Flower Fiancé Chapter 89

“Were there any inconveniences during the examination?”

The endocrinologist, who had been staring at the monitor displaying the chart, turned to look at Ji Yeonwoo and asked.

“No. There was nothing in particular that I found uncomfortable.”

“Good. I’ll schedule your next appointment for roughly a week from now at 10 a.m. We’ll go over the test results together with the consultation then.”

After finishing his words, the doctor asked a question toward Ji Yeonwoo.

“Do you have any questions?”

Ji Yeonwoo glanced briefly at Choi Moohyuk, who was standing beside him. Without a word, Choi Moohyuk placed his hand on Ji Yeonwoo’s shoulder and patted it gently, as if to say it was okay, encouraging him. Ji Yeonwoo, who was half-exhausted from the examinations that had continued all day, wanted nothing more than to go home and rest quickly, but the thought crossed his mind that there might not be another chance if he didn’t ask now, so he opened his mouth with difficulty.

“By any chance, can the treatment method differ depending on the test results?”

“Of course. Medication will be prescribed according to the pheromone levels, but there are also exceptional cases.”

“When you say exceptional cases….”

“If Ji Yeonwoo-ssi’s pheromones show signs of improving favorably, we will proceed with natural treatment tailored to the current situation without medication.”

Ji Yeonwoo, who had been quietly listening to the doctor, asked back with a puzzled look.

“Natural treatment?”

The doctor, who had been lost in thought for a moment, continued.

“Hmm, there are cases like this. It is known that pregnant omegas, especially male omegas, need to consistently receive an alpha’s pheromones to stabilize their unstable pheromones. This is commonly called a pheromone shower, and occasionally, this method has been known to resolve pheromone deficiency as well. However, in such cases, there is one peculiarity.”

The doctor paused and looked at Choi Moohyuk, who was standing next to Ji Yeonwoo.

“Omegas who have suffered from pheromone deficiency and healed naturally commonly received pheromone showers not from just any alpha, but from a dominant alpha.”

Upon hearing this, Choi Moohyuk’s eyes widened in surprise.

“However, since it is practically impossible for dominant alphas, who make up the top 1%, to keep an omega without pheromones by their side, actual cases are extremely rare, and the possibility has mostly been reported only in academic papers from various societies.”

“…Then, doctor, how likely do you estimate that possibility to be?”

The doctor did not answer Ji Yeonwoo’s question further. Since they had not even seen the test results yet, it was impossible to say yes or no, so he was evading the question. Ji Yeonwoo, realizing this subtly, did not ask any further questions either.

“I will give you more details after the tests. There is one thing you need to be particularly careful about until your next outpatient visit. Everything else is fine, but there is just one thing you must be cautious about.”

The doctor looked alternately at Ji Yeonwoo and Choi Moohyuk and said.

“Pregnancy is absolutely forbidden at this time. I’m sure you are well aware, but I’m telling you just to confirm.”

P-pregnancy…!? Ji Yeonwoo, who had been staring at the doctor with only his eyes blinking, felt his face flush instantly red. His face felt hot for no reason, so he glanced at Choi Moohyuk standing next to him, and unsurprisingly, he wore a completely composed expression.

“If you become pregnant when your pheromones are as unstable as they are now, medication for treatment may become impossible, so I strongly advise you to practice contraception.”

“Yes. I understand well.”

Choi Moohyuk answered on behalf of the flustered and stammering Ji Yeonwoo, wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

The two left the examination room and decided to have dinner before going home. Since he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday evening, he wanted to have a hearty meal, but the housekeeper was also on vacation and not at home, so there was no proper way to handle dinner.

The place they chose for dinner was a Korean traditional restaurant where they had eaten with Choi Moohyuk before. That place, which had been memorable for the frozen artificial waterfall scenery in the eyes, had transformed into a fresh, lush, and cool waterfall in time for spring.

“Do you remember this place?”

Before the appetizers came out, Choi Moohyuk looked at Ji Yeonwoo seated across from him and asked.

“How could I forget? This place holds a lot of meaning for me too.”

