Be My Baby - Vol.2 Chapter 4 Part 3
“So… let’s look at this in order. By chance, a baby was conceived. But hyung said he would sue if a baby was born. But suddenly he says he’ll raise the baby…”
Stuck in the room without being able to move an inch, continuously circling around the room like a beggar looking for anything that might have fallen, Seonwoo, who had finally had breakfast thanks to the gracious cooking of the housekeeper who had hurriedly come to work, was again circling around the room, constantly trying to find an answer, but he kept getting stuck at the same point.
“Ah, this is the problem. This can’t be resolved logically…”
In the worst-case scenario, if hyung found out, Plan C that he had devised was to immediately abort the baby.
The countermeasure for that situation was unconditional begging.
And in the case of Plan D, where the baby would be allowed to be born but its existence would be erased, he thought it would be fine if he raised the child himself.
And again, the conclusion of that plan was that begging profusely would work.
In the plans he had meticulously laid out in order, there was no scenario where hyung suddenly said he would raise the child.
“Ah, this is driving me crazy…”
Originally, the reason he had changed his major from rare intractable diseases to organ regeneration and artificial organs, and particularly obsessed over artificial wombs, was because he wanted to naturally have hyung’s child.
Of course, he didn’t think it would work well, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming, so he had run solely towards that goal, and by divine providence, he even succeeded.
But to lose that divine providence right before his eyes made his stomach churn.
It really made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Aah…”
As he paced around the room, deeply sighing because he didn’t know when such luck would come again if not for this opportunity, the sun was gradually setting.
Looking at the clock as the room’s lights gradually brightened to match the external light levels, it was almost quitting time.
He still hadn’t properly thought about what to do, but as the time of his death sentence approached, Seonwoo stamped his feet anxiously.
“What should I do, what should I do?”
Not knowing what to do, stamping his feet on the spot, Seonwoo thought he couldn’t handle this alone and again picked up his phone to dial Seyoon’s number.
And he waited for Seyoon to answer the phone, but no matter how many times he called, the call wouldn’t connect.
In the more than ten years he had known Seyoon, this guy always answered his phone immediately.
And even if he was in the middle of a trial, he always set a message saying ‘In a meeting.’ For him not to answer the phone like this, there was only one reason.
“He’s blocked my number…”
There’s no use complaining that he’s such a bad friend.
This guy was always like this.
It’s true that he had depended a lot on this guy so far, so he couldn’t cling to him anymore. As he scrolled through the numbers stored in his phone, his hand stopped at his brother’s number.
But this time, he couldn’t easily press the call button.
Thinking that if he called now, he might get cursed at and beaten to death, he couldn’t bring himself to call his brother and was hesitating when the phone in his hand suddenly rang.
Startled by the sound, he wondered if it might be Seyoon, but of course, it wasn’t.
It was a call from hell.
Suddenly his heart started pounding and his hands seemed to tremble, so he hesitated whether to answer or not, but thinking he’d get in more trouble if he didn’t answer, he finally pressed the call button.
“Yes.”
“Why did you take so long to answer?”
Because I was scared, he couldn’t bring himself to say, so reflexively, the words that always came out when talking to this person spilled out.
“I’m sorry…”
“…Never mind. I’m on my way home from work now, and in a little while, people will bring clothes and necessary items. Receive them properly and organize them.”
“Ah… I don’t need clothes…”
“You’ll need a lot in the future. And you can go out of the room. You don’t need to stupidly eat your meals like you’re being rationed in the room just because I told you not to go out.”
“Ah! Thank you.”
As he was just breathing a sigh of relief that he could go out of the room, hyung dropped a bombshell.
“If I leave now, it’ll take about 20 minutes. Ask the housekeeper for dinner.”
At those words, his voice involuntarily rose.
“20 minutes?”
“Why?”
