Love Born of Pity Chapter 88

Kwon Jiho found the peacefully flowing days novel. His heart was calm, and his head felt light. Though the morning sickness, which made him run to the bathroom at the mere smell of fishiness from water, was difficult.

Clutching the toilet after a bout of sickness, Kwon Jiho rubbed his damp eyes and recalled what the pharmacist had told him.

‘Even if you can’t eat anything because of morning sickness, the fetus will grow by consuming the nutrients stored in the mother’s body, so it’ll be fine. If it gets worse than this, please be sure to visit a hospital.’

He rubbed his flat lower belly and pushed his weary body up. His chest burned from having wrung out an empty stomach. Barely gripping the sink with trembling hands, he looked in the mirror to see a gaunt man staring back. He was sleeping enough, so why were his under-eyes so dark? His cheeks were hollow, and blood beaded on every crack of his lips.

Thinking what a horrid sight he was, he roughly washed his face with cold water. Is this what it’s like for everyone when they’re pregnant? He’d never thought it would be his reality, and he knew nothing, so he wondered if other people had the same symptoms as him.

How long has it been since I came to the island? Water droplets clinging to his chin fell, plop, plip-plop. He wiped them with the back of his hand and squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush. Brushing his teeth was an ordeal every time. The toothpaste he found at the house made him throw up the moment he put it in his mouth. After he’d heaved until he was spitting up bloody foam, a startled Ha Seongho had called 119.

At that moment, Ha Seongho seemed to have noticed that he was pregnant and an omega. He didn’t show it, but the toothpaste he brought next was one with a very faint scent. It was obviously not something you could get on the island.

Fortunately, the act of brushing his teeth was fine, but unfortunately, the result was always the same as he couldn’t hold back the rising nausea when rinsing his mouth and would throw up again. Now, even washing up had become frightening. The scent of body wash made his stomach churn. Just imagining it sent his insides into turmoil.

Kwon Jiho once again clung to the toilet, retching up nothing from his empty stomach, and this time too, he spat out bloody foam. Is this what happens to everyone with morning sickness? An omega’s pregnancy is generally seven months, and the baby, depending on its development, would stay in an incubator for as short as a month or as long as three months after birth.

He hadn’t been to the hospital yet, but they say morning sickness usually starts around the 5th week of pregnancy, and it’s been a week since he came to the island, so… is he about 6-7 weeks along? Kwon Jiho spread his thin fingers and counted them down one by one, calculating the uncertain weeks of his pregnancy.

So that means he has to live like this for another 5 months… He could only hope the morning sickness would end soon.

He finished brushing and rinsed his mouth, trying with all his might to hold back the nausea. Realizing that morning sickness wasn’t something that could be held back just by trying, he grabbed the toilet once again. With a metallic taste in his throat, Kwon Jiho vomited as if he were trying to pull out his internal organs, and finally burst into tears.

After sobbing his heart out while clutching the toilet, he felt much more at ease inside. Pressing his puffy eyelids with the back of his hand, he came out to the living room to find Ha Seongho, who must have arrived at some point, pacing anxiously before coming to an abrupt halt.

“……Ah, when did you get here?”

His voice was completely hoarse. It felt like there was something scratchy like sand grains in his throat, but there was no way to fix it.

“Just a little while ago. I came to see if you’d eaten anything, hyung.”

“Ah… I wasn’t hungry.”

“Hyung, if you’re okay with it, how about we take the afternoon ferry out and go to the hospital for a bit? I looked it up… there’s a shot for it. Even if you don’t get the shot, don’t you think you should at least get an IV? But if we leave today, we can’t come back until tomorrow, so we’d have to stay the night.”

“……”

“Ah! I’m not saying we should sleep together. In case you misunderstood. I can just sleep at a PC bang or something. There are plenty of clean motels near the hospital, so you can stay there, hyung…”

As if he could no longer feign ignorance, Ha Seongho smiled awkwardly and continued.

“It’s okay. There must have been a reason why you said you were a beta, hyung, so I’m not offended. I don’t think you lied to me either. After all, it’s harder for omegas to be open about it than alphas. There’s no harm in being careful.”

“……There were circumstances. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“I told you not to worry about it. More importantly, I did some searching online earlier. Apparently, there’s a candy you can eat for morning sickness. A really sour one. That and ice popsicles. They say… eating them helps. What do you think? Or would it be too cold and you’ll catch a cold?”

Ha Seongho spoke as if he was ready to leave right away. At his suggestion to go out to meet the ferry’s arrival time, Kwon Jiho shook his head.

“I can go by myself. I think the village chief asked you for some help today, Seongho-ssi, so you should go there. I’ll take care of myself.”

