Part 2: Something Pale and Plump

　　When Lee Inwoo first opened his eyes in the emergency room, his boss, one of the kitchen staff, and a young doctor who looked like an intern were standing over him. In a daze, he held out his hand as directed, nodded, let them lift his shirt, and then drifted right back to sleep. When he finally came to again, he felt considerably better, courtesy of whatever treatment they’d given him. Only then did embarrassment set in, along with sheer disbelief that he’d fainted and been rushed to the hospital.

　　Since he’d ended up in the ER, he braced himself for a steep medical bill, praying it wasn’t anything serious. Amid those thoughts, an older doctor came by and asked to speak with him for a moment. Trailing behind him, Inwoo was led to the university hospital’s OB-GYN department. Thank goodness he’d already sent his boss and the kitchen worker home, assuring them he was fine now and would take a taxi.

　　“Lee Inwoo, you’re aware that you possess a rare trait, correct?”

　　Even when the doctor, who had been making casual small talk about the weather just a second ago, asked that question out of nowhere, Inwoo didn’t think much of it. He was exhausted and groggy, and it had been so long since he’d heard anything about traits. He had completely forgotten about it and moved on with his life.

　　“And recently, you had intercourse with an Alpha.”

　　As Inwoo stared blankly without answering, the doctor spoke gently. Inwoo knew he should answer quickly, but how was he supposed to respond to something like… to a question like that?

　　“Why are you asking that…?”

　　Only then did anxiety begin to creep in. The doctor cleared his throat and adjusted his posture. While kindness was likely second nature in his line of work, he seemed to be trying extra hard to be gentle, doing his best to soften the blow he was about to deliver.

　　“Your coworkers who brought you to the emergency room said you’ve been having mild fevers, dizziness, and nausea lately. Since our hospital’s Rare Trait Research Center happened to have your medical records and emergency consent on file, I took a look just in case… Well…”

　　A pregnant pause.

　　“You’re pregnant.”

　　He stared back, dumbfounded.

　　“Lee Inwoo.”

　　What kind of…

　　“That’s… total bullshit…”

　　“Pardon?”

　　“Ah… I’m sorry. But… please don’t joke around with me.”

　　“Lee Inwoo, this is a hospital.”

　　Inwoo remained silent, his mind racing.

　　“And I am a doctor.”

　　Inwoo stared back, unable to speak.

　　His heart began to hammer against his ribs. The remaining strength drained from his already weak limbs, and his head throbbed as if he’d been whacked on the back of the head with a heavy skillet.

　　Pregnant. Was a university hospital OB-GYN specialist actually saying this to him? For real? Really?

　　“Hah…” Inwoo let out a disbelieving scoff.

　　At the same time, that man crossed his mind. He didn’t know anything about Alpha traits or whatever, but the only person he’d ever been intimate with—no, the only person he had let inside his body for the first time in his entire life—was that man. A one-night stand.

　　A single encounter that couldn’t even be called a relationship. For a while after, every time the restaurant door opened, a strange lingering feeling would wash over him, but he had tried hard to brush it off. He didn’t have any choice, after all.

　　“You must have been in your fertile period. Were there any prior symptoms…? Oh dear, you must be very shocked. I understand. Though cases like yours are rare, this is a natural phenomenon, so you will gradually come to accept it.”

　　His head felt ready to split open. Gasping for air, Inwoo reflexively hunched forward, his gaze falling to his stomach. Pregnant. Pregnant, of all things. For something like this to happen to him… he was too stunned to even cry.

　　All he knew for certain about himself was that he was an orphan, and that he was attracted to men. Sure, he’d imagined being held by another man before, but getting pregnant on top of a trait he’d forgotten about years ago? It made no sense.

　　“And while I handled your initial exam, it would be best to transfer this case to the specialized OB-GYN department inside the Rare Trait Research Center. Security will be much tighter over there as well.”

