By Zephyria 
1 year and 3 months later—
“Oh my god. He doesn’t look like his dad at all. It’s a miracle.”
“I know, right? Thank goodness he takes after his mom.”
“Please, let his personality be like his mom too. Got it?”
Gilsu frowned at Baek Seol, Gangsan, and Jang-cheon’s conversation. When he snapped at them for talking nonsense, the baby whimpered and threatened to cry. He quickly soothed the baby and held him close.
His hands, covered in scars and calluses, cradled the baby as if he were a precious treasure, bringing warm smiles to the faces of his watching comrades.
Gilsu had fallen in love with a woman who moved to Zone D last year, and after a simple wedding, they had a child. It was a life he couldn’t have imagined before. Here, it was common for babies to starve to death because there was nothing to eat even after they were born.
“May I take the baby? Visiting hours are over.”
At the nurse’s words, Gilsu carefully handed over the baby. It was a small hospital that had been set up in Zone D, but there weren’t as many patients as one might think. They were people who would treat minor injuries themselves or leave them until they healed, so they never went to the hospital unless they were on the verge of death.
The director in charge of the hospital was an old man who had been the leader of the underground city, and he possessed outstanding medical skills. So Baek Seol learned from the old man whenever he had the chance. Ire suggested that she attend a school in district a, and she was seriously considering it.
“Where did Chham go?”
“It’s that day today.”
At Jang-cheon’s words, Gilsu sighed, “Ah, that’s right. It was that day.”
“He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.”
“Of course. Did he go alone?”
“Kim Ha-yoon came to pick him up early this morning. He treated him like a precious treasure.”
At Gilsu’s words, the other three imagined the scene. At first, Kim Ha-yoon seemed busy and only came three or four times a month, but the intervals shortened, and now it felt like he lived here. So, if he wasn’t seen for a few days, they wondered where he had gone.
“I don’t know when he works while he’s here having fun.”
Even though they said that, they all acknowledged Kim Ha-yoon’s abilities. He took over the troublesome tasks that his father, who was in a vegetative state, had left behind and pushed forward with reorganizing the zones at a frightening pace.
Thanks to him, most of the rioters and rebels had been dealt with in the past year, and the remaining zones were quickly stabilizing.
“I hope we only have good days like this in the future.”
Everyone agreed with Baek Seol’s words. They said they had no worries because their bellies were full and their backs were warm, and they desperately hoped that this peace would not be broken.
* * *
Kim Ha-yoon stared straight ahead in the car. Ire was talking to someone at an outdoor table in front of the cafe. The middle-aged man, who had the same hair color as Ire, handed him something, and Ire calmly accepted it and looked down at it.
The man was Ire’s biological father, the researcher who had donated the sperm. It had taken quite a long time to find him overseas, and he had a family and three children. An interpreter was relaying their words in between.
Ire looked back and forth between the interpreter and his biological father, and then looked back once in a while. Kim Ha-yoon found his actions of looking for him cute, but he knew that it wasn’t his place to interfere, so he just watched silently.
How long had it been? After finishing their conversation, the three of them got up and the man hugged Ire before they parted. Kim Ha-yoon couldn’t see Ire’s expression properly, but he could feel that he was awkwardly stiff.
A little later, Ire, who had parted ways with them, started walking towards here. Kim Ha-yoon was trying to read the hidden feelings in his expressionless face. Even after getting in the car, Ire had a slightly melancholy look on his face.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded and showed Kim Ha-yoon something. It was a photo, and it was the face of Yona that Kim Ha-yoon remembered. Her gaze looking at the camera with empty eyes, a white dress. The feeling of returning to his childhood made his fingertips tingle.
“He said he’s the person who gave birth to me.”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“He kept the picture.”
“I see.”
Ire looked at the photo and smiled, barely showing the corners of his lips. Kim Ha-yoon didn’t ask any more questions and stroked his hair. As someone who didn’t have much memory of receiving affection from his father and mother, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“He said he’d take me abroad if I wanted to.”
To some extent, he knew in advance. The man had expressed his willingness to take him abroad if he wanted to live with him. That’s why Kim Ha-yoon had a lot of concerns about letting them meet.
“So. What do you want to do?”
“I can’t go if I can’t communicate.”
“Do you want to go if you can communicate?”
Waiting for an answer, he put strength into the hand holding the steering wheel. He still didn’t like the fact that they were separated by several hours. If he could, he wanted to bring him to district a, tie him down by his side, and live together. Knowing that it was difficult, he visited Zone D whenever he had the chance.
Pretending to be nonchalant, he asked again if he wanted to go.
“No. I like it here. My family and friends are all here.”
“And?”
“What?”
“Besides family and friends, there’s someone else keeping you here, isn’t there?”
“…….”
“Is that how it is?”
When he frowned, Ire forcibly held back a laugh and nodded. “Captain too…” He spoke in a barely audible voice, and Kim Ha-yoon leaned in. “I can’t hear you. Say it louder.” At his teasing, Ire finally burst out laughing.
“But you. How long are you going to call me Captain?”
