"We might be able to see the wound, we might be able to sympathize, but we will never be able to feel the pain behind everything, the pain we think we can understand. So the best we can do is to keep our good intentions to ourselves and be there for him, nothing more."
As Ga-yeong recalled her husband's words, the words he said the chairwoman had spoken years ago, Alex stirred from his sleep and woke up to the comfort of the lap that had lulled him into a restful shut-eye in the first place. Taking in the silence of the apartment, he looked past the ballooned obstacle beside him to take in the gentle smile looking down at him.
"Where is Mark?"
Ga-yeong's smile softened further as she continued stroking the soft short brown hair:
"He returned to work. Actually, I have always only known that he is helping you with your things but he has never actually filled me in with what those are exactly, much less go into the details with me. Can you tell me?"
Throwing a glance at the little companion who had accompanied him to sleep, Alex let out a laugh and stood up:
"Haha, keep acting cute, and he will cave in someday, especially now that you have his child inside your womb."
Ga-yeong glared at him and snorted:
"Humph! Just say you won't tell me."
With that, she stopped looking at him and leaned forward slightly—as far as she possibly could, actually— to massage her legs, either to chase away the numbness that had come to settle in, or to let someone know of the sacrifice it had taken to support his head for his comfortable sleep.
Seeing Ga-yeong glance at him with upturned eyes, Alex asked with a chuckle, as he stretched:
"What? I found a good husband for you already. Do you still want me to do the work for you?"
Ga-yeong glared at Alex, then pouted, and exhaled in resignation:
"You win. I still can't thank you enough for having given him the drunken courage to take the first step, especially since you don't usually like having anything to do with alcohol."
Alex paused, but he only paused for an instant, before smiling and extending his hand:
"Come. I have made you remain seated for a while, let me help you move."
Ga-yeong indignantly glared at Alex, before she took his hand:
"I always tell you I am pregnant, not disabled. I really can't be bothered with– Oh!"
Ga-yeong suddenly flinched and tightened her hold on Alex's hand with a frown, making the latter immediately lose his smile and ask urgently:
"What is it?!"
Ga-yeong remained frozen for a second, but she exhaled with relief. Looking up at Alex, she explained with a smile:
"He slept when you slept, and now he wakes up when you wake up."
Alex blinked, then the panic bled away from both his face and his heart, letting his smile come back. Looking down at the cozy home of the little guy, he puffed his chest with a smirk:
"I have always been everyone's favorite uncle, he just recognized my status early."
"Hahahaha…"
Feeling light, Ga-yeong slapped Alex on the arm, then lowered her left hand to her belly. Still holding onto Alex with her other hand, she started shaking her legs to help her blood circulate and regain full sensation in them while remarking with a light smile:
"At least, the fat I have gained from my pregnancy has served some purpose. It allowed you to sleep soundly."
Alex immediately refuted with wrinkled nose:
"No matter what Mark says, don't believe him. You are not fat, you remain beautiful. The most beautiful, just behind Leyna."
"You… Keep those sweet words for your female friends outside."
Protesting, but with a bright smile on her lips, Ga-yeong changed the topic:
"Do you want to eat something before you go? I can cook it for you."
Alex shook his head with a smile:
"Thank you, but no. Didn't Mark tell you? I ate with your boss just earlier."
Hearing that, Ga-yeong was unsurprised, so she focused on something else and let out a sigh while looking at Alex:
"Is the chairwoman still angry with Mark?"
What she received in response was a laugh full of schadenfreude:
"Of course! Who asked him to put one of her protégées on maternity leave? That is one of the longest leaves there are, you know?"
She winced, and smiled bitterly. It was not like she did not know the truth of what Alex was saying. Rather, there were few career women who did not know that, and even fewer who had aspirations to climb higher in their career who were not afraid of the consequences of such a leave. So, even though she knew that the chairwoman would not really punish her for being a wife, for having a life beyond work, and doing her part as a woman, she still could not help but feel apologetic toward the imposing female regent of Arland Group who had taken good care of her.
She sighed unenthusiastically:
"And you still want me to go and bother her? Alex, I–"
Alex cut Ga-yeong off with a calm smile:
"Don't worry. I've got a way to have her forgive your husband already. Just take care of both yourself and your son, and leave the grunt work to the source of all your troubles. That is what the arms and the back of men are supposed to be for."
Ga-yeong raised an eyebrow, but failed to come up with an idea about the way Alex had found. Nevertheless, the thought of whatever mischief the latter had decided on made her stifle a laugh:
"Pfft! Alright, I will listen to you. But as I told Mark already, I will only go there for the last few weeks before my labor, not before then."
"Is that so? Then it's a deal."
Ga-yeong paused, then recoiled slightly to give Alex a suspicious look. He agreed so readily that she was surprised, and now, slightly afraid of the tricks he could come up with. She did not believe for a second that he had now decided to wholly trust her to be obedient when left alone.
She didn't bother to hide her thoughts behind a facade, and her expression made Alex scoff:
"Tch! Since when has my credibility fallen so low? You don't trust me?"
Ga-yeong shook her head:
"It is exactly because I trust you that I am feeling suspicious."
"Then I am happy for your trust. See ya!"
Leaving a parting kiss on the soft cheek of Ga-yeong's suspicious face, Alex happily waved back and closed the door behind him. With a smile, he took the elevator to the ground floor, and took out his phone to make a call.
"Hello?"
"Mark, I want the units around your apartment. You know who to put inside. It doesn't matter if you rent them, buy them, or even buy the whole building."
A muffled but unsurprised laugh came from the other side of the call:
"I take it that she told you her decision."
Alex replied with an unapologetic smirk:
"And I have accepted it, with no tricks. See how trustworthy I am."
Mark laughed:
"Indeed, you are."
*Ding*
The door of the lift opened, and Alex stepped out while ending the call and making another one.
"Hello? Alex?"
"Kim, I need you to do something for me."
"I'm listening."
Stopping outside the apartment building, Alex looked up at the bright sky with a calm face, and let out a breath:
"I need you to prepare a memorable farewell for your crush."