Yigyeom quickly emptied about half a cup of orangeade in one go, feeling the slight settling of his uneasy stomach as he took a small exhale.
“Does it taste good?”
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
“Do you want to try some pancakes too?”
Kwon Taejung, who had generously drizzled syrup over three stacked thin pancakes, cut them into a size suitable for Yigyeom to eat and brought it in front of him. Yigyeom quietly opened his mouth, and Kwon Taejung fed him. Seeing that he even reached under his chin to avoid syrup dripping, it felt like he truly treated him like a child, but he didn’t mind.
“How is it?”
“It’s delicious too. I think I can eat.”
“Good.”
“I’ll eat this. Chief, please eat quickly too.”
“I can’t because the fork is too heavy. Come on, let’s have another bite.”
Kwon Taejung, who added another piece of pancake into Yigyeom’s mouth, smiled broadly. Still, it was truly fortunate that there was something good to eat.
“After eating this, let’s go to the center to check if you’re pregnant and see if there’s any pain. Then, let’s go home and rest.”
“Yes…”
“I’m a bit worried all of a sudden. A few days ago, we had sex pretty intensely. Is it okay?”
Yigyeom recalled the recent passionate moments he shared with Kwon Taejung. Thinking about the times they were intimate in the entrance, bathroom, and on the bed, his toes curled up inside his sneakers. The inner part of his thighs also felt a bit strange.
“…Ah, it’s still… because it’s still very small… it should be okay, right?”
“I’ll have to ask about that. Ah, I’m so nervous.”
While holding the fork to feed him with one hand, Kwon Taejung used his other hand to nervously stroke his chest. Watching him, Yigyeom chuckled softly. Seeing Kwon Taejung’s endearing behavior, he couldn’t help but feel happy and nervous at the same time.
“I went home yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“I told my parents that I want to marry someone.”
“Ah… They must have been surprised.”
“Yeah, a bit. So, while they were surprised, I told them it’s better if they’re more surprised. I mentioned that you’re twelve years younger than me. They want to meet you, but for now, it’s better if you recover your health first, and we take it slowly.”
Yigyeom looked quietly at Kwon Taejung, who cared for him. It would be difficult for Kwon Taejung to suggest meeting his parents immediately, considering my tension during the meeting with his sister and brother-in-law and the thoughts I had since that day.
“I… It’s okay to meet them soon.”
“No, you don’t have to feel pressured. It’s not urgent. Your health and your feelings are the most important things.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“….”
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“…I’m going crazy, seriously.”
Ah, damn. Can I live without swearing? It’s so good like this. Damn, how do I express this craziness? Damn, I’m going insane.
“Yeah. Yigyeom, you’re right. We should meet soon and get married quickly. There’s no time to waste.”
Kwon Taejung, after sweeping the table clean, laying Yigyeom down, and sprinkling syrup all over his body, finally managed to laugh and fed him another piece of pancake.
“I’ll schedule a meeting for next week. Let’s rest together this week. Going to the office can be postponed for a while.”
“Is that okay?”
“Yeah. And let’s make it okay even if it’s not. Right now, the most important thing is you, Yigyeom.”
No matter what he said, every time she saw his face smiling brightly, her heart melted. Kwon Taejung smiled back at him with a beautiful smile as he fed him another piece of pancake, cut into the right size.
Facing the fullness of happiness.
* * *
Yigyeom lay on the ultrasound bed, anxiously watching the monitor. Smiling, Cho Hyunjoon, who was running the ultrasound scanner over Yigyeom’s belly, turned his head.
“Wow, you’re pregnant. Congratulations. Taejung, congratulations.”
Upon Cho Hyunjoon’s words, Yigyeom quickly looked at Kwon Taejung. Kwon Taejung, lowering his head, kissed Yigyeom’s cheeks and lips in succession, deepening the kiss a little more as if he couldn’t express everything with just that.
“Uh… Did you forget that this is a hospital? As the guardian?”
“Oh, right.”
With a shameless and nonchalant face, Kwon Taejung alternately looked at Yigyeom, who could only blink her eyes, and Cho Hyunjoon, who blinked not knowing what to do, and put on a professionally kind smile.
“It seems to be about four weeks. Being an Omega, symptoms might show up a bit faster than Beta. Do you see this small dot here? That’s the baby’s home. If you come back in about two weeks, you’ll see the baby too. You’ll be able to hear the heartbeat as well.”
Holding Kwon Taejung’s hand and silently looking at the small baby’s home on the monitor, Yigyeom stood up to arrange his clothes and headed towards the examination room. Cho Hyunjoon, sitting in his chair, looked at Yigyeom with a wide smile.
“Congratulations. It’s really good news. As I mentioned before, be extremely careful until the hormones stabilize and the baby settles. Absolutely do not push yourself. And it’s good to eat well and rest well.”
“Yes…”
Listening attentively to Cho Hyunjoon’s words, Kwon Taejung leaned toward the desk, gently stroking Yigyeom’s head filled with worries.
“Tell me more. What precautions should he take?”
“Well, it’s better not to do things that put a strain on you mentally and physically, right?”
“Yigyeom is currently working at a café part-time. Maybe he should avoid that too since it involves standing.”
“Yeah. Right now, it’s crucial to eat well and rest well.”
Nodding, Yigyeom looked at Cho Hyunjoon as if something had come to his mind. Meeting Cho Hyunjoon’s gaze with a softer smile than when he looked at Kwon Taejung, Yigyeom seemed to have a question.
