The Life We Live

Chapter 7

It was almost 4 in the morning when Yongju stirred awake, feeling someone lightly shaking him.

Blinking his eyes open, his eyes landed on Myungsim's worried face; her eyes glistening with tears.

"Mwo? What is it?"

"Yeobo, I'm bleeding," she whispered, unable to hide her fear.

Yongju felt like his heart dropped to his stomach hearing his wife's words. He didn't voice it and he even avoided thinking about it, but this was his worst fear when he learned Myungsim's struggles that afternoon. He knew it wasn't good for her to be on her feet for long periods of time and she shouldn't lift anything heavy; Seo-yoon had explicit instructions to him about this as precaution since Myungsim was not a young mother. Knowing he was responsible for what could happen next, he sensed an overwhelming pressure in his chest but knew he didn't have the time to wallow in his guilt. His immediate priority was to take swift action to safeguard his wife and their unborn child's well-being.

Regaining his bearing, he looked her in the eye and tried to act calm and centered; the last thing Myungsim needed was to see him panicking.

Yongju reached out for Myungsim's hands and clasped them in his. He could feel how cold she was. "You'll be fine–let's get you in the ER–"

Myungsim pressed her lips together in an attempt to stop her shuddered breath. She nodded as she calmly said, "Stay here with Dae-hyun–I can drive to Doldam; I already called Seo-yoon and she'll meet me there," Myungsim said, trying to hide the shakiness of her voice.

"Michyeosseo?!" Yongju snapped, " –I'm not letting you drive and I'm not staying here! Get dressed, I'll prep–"

"But Dae-hyun–"

"Dae-hyun will be fine, I'll take care of it–just get dressed; I'll go get Dae-hyun." Yongju did his best to control his tone. He didn't want to sound angry or upset at Myungsim, not wanting to stress her further, but the fact that she suggested he should stay at home and let her drive herself to the hospital was kind of insulting. He already knew he'd talk to Myungsim about this later but for now, he needed to stay focused and get going.

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Yongju didn't think he had it in him to prepare Dae-hyun in less than 10 minutes. It was a good thing they gave him another dose of his antipyretic medication roughly two hours ago, so it still had its drowsiness effect. The little boy stirred as he was bundled up by his appa, but otherwise remained asleep, even when he was carried and placed in his carseat.

After ensuring Dae-hyun was all set in their car, Yongju went back inside their home to get Myungsim and saw her dressed in a t-shirt dress and cardigan, already on her way to the door. He looked at her closely and watched for any signs of pain, whether she's having contractions; he was glad to see she seemed fine so far.

"Gwaenchana?"

Myungsim gave him a tired smile and nodded, "Ye–"

"Are you having contractions?"

Myungsim shook her head no and allowed him to take her hand as he stepped closer to her.

"Okay good–you'll be fine," he reassured her, but also knew his words were for his benefit as well, trying to convince himself Myungsim was fine; he wouldn't and couldn't accept anything otherwise.

Getting inside their car, Myungsim sat in the passenger seat and put on the seatbelt. She had another Braxton Hicks but didn't want to alert Yongju, knowing he'd be even more stressed. He didn't have to talk but Myungsim could see how anxious her husband was. She felt how cold his hand was when he clasped hers as they made their way to their car, and just now, he seemed all over the place–he accidentally dropped the keys and had a hard time securing his seat belt–though he was trying his best to be nonchalant about it. She wanted to reassure him that they'd be fine but she couldn't. In reality, she was also really scared and she'd been silently uttering her prayers, hoping she and their unborn child would be okay.