Hae-won pushed aside the thoughts in his head and stood up from his seat. Then he lifted up the child who was lying face down and flailing on the bed like swimming, and said with a smile.
“Let’s go eat, turtle.”
“Turtle? Turtle? Am I a turtle?”
“You look exactly like one lying face down like that, don’t you?”
“Kkool?”
“Um… appearance.”
“Hyang! Turtle!”
Just a while ago, her face had been covered in tears as if she’d cried herself out, but after sleeping soundly, her mood seemed much better.
Hae-won skillfully prepared food for the child to eat. At the same time, while rummaging through the refrigerator to find something for himself to eat, he decided not to touch Seo-an’s food and ordered delivery instead.
While sitting face to face with the child eating, he deliberately took photos of Ji-yu’s every moment and sent them to Seo-an.
It was because he was worried about Seo-an, who must be concerned about the child. Even though he hadn’t been able to have a long conversation since he hadn’t fully woken up yet, he could see the undisguisable embarrassment in him, and knowing Kwon Seo-an’s personality, there was no way he could comfortably spend time outside unless that was resolved.
(Photo)
(Photo)
(Photo)
Did you get there okay?
The child is eating well
She slept like crazy but was playing on the bed
After sending several messages, he saw the child had already gotten food all around her mouth and laughed in disbelief.
“Kwon Ji-yu, such a baby.”
“Right, Ji-yu is still a baby.”
“Didn’t you say you were a big brother before?”
“Mm-hm, no big brother.”
It seemed she had decided to quit being a big brother as of today. It appeared to be a punishment she’d given herself for making Daddy worry, and even that seemed funny to Hae-won’s eyes.
“Why are you so cute?”
“Hee.”
Hae-won covered Ji-yu’s small face with one hand. The baby’s small laughter as she giggled touched his palm. At the same time, a reply arrived from Seo-an.
Seo-an hyung
I’m coming now too
Traffic is bad so it’ll take some time
Sorryㅠ
How sorry must he be to add a ‘ㅠ’? Because Seo-an’s usual contact style was neat, even a very small expression made him feel his sincerity.
Hae-won thought he had no idea what there was to be sorry about and put down his phone. The child who had finished eating was still sitting gently on the children’s chair, dangling her legs.
From the way she waited quietly until an adult took her down, he could tell how carefully Seo-an had raised her.
“Geez, who raised you to be so cute?”
The sound that burst out was almost like a lament. Hearing it, the child laughed and swayed her head, saying “Me~?” Even the aegyo that oozed out clearly showed how much the child had grown up being loved.
***
“Wasn’t it hard playing with the child? Still, playing all day long couldn’t have been easy…”
Seo-an asked while glancing at Hae-won’s complexion. It was called watching the child, but Seo-an knew well that playing with a young child who, once fixated on something, would repeat it for hours was quite an exhausting task.
But Hae-won shook his head as if it was fine. He grinned while looking at Ji-yu, who had fallen asleep again, then showed his feet.
“Today she suddenly became fixated on my feet, so she played with my feet. I washed them once every 20 minutes in case there was a problem. It’s already winter, but my feet are going to crack.”
Although he spoke in a sunken voice as if exhausted, there was still a smile blooming on his lips. His mood didn’t look that bad, as if watching children was in his nature.
“Being a stay-at-home husband might be my calling.”
Thanks to Hae-won saying exactly what he had been thinking, Seo-an also smiled in relief. With his mind at ease, Seo-an sighed and began.
“Alcohol… I think it’ll be a bit difficult today.”
It was something he said remembering Hae-won’s words before going out, telling him to buy alcohol if he was bored. Hae-won tilted his head.
“Why? Do you have work tomorrow?”
Strangely, he couldn’t hear his voice properly.
Every time he moved, his glamorous and pretty appearance, perhaps meticulously crafted by God, shone in various colors. Among them, what Seo-an particularly enjoyed looking at were his eyes. Even though he wasn’t wearing makeup, how pretty were his light but distinct double eyelids with long eyelashes and especially clear black pupils?
