Desperately trying to justify himself, Ji Hong quickly swiped his finger across the screen. The calculator showed that, counting from the date of conception, it turned out that the estimated date of delivery was October 5.
"Although it's good that it's not September, the beginning of October didn't change much. Anyway, in August he will be in his last month."
Ji Hong stared gloomily at his phone. This year's Olympics were held in Brisbane, Australia, from early to mid-August. Even a direct flight took ten hours, and even that was operated by only one local airline once a day. Ji Hong immediately googled their rules for transporting pregnant women. After 32 weeks, a doctor's certificate was required, after 36 flights are prohibited, in some cases you can fly by signing a receipt. Only after reading this, he finally exhaled.
"Good. At least it will be possible to go to the Olympics in Australia."
Ji Hong ran his hand over his chest in relief, but immediately, coming to his senses, he threw down the phone in irritation.
"What am I doing? It's not even decided whether to keep the baby yet."
He clicked his tongue and ran his hand over his face. I was annoyed by my own inconsistency - I told myself not to ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ think about it until the next examination, and I myself at the first opportunity reflects, worries and even looks for information. My own stupidity was also infuriating, and the whole situation seemed unbearably burdensome.
"Why should I even think about it? What the hell?"
Still in disbelief and indignant at what was happening, he buried his face in his palms and clicked his tongue until Ji Su asked,
"Oppa, what's wrong with you?" Did something happen? What are you looking at?
The younger sister looked anxiously at her brother, who suddenly took out his phone while eating, looked for something, and then got angry and threw it. Ji Su glanced at his phone screen on the table and chuckled in surprise.
"Oh, what's wrong?" Why the hell are you looking at the rules for transporting pregnant women?
Ji Su asked in bewilderment.
- What, is the wife of one of your athletes pregnant?
"No, it's just...
Ji Hong muttered, still hiding his face in his hands. Then he straightened up.
"Okay, don't think about it. Let's eat.
He defiantly took the chopsticks, but there was no appetite at all. To be honest, he didn't even see what was on the table. Still in a semi-fainting state, Ji Hong aimlessly picked up and set aside the sashimi radish until he finally put down the chopsticks and clutched his head.
"Oppa, what's wrong with you?" Did something happen? Ji Su mumbled with her mouth full, stuffing a huge ssam (a roll of lettuce with meat and vegetables) into it. Usually she would chew first, but since she asks with her mouth full - apparently, she is really worried. Ji Hong, still holding his forehead, quietly called out to his sister.
"Ji Su-ya.
-I do?
-No nothing.
Ji Hong lowered his head again. Ji Su hurriedly swallowed her ss and exclaimed.
"What's wrong?!" Seriously, what happened? Come on, speak!
"Well, that's...
Ji Hong sighed. In desperation, I wanted to share with someone and ask for advice, but as soon as I was about to tell it, the words stuck in my throat. Of course, it is better to tell the family than to strangers, but precisely because it is a family, there were moments that I did not want to talk about. I wanted to somehow bypass the direct description of the situation, but I did not know how to find the words.
"Speak already!" I'm dying of curiosity.
Ji Su couldn't help but quickly put a piece of sashimi in her mouth and began to peel the quail eggs. Ji Hong, watching his sister sideways, leaned his elbow on the table and asked,
- What is the attitude to a wedding on the fly now?
"Come on, who cares about that these days?"
Ji Su wrinkled her nose as if she was asking some nonsense. She was about to put a peeled quail egg in her mouth, but suddenly froze.
- Wait, are you talking about yourself, and not about an athlete?
"No, this is about an athlete. Our athlete was in such a situation." - Ji Hong was going to answer just like that (strictly speaking, it wouldn't even be a lie). And then he planned to explain the situation and ask what advice she would give in such a situation. But when Ji Su asked directly, he couldn't lie.
"And what's the point of pretending now that these are someone else's problems? In addition, if we admit that we are talking about a family, maybe she will take it more seriously."
And, most importantly, he was tired. I'm tired of getting out of it and lying. Usually he was a master at coming up with believable stories and presenting them beautifully, but now he did not have the strength. Apparently, due to severe stress, the brain refused to work.
Therefore, he just remained silent, and Ji Su, taking this as confirmation, muttered "Wow..." and threw a quail egg into her mouth. After chewing silently, she suddenly frowned, swallowed hastily and said:
- Wait, so you yourself got into this situation? Or did you plan to get married and give birth, just the order of events changed?
Ji Hong remained silent again. But his heavy silence and exhausted expression were more eloquent than words. Ji Su instantly froze and asked.
"Didn't you even protect yourself?"
"Hey, of course I did!"
Ji Hong, embarrassed by his sister's direct rebuke, straightened up.
- I did everything right.
- And how did the pregnancy turn out then?
-Well... It turns out that this is possible.
Ji Hong sighed. Ji Su's gaze became as cold as his voice. Although she did not say it out loud, she clearly believed that her brother was lying and did nothing at all.
"Oh, wow.
Ji Su muttered indignantly, poured a full glass of soju. Having drunk in one gulp, she demonstratively loudly put down the glass and bombarded with questions:
- Were you going to get married at all? Or is it forced because of pregnancy? Wait, is this at least your beloved*?
Note: The original word used is gender-neutral "애인" (ein), which means "lover" or "partner".
"Of course, my love.
