Stranger Who Found Spring

Ha-hyun, who calmly saw off Cho-seung, who had left to pack his luggage with reddened eyes, finally recovered from his surprise. He was often sick, but he never suffered as much as he had today.

Ha-hyun stroked his tight belly and let out a deep sigh.

“Dangerous, she said it was dangerous…”

He never thought it would hurt to the point of passing out.

Instinctively realizing that this would happen several times, Ha-hyun forced swallowed his sigh that was about to flow out again. It would be nice if the problem could be controlled with medicine…

If it was unavoidable, he would endure, but the problem was the children in his stomach. Ha-hyun, who was starting to feel his stomach because he was worried that he might really miscarry at this rate, shook his head and let out a sinking thought.

Worrying didn’t change anything. Rather, simple worries could be poison now.

In that case, it was better to be thoughtless than usual.

Ha-hyun, who was tapping under his wrist which there was the ringer needle on the backhand, started looking for his cell phone when he heard a notification sound.

“Did Cho-seung take care of it?”

There was no way he would have taken care of it while he was absent.

“Where is it.”

He lifted the covers for no reason and finally found his phone. As soon as he was about to hold it in his hand, he realized it wasn’t his and widened his eyes.

“It’s Cho-seung’s.”

Moreover, he saw a familiar number and the name saved as Squirrel (다람쥐) on the screen. Did he leave it there on purpose? Anyway, why was the saved name Squirrel?

Ha-hyun answered the phone first, thinking that the question would be cut off later. It was the first time that they exchanged cell phones, so the size of the machine was awkward to hold in his hand, but he quickly got used to it.

“Hello?”

[Ung, it doesn’t hurt?]

Ha-hyun, who was about to sit on the bed, made a dumbfounded expression at Cho-seung’s question. He asked how sick he was and things like that.

Still, knowing that he was worried, Ha-hyun answered in an obedient voice that he wasn’t sick, then grabbed the blanket and played with his hand.

[I packed wet tissues and other necessities, but I called to see if you needed anything else.]

To be honest, he had called because he was worried about the bird that had fallen for a moment, but Cho-seung spat out a lie without even blinking his eyes. (사실 그 잠깐 떨어진 새를 못 참고 걱정되어서 전화한 것이었지만)

Contemplating his question, Ha-hyun blinked his eyelids at the food that came to his mind. Apart from being sick, his appetite didn’t disappear.

“Bottled drinks, so there’s a set of bottled drinks that I usually buy when I visit the hospital.”

[Ah. There are several flavours like aloe, orange, and tomato, right?]

“Ung. Those.”

As he said, a bottled drink gift set suddenly came to mind. Since he had to be hospitalized for three days, he thought he could eat the whole thing even if he bought a set. Besides, Cho-seung would be next to him, so if they ate together, he would eat everything.

Even though they continued to talk on the phone until Cho-seung returned to the hospital room, the two didn’t stop worrying about each other inside. In particular, Cho-seung trembled his legs uncharacteristically, thinking that Ha-hyun was in pain again and was enduring it.

[A colleague told me that it’s delicious to freeze strawberries with condensed milk. Have you tried it?]

“With condensed milk? How?”

[Can’t we make a hole in the center and put it in?]

Ha-hyun clicked his tongue at the information he learned at the time when it was difficult to find raw strawberries. He couldn’t guarantee whether he would be able to eat it on his own now.

“Is it okay to eat frozen strawberries?”

[Well, I’ll find out. Do you want to eat it?]

“Ung. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just dip frozen strawberries in condensed milk and eat them.”

[I guess that will work.]

It might taste different from what his colleague told him, but it would still be better than not eating at all. Ha-hyun naturally hummed at the thought of eating a different and delicious dessert for the first time in a while.

Cho-seung, whose mouth had been hardened at the pleasant voice, began to slowly loosen up and raised the corners of his mouth.

[I’ll do it.]

“Ung.”

In the sudden rush, Ha-hyun stopped shaking his legs. When he held the loosened cell phone properly and held it to his ear, Cho-seung slowly spoke out to him.

[Actually, I contacted my mother. You were sick.]

Ha-hyun blinked for a moment, then shook his head thinking that it could happen.

“This can be happen. It’s not something to hide.”

[The more important thing is next.]

Feeling like he knew what it was, Ha-hyun asked with a thoughtful heart.

“She’s coming?”

[She’s coming. She said she wouldn’t believe me…]

She heard all sorts of trivial things about how they lived together and noticed it so late. She wouldn’t stay long because he (Ha-hyun) shouldn’t be under unnecessary stress, but his only child (Cho-seung) was so unreliable and anxious that he couldn’t do it, so his mother went to Seoul.

“Where is she going to sleep?”

[I think she’s going to sleep in a hotel.]

Umm. Though he couldn’t stop her from coming, he still wanted to let her stay at a nice hotel, so Ha-hyun told Cho-seung that he would reserve a room.

