Reasonable Loss - 34

As Dokwon looked back and forth at Seongheon and Eunsu with a somewhat prickly gaze, the elevator arrived at the lobby. Sensing something off, Eunsu quickly stepped back, but

“You’re going for lunch, right? It’s been a while for both Dokwon and Eunsu. Shall we eat together?”

Seongheon said with a pleasant smile.

The three entered a Korean restaurant near the company. They went into a secluded room, placed the table in the center, and Dokwon and Eunsu sat side by side on one side, with Seongheon taking the opposite seat.

“The food here is good.”

Seongheon said as he personally poured water.

“If hyung comes here, it must be good.”

Dokwon replied as he handed Eunsu a wet towel. At that, Seongheon stared piercingly at Dokwon. His face was just like a detective trying to extract something. Even though his lips curved in a faint smile.

“But ‘hyung.’ It’s been forever since you called me that.”

“…Really? Me? Well, it could be. It’s been years since I saw you.”

“Yeah, it has.”

Seongheon held up three fingers, saying it had been nearly three years. Eunsu sipped his water as he observed the two. Then he set the glass down again at the faint fishy smell.

Morning sickness is bad. He had planned to whine to Dokwon right away upon seeing him. But it seemed he couldn’t today.

As Eunsu let out a barely audible sigh through his nose, Seongheon clasped his hands on the table.

“But something feels subtly different. It’s like you’ve… got amnesia or something.”

With those words, a short silence filled the room. Afraid his awkward expression would show, Eunsu quickly lowered his head, and Dokwon pressed his lips into a straight line.

It was strange. Their only talk was that it had been a long time. So how did Seongheon know from that alone that Dokwon had amnesia? And Seongheon had been abroad for nearly three of the four years Dokwon had forgotten.

“It’s amnesia, all right. After the accident, I lost about four years.”

Dokwon stated the truth in a plain voice. His parents and Secretary Jeong had said there was no point in showing signs of something wrong with his head, but he just wanted to see Seongheon’s reaction.

“….”

Seongheon said nothing. He just raised his eyebrows in surprise. Then he stroked his chin with a regretful face.

“Ah, so that’s why….”

“So?”

“No, I think I know why Eunsu’s face looks bad.”

“….”

“Today too, and that day too.”

“…That day?”

Dokwon slightly furrowed his brows. He didn’t know that Eunsu and Seongheon knew each other, or that they had met ‘that day.’ Things he didn’t know kept coming up, naturally building his irritation.

As Seongheon parted his lips to say something, a knock-knock came with the food arriving. That interrupted the talk for a moment.

The server finished setting up, bowed, and left. But no one picked up their chopsticks. Dokwon waited for Seongheon’s words, Seongheon sipped water as if bracing for a long story, and Eunsu… was on the verge of retching from the jumbled food smells.

“Ah, about a month ago? I couldn’t adjust to the time difference, so I was at the office in the early morning. And on my way out, there was Eunsu in the company lobby.”

“….”

“Face soaked in sweat, in pajamas, holding a box this big. I thought he was quitting and got a shock.”

At that, Dokwon sharply inhaled.

Early morning. In pajamas. Holding a box. He knew right away which day it was. Of course, since he was the one who had driven him out at that time.

He had wondered where he went in the early morning without even a car, and it turned out he came to the company. And ran into Seongheon by chance.

Dokwon loosened the tie choking his neck. It was all his ignorant fault. Pregnant, wandering the night streets. It had still been cold then. Carrying that heavy box. And without even taking suppressants.

What if he had run into a thug, or a deranged alpha, or caught a cold—what then?

Dokwon irritably rubbed his dry face. Then Eunsu patted his thigh under the table. Meaning it was all in the past, so it was fine. Dokwon gently clasped that hand.

Seeing the two like that, Seongheon twisted his lips crookedly.

“If you don’t remember, Eunsu must have suffered a lot.”

