of snow, and eyes and a beak like black sesame seeds, it would have looked like a dust bunny or a rice cake if not for its bird-like legs.

A rice ball-shaped bird, wearing a broken eggshell like a hat on its head, suddenly waddled up. Then, as if to say, “Look here,” it pecked at the blinking cursor with its insignificant beak. As if urging him to fill in the blank spaces for the guardian’s name and the baby’s nickname.

“When I was setting it up, it told me to choose anything…”

Noticing Gi Taejeong’s obvious gaze, Lee Sehwa mumbled an excuse in a hushed voice.

“You could choose it? This animal?”

“Ah, yes. In Hwatu, November is a really good month. Of course, if you mess up, it gets twice as dangerous… Anyway, the bird drawn on it is a phoenix, ah, it was written that this isn’t a phoenix but a long-tailed tit…”

Lee Sehwa added a rambling explanation, seemingly embarrassed.

“They said once you set it, you can’t undo it, so… I didn’t think that hard about it, but still, just in case…”

Gi Taejeong’s rigidly held shoulders softened. He was the one who felt embarrassed. The item was utterly harmless, making his internal enumeration of every possible route for Oh Seonran to contact Sehwa, and every person suspected of being a spy, seem pointless.

“Lee Sehwa.”

“I’m sorry. I was going to show you once my mind was made up. Either way. Showing it to you now would only upset you, Brigadier General… I didn’t mean to deceive you. I just…”

“…No, it’s not that.”

Watching Sehwa explain himself as best he could, Gi Taejeong felt strangely unwell. Was this what it felt like when a swarm of ants gnawed at your stomach? An unfamiliar sensation surged up to his head like a tide, then rapidly receded like an ebb. What remained in the empty space was a stinging pain that even Gi Taejeong himself found difficult to explain.

“…I just asked because I was a bit flustered when I saw an unfamiliar communication device inside.”

“Ah, yes….”

I wasn’t trying to corner you. Nor was I trying to mock you for meticulously choosing a character.

The excuses swirling in his mouth felt incredibly awkward. Gi Taejeong was unaccustomed to explaining himself. From the outset, he had diligently carried out his duties to avoid such situations, and if a situation requiring additional action arose, he demonstrated it through action rather than words. It was much faster and cleaner that way.

“Ah, the apple is here!”

But now, he wanted to say something, anything. The way Lee Sehwa had cowered just moments ago, even though he hadn’t been harshly interrogated, kept nagging at him, making him feel like he had to do something.

“Brigadier General, you’ll have an apple, right?”

However, while Gi Taejeong was choosing a sentence to add, Lee Sehwa brought up a different topic first. As if it was his rightful role to mend the frozen atmosphere. As if his role was to be cute and charming to him.

“It feels especially fresh today.”

Lee Sehwa’s gaze, examining the fruit as if nothing had happened, was quite serious.

Thinking about it, Lee Sehwa would go straight to the fruit section whenever he entered the food hall, and he always picked up apples first. The cherries and blueberries he ate well were always an afterthought.

He didn’t eat that much, but he meticulously chose apples, so Gi Taejeong thought it was because he liked the scent. Lee Sehwa was more sensitive to smells than to the food itself.

But watching what Lee Sehwa was doing now, it suddenly occurred to him that it might not be the case. You’ll have an apple, right, Brigadier General? He had always taken the question lightly, but… it seemed he was putting his favorite fruit in the cart first.

Gi Taejeong pressed his lips together and scanned Lee Sehwa. His hands on his knees, his pale profile concentrated, mouth slightly agape.

He wanted Lee Sehwa to be obedient. He wanted him to do whatever he was told. So he suppressed him from the beginning, so he wouldn’t dare to argue or resist. He broke him, shattered him. The fact that Lee Sehwa would flinch at the slightest push was a result of his own making, and no one else’s.

But why…. Shouldn’t he be satisfied now that his wishes had come true? Why did he keep feeling disgusted when Lee Sehwa acted cautiously?

Gi Taejeong, who had been examining the problematic small tablet, tossed the damned thing into the medicine bag. With that, the small bird, whether white-headed or bald, scurried off somewhere, and a hologram floated up.

Gi Taejeong, who had been idly watching its trivial trajectory and was about to turn his head, suddenly flinched and pulled his chin back sharply. It wasn’t an actual ultrasound record that popped up, but a growth prediction.

