TSG 139

Se-hyun’s parenting partner.

At first, he naturally thought it would be Shin Tae-oh, and he believed that thought wouldn’t change.

However, Se-hyun now had a different parenting partner.

As Se-hyun sat Seo-jun in a Bumbo chair and shook a rattle for him, he heard the doorbell ring and quickly got up.

“I’ll get it.”

He told the housekeeper, who was about to come out of the kitchen, to stay there as he moved. It was someone he had been eagerly waiting for.

When he opened the door, Yoo Jin-ha, wearing a baby carrier in front, waved.

“Am I late?”

“No. Come on in.”

Se-hyun stepped aside, taking Yoo Jin-ha’s bag. Jin-ha made eye contact gratefully before entering.

A few months after Se-hyun had Seo-jun, Yoo Jin-ha had a baby, and they naturally started spending time together. They already had a strong bond from being kidnapped together, but after having babies and hanging out, they now saw each other almost daily.

To the point where they were comfortable with each other.

“Hi, Seo-jun. Uncle’s here. Han-gyeol is here too.”

Yoo Jin-ha unfastened the clip on his shoulder and expertly changed the direction of the baby in his arms. He laid the baby down in the bouncer next to Seo-jun, and the baby yawned, opening its tiny mouth.

While Yoo Jin-ha finished greeting Seo-jun, shaking the rattle, Se-hyun looked at Han-gyeol lying in the bouncer.

‘I never thought I’d see in person the baby I only read about.’

In the original story, Yoo Jin-ha marries Ha Min-hyuk and has a child right away. There was a short side story showing their sweet time together after naming the baby Han-gyeol, and now Se-hyun was seeing it with his own eyes.

The novel described the baby as cute, but to Se-hyun, it was beyond that.

Only the eyes resembled Ha Min-hyuk, while everything else took after Yoo Jin-ha. It wasn’t just cute, it was incredibly adorable. It seemed like lovability filled Han-gyeol from head to toe.

He should be thinking this about his own son, but… While Seo-jun was cute too, his handsomeness overshadowed his cuteness, not quite reaching Han-gyeol’s level of adorableness. Plus, Han-gyeol was so tiny.

Even though fifty days had passed since birth, maybe because of the small face, he still looked like a newborn.

Comparing Seo-jun at the same age, the difference was stark. Somehow, Seo-jun seemed to get bigger and stronger as time passed, while Han-gyeol remained small and soft.

“Shouldn’t Han-gyeol keep sleeping?”

As Se-hyun gently stroked Han-gyeol’s cheek, Jin-ha shook his head.

“It’s time for him to wake up.”

As if on cue, Han-gyeol’s movements increased, as if he had slept enough. Seeing the baby’s squirming, Se-hyun smiled.

“How can he be so small and cute?”

Expressing the thought he had every time he saw Han-gyeol, Jin-ha paused as he was about to pick up Seo-jun, who was trying to get out of the Bumbo chair. He then sat Seo-jun on his lap as usual and gave him another toy.

“It’s because he was born small.”

Yoo Jin-ha said, soothing Seo-jun while looking at his own son.

“I still can’t forget Min-hyuk’s scared expression when he said Han-gyeol was too small to hold.”

Born a full kilogram lighter than Seo-jun, Han-gyeol was indeed very small. Although he was born full-term and is healthy now, it seemed Ha Min-hyuk was hesitant to hold him because of his visibly small size.

“It was the same with Seo-jun.”

Se-hyun nodded. Shin Tae-oh was the same.

Although the comparison might be a bit odd, just as Shin Tae-oh was bigger than Ha Min-hyuk, Seo-jun was bigger than Han-gyeol. So when Ha Min-hyuk held Han-gyeol or Shin Tae-oh held Seo-jun, they looked similarly cradled in their arms.

Regardless, they were both too afraid to touch their babies, worried they might grip them too tightly because they were so small.

“I don’t understand why they’re so scared to hold their own children.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Min-hyuk still can’t sleep next to Han-gyeol. He’s afraid he might roll over on him.”

“The CEO is the same. If that’s the case, they should sleep separately, I don’t know why they try to sleep together.”

“I know. I don’t understand why they put me in the middle.”

Yoo Jin-ha shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it, but none of this was unfamiliar. Se-hyun took Seo-jun from Jin-ha and sat him on the floor.

Seo-jun, now able to sit on his own, quickly found his balance and reached for other toys.

“But why does it seem like Seo-jun grows bigger every day even though I see him daily?”

“Because he’s Shin Tae-oh’s son.”

“He was average weight when he was born, though.”

“Still, because he’s Shin Tae-oh’s son.”

