By Zephyria 
#Side Story 14
“Why do you all look like that? Are you smiling? Or not?”
Ire looked at the four people gathered with a displeased expression. Jang-cheon, Gilsu, Baek Seol, and Gangsan had subtle looks on their faces, which subtly irritated him.
“W-Why would we be happy? We’re anxious without the Captain.”
“Yeah, that’s right. But don’t worry too much. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to worry about these days. What big deal could happen just because the Captain is away?”
The others nodded in agreement with Gilsu’s words.
“It’s not because you’re happy there’s no one to nag you, is it?”
At Ire’s words, the four flinched but absolutely didn’t show it. Honestly, they acknowledged that Ire was capable and meticulous despite his young age. He never overlooked anything and his ability to discern things was outstanding.
Thanks to him, Zone D quickly stabilized and the infrastructure was established. But sometimes it felt excessive, like an old man. Of course, he would never admit it himself. So, the fact that he was going to be away for a while was disappointing but also secretly welcome.
“Finally, our Captain is setting up a marital home.”
At Jang-cheon’s words, Ire frowned but couldn’t deny it. Kim Ha-yoon had wanted to live together for a long time, and recently Ru had joined in, begging him, making it hard to resist any longer. Ru had a surprisingly persistent side, which was strangely similar to Kim Ha-yoon.
“That’s great. But I’m not jealous. Because I have Seo Young-jun!”
At Baek Seol’s words, Gilsu pretended to vomit and Jang-cheon’s expression soured. When they criticized them as a cockroach couple, Baek Seol immediately swung his fist. At this point, he suspected that Seo Young-jun couldn’t do anything because he was always getting hit.
Amidst the chaos, Ire organized the things that needed to be done in his absence and distributed them to his colleagues. Receiving the files one by one, the four grimaced as if they knew it was coming.
When he said they would have a video conference every morning at 10 o’clock, complaints leaked out, asking if they couldn’t rest when they were supposed to be resting. Despite their complaints, Ire pretended not to hear and headed to his office to pack.
Most of the things were necessary for work, so he packed them all into a box without missing anything, when suddenly the phone rang. When he pressed the button, it switched to Hologram Mode and Kim Ha-yoon’s face appeared.
-What are you doing?
“Packing. What about you, Captain?”
-Waiting for you. I can’t believe we’re living here from tomorrow.
He was about to correct him, saying they weren’t living there but staying for a certain period, but gave up. After all, even if he said it, he wouldn’t listen. Then he noticed that Ru wasn’t there. He always joined in whenever they talked, but today he was quiet.
“Where’s Ru?”
“He fell asleep early.”
The two had a conversation like usual. Sharing what happened during the day, the kind of trivial stories that common lovers would have. As they were talking, he heard a knock and turned his head. No one should be coming at this hour. When Kim Ha-yoon asked who it was, he said he would call back soon and headed to the entrance.
As soon as he opened the door, a bottle of alcohol appeared before his eyes.
He was dumbfounded and saw his colleagues pushing in.
“It’s the last night in Zone D, we can’t just let it pass. We have to have a drink.”
“The Captain can’t drink alcohol well, so we prepared non-alcoholic drinks. How is it?”
“This is a pie we prepared for you. Isn’t it amazing?”
Gilsu held out a large pie with a burnt exterior. The smell was strange, and everyone frowned, asking where he had picked it up, and Gilsu said his wife had prepared the ingredients herself. The people who had been showing a lukewarm reaction quickly changed their attitude.
“I knew it. It looked delicious.”
“Right. I thought you bought it from a famous bakery.”
“Your wife’s cooking skills are amazing. I’ve never seen a pie like this before.”
“One person could eat it and not know if two people died. I think I might actually die.”
Ire nodded quickly.
“Yeah. It smells good.”
But no one could bring themselves to suggest tasting the pie first. Gilsu was married, but his wife’s cooking skills were amazing in a different sense. On the day he went to greet her for the first time, she had given him something she made herself, and everyone had forced themselves to eat it, and the next day, everyone had a stomachache, which made their faces darken rapidly.
