Chapter 2: The Unthinkable Diagnosis

For several days, Yoonwoo had been holed up inside his house, glued to his laptop.

After days of diligent searching, Yoonwoo discovered that Seowoo’s knowledge of sexual biology was, in fact, correct. It appeared Yoonwoo, not Seowoo, had been the one dozing off during s*x education. Every website he consulted reiterated that while male Beta pregnancies were exceedingly rare, they were not entirely impossible. However, just as Seowoo had warned, the risks were alarmingly high; most such pregnancies ended in miscarriage, with very few cases resulting in a live birth, and the maternal mortality rate was significantly elevated.

“Shouldn’t this be plastered everywhere in huge letters? Huh? Highlighted with a thick marker!”

How could such crucial information be relegated to a fleeting mention, tucked away at the very end of the ‘Pregnancy and Childbirth in Phenotypes’ section?

Regardless, every shred of evidence pointed to Yoonwoo’s potential pregnancy. As his suspicions deepened, Yoonwoo spent several more days wrestling with the idea before finally steeling his resolve and making his way to the campus pharmacy.

He struggled to articulate the words, his mouth feeling stubbornly shut, before finally managing to request a pregnancy test kit. Averting his gaze from the pharmacist’s scrutinizing eyes, he practically fled, seeking refuge in an empty stall of the restroom located near the department office. As he stared down at the test, a wave of self-pity washed over him once more.

‘No matter how I look at it, me, pregnant? A male Beta, for crying out loud… it’s absurd.’

To even consider that he might have become pregnant from a single night, defying such an infinitesimally small probability, felt like an outrageous leap. Yoonwoo suspected he was simply overthinking everything.

It had to be some other illness. Stomach cancer, perhaps, or a hormonal imbalance…

He brushed aside the fleeting thought—’Wouldn’t pregnancy be preferable to cancer?’—and let out a hollow laugh as he awaited the test results. The corners of his lips, fixed in a strained smile, trembled noticeably.

Then, at last, the results appeared on the stick.

‘……’

Two lines. It felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck him from the restroom ceiling.

In that moment, Yoonwoo felt as though he had received a verdict akin to a death sentence.

As class time approached, Yoonwoo found himself stumbling toward the lecture hall. Yet, even after settling into his seat, the image of the two-lined pregnancy test kit continued to swim before his eyes. He collapsed onto his desk, thudding his forehead against the surface. The sound was quite loud, but the pain radiating from his forehead felt utterly insignificant compared to the turmoil within him.

“Hey, do you really think your forehead will crack doing that? Try hitting it a little harder.”

“Just be quiet, Hyun-jun.”

He muttered, swatting away Hyun-jun’s hand as it reached to pat the back of his head. Hyun-jun, a fellow student in his department, had been his constant companion since their freshman year, yet Yoonwoo had never once paid attention to his phenotype. Now, however, the distinct, aggressive Alpha pheromones wafted from him, instantly making Yoonwoo’s stomach churn once more.

“Why are you so ill-tempered all of a sudden?”

Hyun-jun mumbled something as he settled into the seat beside him, but the words merely grazed Yoonwoo’s ears, failing to penetrate his consciousness. Inside his head, the world had crumbled and been rebuilt a dozen times, the Earth had exploded, and words like ‘male Beta,’ ‘pregnancy,’ ‘miscarriage,’ ‘high-risk group,’ ‘mortality rate,’ and ‘Alpha pheromones’ floated menacingly, each one jabbing at Yoonwoo’s already throbbing skull.

“Are you sick? Why are you acting so strangely all of a sudden? It’s a bit unsettling.”

Hyun-jun, who had been observing Yoonwoo intently, asked with a cautious tone. In his current state, even Hyun-jun’s concern felt like an unbearable burden, but Yoonwoo attempted to mask his irritation and respond politely.

“Hey, just be quiet. My head is pounding, so keep your mouth shut.”

His words, however, were far from gentle.

Hyun-jun, however, seemed genuinely worried, as he kept hovering and gently nudging Yoonwoo.

“Why the sudden headache? Want to ditch class and go home? I can lend you some money.”

“Lend me my life back.”

“What are you even talking about? Are you really that sick?”

“Yeah…”

A pained groan escaped him involuntarily.

Indeed, a relentless headache had plagued him for days. Now, even sitting upright at his desk felt like an arduous task. Despite having eaten little, his stomach churned with nausea. He felt as if he were seasick on a small, bobbing boat caught in a fierce storm, a sensation now compounded by the crushing stress of the two-lined pregnancy test and the presence of an Alpha sitting right beside him. Yoonwoo wished he could simply die on the spot and somehow regress to a month prior.

Observing Yoonwoo’s pallid complexion, Hyun-jun’s concern seemed to deepen. The seat beside him became a flurry of activity as Hyun-jun frantically rummaged through his bag.

“I left some leftover cold medicine around here somewhere last time.”

“I said it’s a headache, so why are you looking for cold medicine?”

“Oh? Isn’t your head hurting because you have a cold?”

“No. It’s not a cold.”

If only the world were that simple.

“Then why does it hurt?”

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

He lacked even the energy to respond. Yoonwoo simply rested his cheek back on the desk and closed his eyes.

The problem wasn’t that he didn’t know why he was sick; it was that he knew all too well. The internet tabs he had nervously scoured were filled with horrifying accounts of male Beta pregnancies. With every new search result, his headache intensified, tormenting him relentlessly. Despite his desperate ‘no way, maybe not’ hopes, he had received undeniable confirmation. The results of the test, which he had repeated multiple times, were annoyingly, stubbornly consistent.

So, if he was indeed pregnant, what was he supposed to do with the child growing inside him?