“Um… Could you come 10 minutes later? I haven’t sorted out my thoughts yet…”
Thinking that quitting time was too early, he made an absurd excuse trying to buy even a little more time, but of course, it didn’t work at all.
“If you couldn’t sort it out after thinking all day, will 10 minutes make a difference?”
Well, of course…
“It won’t…”
“No, that’s fortunate. Prepare dinner and wait.”
“Yes…”
The moment he hung up the phone, he started circling around the room again out of nervousness.
What should I say, how should I say it?
No, how should I resolve this?
No matter how much he kept thinking about it in his head, as hyung had said, something that couldn’t be resolved after thinking all day couldn’t be resolved in that short time.
“Are you here?”
Seonwoo, who had just five minutes ago received an enormous amount of clothes and luggage from people who had barged in, bowed deeply in greeting in front of Eungyo, who arrived exactly 20 minutes after the phone call.
As he greeted him, tense all over, hyung, who had entered the house, took off his jacket and slowly went to the dining room.
“Let’s eat first.”
“Yes…”
As Eungyo, who had entered the dining room past the living room decorated overall in ivory, sat down first, Seonwoo also took a seat opposite him.
And silently, quietly, they started moving their spoons in front of the dinner table laden so heavily it seemed the marble tabletop might bend.
In the dining room filled with a tense atmosphere, Seonwoo busily moved his spoon with his hand while glancing at Eungyo with his eyes.
As those eyes moved quickly, trying to somehow figure out what he was thinking and how he was feeling, Eungyo, who had been eating silently, dropped a remark.
“Just eat. Don’t bother racking that useless brain of yours.”
Thinking that it does spill out a lot if he racks it, Seonwoo obediently picked up plenty of ribs and stir-fried pork belly in front of him and ate.
Watching him sneakily eat everything while still being cautious, Eungyo suddenly asked as if something had occurred to him.
“Is there anything in particular you want to eat?”
“Huh? Ah… No. I eat everything well.”
“Morning sickness?”
“There probably won’t be any of that…”
“Don’t say probably, be certain.”
“Theoretically… there shouldn’t be.”
As Seonwoo added very softly, “probably” again, since there were no previous cases so he couldn’t be certain, and busily ate the stir-fried pork belly, Eungyo, who had been quietly watching Seonwoo, continued the conversation.
“But will your stomach show when the baby grows?”
“Ah… Not really. Since it needs to be separated before five months, it won’t show much. It varies case by case, but internal organs will be pressed a bit.”
“The internal organs are pressed?”
“Since it’s forcibly stuffed in where there wasn’t anything before, there will probably be some abdominal pressure as the weight increases.”
At those words, Eungyo frowned a little.
The tone was so nonchalant, but the content of the words themselves sounded quite dangerous.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“It is dangerous since the internal organs are being pressed, but the human body adapts to situations, so it should be fine. According to my calculations, there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
At Seonwoo’s words that there was a risk burden since there was no difference from the initial size right now, as he answered while eating ribs, Eungyo stopped moving abruptly.
“You, did you do this knowing it was dangerous?”
“It could be dangerous, but… Actually, I didn’t know pregnancy would occur. And I couldn’t waste the blood that went into making that.”
At Seonwoo’s words that the blood drawn over half a year was too precious to waste since he couldn’t use artificial or regenerated blood, saying it was all his blood, Eungyo looked at him incredulously.
“You risked your life because blood was precious?”
“It’s not to the extent of risking my life.”
At Seonwoo’s bright-eyed answer, Eungyo put down his spoon and let out a small sigh.
“I had forgotten for a moment how lacking you are.”
At the words “lacking” that came out again today, Seonwoo lowered his head again as if deflated.
Seeing him become dejected again, Eungyo closed his mouth, feeling he had misspoken, and Seonwoo again stuffed rice into his mouth reluctantly.
Fortunately, as he seemed to eat, not completely disheartened, Eungyo also picked up his spoon again, and Seonwoo, moving his hands busily, glanced at Eungyo again.