“It’s okay. Things between us are the same as ever.”

Dokwon replied with a faint smile. Then he started tending to Eunsu’s meal.

“Eat up, Eunsu.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Eunsu quickly buried his nose in the rice bowl. But he couldn’t bring himself to touch the food. He managed to scoop some plain rice to his mouth, but the metal taste from the spoon made goosebumps rise all over his body.

Startled, Eunsu unwittingly shrank his neck and shuddered. At that, worry immediately creased the corners of Dokwon’s eyes.

“Are you cold? It’s warm in here. Is the floor chilly?”

Dokwon slipped his hand under the cushion Eunsu was sitting on to check the temperature. It felt toasty from the floor heating. The air was warm too. But cold?

Well, it wasn’t that strange. They say all sorts of inexplicable things happen to the body during pregnancy. With emotions fluctuating wildly, there was no rule saying he couldn’t feel cold when others felt hot.

Dokwon jumped up and fetched his jacket from the hanger. He draped it over Eunsu’s shoulders. Not content, he called the server and ordered warm water too.

“Thanks, Dokwon.”

Eunsu said with a grin. Dokwon’s jacket was soaked in his scent. Was that why? The offensive food smells faded a layer.

After hesitating a moment, Eunsu picked up a piece of zucchini pancake and put it in his mouth. The squishy texture and oozing oil felt queasy, but not to the point he couldn’t eat it.

His appetite was still gone, but hadn’t the OB-GYN said that? He had to eat even if forced. For Bomi, he needed sufficient nutrition.

After that, Eunsu picked and ate only foods that seemed less smelly. Earlier, just having the dishes in front of him had made him feel like fainting. But with Dokwon’s pheromones there, it felt like a barricade had gone up.

Alphas really are something. He realized that anew.

As Eunsu chewed and melted the rice grains like that, Seongheon tilted his head sideways and called to Eunsu.

“Eunsu.”

“Yes, yes?”

“That day we met at the office. Why didn’t you tell me Dokwon was in this state? I could have helped.”

“Ah… I was out of sorts…. And, it had been so long since I saw you.”

Eunsu stammered an excuse. No matter that he was Dokwon’s lover, and Seongheon was his cousin, he couldn’t just go around saying such things.

Dokwon was a gentle lover only by his side; outside, he was the heir to a major corporation. They hadn’t even revealed the pregnancy for fear of rumors—let alone that he had memory issues.

“Hmm, I get that, but. It stings a bit.”

At Eunsu’s embarrassed expression, Seongheon cheekily wrinkled his nose. Eunsu let out an awkward laugh.

The three ate quietly for a while. But Seongheon’s chopsticks moved unusually slowly. Because he was watching Dokwon and Eunsu. His gaze was like looking at monkeys at the zoo. No, not quite. It was more like a scientist observing experiment results.

“I’ve never seen you two together like this. It’s so fascinating.”

“What is?”

Dokwon asked back as he deboned fish for Eunsu.

“Well, you hated omegas so much.”

Seongheon said as he poked the deodeok gui he had moved to his side dish plate with his chopsticks. His voice was terribly flat and calm. But the meaning it carried was not calm.

“….”

Dokwon’s chopsticks, busy until then, stopped abruptly.

“…Cough.”

Eunsu coughed as if choking, though he had nothing in his mouth. It was just one sentence, but Eunsu and Dokwon both twisted oddly. Unlike them, Seongheon’s face remained serene.

“I thought you’d never meet anyone your whole life. Even the chairman….”

“Hyung.”

Dokwon cut across Seongheon with his characteristic low voice. Then he moved his lips, staring straight at him.

“It’s all past now.”

It was like a warning. A warning that he wouldn’t let it slide if more was said. But unfortunately, Eunsu already knew everything.

That day. The day he packed his things and left Dokwon’s house. Seongheon, whom he met at the company, had told him the story he hadn’t wanted to know but had to know someday.