“You right now…”
Seo-an, who opened his mouth in disbelief, suddenly stopped speaking and looked at Hae-won.
He had no idea what kind of rumor had spread and how. As far as he knew, the classmate who got married was Kang Seo-an, so was Hae-won mistaking him for that person?
“Bringing a kid who looks exactly like you from somewhere… and getting divorced… Aw, poor hyung…”
Finally, watching Hae-won pitying him based on nonexistent facts, a hollow laugh began to escape.
No wonder he was acting unusually cautious. The occasional awkward behavior wasn’t because it had been a while since they met, but because he thought Seo-an was a married man.
Seo-an decided to just listen quietly to see how far this would go.
Ji-yu wasn’t his child. Not only had he never been near a wedding venue, but he had spent time stuck with Hae-won without any time to date a girlfriend, so Seo-an was a bit flustered about how Hae-won came to think that way.
Then, belatedly realizing the fact that the child called him ‘daddy,’ he let out a short “ah” exclamation.
“Am I wrong about something? Then tell me.”
Drunk Hae-won picked a fight and twisted his head. At the sight of him acting coy, another laugh almost burst out. With his eyes lowered, he seemed displeased with the reaction he was getting to what was clearly a serious topic to him.
“Wow… won’t tell me… We kissed, and you slept in my room every day… but you’re keeping your mouth completely shut…”
He said they could only talk more if they drank alcohol. Hae-won seemed to have wanted to ramble.
…But do I really need to explain?
If he explained, the misunderstanding would be cleared up. But what would it mean to clear up the misunderstanding now?
Moreover, the current Seo-an had neither the time nor the leisure for that. Since he had grown so accustomed to the child calling him ‘daddy’ for so long, he hadn’t given it much thought, but so that’s what caused this misunderstanding.
Ji-yu was the child of his older brother who had suddenly passed away. The older brother who said he had business in the provinces and asked him to watch the child just for the day never returned after that final farewell.
It was also Seo-an himself who held the child who had lost her parents and admonished her, ‘From now on, samchon is Ji-yu’s daddy, call me daddy.’ He kept drilling that into the child who couldn’t even speak yet.
He knew better than anyone the grief felt from not having parents. Then what could he replace for her? Didn’t he have to fill the empty space? And on the other hand, he didn’t want to raise the child his older brother left behind inadequately.
That’s also why he tried to keep his distance from Hae-won. It was still a sensitive time, and as Seo-an who was concentrating all his attention on the child, he didn’t have the capacity to consider Hae-won as well.
Besides, wasn’t it a connection that had already been severed once?
Looking back on his life, whether voluntary or not, there were reasons for connections being severed.
So would Hae-won be any different?
Even so, a hollow laugh came out as he vaguely understood the circumstances of why Hae-won had cut off contact with him.
“So that’s how the rumor spread.”
Seo-an finished speaking briefly and looked at Hae-won.
He had just been out of his mind. He was busy without time to grieve. There was no time to reflect on his older brother’s death. Next to him was an infant who couldn’t even speak yet, and his older brother, who had been busy raising him, had left behind many debts.
When he finally came to his senses after being swept up busily in this and that, he barely managed to contact Hae-won…
Seo-an, who briefly recalled that time, looked at Hae-won who was now swaying. Swaying his body back and forth as if he would fall backward if pushed, while stubbornly holding on at the same time, it was quite funny.
When Seo-an was quietly looking at Hae-won without saying anything else, mumbling sounds began to be heard from inside the room where the child was lying. Hae-won, who had been blinking his eyes, tried to stand up abruptly as if Ji-yu were his own child.
Seo-an didn’t realize that a low laugh escaped at that sight.
“Stay there, you just sleep too.”
“Me? Why, do I seem drunk?”
“You know drunk people insist they’re not drunk.”
“That’s not true, I’m completely fine. Talking rudely right to someone’s face…”
“Ugh, then do what you want…”
So this is what Yeon Hae-won’s drunk behavior is like. First time knowing.
Seo-an replied lightly and headed to the child’s room.
He was sure he had made her lie down properly with a pillow and covered her with a blanket. Ji-yu, whose sleeping habits were exactly like her older brother’s, had kicked off all the blankets this time too and was occupying the middle of the bed. It was an aspect that perfectly resembled the older brother’s bold personality.
