PIA 150

“Hyung, I really… I’ll really do well.”

Though he had no specific plans on what to do well, Ji-an blurted it out anyway. Jeong Hee-seo burst into laughter.

“Okay. Do well, let’s do well together.”

He laughed heartily and pressed his body close to Ji-an, starting to ask how he would do well. In an instant, the voice whispering in his ear became moist.

The tongue that had been licking his earlobe soon licked his damp eyes, and not satisfied with that, sought his lips. In the sticky atmosphere, Jeong Hee-seo cupped his flushed cheeks with even hotter hands. Just as their lips were about to meet impatiently-

“General Manager!”

“Waaah!”

The door burst open with Hae-yi’s loud cry.

Startled, Ji-an didn’t have time to cover his face. Jeong Hee-seo jumped up and shielded Ji-an with his body.

“Ah… Hae-yi was playing well but suddenly started crying. I, I wasn’t trying to not knock…”

Secretary Yoon’s flustered voice echoed through the General Manager’s office. Judging by his apologetic addition, he must have seen everything. Ji-an buried his face in his hands.

Even when the housekeeper was looking after Hae-yi at home, his timing for crying was almost superhuman, but they had let their guard down. This wasn’t the first time they’d been embarrassed because of the baby, but no matter how many times it happened, they couldn’t get used to it.

“Oh, sorry, Wooyoung. Take this and have a tea time with the staff.”

Jeong Hee-seo handed his card to Secretary Yoon with an amused voice and took Hae-yi.

After Secretary Yoon retreated with an excited face, Hae-yi sat squarely between the two.

“Jeong Hae-yi…”

Even when Ji-an called his name in an exasperated tone, it was useless. As soon as he occupied the space between his dads, he stopped crying, but his fair face was full of displeasure and his brow furrowed.

As Ji-an took out a gauze towel from his bag to wipe Hae-yi’s wet face, the baby raised his hand and pushed it away primly. He grabbed Jeong Hee-seo’s jacket lapel, buried his face in it, and whimpered pitifully.

Even when Jia tried to detach him, saying it was dirty, he wouldn’t budge. He scrunched up his face until his chin wrinkled and shed big tears. His grip was so strong that it left wrinkles on the jacket lapel.

“Hey, little Seo Ji-an. Come here.”

Only when Jeong Hee-seo picked him up and held him in his arms did his face brighten. He climbed up, leaving drool all over his jacket, and put his hands on Jeong Hee-seo’s chin. It looked like he was claiming it as his own, making Ji-an narrow his eyes.

They say there are times when children growing up become clingy to their parents, but in Hae-yi’s case, it only applied to Jeong Hee-seo. This was puzzling and also vaguely disappointing to Ji-an. Ji-an narrowed his eyes and pouted his lips.

“He only likes you. This kid.”

“Looks like Hae-yi takes after Ji-an.”

“Hmph!”

Ugh. He was good at disarming Ji-an’s heart. As he blushed, at a loss for words, Jeong Hee-seo smiled with a strange expression.

He looked at Hae-yi in his arms, then at Ji-an, his eyes moving busily. He always said this, wondering how such an identical child had popped out, but Ji-an found it hard to agree. To his eyes, Hae-yi was a hundred, a thousand times prettier.

As Ji-an hesitated and pouted his lips, Jeong Hee-seo raised an eyebrow. Somehow, the deep smile at the corners of his mouth even looked mischievous.

Jeong Hee-seo lightly touched Ji-an’s cheek as he avoided his gaze.

“Call Jeong Hee-young. Tell her we’re dropping off Hae-yi today.”

“What?”

Hearing her name, Hae-yi slapped Jeong Hee-seo’s cheek.

“Looks like this kid understands his dad’s words? Hae-yi, you’re playing with Yi-seo noona today. Okay?”

“Aang! Aang!”

He gently rocked Hae-yi in his arms while urging Ji-an.

“Let’s play just the two of us today, Ji-an.”

Oh no, why… what’s he up to now?

Ji-an looked at Jeong Hee-seo with a hint of fear. Nevertheless, he discreetly took out his phone and made the call.

As always, Jeong Hee-young made a subtle nasal sound in response to Ji-an’s call. She joked that Ji-an must repay this favor, considering she had never even tied Yi-seo’s hair despite having a house full of staff.

“You always do that.”

“Do what?”

“You seem normal to others, but you have a bit of a pervert side.”

“Me?”

Jeong Hee-seo denied it while rubbing his nose against Hae-yi’s cheek. As he laughed, blowing air, Hae-yi burst into laughter too.

“Why do you always give a heads-up like that? You know… you could just do it without saying anything, but you always have to announce it. Like a pervert… and on those days, you torment people.”