The instant that thought surfaced, a searing pain, as if his forehead were splitting open, shot through him. It was a dilemma he shouldn’t even have to consider, yet the agony persisted.

There was no room for deliberation; he absolutely could not even contemplate carrying the pregnancy to term. Yoonwoo was merely twenty-three, a fourth-year university student. He was far too young to die alongside a baby whose father he couldn’t even bring himself to tell.

“Ugh, ughhh.”

“Whoa, hey, hey. You seriously need to go home right now. Or go to the hospital.”

Hyun-jun gently nudged Yoonwoo’s whimpering side. The urgency in his voice made Yoonwoo’s head throb.

Missing a class after paying exorbitant tuition fees was something he had never even considered, yet it seemed he could no longer remain seated. Yoonwoo nodded and attempted to rise from his seat.

However, a sudden, overwhelming wave of dizziness struck him, causing him to collapse abruptly onto the classroom floor. His vision had blurred into a sickly yellow, and his legs had completely given out.

“Huh? Hey, Yoonwoo…!”

“Senior.”

A deep, resonant voice layered over Hyun-jun’s startled exclamation. As Yoonwoo weakly lifted his head, his gaze fell upon the long legs of ‘that junior’—the very individual responsible for plunging Yoonwoo into this agonizing predicament. The junior was so tall that Yoonwoo had to crane his neck painfully, craning his head as far back as it would go, just to catch a glimpse of his face.

The morning sunlight had just begun to stream brightly through the classroom windows. The junior’s translucent, lightly-pigmented eyes gleamed with a languid glow. The sunlight, filtering in, caught the smooth bridge of the man’s nose, scattering into a shimmering cascade. His eyes, framed by faint double eyelids, were long and elegant. His face was a sculpted masterpiece, beautiful yet refined, soft yet strikingly handsome—like a porcelain doll crafted with exquisite detail.

Yoonwoo gazed up at him with a dazed expression, a single thought echoing in his mind: ‘Does anyone truly need to be that handsome?’ It was precisely this unnecessarily excessive handsomeness that had led to twenty-three-year-old Yoonwoo being struck by the thunderbolt of pregnancy. Or at least, suspected pregnancy.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah…”

Yoonwoo stared blankly at the junior’s large, outstretched hand. The tips of his long, well-kept fingers were a delicate pale pink. A sudden, vivid memory of where those fingers had last made contact flashed through his mind, and Yoonwoo’s cheeks instantly burned crimson.

Seeing his reaction, the junior bent down, his face etched with concern. He suddenly brought his perfectly sculpted face close to Yoonwoo’s, then extended his hand and gently placed it on Yoonwoo’s forehead.

As the warm touch made contact, the throbbing headache that had been relentlessly pounding his forehead seemed to gradually subside. It wasn’t merely a trick of his mind; perhaps the headache was genuinely receding. According to the information he’d found online, prolonged contact with the baby’s father could reduce the pain and risks associated with pregnancy.

‘Baby daddy, indeed.’

The very phrase he had conjured left him utterly aghast, and Yoonwoo gasped silently in disbelief.

He could only mouth words, unable to utter a sound. The junior, perhaps sensing his inner turmoil, tilted his head and scrutinized Yoonwoo’s complexion.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

He felt an inexplicable pang of guilt under that gaze, despite having done nothing wrong. Or perhaps, it was precisely because he hadn’t done *nothing* wrong. Shouldn’t he confess everything to him and discuss it together? After all, he was the baby’s father; he certainly had a right to know.

As the junior meticulously scrutinized him, Yoonwoo, lost in his own heavy deliberations, found himself staring back equally blankly, and a profound silence settled between them.

“Hey, what are you two doing?”

The silence was abruptly shattered by Hyun-jun, who had been watching them, dumbfounded, from his seat.

Class was about to begin. The lecture hall, which had been nearly empty moments ago, was now filling up with students. Hyun-jun nudged Yoonwoo’s backside with his foot, giving him a meaningful look.

“Hey. If you’re feeling better, sit up. Or hurry to the hospital. What are you doing lying on the floor? You scared me.”

“Ugh, damn it. I really was dizzy a moment ago!”

“You look fine now, though.”

He had been on the verge of death, yet his headache had miraculously vanished. Yoonwoo bit his lower lip, feeling a little embarrassed. There seemed to be nothing seriously wrong, and just as he placed his palms on the bare floor, ready to get up and prepare for class, the junior spoke.

“Allow me to help you up.”

“Huh?”

He felt the junior’s firm arm encircle his waist, and then, his eye level suddenly rose as he was lifted smoothly to his feet. The junior, who had just helped him up, unexpectedly said,

“You should go to the hospital.”

“Huh? No, I think I’m fine now. Class is about to start, too.”

“Your face is completely pale. I think it would be best if you went.”

‘I’m fine,’ Yoonwoo thought. However, before Yoonwoo could protest further, the junior’s hand firmly grasped his right wrist. Startled, Yoonwoo looked around with a bewildered expression, muttering, “Uh, uhh.” Hyun-jun, from beside them, waved his hand dismissively with a worried look.

“Yeah, just in case, go to the hospital. Can’t you go alone? Should I take you?”

“Huh? No, that’s not what I mean.”

“I’ll take him.”

Yoonwoo, whose mind was already a tangled mess, was so taken aback by the junior’s insistence that he lost his ability to reply. The junior was also enrolled in this class, yet he was acting as if skipping it was the most natural thing to do.

“No. I’ll just go by myself…”

“Aren’t you attending this lecture? I’ll take him; you stay here.”

Hyun-jun, who had been observing them, suddenly interjected.