DP Side Story 2, Episode 23
by BrieDeep Pivot Side Story 2, Episode 23
Do-young laughed, saying this cheesy idea had to be Captain Jin’s. But Yeon-woo knew the truth—it was actually something Lieutenant Hong Yeong-gyo had asked Seo-joon to say in advance.
“Groom, repeat after me. ‘Wife is God.’”
“Wife is! God is!”
With Yeong-gyo on his back, Cheong-oh shouted as he did push-ups.
“‘Always listen to your wife.’”
“Always listen! To your wife!”
Just then, Colonel Jin in the VIP seat couldn’t hold it anymore and burst into loud laughter. He stepped closer to the stage and started filming his son’s ridiculous moment on his phone.
“The groom’s father is finally shedding tears of joy,”
Seo-joon joked calmly, drawing another round of laughter from the crowd. Then came the infamously cruel wedding song.
It was cruel because it was filled with choreography that didn’t match the harmonies at all.
Yeon-woo was genuinely glad he had chosen to be a flower boy instead. If he’d had to sing that in front of the lieutenant, he might’ve been bedridden with embarrassment. Do-young, who had sensed early on how disastrous the performance would be and opted to join Yeon-woo as a flower boy, was equally relieved and gleefully recorded their teammates’ shameful moment on his phone.
Once the ceremony concluded, the true highlight for the guests began—the buffet. The flower of every wedding. The real reason everyone had come. As Seo-joon gave the reception hall directions over the mic, Yeon-woo left the ceremony hall with Do-young and waited for him outside.
Busy exchanging handshakes with acquaintances from the center, Yeon-woo eventually spotted Seo-joon through the crowd.
“……”
His round, gentle eyes narrowed suddenly. Seo-joon was standing by the exit, smiling and chatting with some unfamiliar woman. The only women Seo-joon knew were SAU teammates, so… who was she?
I knew it. I just knew something like this would happen. I had a bad feeling all day.
From the moment the lieutenant dressed so handsomely and flawlessly emceed the wedding, Yeon-woo had felt something like this would occur.
Why are they talking so long? If someone asks for your number, you should turn them down cold. Lieutenant’s heart is way too soft. When you smile like that with that gorgeous face, anyone would want to try their luck.
Yeon-woo marched through the crowd and approached with firm strides.
“Babe.”
It was a loud and clear voice, enough to draw attention from passersby. Seo-joon, who had been smiling at the woman, quickly turned to look at Yeon-woo. In an instant, Yeon-woo stepped beside him, laced his fingers tightly with Seo-joon’s, and gave the woman a prim glance.
“What’s going on, babe?”
For some reason, Seo-joon’s smile deepened. Holding Yeon-woo’s hand tightly, he introduced the woman.
“This is Yeong-gyo’s younger sister, Yeong-ji.”
“Oh…”
Hello…
Yeon-woo politely folded his hands and gave a deep bow.
“Hi! Wow, you’re even better looking than in the pictures. I’ve heard so much about you from my sister.”
Smiling brightly, Yeong-ji looked so much like Lieutenant Hong Yeong-gyo up close that it was almost uncanny. After the pleasant exchange, Seo-joon saw her off and then shook his shoulders, laughing in little snorts.
“…What’s so funny?”
“Don’t assume everyone in the world is going to fall for me. That’s just your rose-tinted glasses talking, Yeon-woo.”
“Tch.”
“There it is again, the pouty lips sticking out five inches.”
After the reception ended, everyone gathered at Cheong-oh’s house. Since they had already returned from a long business trip that doubled as their honeymoon, Cheong-oh and Yeong-gyo sat in the living room with the team, sharing a modest after-party once the ceremony was over.
“If this were like the old days, we wouldn’t have even fit in one house. The team’s gotten a lot smaller.”
They chatted about teammates who had transferred to other units and Guides who’d retired to pursue second careers. After the gate incidents ended, the government had implemented a system where Awakened individuals pledged a form of allegiance in exchange for the freedom to change careers. If another disaster were to occur, they were obligated to return at the nation’s call.
In this new reality, the choices among Awakened people had diversified. Some applied to special forces units to continue using their abilities, while others chose entirely unrelated civilian paths.
“Actually, we’ve been thinking… maybe it’s time we try something new too.”
Suddenly, Cheong-oh brought it up.
“There’s talk of a gate research base being built in Antarctica.”
After all, if gate research was to continue, there still needed to be Awakened who could handle monsters in the field. Korea already had a joint research institute with the United States, so if they were going to deploy units to Antarctica, there was a good chance Korea would send people as well.
