DASH-Chapter 28Vol 2. : Side Story -

Even after sharing a room with him for five days, one thing was clear—Jini had a hell of an appetite. He ate a lot, and he ate often. So much so that even Jaekyung, who normally never said Jini resembled him, started bringing /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ it up every time he fed him formula.

“When I watch him eat, I’m pretty sure he takes after me. He’s got a great appetite. I swear he’s eating his own body weight in milk.”

But then, whenever Jini finished a bottle and gave that beaming, satisfied smile, Jaekyung would quickly backpedal.

“No, wait, he’s definitely like you.”

“He smiles like this? He’s gotta take after you.” ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

“If you go by the sound of his burps, though, he’s your kid.”

“What the hell? You’ve never even heard me burp.”

“Hmm... now that you mention it, I haven’t.”

“Of course not. I’d never do something like that in front of you.”

The two of them were always looking for bits of themselves in the baby—every little feature, every movement. Even when there was no resemblance, they insisted there was. If Jiheon joked that all of Jini’s cute features came from him, Jaekyung would counter with complete sincerity that any adorable behavior was definitely thanks to Jiheon. With that kind of dynamic, they had zero chance of ever fighting.

Jini was what people called an easy baby. He smiled the second he saw his dads’ faces, never threw tantrums, and always knocked out the moment he got sleepy—whether in his bed or in someone’s arms. He slept so well they didn’t even need to buy that bouncer Jaekyung had been skeptical about.

But Jini did not tolerate hunger. And he sure as hell didn’t put up with a wet diaper.

The issue was that he drank formula every two hours. Around the clock. And naturally, what went in came right back out. Jaekyung had earned his “Diaper Change Master” certificate on YouTube well in advance, but the real deal was a whole different beast. For the first two days after coming home, each diaper change took at least ten minutes, and he burned through two or three diapers every time. But by day three, he’d become faster and more accurate than anyone, and by day four, he had officially reclaimed his Master status.

“Hyung, I think Jini’s more cut out to be a coach than an athlete, don’t you?”

Jaekyung said it seriously, crediting Jini’s brutal, high-intensity repetition drills for helping him hang on to his diaper changing license. On nights when Jini downed eight bottles in a row, Jaekyung would murmur half-asleep, cradling him:

“What is this...? Is this a tip or something...? Did he switch it up because he got bored of straight sets...? Trying to build tension... Damn, he’s good...”

Just like he’d promised, Jaekyung took on almost all the parenting. Jiheon helped, of course, but at night, Jaekyung took full responsibility. At ten p.m. sharp, he’d head into the baby’s room with Jini and wouldn’t come out. If Jiheon ever woke up to the sound of crying and checked in, Jaekyung would wave him off.

“He just needed a diaper change. Don’t worry, hyung. Go back to sleep.”

By the time he finished the sentence, the diaper had already been changed to perfection.

If he was going to stay up all night with the baby, he should’ve at least napped during the day—but Jaekyung insisted it was a waste of his precious time and stayed up anyway. Even when he dozed off without meaning to, the moment Jini cried or Jiheon spoke to the baby, he’d spring to his feet and rush out to the living room.

“He just wanted his bottle a little early.”

If Jiheon told him not to worry and to go back to sleep, Jaekyung would nod and say “Yeah, okay...” only to sit right back down next to him.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? Aren’t you tired? Go. Sleep.”

“It feels like a waste.”

“What?”

Even when Jiheon scolded him to just go to bed, Jaekyung stubbornly stayed put, eyes glued to Jiheon feeding Jini.

Then he’d suddenly mutter in a dazed voice, like he was dreaming out loud.

“Seriously... it feels like a dream.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if it were a dream?”

Jiheon teased, but Jaekyung just frowned.

“What, you think I’m weak? I could do this forever.”

Then, resting his chin on Jiheon’s shoulder, he spoke with startling seriousness.

“Still, don’t you think our timing was perfect? I’m really lucky I’m on break right now. If this had happened right before a meet or something, you would’ve told me to focus on training and tried to take care of the baby by yourself.”

He shuddered just thinking about it.

“I’m telling you, we nailed the timing. We’re amazing. Perfect. This is why we’re champions. Jini’s a genius, just like us.”

He launched into a full-on self-congratulatory rant, and the word contraception failure had clearly long since disappeared from his memory.

Timing genius Kwon Jaekyung funneled all his post-Olympic energy into taking care of their genius son. And after over two months of round-the-clock parenting, he could now change diapers, feed bottles, and give baths in his sleep. He even managed to eat his own meals while half-conscious.

Eventually, Jiheon, unable to take it anymore, dragged Jaekyung out of the baby’s room under the pretext of starting sleep training. He led him straight to the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed.

“Jini’s gonna cry soon...”

“He just passed out with a full belly. If he cries, I’ll take care of it. You just sleep.”

Jiheon pulled the blanket over Jaekyung’s head and gently tapped his chest.

“You’re doing too much. I’m here too, you know. Why are you trying to do it all alone?”

Jaekyung’s head popped out from under the covers instantly.

“Hyung, you gave birth to Jini on your own.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I mean, I didn’t give birth with you.”

Well, he’d helped make the baby, sure. Jaekyung added that quickly.

“Anyway, it’s only been two months. You had to go through a whole year of this...”

