Six

It felt like all the air Kang Chul has been holding in is choking him. He appeared paler than ever as he stared at the woman who is currently dozing on his bed. He can’t believe it. Oh Yeon Joo is pregnant. 

She is pregnant. She. Is. Pregnant.

And he doesn’t even know if the child is his. Though, if it is, how did it all happen? Well, he knows the process and could perform it himself but really, why couldn’t he remember?

He was so busy, trying to rack his brains on how it all happened, to find any clue at all, that he doesn’t even realize that Oh Yeon Joo was crying on her sleep. She was sobbing so hard and was sweating. He doesn’t even realize that he moved towards the bed, sitting next to her lying form and caressing her soft hands. 

“Chul-ah, Chul….Kang Chul—please, please…” Her cheeks was so red and her breath came out ragged with her pitiful whispers.  Kang Chul leaned down towards to listen. “Kang Chuuul…don’t. Hajimma…hajimmaaa.” 

“Shh, don’t worry. I am here.” Kang Chul found himself whispering to her ears. He felt a tear slide down his face as he watch her, begging. “Don’t cry. Don’t. I am here. I won’t leave.” And as he say those words, Oh Yeon Joo’s face relaxed as she fell to a silent and peaceful sleep again. 

●

Oh Yeon Joo opened her eyes slowly. She was shocked to see Kang Chul’s face which is right in front of her. He looked so handsome that her hands itched to touch his face. She couldn’t believe it. 

Was it possible that she was dreaming all along and that this is the reality?

No more W world. No more accident and no memories lost. Only Kang Chul and her?

With this thoughts, a tear fell down from her eyes and landed on the sheets. Her lips trembled as she reached out to Kang Chul. She lightly touched his thick eyebrows, afraid that her action alone would shatter this moment of which she wasn’t sure of being a reality or a dream. She then moved her hands down to Kang Chul’s eyelashes that is light and short. She moved it to his nose that is perked up and inched it lower to his plump lips. She leaned close to his face, hoping to memorize every detail before she got caught when Kang Chul suddenly opened his eyes.

Because of her shock, she move away from him but then Kang Chul pulled her closer, “Yah, you almost fell. Be careful!” 

Her heart beats fast as she stared at Kang Chul. His worried eyes made her tear up a little as she spoke up, “Chul? Am I dreaming? Did I just make it all up? There’s no W world, right?”

He look at her for a while before he pulled his hands off from the tight grip he has over her wrist and back. “I think you are. As for making it up, I do not know what you are talking about.” He sat up and gradually stood, turning his back on her. He was making his way towards the bathroom when he suddenly turned, “ Oh, jamkkan, what is W world?”

‘Then I am still here.’ Oh Yeon Joo thought to herself as she stared at Kang Chul who is so clueless as he stood in front of her. “Ah, well, it’s just something I have read. I messed it up with reality, I guess.” Kang Chul nodded in understanding before he headed inside the bathroom.

Oh Yeon Joo remain seated on the bed, face flushed and palms sweaty. Her head is fogged and she couldn’t think straight. What should she do now? And how did she even end up here, sleeping beside Kang Chul? Was this her new reality? But it seems unreal. 

How did Kang Chul transform into someone just like her husband?

She began biting her nails, pausing for a while as she fix the sheets and the pillow. She sat at the edge of the bed, sweating and dizzy. She wanted to leave just like that but her stomach said otherwise as it churned. Worried that she might throw up on the floor, she hammered at the door.

She was continuously knocking that Kang Chul have to open the door abruptly and shock her as he stood there, half . 

Though Oh Yeon Joo did not dwell on it much. Her blush vanished from her face as she go towards the toilet bowl and retch. She couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and that made her tear up. This made her feel so bad. 

Why is she so emotional this days?

 She was crying silently when she suddenly felt Kang Chul’s hands caressing her back and holding her hair off her face. Without even realizing her action, she push his hands off and said “Stop. Don’t act like someone that you are not!”

“Wae? I am helping you, can’t you see? I am not acting.” This made her cry harder which worried Kang Chul. He wipe her tears away and took her into his arms, carrying her out of the room. Oh Yeon Joo cried  silently as she lean on Kang Chul’s  chest, wishing that everything will go back as the way it was before. 

Kang Chul lay her down on the bed and put two pillows behind her back so she appears to be sitting up. Kang Chul stared at her for a moment before he walk off, snatching a shirt from his dresser.  Oh Yeon Joo just laid there, wondering where he have gone to when the doctor from the hospital suddenly came in. 

