The Omega Is Pregnant-Chapter 85

So this is what it’s like to become famous overnight.

Tae-seo stared at his phone, his hair still messy from sleep, not even bothering to fix it.

Photos and videos of him with Kang Se-heon were circulating all over the internet. His face was everywhere. The absurdity of it made a helpless laugh slip out of him.

“They’re spreading it without my permission. The least they could do is blur my face, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° don’t you think?”

He muttered around a toothbrush, his words slurred. But more often than not, the images didn’t have any mosaics at all. There were photos of him and Kang Se-heon holding out their ringed hands, his brows furrowed in thought, and even ones of him smiling at Se-heon—photos that showed emotions he hadn’t even realized he was wearing.

Tae-seo glanced back and forth between the pictures in the articles and his own face in the mirror. Maybe because he hadn’t washed his face yet, but the clean-cut Yoon Tae-seo in the photos didn’t look like him.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

“I look better in person. They should’ve just asked. Taking it secretly made me look weird.”

It was a thoroughly subjective evaluation. After browsing enough articles, he figured it was time to leave the bathroom. The rest he could read while comfortably seated.

He set his phone down and finished brushing his teeth. Once he’d washed up and stepped into the living room, Se-heon looked up from his phone.

“Come here.”

“What were you looking at?”

“News articles.”

“I bet I can guess which one.”

Tae-seo sat down beside him and openly peeked at his phone. Sure enough, it was exactly what he’d been looking at earlier.

“When we were picking out the wedding rings, I had a weird feeling. It was probably because of this. I felt like someone was watching us.”

As Se-heon continued scrolling, he gently ran a hand through the back of Tae-seo’s hair and pulled him closer.

“They must’ve taken it from far away, but our Tae-seo looks amazing.”

So much for Tae-seo’s earlier claim that he looked better in real life—Se-heon’s one-liner overruled it.

“I don’t know... I still think I look better in the mirror.”

To Tae-seo, his reflection had looked far more handsome. He gave an awkward little cough, and Se-heon set his phone down and turned toward him. They sat facing each other as Se-heon looked over Tae-seo’s face from every angle.

When Tae-seo saw the playful glint in his eyes vanish, he sobered too and looked back at him.

The photos online looked just like Se-heon in person. Right. Now the whole world knows this ridiculously handsome man is my boyfriend.

“Well, now we’ve got a full-blown dating scandal.”

Se-heon gently brushed out the wet strands of hair clinging to Tae-seo’s forehead.

“I’ll find out who broke the story first. If you want to hold them accountable, that’s okay too.”

“It surprised me a little, but I’m okay. We were going to go public eventually. Honestly, I’m kind of grateful they did it for us.”

He’d meant to use the company’s internal network to show Han Mi-sun and Kang In-hyuk that his heart was unwavering—but now, it had gone national. Aside from that, it wasn’t so bad.

“Still, I am curious who published it first. I want to ask when they even took those photos.”

Tae-seo grabbed his phone and tapped the screen.

“This one.”

As Se-heon turned his phone so they could both look at the article, Tae-seo leaned against his shoulder.

“Who took that photo of us coming out of the OB-GYN? And why did they sit on it until now if they had it for that long?”

They’ve had it since forever... and they’re only releasing it now?

Tae-seo genuinely looked like he wanted to know, and Se-heon narrowed his eyes. It looked like someone suspicious had come to mind. He opened his call log and dialed someone. While the line connected, he gently brushed the rest of Tae-seo’s hair into place with his fingers.

“I need to return to HQ.”

He said it to his assistant over the phone. As Se-heon stood up, Tae-seo looked up at him.

“You’ll be back soon, right?”

“I will.”

Tae-seo agreed silently—he wanted answers too. He waved his hand in a small goodbye, clearly giving permission to go, so Se-heon picked up the coat he’d left on the chair. Right before leaving, he turned back to look at Tae-seo.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Tae-seo didn’t answer right away. How was he feeling?

He’d spent his life just reading articles about celebrities and politicians—and now here he was, in one himself. It was shocking. Surreal. But not exactly unpleasant. He even had enough headspace to wonder if his face looked weird in the photos. He wasn’t feeling down at all.

“Honestly? I feel kind of relieved.”

“Good. I’ll be back soon.”

Se-heon waved and left. The heavy sound of the front door closing lingered in the room.

Tae-seo leaned his head against the back of the sofa and stared at the ceiling—until his phone buzzed with a low vibration.

When he saw who it was, a smile tugged at his lips.

“Grandpa. I figured you’d call.”

[Did the article surprise you?]

“Se-heon hyung just left after checking a hundred times if I was okay... and now it’s your turn, huh?”