Then, as if whispering, he spoke very softly.
“Um…”
“Speak.”
“Um…”
“Um?”
“I’ve been thinking all day…”
“You’ve been thinking and?”
“…Couldn’t I raise the child?”
At Seonwoo’s soft question, hoping against hope, really, really hoping, Eungyo quickly dismissed his opinion.
“Do I have to repeat what I’ve already said?”
“…No…”
“It’s only natural that I raise my child. But if you want to raise the child too, think carefully about what you need to do.”
As Eungyo gave what he considered quite a radical hint, Seonwoo paused while gnawing on a rib and rolled his eyes.
And after seeming to think about something for a very brief moment, he softly asked again.
“You mean… a trial?”
At those words suggesting they should go straight to civil court and have a fierce custody battle, Eungyo smiled faintly.
“You want to have a trial with me?”
“…No…”
“I don’t mind if you want to. But only if you’re prepared to lose your entire fortune.”
As Eungyo smiled as if saying he’d make him lose not just his personal assets but his entire family’s fortune and leave him penniless, Seonwoo lowered his head again, seeming deflated.
“That’s, not possible.”
“Of course it’s not.”
“…Then what should I do?”
“Well… What should you do?”
“I’ve been thinking all day but I can’t figure it out. If it were numbers or engineering-related, I could solve anything in a day, but this is difficult.”
“There’s no need to think so complicatedly. Let’s say it’s a logic circuit problem. I have to raise the child, but you also want to raise the child, so what should be done?”
“So, a trial…”
At Seonwoo, who kept harping on about trials as if everything in his head was fixed on trials, lawsuits, and civil cases, Eungyo looked at him with gritted teeth.
“If you like trials so much, shall I send you a complaint?”
As Eungyo ground his teeth, saying he could pile up complaints like a mountain, including fraud and violation of scientific ethics standards, Seonwoo immediately tucked his tail between his legs again.
“No…”
At that voice that had completely shrunk, Eungyo, who had barely managed to suppress his anger, spoke again very kindly.
“I told you to think simply, didn’t I? From an engineer’s perspective, if both B and C want source A, what should be done?”
“A’s capacity should be allocated.”
“What if A is a source that can’t be allocated or divided?”
As Eungyo, unable to bear it anymore, gave an outright hint, Seonwoo snapped his fingers as if he had finally realized something.
“Ah!”
“Have you finally come up with an answer?”
“You mean clone the baby?”
At those words suggesting cloning the baby since there were two people who wanted it but it couldn’t be allocated or divided, Eungyo inwardly muttered ‘damn bastard’, unable to hold back any longer.
There’s a reason why a half-wit is called a half-wit.
No matter how smart he is, being that lacking is exactly what makes him a half-wit.
“I’m sorry, but human cloning is legally prohibited.”
“Ah…”
“Just eat.”
“…Yes…”
The conversation during the meal ended so futilely.
His brother’s words that a straight ball is best for simple kids were being very painfully etched deep into Eungyo’s stomach.
“Damn bastard…”
After Seonwoo had emptied three bowls of rice and even eaten pudding for dessert, finally seeming satisfied with a full stomach and grinning happily, Eungyo shoved him into the bathroom and clicked his tongue softly while checking the documents he hadn’t finished processing.
He felt the urge to flip everything over at the sight of him chirping nonsense without understanding despite being given such obvious hints, but with the last of his reason, he barely managed to suppress his anger.
But still feeling indignant, he was quickly reading through the reports that had come up today and snorting when suddenly his phone placed beside him started ringing loudly. Moving only his eyes to check the screen, it was Eunsoo. He thought about not answering because it was annoying, but knowing this guy would come all the way to the house if he didn’t answer, he finally picked up the phone.
“Yeah.”
“Eunho hyung has betrayed us!”
“What’s new about that? We all saw it coming.”
