Stranger Who Found Spring

After a long time, Cho-seung, holding his cell phone in his hand, contacted his mother.

[Oh my, really?]

“Yes. Mother said you would come in person, so he felt burdened…”

[Still, you did well. It’s a headache if he gets sick after coming here.]

He had no idea if he said he would come to Gangwon-do with a pregnant body for a day. He would have to hold on for at least two days, but there was no guarantee that he would be unharmed during that time. She thought she should go instead.

[So, is there anything wrong?]

“Not yet. He said sometimes his stomach feels pulled, but the doctor said it was normal.”

[Really? You should take him to the hospital regularly.]

“Yes, of course.”

He couldn’t stop her from nagging and just made a tired expression on his face. It was because he knew that he hadn’t been paying attention to his mother because he had been taking care of Ha-hyun lately. There was still a long time before Ha-hyun woke up, so calling her would be fine.

Cho-seung, who continued to talk on the phone while doing housework that had been overdue from going out for a while, tilted his head with a puzzled expression when he didn’t show up until after the wake-up time.

“Mother.”

[Why?]

“You sleep a lot when you’re pregnant, right?”

[Not really. But it’s different for each person?]

Then maybe he should let him sleep more. Besides, they went to the Han River for a walk yesterday, so he might be more tired than usual.

Although he was a little anxious, it could be like waking up from a sweet sleep.

[You sigh again. What’s the matter?]

“It’s time for him to wake up and find food, but Ha-hyun hasn’t waken up. It seems unusual, so I’m worried, but it’s not good to wake him up.”

[Still, go in and check his condition.]

Enticed by those words, Cho-seung quietly moved into the bedroom.

[What unusual is unusual. You will regret it later. If you start to regret it, it’s already too late.]

She’s right.

Cho-seung, who expressed his positive attitude, ended the call and carefully opened the tightly closed door.

His head looked inside and tried to examine Ha-hyun lying on the bed. However, he was tightly wrapped in a blanket, so he couldn’t see him properly.

Cho-seung, who had no choice but to step into the room and approached Ha-hyun, was surprised to feel the heat.

“Ha-hyun-ah?”

Cho-seung grabbed Ha-hyun by the shoulder and tried to examine his face on the pillow. He noticed that his body was hot.

“Lee Ha-hyun. Wake up, ung?”

He shook his body with a rather rough hand with an anxious mind and a small sound of pain flowed out.

“What’s wrong. Are you sick? Ha-hyun—”

“Stomach…”

Stomach?

At the small words that came out, Cho-seung’s head turned white. Did he mean his stomach hurt? Why? He often said it hurt, but not to this extent. He used to be fine with being relaxed and rested when he was sick. So, he had never done anything like this before—

“It, it hurts…”

Ha-hyun covered his lower stomach and curled his body. His pyjamas, soaked in a cold sweat, clung to his body and made him shiver as if he had chills. Only then did Cho-seung come to his senses and pick up his fallen cell phone to call the emergency.

* * *

The moment when the anxiety became reality came.

Cho-seung, who forcibly moved his stiff head in shock and transported Ha-hyun to the hospital, sat on a chair and looked at Ha-hyun with a miserable feeling.

“Ha-hyun-ah…”

He let out a trembling breath while holding the hand of Ha-hyun, who was lying on a pale complexion.

It was clearly his fault. He had heard all along about how much attention it took to take care a recessive omega that conceived twins, but he could do nothing to end up in this point.

Cho-seung chewed his lips at the fact that his own thought had brought about this. He should take a look into it a little sooner. Normally, when he said he was sick, he should get a proper test.

It would be fine.

He knew very well how dangerous that thought, that word, was. However, since he had only seen Ha-hyun in good health, he was relieved.

There were definitely times when he grumbled that he was sick and woke up early in the morning, but he smiled and said that he was fine after sharing pheromones and resting, so he thought it was no big deal.

He realized only now that he had become complacent in the repetitive situations. He didn’t even know it was the most dangerous.

Cho-seung tightly closed his cold eyes.

“Lee Ha-hyun-nim’s guardian.”

Hearing him being called, Cho-seung quickly got up and moved following the nurse’s guidance. He guessed the test results came out. He didn’t know what to do if she said he wasn’t in a good condition, so he chewed his innocent lip.

“If you wait in front of this for a while, they will call Patient Lee Ha-hyun’s name. Then, you can go to the second treatment room.”

After finishing her work, the nurse silently went back the way she came. He forcibly pressed down his trembling legs and stared blankly at the waiting screen. When he waited to enter the doctor’s office, he took a short breath as he shook off the worst thoughts running through his mind.

How many minutes had passed.

Not even feeling the passage of time, Cho-seung picked up his cell phone. He didn’t know how long it had been, but he was worried that Ha-hyun might have woken up in the meantime. He might be confused when he opened his eyes, so he only wanted to be by his side.

However, he couldn’t remain unaware of Ha-hyun’s exact condition. He checked his watch while suppressing his desire to return to the hospital room. Realizing that less than 10 minutes had passed, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Lee Ha-hyun-nim’s guardian.”

