Deal Breaker - Chapter 52

Please, please don’t appear.

Hyeji clasped the plastic test kit in both hands, her gaze fixed intently on the small results window in the center. A single red line on the white paper had already appeared, clear and sharp.

Please let this be all.

As she prayed silently, a red dot appeared at the damp edge of the paper strip, creeping upward and cutting across.

Bright red. Two lines.

“Ah.”

Ah. For a sudden new variable—no, a new member—in Noh Hyeji’s meticulously planned life, her reaction was just a single, small syllable. Another thought followed in her head, but it was something she could never say aloud if one day her child were to ask, “Mom, what was the first thought you had when you found out you were pregnant with me?”

Deal breaker.

Hyeji slipped out of the hospital without even completing the check-up, avoiding the bodyguard who had followed her. Dressed in a business suit during work hours, she wandered the quiet streets aimlessly until she ducked into a random café and sat there, blankly staring into space for who knows how long.

Her handbag buzzed.

「 Director Han Kanghyeon 」

She had never thought the sight of this name would make her feel fear. Taking a deep breath three times, Hyeji finally slid her finger across the green button.

—You done with the check-up?

“Yes.”

—What did they say?

“They said it’s just acid reflux.”

Definitely not pregnancy.

—That’s what you get for lying down after eating.

Right, she shouldn’t have lain down. If she’d gotten up right away, maybe she could have…

Sigh. She exhaled heavily, and on the other end of the line, he asked why she was sighing.

“I just won’t be able to lie down after eating anymore.”

—That’s nothing to sigh over. Have you eaten?

“Not yet.”

—Eat, then come in to work.

“…Yes.”

Kanghyeon’s voice snapped her out of her daze like an alarm. Her eyes fell on the mug on the table before her. Inside was a cup of chamomile tea, growing cold. She never drank chamomile tea.

Hyeji remembered asking her mother once: What was the very first thing you did when you found out you were pregnant with me? Her mother had said she quit coffee, which she had loved so much.

‘I’m doing the same.’

Even in her confusion, she had instinctively avoided coffee. She didn’t even need to ask herself what she wanted.

She unlocked her phone again and searched for OB-GYN clinics near her home. Of the three, she called the one with the highest reviews without hesitation.

“I got two lines on a pregnancy test. Yes, I think it’s been about three months… Can I get an ultrasound right away?”

Strangely, not once did the thought of aborting cross her mind.

* * *

“Cabbage is good for you.”

“Yes.”

“And stop drinking coffee. It makes acid reflux worse.”

“Yes, I don’t drink it anymore.”

Can’t, not don’t.

“Why do you look so drained?”

“…Because of the endoscopy.”

“Want to go home early?”

“No, I’m fine.”

He’d insisted she come in despite everything, and now he was telling her to leave as soon as she arrived.

Hyeji had shown up at the office in the afternoon, only to be unable to focus on work because of her boss standing beside her, chattering nonstop. In truth, though, this was all his fault. Her mind was already a mess.

Why is it the Director’s child?

And if it’s not the Director’s child, whose child would it be?

She continued the train of thought she’d been having before coming to work while making direct eye contact with the man in question. A sudden chill ran through her. Staring straight at Kanghyeon’s waist, perfectly level with her seated gaze, she reached out a hand.

“…Secretary Noh?”

She felt around the upper part of his left thigh. Kanghyeon flinched and stepped back.

“What are you… doing?”

“Just checking if it’s still there.”

“…Why?”

“I haven’t seen it in a while.”

The suppressor was right where it should be. Which meant he couldn’t read her mind. Which meant that unless she told him outright, he’d never know she was pregnant. Hyeji swallowed her anxiety and turned her eyes back to the monitor.

While she pretended to work, Kanghyeon stayed where he was, neither leaving nor speaking, just watching her with an unreadable expression. It was uncomfortable. She finally glanced up and blinked, prompting him to make a seemingly random comment.

“We have a mission at the end of this month.”

“Yes, I know.”

Wait, maybe it wasn’t random.

“Is there anything I should prepare ahead of time?”

“No, nothing. Just… business as usual…”

His words trailed off, and he cleared his throat abruptly before returning to his seat. He left the door open, but instead of working, he sat there with his legs crossed, continuing to talk to her.

“Don’t you think your symptoms don’t match? Acid reflux doesn’t come with drowsiness or weight gain.”

She had been in such a rush to come up with an excuse that she hadn’t thought it through, and now all its holes were showing.