DM Chapter 70
It looked familiar.
The emotions that had been endured and suppressed for so long, almost to the point of becoming unbearable, all vividly appeared on Sarin’s face. It wasn’t like her to hold it in. Owen sharply bit the end of the stick.
“Hayan, whatever your dad said…”
She knew she should tell him not to listen, but her lips wouldn’t part. Sarin didn’t know how or where to begin explaining things to a child this young.
“Yeah. Is my dad a bad person?”
Hayan spoke in a gloomy voice while sucking on the candy. At that moment, Sarin’s hand, which was gently caressing his small head, stopped.
The child knew too. The child experienced fear on instinct after hearing Yujin’s information and sensing the atmosphere from Pavel. The father he longed to see didn’t embrace him or show affection. Hayan, who was quick-witted, understood all of that.
“Does he not like me?”
The child raised his head and stared at Sarin with golden eyes, clear as day.
Tears welled up in his eyes. They were eyes that understood there were things that could be achieved through tantrums and things that couldn’t. For Hayan, who wanted to see his living father instead of his deceased mother, Sarin bowed her head and spoke with a trembling voice.
“It’s just… sudden. He didn’t know you existed.”
“Lies…. Aunt is a liar.”
Hayan reached out to touch Sarin’s cheek. Sarin, in turn, did the same to the child’s cheek. It was something her sister and the child often did.
“I’ll make you feel better. Aunt will definitely make Hayan feel better.”
The child’s complexion didn’t look good. Even without hearing the doctor’s verdict, Sarin knows that what Nikolai said is true. The pale skin, devoid of any healthy color, speaks for itself. He might not have as much time left as she thought.
“It’s okay, Auntie.”
Hayan spoke with candy in his mouth. Understanding the implications of his words, a pang of pain struck one side of Sarin’s chest. Hayan had spent most of his life in hospitals since birth. He was a child more accustomed to life and death than herself.
Whenever the children in the same room changed one by one, they all knew what happened without anyone having to say anything.
To the child, even the death of his mother was not an astounding event. He was accustomed to accepting what she couldn’t comprehend.
Sarin didn’t know what to do with the child. All she could do was keep him in the hospital.
“Hayan, you have to listen to Aunt. Aunt also found your dad, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hayan can also get better too. Aunty has done everything Hayan asked for. So… it’s possible. Aunt is…”
As she spoke, Sarin suddenly looked at Owen. She met his gaze, and in his eyes, something resembling emptiness pricked at some part of her heart. Whether it was pain or an indescribable emotion, she couldn’t tell.
“I’ll definitely make it happen.”
As if making a promise to herself, Sarin concluded her words while looking at Owen.
His lips curled up slowly. It was amazing timing, as if he understood every conversation between Sarin and the child in Korean.
“There’s a greenhouse on the roof of the hospital; it might be good for the child to have a change of scenery.”
Breaking the silence, he spoke with a lingering smile. As Owen suggested, it was indeed a time for a change of mood. When talking about the greenhouse to Hayan, he enthusiastically nodded, his expression brightening as if forgetting the previous conversation.
Soon, the door to the hospital room opened again and Yujin, who had been called, entered.
“I’ll take him out.”
The thick coat she retrieved from the closet was not the one Hayan had. It was clear that it was a choice made based on the man’s taste, most likely prepared in advance.
Owen stood up from his seat, gently picked up the child, and carefully placed him in the prepared wheelchair. Then he covered the child’s shoulders with a thick yellow coat and tucked a blanket over his knees.
Although the greenhouse would undoubtedly be warm, Sarin, worried about the child with a weak immune system, quickly took off the scarf she was wearing and wrapped it around him.
“Auntie, I’ll be back.”
Hayan waved to Sarin but couldn’t hide his curious gaze at Owen.
Yujin pushed the wheelchair out of the hospital room. Sarin, who had been standing there trying to keep a straight face, collapsed onto the child’s bed as soon as the door closed.
“…How did you know?”
Sarin’s exhausted voice echoed in the hospital room. With her face buried in her hands, she trembled, and Owen, low in tone, chuckled at the sight of her, who had collapsed, no longer able to keep up the pretense of being okay.
“I’ve been watching over that side.”
How Owen knew that they should be separated at this moment remains unclear. He somehow understood the timing when both of them needed time. It was fascinating how she managed not to reveal her exhausted state just before separating from the child.
“You don’t even speak Korean.”
