Thank you for the reviews and patience. Life has been... crazy. I am hoping once school is done for me for the semester, I'll have a bit more time for writing. A lot will also depend on work. And I admit that I've been getting a lot of trolls/hating on a couple of other stories and it has been taking a huge toll on my mental health. Thank you to those sticking with me and waiting patiently for updates.
Ten weeks, seventy days, one thousand six hundred eighty hours, six million forty-eight seconds. That was how long it had been since Oh Ha Ni had walked away from Baek Seung Jo and her life in Seoul. If she had not marked the time that had passed through weeks, days, hours, and minutes, then she did by the unread text messages, unopened emails, and unheard voicemails from Seung Jo. Looking at her phone, she noticed that since this morning, her unread text messages had just reached three hundred. Her unheard voicemails were close to eighty now and she wondered if any more would come in before her message box would be too full to receive anymore if she did not listen to them or if she simply deleted them. She had considered deleting the messages without listening but had hesitated over the delete button. The same was true for the emails she had been receiving. Those she had started filtering into a folder that simply said, Seung Jo. All messages were left unread there as well and they were close to two hundred.
Oh Ha Ni was insanely curious to know what the messages, voicemails, and emails all said, but she knew that if she read or listened to them, it would break her resolve to remain away from him and find herself. What was certainly not helping was how she could not seem to get enough sleep and constantly felt tired and then the feeling of nausea had started and she often found herself in the bathroom relieving her stomach of anything it had inside of it. She had a few days where it was so bad, she almost asked Eom Ji Ah to take her to the hospital, but she had laid down instead and made sure to drink water as she could and sip broth. Today was one of those days where she felt dizzier than normal and nausea had been especially bad. It was getting worse, which made her wonder if she just needed to go see a doctor, after all, to make sure nothing worse was wrong with her outside of the stress of walking away from the man she loved and uprooting her entire life.
A light in all of this had been the ability to transfer her credits from Parang to the Deugsa University and officially declaring a major in art therapy. Thanks to encouragement from Hyun Saeng and Ji Ah, and talking to Park Jong about his own journey in incorporating his love of music with his love of helping people to get his music therapy degree, Oh Ha Ni was confident she would be able to do well on this new path instead of pursuing nursing. The more she had thought about it, the more she realized that her decision had solely been based on wanting to remain close to Seung Jo and support him. She did like the idea of helping people, especially after spending so much time in the hospital when Eun Jo had been sick and meeting No Ri. She loved kids as well, so when the thought had gone through her head of being a nurse to be alongside Seung Jo wherever he was, she also was partial to the idea of working in pediatrics.
Park Jong had explained that he had some adult patients, but most of his patients were children. He had also said that art therapy was great for kids because many of them that needed it was recovering from surgery or were chronically ill and both art and music helped them to not only advance but also improve their motor skills and mental skills. The more she had the chance to talk to him about his own degree, the more excited she was to put her love of art and her want to help people to use by moving forward with art therapy.
Ha Ni had been spending a lot of time with Park Jong the past couple of weeks since she had initially met him. She tried not to think about Ji Ah teasing her brother for liking Ha Ni. He was a very sweet man, and she would be blind to not see how attractive he was, but she was nowhere near ready to even think of someone as anything more than a friend. She should be happily married and moving towards her future with Seung Jo right now, but instead, she was trying to pick up the shattered pieces of her heart and creating a life for herself that didn't revolve around him. It was incredibly hard, but she was grateful for her cousin, his wife, and her brother. Park Jong often apologized to Ha Ni on his sister's behalf for how pushy she was being at times and insisting he come over a lot and gets to know Ha Ni. He had told her there was no pressure ever and that he was there as a friend and nothing more. She was very grateful for those words because she needed a friend since she did not dare reach out to anyone in Seoul in case it got back to Seung Jo. She knew if he really wanted to find her he would find a way to and with the number of texts, voicemails, and emails, she wondered if he would soon or if it was simply a baseless effort to make her think he missed her.