The baby, suddenly summoned to the screen, looked up at him with a face that seemed about to cry. As if asking why he had been thrown. No, it’s just a hologram, a virtual program, why is it acting so realistically?

He tried to ignore it out of annoyance, but then….

“Ah, shit….”

The baby in the hologram, which he had secretly glanced at when Sehwa wasn’t looking, was shedding big, fat tears. Gi Taejeong briefly pressed his forehead and closed and opened his eyes. Then, resigned, he carefully placed the notebook, which he had carelessly thrown aside, on top of the ampoule box.

“Brigadier General, this apple variety is very unusual.”

At the sound of his name, he merely lifted his eyes to look at Lee Sehwa. It was just an apple, after all. Yet, Sehwa was smiling brightly, his cheeks rounded, as if it was the most amazing thing.

“Ah, they say it’s named after the person who harvested it. It seems there are masters even for apples.”

Gi Taejeong’s gaze, which had been observing that face, slowly drifted to the hologram in the notebook. Designed to respond to touch, when his fingertip brushed it, the virtual baby in the hologram, with tear drops dangling from the corners of its eyes, broke into a wide smile.

It was a face exactly like Lee Sehwa’s, who was chattering in front of him.

“Then I will wait here.”

Master Sergeant Choi bowed his head and stepped back.

These days, it felt like he was spending more time with Master Sergeant Choi than with Gi Taejeong. He didn’t know when he started work or when he left, but he showed his face at least once a day.

The man would suddenly appear around dinner time and then leave again. He would examine Sehwa’s body as if checking for injuries, and ask what he had eaten that day.

Sehwa himself wanted to ask Gi Taejeong. Are you even eating your meals, Brigadier General?

The first trial was soon, he said. Gi Taejeong’s face, sharper than usual, showed a hint of fatigue and some tension. No, perhaps excitement would be a better word? He looked like someone itching to jump onto the battlefield. His sharp demeanor was a little overwhelming and unfamiliar, making it difficult to say anything.

Anyway, it was hard to ask such a person to go somewhere or to say he wanted to eat something, so Sehwa always just vaguely brushed it off.

Does he even sleep? When he woke up, he could faintly smell his perfume, so it seemed he lay beside him before leaving…

“Ah, you can go in now. Would you come this way?”

The manager, who had checked the schedule, spoke kindly.

This general hospital, not far from the quarters, was only accessible to soldiers and their families, and authorized residents of Sector 5. Sehwa seemed to be considered because he was carrying the Air Force Brigadier General’s child. …Actually, he wasn’t sure. Even if it was fundamentally impossible, wouldn’t Gi Taejeong have found a way to make it possible?

“So, have you written anything in the obstetrics journal?”

“Ah… no. Just…”

“You don’t have to feel too pressured. How about just writing a simple line about how you felt today, or how you felt when you saw the ultrasound?”

“Hmm…”

“It will definitely help improve your mood, Sehwa-nim.”

Sehwa-nim. The honorific somehow gave Sehwa goosebumps, and he rubbed his arm. Here, from the moment you made a reservation, a dedicated manager was assigned to each individual. It was something about private care service, but the description was so elaborate that he forgot the exact name.

The manager literally took care of everything related to hospital visits. Not only managing appointment schedules, but also sending a car to the quarters every time. Saying that there should be no inconvenience at all when coming and going from the hospital. So Sehwa these days, exaggerating a bit, did nothing but walk around.

“Then, have a good consultation, and when you come out, I’ll arrange your next schedule.”

“Thank you….”

The manager knocked on the examination room door and slightly opened it as if it were the most natural thing to do. Sehwa swallowed a groan. Should he seriously tell them later that they didn’t need to do these things…?

“Hello,”

“How’s your body?”

The doctor cut off his greeting as he entered the examination room, asking indifferently.

“Ah….”

Embarrassed, Sehwa gave an awkward smile. He had already had so many examinations that he couldn’t count them on two hands, but today’s doctor seemed a bit unkind. Well, some days were like this. Originally, he was in no position to even set foot here, so he decided not to harbor any unnecessary complaints.

“Hmm, I think it’s fine. It’s just that I don’t like the scent of air fresheners, and I’m not particularly picky about food,”

“Ah, it’s not that!”

