Reasonable Loss - 42

“Thanks, Executive Director….”

“No. Don’t worry about it, Eunsu. I’ll contact the police.”

“…It won’t help. Most omegas in heat beg for that kind of thing themselves, so it’s not legally an issue. I… haa… I did too.”

“But you thought it was Dokwon.”

“Yeah. But CCTV won’t show that. I’ll just look like… an omega in rut, like a beast.”

As he said it, Eunsu let fresh tears fall, overcome by emotion again. Seongheon sat close beside him with a deep sigh and gently wiped away Eunsu’s tears.

“I’ve got money.”

“…Pardon?”

“Money, connections, power—well, it’s silly to call it that, but I have things like that. In Korea, with these qualifications, you can ignore the law or even remake it, right? I’ll find that bastard and make sure he pays.”

“….”

Eunsu’s lower lip quivered. He thought how lucky he was that Seongheon was his friend, that he was here in this moment.

Eunsu nodded and burst into tears again. Seongheon patted his shoulder kindly.

Seongheon kindly booked another hotel room for him. It was late into the night, and Eunsu couldn’t take a car home. And he couldn’t stay in the room where it had happened.

Eunsu lay on the clean, spacious bed and dozed on and off until morning. Even then, he kept stubbornly calling Dokwon. But in the end, he didn’t hear Dokwon’s voice.

Early in the morning, Eunsu parted from Seongheon and went home. Then he quickly took half a day off and headed to the obstetrician.

His pelvis, shoulder, and wrist hurt from the fall. But what worried him more was the constant pulling in his belly. It felt like his womb was shriveling up like a dried persimmon one moment, then ballooning out like an overinflated balloon the next, before shrinking again.

The faint pain would continue until he clutched his belly and cried out “Ah!” before collapsing, repeating like that.

He had to go to the obstetrician right away. So Eunsu rushed into the clinic in his suit. He planned to go to the office after the checkup.

His body was in no state to work, sure, but he had to see Dokwon. Even if he wasn’t picking up calls, he’d probably come to work. He could meet him at the company.

Eunsu was waiting for his turn, with Dokwon’s number up on his phone, when,

“Oh my, you’re here alone today?”

A high-pitched voice tickled the top of his head. Eunsu slowly lifted his head. Was she talking to him. In front of him stood a familiar pregnant woman.

It was the one he’d met on the first day Dokwon came to the obstetrician with him.

“Ah…. Hello, hello….”

It was when Eunsu tried to stand and greet her.

“Where’s your husband?”

The pregnant woman glanced at the empty seat beside him and asked.

“At, at the company.”

Eunsu stammered in reply. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but his heart sank with a thud. It felt like getting scolded by a teacher back in school. Eunsu kept licking his dry lips.

“Hmm….”

The pregnant woman narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. Somehow, it felt like his shirt collar was choking him, so Eunsu tugged at it with his index finger.

“Well, whatever. You look so thin, Mr. Pregnant.”

The pregnant woman groaned as she cradled her big belly and sat in the seat next to him. Eunsu quickly helped support her. Then he let out an embarrassed smile. Even someone he wasn’t that close to could tell he’d gotten thin. It must be serious how little he’d been eating lately.

Not to mention, yesterday he’d thrown up what little he’d eaten, hadn’t slept all night, and hadn’t eaten this morning either, so his cheeks must be hollowed out.

“Ah…. It’s morning sickness these days.”

“Oh dear, that sounds rough. Found anything you can keep down?”

“Uh, just, fruits and smoothies, candies like that….”

“Try Western food instead of Korean.”

“Pardon?”

“You know, like pasta. Without meat or seafood, just cream sauce. That didn’t smell much for me.”

“Ah….”

Eunsu nodded with a somewhat surprised look. Pasta. Without toppings. He chewed on the words. He was thinking of going for pizza with Dokwon for lunch when the pregnant woman lightly patted his skinny hand.

“You have to eat well. What you eat is what you keep. Your body needs to be healthy for the baby to be healthy too.”

“…Yes.”

Eunsu smiled faintly. Just then, the nurse called his name. Eunsu gave the pregnant woman a quick goodbye and stood up.

“Mr. Yoo Eunsu. What’s bothering you? It’s not your scheduled visit today.”

The doctor, with her unchanging robot-like face, gazed at him impassively and asked. Eunsu swallowed hard. He’d prepared what to say. But just sitting in this exam room chair made his heart pound like he was a kid giving a presentation.

“Um…. My belly hurts.”

“Pulling and cramping like muscle soreness? That’s natural as the fetus grows….”

“No. It hurts. Stabbing pain, like my belly’s twisting. Like someone’s wringing a towel.”

Eunsu explained his symptoms in a rush. He even mimed wringing a towel with both hands.

“….”

The doctor shifted in her seat. Then she pushed up her glasses and called the nurse.

“Mr. Yoo Eunsu, we’ll start with bl00d tests.”

“What happened?”

The doctor took the test form and probed with a stiff face. Not “did something happen,” but “something did happen,” with certainty. After a moment’s hesitation, Eunsu simply spilled what had gone down at the hotel. It was a doctor, after all; hiding it wouldn’t help his body.

The doctor listened to Eunsu while staring holes through the test form. Eunsu was scared. She rarely showed much reaction, but now she was frowning, like something big had happened to him.

Eunsu clutched his belly. Was Bomi hurting. That couldn’t be. What could make a baby the size of a finger hurt like that.

The doctor took off her glasses and looked at Eunsu.

“Did you go to the hospital?”

“…I’m here, aren’t I?”

Eunsu asked back, puzzled. What did she mean, go to the hospital when he was already there. The doctor asked again, looking frustrated.

“No, I mean reporting it. That alpha. You didn’t report him?”

“Uh…. Yeah. Not yet….”

“Didn’t take photos either?”

“Photos? What photos?”

“Photos to submit as evidence of injury.”

Eunsu shook his head. He’d just… let Seongheon handle it, so he’d gone along. He couldn’t figure out what photos had to do with the hospital.

“Haa…. You need to gather evidence. You were caught by an alpha during heat, right? But as you know, in cases like this….”

“It’s hard to punish the perpetrator.”

“Yes. But looking at your condition now, it’s clear there are signs of violence and attempted force. We need to document that.”

The doctor eyed Eunsu’s swollen wrist. One was fine, but the other was so puffy there was no dip in the bone. It must be from yesterday’s twist.

And because of the wrist, there were probably similar marks elsewhere.

Sure enough. Eunsu stroked his shoulder over his shirt. The doctor’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Take off your clothes. I’ll take photos for you.”

“H-here?”

“If you go to the police station, you’ll have to strip in front of total strangers. This is better, isn’t it?”

She wasn’t wrong. After hesitating, Eunsu slowly started unbuttoning his shirt. Anyway, he wanted to catch that bastard and make him pay, no matter what.

The doctor didn’t call a nurse and took Polaroids herself of Eunsu’s body here and there. She didn’t gasp at the dark bruises or offer cheap pity. Thanks to that, Eunsu could stand there calmly.

After the photos, as he put his shirt back on, a question occurred to him.

“But the shoulder’s from falling against the chair, and here, the pelvis is from tripping while running away…. Will that still count as evidence?”

“There’s already plenty of evidence.”

“What do you….”

“Mr. Yoo.”

“Yes.”

“You took medicine.”

The doctor said as she carefully laid out the Polaroid photos.

“…Pardon?”