Kang Chul stood right behind the doctor, giving Oh Yeon Joo a worried but reproaching glance. It reminds Oh Yeon Joo those times where he suspected her as a thief stealing from  Yoon So-Hee’s apartment. She stared at the doctor before he glared at him. Because she was so sick and weak, she raised her arms up and cried, “Arasseo, I’ll go back to the hospital now.” She look towards Kang Chul and added, “I will pay you once I find some work. I’ll just have to—” she couldn’t continue the words she wanted to say as she throw up on the floor. 

Kang Chul rushed towards her side and soothe her back. He wipe her tears and the side of before he get some towel from the bathroom and wipe her vomit from the floor. Oh Yeon Joo was so distracted as she watch him clean up that she haven’t even notice the doctor who is now sitting next to her. 

“I am not here to fetch you and detain you at the hospital.” Oh Yeon Joo turn her head towards the doctor as she hear this words. “I am here to tell you something that is very important.” The doctor look at Kang Chul, only then did Yeon Joo notice that he have stopped wiping the floor. “You are pregnant, Oh Yeon Joo.” She couldn’t help the shock that have captured her being. Kang Chul was stunned and frozen like a statue, staring with blank eyes. 

“You are in a very sensitive stage,” the doctor continued as she look at Oh Yeon Joo. “ You have to be careful. I already ask you husband to care for you. In the mean time, you should just stay at home and rest. Avoid everything that will stress the baby, arasseo?”

Oh Yeon Joo blinked her eyes before answering, “Ne…”

The doctor pat her back and stood, giving Kang Chul a list of  vitamins and ordering him what to do and not to do. 

The doctor was long gone and Oh Yeon Joo did not even notice it. She remain seated on the bed, unable to comprehend. How was it possible that she was pregnant? When did she—

Right then and there did she remember. The night of her promotion and the early morning before Kang Chul went back to the W World. It seems impossible but it did happen. The baby, too, was now part of this world. Conceived and developed on an unusual time frame, this child is both from real and fiction. 

Oh Yeon Joo touched her stomach and couldn’t help but cry. She was happy to have a baby with Kang Chul but she was also sad that it have to be this way. When they went back to the real world and marry each other. She accepted the fact that Kang Chul was real and that he is able to live normally. Though she did not expect for him to be summoned back to the W world and have their lives be complicated again. 

Not only that, Kang Chul doesn’t even remember her. He was just being nice as he accepted her under his roof and care for a woman who was registered as his wife. Taking her in with a baby was probably too much. She wondered if Kang Chul doubt her child as his. He have no memory of being with her so she is sure that he is also thinking the same things. 

She look up from her tears only to see Kang Chul giving her a curious gaze. She was stunned when he suddenly sat beside her and pulled her face so she was looking directly at him. After a while, he cleared his throat and said, “ We have to talk.” 

Oh Yeon Joo nodded at this and waited for him to continue though he stand up instead and snatch a notebook and pen from the bed side table. He began writing things  and give them to her after a while to read. “This is my conditions. You are to stay here in my complex all the time. If you need anything, call for a service or call Do Yeon. You are to follow everything I ask of you unless it is too much and,” He pulled her close and said, “You have to answer each and every question I have to ask you.” 

Oh Yeon Joo bit her lip as she look at him. His lips are so near that she only have to turn her head and kiss him but before she even do that, Kang Chul beat her to it. 

It was short and a little bit awkward. Oh Yeon Joo haven’t even registered what is happening when Kang Chul pulled away, leaving her stunned and confused.  “Tell me, why is it that every time I see you I wanted to do this?” Kang Chul whispered in a low voice as he stared at her. He give her another peck before saying, “I want to know why I feel this towards you. This is not me. You being here is not what I am used to but why is it that I felt comfortable and familiar with it?” 

Oh Yeon Joo sobbed, she bowed her head down and refused to look at Kang Chul. He sigh and stood, still looking at Oh Yeon Joo. 

“You will be staying here until I figure out who you really are in my life. You don’t have to worry about anything. I will take care of you and treat you as my wife, yet,” He leaned down towards her ear and whispered, “You have to treat me as your husband, too.”  With that, he smirked and lean in to kiss her one more time before he snatch a jacket from his seat. 

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So sorry for the late upload. It's just that my grandma died and I haven't had enough time to upload a chapter. So sorry....