Seo-an, who laughed without realizing it, said “Ji-yu” and picked up the child. Seo-an hoped this innate temperament of the child wouldn’t be ruined. Unlike himself who was always conscious of others and struggled desperately not to be criticized, he just wanted her to live her life confidently.
“Daddyyy…”
“Yeah, Ji-yu. It’s daddy.”
“Mm…”
Since she was a child who couldn’t fall back asleep once fully awake, Seo-an lay down on the bed together to put her back to sleep before her sleep ran away.
Even though it wasn’t that late, perhaps because he had exhausted himself wrestling with the child since morning, drowsiness came naturally as he patted her small back. Embracing the bottom of the child who was squirming into his arms and kissing her soft cheeks, Seo-an called her name in a small voice, “Ji-yu, Ji-yu.”
“Tomorrow you have to go to daycare, so Ji-yu should sleep quickly too.”
“Mm… What about daddy?”
“Daddy should sleep now too.”
“What about Hae-won samchon…?”
“Samchon… well, he’s quiet.”
Is he sleeping?
Seo-an gently swept Ji-yu’s bangs aside and glanced down at his feet. Through the open door gap, the light from the dimly lit lamp came in. Unfortunately, since the place where he was sitting was in front of the sofa, Hae-won’s figure wasn’t visible.
Surely he’s not sleeping on the floor.
I need to clean too, but I’m hoping he’s sleeping on the sofa, he thought as he was about to make a sound.
A rustling sound pierced through the silence. To be precise, it was a puttering sound, followed by a groaning sound, and then Hae-won’s large body could be seen below his feet.
“I want to sleep here too.”
Then, as if it were natural, he was coming into the room.
After dragging his feet and diving straight onto the bed, the soft bed swayed for a moment.
“Hey, hey.”
There was no time to stop him. On the bed that wasn’t that big and was just right for the child and himself, Hae-won deliberately curled up his large body and moved the child from Seo-an’s arms into his own.
“I usually sleep well with Ji-yu like this… You’re really a funny hyung.”
Then he went on to say something strange.
Who’s really being funny right now?
Seo-an looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. But as if he had already fallen asleep, Hae-won’s tightly closed eyes didn’t open anymore. His long eyelashes didn’t move, and his even breathing was steady.
A hollow laugh escaped.
It’s not like his house is far, so why does he insist on sleeping here?
In the end, Seo-an also flopped down saying whatever, and wrapped his arm around Ji-yu who was being held by Hae-won. In doing so, the two men’s arms naturally overlapped.
***
Work…!
Along with the sound ringing in his head, Seo-an’s eyes flew open. After habitually checking the time, he sat up with a startled expression.
I slept without hearing the alarm? Being surprised was only for a moment.
“…Ji-yu?”
The child who should normally have been sleeping intoxicatedly next to him with her red, cute lips smacking wasn’t there. Just as he was wondering what was going on and hurriedly got off the bed.
“No, Ji-yu. If you do that, your clothes will get all wet.”
Along with the giggling voice of the young child, Hae-won’s affectionate voice could be heard.
Seo-an belatedly remembered that he had fallen asleep with Hae-won. And in the same bed at that.
Even if he was pretending to be fine, he must have been drunk, since he couldn’t tell him to leave and just fell asleep — being dumbfounded at himself was only for a moment. Seo-an, who bit his lower lip in embarrassment, slowly left the room.
The sight of Hae-won holding the child up with one arm and scrubbing her face with the other hand to wash it, and Ji-yu being carried like luggage yet playfully having fun, was clearly imprinted in his eyes.
“You’re up?”
At the question asked while putting the child down, Seo-an nodded awkwardly.
“I turned off your alarm so hyung could sleep more. I was going to wash the kid and wake you.”
“I can do things like this myself.”
“You seem to be the type who draws the line belatedly.”
Even at the fairly firm words, Hae-won replied with a thick-skinned smile. At the additional words “Go wash up,” Seo-an, who was about to enter the bathroom, took in the neatly organized living room scene.
He had thought he needed to clean up but was crushed by fatigue and couldn’t lift a finger, but he had nothing more to say to Hae-won who had cleaned it all up again.
“You should have just left it, when did you clean it? I could have done it.”
“What else am I doing? Aren’t you going to wash up? Won’t you be late?”
“Ah, I’ll wash up.”
“There’s only baby stuff here. Do you use the one inside, hyung?”
“Yeah, yeah…”
