Reasonable Loss - 37

Chapter 5: The False Dokwon

Morning sickness dragged on. He had not thought it would end neatly in just three or four days, but he had not expected it to continue for nearly three weeks. When he looked it up, it said that in severe cases it could last up to three months. It was utterly horrifying.

Thanks to that, Eunsu was losing weight rapidly. It was natural since he could not eat even a third of his usual amount. Accordingly, Dokwon’s worry was beyond measure. Seeing his slender figure with the weight loss, the team members kept worrying, asking if something was wrong.

Eunsu made excuses that he was on a diet, with a face that looked half-dead. Then the team members said,

“Oh my goodness, Manager, where is there any fat left on you to diet!”

“Oh my goodness, even if it’s a diet, losing weight like that is worse for your health than obesity.”

“Oh my goodness, how beneficial fat is to the human body, and you’re trying to get rid of it!”

And so on. They voiced all sorts of worries.

Eunsu did not mind that kind of attention. Of course, his stomach felt queasy as if he had swallowed a barrel of oil, but it made him happy to have someone who worried about him.

Eunsu sucked hard on the straw stuck in the electrolyte drink. That was about the only thing he could consume easily. As he let out a sigh through his nose and clicked the mouse, a small alarm popped up in the corner of the monitor.

[Come to the director’s office.]

It was Dokwon’s message. Eunsu jumped up without hesitation. He had been craving Dokwon’s scent anyway.

As soon as the director’s office door opened, Eunsu threw himself into Dokwon’s arms. Dokwon, startled in case he might fall, quickly hugged him back.

“You shouldn’t run. How hard is the marble floor. What if you fall.”

Dokwon stroked Eunsu’s back gently while scolding him. Whether he did or not, Eunsu buried his nose in Dokwon’s nape and breathed in the scent deeply, lost in it.

Dokwon let out a small sigh and carried him to the sofa in his arms. Then he placed Eunsu on his lap. Eunsu wriggled his body to find a comfortable position.

“What about breakfast?”

Dokwon asked.

“Just…… a banana and……”

“A banana and?”

“A lemon candy……”

“……That’s it?”

Eunsu nodded his head. Dokwon’s face grew serious. His worry over Eunsu who could not eat properly was beyond measure. He gently brushed aside Eunsu’s silky hair. What on earth should he eat. No matter what food he offered, it was useless since the nausea was like a mountain and he could not even smell it.

The only things he could eat were fruits or drinks, but it was hard to get enough nutrition from those alone.

Pregnant and unable to eat rice. Pregnant and losing weight. In Dokwon’s mind, such things could not exist. They should not exist.

As Dokwon pondered how to overcome this grave problem, Eunsu mumbled in a voice just loud enough to be heard.

“Still, I’ll eat lunch with you, Dokwon, so I might be able to eat a little.”

At those words, embarrassment appeared on Dokwon’s face. He fiddled with his eyebrows and murmured.

“Ah, that is…… I have to go out soon.”

“Yes?”

“There’s work outside.”

“Then we can’t eat lunch together?”

Eunsu, who had buried his face in Dokwon’s nape, suddenly lifted his head. He had been looking forward only to having meals together since last night. Unable to eat lunch together. Disappointment welled up in Eunsu’s eyes.

Seeing Eunsu like that, Dokwon bit his lower lip firmly and then released it.

“Probably dinner too……”

“Dinner too?”

Eunsu asked back as if screaming. Not enough with lunch, but dinner alone too. It was the first time since the morning sickness started. No. Without Dokwon’s pheromones, he had no confidence to eat.

Dokwon’s face twisted along with Eunsu’s increasingly tearful expression.

“I’m sorry. It’s an important buyer. It came up suddenly, and I refused saying my schedule didn’t allow it. But they said if we meet today, they’ll adjust a few parts of the contract to our side’s opinion.”

“……”

“Go to my house after work. I’ll finish as quickly as possible and come. I’ll be there before 8.”

“……”

“I’ve portioned out the smoothie ingredients in the fridge. Just put the ones in the containers into the blender and mix them. I bought cookies too, and electrolyte drinks of various kinds……”

“I know, I know.”

Eunsu cut off Dokwon’s words abruptly. Whether there were smoothie ingredients in the fridge or a whole cow stuffed in, he had little interest. Whatever was there, without Dokwon, he would have to force it down his throat like swallowing dirt. Just imagining that made his stomach churn already.

As Eunsu glared at the geometric sculpture in the corner of the director’s office to calm his insides,

“……Are you angry?”

Dokwon asked cautiously.

“No. It’s work, so what can you do.”

Eunsu shook his head in denial. But it was not an expression that said it could not be helped. It was a face that looked ready to smash the sculpture right then. Dokwon, who became unnecessarily anxious, quickly added.

“Still, this weekend we’ll be together the whole time. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, night snacks, all together.”

“Yes–.”

Eunsu replied listlessly. A chill still lingered on his small face. He looked ready to storm out if things went wrong.

Dokwon’s eyelashes stiffened with tension. He tapped Eunsu’s cheek.

“……Look at me.”

Then finally Eunsu’s gaze flowed toward Dokwon. Dokwon swallowed dryly.

“Just…… Should I cancel the meeting now? Take the loss?”

“How much is the loss?”

“Well, a few hundred billion or so. It’s fine. I can earn it back with something else.”

Dokwon said as if it were no big deal.

“……”

Eunsu took a deep breath. A few hundred billion. It was a number that usually went back and forth in big contracts. So it did not feel real. Anyway, it was not money coming into his pocket, and Seongjin was not a company that would collapse from losing a few hundred billion.

But that was from Eunsu’s perspective, and Dokwon should not do that. It was his company. Not right now, but someday it would be. How could he give up that money so easily.

Eunsu stared at Dokwon blankly. Dokwon had a completely tearful face. That appearance was terribly…… cute. A lover fretting over him. It could not help but be lovable.

Eunsu grabbed Dokwon’s both cheeks and pressed his lips lightly against them, then pulled away.

“I’m not angry. I’m not a child, I won’t get mad just because we can’t eat together. If you forgot about me, if you lost interest in me and made me eat alone, then I would get angry, but it’s not that situation now.”

“But……”

“It’s because of work. I’m a working person too. I’m not so immature as to get angry over something like that.”

“……”

“Go on. I’ll wait at home.”

Eunsu hugged Dokwon’s neck fully. And while breathing in deeply the scent of Dokwon that he would not smell for the next few hours, he mumbled.

“But you have to come quickly. As quickly as possible.”

“Yes.”

“You can’t come late. I might die of hunger.”

“Got it. I’ll come as quickly as possible.”

Dokwon chuckled and hugged Eunsu back.

* * *

It was 5 p.m. The time when the office atmosphere grew strange. With one hour left until quitting time, excited people, people whose minds were busy because they seemed unable to finish work by then, and people who had confirmed overtime and thus let everything go while typing slowly mixed chaotically, each letting out sighs of different weights.

Eunsu was a person who belonged to none of those. He had finished his work, and there was no need for overtime, but quitting time was not all that welcome. The thought of being alone in Dokwon’s house without Dokwon made his throat feel bitter.

Still, since it was a place thick with his scent, it would be better than this barren office, he thought, trying to muster some energy.

Eunsu rubbed his puffy eyelids roughly. He did not know why his body felt so stuffy. His whole body’s muscles ached as if contracted, and a light headache tormented his head constantly.

Could the morning sickness make his body hurt. Or was it flu-like symptoms from nutritional deficiency.

As Eunsu stretched by turning his head greatly, he glanced at the calendar absentmindedly. And he let out a short sigh.

“Ah……”