DASH-Chapter 19Vol 2. : Side Story -

Chatting with Jini like that, Jiheon soon found himself at the express bus terminal. He parked in Lot 1 and sent Jaekyung a message. Right then, it seemed the bus carrying the athletes had just arrived too—two replies came back in a row: Just got off. I’m coming.

A moment later, Jaekyung appeared at ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the entrance to Lot 1. Even though Jiheon had sent him the exact location, he kept scanning the area. Probably looking for the company car.

Jiheon honked the horn in a long blast and rolled down the window.

"Need a ride?"

Jaekyung blinked in surprise, then laughed once he realized. He walked over.

"You brought the car?"

He said as he opened the passenger door.

"Yeah. But more importantly—say hi to Jini."

Jaekyung blinked, confused. He glanced at Jiheon like, What’s gotten into you? But since he didn’t seem to hate the idea, he leaned down as soon as he got in and spoke to Jiheon’s belly.

"Jini, Daddy’s home."

"Good."

Jiheon grinned and pulled out of the lot with gusto.

"How was training camp?"

"Same as always. When’d the car arrive?"

"Yesterday."

"Why didn’t you say anything?"

"I wanted to watch you looking around like, ‘Where’s my hyung?’"

Jaekyung laughed—"Seriously?"—and casually leaned his elbow on the window ledge.

"So? Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I do. It’s smooth as hell. Now that I’ve driven it, I like it even more."

"And you?"

When Jiheon asked, Jaekyung nodded.

"Yeah, I like it too."

"Feels like a good purchase. Big and sturdy."

When Jiheon said they needed to thank his dad, Jaekyung raised a brow and opened the empty glove box.

"I should get my license soon."

"Out of nowhere?"

It really was out of nowhere. Every time cars came up before, Jaekyung would always wave it off—Driving’s a pain. I’ll just take taxis forever. Jiheon had never imagined him behind the wheel.

"Once Jini starts daycare, someone has to drop him off and pick him up. I don’t mind taxis, but I can’t always put a kid in one."

"Yeah... that’s true."

Sure, daycare usually had its own transportation, but yeah—having a car made everything easier with a kid.

More than that, he really thinks raising the kid is completely his job, Jiheon thought. The fact that it didn’t even occur to him that I might do the drop-offs before work... kind of adorable.

While Jiheon was quietly touched, Jaekyung suddenly said,

"Hyung, teach me."

"What?"

"Driving."

Jiheon thought for a moment before answering.

"Nah. Just go to a school."

"Why? I bet you’d be a better teacher."

"No way. Even if I were, it’s still better to learn at a school."

Then Jiheon added briefly, "Couples and lovers aren’t supposed to teach each other to drive." freewebnσvel.cøm

"Why not?"

"Because we love each other."

Jaekyung gave him a look—What’s that supposed to mean?

"I don’t want to say harsh things to someone I love."

That seemed to do it. Jaekyung nodded. "Ah, okay." Then he opened and closed the empty glove box again, and suddenly called Jiheon’s name softly.

"Hyung."

"Hm?"

Jiheon turned his head. Their eyes met, and Jaekyung brushed his bangs back, as usual.

"This isn’t like—me interrogating or accusing or anything. I’m just genuinely curious."

Putting up a defense like that before even getting to the point—it was clear he was about to ask something weird again.

"...Have you ever taught a boyfriend how to drive?"

Jiheon burst out laughing. Not because it was weird—just unexpected.

"Nope."

"Really...?"

"Yeah, really."

Jiheon grinned. "Hey, my longest relationship was like, four months. When would I have had time to teach anyone to drive?"

Jaekyung nodded like Yeah, fair point.

"I did teach my younger brother, though."

Jiheon smoothly changed lanes as he spoke.

"When he was getting his license, he asked me to watch him practice parking. We went out to an empty lot at night, and... yeah, almost cut ties that day."

"You fight? With your brother?"

Jaekyung sounded surprised. Jiheon laughed again.

"You think I’m some kind of saint? Of course we fought. We used to fight over the dumbest shit when we were kids. Like, ‘Why’d you come into my room without knocking,’ or ‘I was saving that cereal—why’d you eat it,’ and yelling, ‘Should’ve written your name on it, then!’"

"So everyone’s the same."

"Totally. But now that we live apart, we don’t fight anymore. Seeing him now just makes me happy."

Jaekyung rested his elbow on the window again. He watched Jiheon drive for a while, then suddenly said,

"If we have two kids, I think a girl and a boy would be better than two boys."

