169. Butterflies

"There seems to be a minor problem regarding the results. As you had predicted, well, to put it simply there is a violent warfare going on inside your body."

"I'm already anxious. Just tell me as it is."

"Yeon, you shouldn't be hiding this from your fated. Whatever affects you affects him too and in as much I understand you keeping your fears from Stannie, he still has to know eventually."

"You know how he is doctor. He'll blow everything out of proportion. When I amended our wedding plans, he sulked all week."

"I bet he wasn't too happy about that. Stannie has been planning for his wedding even before he could spell wedding." Both Yeon and Stan's uncle shared a moment of laughter. "Anyway, as usual, I see you are nonchalant about this but I must warn you, you may never be able to conceive."

"But earlier you said I could and if I remember correctly, you gave me a tongue lashing before handing me those contraceptives every time."

"You were still recovering from depression and even if you did conceive that time, you'd have miscarried eventually. With the recent events... I'm guessing that is what led to you being in this state?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yeon, you've not exactly enjoyed a normal marking, imprint let alone a normal relationship, Stannie being an obsessive alien. Perhaps his overbearing nature stresses you unawares. I would understand so don't worry about what I think of my nephew. Is he stressing you?"

"He doesn't stress me at all. I actually enjoy his company a lot. He always seems to have a tonne of things to talk about and if he doesn't, he's busy bothering my peace."

"That's it! A source of your stress..."

Yeon laughed and shook his head, refuting that conclusion. "I actually enjoy his bothersome nature too. He keeps me on my toes and I feel like my former teenage self awakens whenever we are together. It may sound strange but I used to be an extrovert and proactive in nature during my teens. My character kind of changed when I experienced my first heartache. You wouldn't know how it feels since you and aunt discovered your fateship long before..."

"Actually, you'd be surprised to know that even while fated, one still experiences heartaches."

"That's impossible."

"Well, you see how jealous Stannie gets whenever someone challenges his feelings towards you?"

"What are you talking about? What challenge...?"

"Yeon my dear, it's also known as jealousy. I see it all the time whenever that friend of yours, Nelnel was it, approaches you. His insides turn tenfold and that pain is as good as a heartache."

Yeon chuckled still unconvinced. "That's a stomachache, or feeling butterflies..."

"Oh no..." Dr. Jiwon shook his index finger in refusal. "Butterflies is the feeling you get when you look at the person you love. You feel that when you look at Stannie right?"

"Not really."

"Not really!" Dr Jiwon exclaimed in shock. "What do you feel then?"

"Happiness..."

"That's butterflies! Bu-tter-flies!"

Yeon burst out laughing at the emphasis Dr. Jiwon had put in and the passion he had in explaining and proving his point. "I didn't know, now I know."

"You're hopeless. Anyway, back to whatever is stressing you. What is it?"

Yeon replied passively. "Maybe the cases, it's too prolonged. The attacks I guess have made me tensed. I dislike being under constant watch and the added security around Stan's parents house does make me feel caged."

"I'm now worried about you."

"Why?"

"Indeed the things you mentioned are a true contributor to your internal stress, but the way you say it, as a by the way, oh goodness. Stan must be the one worrying for both of you since you seem not to care."

"I do." Yeon laughed once more. He appeared comfortable even while he spoke in his defense. "I'm afraid and tensed all the time but I just have a good way of hiding my stress while Stan is great at dealing with stress."

"That's true. Stannie can survive and handle a stressful situation efficiently except when it comes to you."

Yeon nodded. "That's true."

"But, don't get me wrong. While it's sometimes okay to hide what bothers you and not share it with unnecessary people, it's okay to open up once in a while. Like how you opened up about conducting a fertility test by coming to me. If you hadn't, we wouldn't be here and found the cause of it."

"So, you are saying the cause of my infertility is the internal stress?"

"You really know what to focus on don't you? I just told you to open up to me."

Yeon giggled. "Give me a break, I'm trying to look at the glass half full. I'm stressed, I'll work on reducing it. It is the cause right?"

Dr. Jiwon sighed in surrender. "Well Yeon, work on limiting stress."

"Then we are done?"

"No. You have to tell Stannie about this."