Eungyo replied indifferently, thinking he might have gone and had a child somewhere, when Eunsoo shouted excitedly.
“Hyung, this is not the time to be so indifferent. Eunho hyung is getting married next month!”
Hearing Eunsoo’s voice, seemingly very upset, Eungyo paused for a moment.
Then he continued, sounding somewhat bewildered.
“…Well, that’s quite… an old-fashioned idea.”
Thinking it was pathetic, or perhaps simple-minded – a month ago it might have been understandable, but now that Father had already told them to have a child, the child should be the priority – he could see right through the petty trick of trying to put out the urgent fire with marriage. As he replied like that and signed a newly arrived proposal, Eunsoo continued urgently.
“Hyung, this is no time for this. If he gets married right away and happens to have a child, Eunho hyung will take all the inheritance!”
“Let him take it. I’m not interested.”
As he bluntly said that he wasn’t interested in inheritance or anything else, his interest now solely focused on airhead, Eunsoo paused for a moment before continuing.
“Are you really not interested?”
“No.”
“But Eunho hyung is so annoying. Suddenly trying to take everything. Eunho hyung is always like this. He pretends to go along with us, keeps his mouth shut, and then backstabs us at the critical moment. I really want to hit him, even if he is my hyung.”
“Leave him be. That guy always trips over his own feet while trying to be clever.”
Eungyo’s voice was excessively calm and composed.
Without showing any irritation or sighing, at his too-calm response, Eunsoo asked dubiously.
“Hyung… Do you perhaps have some other plan?”
It wasn’t that he had a plan, but rather that the conclusion had already been reached unbeknownst to them, but knowing it would be troublesome if Eunsoo found out, Eungyo deflected appropriately.
“No. You stop worrying about that guy too and just do your work. If you keep paying attention to every little thing, there’s no end to it.”
“But…”
“Stop worrying about Father and Eunho’s business now. Just do your own work properly.”
“…I understand. But hyung, do you have something going on?”
“Why?”
“I heard you left work early today.”
“It’s a personal matter.”
“Is it related to Seonwoo by any chance?”
“That’s right.”
“What kind of trouble did he cause?”
“It’s not trouble. There’s just an issue that he and I need to resolve, so don’t worry about it. You, you’re too interested in unnecessary things. Invest that time in yourself.”
As Eungyo scolded his brother, whose concern was as vast as the Pacific Ocean, Eunsoo mumbled in a voice that had completely shrunk.
“…But Seonwoo is my friend…”
Just as he was about to cut off Eunsoo’s words as he tried to make excuses until the end, a thud sound rang out.
Startled by the dull sound, he looked in the direction it came from, and a beat later, a scream echoed.
“Aack!”
Surprised by that sound, he jumped up and went to the bathroom, opened the door, and saw a lump of flesh rolling around inside the shower booth.
Shocked by that sight, he first put his phone on top of the storage cabinet in the bathroom, then went over and opened the door, and air was showering down.
He first turned off the air shower in the strong wind, then looked down inside, and Seonwoo, who had been clinging tightly to the corner of the booth, finally breathed out.
“What were you doing to fall?”
“The wind, the wind suddenly…”
“Don’t you know how to use the air shower?”
At that question, Seonwoo nodded his head vigorously.
Come to think of it, this guy, despite being an engineer, hated machines.
It’s not that he can’t use them, he dislikes them.
Right, that’s how it was.
“Really… you’re something else. Get up for now.”
Saying that and reaching out his hand, the guy who hadn’t even dried himself, avoiding the air shower, glanced at him.
As he slightly frowned at that gaze, the guy’s body, which was literally just a lump of flesh, came into view.
Literally, it was just a lump of flesh.
The sight of him sitting curled up in the corner of the shower booth, legs tightly together, without a stitch of clothing, made him momentarily stop breathing.
And his gaze began to sweep over that lump of flesh as if licking it.