Maybe I should read the messages and listen- A knock on the door stopped her thought. She pushed herself to her feet, swaying as another wave of dizziness and nausea swept over her. She closed her eyes a moment to steady herself before making her way to the door. She really needed to get a decent night's sleep soon before she really got sick and did end up in the hospital.
"Ha Ni!" Ji Ah said cheerfully as she opened the door, a pot in her hand. "I brought lunch!" Park Jong gave a small, apologetic wave from behind his sister.
"Come in," Ha Ni said. "Though I don't have much of an appetite."
"Are you okay?" Park Jong asked as he stepped over the threshold and set the bags his sister had made him carry down on the kitchen counter. After much back and forth, both he and Hyun Saeng had finally convinced Ji Ah that she needed to let the younger woman be, and instead of insisting she constantly come to the main house to eat that she be allowed to have food down at the guest house. They had no way of knowing that Ha Ni was not the best cook.
"I'm fine," Ha Ni said with a tired smile. "Just... not really sleeping that-." Her face paled to an ashen gray when Ji Ah opened the container of soup she had brought to heat it up more and the smell hit Ha Ni. Her head immediately swam before she was turning and running as quickly as she could to the bathroom where she started retching.
"Ha Ni!" Ji Ah was on her heels and Ha Ni felt her cousin-in-law's small, cool hand brushing against her temple. "You are burning up!"
She felt larger hands drawing her hair back to hold the dark strands away from her face. "Ji Ah, get a damp cloth," Park Jong said. As Park Jong's hand held her hair out of the way, the other began to run along her spine soothingly as she emptied what little there was in her stomach. A soft frown formed as he rubbed her back, feeling her tremble under his touch and he took note that she seemed a bit more slender than before. His sister quickly went to get the requested cloth before returning and resting it along the back of Ha Ni's neck.
"How long have you been feeling ill?" Park Jong asked.
"A couple of weeks now," Ha Ni admitted once she was done retching. "But I've not been sleeping well since I left Seoul, I'm sure it's just catching up to me."
"A couple of weeks?" Ji Ah asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"It wasn't bad," Ha Ni said. "I mean not always. It's been bad a couple of times but after I managed to drink some water and have some broth, I didn't feel as bad."
"This isn't the first time you've been this sick?" Ji Ah asked. "Ha Ni!"
"I just need to-," Ha Ni cut off what she was going to say as she started retching into the toilet again. The sound was strained and her body tensed as she felt like her entire stomach wanted to leave her body through her throat since there was nothing left inside of her.
"This isn't normal, even for exhaustion," Park Jong said. "We're taking you to the hospital. If nothing else they can give you some medication for nausea and you'll probably need an IV to get some fluids and nutrients into you." Once Ha Ni was done, Park Jong helped her to her feet as Ji Ah poured a small glass of water so that Ha Ni could rinse her mouth out. She led the way out of the bathroom as Park Jong supported Ha Ni out of the house to the car before he drove them to the hospital with Ha Ni and Ji Ah in the back.
Seung Jo sighed heavily as he dropped his knapsack on his bed and rolled his neck, wincing as it cracked and he felt the tight muscles loosening slightly. He glanced over at his computer and wondered if Ha Ni had responded yet to any of the number of emails he had sent to her. She had not responded to any of his text messages yet and since he would know when she read them, he knew she had not opened any of them. The last voicemail he left warned him that her mailbox was close to getting full which meant that she either had not listened to any of them or had not deleted them after listening to them. It also meant that even if she did not listen to them yet, she had not outright deleted them either. That alone gave him a little hope. At least that is what he tried to tell himself. She may not have listened to the messages, but she could not bring herself to delete them.