If both grandfather and grandson were going to worry like this, what was he supposed to do? His heart felt full—touched.

Tae-seo pulled his knees up to his chest and shyly hid his flushed cheeks with one hand, as if someone might see.

“I’m really fine. If anything, I’m wondering why it took this long to break. I mean, Se-heon hyung’s basically a celebrity.”

He was as famous as a celebrity—one of the most well-known Alphas around. He didn’t just show up in gossip columns—he appeared in economics and politics articles too.

Tae-seo had never really thought he could keep his presence hidden while dating someone like that.

Though... the OB-GYN visit had me a little worried...

He had been nervous when Se-heon insisted on going with him to the OB-GYN. And sure enough, it got photographed.

Tae-seo reached up and smoothed out the bangs that Se-heon had brushed back for him.

“You know, I kind of feel like you already knew this was coming.”

As Tae-seo said it, all he heard from the other end was Chairman Kang Hak-jung’s amused laughter.

“Do my parents know about the article too?”

[I’m the one who told them.]

All Tae-seo could think was: Well, at least that means my parents probably weren’t shocked.

[Why not take this opportunity and do an interview? It would help shut down those rumors at your university, too.]

Chairman Kang Hak-jung sounded almost pleased with himself, already talking about the next steps. Tae-seo’s brow furrowed as he listened. Now that he thought about it, the timing of the article’s release had been awfully convenient. He’d just filed for academic leave and had gone to see Chairman Kang, concerned about the rumors between him and Kang Se-heon. Then, after confessing his worries, the article had gone public as if to say: See?

“...So you didn’t just know this would happen—you made it happen?”

[Who else would move like this, if not me?]

Tae-seo’s mouth fell open.

“I said I was worried about the rumors at university, and you went and blew it up into national news.”

[Now no one will dare try to make a move on Se-heon. Consider this your official claim.]

“Thank you.”

Still holding the phone to his ear, Tae-seo gave a small bow of gratitude.

[So? How’s that candy your grandpa gave you?]

“Very... sweet and satisfying.”

A smile tugged at Tae-seo’s lips, pure satisfaction radiating from his face.

****

Kang Se-heon stared down at his phone with a serious expression. Messages were rolling in—interview requests and questions asking whether he was okay with it.

An interview?

His gaze stayed fixed on the message Tae-seo had sent him.

“Aren’t you curious what kind of interview it’ll be?”

“Yeah, a little.”

And also... he was curious about Chairman Kang Hak-jung’s true motives behind all this.

Now that Se-heon had returned to headquarters and gotten the full picture, he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

“So you’re telling me... you collected photos of me and Tae-seo being together, one by one?”

“I didn’t collect them. They just came to me. What was I supposed to do—refuse?”

Chairman Kang admitted it shamelessly. He’d quietly gathered rumors and photos about his grandson over time, then handed them off to the media when the moment was right.

“They asked if you had a baby, but said they’d wait before publishing. That’s loyalty for you. That’s the kind of business I run—decent and respectable.”

“You had it all prepared, just waiting for the right moment to blow it up.”

And the one watching for the right moment... had been his grandfather.

“Does it really matter? Now we’ll see how Tae-seo handles this.”

So he’d passed on the incoming interview request directly to Tae-seo. It was from a media outlet that had always been favorable toward KH Group. There wouldn’t be any aggressive or invasive questions. He’d even made sure to casually drop a word about how fond he was of Tae-seo. All that was left now was to see the results.

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Stay here. Don’t go barging in and making things worse.”

With that one sentence, Chairman Kang effectively pinned Se-heon to his seat. He picked up his teacup.

He’d heard that his grandson had taken to drinking tea lately, so he tried some himself. The savory scent wasn’t bad. It was supposed to be good for pregnancy, wasn’t it? Something like barley tea. As he took a sip, Chairman Kang let out a long sigh.

“Watching you now... I think you’re already better than I was. I never even thought about drinking tea together back then.”

He regretted not having done this for his own wife when she was pregnant with their two sons. He felt like he’d missed a chance at making a meaningful memory. That brief moment of regret passed, and he looked at his grandson with pride.

“Take good care of him.”

“I am.”

“Make sure he never feels uncertain.”

“I’m doing that too.”

“You sure that’s not just your opinion?”

Se-heon fell silent, and Chairman Kang chuckled as if he’d expected that.

“Don’t miss even the tiniest details. That’s advice from someone who’s lived a lot longer than you.”

It was clear Se-heon didn’t even know what “the tiniest details” were supposed to be. But Chairman Kang didn’t intend to explain it. He just looked at his clueless grandson, hoping the boy would figure it out for himself.