The doctor’s voice, cutting him off abruptly, was tinged with irritation.

“I’m asking if there was any bleeding, or severe abdominal pain. That’s what I’m asking.”

“…Ah, no. There were no such symptoms.”

Now that he looked, there was an insignia embroidered on the pocket of the doctor’s gown. A military doctor? What unit was he from…? He didn’t know for sure, but he seemed to be a high-ranking officer. Was that why he was acting so sharply? As if thinking, why do I have to take care of this kind of person?

“What are you doing? Not coming over?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Flustered, Sehwa hastily put down the backpack he was holding and fumbled his way to the seat. As he prepared the ultrasound machine and gel, the doctor sighed heavily, as if to make sure he heard it.

The machine, which was casually rubbing his belly, felt much colder than usual. What should he do? Should he try to talk to him? Would that ease the tense atmosphere? Sehwa parted his lips several times, then gave up.

There were guests who frequented the house every day but didn’t want to exchange words with the low-born. In his ignorant days, he would try to lighten the mood by speaking to guests first, or even setting up their seats. But all he got in return were scoldings and physical abuse for doing things he wasn’t told to do.

Sehwa decided to just keep his mouth shut, thinking this doctor was similar to those guests.

“Did Mr. Lee Sehwa insist?”

The doctor, who was carelessly clicking buttons to follow the hologram, threw an unexpected question.

“Huh? What….”

“The Sector 5 hospital must have been fascinating, right? And having a manager bowing to you must have felt good.”

Sehwa just blinked, not understanding what he meant.

“So you keep asking the Brigadier General for check-ups, but you don’t need to come this often. The records show you’re coming almost every two or three days. I thought there was some big problem because you were making such a fuss.”

“Ah, I…”

“Aren’t you self-administering sedatives too?”

“…I am, but…”

“Since you weren’t born with that constitution, I wouldn’t be going out. I hear you go shopping every day and play around?”

“Excuse me? What is that…”

The doctor said that rumors were already rampant within the fortress that the unknown low-born, who was carrying Brigadier General Gi Taejeong’s child, was checking in at department stores every day.

“Sector 5 is so small that rumors spread quickly. They say Mr. Lee Sehwa is putting on airs in the food hall? Even though he doesn’t buy much.”

“……”

“Do you know that the lounge where Mr. Lee Sehwa was comfortably choosing clothes a few days ago is a place where even a general-grade officer can’t set foot? Even I, who was born a Sector 5 resident, can’t enter there…”

“That’s…”

Sehwa was speechless. He understood what the doctor disliked about him today. However, the benefits he was clinging to were never something he had wanted first.

He had simply bought food with Gi Taejeong every day. And the lounge… he didn’t even know what he was talking about. Gi Taejeong had said he wanted to buy something, and he had just followed where he led. Gi Taejeong had finished ordering by just tapping on a tablet from where he sat, so Sehwa didn’t even know what he had chosen.

“Why? Are you going to tell the Brigadier General? That the doctor you met today was unpleasant?”

“No, why would I…”

“Go ahead and try. Do you think I would say this without any backing?”

Now seemed like the time to complain about his physical discomfort. It felt like large needles were pricking his belly. But… he didn’t know what else would be unleashed if he said he was in pain, so Sehwa just lowered his eyes.

He loosely clenched his fists and tried to swallow the surge of emotion. In fact, this wasn’t even verbal abuse. These days, Gi Taejeong spoke to him gently, so he had momentarily forgotten how much a person’s tongue could tear one’s insides.

“If something goes wrong with the baby, Mr. Lee Sehwa will be upset too, won’t he? You even took drugs to change your fate.”

“……”

“If something happens, we’ll have to take all the responsibility. There’s no one who benefits from Mr. Lee Sehwa going out, so please, just stay quietly at home. Understand?”

Nodding his head first was a habit. He’s a difficult and fussy guest, someone I won’t have to see after this time passes… He took a breath and picked up the sharp words the doctor had thrown at him.

“…Doctor, just a moment.”

Sehwa’s head, which had been bowed low, shot up. Something in the fleeting conversation suddenly bothered him. Drug? What does he mean, taking drugs to change his fate?

“Drug… what do you mean?”

“Everyone who knows already knows, so there’s no need to pretend to be innocent. You’re the one who made the drug that allows pregnancy with Second Lieutenant Kim, aren’t you?”