The Smell of Something Fishy Chapter 10.4

Intercourse. Miscarriage. Gestational sac.

And ‘maternal handbook’ was the deciding factor.

Yeonseo, finally understanding the meaning of the conversation, opened his eyes wide.

‘Pregnant?’

I… I’m pregnant?

In place of Yeonseo, who had frozen for a different reason, Tae Shinju readily answered.

“Please give me one.”

The doctor left for a moment and returned with the ultrasound photo and a colorful handbook. Before Yeonseo could examine them in detail, they disappeared into the pocket of Tae Shinju’s coat.

“Then I’ll be in touch again.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”

Soon, Tae Shinju lifted Yeonseo into his arms. Even then, Yeonseo was still spacing out blankly.

‘Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant….’

Only that one word spun in his head.

As he started to walk, the doctor hurriedly opened the examination room door for them. Two bodyguards who had been waiting outside took their positions in front of and behind Tae Shinju.

Yeonseo clung to his lover’s embrace as if to hide his head. It was only two of them, but when he went out with him, they had always moved alone, so the current situation felt unfamiliar. Because of that, he became even more certain.

‘Pregnant…. I really have Tae Shinju’s child….’

It would have been better if he had recognized the ultrasound screen sooner. He regretted the few minutes ago when he had been foolishly spacing out. But that was also brief, and soon, a wave of emotion washed over him, covering all other feelings. It was the moment when all his puzzling actions were understood.

Aah….

‘You knew.’

Mr. Tae Shinju… Hyung knew first. He knew he was pregnant first and tried to protect him. And to him, he had asked why he wasn’t inserting…

Jureuk.

Tears blurred his vision. They popped out like an accident and poured down.

“Uh….”

Tae Shinju hurried his steps with an anxious face.

“Just hold on a little longer. We’ll be there soon.”

“Eu, eu-eung.”

His answer was rendered meaningless as tears welled up and then fell drop by drop.

Yeonseo cried silently. It was a very strange feeling to cry without his will, even though he wasn’t sad or sorrowful.

Click.

As soon as they got into the car, Tae Shinju buried Yeonseo’s head deep into his chest.

“Why are you crying like this.”

An anxious voice.

It might just be his own delusion that he was anxious, but Yeonseo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He wanted to hear it directly from his mouth.

“…D, did you know?”

“What? That you’re pregnant?”

“Yes… yes. That there’s a, a baby.”

“If I didn’t know, do you think I would have been crazy enough to starve your pussy.”

—The baby had a hard time today, so I’ll just have some mommy’s milk until he gets his strength back?

Last night’s dirty talk flashed through his mind. It turned out that too wasn’t just simple humiliation.

There was no clearer answer than that. Yeonseo threw his arms around Tae Shinju’s neck.

A baby. He said there’s a baby.

A being that Tae Shinju gifted, and finally acknowledged.

“Heuk….”

His heart was full. Tears of joy poured out endlessly.

Could there be a greater happiness than having one’s heart understood? He had thought so when they first became lovers. But the happiness that Tae Shinju bestowed knew no limits.

In the meantime, the car started to move smoothly. Yeonseo flinched and hunched his shoulders. Not only was he sitting on his lap with his back to the front seat, but he was surprised again at himself for having completely forgotten about the bodyguards.

‘Did they hear?’

It felt like they had just had a very embarrassing conversation.

Tae Shinju glared at the front seat with a displeased look. He held Yeonseo’s chin and fixed it on him.

“Where are you looking. You should be focusing on the baby’s daddy.”

“Heut….”

“Or is Park Yeonseo’s baby’s daddy somewhere else in here?”

“N, n, no.”

Yeonseo shook his head vigorously. His habit of calling himself the ‘baby’s daddy’ day in and day out suddenly became conscious.

Tae Shinju wiped away Yeonseo’s tears.

“I was curious how long you would last, but I lost.”

“When… uh, when did you know?”

“It’s been a while. If I had known it would be like this, I would have revealed it sooner.”

He did not hide his look of dejection. It was probably related to the fact that the place he had been moved to while he was sleeping was a hospital.

Yeonseo hesitated before opening his mouth.

“…Were you worried?”

“Yes.”

His honest feelings came through clearly. Yeonseo pressed his chest firmly. His heart was beating so fast it hurt.

“After what happened last night, I was worried about you and the baby.”

“Ah….”

“Though I didn’t expect to have a nightmare.”

“A, a nightmare?”

He smiled bitterly.

“How should I put this…. There’s a child who often appears in my dreams, and it seemed like he was hurt. Of all days, suddenly today.”

“I see. Then you must have been worried.”

“I was anxious. Because I thought that was our baby.”

“Aah….”

Lovely.

This person and the ‘anxiety’ he confessed, everything was lovely.

After tears came laughter. It was the same as tears in that he couldn’t hold it back. The corners of his mouth crept up and showed no sign of coming down.

“I’m happy….”

He didn’t know how many times it had been, murmuring that he was happy to himself, and then finally saying it out loud.

I’m glad you’re here. I was truly glad I had the courage to be with him.

“Fuck….”

Tae Shinju suddenly frowned and clutched his forehead. When Yeonseo flinched, he kissed him as if to tell him not to be scared.

“To think I have to go to the company on a day like this.”

“Ah….”