“Then? Should I call you hyung…?”
“How about ‘honey’?”
“That’s cringey.”
“Then just call me Kim Ha-yoon.”
“That’s a bit…”
“What’s the problem?”
“You’re nine years older than me…”
At the mention of age, Kim Ha-yoon frowned and snapped at him, asking what it had to do with anything. But Ire’s thoughts were different. Even if it was only a year or two, it seemed rude to call someone who was almost ten years older by their name. Frankly speaking, there wasn’t much age difference between him and Matteo.
But he kept his mouth shut because he knew Kim Ha-yoon would get angry if he said that. In the meantime, the car left the city center and headed to the suburbs where his family lived.
As they entered the residential area, people were seen enjoying swimming everywhere. As soon as Kim Ha-yoon parked the car near the house, he reached his hand to the back seat and picked something up. Ire tilted his head, looking at the beautifully wrapped object.
He brought a gift every time he came to the house, but this time it felt different. Then Kim Ha-yoon took out a tie and fastened it, and tidied up his clothes. Ire had hardly ever seen him wearing a tie, so he felt puzzled.
“What are you doing?”
“If you’re going to start a battle, you have to dress the part.”
When he asked if he had come to fight, he didn’t answer. Then he covered the back of his head and swallowed his lips. A cool scent of skin filled the air. The expression on his face, which even felt solemn, made him feel uneasy. Even though they were on better terms than before, Matteo and Kim Ha-yoon often clashed over various issues.
Ire pointed to the gift he was holding.
“What’s this? It’s not a bomb, is it?”
“It could be a bomb to you.”
Before he could ask what he meant, Kim Ha-yoon got out. As soon as he got out, Luca, who was playing ball in the yard, ran up to him first, and Kim Ha-yoon lifted him up. He headed towards the house, not caring that the child’s shoes were touching his spotless suit.
Ire looked at the gift in his hand and Kim Ha-yoon’s back, and then followed closely behind.
When he opened the door and went inside, his family greeted them. But Anna, who was greeting them happily, paused for a moment when she saw the gift that Kim Ha-yoon was holding. It was an expression that was hard to tell whether it was a sigh or an exclamation.
Seeing that, he became even more anxious. He was wondering if he should drag Kim Ha-yoon out right away when Matteo came out and took care of Ire first. He asked if he had met his biological father well, his worried voice, and the hand that hugged and patted him.
Ire unknowingly looked at Kim Ha-yoon. He was smiling, unlike usual. Then everyone sat down and Kim Ha-yoon slid the gift he had brought in front of Matteo.
“This is a gift.”
“Thank you for always being so thoughtful… I’ll open it later.”
“Open it now. It only has meaning if you do.”
What the hell is that that’s making him act like that? He watched with a tense expression as Matteo began to unpack the carefully wrapped gift. It was wrapped in layers, and finally a wooden box came out.
As soon as he opened the box, Anna gave a strange smile.
“What is this?”
“Chham. It’s almost extinct, and now it’s only grown in very small quantities.”
“Why this?”
Anna, who was listening, subtly interjected.
“Here, when you want to get permission to marry, you bring this tea and hand it over. If they allow the marriage, they brew the tea on the spot and share it together. If they don’t allow it, they return the tea.”
Ire, who was listening, looked at Kim Ha-yoon in horror. So that’s why this human dressed up so nicely today. Matteo’s expression was no different from his. He had a scary face as if he was about to throw the box away right away, but Kim Ha-yoon didn’t lose his unique composure.
“Anna. Please.”
At the same time as Anna reached out her hand, Matteo slammed the box shut. He was already considering turning a blind eye to their relationship, but he was furious at the nonsense about marriage. He pushed the box towards Kim Ha-yoon.
“That’s enough with the jokes. I knew you were a mischievous person, but you’ve crossed the line today.”
“Is that so? Ire, what about you? What do you think?”
Ire looked back and forth between the two, his mouth open. If he took Kim Ha-yoon’s side, Matteo would be upset, and if he took Matteo’s side, Kim Ha-yoon would be hurt. In fact, he had been joking about marriage for a while now, and he had laughed it off as nonsense, but he never thought he would actually bring something like this.
“Why would I get married…”
At those words, Matteo smiled as if he was sure of his victory.
“Did you hear that? I’m sorry, but we don’t need the tea.”
Kim Ha-yoon was still smiling, and Ire glanced around and quietly brought the box. W, well, since he brought it, it’s better to taste it. At those words, Matteo’s face distorted, and Kim Ha-yoon brazenly raised his chin as if to show off.
He quickly got up and went to the kitchen, but the back of his head felt hot and stinging. Damn it. Why did I do that? He regretted it, but it was too late to turn back. He was boiling water like that when he heard footsteps. When he turned around, Kim Ha-yoon had come right up to him and was subtly hugging him.
As soon as he pushed him away with his elbow, he whispered secretly in his ear.
“Thank you.”
There was laughter in his voice. Seeing that, he felt that he was finally crazy, seeing that he felt that he was annoying yet cute.
〈 End 〉