“Did I torment you? Did you dislike it, Ji-an?”

“No… that’s not what I meant.”

Ji-an knew. His heads-up was a kind of play. They slept with their bodies pressed together every night like ordinary couples, but occasionally there were days like today when he would openly issue a heads-up. It was usually when Jeong Hee-seo was fixated on something, but even Ji-an found it hard to predict the pattern.

Ji-an didn’t dislike it. There was no way he could dislike it. The problem was that everyone living in the house knew about it. Even Jeong Hee-young and grandmother could guess their lifestyle pattern because of Hae-yi’s presence.

It was almost like announcing, “Tonight, we two will be doing this and that.”

Ji-an’s cheeks turned red. Jeong Hee-seo gazed at him for a moment before honestly saying,

“It feels good, like I’m getting permission from you.”

Caught off guard by his unexpected words, Ji-an was at a loss for words.

“But if you dislike it, Ji-an, then… I can’t help it.”

Can’t help it? As Ji-an looked at him questioningly, his eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Actually, I don’t care, Ji-an. Whether the housekeeper is home, or the driver…”

“Oh!”

Ji-an slapped Jeong Hee-seo’s shoulder hard enough to make a sound in response to his subtle threat. Hae-yi imitated Ji-an and hit Jeong Hee-seo as well. Jeong Hee-seo blew a raspberry on Hae-yi’s belly, then hugged him tightly and leaned towards Ji-an.

“Kyaang! Papa!”

The jealous child just thought it was his dad’s playfulness and burst into laughter, but unseen above, the two dads were continuing their kisses. With each lean, there was a burst of laughter and a smacking sound on Ji-an’s cheek.

Even as his face turned as red as a radish, Ji-an enjoyed his kisses so much that on the fourth approach, he deliberately turned his head to meet his lips.

In the end, their plan failed. Hae-yi, who had been laughing happily in Jeong Hee-seo’s office, started crying as soon as the car headed towards his aunt’s neighborhood.

Usually, he would fall asleep as soon as the car started moving, but this time he babbled and played in the back seat throughout the journey, which was unusual. When he finally started crying, Ji-an was very flustered.

Ji-an even moved to the back seat during the trip, but Hae-yi didn’t stop crying pitifully.

“Hyung, hyung! Pull over!”

The crying was so intense, and Hae-yi’s face turned red as he gasped for breath, so Ji-an asked Jeong Hee-seo to stop the car. Thinking he might be hungry, Ji-an offered a milk bottle, but Hae-yi clenched his lips and avoided it. His diaper was dry, so they couldn’t figure out the reason.

“Are you sick somewhere? Hae-yi, what’s wrong? Our baby, what’s the matter?”

Ji-an unbuckled the car seat and carried Hae-yi out of the car. He thought Hae-yi might be distressed from crying in the confined space of the car. After standing there and comforting him for a while, Jeong Hee-seo, who had moved the car to a parking spot, ran over to Ji-an.

“Let me have him. I’ll comfort him. Your arms must be tired, Ji-an.”

“No, hyung. I want to hold him.”

Although Hae-yi, who would be turning one year old in winter, was quite heavy, he wasn’t too difficult to hold. Moreover, seeing him cry with big tears dropping was so pitiful that Ji-an refused Jeong Hee-seo’s offer. He wanted to hold Hae-yi more himself.

But then Hae-yi twisted his waist and reached out both hands to Jeong Hee-seo.

“Pa—”

“…”

Fearing he might drop Hae-yi if he persisted, Ji-an handed him over to Jeong Hee-seo, but couldn’t hide his dejected expression.

“Jeong Hae-yi…”

Ji-an narrowed his eyes and glared at his family members, both bearing the Jeong surname.

“Hyung. This is just my imagination, right?”

“…Ji-an, I love you.”

He always knew how to stop him from saying anything more. It was a bit silly to feel hurt by a one-year-old’s pure expression of emotion. As he stood there awkwardly with his arms crossed, trying to hide his sulky feelings, Jeong Hee-seo pulled him into a hug with his free arm.

Hae-yi was now sucking his thumb, resting his head on Jeong Hee-seo’s shoulder as if he had never cried. Ji-an felt a bit guilty.

Ji-an often felt conflicted when spending intimate time with Jeong Hee-seo while leaving Hae-yi with someone else, and now it felt like he had proof that young Hae-yi had felt left out, which made his heart ache. He wasn’t unfamiliar with feeling left out himself. Hae-yi’s big black eyes, brimming with tears, pricked at Ji-an’s conscience.

“Hyung, I think Hae-yi cried because he knew we were taking him to his aunt’s house.”