Empress Handbook

Chapter Thirty-Two| Married Couple

"Yeoreum?" Yoongi shrieks.

They haven't seen each other for almost three weeks now, but there isn't a hint of excitement on Yoongi's face.

Suddenly, Yeoreum doesn't even know why she came to Yoongi in the first place. She knows a little too well that, unlike Taehyung, Yoongi will never chase after her footsteps to cheer her up.

Nara gives Yoongi an apologetic look and leaves. The faint traces of tranquillity on Yeoreum's face collapses at the pace of the closing door. By the time it clicks shut, Yeoreum's eyes have grown completely red.

Yoongi vigilantly looks out the window. "You shouldn't come to my dorm. It's dangerous, and people could get suspicious—"

"Do you not care that I am pregnant with the enemy's child right now?" Yeorem cuts in, her voice tremoring with a sob. "You have heard about it, right? The general public doesn't know yet, but even the cockroaches in the Castle know that I am pregnant."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Yoongi utters. "This child is helpful because it can help us weaken Empress Dowager's power."

Snap. The last string that keeps Yeoreum's rage from spilling breaks.

"Do you only care about the plan?" Yeoreum yells in disbelief. She grabs Yoongi's suit jacket, protesting for him to regard all the agonies and miseries that have plagued her in his absence. "I need someone to talk to right now, Yoongi. Could we please talk, as friends at least?"

In the face of Yeoreum's tears, Yoongi's efforts to contain his emotions diminish into a throbbing bitterness. He clasps her shoulders, soothing the quivers in her body.

"Fine then," Yoongi snaps, trying his best to keep the tremor in his voice. "I don't like how you're pregnant with another man's child, but what does that change?"

A lump rises to Yeoreum's throat, choking her rebuttal into a dry sob. "I will gladly throw myself down a flight of stairs then," Yeoreum mutters.

Yeoreum turns to the door when Yoongi drags her into an embrace, the one thing Yeoreum has been yearning for but couldn't get in the past month.

"What is wrong with you?" Yoongi says, his voice desperate with concern. "Don't hurt yourself, please."

"I don't know," Yeoreum snaps. "I don't know what is happening, nor do I know what will happen. I am sorry if I am acting psychotic. This whole thing is fucking my mind, and I don't know how to deal with it."

"I am sorry I was not as helpful as I should have been. Frankly, I have been quite angry recently, not at you or Kim Taehyung, but at myself. I resent how weak and powerless I am, and I didn't want you to see me struggle," Yoongi cries. The pager in his suit pocket buzzes for his attention, but he quickly throws it to the side. "I want to protect you, Yeoreum."

The redness in Yoongi's eyes manages to melt away all the burden in Yeoreum's heart. Suddenly, the anxieties and worries that kept her awake at night feel utterly insignificant. As the warmth of Yoongi's palm finds Yeoreum, an epiphany dawns upon her: she loves him. Yeoreum truly, dearly, sincerely loves Yoongi. That's why the faintest look of care from Yoongi can brighten her whole world.

Yoongi cups her cheeks in his palms. "Yeoreum, aside from the plan and everything, this baby is still a human life, so you should consider it as such. Keeping it or getting rid of it is entirely your choice, but I don't want our relationship to be the reason for you to obliterate this child. Yeoreum, I love you no matter if you choose to keep the child or not, and even if you give birth to it, you are still the Song Yeoreum I love. I know you must be worried about what this baby will do to our future, but I can promise you that if we safely get through this and you end up having this child, I will look after it like my own because they are also your child."