"Yeah? I always thought same-gender siblings were closer."

"But I want a daughter who looks like you."

"...That’s what this was about?"

Jiheon looked startled. Jaekyung blinked innocently.

"Yeah? What else?"

"I thought you were just talking in general."

"How would I know what’s ‘general’?"

Jaekyung answered flatly.

Fair. He wouldn’t know. And considering how in their case it was the sisters who got along and the brothers who tried to murder each other... there was no need to bring up generalizations at all.

"Still, wouldn’t a daughter who looks like you be really pretty?"

Jaekyung leaned closer to Jiheon and whispered. Jiheon gave him a soft look and smiled.

"A daughter who looks like you would be even prettier."

"Want to try? Have one yourself?"

Jiheon grinned as he asked, and Jaekyung immediately clammed up and turned toward the window.

As they turned onto Teheran-ro, Jiheon picked up speed. Familiar buildings came into view one by one. Ignoring the navigation, he turned into a back alley he’d discovered during his recent walks.

With a single clean move, he parked the large car into a tight space and cut the engine.

"We’re home, Jini."

"Why are you suddenly narrating everything to Jini?"

Jaekyung unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over like What’s this now?

"It’s not narration. I’ve decided to talk to Jini more often."

Jiheon unbuckled and got out of the car.

"We talked a lot while you were gone."

"Talked about what?"

"Just... stuff."

Anyway, his ears are probably wide open by now. Jiheon spoke as they passed through the building entrance and up the stairs.

"And now, if there’s loud noise outside, he gets startled and curious."

"I know. Around week 20, the brain starts developing more, and emotions deepen too."

Spoken like someone who had nine pregnancy apps downloaded—of course he knew.

"Right. So from now on, let’s talk to him a lot. Nicely. No bad words."

"I am nice."

"And no lies."

"I’m serious. I’ve always talked nicely to Jini."

"Hm, true."

They chatted as they reached the fifth floor.

"Alright, Jini. We’re home."

Jiheon said as he walked through the door. Jaekyung snorted and dropped his bag on the living room couch. Then, as Jiheon headed to the kitchen for a glass of water, Jaekyung hugged him from behind and spoke in an extra sweet voice:

"Jini, you had fun playing with Daddy while I was gone, right?"

"Then can Daddy do something he wants now?"

"What are you trying to do, Daddy?"

Jiheon played dumb, and Jaekyung gently took Jiheon’s chin and turned him toward him. He slowly sucked at Jiheon’s lips and whispered,

"Something that helps Jini’s brain development."

Jiheon let out a short laugh and pulled Jaekyung’s face in for a kiss.

"Just so you know—don’t say his name while we’re doing it."

"Why not?"

Because it’ll feel like we’re doing something we shouldn’t in front of our kid. If he said that, Jaekyung would definitely say it on purpose. So Jiheon pressed another kiss to his lips and said,

"If you say his name, he’ll wake up. Let him sleep."

"Can’t he wake up?"

"No. You’re only supposed to do these things after the kid’s asleep."

"Got it."

Jaekyung whispered softly and kissed Jiheon. Then, leaning down to Jiheon’s belly, he murmured:

"Jini, everything’s fine now. Go to sleep."

The day after returning from training camp, Jaekyung immediately resumed his personal training. The schedule remained the same: swimming in the morning, strength training in the afternoon. The only change was that Minwoo had once again taken over the training support role—which was because Jaekyung wanted it that way.

There was no longer any need to worry over his shoulder, and since all he had to do now was continue doing what he’d been doing, he told Jiheon he hoped he could focus on taking care of his own body from now on.

"Honestly, I’m supposed to be the one driving you to and from work, right? But that’s not realistic right now."

He said it like a request, asking Jiheon to at least take good care of himself in Jaekyung’s absence, and there was no way to say no to that. On top of it, the weather was heating up, and Jiheon was starting to feel the strain physically—so he handed the baton off to Minwoo with a mixture of relief and regret.

Still, he dropped by the pool now and then in the mornings. It was mostly to film Jaekyung’s sessions and send the footage to Oliver, so they could get real-time feedback and adjust as needed.

Oliver agreed that Jaekyung had fully recovered to his pre-injury condition, but added that if Jaekyung wanted, he could revise the training menu to reduce the strain on his shoulder even slightly.

Of course, Jaekyung declined. On the contrary—if anything, he said he wanted to tighten the training regimen even more, if possible.