Chapter 36: A Conditional Vow

Following Leehyun’s touch, Seohee’s cheek twitched.

Inhaling deeply, he racked his brain quickly.

“And this isn’t permission, Seohee.”

“If not permission, then what? I’m asking you for permission to go to the art gallery—”

“Consultation. We are consulting with each other right now, honey.”

At that single word, Seohee’s swollen chest sank.

Her shoulders, which had stiffened with resentment and tension, relaxed slightly.

When Leehyun toyed with her shoulder with his hand, Seohee pushed his hand away.

“Consultation?”

“Yes, consultation.”

What if they had engaged in such trivial consultation beforehand?

Before she lost her memory.

Leehyun forcefully pushed back the belated reality that struck his head with brute force.

For regret was always late.

His black pupils were deeply colored with the afterimages of the past.

“Why you must go to the art gallery doesn’t matter to me.”

At those words, Seohee’s chest, which had just settled, swelled once again.

As she turned in agitation and stumbled, Leehyun quickly caught her waist.

“You said we were consulting. Yet all the explanations I’ve given so far mean nothing to you?”

Even though her intent to avoid listening and to be released was clear, Leehyun steadily tightened the arm he had wrapped around her.

“At least for now, yes. Whatever reason you give, your health comes first to me.”

Unable to hide his tightly pressed lips, hardened face, and furrowed brow, Leehyun softly rested his face against the nape of her neck.

“In this physical state, you want to go to the art gallery. How could I possibly tell you to do so?”

Do you really think I could?

When Leehyun met her eyes and asked, Seohee turned her head away weakly.

“I……”

“I know you feel suffocated. I understand.”

Though his voice was thoroughly restrained as if ground out between his teeth, it sounded affectionate to her ears.

“……”

“But Seohee. I can’t allow it.”

As if it were utterly out of the question, Leehyun rubbed his face against the nape of her neck.

Seohee’s faintly contorted face froze in place.

Tears welled up and shimmered in her brown eyes.

“I’m going to call Professor Park.”

“I don’t want to.”

I won’t see her.

When Seohee turned her head away sharply, Leehyun gently nibbled her ear.

“See her.”

“I said I don’t want to. I told you I hate it—”

As Seohee flailed her arms to push him away, Leehyun wrapped her in his arms upon seeing her intensifying reaction.

“Get an IV drip, and once you recover. Then I’ll do whatever you want.”

“……”

“Give me some time, Seohee.”

“……”

Seohee could neither nod nor shake her head.

‘You are truly pathetic, Jin Seohee.’

Muttering only those words to herself, she merely buried her face in Leehyun’s chest.

She knew.

Considering the baby, she shouldn’t act like this.

It could put a strain on her.

Even though she knew full well that Leehyun’s reaction was entirely normal in this situation, her emotions kept surging.

She was angered by his words that blocked her after promising he would do everything and let her do whatever she wanted, and she was frustrated by the reality of nothing going her way.

“I will call Professor Park tomorrow.”

“What if I refuse to the very end?”

At Seohee’s rebellious words, Leehyun did not twitch a single eyebrow.

“I will still call her.”

As if he could not back down on this point no matter what, he spoke firmly.

“Once your morning sickness settles down just a little, then I won’t stop you anymore.”

Leehyun took a step back.

While attaching an indefinite prerequisite.

***

Having failed to sleep a single wink after all, Leehyun ran on the treadmill from dawn.

It had long surpassed his usual speed.

Running at a pace that made Seungho, who came in to exercise before dawn, look on with concern, Leehyun only pressed the stop button when the dim morning twilight began to brighten the dawn.

Watching Leehyun panting heavily for breath, Seungho stepped off his treadmill as well.

“Representative.”

As Seungho approached with a towel, Leehyun bent his upper body forward and wiped away the sweat dripping down his face.

A deep sigh, heavy enough to move his ribcage, escaped him.

The aftermath of his conversation with Seohee last night was substantial.

A few words that slipped from her lips had completely shaken Leehyun’s mind, just as fallen leaves create ripples across a calm lake.

He truly hadn’t expected Seohee to say she wanted to go to the art gallery.

‘I wish she would just order me around like a dog instead.’

If she did, he would have moved however she wanted.

Barking if told to bark, biting if told to bite like a dog.

“Seungho.”

“Yes, Representative.”

“Seohee says she wants to go to the art gallery.”

Leehyun rubbed his throat as if uncomfortable even saying it.

Seungho, blinking in surprise, asked in return.

“Pardon?”

“Just as you heard.”

The art gallery, of all places, in this situation.

When Leehyun gritted his teeth and murmured, Seungho kept his lips pressed together in silence.

Thinking repeatedly while keeping his mouth shut to avoid any slip of the tongue, Seungho asked cautiously.

“What should I… resolve?”

Seungho naturally brought up what he should handle going forward.

Because he believed that once words left Leehyun’s mouth, that was all he was supposed to do.

“……I firmly drove in the point that she couldn’t, but……”

In contrast to his solidly sinewy arms, Leehyun’s voice lacked conviction.

Should he not have refused?

Or should he not have given a conditional promise in the first place?

His face, unable to find an answer, looked conflicted.

