DASH-Chapter 21Vol 2. : Side Story -

"Then there’s no helping it. But you’ll probably start having pelvic and lower back pain soon. Try cutting back on your walking time—maybe just thirty minutes a day."

"......"

The doctor noticed Jiheon’s expression had darkened and asked, "Is something wrong?" Jiheon hesitated a moment before answering.

"I do go out for walks for exercise, but mostly, it’s for a change of pace."

"What kind of change of pace?"

"Just... things have been a bit turbulent lately. My mood swings have gotten worse, and especially when I’m alone, I keep sinking into this gloom, so I figured I might as well get moving..."

"That’s a good idea. Very wise of you."

The doctor nodded enthusiastically, then asked what else Jiheon did for emotional refreshment. When Jiheon said he talked to the baby, read cute books, or watched variety shows, the doctor listened for a while and then asked, "What about your husband?"

"Do you talk with your husband a lot?"

"We talk a lot... but I haven’t told him how I’m feeling right now. I just haven’t said anything at all."

"Are you avoiding the topic on purpose? Because it’s an important time?"

The doctor seemed to be referring to the Olympics.

"That too... but mostly because saying it wouldn’t change anything."

When Jiheon added that things would get better with time, and he didn’t want to make Jaekyung worry unnecessarily, the doctor nodded in understanding but still said,

"But if he knew, maybe he could offer more practical help. Like sharing some of the household work so it’s not as hard on you."

"He already does that."

The doctor looked surprised at Jiheon’s response. Maybe she’d assumed Jaekyung wouldn’t so much as lift a finger at home.

"My husband already helps me a lot, more than enough."

Jiheon smiled as he spoke.

"That’s part of why I didn’t say anything. He’s already doing everything he can, and I didn’t want him putting even more effort into something that doesn’t really have a solution."

"I see."

The doctor chuckled and said, "With a husband like that, just seeing his face probably lifts your spirits," before steering the conversation back.

"Anyway, everything you’ve been doing so far is great. These days, moms and dads are so smart they know exactly what to do even without the doctor saying anything."

After offering praise, she softened her tone further.

"And sure, there’s no need to dwell on sad thoughts—but you also don’t need to obsess over staying cheerful all the time. Try to relax your heart a bit more. Babies are surprisingly resilient. And if you’ve come this far, even more so. Even if Daddy’s feeling a little blue, it’s not like the baby’s going to think, ‘Oh no, Dad’s depressed because of me—what do I do?’ He’ll just go, ‘Well, Dad can be sad sometimes,’ and take it in stride. Because he already knows Dad loves and cherishes him. He knows Dad always will. That’s why he won’t feel uneasy about it."

So, if you're feeling really down and don’t want to do anything, just resting and doing nothing can be a valid option, the doctor said.

"Of course, it’d be a problem if that lasted for days and days, but someone as diligent as you wouldn’t let that happen even if I told you to, right?"

At the question, Jiheon found himself nodding hard without even realizing.

"Exactly. Like you said, this will resolve itself with time, and now there’s not much time left. Let’s hang in there just a little more."

The doctor, who had sounded like a cult leader while sweet-talking Jaekyung, now sounded endlessly reliable while encouraging Jiheon. Her final words of support made Jiheon unexpectedly emotional, and just as he was wiping his face with his palm, the gestational diabetes test results arrived.

"Perfectly normal. From the glycated hemoglobin levels, it looks like you’ve been managing your diet really strictly."

The doctor praised him again, saying it must have been hard. As Jiheon stood to leave, she smiled and said, "Go home today and eat whatever you want."

Having gotten the doctor’s permission, Jiheon stopped by a bakery run by a famous patissier on his way home. For someone who usually just grabbed snacks from the convenience store near home, this was a bold move. To celebrate passing the glucose test in one shot, he bought not one but three different kinds of desserts.

After wandering the store for ten minutes deliberating, he finally picked out a strawberry tart, biscotti, and a macaron. He also bought a sandwich for dinner.

To be honest, the whole time he was picking desserts, he thought it would’ve been nice if Jaekyung had been there. Then he could’ve bought everything he wanted, and more importantly, Jaekyung would’ve been thrilled. Given how he’d been just as stressed about the dietary restrictions, he probably would’ve devoured an entire cake out of sheer excitement.