　　He could hear the doctor blabbering on while scribbling something on the chart, but Inwoo’s vision went pitch-black. He lay on the exam table as instructed and pulled up his shirt for the ultrasound, but he couldn’t even bring himself to look directly at the dark screen.

　　“Now then, take this with you… You know where the center is, right? I see you have records of regular checkups.”

　　They weren’t checkups; they were experiments. The chart shoved in front of his face finally snapped him back to reality a bit. Inwoo reflexively waved his hands.

　　“Wait a minute. I… I believe I have the right to decline additional medical care outside of regular checkups and emergency situations.”

　　“Yes, that is true, but…”

　　“For now, I’ll pay at the desk and go home. It just… doesn’t make any sense…”

　　The doctor’s expression turned serious, full of concern.

　　“Lee Inwoo, as you know, domestic research and facilities are very limited, so currently there aren’t many ways to receive help outside our foundation’s center. Especially in the case of a male pregnancy with a rare trait. If you are considering termination…”

　　Inwoo knew he was being unnecessarily defensive when he was the one who needed help. But even in the midst of this chaos, he wanted to stay as far away from that center as possible.

　　‘I’m sorry for getting you caught up in this, too.’

　　Those were the words his dad had uttered while hugging him, back when a young Inwoo had cried his eyes out after enduring endless tests and repeated blood draws on his first visit to the center. It had all started when his dad, short on money in his youth, signed up for a short-term clinical trial. Classified as a rare case even among O traits, his dad ended up signing a lifelong contract. One of the clauses stated that if the same trait manifested in future children, they could be subjected to the same clinical testing.

　　Seriously, so much for children’s rights… At any rate, that was why Inwoo had to make regular visits to the university hospital every season, which was how he eventually settled down nearby. On his way back from visiting the center one day, he had seen a flyer posted at the university main gate (“Studio apartment rent provided with good conditions for long-term work”) and walked right into the restaurant.

　　“I’ll think about it and come by later.”

　　“If that’s what you want, I won’t force you. At any rate, next time you visit, it’s best to go straight to the center. The specialist on the research team there is my senior, and he has studied traits for a long time. He also has the most experience conducting male deliveries in the country. It’s been about five weeks now, so you should be able to hear the fetal heartbeat soon.”

　　Deciding to think about what all of that meant later, Inwoo fled the hospital. He was always anxious whenever money was spent, but as he walked away from the cashier, he couldn’t even remember how much he had swiped.

　　He walked for thirty minutes across the vast hospital grounds and university campus to his rented studio near the main gate. In the quiet morning, the sparse people coming and going all looked young, fresh, and miles away from something like pregnancy. Pregnancy… carrying a baby in his belly. Just thinking about it made his chest tighten and his body feel broken.

　　He couldn’t tell if he was supposed to flex his stomach or relax it, and his limbs felt completely limp… As his mind reeled, he kept thinking only of his dad. What would Dad say if he saw me right now?

　　“Dad…”

　　You never told me I could suddenly end up pregnant…

　　“You told me to just live without knowing, thinking I had azoospermia…”

　　The field of rare traits was once touted as a blueprint for the future of genetics, but ethical issues raised during early experiments caused research to be taboo for many years. Then, roughly twenty years ago, new guidelines were established, and research resumed in earnest. Public opinion among the majority B (beta) trait population held that a small minority with rare traits would monopolize the benefits of research, so the work was driven by private corporate sponsorship rather than national projects, which came with its own set of interests.

Many chaebol families, the era’s modern nobility, possessed superior A (alpha) or O (omega) traits. Exchanging trait information became a requirement for chaebol marriages intended for inheriting wealth, and their desire to preserve superior traits, combined with scientists’ curiosity, opened a whole new chapter of research.

　　And the lifelong experimental contract Inwoo’s father signed stood at the tail end of that wave. Not because he possessed superior dominant genes, but because despite having a recessive trait so faint he was practically a B trait, he had mated with another man, succeeded in male pregnancy, and gave birth to a healthy child. It was an extremely rare case in a country where male-male marriage was taboo alongside the rejection of rare traits.

