The Omega Is Pregnant

Tae-seo, having come out after the ultrasound, straightened his disheveled clothes. The seasons had changed, so wearing thicker clothes now easily hid his belly. They said that in the case of male Omegas, there’s a decent amount of space in the abdomen, so the belly doesn’t protrude much—and that was true for Tae-seo. So to someone who didn’t know, he looked about seven months along, like a typical pregnant woman.

“Now that you’re entering your final month, you’ll be coming to the obstetrics clinic more often. Even if it’s a hassle, make sure you come.”
“It’s not a hassle when I get to see Blessing.”
The doctor glanced at Tae-seo’s grinning face and nodded.

“Well, that’s good to hear. You’ll be coming about once a week, so schedule your next appointment on your way out.”
With his hands clasped together, the doctor looked at Tae-seo’s belly. It had been visible during the ultrasound earlier, but now it was hidden under the thick clothes, and if one didn’t look closely, it was hard to tell.
“From now on, it won’t be dangerous even if the baby is born at any time, but ideally, it’s best if you go full term. In first pregnancies, it’s common to go past the due date, but don’t let your guard down.”

The doctor calmly continued his explanation about childbirth.
“In general, an Alpha’s pheromones are needed after birth to help the Omega’s exhausted body recover, but there are times when they’re urgently required. In emergencies, like when the baby isn’t ready but has to be delivered suddenly, the spouse’s pheromones become essential. Make sure that’s clearly communicated.”
Tae-seo pretended to listen intently, but in truth, he wasn’t really paying attention. He understood the part about Blessing being born, but what would happen during childbirth still felt like a distant story.

“I’m worried since the baby hasn’t experienced labor pains yet. He probably won’t even know if it’s false labor or real labor…”
That’s why he’d brought solid backup.
Accompanied by his mother—the one person who could understand the doctor better than anyone—Tae-seo half-listened to their conversation as he looked around. The tidy examination room was growing on him with each regular visit. He found himself wondering how many more times he’d step into this room after Blessing was born. As he thought that, the conversation between his mother and the doctor was reaching its end.

“Be careful, now that your body feels heavier. Try gentle massages to relax your tense muscles.”
That, he understood.
“Any questions?”

As always, when they got to the Q&A at the end, Tae-seo perked up and nodded.
“Can I go on a trip? Everyone goes on a ‘full-term trip,’ and I want to go too—just somewhere nearby.”
“If you walk too much, your belly will tighten and you’ll be out of breath, so it’ll be hard, but…”

At the doctor’s cautious tone, Tae-seo tensed up and swallowed dryly.
“As long as you don’t overdo it, it’s fine.”
As soon as he got permission, Tae-seo’s face lit up.
“I’ve been careful enough. We’ll meet healthy.”

When Tae-seo responded with confidence, the doctor turned back to the monitor to finish writing the notes from the appointment.
The faint smile that passed across the doctor’s face was noticed only by Kim Mi-kyung.
 

****
Lying on the bed, Tae-seo rolled around to loosen up his stiff body. Just one visit to the obstetrician had left his entire body screaming.
“Blessing, is it really okay to drain Dad’s stamina in real time like this?”

Even though he hadn’t done much, he got tired so quickly that staying on his feet all day was impossible. Just as he was thinking that, he felt a kick—as if the baby were responding to hearing his name—and closed his eyes. When he was bustling about, there was almost no movement, but the moment he lay down like this, Blessing had an uncanny way of sensing it and kicking.
“Okay, okay. I get it. It’s not your fault, huh?”
Tae-seo mumbled with his eyes closed, his voice quickly fading. As his soft breathing settled into a nap, Kim Mi-kyung, who had briefly opened the door, quietly shut it again.

Two hours later, Tae-seo woke up, rubbed his eyes, and rolled his body to the other side. Though he was less tired, his body hadn’t relaxed fully from lying in the same position too long. Still lying down, he stretched his hands and feet in circles and looked around his room.
“Blessing’s coming soon…”
In his head, he recalled the obstetrics visit from earlier that morning. A lot had been said, but the thing that stuck with him most was that the time to meet Blessing wasn’t far off.

“Should I clean the room?”
Come to think of it, ever since he’d become Yoon Tae-seo, he hadn’t once gone through the room. He’d only used what was already out and hadn’t felt particularly inconvenienced by that.
“Guess I need to see what’s in here first, huh?”

Once the thought was set, it was easy to move. He pulled the closest box toward him, paused at how heavy it was, then set it down with a bit of effort.
“What’s inside?”
His hand, tinged with slight excitement like he was on a treasure hunt, opened the box lid.

“Photo albums.”
Four albums, only half-filling the box.
He took one out and brushed the cover. It was just an ordinary photo album, but he couldn’t open it easily—it wasn’t really his past but that of the original Yoon Tae-seo.