Maybe it was that lingering regret—when Jiheon got home and started tasting the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) desserts one by one, none of them tasted particularly good. Maybe it was because the drink he had to take for the glucose test had been so sweet. The thrill of long-awaited sugar had already been stolen by that orange-flavored glucose solution.

"Jini, sugar really isn’t all that special, huh?"

He spoke to Jini after barely managing to finish the not-so-big macaron.

"Or do you like it? Do you like this one?"

He asked, since apparently the baby could distinguish tastes now—but of course, no answer came.

"Not really, huh? Yeah, you take after me when it comes to taste."

Deciding that unilaterally, Jiheon tried the biscotti next. It had nuts and a crisp texture, so he liked it more than the macaron—but even so, it wasn’t that great. He honestly couldn’t remember why he’d wanted it so badly in the first place.

He didn’t want to eat something tasteless out of sheer obligation. Jiheon shoved the remaining desserts, paper bag and all, into the fridge and went to the living room.

As soon as he sat on the sofa, he turned on the TV. Flipping through channels, he stopped at a scene of a small child eating at the table. The subtitle style suggested it was a parenting show.

Jiheon put the remote down and leaned against the backrest. He hadn’t been particularly interested in parenting shows before, but ever since getting pregnant, he’d end up watching them whenever they happened to be on.

The child’s baby talk was cute, so he turned up the volume a bit. But when the panelists got too noisy with their reactions, he turned it back down. Then suddenly, it felt like the whole house fell silent, filled with a strange stillness.

He suddenly thought of the house he and Jaekyung had gone to sign the lease for last week. The first-floor unit in the apartment complex with a swimming pool Jisoo had liked—that was going to be their new home.

The four bedrooms were all large, and the spacious living room was a big plus. But now, a sudden thought hit him: this small house already felt wide and quiet when he was alone—how lonely would that big house feel if he were in it alone, without Jaekyung?

"Ah, no. I have our Jini."

The thought came belatedly, and he quickly spoke it aloud. Not wanting the baby to feel left out, he even patted his belly and said it more affectionately.

"By then, you’ll be outside, sitting right next to Dad, won’t you?"

As if nodding, there was a squirm inside his belly. These days, he moved around more often than he stayed still. Jiheon rubbed his belly as if praising him.

"But you know, Jini... Daddy really misses your dad right now."

As soon as he said it out loud, he missed him even more.

To be honest, it had started the day Jaekyung left for training camp. He missed him right away. That’s partly why he pushed himself to go on those long walks. Because staying home just made him miss Jaekyung more, made the emptiness feel even more real.

And this time, he realized something clearly. That he’d been relying on Jaekyung far more than he’d realized.

It wasn’t even some dramatic reason—they were just apart because of training camp. And yet he couldn’t bear even that brief absence. It hurt and made him feel pitiful. At this point, even if he didn’t say it aloud, he was practically acting spoiled inside. Somewhere along the way, when it came to Jaekyung, he’d stopped being rational or age-appropriate.

If Jaekyung found out, he’d probably be happy. He’d always complained that Jiheon was too cold. That it always felt like only he was desperate. So if Jiheon said, "I’m no different from you," he’d probably be delighted.

But Jiheon wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t sure this was a good kind of change. If anything, it felt like the opposite. Jaekyung was maturing into an adult, and Jiheon felt like he was regressing.

While he was lost in thought, the scene on TV changed. The little boy eating with his mom was gone, and now a five-year-old girl was crouched next to the crib of her infant sibling. She was shaking a rattle and carefully putting a mitten back on the baby’s hand. One of the panelists exclaimed, "Our Soyoon is so mature! It’s not easy for kids her age to take care of their siblings like that."

Calling a child "mature" was clearly a compliment. Jiheon had liked hearing that as a kid too. He didn’t even remember how he first got called that. Maybe the words "humble" and "well-mannered" had gradually shifted into that term. He could only guess. His parents always emphasized it.

"Jiheon, you know, right? People who are truly good at something don’t need to say it themselves. Because even if you don’t say anything, everyone already knows."

Maybe it was because he’d been called a genius from a young age, sweeping swimming competitions. His parents were always wary of him becoming arrogant. Especially since his father was a career military man and they lived in a housing complex full of gossip.

Jiheon, by nature, didn’t like bragging anyway, so he followed that rule faithfully. Once he learned there were people who still didn’t like him regardless, he got used to saying, "No, I’m not that great," all the time.