As his gaze reached the unexpectedly long and slender arms and legs, passing over the shoulders and waist that were thin compared to how much he ate, those arms wrapping around his neck, those legs, and the faint moans and ragged breaths.
The guy who he had always thought had no sex appeal and looked just like a child, at that time, looked quite his age.
No, he looked seductive enough to surpass his age.
He had started half out of stubbornness, thinking he’d teach him a lesson, but later he couldn’t come to his senses and was drawn in to the point where airhead in bed was excessively stimulating.
At the memory so intense it made his head spin, he hurriedly turned his gaze away and took out a bathrobe from the side cabinet next to the booth.
“Put it on and come out.”
After pulling out and throwing any of the bathrobes hanging in a row, he quickly turned around to leave the bathroom, picking up the phone he had put down.
And as he was about to check if the call had ended, he heard Eunsoo’s voice first.
“Hyung, what’s that? Was that just Lee Seonwoo’s scream?”
At Eunsoo’s question, who knew Seonwoo very well, saying that only he would scream “Aaack” so frivolously, Eungyo calmly acknowledged him.
“It’s that airhead.”
“Why is he at your house? Didn’t he go on a trip?”
“Something came up, so I brought him. I’m hanging up.”
After abruptly ending the call without listening to Eunsoo’s response, Eungyo turned around and saw Seonwoo emerging, clumsily putting on the bathrobe right behind him.
The sight of him trudging out with a flushed face, probably from using hot water, reflexively made Eungyo blurt out a brusque comment.
“You really are all-around useless…”
At that harsh tone, as always, Seonwoo lowered his head again.
Following that gaze inadvertently, Eungyo’s eyes stopped at the collarbone visible through the gap in the robe.
True to his nickname airhead, he couldn’t even close the robe properly, and the glimpse of fair skin through the parted fabric made Eungyo’s lips go dry.
It had been over a month ago, and only once at that, but since that day, every time he saw this guy, all he could think about was wanting to hold him once more.
He wanted to somehow drag him to bed and hold him until he was satisfied.
He wanted to strip him bare, embrace him, touch him, thrust deep inside him, and do it until they were a mess.
As his fantasies expanded, his throat felt parched.
He had barely endured last night, but honestly, he wasn’t confident about tonight.
He thought about just pouncing on him, throwing away all pride and dignity, but… thinking he really wouldn’t be able to handle the aftermath, he barely overcame the impulse by summoning all his remaining reason and hurriedly closed the robe, very tightly.
“Can’t you even put on a robe properly?”
As his gaze kept trying to drift towards the collarbone and below, he roughly spat out those words while tightly closing the robe, and the guy standing in front of him replied in a tiny voice.
“…I’m sorry…”
At that small voice that seemed deflated, a curse almost escaped his mouth.
The beagle version that would make a fuss saying it was okay no matter how much he cursed was better; this pitiful response kept making his imagination run wild in a different direction to the point of driving him crazy.
Fighting the urge to drag him to bed and make him cry more, he gritted his teeth and turned around.
“Just go to sleep. I have work to do.”
As he gathered his documents and phone, intending to practice asceticism again tonight, Seonwoo standing behind him softly spoke up.
“Um…”
“What?”
“I, I could sleep in the living room. And I sleep well on the floor too. I’m used to sleeping on a sleeping bag…”
“As I said yesterday, I’m not inhumane enough to make a pregnant person sleep on the floor. Stop nagging and go to sleep quietly.”
“…Where will you sleep, hyung?”
At those words, a really important issue came to mind.
He had managed to endure yesterday, but today would be difficult.
Moreover, even if it was for guests, he had only one bed in this entire spacious house, thinking that if he made another bedroom, anyone might come and crash.
He regretted not buying a cot or at least a cocoon-style sofa, but it was already too late.
He didn’t have the confidence to lie next to this guy again tonight and have an awl stabbed into his thigh, so tonight it would be either the sofa or a chair in the study.