“But now, I am Yoon Tae-seo.”
Muttering to himself, he opened the album.
“Wow… When was this? Elementary school? Middle school?”

Seeing young Yoon Tae-seo’s face made a gasp escape naturally. He was handsome now too, but as a child, with pale skin and a pretty face, he’d looked like a doll—especially since he wasn’t smiling in any of the pictures.
As he flipped through the album page by page, Tae-seo’s gaze shifted from admiration to curiosity. In one of the photos—probably from high school—he saw something familiar.
“Where have I seen this before?”

He hadn’t seen much of Yoon Tae-seo’s past, so he figured it wouldn’t take long to remember…
“Got it.”
Tae-seo’s head shot up, and he looked at his phone beside the bed.

The photo had been in the private SNS album.
Back when he first became Yoon Tae-seo, he’d looked through everything, trying to understand the past, but had forgotten about it until now. He reached out and grabbed the phone.
“So these are just the photos with Kang In-hyuk in them.”

The care it took to delete the pictures from his phone yet save them separately in an album—it was intentional.
“Yeah. He really liked Kang In-hyuk.”
“So it’s true… Our Tae-seo really liked In-hyuk a lot.”

Tae-seo’s head shot up at the sound of someone else’s voice in the room. Leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed, was Kang Se-heon—who’d apparently been watching for a while.
“When did you get here?”
“When our Tae-seo was busy looking through the photos.”

“When was that?”
Tae-seo picked up his phone to check the time, then realized it was pointless. He had no idea when he’d woken up or when he started flipping through the album, so checking the time wouldn’t tell him °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° anything.
Silently, Tae-seo set the phone down and closed the album too.

“You already know everything about my past—are you seriously pretending like this is all news to you?”
“I didn’t know you were that passionate about it.”
Kang Se-heon strode into the room and held out his hand. Tae-seo, understanding that he wanted the phone, quietly placed it in his palm. If he said no now, it’d only look like he still had feelings for Kang In-hyuk.

“I don’t have any feelings left. This isn’t even really me—it’s the past version of Yoon Tae-seo, precisely the one from a few hours before he spent Heat with your brother.”
“Our Tae-seo sure knows how to draw a clear line.”
“Of course. Everything changed after the foundation party, remember?”

Tae-seo emphasized again that they were nothing now, but Se-heon silently looked through the phone. He carefully read through the photos and the short captions, and the air thickened with a subtle tension.
“If you want me to delete them, I will.”
They weren’t anything precious, anyway.

“Come here and sit. The floor’s hard.”
Se-heon extended his hand in invitation, letting Tae-seo lean into him if he wanted. Tae-seo sat beside him without resistance, but still kept his guard up.
“You sounded bothered earlier, but now you’re speaking so casually again?”

What kind of mood swing is that?
“While you’re at it, you might as well give the phone back…”
He reached his hand out—almost lazily, like he didn’t need to—but the phone didn’t return so easily.

“If you give it, I’ll delete every photo right away. It’s private anyway, no one can see it, but leaving it there still feels weird.”
Even as Tae-seo shook his hand, clearly asking for it, Se-heon didn’t react the way he wanted.
“It’s a shame we didn’t meet sooner. If I’d seen you from a very young age, I wouldn’t need to settle for these photos.”

“Well, that’s how fate works. Personally, I’m glad we didn’t meet earlier.”
Se-heon gave him a look as if asking why, and Tae-seo smiled, eyes narrowing.
“Because I couldn’t get pregnant back then.”

We got to spend a deep night in Heat right after we met—if we’d met earlier, that wouldn’t have been possible.
“You go straight to pregnancy instead of thinking about just having a good relationship, huh? That’s so like you.”
“Because we weren’t meant to just have a good relationship.”

Tae-seo answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“But wow, you’re greedy. You’ve already got a young lover, and still…”
Tae-seo started counting on his fingers. If they’d met just a year or two earlier? That would’ve been a real problem.

“Give it back now.”
“Let’s trade.”
“Trade? What for what?”

“This phone, for all those albums.”
Tae-seo turned his head to look at the disheveled albums. There were four, and he hadn’t even gotten through one yet—but he could guess what kind of photos were inside. Turning back to meet Se-heon’s eyes, Tae-seo didn’t even hesitate before snatching his phone back.
“If you want childhood pictures of me, fine. But isn’t it normal to ask for just one? You’re asking for the entire album? What if my parents come looking for them?”

“They have their own copies…”
“You saw those too? From my parents?”
“Yeah.”

When did he see them? Se-heon knew more about Tae-seo’s past than he did.
“Then I’m taking them.”
As Se-heon walked off with the entire box, saying he’d move them to the car in advance, Tae-seo tilted his head. The deal—swapping the phone for the albums—had gone through cleanly, but something felt off.

“Wait a second. I just got scammed, didn’t I?”
It was already too late by the time he realized… he’d made a trade involving his own stuff.