Seo-jun was growing at an incredible rate, as if the saying “growing by the day” was made for him.

“Have you done the baby health checkup?”

“He ranked first.”

Se-hyun proudly announced that Seo-jun’s weight was top among 100 babies.

“Wow. As expected of Shin Seo-jun.”

Yoo Jin-ha laughed, stroking Seo-jun’s cheek with his index finger.

“I wonder how tall he’ll grow.”

“Since he’s Shin Tae-oh’s son…”

At Yoo Jin-ha’s playful words, Se-hyun looked at Seo-jun seriously. While Seo-jun had inherited half of Se-hyun’s facial features, his build clearly leaned towards Shin Tae-oh’s side…

“He’ll probably be over 190 cm.”

Imagining a future where Seo-jun would be taller than himself, Se-hyun shook his head. He felt like he should find it intimidating, but instead, he felt Seo-jun will still be cute even when he’s grown.

***

“And they lived happily ever after.”

After reading the last sentence, Se-hyun confirmed that Seo-jun was asleep and dimmed the mood light. He pulled up the blanket that had slipped down to Seo-jun’s legs, covering him up to his stomach, and patted him gently.

He was about to put the book back on the shelf beside the bed but paused. Se-hyun placed the book back on his lap and quietly looked down at the fairy tale’s cover.

“A novel.”

His world was also a novel. There were two main characters heading towards a happy future, villains jealous of the protagonists, supporting characters helping the protagonists.

And extras filling in the surroundings.

If Se-hyun had transmigrated like in other novels, he might have known his future, but his case was different. He knew others’ futures but not his own. So he jumped into their world to use the knowledge he had.

“They lived happily ever after.”

Though each story was different, they all ended with one conclusion.

The protagonist’s happiness.

Then what about Se-hyun, who wasn’t the protagonist?

Considering how excited he was about the future he was creating with his beloved Alpha Shin Tae-oh and beloved son Shin Seo-jun, it seemed he had met a similar ending to the protagonists…

“Is this the end then?”

In novels, it ends with the protagonist’s happiness, so if Se-hyun’s story were written down, wouldn’t it be the same? But thinking about it that way made him laugh.

“No, it’s not.”

He was happy, but it wasn’t “happily ever after” yet.

There were still so many days left to live. Only by filling all those years with happiness could he truly call it the “happily ever after” ending.

So Se-hyun hadn’t yet concluded this story.

“Seo-jun asleep, so should I go put the first child to bed now?”

Se-hyun got up, pondering how to coax and soothe Shin Tae-oh, who would be waiting outside, to sleep.

In the quiet room after Se-hyun left, the fairy tale book lay gently under Seo-jun’s hand as he slept soundly.

***

“Huh? What’s with the wine?”

“To drink together.”

Shin Tae-oh, dressed in pajamas, swirled the wine glass. Seeing this, Se-hyun immediately had a good idea.

He can put him to sleep with this.

“Sounds good.”

Se-hyun received a wine glass.

By the time he sat on the sofa, there was already an impressive spread of fruits, cheese, and even canapés to accompany the wine.

“You managed to set all this up without making a sound?”

The canapés were baked with cheese on top and still warm, looking delicious just by sight. As Se-hyun was looking at them, Shin Tae-oh picked one up and brought it to his mouth.

Se-hyun just opened his mouth to receive it, and Shin Tae-oh watched contentedly.

“You eat so well, our Se-hyun.”

“Something feels odd.”

Se-hyun moistened his throat with wine and leaned back on the sofa. He had come out intending to put Shin Tae-oh, his “firstborn,” to sleep, but it seemed the opposite was happening.

“Try this too. Did you eat your meals on time today?”

“Uh… Yes. I ate well.”

Se-hyun obediently opened his mouth as Shin Tae-oh fed him, nodding along.

“Don’t skip even one meal. Are you tired of home-cooked meals? Want to have lunch together tomorrow?”

“…You’re really paying a lot of attention to my eating.”

He always did, but it seems especially so now?

“Are you fattening me up to eat me?”

Se-hyun’s eyes were half-closed. He was giving Shin Tae-oh a sidelong glance, but Shin Tae-oh waved his hands, indicating he had no such hidden intentions.

“Is that so? I thought you were thinking about a second child.”

Se-hyun took another sip of wine, trying to see through Shin Tae-oh’s intentions.

“It’s not that… No, just very seriously. I mean, I really wanted to talk seriously about the future.”

He knew it. It wa about a second child.

Just when things seemed to have settled down a bit, he couldn’t help but think about a second child already.

Se-hyun shook his head as if to say ‘there’s no helping it.’

Indeed, it seems he couldn’t end with a “happily ever after” just yet.