“I’m busy today. I’ll be in the study and sleep when appropriate, so you just go to bed.”
“We could sleep together…”
At that naive statement from someone who didn’t know better, his inner voice burst out.
“Who are you trying to catch?”
Gritting his teeth, thinking that today it would be a knife stabbing his thigh rather than an awl, he said that, and Seonwoo finally raised his head and shook it vigorously.
“I didn’t drink alcohol, so I won’t pounce on you. No, I won’t drink anymore… No, even if I get drunk, I won’t pounce on you anymore. I absolutely won’t do it again.”
He was about to set out purification water and beg to be pounced on, but now he was saying he would never pounce even if he died… At this completely misaligned situation, Eungyo felt extreme fatigue.
This very situation of facing this guy was torture for him.
“Just eat. Your face is like rice cake, but your body is like a refugee. How are you going to have a baby properly like that?”
Having not slept well, the dream that ended at just the right moment, and airhead’s uncharacteristically deflated attitude all combined to irritate him, making his tone a bit higher. The guy sitting across from him repeated the same words again with a gloomy face.
“…I’m sorry…”
I’m sorry, I was wrong, I won’t do it again.
Originally, these words made up most of the conversations between that guy and himself, but the repetition of these sentences had become even more frequent recently, making him sigh involuntarily.
He hadn’t meant to get angry, but his emotions were complicated in many ways, making his words come out harsher, and as a result, the already deflated guy was showing increasingly timid reactions.
Thinking this would just lead to an endless vicious cycle, he put down his fork and looked at that guy.
“Lee Seonwoo.”
“…Yes…”
“You…”
Thinking he should have a proper conversation for once, he started to speak, but he couldn’t think of what to say next.
And thinking it wasn’t something to talk about over breakfast, he deflected appropriately.
“Never mind. I’ll send a car when it’s time to leave, so call me. Make sure to get a thorough check-up.”
“Yes…”
“Eat up.”
At those words, as he picked up the ribs again while still looking cautious, something else suddenly came to mind.
“…Should I go to the hospital with you?”
Remembering his mother who still gritted his teeth at his father, saying he had gone to the obstetrician alone throughout his pregnancies even after having four sons, he asked that, and the guy with ribs in his mouth quickly shook his head.
“No, it’s okay. You’re busy, you don’t have to.”
“Obstetrics… no, not for you.”
Right, the place this guy needs to go isn’t obstetrics, but surgery or internal medicine, he thought, cutting off his words, and Seonwoo nodded.
“Yes. And anyway, I have to diagnose myself…”
At Seonwoo’s words that he would only borrow equipment from his brother’s hospital, as the situation had already gone beyond a doctor’s domain, so he had to see, judge, and record everything himself, Eungyo silently watched Seonwoo reach for the kimchi.
Although he was already well past the age at twenty-seven, the thought of him creating and giving birth to a baby made him sigh.
Moreover, he would have to diagnose himself, check the date for separation, and even oversee the surgery when giving birth… Even if local anesthesia was possible, would he have to watch his own belly being opened? As that scene suddenly came to mind, he shook his head.
No matter what, that’s a bit too much.
Thinking that the person who did the experiment with him would probably observe, he took another sip of coffee, when Seonwoo, who had already finished one bowl of rice, looked at him cautiously while licking his spoon, his face asking if he could have another bowl.
It was an excessive appetite that made him think he was a glutton, but seeing his skinny body contrary to his face, he did need to eat more.
For the future too, he definitely needed to put on some weight.
“Eat more.”
As soon as that brief permission was given, the guy smiled brightly.
Seeing that face smiling like a puppy with his eyes curved, all his irritation seemed to vanish in an instant.
Looking at that face, he didn’t feel like saying anything more, so he started moving his fork to eat the salad too.
And so, another day began as the nightmarish night passed.
But what still made him uneasy was the premonition that this nightmare would repeat again tonight.
And Eungyo’s premonition was exactly right.