It seemed like Cheong-oh and Yeong-gyo were planning to apply. A few other team members who’d had similar thoughts said they would apply too. The conversation shifted to future plans. Do-young said he wanted to become a barista, while Min-geon and Si-hwan talked about applying for special operations roles in the fire department.
Even though they’d all made more than enough money to never work another day in their lives as special forces Awakened, not one of them actually intended to rest. They were too used to working in the field; idleness didn’t suit them.
“Hey, Lieutenant Kang, you’re applying for Antarctica too, right?”
“…I’m doing pottery.”
That’s when Chae-won suddenly spoke up. Do-young blinked and asked in disbelief.
“Pottery? Like, actual pottery, noona? Is that… some kind of monster?”
“…I mean I want to learn pottery making.”
Chae-won scratched her forehead sheepishly.
“I want to open a workshop in Jeju Island. Thought it’d be nice to run it with a guesthouse.”
The team stared at her, stunned. They couldn’t even tease her for it—Chae-won was completely serious.
No one had seen that coming. If she said she wanted to smash pots, maybe. But that she wanted to make them? Despite having worked side by side for so many years, it turned out there were still things they didn’t know about each other.
“Ah… well, you pick things up fast, noona.”
“You’ll be great at it.”
“Hey, thinking about how fast she can assemble a rifle, she’ll probably make some killer pottery too.”
Their faces brightened as they tried to cheer her on, but the expressions were tinged with something more complicated.
The ones who had walked the same path were now starting to find their own. They’d thought they would stay together like family forever, but now that the gates were gone, it hit them—there are more ways to live than they’d ever imagined.
Leaning her chin in one hand, Yeong-gyo suddenly looked across the room at the pair sitting together.
“What about you two? What’re Baby and Lieutenant Ji gonna do now?”
Epilogue
WELCOME!
Intelligence growing within beauty!
The Forest of Knowledge — Korea University
Yeon-woo sat alone by the window of a café, his laptop open in front of him as he stared outside. It was the holiday season, and colorful lights twinkled everywhere. Bundled-up people in thick winter coats bustled by, white puffs of breath rising as they hurried along the streets.
Every year, this season brought back memories of the first time he met Seo-joon. Winter had always been the season of beginnings for the two of them. The season when the course of their lives took an entirely different turn. The season when a miracle they thought they would never reach finally came true.
Lowering his gaze, Yeon-woo looked at his laptop screen. He closed the massive popup window on the university homepage that featured his own face smiling back at him, then clicked through to the category he needed.
Yeon-woo had entered the Department of Sports Rehabilitation at Korea University last year. Since then, he had been working as a promotional model at the school’s request. Because of that, he had to see his annoyingly cheerful face every time he visited the homepage.
Still, humans are creatures of adaptation. After bumping into his own face all over campus day after day, it didn’t embarrass him like it used to.
While downloading the syllabus for one of his required major courses, a video call notification popped up at the bottom of the screen. Lowering his mask to take a sip of lemonade, he tipped the brim of his ball cap up and clicked the notification.
— Baby!
Cheong-oh’s cheerful voice came through the screen. Beside him, Yeong-gyo waved with a smile and said, “Hi, baby!”
Yeon-woo’s face lit up with a grin.
“Hello.”
— Wow, you’ve gotten even prettier since we last saw you.
— You dyed your hair black?
“I stood out too much at school.”
— Ah, you’re getting older now, huh?
Yeon-woo replied proudly to the teasing.
“Of course. I’m turning twenty-four soon. I’m not a baby anymore, Captain.”
He had said the same thing last year. And the year before that. And he’d probably say it again next year, and the year after, and even ten years from now. As he sipped his lemonade, Yeon-woo asked about how the two of them were doing.
Cheong-oh and Yeong-gyo had been living at the gate research base under construction in Antarctica since last year. Life there didn’t seem particularly comfortable—both of them looked like they had lost a bit of weight.
They talked about how three No-Named individuals had ended up there, and how the team assignments still weren’t finalized, leaving the organizational structure a mess.
— I’m not a captain anymore, baby. We’ve been absorbed into another team, so I’m not SAU now.
“You’ll always be my captain, though.”
Yeon-woo said with a smile. Cheong-oh scolded him, saying the baby had turned into a real smooth talker. But judging by the wide grin on his face, he didn’t seem to mind the comment at all.
— How’s Seo-joon doing?
A tender smile bloomed on Yeon-woo’s lips.
“Seo-joon hyung? Hyung is currently…”