　　Inwoo came to realize this around middle school. Seasonal trips to the center with his dad, mind-numbing routine tests, adults in white coats whispering among themselves… But he was reaching an age where his eyes and ears were tuning to the world around him. Even without anyone telling him, the purpose and subjects of the research gradually took shape, until one day it suddenly clicked.

　　My dad isn’t the parent who got someone pregnant; he’s the parent who gave birth to me.

　　My other parent isn’t some woman who abandoned a newborn baby and left. It’s the young, gentle-faced man in the worn photograph in Dad’s wallet.

　　That was why Dad had always kept tight-lipped about Mom, why he felt so sorry every season they went to the center, why on drunk nights he stroked his wallet for a long time… and why, when Inwoo was fifteen and experiencing a faint manifestation, Dad had confessed his trait in terror like he was admitting a sin.

　　‘You can just live thinking you have azoospermia. Plenty of young women these days don’t want to have babies anyway. You don’t need to take special medication, and you can live normally. If anything feels off, just tell the center and ask for a prescription. They said they’d handle at least that much.’

　　That was his dad, making such clumsy excuses with a face holding back tears. Gentle, quiet, holding everything in.

　　Then he should have lived a long life, at least. Lacking formal education, his dad drifted from one construction site to another and was severely injured on the job when Inwoo was a freshman in high school. Unable to properly protest the denied worker’s compensation claim, they burned through all the money received from the center’s lifelong contract—money saved up for Inwoo’s tuition and wedding—on medical care, but even then, Dad didn’t live long. Before the next spring arrived, Dad passed away, leaving Inwoo all alone.

　　Thinking of his dad felt like a deep bruise on his heart, blood dripping from an open wound. The aching longing was too sharp to linger on for long. Sometimes, with a strange mix of emotion, he recalled the love his father never fulfilled, and the photo burned together during cremation. With just a single photo, there was no way to find the man anyway, but now and then he felt a pang of regret.

　　Because losing that photo meant he was truly a helpless orphan with no ties left. Still, he was an adult now… and earned money. He had even been bold enough to have a one-night stand, thinking, When else would I ever be with a man like that?…

　　“But…”

　　He got pregnant.

　　Or so the doctor said. Inwoo hadn’t actually looked at the screen when told to, so he didn’t know if it was really in there, on the verge of forming, or barely a speck. He felt like he should cry, but no tears came.

　　So that customer was an Alpha. One of those wealthy people who knew each other among elite families and matched when the time came. Someone who belonged to a world Inwoo would never touch. He had looked so smooth, but didn’t even bring up using a condom…

　　“Haaah.”

　　Words couldn’t express it; only a low groan escaped his lips. Entering his studio apartment building, he checked his phone to find a text from his boss asking what the doctor had said, telling him to rest today and come in tomorrow instead. Fumbling with numb fingers, he typed out a response and unlocked his front door. The moment he stepped into his own private space, a heavy sigh broke out like a sob.

　　“Ah, man… I’m so screwed…”

　　Yet even as the words slipped out, instinct made him cut himself short. Sure, he was in deep trouble, but saying “screwed” out loud felt wrong. It felt like a bad word.

　　What on earth was this? Instinct? Intuition? No, a conscience.

　　A conscience? When he was busy enough just trying to make a living himself?

　　Lying flat on the bare floor with tears welling in his eyes, he eventually crawled onto his mattress. To think his first-ever trip to an emergency room was because of pregnancy symptoms—he couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. If he’d known he’d feel this stunned, he should have at least taken a glance at the screen when the doctor asked him to.

　　“Seriously, this is driving me crazy. Absolutely nuts.”

　　Muttering to the empty room, he turned to face the wall.

　　From then on, day and night, his silent struggle began as he cradled his stomach all alone.