“I have something I’m curious about… It’s not related to pregnancy, but… Can I ask?”
“Yes, of course. You can even ask about my ideal type.”
Trying to lighten Yigyeom’s worried atmosphere with a joke, Cho Hyunjoon glanced at Kwon Taejung, who seemed like he might kill him, and cleared his throat.
“…Since Chief started knotting… When I’m with the Chief, my heart beats faster than usual… I feel shaky, and if he’s not around, I get anxious almost to the point of passing out, and my heart races again… That’s how it was. Uh, it’s hard to say exactly that it’s because of the knotting, but since then, I’ve felt like this… Maybe, is it because my hormones are unstable too?”
Listening quietly to Yigyeom’s words, Cho Hyunjoon rotated his pen and then looked at Kwon Taejung. Pointing his pen at Kwon Taejung, he spoke.
“Did you experience the same thing?”
“What?”
“Did you have symptoms similar to what Yigyeom described? Emotions surge when you’re together, anxiety intensifies when you’re apart, and such symptoms.”
“Yeah, I did. It was so bad that I couldn’t breathe if he wasn’t around, to the point of feeling suffocated?”
Slowly nodding, Cho Hyunjoon turned his attention to the keyboard, typed something, examined it, and then looked back at Kwon Taejung and Yigyeom alternately.
“It seems like early imprinting.”
“Imprinting?”
“Yes. Do you know what imprinting is? To put it briefly, it’s when Alpha and Omega become mutually dependent through emotional bonding and everything, including pheromones, becomes exclusive to each other. Your symptoms, as you described, seem to be early imprinting symptoms.”
Surprised by the unexpected answer, Yigyeom looked at Kwon Taejung. He had heard about imprinting before, but for someone like him who had not lived as an Omega properly until now, it was one of the unfamiliar things, making it difficult for him to grasp the exact significance of having imprinted with Kwon Taejung.
“In simple terms, it means that now you’ve become highly responsive to each other, and as part of the initial adaptation process, you’ll intensely seek each other out. Typically, the symptoms appear for a short period, around 3 months, and in some cases, up to half a year. It’s advisable to spend a lot of time together during this period.”
“Yeah, you should have told me that earlier.”
“Well, imprinting doesn’t show up on ultrasound, and you wouldn’t know it from a blood test, right? Besides, you, who lived so orderly, didn’t know what happened even though you imprinted at the age of thirty-two? It’s not like you were living a chaotic life.”
“Who would’ve known if I didn’t live messily.”
“Wow… Seriously, I wouldn’t have felt unjust if I lived messily.”
Seeing Kwon Taejung attacking with absurdities, Cho Hyunjoon, with a sarcastic tone, equipped himself with another friendly smile and looked at Yigyeom.
“Since you’re pregnant and hormonal regulation is impossible right now, it’s best to spend time with Taejung. It will gradually stabilize over time. Even if that’s not the case, Taejung will probably keep seeking you out all the time. Alpha pheromones also provide a sense of stability.”
“Yes… You did well to ask.”
“Is there anything else you’re curious about? If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me using the number on my business card. Since it’s the early stages of pregnancy and a period that requires careful attention, you should visit the hospital frequently. Come immediately if anything seems a little off.”
“Yes, I will.”
“There’s a lot to congratulate you on during pregnancy and imprinting. Congratulations. I’ll see you in two weeks.”
“Thank you…”
Blushing with embarrassment, Yigyeom bowed his head shyly to thank him and stood up from the chair, leaving the examination room. Guided by Kwon Taejung, he leaned on him for support as they walked down to the parking lot. His gaze remained fixed on the black ultrasound image throughout.
“Chief, the baby’s home is so small… Will it get bigger when we see it next time?”
“Wouldn’t it be?”
Seeing Yigyeom unable to take his eyes off him even while in the car, Kwon Taejung found it adorable and quickly led him out of the hospital. He felt relieved to get home quickly and lay Yigyeom down on the bed.
Though he wanted to fly home, Kwon Taejung drove as safely as possible, protecting Yigyeom from the moment he took off his shoes, moving cautiously as if to overprotect.
“Are you going to shower now?”
“Yes… I want to shower and sleep.”
“I’ll help you shower.”
“…It’s okay. I can shower by myself.”
“You fainted while showering before. You couldn’t sleep properly last night, and you can’t shower alone.”
Blushing with embarrassment, Yigyeom hesitated, gently tugging on the hem of Kwon Taejung’s shirt.
“…I want to get into warm water.”
“Oh, that sounds good too. Sit here. I’ll get the water. Absolutely don’t come alone. We don’t want you slipping.”
Obeying Kwon Taejung’s overprotective instructions, Yigyeom sat quietly on the bed, and he waited for him in that spot until he came back with warm water. With every movement, he felt more and more that his heart was swelling with joy, especially considering that they had imprinted.
“…”
Oh no… It’s too good. Yigyeom, with a delighted smile, sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs back and forth. Despite feeling drowsy and the chaos in his mind from all the events, he couldn’t help but feel happy. Too much.
“Yigyeom, who waits so cutely.”
“I was just… sitting here…”
“I saw you swinging your legs. Gosh… It’s not just your legs… really, you’re so cute.”
Suppressing the desire to express his feelings too strongly, Kwon Taejung gently lifted Yigyeom and guided him to the bathroom, making sure he didn’t have any worries while he attended to him.
really fluff overload
Too cute!