Of course, the entire situation with the cell phone is what had him currently exasperated. He had gone to the store to request for Ha Ni's phone to be pinged in the hopes of finding her through her phone's location. Unfortunately, the clerk he had been talking to explained that only the account owner, which happened to be Oh Ki Dong, could request for a phone to be pinged. The only other way was if the phone owner was missing and a police report had been filed, then the police could request the phone be pinged. After explaining that Ha Ni was his wife and he simply wanted to find her, the clerk had simply reiterated the information that he had already relayed. He sympathized with Seung Jo's situation and the desire to find his wife, but unfortunately, he could not assist him since Seung Jo was not the cellular account owner. He would have to get Ki Dong to request the ping, which Seung Jo knew would be fruitless.
Walking over to his bed, he pulled his guitar off the stand beside the bed and began to strum along the strings. Since his discussion with Ki Dong, he had started playing the guitar more in order to focus himself. He understood Ki Dong's words of respecting Oh Ha Ni's wishes to not be found and to give her time, but his heart ached every single day the longer she was not with him. He needed her in his life and he knew, deep down, she needed him. They were soulmates. He had never believed in anything like that, not until he had met Oh Ha Ni. So he had given Oh Ha Ni another week after talking to Ki Dong before he began doing what he could to find her.
For someone as intelligent as he was, one would think he would have found everything immediately but he realized quickly how little he knew about Oh Ha Ni's family, so investigating was slower than he liked. He also began to realize that while his priority was finding Ha Ni and making things right, it could not be at the expense of his job or education. He wanted to find his wife, but knowing her she would blame herself if he failed at anything and he would not disappoint her that way. It still did not make him feel better to think that it had now been over two months since Ha Ni had left his side. To help him deal with his emotions, he had started to pick up the guitar once more and had begun to once again write lyrics for his thoughts.
When he was younger and had first learned to play, one of his outlets had been to write poetry and convert them to lyrics. However, as he got older and more stoic about life, he had started to think such activity was worthless and so he had stopped. He occasionally would pick up the guitar again to play, but it was rare and usually only done to keep his hands occupied in situations. Often times those situations were meant to encourage people to not talk to him, but now it was a way for him to process his emotions. All of the lyrics he had come up with and composed as poems were about his feelings for Ha Ni and his regret at how he had treated her. They also became the content of many of his emails to her as he got them done, hoping for the chance to perform them for her.
His focus at the moment was not there. He drummed his fingers against the guitar, his eyes getting a distant look as he thought about what it was he could possibly be missing. The first thing he had done when he had decided to search for her further was to look at their guest list for their wedding. The problem there had been that because of how quickly it happened, not as many of Ha Ni's family had been able to come. He had finally convinced his mother to give him the entire list of who had been invited, not just those who had attended. He looked over at his desk and decided that since he was making no progress to distract himself with the guitar, he would see where he left off on the list. He set the guitar aside and got to his feet, sitting down to look through the list.
He had contacted most on the list already, but none of them knew where Oh Ha Ni was. Some had even admitted that even if they knew, they would not reveal her location because they had spoken to Ki Dong and he had told them that Ha Ni did not want to be found until she was ready. It had taken a lot of self-control for him to not snap at the obvious scrutiny in their tones as they had spoken those words to him. He had simply thanked them and moved on to a new name on the list.
"What am I missing?" he murmured to himself, pushing his fingers through his hair as he studied the list. He tilted his head as one name caught his eye. He straightened and pulled the list to him as he read the name "Park Hyun Saeng". Tilting his head, Seung Jo thought about why that name sounded familiar to him. It dawned on him that it was the name of the cousin Ha Ni had been close to when she was younger and was one of the children of her only aunt from her mother's side. But if they were so close, why had he not been at their wedding?
Seung Jo immediately put the name of Park Hyun Saeng into the internet search on his computer and let it run while he looked through his mother's notes on the guests that were not able to make their wedding. He found Hyun Saeng's name and realized that he had regretfully declined the invitation to the wedding because he was traveling at the time due to a family emergency with his own wife, but had sent along with his regards and a gift for the newlyweds. He set aside the list and looked at the search information he had acquired when putting in Park Hyun Saeng's name and arched a brow when he saw that his cousin-in-law was in the medical field. He found an article speaking to Hyun Saeng accepting a position at Daegu Universal Hospital as the head of cardiology recently and moving there from Andong.