Ji Yeonwoo looked around and briefly recalled that time. It was the place where he had coincidentally found out that Choi Moohyuk was going on a blind date and had come out with a mix of expectation and disappointment. That wasn’t all. The conversations they had shared here felt like something he would never forget until the day he died.

“Now that I think about it, I really wanted to crawl into a hole that day.”

Choi Moohyuk seemed to remember that time too, and silently raised the corners of his lips in a smile.

“I mean, even if we weren’t complete strangers, I went and asked if he was an omega right off the bat, and then asked if he couldn’t smell pheromones either. Everything about me was laid bare in one go, and I was so embarrassed I thought I would die.”

“You didn’t look that embarrassed, though.”

“That’s just because I didn’t show it.”

As Ji Yeonwoo pouted sulkily, Choi Moohyuk chuckled softly and took the hand Ji Yeonwoo had placed on the table.

“Cut me some slack. I wanted to hold onto you, Yeonwoo-ssi, even if I had to do that much.”

“…Why?”

Actually, he had been curious all along. Why does he like me? I don’t even have pheromones, so what part of me could have possibly drawn him? Come to think of it, Choi Moohyuk had never once told him about that.

“Why did you want to hold onto me?”

When he asked again, as if urging, Choi Moohyuk was about to answer when a knock was heard. The appetizers and food had arrived. Of all times, why did the food have to come out at this timing. Ji Yeonwoo found the manager who brought the food at such an exquisite timing exasperating, but that feeling was short-lived. Having been hungry beyond measure to the point where even his senses had dulled, Ji Yeonwoo swallowed his saliva as he saw the food being laid out on the table, starting with the appetizers.

“Let’s eat first. We can talk while we eat.”

Choi Moohyuk rearranged a few of the dishes the manager had placed, pushing them toward Ji Yeonwoo. It was his favorite food—glass noodles and stuffed pancakes, among other things.

“Don’t even think about avoiding it. I absolutely need to hear the answer.”

As he spoke while chewing the food in his mouth, Choi Moohyuk made a troubled expression. He probably had intended to gloss over it. Seeing that, Ji Yeonwoo put down his chopsticks as if protesting. Then, Choi Moohyuk reluctantly opened his mouth.

“You’re asking why I did that?”

Choi Moohyuk echoed the question as if asking himself, and a smile spread across his lips. It was a wry laugh that meant even he found it absurd.

“Because I wanted to date you, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi, even if I had to go that far.”

Even though he had expected something like that, the answer that came from Choi Moohyuk’s mouth was rounder and fluffier, like a cumulus cloud.

“At first, I was drawn to you because the story you told about the marigolds seemed deep, and as we talked, I found you attractive, Ji Yeonwoo-ssi—because you weren’t easily swayed by my words, and yet you were subtly drawn in. When I learned about Lee Hyunjoon, it was purely a desire to protect you.”

“…”

“That’s as far as my reasons go, but if you need a more specific reason, I can think about it more.”

“…”

“Do you need more reasons?”

“No. That’s not it. That’s enough.”

Ji Yeonwoo was startled and waved both his hands frantically.

“It’s just… I kept wondering. As you know, I don’t emit pheromones and can’t even smell them, so I kept thinking, why do you like me?”

“Did you think that?”

“…Yes. Hmm, I think I kept wanting confirmation. About the reason you, Moohyuk-ssi, are by my side.”

Choi Moohyuk met Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes and leaned in closer.

“Just because someone is a heterozygote doesn’t mean they’re all like slaves, drawn only to pheromones. Conversely, you weren’t drawn to my pheromones either, were you?”

“…That’s true.”

“Doesn’t that mean we weren’t simply attracted by pheromones, but attracted to each other?”

“Ah…”

“So, you don’t need to feel pressured about the test results, just in case. Because I will never let you go first.”

At the moment he heard those words, Ji Yeonwoo felt the tension drain from him all at once. The truth was, he had been thinking a lot after leaving the examination room. It was because the doctor had touched upon a part he had been forgetting all this time.

Honestly, he had never really given much thought to pregnancy. No matter how dominant an omega he might have been, he was a male omega, and now he had pheromone deficiency, so he had naturally assumed that pregnancy would be impossible anyway.