Come to think of it, that was right. Yeonseo, though he didn’t curse, was also disappointed. He wished they could stay together like this, even if they did nothing.

But to whine and tell him not to go, he knew better than anyone that he had worked late for this day.

Pregnancy was pregnancy, and he didn’t want to let him give up what he had worked so hard for. If you think about it, wasn’t the news of the pregnancy today an unforeseen accident?

Just as Tae Shinju cherished him, Yeonseo also hoped that he would choose in a way that he wouldn’t miss out on anything. His thought that the time spent with him was an added bonus remained unchanged.

Yeonseo moved his arms sluggishly and patted the man’s back.

“I wish… it would be evening soon.”

“Should I just run away like this?”

Tae Shinju hugged Yeonseo tightly and kissed his cheeks and neck, jjok, jjok, jjok, jjok. He buried his nose in his shoulder and inhaled his sweet body scent.

“Eu-eung….”

Whether it was an answer or a moan, Yeonseo let out a nasal sound and melted in Tae Shinju’s arms. His senses were keenly on edge wherever he touched.

He laughed, his throat rumbling.

“I really need to take paternity leave.”

The low voice, tinged with laughter, was sweet.

Yeonseo threw his head back and moaned like a purring cat. The touch of the lips on his nape was thrilling.

He didn’t know because Tae Shinju had been carrying him around, but Yeonseo had gone out without even wearing shoes. He only realized the absence of his shoes after arriving home.

“Don’t do anything today and get plenty of rest.”

In the midst of his busy schedule, he took Yeonseo to the bedroom. Yeonseo stood on his tiptoes and pressed his lips firmly against his.

“I’ll wait… quietly.”

Tae Shinju froze stiff, his eyes wide open.

Yeonseo smiled bashfully.

“…With the baby.”

“Haa….”

The man who had cursed about not wanting to go to the company now wiped his face with a rather annoyed expression. Yeonseo thought he was getting anxious.

Why do I feel good when someone else is anxious….

Is my personality starting to resemble his?

“Wait right here like this. I’m going to do a body check as soon as I get back.”

“Eut….”

After one last passionate suck on Yeonseo’s lips, he forced his reluctant steps away. He didn’t even turn his back, but walked out of the room backwards.

I thought he would at least let me see him off to the elevator.

Apart from his cherishing heart, Yeonseo, who hadn’t felt the reality of the pregnancy until now, felt awkward just staying in bed all of a sudden.

After holding out for a while, he stealthily left the bedroom. The place Yeonseo headed to was the terrace connected to the second-floor living room. It was not a veranda like one you would find in a typical apartment, but closer to a small garden with grass.

It was a place Tae Shinju was tending to one by one for Yeonseo.

—We can plant a few things in the spring.

Spring.

I wondered why he would go to such lengths for a lover for a single season…. The word ‘spring’ had a nice feel to it, so at the time, I just accepted it happily.

The year changed to January.

A relationship that might have ended long ago is continuing. And little by little, the seasons were changing. In another two months or so from here, it would be spring.

The time he had memories with Hyung, and the time he met Tae Shinju, were all in the cold winter. Even his dreams were of a season where a biting wind blew, so Yeonseo was secretly bewildered to be discussing ‘spring’ with him.

Since the construction had just started, the terrace was rather bare. He said that if Yeonseo liked this place, he planned to expand it or create a garden altogether.

“A garden would be nice too.”

At times, it felt more like a castle than a mansion. A castle where there was no need to go out, and moreover, where you didn’t have to go out. Yet, a place that was safe and where everything was taken care of.

But in the end, it was a home. No matter how wide it was like a square, it was a limited space. The things he did were similar day after day.

‘If I had lived a normal life, would I have felt suffocated here?’

It was an unknown. Because the life Yeonseo knew was always one of wandering around, unable to stay attached to one place.

Even if the watching Tae Shinju felt he was a boring person, Yeonseo liked it here. Far from being suffocating, he wanted to remain stagnant in his space forever. Not just because it ‘wasn’t suffocating’, but,

For the reason that he was happy.

“I wonder if he’ll be very late….”

He was fine just a moment ago, but now he feels disappointed again.

His mood was up and down. Normally, he would have thought it strange, but knowing the cause only makes him smile bashfully. Even if he hadn’t known, he would have accepted the feeling of the moment.

Because if it was a feeling necessary for this happiness to last, he was willing to accept any amount of it.

After all, everything in the world always requires a proper price.

🕷️

After eating lunch, he dozed off. Not only had his fatigue not gone away, but he had explored the internet so hard to get information about pregnancy late in the game that steam came out of his head.

What woke him from his sweet slumber was a strangely noisy sound. The master room was well soundproofed, so outside noise rarely came in, which was strange.

Should I go out…. But my body is so heavy.

The noise soon subsided. Yeonseo was relieved and answered the beckoning drowsiness.

Then suddenly.

He opened his eyes at a feeling that something was off. In Yeonseo’s vision, as he looked around to find the cause, a dark thing soon caught his eye.

What is that.

His eyes, which had been blinking thinly, gradually filled with shock.

“Peek-a-boo.”

“H, how are you….”

The thing that appeared in the darkness. The thing that appeared, trailing a black shadow, was the fishy smell he had believed and had no doubt was washed away.

“Our Yeonseo, didn’t you miss oppa?”

Tae Hyunwoong.