M 193

“Huh? What are you talking about….”

Lee Sehwa was dumbfounded. One moment he was being told he resembled a flower, another a fist-sized cat, and just recently even a small monkey, and now he was being compared to a strawberry?

“It really was a beautiful strawberry.”

But it was true. He had already thought it was ridiculously pretty for a fruit, and now he realized it was because it resembled Lee Sehwa. Shouldn’t he really lock him up so he can’t go anywhere? How could a married man with a child be so devastatingly beautiful, even when transformed into a piece of fruit?

“Come to think of it, I had a strange dream too.”

“Why? Did you pick up a strawberry too?”

“No, not that… I opened a bakery.”

A bakery? Ki Tae-jeong’s eyes, still lingering on the afterimage of the world’s most beautiful strawberry, turned slightly sharp. Sehwa had mentioned several times recently that he wanted to open his own bakery. There were no concrete plans, but he was skilled and had plenty of money, so if he made up his mind, opening one wouldn’t be difficult.

‘You want to open a bakery?’

‘Yes!’

‘Why, are you short on allowance?’

‘Huh? No. Lieutenant General gives me plenty, and my father gives me a lot separately too?’

‘Then why do you suddenly want to work?’

‘Just… I think it would be meaningful in its own way.’

He didn’t particularly want to earn money, but if he made even a little profit, he would use it to help children in need. He also wanted to feed warm, delicious bread to the hungry people outside the Star District.

‘I’ve always thought I was lucky. This comfort isn’t something I earned through my own efforts. So this time, I want to help other people. No, I think I have to.’

Sehwa smiled shyly as he shaped the cookie dough. It was a kind way of thinking that Ki Tae-jeong couldn’t understand at all, but what could he do? The pretty man had made up his mind that way.

Ki Tae-jeong also didn’t want to stop Sehwa’s hobbies. Rather, he hoped he would find something to immerse himself in to a reasonable extent. If he became attached to even one thing, would he cherish this life more? And if he could keep seeing Sehwa’s brightly smiling face, what reason would he have to object?

But thinking about the future customers made him feel spiteful for no reason. If such a pretty person was arranging sweet and fluffy things and smiling as he said “Welcome,” wouldn’t anyone naturally become a regular? They would definitely try to get on Sehwa’s good side and become familiar with him by clocking in every day. Sehwa was very firm in some ways, but he didn’t seem like he could be harsh to the guys coming and going as customers.

Shit. Suddenly feeling unpleasant, Ki Tae-jeong even considered setting up a shop within the Air Force headquarters. Or maybe near a military base. It would be difficult for ordinary people to access, and he could send his men whenever he wanted, so it wouldn’t be bad….

“Anyway, the name of the shop I opened in my dream was so funny.”

While he was lost in thought, Sehwa seemed to be retracing the dream that had been so amazing to him. His dazed face as he recalled the shop in his dream was cute.

Sehwa no longer talks about the past. On the contrary, if Ki Tae-jeong occasionally obsessed over and clung to the old days, Sehwa would firmly put a stop to it, telling him there was no need for that anymore. Sehwa, who once suffered from the obsession of having to become better and couldn’t even imagine a new future, smiles bashfully by his side, dreaming of ‘someday.’ He wants to share what he has and imagines a better world.

Imagining the flies that would swarm around him still pissed him off, but apart from that, Ki Tae-jeong was also happy to be able to melt into the beautiful scenery that Sehwa was painting. So much so that he wanted to be immersed in Sehwa’s warm world and die there.

“The sign said ‘Sugar Lovey-Dovey Darling.'”

As if trying to pull Ki Tae-jeong, who had been grumbling and suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, back to reality, Sehwa told him about his dream.

“There was a line drawn between Lovey and Dovey, and Hae-rim drew it all crooked.”

“Sugar Lovey Dovey Darling? That sounds familiar….”

“It’s a phrase from the animation Hae-rim and I watched together yesterday.”

“Ah.”

One of the supporting characters in <Apie’s Great Adventure>, which Hae-rim still loves, was trying to learn English, and yesterday that dinosaur told Apie to call him Sugar or Darling because they were Lovey Dovey. He scoffed at the dinosaurs for acting up the whole time, but it must have made a strong impression on Sehwa.

“I thought the nuance was really cute while watching it, but I didn’t expect it to come out in my dream like that…. Isn’t it amazing? The unconscious is really amazing.”

“Really? Not something you wanted to hear from me?”

“Huh? What?”

“Did you like Darling better than Honey or Dear? I’ll call you that if you want.”

“Ah, no!”

Sehwa shook his head, groaning.

“Darling. That’s too cheesy.”

He was sometimes embarrassed by marital nicknames, but he never disliked them. The nickname Darling, however, was apparently out of the question. Sehwa emphasized once more that he really didn’t like it and shuddered.