At the clear line being drawn, Ha Seongho couldn’t intrude further and just smiled awkwardly. I want to help you, it’s hard to be alone, you can lean on me – those words swirled just below his throat.

“Then I’ll book the ferry ticket for you. Round trip. You don’t know how to do it, hyung. Have a safe trip. But you are… coming back, right?”

Kwon Jiho smiled at the question asked with a cautious glance. Ha Seongho was worried that he might just leave the island for good. He never even said he was leaving, yet Ha Seongho didn’t know why he looked like he might disappear at any moment. Had he grown attached so quickly? It’s not like they were in a position to be asking about coming back or not.

“Of course. I’ll be back.”

As if he knew what was on his mind, Kwon Jiho gave him the answer he had been waiting for. Visibly relieved, Ha Seongho started to move. He was bothered by the fact that he had come in uninvited out of worry, without Kwon Jiho’s permission.

“The afternoon ferry arrives at 3. You should be at the dock 10 minutes before. I’ll be out there around that time too.”

“Thank you.”

“If you’re thankful, buy me some chicken on your way back tomorrow. The seasoned kind. I want some freshly fried, but I think it’ll get soggy on the ferry. When I get to Ilsan, I’m really going to eat my fill.”

“……Okay. I’ll try my best to buy it.”

At the determined reply, Ha Seongho’s laugh turned serious. “Cancel that,” he added hastily. Asking someone who was throwing up from just drinking water due to morning sickness to buy food was no different from telling them to die.

“Absolutely do not buy anything. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite completely.”

Ha Seongho headed for the front door with a serious expression. He repeated his plea several times, his face filled with anxiety. Kwon Jiho gave a small nod, as if to say he was sorry for his consideration. Only after he finally heard the answer that he wouldn’t buy it did Ha Seongho open the door.

Kwon Jiho waved to him as he slipped outside, and the moment the door closed, he ran to the bathroom and heaved violently. His stomach churned just from hearing the word “chicken.” It was amazing how nausea kept rising even though there was nothing in his stomach to come out.

♬⋆.˚

Upon receiving the news that Kwon Jiho had set foot on the mainland, Do Yeonjae finally headed for the South Sea. Switching between a plane and a car, he arrived at the port city in two hours, where a heavy wind blew, carrying the unique salty smell and humidity of the seaside.

“Is he still at the hospital? Getting an IV drip?”

“Ah… as of now, I mean, he’s finished with the IV drip. They say he’s with, with the person who accompanied Mr. Kwon Jiho.”

Chief Kim’s words trailed off, his answer vague before he shut his mouth. As they got closer to the South Sea, Chief Kim, who was receiving and checking real-time updates on Kwon Jiho’s movements and photos on behalf of the increasingly on-edge Do Yeonjae, swallowed dryly.

“He has someone with him? Didn’t you say he got on the boat alone earlier?”

“……Yes, sir. That, that friend who was often seen with him on the island is accompanying him. Mr. Kwon Jiho definitely boarded the boat alone, but they said he got on just before departure… More importantly, Mr. Kwon Jiho’s morning sickness seems severe, and he vomited at the hospital, so-”

“So where is Kwon Jiho? Where are the two of them together? There are no more ferries to that island today, right? A restaurant? A cafe? Where on earth.”

Kwon Jiho was in none of the places Do Yeonjae had listed. Chief Kim wiped the cold sweat that was forming on the back of his hand and opened his mouth.

“Yes, that’s right. There’s no ferry to go back today, so… I mean, currently, they, they’ve gone into an accommodation near the hospital.”

“……What?”

“……”

“Gone into where?”

Do Yeonjae sighed and closed his eyes. It was obvious what kind of emotion he was suppressing. Seeing the jaw that bulged from the force of his clenched teeth, Chief Kim tensed up. The atmosphere turned so menacing it was as if he had just heard that his cheating spouse was fooling around in a motel.

“Let’s go there.”

Do Yeonjae started walking forward without even knowing the direction. He doesn’t even know how scary the world is, and he just follows that brat as if he knows him so well. In an instant, his vision turned red. Fury surged. He swore that if that brat so much as touched the tip of Kwon Jiho’s finger, he would grab him and drop him in the middle of the sea.

“……Sir, please calm down. First, you should calmly think about what you will say when you meet Mr. Kwon Jiho-”

“There’s nothing to think about calmly. I’m not angry at Kwon Jiho. Where is it? Lead the way, now.”

Chief Kim, who had been on pins and needles the entire time he was reporting, couldn’t hold Do Yeonjae back any longer, even though he couldn’t believe his answer. As he led the way to the motel he had looked up in advance, he kept sighing, wishing the ground would just swallow him up. He prayed that the young student accompanying Kwon Jiho had not done anything rash.