When Sarin spoke in a faint voice, he approached her, sitting down on the bed close to her. His large hand gently stroked the top of her head, just as she had done with the child.
“If I don’t know, you can tell me.”
Is he joking?
Owen’s words somehow didn’t sound like a joke. She removed her hand from her face and looked up, her lost palm rested on her forehead. The hair, which had been cut as he liked, now extended slightly longer, ending in a rounded shape just above her eyebrows.
The way he played with the ends of her hair reminded her of their first day.
Did the man’s face look like that back then too? Her mouth was slightly relaxed.
“ha….”
“Sarin.”
Both of their lips opened simultaneously. The voice calling her name was remarkably tender. Goosebumps rose on her bare skin beneath the thick layers of clothing.
Owen’s upper body pressing in close was intimidating. She thought he might swallow her head first.
As she fixed her gaze on his golden eyes, Owen’s hand, descending from her forehead, covered Sarin’s cheek. Looking at her face up close, he tilted his head and, after exhaling, swallowed the lips that had just spat out a sigh.
Tsup. tsup.
Saliva was exchanged.
It tasted just like the chaotic night they had shared before. As their tongues intertwined sweetly, Sarin’s hand gripped Owen’s suit jacket, clinging to prevent herself from falling backward. Tilting her head back further, she allowed him to savor her a bit more.
Gulp.
Saliva slid down the back of his throat, making a hungry sound.
“If you want, I’ll even cut Pavel’s belly for you, huh?”
He must have swallowed honey. There was no way he could have sounded so sweet otherwise. Running a finger over the tip of his own lips, Owen whispered soothingly.
“Don’t make that face.”
Having fed her and put her to sleep with great effort, her endlessly tired face made him feel uncomfortable.
“I’m going to go see the doctor.”
Feeling the impulse to leave the place, she pushed Owen away. Yielding without resistance, he extended his tongue, blatantly licking the tip of his lips.
“Okay, then.”
The sweetness of his smile was dangerous, and she found herself leaning into it so much that she actually wanted him to do it. She almost asked him to do something unorthodox, where common sense didn’t apply.
She had ventured too deep.
She felt like she was going to be dragged in if she didn’t pull herself out.
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In the doctor’s office, the first person she saw was an unwelcome, but not surprising, presence. Smirking as he looked at Sarin, the man burst into laughter. The doctor in front of him awkwardly cleared his throat.
“Why are you here?”
“You said I’m the child’s father. That makes me the guardian.”
As Pavel continued to tap the desk with his uninjured hand, the doctor spoke again with a troubled expression.
“His liver isn’t doing its job, and as you can see from the result here, he’s already jaundiced to the point where it’s visible to the naked eye, and soon there will be signs of liver failure.”
His smiling face did not reflect genuine amusement.
She remembered the ghostly, pale face of Hayan. Though she had mentally prepared for what was expected, her trembling hands couldn’t be concealed. Desperately, Sarin hid her hands behind her back.
“What about the transplant?”
Pavel chuckled at Sarin’s question.
“That’s why Nikolai is patching me up right now. All because of that brat whose existence I didn’t even know about.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know Owen came from a dog breeding farm, right? Can you believe it from a place like that? Why would they bring him from such a filthy place? It was probably because our father needed a liver. Finding a liver compatible with this household is damn difficult, no matter how hard you search.”
Hence, they had to search into the same bloodline.
Before he could finish, Sarin grabbed his shoulder. Pavel quickly put his hand up and shoved her away. Her shoulders hit the wall, causing pain. Pavel rose slowly from his seat; his physique, similar to Owen’s, was intimidating.
“I-I can’t let you do this here.”
“Shh.”
As the startled doctor seemed to be about to call someone, Pavel sent a warning, furrowing his brow, gesturing for silence. The doctor who recognized his identity eventually turned away, pretending not to know and avoiding eye contact with Sarin.
“Why are you scared? Afraid I might hit you again?”
He only stopped when Sarin’s back touched the wall as she gradually retreated. Pavel, standing close, blocked her path with his pinky-less hand and stood before her. The dark bruise on his face had yet to fade.
“Nikolai promised me.”
“That’s what Nikolai thinks; I don’t.”
His uninjured hand gently brushed Sarin’s cheek. For some reason, the spot where he’d struck her throbbed, even though it had healed. Pavel resisted the urge to kill her now. It wasn’t time yet. Provoking Owen here would only irritate Nikolai further.