“Dad? Is Big Dad awake?”

Just as he was about to tease him a little more for being so disgusted, Hae-rim knocked on the door from outside.

“Oh? Uh-huh. Hae-rim, come in.”

The child, who cautiously opened the bedroom door and peeked in, saw his Big Dad sitting propped up against the headboard and ran over excitedly.

“Daddyy!”

“Lee Hae-rim.”

Deliberately calling his name in a gruff voice, he rubbed the tip of his nose roughly against his soft cheek, and Hae-rim laughed loudly, saying it tickled. Sehwa even joined in, showering kisses on the other cheek, and the child was delighted, panting for breath.

“Hehe, Daddy’s awake!”

Hae-rim, who had been clinging to his dads and pecking at them for a while, stuck to Ki Tae-jeong’s arm like a cicada and smiled brightly.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Hehe, yes.”

“Are you ready to go to the amusement park?”

“Yes!”

As soon as the amusement park was mentioned, Hae-rim wiggled his butt. He looked like he was about to run outside right away. No matter how smart he was, even if he was much bigger than his peers, a kid was still a kid.

“Little Daddy, today, when we go there, uh, is there really an Apie?”

“Yeah, so they say.”

“Biki? Coco?”

“They said everyone’s there. Briri’s coming too.”

“I see.”

Hae-rim, whose cheeks were as red as if he had dipped them in strawberry milk, smiled and twisted his body. His face and gestures were so cute that Ki Tae-jeong couldn’t help but lift up the child’s top. He buried his lips in the chubby white belly and blew a raspberry, and the child squirmed, saying it tickled.

After teasing Hae-rim like that a few times, Ki Tae-jeong beckoned to Sehwa, who was looking at him and smiling. He was going to whisper in his ear, but he was so dumbfounded and in love with the way he offered his cheek as if it were natural, that he had no choice but to kiss him and whisper softly.

“By the way, Darling, shouldn’t we lock the bedroom door now? And install soundproofing materials so it’s soundproof.”

Sehwa, who didn’t understand the meaning right away, tilted his head slightly to the side, but then frowned belatedly.

“What are you talking about, Lieutenant General! And I don’t like that!”

“Why, is it that bad? Darling?”

“Yes. It’s extremely, really, truly bad.”

Ki Tae-jeong chuckled at Sehwa, who was full of dissatisfaction and puffing out his cheeks, then kissed him between his narrowed eyebrows with a smack.

“Alright. Good morning, honey.”

As he whispered with their foreheads lightly touching, his own breath returned to him like an echo. Ki Tae-jeong closed his eyes for a moment, savoring Sehwa’s warmth. Lee Sehwa’s long eyelashes fluttering so close. The even spread of his sweet breath…. Only now did Ki Tae-jeong’s familiar morning begin.

“…Good morning.”

Sehwa, who had been pouting, also returned the morning greeting as if he couldn’t help it.

“Is that it?”

“……”

“Huh? Really the end?”

Whether he was so embarrassed by the names ‘Honey’ or ‘Darling’, Sehwa tried to avoid it by kissing Ki Tae-jeong’s lips briefly.

“Me too, me too!”

He was going to tease Sehwa a little more, but Hae-rim, who was quietly nestled between the two, begged for a kiss. With no other choice, Ki Tae-jeong reached out and pulled Lee Sehwa and his young son who looked just like him into a single embrace.

Hae-rim squealed with excitement as if he were already at the amusement park, and Sehwa finally broke into a laugh. Gazing at his one and only world amidst the sunlight shattering over the white bedding, Ki Tae-jeong suddenly thought that if they had a second child, he would want to give them the fetal name Haetsal, meaning sunshine.

Haetsal.

It would be nice if their second child came to them like this morning, like this warm sunlight. Above all, it’s also similar to the pronunciation of Saessaki….

He didn’t know what would happen yet, but this time he wanted to call the baby in Sehwa’s belly Haetsal as much as he wanted. Even for Saessaki’s share, whom he couldn’t even acknowledge, very much.

The day will come when the second child will grow up as much as Hae-rim. On a sunny day, what kind of expression would the second child make if I told them I had thought of their fetal name? I hope they would smile brightly, saying they liked it. Lost in his whimsical imagination, Ki Tae-jeong soon shook his head. Anyone would think he was already expecting a second child.

“Hae-rim, want to wash up with Daddy?”

“Mhm, Little Daddy too!”

“Okay. Let’s all take a bath together nicely.”

“Nicely! I like it!”

It was a lovely morning as usual, so much so that he had already forgotten about the strange and sweet dream he had.

And it was about a week later that he realized that the dream in which he held the world’s most beautiful strawberry was a conception dream.