Divorce Contract C68

Chapter 68

※ This chapter contains depictions of self-harm by a character. Please read with caution.

Seo Dohyeon supported Go Igyeol and guided him slowly forward. He even forgot to bow his head in response to the apologetic, pity-filled gaze the nurse cast from behind, as if regretting having said something unnecessary. Even while they waited for the elevator after pressing the button, Igyeol sobbed silently, unable to contain tears in his glass-bead eyes, yet without even a trace of resentment in them.

Back in the hospital room, Seo Dohyeon sat him on the bed. Anxious eyes clung to him as he moved about. Igyeol’s head followed his every motion until Dohyeon tore open a bottle of lukewarm water and held it out.

“Drink.”

“…The baby… the baby…”

“It may sound like an excuse, but I was waiting until you were more stable before telling you.”

The thin, bony hand weakly grasped the bottle. Water sloshed over trembling fingers, wetting them, but he did not notice, only lifted his head.

“Why did the baby’s heart have to have a problem? It’s because I gave birth too early, isn’t it? The baby was born too soon, too soon—it shouldn’t have been, but I gave birth too early, so that’s why…”

“They say the cause of atrial septal defect is difficult to determine. It’s not because you gave birth early. So stop crying.”

Drenched in despair, Go Igyeol looked at him. Just as Dohyeon once had laid all blame upon him, Igyeol, too, instinctively blamed himself, not others. Even when told otherwise, he couldn’t accept it. His cheeks, which once had been plump and rosy, had thinned into pallor.

Tears, never-ending, traced his cheeks, dripping slowly from his chin. His shoulders curled in. Just looking at him now made Seo Dohyeon’s chest ache. To meet his lowered gaze, Dohyeon dropped to one knee on the floor and drew Igyeol’s eyes toward him.

“When the baby grows enough to come out of the incubator, we’ll go to a hospital where neonatal echocardiograms are available. Right now, the baby is too small, and outside the incubator is more dangerous—that’s why we’re waiting. It’s not that I don’t value the baby’s care.”

He explained honestly, but Igyeol seemed not to believe him. Of course, when it came to the baby, mistrusting Seo Dohyeon was only natural. Still, the bitterness weighed on him.

“And if no further complications arise, you’ll be discharged this weekend. Likely on Sunday.”

“…Discharged? All of a sudden… just me?”

“The doctor said your hormone levels are gradually improving. If the trend continues, you’ll be able to go home this weekend.”

As Igyeol’s eyes widened in surprise, Seo Dohyeon explained. He had already made plans to continue Igyeol’s psychiatric counseling at home, where there were no prying eyes or loose tongues. The content of the sessions would remain within their walls. At home, Igyeol would find the environment more comfortable, more familiar. It was better for both of them—or so Dohyeon thought.

“Then the baby—the baby? What about the baby? How can the baby stay here alone? If the baby’s left here, what if someone takes him away? You told me… you told me I could raise him. That was a lie, wasn’t it? I said, I said I’d do as you wanted—said I wouldn’t divorce—and yet…!”

The words “leave the baby and go home” sent Igyeol spiraling into panic. He shook his head violently. In his right ear, Seo Dohyeon’s voice was muffled, as if underwater, while the hallucinations seized the moment: If you leave, the baby will be sent away far, far from you.

“If I’m sick… if I’m sick, I can stay in the hospital, can’t I? Right? If I’m sick, I can stay, can’t I? Right…?”

Like a madman muttering, Igyeol convinced himself he had to be ill to remain. Suddenly he sat upright, staggering as he searched for something sharp—something that could wound, something that would leave scars deep enough to prolong his hospitalization.

But no matter how he looked, there wasn’t a single sharp piece of metal in the room. Seo Dohyeon, calling his name over and over, tried to calm him, but Igyeol acted as though he heard nothing. Only the voices rang in his ears, insisting he had to hurry or the baby would be stolen away.

His eyes darted frantically. Then, like sunlight catching on glass, his gaze fixed on the table. Its shining glass top reflected in his dilated pupils. Seo Dohyeon stretched out a hand to grab him—then withdrew. Too fragile, it felt like he might break if gripped too tightly. Instead, he shadowed Igyeol, checking every place his eyes landed, searching for danger. There was nothing. And still, his unease grew.

“Calm down. The baby—”

Igyeol suddenly dashed. He was too far, Dohyeon’s hand unable to catch him. Igyeol thought he had to succeed before Dohyeon blocked him. The glass shards would suffice. Without hesitation, driven by the single thought only that will work, he hurled himself toward the table.

“Go Igyeol!”

At last, he heard the shout. The glass shattered with a crash. Shards flew in every direction. Relieved, Igyeol picked up the largest piece. Clutching it so tightly, bright red blood streamed between his whitened knuckles, dripping to the floor.

“This is the only way to stay in the hospital. Now I can be with the baby too… isn’t that right.”

Expression blank, as though he felt no pain, he raised the shard to his wrist. Before Seo Dohyeon could stop him, he plunged the sharp edge into his flesh. His brow furrowed as the shard tore skin.

Would it have to hurt more, to stay longer? Perhaps he should have stabbed elsewhere, not the wrist. The thought flickered. But Seo Dohyeon lunged, wrenching the shard away. Clueless, oblivious—had he not interfered, Igyeol would have left deeper wounds, in more places.

“If I hurt, if I’m in pain… then I can stay, stay in the hospital, right? I… I don’t want to go. I won’t go…”

The acrid stench of blood mingled with Igyeol’s pheromones. Warm blood drenched Seo Dohyeon’s palm, dripping heavily to the floor. The volume was alarming.

“My baby, if I leave him alone… your mother will come take him, won’t she? Your mother will take him—!”

“…What?”

“She’ll take him, steal him away! She’ll… she’ll send him somewhere I’ll never find! That’s it, isn’t it? As soon as I’m discharged, she’ll take the baby away! She wants us divorced—so you can marry a dominant omega, so you can have a child with them! For that, the baby has to disappear. Please… no. No…”

“What on earth are you saying? Why would my mother take the baby? That won’t happen. And what’s this about a dominant omega—”

Dohyeon pressed harder against the wound, his blood-slicked hands slipping. What exactly had his mother said to Igyeol? Take the baby? The thought rattled him. He knew she had treated him harshly, but had she gone so far as to hurl such venom, dragging in bloodlines and traits?

“Even if you won’t send him away, your mother hates me! If she takes the baby away so I can’t see him, what then? I can’t—I can’t bear it. You told me… you told me I could raise him if I didn’t divorce! Don’t take him away. Please… please!”

For the first time, Igyeol said outright what until now he had only borne silently—that his in-laws despised him. Dohyeon’s face hardened.

“That will not happen.”

“Don’t lie! You’ve never—never once been on my side! Never once protected me! You knew—knew your mother hated me, and you left me to it. Because I’m not your family. Because we’re just tied by a contract. I’m… I’m just a stranger. That’s why I endured it. I understood. But not the baby. You won’t protect the baby either. He’s my family. My only family. You said if I didn’t divorce, you’d let me raise him! Don’t take him away. Please, I beg you…”