And then he yawned, wide and hard. His voice started to slur again.

“Before your surgery... you couldn’t sleep at all... After the surgery... the anesthesia... the pain... you got mad... weird...”

It was hard to tell if he was venting or just heartbroken.

“Yeah, yeah. I told you, I’m sorry about that.”

Jiheon stroked his chest to soothe him. Then, as he lay down next to Jaekyung, who was seconds from passing out, he casually smiled and said:

“Hey, Jaekyung. What do you think—should we have a second kid?”

He barely finished the sentence before Jaekyung shot up in bed. Jiheon braced himself for a panicked apology—Hyung! I’m sorry! I’ll never say stupid shit again!

But instead—

“Seriously...?”

Jaekyung looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Then, before Jiheon could even respond, he blurted out:

“If you’re okay with it—if you want it—I’d love that.”

“Oh... uh... really?”

Jiheon didn’t even have time to be flustered.

“Yeah, honestly, I’ve been thinking lately that it would’ve been great if Jini were a twin. There was this guy I kept running into at the postnatal center’s kangaroo program—his kids were twins, and they actually looked really happy. So I started thinking, hey, if we’re gonna suffer anyway, might as well suffer double all at once and raise them together. Doesn’t sound so bad.”

Apparently, he hadn’t been sleepy at all. Jaekyung started talking a mile a minute, crystal-clear now. Jiheon realized he must’ve been holding this in for a while.

“Jini’s not even that hard to take care of, you know? As long as he’s fed and dry, he’s fine.”

“Uh... isn’t that the hardest part...?”

“No way, hyung. Jini’s easy. You know how many parents are miserable because their babies cry for no reason? Jini’s an angel. If our second kid’s like him, I could totally raise two at once. Not saying I want twins, just that two kids wouldn’t be hard.”

...Shit.

Jiheon realized, far too late, that he’d just made a huge mistake.

“If we have a second one, I’ll raise them myself. I swear. You don’t have to do anything.”

Jaekyung looked absolutely thrilled—so sincere that Jiheon couldn’t even backpedal and say he was just kidding.

“Well... maybe. But Jini’s still so young. Let’s take our time and think it through.”

Jiheon spoke as gently as he could.

“Maybe it feels doable right now because it’s only been two months. As we go on, things might change.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Jaekyung nodded.

“But I’m totally on board. No matter what.”

“...”

“If you’re okay with it, I’m good with two. Or three.”

He already looked like he had their second child in his arms. For a second, Jiheon thought he might say, “Why wait? Let’s start now.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s talk more about it later. For now, just sleep.”

Jiheon pushed Jaekyung back onto the bed, tucked the blanket up to his chin, and patted his chest. But Jaekyung didn’t fall asleep easily. He was too excited, practically buzzing with anticipation. Jiheon thought he was finally out when he suddenly popped his eyes open again.

“Hey, hyung. You know, about our second kid...”

He was already imagining a child that didn’t exist.

“Don’t you think it’d be so cute if Jini walked around holding hands with a little sister who looked like you? Picture them sitting side by side in car seats in the backseat.”

The fact that he’d already imagined that far ahead was a skill in itself.

“Why do you just assume our second will be a daughter who looks like me?”

Jiheon asked. “What if it’s another boy who looks like you?”

Jaekyung blinked like he didn’t get the question.

“We already have Jini. Why would our second look like me again? Obviously the next one’s a daughter who looks like you. That’s just how the odds work, right?”

Jiheon had long suspected that Jaekyung had a poor grasp of probability. Genetics, for sure, was not his strong suit.

Still, Jiheon didn’t bother correcting him. It wouldn’t get through to him in this state anyway. And besides, he’d just now realized... if they were to have a second child, he kind of liked the idea of a daughter too.

It was all Jaekyung’s fault. The second he’d said “imagine Jini holding hands with a little sister who looks like you,” Jiheon had pictured it. A toddler Jini holding his baby sister’s hand, waddling side by side—and it hit him straight in the heart.

Jini was already this cute. How cute would he be with a little sister just as cute?

He’d just been thinking maybe the second should look like Jaekyung too... and now here he was, realizing he’d gotten swept up just as far.

A second child? When Jini wasn’t even 100 days old yet?

They were still struggling with just one.

Jiheon tried to clear his head and close his eyes, hoping to get at least a little sleep before Jini woke up. But it was no use. The image of Jini walking hand-in-hand with his little sister wouldn’t leave him alone. He saw them side by side in car seats, and then, a little older, floating together in a swimming tube at the pool—and it was so cute he almost smacked Jaekyung in the face.

Luckily, he noticed Jaekyung had finally fallen asleep. Mouth open, totally out cold.

Jiheon, unable to resist, wrapped his arms around him.

And even in his sleep, Jaekyung instinctively pulled him close and patted his back.

This guy really was a dad now.

There was something unmistakably different about his touch. Jiheon buried his face in Jaekyung’s chest and smiled.

He’d been worried he’d be too keyed up to sleep, but the moment Jaekyung’s arms wrapped around him, the tension in his body melted. Sleep started to creep in.

Snuggling deeper into his arms, Jiheon thought: Yeah... with Jaekyung, maybe two or three kids really is doable.

He had a heart this big, after all.

And any child who got to fall asleep in arms this wide and warm would have no choice but to be happy.

Just like he was now.