"Why? He's going to be stressed about it thereby stressing me too..."

"He will kill me for keeping this from him and don't laugh. You know he will"

"Fine, I'll keep him informed."

"When?"

"Soon..."

"You have one week. If you don't, I will."

"I was planning to tell him after the wedding."

"Nope, the longer you delay, the more brutal my death becomes."

"Come on, he'll only hold a grudge!"

"You see that heartbreak you spoke of earlier? That twisting of the stomach which isn't butterflies? Well, when Stannie holds a grudge, it's worse than a heartbreak on the receiver. The receiver being me."

Yeon couldn't help but laugh again. He always enjoyed Dr. Jiwon's company. Perhaps since he was exact in character as his fated. "You exaggerate the same way as Stan."

"I refuse to die because of you Yeon. You may not love me but my wife does and wants me alive, okay?"

"Okay you win. I'll tell him in three days. I just need to think of a way to inform him... He wasn't aware I've been off contraceptives for a while and knowing him, he'd exaggerate everything and accuse me of betraying him."

"Well you did betray him by hiding the truth."

"You came to fight me today huh?"

Dr. Jiwon stood up, laughing at Yeon's statement. "When I fight you, you'll know. I'm choosing to preserve my energy for the time I'll wage war with you and my brother. You've been at his lab for quite long and I'm beginning to feel jealous."

"Your insides turning yet?"

Stan's uncle grimaced. "So mean Yeon, when did you become like this huh? You used to be so sweet and gentle."

Yeon simply laughed at the statement and stood up too. "Honestly, I miss the lab here. If I could divide myself and be at both places at the same time, I would. Still, something bothers me. In medical terms, maybe you can explain to me how being stressed affects my body."

"Well, I'd rather use an example instead. An example you handled before. Remember the specimen I handed you a couple of months ago? They were three of them, relatively related. You informed me one was almost lacking in scent while the other had a mild reaction to the one lacking in scent. The third colony appeared pure but responded to the two of the scents. Can you recall conducting a scent unification procedure?"

"Yes."

"Well, your scent responds to Stan's since he is your fated, your yearnings and spiritual essence holds you two together and that's positive, probably why you never succumbed to a worse state until now. Anyway, whenever you become stressed, your scents seem to pull out from your blood, not completely breaking free but sort of fighting and take an amorphous shape. Probably why your eye changers color whenever you are nervous or shy or just happy above normal. You may not feel it but the sample of blood I extracted from you shows this abnormality. If you go into heat, this abnormality heightens, perhaps you may feel a tingling sensation all over your body which is still alright, not alarming at all however imagine this abnormality happening at the same time as suffering acute depression or being stressed. It won't show on the outside but on the inside, under a microscope, a war goes on. This imbalance causes your body to go in defense mode, bringing attention to stop the warfare and when this war is going on, other tasks are left at a standstill. Tasks like conception. Your womb becomes too acidic to accommodate any sperm thereby hindering conception. You understand now don't you?"

Yeon nodded his head. "I see what you meant now on the stress issue. Perhaps I have been complaisant with things that bother me."

"More like burring your head in the sand so you won't have to face them."

Yeon laughed at Stan's uncle's statement. "You're right. The wedding arrangements have been stressing me even though I'm not partaking in the plans. Perhaps it's the guilt of throwing that responsibility to someone else that bothers me. I used to depend on myself for many years and I got used at being self sufficient and forgot how to receive help from others."

"Finally we are getting somewhere on this stress thing. Anyway, my wife is amazing to talk to. She has a way of making you spill your darkest secrets and you look like someone with no dark secrets so you should be fine. If you are hungry, we can go together. She'd be happy to have you around."

"Sure."

"I should also add that you're gonna end up sleeping over. My wife is easy to fall in love with and you are an exception I'll allow to enjoy her company."

"So generous. I'm honored." Yeon smiled, "though Stan would go crazy if he doesn't find me home. Let him miss me a little."

"You really want him to kill me don't you?"

"You're the one who invited me over and don't even think about changing your mind, lest I inform aunt."

"That snitching habit, where did you get it from?" Stan's uncle sneered. "Robin and Joss?"

"You got that right."