After subtly pushing the pie aside, everyone sat down, poured drinks, and raised their glasses. The Captain is leaving, but we are together forever, and don’t forget our hearts wherever you are. It wasn’t like they were separating forever, but the atmosphere turned strange.
“You all seem to have forgotten. I’m coming back in two weeks.”
They didn’t listen to what he said and were just excited among themselves. Even amidst the absurdity, he couldn’t help but laugh because he didn’t dislike the boisterous atmosphere. He thought that he would miss them for a while. Even though he would be back soon.
“Ire hyung!” As soon as he opened the door and went inside, Ru ran and hugged him tightly. A large gray dog followed behind him. He barely managed to get the dog off him, who was licking his face indiscriminately, and rubbed its neck.
The dog now had a name, Noeul, because it had a habit of sitting by the window and staring at the sky when it turned orange around sunset.
“Hyung! Dad will be late today!”
The word “Dad” flowed naturally from Ru’s mouth. Kim Ha-yoon had gone from Uncle to Dad because he needed a legal guardian to live here. At first, Matteo had stepped up to adopt the child, but unexpectedly, Kim Ha-yoon adopted him as his own son.
He said that all of this was because of The Committee. They were always finding fault with him for not getting married and not having an heir, so he was going to shut the Old man up.
What did he say after that? He said that he wasn’t a compassionate person, nor was he a humanitarian enough to adopt a child he didn’t know as his own son. So, don’t expect him to get attached to the kid too much. But seeing how affectionate he was with the kid as the days went by, it was hard to say that he had none at all.
So Ru called Kim Ha-yoon Dad and Ire Hyung. Considering how scared he used to be of Kim Ha-yoon, it was a huge improvement. But what would the child think later if he knew that Dad and Hyung were doing strange things every night? As his mind became distant, Yoo Min-joon approached.
He subtly informed him that Kim Ha-yoon would be late from work today and that he had taken a vacation starting tomorrow, so he was rushing to finish his work. The three of them were going on a trip for about a week starting tomorrow, to one of the islands owned by Kim Ha-yoon.
The island was far from here, so they had to go by aircraft, and Ru was already excited and had even inflated his tube. He had no idea that the seawater would be cold because it was winter. After eating the dinner that Yoo Min-joon had made, reading a book to Ru, taking Noeul for a light walk outside, it was already past 9 p.m.
He washed the child and put him to sleep next to him, but his eyes were wide open.
“You have to sleep. So we can go on a trip tomorrow.”
The sight of Ru’s face, frowning and closing his eyes tightly, made him laugh. It seemed like his pupils were rolling around inside his eyelids, and then his breathing became regular. Watching him sleep with his mouth half open, Ire stretched and got up from his seat.
Noeul, who had been sleeping on the nearby carpet, slightly raised his head and then buried it again. Ire left the room and went to the living room, then headed to the kitchen to get a drink of water. Just then, he heard a noise from the front door and saw Kim Ha-yoon coming in. He had brought in the cold air of winter and smiled brightly, opening his arms wide.
“I missed you so much I thought I was going to die.”
When he hugged him obediently, he kissed him on the cheek.
“Did you look outside?”
Turning around at his voice, he saw that it was snowing heavily from the sky. Just a few hours ago, the weather had been fine. Even though it was winter, it wasn’t easy to see snow, so he went closer and looked up at the sky.
Ire sighed with a face mixed with excitement and worry.
“We might have to postpone the trip if this keeps up.”
At those words, Kim Ha-yoon patted Ire’s shoulder. What does it matter, he said, it’s enough to be together. Then he soon thought of Ru. He felt a little sorry for the kid who would be disappointed.
He was a kid who hardly ever whined or complained, but he didn’t want to see those dark eyes fall into disappointment. Kim Ha-yoon thought that his own appearance was unexpected and shifted his gaze to the snowy window.