Seungho, who had been listening blankly to Leehyun’s rare complaints, merely blinked his eyes.

“Did the madam agree?”

“No.”

That was why it was a problem.

Straightening his upper body, Leehyun stood facing the window that had grown brightly lit.

Having observed Leehyun since their time in the United States, Seungho could hardly adjust to his behavior.

Because Leehyun had never once fallen into confusion and failed to make a decision—except for that single time when Jin Seohee disappeared.

This exceptional behavior, without fail, was related to Jin Seohee once again.

While Seungho lowered his gaze and read Leehyun’s expression, a couple more heavy sighs escaped.

“Representative, then how should we handle the madam’s matter……”

Fearing that Leehyun would dwell on the same thought all day at this rate, Seungho brought up the subject, yet couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“For now, I told her to recover her physical condition first.”

If her morning sickness truly subsided, he would have to let her go to the art gallery, which was a problem; if the opposite happened and her morning sickness dragged on continuously, that was also a problem.

If forced to pick the worst-case scenario, Leehyun would choose the latter without hesitation.

‘I can’t take back what I said, nor can I thoughtlessly grant what Seohee wants.’

As if driven mad either way, Leehyun roughly ran his hand through his hair.

Jin Seohee, having lost her memories, was truly not easy.

In the midst of this, a sudden, fierce impulse struck him: that he had to see her right this instant.

Picking up a water bottle as he left the gym, Leehyun gulped the water down hastily.

A thirst so intense it stung his throat rose within him.

Did she get some sleep?

Surely she didn’t suffer through the night with morning sickness.

Driven by mounting worry, his steps leaving the annex grew faster.

Upon finally entering the bedroom, Leehyun clenched his fists tightly.

Just as he had feared, Seohee looked as though she hadn’t slept a wink all night.

Was that all?

She could barely move while leaning against the wall, finding it difficult even to step out of the bathroom.

Leehyun clenched his teeth so hard it felt as though his jaw might shatter, fearing that otherwise, he would lash out in anger, asking why she hadn’t called for him.

Her hollow eye sockets, deathly pale complexion, and cracked lips.

‘At this rate, it’ll kill me first.’

Leehyun couldn’t breathe, feeling as if someone had taken a blade to his heart.

Hesitating because his sweat-drenched body prevented him from holding her, Seohee staggered and lay on the bed alone.

His outstretched arm lost its destination.

Leehyun’s black eyes contorted with pain and anguish.

“Seohee.”

“……I’m…… fine.”

The image of Seohee from before she lost her memory flickered before his eyes, and Leehyun shook his head repeatedly.

He kept seeing Jin Seohee suppressing her feelings and concealing her suffering before him, pretending to be fine even when she wasn’t.

“Why are you always so fine with everything?”

Though he clenched his fists until his fingernails turned white to stifle the surging emotions, Leehyun ended up blurting out the words after all.

His growling voice was heavily suppressed.

“I…… don’t have any strength, Leehyun.”

Haa.

Leehyun leaned against the wall like a man drained of all energy.

He should have asked her sooner.

Before she lost her memory, when she lived with the words “I’m fine” constantly on her lips.

Had he done so, he would have looked at her one more time.

He wouldn’t have treated her so indifferently.

Deep regret hammered against his solar plexus.

“It was so hard during the dawn, but it’s much better now. I will…… sleep for a bit.”

Her quiet, softly spoken voice stabbed into Leehyun’s heart, stab, stab.

***

When Seohee, who had fallen asleep only in the early morning, opened her eyes, Leehyun was not there.

Instead, Jiyeon appeared, adding that it was on Leehyun’s instructions.

“Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?”

When Jiyeon, quietly examining Seohee, asked, Seohee shook her head while lying down.

“That’s a relief.”

Since she had checked the baby’s condition via ultrasound only a few days prior, Jiyeon did not insist on having Seohee travel back and forth to the hospital.

“There’s no spotting or abdominal tightness, right?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because the argument with Leehyun the previous day had taken a toll, Seohee could hardly get up.

“Everything is fine. There are no problems.”

Seohee, resting one hand on her stomach, buried her face in the quilt and mumbled.

Unlike yesterday, when she had boldly declared she would go to the art gallery, everything felt overwhelming.

The look in Jiyeon’s eyes as she watched Seohee, who could barely support her own body, was coolly objective.

“If your morning sickness is so severe that you continually fail to eat, you could develop anemia.”

Stating that it could become a serious problem, Jiyeon spoke firmly.

“I’m not dizzy.”

Even though she couldn’t even swallow her iron supplements properly, Seohee shook her head, insisting she was fine.

In fact, she hadn’t even had the chance to feel dizziness, as the morning sickness that had tormented her all night showed no sign of abating even after daybreak.

“While eating even one type of food is better than eating nothing, if this condition persists for long, we cannot guarantee your nutritional health as an expectant mother.”

“Not yet……”

Seohee, who was about to habitually say she was fine, paused.

Leehyun’s promise to let her go to the art gallery echoed in her ears.

“Dehydration can become an even greater issue.”

There was no need for an argument.

While Seohee hesitated, Jiyeon took out an IV drip as if asking for consent was out of the question.

The needle was inserted into her slender forearm in an instant.