Opening another tab on the computer, Seung Jo quickly did a search on Daegu and discovered that it was a couple of hours from Seoul and he started to wonder if maybe Oh Ha Ni had reached out to her favorite cousin. Daegu was still close enough to Seoul that if Ki Dong needed to get to Ha Ni he could, but far enough away that she probably figured no one would find her easily. If that was her thought, he silently praised her. While it would be inconvenient for him in getting her to come home, it also meant that it would not be easy for Bong Joon Gu to get to her. He also hoped that she did reach out to Hyun Saeng because it meant she did not try to go somewhere like Busan, where Joon Gu was from. Seung Jo had to deal with enough with the man thinking he could sweep in and take Ha Ni from him, he did not need to deal with the idea that Ha Ni could be somewhere that Joon Gu could get to her easily.
Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Seung Jo got down to the business of finding this cousin of Ha Ni's so that he could reach out to him. It took him a few more hours, but Seung Jo soon had not only Park Hyun Saeng's work phone number, but he had found a potential location for where the man now lived with his wife, Eom Ji Ah. After writing the information down, he immediately began laying out a plan to arrange for the weekend off so that he could take a trip to Daegu and speak to Hyun Saeng in person.
Ha Ni did not remember passing out in the car on the way to the hospital, but apparently, she had. When she woke up, she was laying in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm as fluids were being pushed into her. As her eyes opened, she realized that she felt a bit better than she had after she had been led out to the car by Park Jong. She did vaguely remember starting to feel sick again, which is probably what led to her passing out since she had nothing else in her body to retch up. The dizziness had been overwhelming.
"You're awake," Park Jong said as he pushed out of the chair and walked over. "How do you feel?"
"A little better," Ha Ni said. "Has the doctor said what is wrong?"
"They drew some blood and are still waiting on the results," Park Jong said. "Ji Ah went to find Hyun Saeng to let him know you are-."
"Ha Ni!" the man himself said as he hurried into Ha Ni's room, Ji Ah not far behind her husband. "Why didn't you tell us you weren't feeling well?"
"I just thought it was because I was so tired," Ha Ni admitted. "I didn't think anything of it and that it would pass once I got more settled."
"You can't mess with your health," Hyun Saeng said. "I promised Ki Dong-samchon I would take care of you."
"I didn't want anyone worrying over something that wasn't a big deal," Ha Ni said. "I'll be fine once the doctor tells me what is wrong. Honestly, it's probably just the stress of the last few weeks and not getting enough sleep. I'll make sure to sleep more."
"A wonderful idea," a new voice said as the doctor walked in. Hyun Saeng shifted to the side of the bed so the doctor could speak to Ha Ni. Ji Ah shifted and slipped her arm through her husband's. "Especially in your condition."
Ha Ni frowned, tilting her head. "My... condition?" she asked.
"Yes," the doctor said. "You are approximately eight weeks pregnant."
Ha Ni's eyes widened. "I'm... what?" She could not help but laugh. "How... no that's impossible!"
"The test results from your blood draw are definitive," the doctor explained. "You are most definitely pregnant. I am assuming this was not planned between you and the father?" He gestured to Park Jong.
"I'm not-," Park Jong started.
"I am married... was married... I don't even truly know anymore. It's complicated," Ha Ni said. She frowned. "But I had my period a few days after I got here to Daegu, how could I be pregnant?"
"Was it your normal flow?" the doctor asked. "Or was it lighter than normal?"
Ha Ni frowned as she tilted her head. "Well, it was lighter than normal, but that isn't unusual for me. When I'm overly stressed my period tends to be lighter," she said.
"How long ago did you move here to Daegu?" the doctor asked.
"It's been ten weeks now," Ha Ni said. "Shortly after I returned from my honeymoon." She saw the doctor's eyebrow shift. "As I said, it's complicated."
"It's not my place to judge, my dear," the kind man said. "However, what you experience was not your period most likely."