Of course, as soon as he mentioned it, he was rejected with a single cut-off.

“Why? Then where will she go to?”

[Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.]

“I don’t think my worries will stop if I don’t take care of it.”

Now that he knew what Cho-seung’s weakness was, Ha-hyun quickly grabbed the pod. At Ha-hyun’s words, Cho-seung, who just got off the elevator, flinched for a moment and sped up to the hospital room.

Drrk.

Ha-hyun, who was focusing on the sound coming through the speaker because Cho-seung didn’t respond and only heard the noise around the other side, felt the door open and turned around.

“Honey, are you really sure?”

Hearing the serious question, Ha-hyun also nodded his head earnestly. He wasn’t indifferent to the fact that he didn’t care because he told him not to.

“Alright. Then do whatever you want.”

Please help him not to get stressed.

Cho-seung took a step back because the doctor’s words lingered in his head.

Then Ha-hyun smiled and hung up the phone that was still connected and approached him.

“Your cell phone?”

“Ung. I need to make a reservation.”

It was Ha-hyun who was ready to make a reservation while standing there as if he was excited. Cho-seung wrapped his arm around Ha-hyun’s shoulders and led him to the bed.

Cho-seung was frowning at the dragging slippers and thinking about buying them again when Ha-hyun tripped.

Although he quickly supported him, Cho-seung still hardened his expression at the feeling of his heart sinking.

“Are you okay?”

“Ung. But I think the slippers are a little bigger.”

“That was the only thing left. I brought shoes from home, but slippers are better, right?”

“No. I’ll just wear my sneakers.”

He told him to be careful of falling, so sneakers were better than slippers? Ha-hyun, who almost fell just before him, decided to accept his slight inconvenience.

“Isn’t the blanket uncomfortable?”

Basically, the blanket provided was thin. In addition, it was a nuisance to have pheromones on the bedding provided by the hospital. No matter how much Ha-hyun said that he needed his pheromone because he was a resessive omega pregnant man, there was a limit.

“It’s okay. You worry too much.”

Cho-seung, who seemed unwilling to leave his side just because he was hospitalized in the first place, would have a more uncomfortable life than him. Even though it was only three days, sleeping in the guardian’s bed and taking care of him wasn’t an easy task.

“Guardians aren’t provided for eating. What should I do?”

“I can eat outside for a while.”

“Uung.”

As he sat on the bed, Cho-seung, who adjusted the height so he could sit comfortably, carefully covered him with the blanket. In the meantime, Ha-hyun, who had made a reservation for the best hotel he had ever been to, shared the information with Cho-seung.

“Okay, I’ll tell her to go here. She’ll probably stop by the hospital for a little while in the evening. Are you not hungry?”

If he said he was hungry, he had to go out to buy something. Cho-seung, who forgot to ask on the phone, clicked his tongue inwardly. No matter how hectic he was, he did something stupid.

“I’m not that hungry. Did you bring strawberries? I want to eat that.”

“Okay, wait a minute.”

Cho-seung, who stopped arranging his luggage and took care of the strawberries first, was worried as he looked at the strawberries that still gave off the cold air. He wondered if he could eat it because his teeth probably got cold later.

Although he was worried, he couldn’t tell Ha-hyun, whose eyes were shining, that he would give it later, so he put an appropriate amount in a bowl, sprinkled a lot of condensed milk on it, and handed it over with a fork.

“Ah!”

“Why? Are you sick?”

“No… it’s cold.”

I knew it.

Ha-hyun covered the cheek on the side where he chewed the frozen strawberry with the palm of his hand and cried slightly. Cho-seung had no choice but took the fork from his hand and moved the bowl of strawberries from the table.

“I’ll give it to you when it melts later.”

“Ung.”

While chasing the strawberries with eyes full of regret, he expressed an affirmation to Cho-seung’s words and tidied up his hair. Cho-seung looked at Ha-hyun, who rubbed his hair beside him and lowered his eyes, then leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“I’m glad you’re all right.”

Ha-hyun lifted his head in line with the hand gently wrapping his cheek and closed his eyes at the soft whispering voice.

“Ung. I’m glad.”

Only then did he feel relieved and Ha-hyun leaned his face on the palm of his hand where the warmth was felt. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes slowly closed as his body, which had been slightly rigid, relaxed.

He tried to force himself to wake up by rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, but he raised his head in a daze at Cho-seung’s restraint.

“Get some sleep. Aren’t you very tired?”

“Uung. But Mother said she was coming.”

“It’s okay. I will wake you up later.”

Adjusting the bed he had set, Cho-seung gently covered his eyes as he patted Ha-hyun on the shoulder and led him to sleep. The vision that was bright even with closed eyelids was covered by his thick hand and turned into complete darkness.

In the end, Ha-hyun, who was unable to sleep before, head towards his dream, sighed, and breathed regularly.