Episode 12
“Ah…”
After work, Christine saw a car waiting across the street from the Magic Quarantine Office. It was Seimon’s car, with Lucy standing beside it.
Lucy walked over and bowed slightly.
“The Director sent the car for you.”
“I’m fine walking…”
Christine hesitated, but Lucy said bluntly,
“He said you can decide whether to get in or not. He also told me to say, ‘I don’t want you to hate me anymore.’ I’m not sure what that means.”
Christine imagined how Seimon must have said that, and she suddenly laughed without meaning to.
“Ahaha…”
Then she quickly stopped herself and told Lucy seriously,
“Don’t tell him I laughed, okay?”
“Yes.”
Lucy, who had no interest in her boss’s love life, nodded and took Christine to the hotel.
When they entered the suite, Seimon was sitting on the sofa, focused on some papers.
Christine watched him for a moment and cleared her throat softly.
“Ahem.”
Only then did Seimon look up. When their eyes met, he smiled gently.
“Jenny doesn’t like chewy bread. Remember that for next time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He put the papers down, stood up slowly, and walked toward her.
Christine unintentionally held her breath.
Coming close, Seimon spoke gently in a low voice.
“I hope we don’t argue today.”
“…Me too.”
Feeling awkward, Christine turned her head, and Seimon laughed quietly as he gently unwrapped her scarf.
The warmth of his hands and his subtle scent brushed against her nose.
“You weren’t waiting for me to take it off, were you?”
He teased playfully, and Christine’s cheeks turned red. Seimon smiled at her reaction and nodded toward the sofa.
“Sit.”
He walked ahead, and Christine hesitated before following and sitting down.
She glanced at him sitting diagonally across from her and asked without thinking,
“…Don’t you want to see the baby?”
Seimon raised his eyes and looked straight into hers.
After a short pause, he gave a dry laugh.
“Of course, I want to.”
His eyes dropped to Christine’s round belly.
“You said the baby’s due in a month, right? I think I can live that long.”
He shrugged.
Christine glanced at a cigarette box on the table and said coolly,
“If you smoke, you might not make it even one more month.”
“Is that a curse?”
“It’s advice.”
“Now you’re nagging me about cigarettes too?”
Seimon frowned, and Christine replied seriously,
“If you want to see the baby, that’s what you should do. But it’s your choice.”
“Tch.”
Seimon grabbed the cigarette box and tossed it into the trash, then looked back at her.
“Happy now, doctor? Think I can live another three months?”
“Looks like it.”
“If you really want me to live longer, you should move in and nag me every day.”
Christine’s mouth dropped slightly at his sudden words.
“What was that?”
Seimon smirked at her shocked face.
“What? It was just a joke.”
Trying to brush it off casually, Seimon went back to his seat. Christine took a deep breath to calm her suddenly racing heart.
‘Why did he have to joke like that…’
“…Christine.”
When he called her name, she answered in a purposely annoyed tone.
“What?”
“Why are you being kind to me again? You hate me. Is it because I’m dying and you feel sorry for me?”
Seimon paused before asking.
Christine blinked. She couldn’t answer right away.
Was she being kind to him?
She didn’t really know. From the moment they married, nothing about him had ever been clear to her.
So many things were mixed up.
Hate, misunderstanding, married life, and now a baby.
She couldn’t just say she hated him anymore. Her feelings were too complicated to define.
Christine decided to be honest.
“I don’t know.”
She shook her head.
“Maybe it’s because we lived together for so long, and even if I hated you, I still cared in some way. Or maybe it’s because you’re the father of my child… I just can’t leave you like this.”
“They say feelings like that are the most dangerous.”
Seimon smiled faintly, resting his chin on one hand while gently playing with one of her fingers.
Christine frowned slightly at his touch but didn’t pull away.
She didn’t want to ruin this moment.
“…Maybe you’re right.”
His touch made her hand tingle — and somehow, it made her heart tingle too.
She looked down at the finger he was holding, then slowly raised her eyes to meet his.
“Seimon… Why are you being so kind to me now?”
He paused for a moment, then looked down at his feet. After a second, he lifted his eyes and looked at her.
“I guess I got used to you without realizing it.”
“…”
“I just realized it too late.”
He stopped talking.
When their eyes met again, something inside him felt cold and heavy. He’d always been a cold, rational man. But right now, he couldn’t hide anything.
“I was foolish. I didn’t understand anything until I was about to die.”
His lonely voice made Christine open her mouth, but no words came out.
“Seimon…”
Every time she said his name, he wanted to cover his ears.
He didn’t want his regret to hurt her anymore.
But he couldn’t stop his lips from saying what he truly felt.
“Don’t look at me like that, Christine. It makes me want to be selfish.”
Seimon smiled bitterly and held her finger more tightly.
Finally, he was honest with himself.
Christine fell into deep thought.
Why was this man, who had never been kind during their whole marriage, suddenly acting like a different person?
If she had heard these words before the divorce… would things have changed?
Her heart felt complicated.
It hurt to hear him speak like a man who didn’t have long to live.
Honestly, no one wants to die.
Even a 100-year-old person wants to live a little longer — it’s human nature.
And Seimon… he must want that even more.
Christine sighed quietly, then looked straight at him.
“Seimon. You told Lucy you don’t want me to hate you anymore, right?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Then go get tested at a hospital in the Lohas Republic.”
Seimon frowned.
“Why the hospital?”
“So what? You’re really planning to just give up and die? The Seimon Deirt I know?”
Christine answered coldly. Seimon had no reply — just a bitter look on his face.
“Don’t give up so easily.”
At her words, Seimon smiled faintly.
Was it ever easy to give up?
Did he really give up?
‘I don’t want to give up either, Christine…’
As he looked at her, his chest grew tight, and he turned to the window.
The city of the New Continent stretched out endlessly before him.
Seeing all those people out there living their lives made him feel bitter envy.
Seimon smiled bitterly.