"I... don't understand," Ha Ni said.
"Implantation bleeding?" Hyun Saeng asked the doctor, who nodded.
"What's that?" Park Jong asked. He looked at his sister. "Did you experience that?" Ji Ah nodded, shooshing her brother.
"Doctor Park is correct," the doctor said. "What you experienced, and thought was a light flow, was more than likely implantation bleeding. Essentially what this is is bleeding caused by the fertilized egg burrowing into your uterine wall which can disrupt tiny blood vessels in the spot it burrows into. It doesn't cause problems, but in some women, it can cause spotting or light bleeding and it can make a woman think she is having a light period because there are also cramps involved."
"But you said I'm eight weeks pregnant," Ha Ni said. "It's been ten weeks since my honeymoon."
"That's a common misconception, actually," the doctor said. "You are not actually considered pregnant until the fertilized egg implants in the uterine wall, or in some unfortunate cases, it implants itself in other areas of the body such as the fallopian tubes. This process, from the time of fertilization to implantation can take as long as fifteen days to occur. You may actually be closer to nine weeks now, but the best way to really know that is through an ultrasound to measure the fetus and get a better determination of your conception date and due date."
"Earliest conception date would be the last night of my honeymoon," Ha Ni said feeling slightly numb. Her hand moved to rest against her lower belly. She was actually pregnant?
"So the nausea she's been experiencing is due to morning sickness?" Hyun Saeng asked.
"Mine was never that bad," Ji Ah said to her husband.
"Some women experience a more severe morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. It's becoming a bit more known since Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, experienced it during all of her pregnancies," the doctor explained. "Based on the symptoms your cousin-in-law and your husband-."
"I'm not her husband," Park Jong interrupted. "I'm one of Doctor Park's hyungnims and a friend to Oh Ha Ni. I was with my yeodongsaeng when she went to see her and we brought her here."
"Oh," the doctor said. "I apologize for assuming. You did mention it was complicated?"
"It is," Ha Ni said quietly.
"I apologize again," the doctor said before clearing his throat. "Anyway, based on the symptoms your cousin-in-law and her brother relayed to me coupled with the need for the IV fluids to get your rehydrated, I do think you are dealing with hyperemesis gravidarum."
"Will that be harmful to my baby?" Ha Ni asked.
"If left untreated, it could harm both you and the baby," the doctor said. "But that won't be a problem since you are aware of it now and it can be treated. The first thing to do is to make sure you get hydrated with IV fluids and we get vitamins and nutrients into you as well. You will need to arrange for a doctor's appointment with an obstetrician to begin planning your appointments and the best things you need to do to remain healthy during your pregnancy."
"Does this severe morning sickness ease the way regular morning sickness does?" Ji Ah asked.
"Things such as this are different for every woman, just like regular morning sickness, but it's possible she could experience morning sickness her entire pregnancy. It just may not be as severe as it is right now," the doctor said. "The things to keep an eye on during these first few weeks are severe vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, extreme fatigue, fainting, dizziness, or vomiting blood amongst other things."
"I'll make sure to say something if any of that happens," Ha Ni immediately said, her gaze shifting to the doctor. "I won't do anything that will harm my baby."
The doctor smiled, closing the chart in his hand. "I am sure you won't," he said. "A nurse will arrange for another bag of fluids as well as one with vitamins and nutrients. A mild anti-nausea medication will be added to the bag of fluids. What you need to do right now is just rest and let yourself get rehydrated for your baby's sake and get those vitamins into your system. I will be by to check on you later."
"Thank you, Doctor Soong," Hyun Saeng said. He waited for the doctor to leave, the door closing behind him before he looked at his cousin. "What are you going to do?"
Oh Ha Ni looked at Hyun Saeng and Ji Ah before she lowered her eyes to where her hand was resting against her lower abdomen. She did not know how to answer Hyun Saeng's question, even as her mind began to throw its own questions at her, including how she was going to handle dealing with any of this? And where was Baek Seung Jo going to fit into the scenario?