Cho-seung, who reflexively stood up at the sound of the call, quickly entered the examination room. He ignored the doctor who recognized him and welcomed him, and asked urgently before sitting down in the office chair.

“How is Ha-hyun?”

“Fortunately, nothing major happened. He doesn’t have to be miscarriaged and the children are healthy. He doesn’t even have any particular illness. He is sick due to sudden uterine contractions.”

After calmly explaining that this often happened to recessive omega pregnant with twins, the doctor swallowed dryly. Even though he was told that there was absolutely nothing wrong with him, he was hardly relieved, so Cho-seung closed his eyes and bit his inner cheek.

“Does this happen often?”

“It can be like this once a month. The frequency may increase as the pregnancy progresses. Of course, I will try to control it as much as possible with medicine, but there is a limit due to its inherent thin and weak uterine wall of recessive omega.”

Once a month.

The cycle was more frequent than expected. Sometimes it was hard to watch because he was worried about how he groaned every night. But how many times could something like today happen? Cho-seung lowered his head and covered his mouth to cover the reddened eyes.

“Is there any other way other than medicine? What, I can do…”

“The most important thing is not to be stressed. Share enough pheromone and the patient may be anxious, so please have a guardian take care of him.”

It was sad that he could only do the obvious. Having swallowed the overflowing emotions, he just nodded his head while clenching his fists tightly.

“If there’s a problem.”

He suffered from the fact that he had to say these words out of his mouth, but when the moment of choice came, he had to endure it so as not to be late and not to be swayed by emotions.

“Save Ha-hyun first, please.”

“…don’t worry. We will do our best to ensure that both the children and the patient are safe.”

Cho-seung simply nodded his head at the words that came out calmly to reassure him. It was a miserable, devastating feeling that couldn’t be described in words.

* * *

Cho-seung returned to the hospital room and settled down next to Ha-hyun. He didn’t leave his seat for a moment so that he could be relieved whenever he opened his eyes. Time passed unchangingly, leading the sun to its highest point.

Blink, blink.

Then, seeing signs of getting up, Cho-seung raised his upper body.

Ha-hyun, who blinked his eyelids several times at the blurry vision, turned his head as the vision gradually came into focus. It was because the ceiling was very unfamiliar.

“Ha-hyun-ah.”

Unlike in an unfamiliar place, he heard a familiar voice. Only then did Ha-hyun release the string of tension he was holding on to and gave his gaze in the direction to which the sound was heard.

“Are you okay? Is there any pain? Do you know who I am?”

For a moment, Ha-hyun just stared blankly at Cho-seung, who hurriedly poured out words. He blinked his eyelids and nodded his head slowly after a while. Cho-seung, who had been muttering that it was a relief, suddenly came to his senses and pressed the call button.

“…what about the children?”

“There’s no problem. You passed out due to shock caused by uterine contractions. Don’t worry, they’re healthier than you.”

Cho-seung, who was talking softly while sweeping his skin, heard the sound of the hospital room door opening and stepped out of bed.

“The patient is awake. Is there any pain anywhere?”

“Yes.”

“When you are moving for the time being, don’t move alone as much as possible. You have to be careful about falling and you will be hospitalized for about three days to check your condition.”

Ha-hyun nodded as he listened to the instructions calmly, then looked at the nurse leaving the hospital room and then turned to Cho-seung, who was standing in a daze.

“I should be here for three days.”

“Oh? Oh. That’s right. Should I go home for a while and pack some things?”

Cho-seung, barely awake at the low voice, asked with a soft smile. Ha-hyun, who watched the series of actions with isr mouth shut, lifted his arm, which was still weak, and stretched it out to him.

Then, Cho-seung hurriedly moved to Ha-hyun’s side and carefully grabbed his trembling arm in the air to support him.

“Scared?”

“Ung?”

“You’re scared.”

Pretending to be calm, pretending nothing happened.

Cho-seung, who had been forcibly suppressing his emotions, fearing that Ha-hyun would be stressed if he showed an agitated appearance, collapsed at that calm word.

The emotions he had been holding back so far overflowed and soon tears welled up in Cho-seung’s eyes. Ha-hyun wiped away the tears that flowed helplessly and patted his hand.

“Ha-hyun-ah…”

“Ung.”

“I’m so, so scared…”

“It’s okay. It can be scary.”

Drip.

It wouldn’t be an illusion that the hand that wiped away the tears falling on the blanket felt stronger than that.

“I’m afraid I’ll lose you. I’m afraid, I’ll lose our children…”

“It’s a future that hasn’t come yet.”

“Even so, I’m not as strong as you, so.”

The voice that broke off suddenly stopped, unable to bear the words. Ha-hyun nodded at Cho-seung’s behaviour of repeatedly saying sorry while lowering his head like a criminal and affectionately stroking the back of his hand.

“Please wait a little longer… I’ll be fine, soon for sure.”

So, let’s stay like this for a little longer.

Cho-seung poured out emotions, which he mistook that he had barely pressed down, while clinging to Ha-hyun’s hand, which calmly comforted him.

He thought he was old enough to have a lot of experience, but he realized that he was still afraid of separation.