"Yes, my partner," Ji Hong repeated. Stunned by his sister's unexpectedly harsh reaction, he began to explain in too much detail:
"And he's been talking about the wedding for a long time. I just postponed everything, said "let's think about it later, slowly."
- Why did you postpone?
"Well, I didn't want to get married yet, and he's very young...
At the last words, Ji Su's face twisted.
"How young?"
- Twenty one... No, it's already twenty-two.
-A what?! So is he a student?
Ji Su's voice soared.
- Do you want to marry a man who hasn't graduated from university yet? He's six years younger than you!
Ji Su looked at her brother with an expression of "what are you doing?"
"And really... hearing their situation from the outside, Ji Hong Yi felt like an irresponsible idiot himself."
But still, it was necessary to correct the incorrect information, so he said gloomily:
- No, he is not a student. He is not a student.
"So it works?"
- Not either.
- ...
Ji Su's gaze became even more stern. With an expression on her face that says she has a lot to say, but she restrains herself, she refilled the glass and drained it again in one gulp.
- Okay, it doesn't matter - a student, he works... Who to date is up to you. But why couldn't you protect yourself normally? she asked incomprehensibly.
- Especially with such a young man.
She grabbed the bottle again furiously and poured it.
"Hey, stop drinking!"
Ji Hong tried to stop her, but she didn't bother to listen. She emptied the glass with an angry face, and when she put down the empty glass, her face became sad and distressed.
"I really thought you weren't like that. Not because you are my brother, but because I know your character - I thought you were incapable of such an irresponsible and insensitive act.
Ji Hong ran his palm over his face in confusion, and Ji Su added.
"I'm sorry to say that when you're already feeling heavy. But I'm really shocked. Most of all, I don't understand why you are tormented by this question at all. Well, let's say you find yourself in such a situation. But you should have taken responsibility as soon as you found out about the pregnancy and got married. Maybe you will be confused at first, but without much hesitation, you will calm down your frightened partner and propose marriage. This is how I know my oppa.
Ji Hong, who had been listening like a culprit, suddenly noticed the inaccuracy in his sister's words and raised his head.
"Uh, stop, Ji Su, wait. But the partner is not pregnant, is he?
-A what?
Ji Su got angry, thinking that he was trying to get out of it.
- No, there is a pregnancy, but not with a partner.
Ji Su suddenly fell silent. Looking at his sister's gradually changing expression, Ji Hong finally understood. All this time, Ji Su thought that her brother had made a fool of some girl (or boyfriend) and was suffering, not wanting to take responsibility. And a twenty-two-year-old man, six years younger, without education and work. He ignored marriage proposals, while not even protecting himself normally, brought him to pregnancy, and now he clutches his head - "what to do?"
"God, how come! Forgive me, really, forgive me! Ji Su shouted blushing, finally realizing her huge delusion.
- Ah, exactly. Oppa... yes, and you can too...
Ji Su, still red, muttered incoherently. Apparently, she had completely forgotten that although Ji Hong was considered a beta until he was eighteen, later his status was changed to omega, although he remained the same in appearance.
"God, what did I say?" Oppa, I'm sorry. I was sure that your girlfriend or boyfriend was pregnant...
Ji Hong, seeing her remorse, casually said:
- Come on, it doesn't happen to anyone.
He really wasn't angry. I was even relieved to learn the reason for such contempt. In addition, he understood why his sister thought so - she had seen his partners several times. When she was studying in Seoul, they met more often, and she caught a glimpse of those he was dating. Probably, I judged by their appearance and physique. Moreover, there were girls among them.
"Of course, my oppa couldn't do that.
Ji Su, ashamed of her thoughtless reproaches, began to praise her brother. But suddenly, as if realizing that the situation was not at all conducive to fun, she suddenly became serious and asked:
"All right. In general, do you plan to keep the child? Give birth and get married?
- I don't know... I don't know.
Ji Hong answered honestly.
"I found out today. I came here immediately from the hospital.
"Oh, that's why you're like you've been lowered into water.
Ji Su had just begun to nod in understanding when the phone on the table rang loudly. With a feeling of foreboding, Ji Hong grabbed it. As expected, it was Kwon Jae Kyung who called. After hesitating, he immediately said:
"I'm not at home. We'll talk later.
And immediately hung up, but less than five seconds later, the phone rang again. This time it's a video call. Ji Hong wanted to just turn off the phone, but he was afraid that then Jae Kyung would immediately quit the training camp and rush to Korea, so he had to pick up the phone again. Fearing that Ji-so would see the screen, he brought the phone close to his face and half-covered the speaker with his finger so that Jae-kyung's voice was almost inaudible, and only then pressed "accept".
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[Hyun, why did you hang up?]
"I'm telling you, I'm not at home."
[Why not at home? Where are you? With whom? Have you been to the hospital?]
-Yes. I'm with my sister now, let's talk later when I get home.
He dropped the call, but the phone rang again. I had to turn it off. Finally putting the silenced phone under the table, he noticed Ji Su's attentive gaze.
"Was that your boyfriend?"
Ji Hong remained silent. Realizing that silence was a sign of agreement, the sister grinned sadly.
Pouring soju, she asked:
"How old is he?" Twenty-two?
-I do...
- Four years younger than me.
She muttered this and drank it in one gulp. Slamming her glass roughly, she said heavily:
- Oppa. Let's not get married.