* * *

With a gasp, Siyoung opened his eyes to find himself lying on a hospital bed in the emergency room.

He tried to sit up in surprise, but a nearby nurse gently stopped him.

“Don’t get up too quickly. It says here you’re pregnant… you’ve likely been under a lot of stress recently. Your symptoms appear to be temporary, but we’ve scheduled a thorough examination with OB, so make sure you don’t leave without getting checked.”

“W-what time is it? How long… have I been here?”

Siyoung asked, his face drained of color.

The nurse glanced at the chart in her hand.

“You came in at 7:58, and it’s about 9 now, so… it’s been around an hour.”

“An hour…”

An hour was plenty of time for someone to check his phone and reach out to his emergency contact.

Since his last message was from Jooyoung, he had likely been notified.

“Did… did someone come as my emergency contact?”

“Yes, they reached him right away. He was here just a little while ago but stepped out to get a briefing from the doctor.”

Siyoung sighed deeply.

Less than a day had passed since he resolved to keep everything under wraps, and here he was in this mess.

Was there anything he could manage properly?

“…Is the baby… alright?”

“We won’t know everything until we do the full exam, but the preliminary tests show no major concerns. However, these are just initial tests, so please get a thorough checkup. Your contact should be back soon, so try to relax with the IV drip in the meantime.”

After briefly explaining the situation, the nurse left. His contact would be back soon.

What was he supposed to say?

‘…Still, I need to tell him to go to France, no matter what. He has the savings and the support… how else could I convince him? But if he refuses, what then?’

Lost in thought, he saw a shadow pass outside the curtain.

Had he come already?

Siyoung’s mind was still racing, and he wasn’t ready to face him yet.

As he heard the curtain being drawn back, he closed his eyes tightly.

“…”

“Change into these clothes. We’re going straight up for the tests.”

But the voice wasn’t Jooyoung’s.

Siyoung opened his eyes slowly and looked up at the speaker.

“…Why are you here?”

“After you ignored my calls all day, I finally managed to get through, only to hear from someone else that you’d collapsed and were in the emergency room. How could I just ignore that?”

Standing over him, Hyun was looking down, his face mostly hidden by a hat and mask, but his voice hinted at irritation.

“…”

Thank goodness it wasn’t Jooyoung.

Relieved, Siyoung kept his head down, and Hyun dropped a set of hospital clothes onto the table before stepping back out to give him some privacy.

Yet with only a thin curtain between them, he didn’t feel truly alone.

Siyoung changed and pulled the curtain aside, addressing Hyun.

“We’re in a hospital. Control your pheromones.”

With a sigh, Hyun reined in his scent, his expression showing a trace of exasperation, though he didn’t argue.

“After the tests, you’re staying here for observation.”

“…On whose orders? If there’s no need, I’m going home—”

“Really? You collapsed from stress, and you still think you’re fit to leave? You said you wanted to have this baby, didn’t you? You’re already a Recessive Omega, and this situation only makes it worse. What, do you plan to head to work tomorrow too?”

Hyun’s voice was calm but firm, barely concealing his frustration.

“I already spoke to the hospital, so once the tests are done, a room will be ready. Got it? Now, go get checked out properly.”

“…Can you just decide that without asking me?”

“I told them I’m the baby’s father.”

At those blunt words, Siyoung’s heart dropped.

Startled, he stammered.

“…The baby’s father?”

“You don’t want your brother to find out, right? So, if I’m going to be your emergency contact, I might as well take the title. What else could I do?”

Fortunately, Hyun didn’t actually know the truth and had only said that to assume a guardian role.

Worried about the baby and realizing Hyun was right, Siyoung reluctantly agreed.

“…Fine. But if everything is okay, I’ll leave tomorrow. The hospital bills aside, it’s more comfortable at home.”

“The bills will be taken care of by the company.”

“…You told them?”

“They wouldn’t stop bugging me about whether they could reach you.”

Though he was relieved Jooyoung hadn’t found out, this was hardly ideal.

Still, maybe he could look on the bright side.

