DASH-Chapter 26Vol 2. : Side Story -

Later, when Jiheon had come to his senses again, he apologized for snapping. Jaekyung, trying to seem composed, simply said, "It’s okay."

But after a moment, his voice trembled as he added,

"But I really... thought something was wrong. I thought you were in so much pain you weren’t yourself, and it scared me..."

The pain that had kept Jaekyung up all night in worry miraculously subsided by the next day. Jiheon even managed to eat some porridge by lunchtime, which made everything feel a little more bearable.

Well—technically it was thin rice gruel, not porridge, but after two full days of fasting, it tasted like heaven.

And that afternoon, he finally got to meet Jini.

The nurse carried Jini into the room and the moment Jiheon saw him, he was stunned.

"Wait... that’s not the baby I saw yesterday...?"

"It’s him."

The nurse laughed as she carefully handed the baby to Jiheon. And sure enough—once he held him, it was the same baby. But at the same time, it wasn’t. His face had changed that much overnight. The skin that had been wrinkled and swollen from soaking in amniotic fluid had smoothed out, and now his features were clearly visible.

Jini had eyes far too big for a newborn. His double eyelids were deep, his nose tall and defined. And he still had a full head of hair. His lashes were thick and long, just like his hair.

He was, in short, absolutely beautiful.

A baby who looked like a doll.

"Wow. He looks just like you."

Jiheon, moved beyond words, held Jini tightly and spoke through tears.

"Really...?"

Jaekyung’s reaction was less enthusiastic.

"I mean... I don’t know... I guess he... kind of looks like you..."

He still couldn’t accept the reality and tried to push back—but his words gradually lost strength.

"He looks so much like you. Everyone said they didn’t even need a name tag—just knew right away he’s Kwon Jaekyung’s son."

The nurse smiled brightly, completely shattering Jaekyung’s hopeful denial. She then turned to Jiheon and said,

"Try breastfeeding him now."

"But... I don’t think anything’s coming out yet...?"

Jiheon looked flustered.

"And I don’t know... I just don’t feel like I’ll produce anything..."

He spoke with a wavering voice. The nurse gently told him that it was important to at least practice, then gave instructions on how to hold the baby and left the room.

"I don’t think this’ll work..."

Jiheon hesitated even after the nurse was gone. Jaekyung said,

"Just try. If you don’t want to, then don’t, but..."

"It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just worried he’ll be disappointed."

Still, skipping the attempt entirely didn’t feel right either. Jiheon eventually lifted his shirt and adjusted the baby in his arms. He followed the position the nurse had shown him and pressed Jini’s chubby cheek to his chest—and as if he’d been waiting for it, Jini latched onto his nipple with a little pop.

"Whoa—this is crazy."

"He just did that on his own, right?"

"Yeah. Oh my god. Jini might actually be a genius."

"Told you—IQ 200."

As the two dads congratulated themselves on their successful genetic engineering, Jini suddenly started sucking.

"He’s sucking!"

"But they said he wouldn’t really have strength yet and would just mouth at it?"

"No, he’s totally sucking. He’s doing great."

"Wow. IQ 200 and super strong."

Their son wasn’t just smart—he was strong too. The two of them made a whole production out of it.

But the awe didn’t last long. Jiheon soon started to feel awkward, even anxious. Jini was sucking with such determination, even though nothing was coming out. So earnestly, it almost made Jiheon feel guilty.

"How long am I supposed to just let him keep going...?"

"They say if nothing’s coming out, he’ll let go on his own."

"That’s what I heard too... Ah, this kid—of course he’s Kwon Jaekyung’s son. He just won’t give up."

Luckily(?) Jini grew tired before long and drifted off to sleep, still latched onto Jiheon’s chest. The dads looked ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) down at their dozing son with pride—he was smart, strong, and now, apparently, persistent as hell too.

"Still nothing coming out, huh? Sorry, little guy."

Jiheon smiled and lowered his shirt.

"But god, he’s just so beautiful. I mean, how can a newborn be this cute?"

He gently touched Jini’s soft, round cheek with the tip of his finger. The more he looked at him, the more unreal it felt. This angel of a baby—he had given birth to this. It was all still hard to believe.

Jiheon had been staring at the baby in his arms for a long time when he suddenly felt a gaze and looked up. Jaekyung was watching him. Jiheon had expected him to be grinning from ear to ear, but strangely, Jaekyung looked dazed.

"What?"