When Seo-an unknowingly spaced out and just stared, Hae-won smiled slightly.
“Like father, like son—it’s crazy, you father and son.”
“…Why, does Ji-yu also show that she likes your face?”
“Very much. Hyung also… you’re not denying it?”
“Ah.”
Seo-an rolled his lips and bit them as if newly aware.
But isn’t it okay to show a little that you like someone’s face…? Without denying or affirming, Seo-an finished what he was saying.
“Anyway… I try not to drink in front of the child.”
“Then you haven’t drunk at all since raising the child?”
“Company dinners are unavoidable…”
When Seo-an mumbled, Hae-won shrugged as if it didn’t matter.
“But I think I need to drink with hyung to talk a bit more. Ji-yu is sleeping now, so can’t we put her in the room and drink? We’ll stop right away if she wakes up.”
Hae-won would usually let things slide, but today he seemed unwilling to just let it go. Seo-an, who had been scratching his cheek awkwardly, reluctantly nodded, saying he understood.
He was already indebted to him every day, so wasn’t it difficult to refuse everything he wanted to do? He had at least that much shame.
The ordered snacks and alcohol arrived quickly.
Drinking together sometimes gave him the illusion of returning to his younger days.
They had also become close at a freshman welcome party. Hae-won, who sat at the same table, drank quite well for someone who had just turned twenty, and Seo-an was known as a heavy drinker in the department. At that time, Seo-an had been excited to meet someone he could drink heavily with after a long time.
After knowing their drinking capacities were similar, they often drank together. Without needing to take care of anyone, they knew when to break up the drinking session once they became pleasantly drunk with each other. That was all possible because their drinking capacities were similar.
It was the same today. The two people, who had become pleasantly drunk at a similar timing, were already looking at each other with empty smiles.
Then Hae-won spoke first.
“Why are you raising the child alone? I don’t mean anything by it, but there are no traces of a woman in the house…”
Seo-an answered with calm eyes.
“Because I have to raise her.”
“Why? What about the baby’s mom?”
“Ah, Ji-yu is—.”
Setting aside the detailed circumstances, he tried to explain at least roughly.
“No, no. I’m not curious about how you got divorced, hyung.”
Hae-won, who intercepted those words, shook his head.
“…Huh?”
Seo-an twisted his head with a “Huh?”
But having already felt tipsy, and the alcohol hitting him rapidly after spitting out his honest feelings, Hae-won didn’t notice and started rambling with complaints.
“Well, you could get divorced… Getting divorced once in life is also a taste of life, isn’t it?”
“Hey, no, what kind of taste is that?”
“Just because hyung got divorced, it’s not like I’ll see you differently.”
“No, Hae-won-ah. What are you saying right now—.”
“What, would hyung have gotten divorced for doing shitty things? Something just… there must have been reasons on both sides. I ab-so-lutely don’t think like that.”
Hae-won, who was now twisting his tongue and shaking his head, had his eyes completely glazed over. So that’s why every time he came to the house, he looked around stealthily like a stray cat searching the surroundings…
“If you think that way, why did you cut off contact? You didn’t answer when I called.”
“Because hyung abandoned me and got married… I thought at least you and I had the same feelings. We kissed a lot back then and even slept together, but hyung got married without saying anything. That means you had a lover, doesn’t it?”
“Ha, haha…”
“How could you date someone else behind my back while doing that with me… Now that I think about it, hyung really is a piece of shit.”
Seo-an, who burst into laughter in disbelief, pulled his body back. Along with the impression that he’d seen everything in life including a drunk Yeon Hae-won, he felt he had no idea what thoughts he’d been living with.
“But how could I answer when hyung contacted me like nothing happened? When you didn’t even send me a wedding invitation.”
I deleted your number and cleared all the chat windows, but of all things, you’re next door, of all things…
Seo-an just quietly watched Hae-won, who was whining like a sleepy Ji-yu. Then, craving alcohol, he downed a glass in one go.
Who got divorced?
Seo-an was single, never having been married even once.