Siyoung sighed and stood up.

“Please proceed to the third floor for your tests.”

Thanks to Hyun claiming to be the father, the nurse handed him the necessary forms without question.

Siyoung went up to the third floor with Hyun and, during the exam, was asked a few questions by the doctor.

“You mentioned you’re pregnant. How far along are you?”

“About eight and a half weeks.”

“As you may have heard at your usual clinic, being a Recessive Omega puts you at a disadvantage compared to Dominants or even regular Omegas. Has there been any particular stress lately?”

“…A bit.”

Siyoung cast a sidelong glance at Hyun.

The fear of being discovered, stress from unpredictable clients, and the burden of not wanting to impose on Jooyoung weighed on him heavily.

With so many factors piling up, it wasn’t surprising he’d felt unwell.

“The mother’s health is crucial to the fetus’s well-being. While the baby doesn’t seem affected, if your condition worsens, it could have an impact. Since your health isn’t in a normal state, even small factors can have a large effect.”

“…Understood.”

“Hospitalization isn’t strictly necessary, but it would be best to rest for about a week. You’ll need to manage carefully since medication isn’t a viable option. Rest and minimize stress as much as possible.”

Siyoung sighed in relief.

He felt guilty for worrying the child inside him without doing much for it, and he asked again to be sure.

“…Are you certain everything’s alright?”

“Your baby is fine, but you really need to take better care of yourself. You’re okay for now, but if things continue like this, it could start affecting the baby. You do want to meet a healthy baby, right?”

“…Yes.”

Siyoung felt sorry for not being able to properly look after himself with everything going on.

He lowered his head and nodded.

“Then please make sure to get plenty of rest for at least a week. Are you currently working?”

“Yes, I have a job…”

“You’re approaching twelve weeks, which is the highest risk period for miscarriage. If possible, it would be best to take maternity leave until then.”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

It wasn’t Siyoung who replied, but Hyun.

He stood beside Siyoung, listening to the doctor’s instructions as if he were truly his husband.

“And you, as the father, will also need to help him manage his stress. Make sure things are calm at home, speak words of reassurance, and try to keep him feeling safe.”

“…Yes.”

Though Hyun had been pretending to be Siyoung’s husband with a straight face, this time he hesitated slightly before responding.

With that, the checkup concluded, and Siyoung was moved to the hospital room that had been prepared for him during the exam.

“Is this room 713?”

“Siyoung, are you okay?”

Not long after Siyoung lay down on the bed, Jaeyoon and Yeonseok entered, clearly having been waiting for him to be assigned to a room.

Yeonseok frowned disapprovingly.

“What’s with this? Why is it a two-person room?”

“They said there weren’t any single rooms available, so I had no choice.”

“Well, the bed next to you is empty, so it’s basically like a single room anyway.”

Even this two-person room had been something Hyun had pushed for, but Yeonseok, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, seemed dissatisfied that it wasn’t a private room.

“Are you okay? You look really pale.”

“…”

Hyun sat on the empty bed, his expression unreadable, while Jaeyoon moved closer to him with concern, and Yeonseok complained about the room.

This was all too familiar.

Siyoung sighed and spoke up.

“It’s just stress; don’t overreact. If you keep fussing, it’ll just stress me out more.”

“…It’s because you’re upset about not knowing who the father is, isn’t it? Just tell me anything you remember about that day. I’ll find him for you, no matter what it takes.”

“Yeah. Even if he’s out of the country, we’ll drag him back, so just tell us. You must remember something, right?”

Siyoung felt a chill at Jaeyoon and Yeonseok’s words.

Even if he’d quit and disappeared, they would’ve likely tracked him down quickly.

He had clearly underestimated them.

“I don’t know. This is my business, not yours. The baby is just mine, and who the father is doesn’t matter to you.”

“Actually, it does.”

Hyun, who had been sitting quietly, finally spoke up.

Siyoung felt a wave of unease as he noticed Hyun’s steady gaze fixed on him, and he swallowed nervously.

* * *