Only then did Jaekyung realize he’d been zoning out. He shook his head, mumbling, "No, nothing..." and looked down.

Worried he’d somehow made it seem like this was only his child, Jiheon quickly said,

"Do you want to hold him?"

Jaekyung hesitated for a moment, then stepped up to the bed and carefully took the baby into his arms. Despite his massive build and clumsy limbs, he cradled Jini with surprising gentleness.

"He’s so warm."

"Right? So warm and cozy."

Jiheon smiled. Jaekyung nodded and gently adjusted his tangled arms until he had the baby in a proper hold. Then he hugged him closer to his chest and murmured,

"I feel... reassured."

"Really? He’s so tiny, I get nervous. Like if I hold him wrong, he won’t be able to breathe."

"That’s not what I meant."

Jaekyung started to say something, but stopped.

"What? Say it."

Jiheon prompted him, and Jaekyung finally spoke, after a pause.

"Just now... when you were holding him."

"Yeah?"

"You were smiling at him, and all of a sudden it felt unreal. Like, this whole situation. It didn’t feel real at all." fгeewebnovёl.com

Jiheon chuckled softly. "Yeah?"

"It just hit me—like, how is this even possible? What if this is all a dream? What if I’m dreaming right now?"

"What?"

Jiheon laughed out loud, caught completely off guard.

"No, really."

Jaekyung was dead serious.

"When I first went to Australia, I used to dream all the time that you hadn’t retired. That we were still swimming together, going to training camps, competing... all that."

So now, what if this was just another one of those dreams?

What if he was actually still a middle schooler who had just arrived in Australia, missing Korea, missing him, and this whole thing was a fantasy his brain had conjured out of longing?

"...I mean, that’s kind of a big leap. Going from a training camp dream to a married with baby dream is a lot."

"I know, but... dreams don’t need logic."

They don’t need consistency or realism, Jaekyung added calmly. He looked down again at the small life bundled in his arms.

"But the moment I held him, I knew it wasn’t a dream. He’s so warm. He smells like a baby... There’s no way something this vivid isn’t real."

Moments like that always reminded Jiheon of how much he meant to Jaekyung—how long Jaekyung had waited, how completely he had centered his life around him.

The story was so ridiculous it bordered on childish, but that made it feel even more sincere. Jiheon’s throat tightened.

"Jaekyung."

His voice was soft and affectionate, as always.

"Isn’t Jini beautiful?"

When he asked with a smile, Jaekyung answered without hesitation.

"He’s really beautiful."

He gazed down at the baby again—then hurriedly added,

"But seriously, don’t you think he looks like me—just a little?"

"He does."

Like you just split in two, Jiheon said with certainty.

"The nurse said it, didn’t she? People knew you were his dad without even seeing the name tag."

Jaekyung stared at Jini, as if wondering, Really that much?

After tilting his head and studying him for a while, he turned back to Jiheon.

"Is there a chance he’ll look more like you as he grows up?"

"Nope."

Jiheon shut it down flatly.

Jaekyung, his last hope crushed, lowered his head with a pout.

"What, you don’t like your own face?"

Jiheon asked, wondering if he had some hidden complex.

"No, it’s not that..."

"Then what is it?"

"It’s just... you’re better looking."

Wouldn’t it be better if he looked like the more attractive parent? Jaekyung mumbled.

Jiheon immediately cried out, "No way."

"Sure, people have their preferences, but by general standards, your face is more conventionally attractive. That’s just fact."

"It’s not."

Jaekyung muttered, firmly.

He was so stubborn about it that Jiheon gave up trying to reason and switched to gentle coaxing.

"Fine. Let’s think of it this way: if your genes handled the outside, then mine probably handled the inside."

"Oh!"

Jaekyung’s eyes lit up like he’d never thought of that.

"So what’s better—your face with my personality, or my face with your personality?"

"The second one."

He answered instantly. Then, after about five seconds, added in a sulky tone,

"But what’s so bad about my personality?"

...This guy, so harsh about his own face, yet somehow so generous with his personality.

From Jiheon’s silent stare, Jaekyung clearly got his answer. He looked down, gazed fondly at their sleeping son for a moment—then suddenly asked, a little nervously,

"Hyung?"

"What?"

"If Jini ends up having both my face and my personality... what do we do?"

"Then you deal with it. He’s your seed, so he’s your responsibility."

"Yeah, I mean... he is my seed..."

Jaekyung mumbled with a bitter smile, like even he couldn’t deny it—but still wished it were someone else’s problem.