By Zephyria Side Story 2
[8 Weeks Pregnant]
What was coming finally came. Yeon-ho, who had been particularly sensitive to smells for some time, finally threw up at the dinner table.
“Ugh!”
Marteo, of course, turned as pale as Yeon-ho behind Yeon-ho, who hurriedly covered his mouth and ran to the bathroom.
“Are you okay?”
Marteo couldn’t hide his anxiety as he stroked Yeon-ho’s back, who was throwing up on an empty stomach in the end, having not eaten much.
“I’m not… okay….”
He really wasn’t okay to be relaxed to worry.
Even when his head was splitting from a hangover, when he had a bad stomachache and had to prick all ten fingers and ten toes, and even when he felt nauseous from turbulence on a flight, his stomach had never been so upset….
What about the smell of food? The feeling of his stomach churning just thinking about food was terrible in itself.
But what was most unfortunate was that this was just the beginning of a hellish morning sickness.
He would gag while drinking tea. He would gag while applying the lotion he always used. Sometimes even the smell of grass carried by the wind felt fishy.
In Nido d’oro, anything with a scent was finally banned.
Yeon-ho and Marteo, of course, understood in their heads.
That this was a natural phenomenon during pregnancy and that it would end someday.
But understanding and experience were clearly different in weight.
Even after becoming pregnant, Yeon-ho started to lose weight instead. And Marteo’s weight also dropped drastically more than Yeon-ho’s.
Yeon-ho couldn’t eat a meal comfortably, so how could Marteo put anything in his mouth? Even at the company without Yeon-ho, he would only take a few spoonfuls and his appetite would run away.
He was probably not eating properly now… If he thought that, his throat wouldn’t open at all. Whatever he put in his mouth was just bitter.
If Tony hadn’t shouted a plea close to a scolding, saying that the young master should at least endure it well, who would take care of Yeon-ho when the time comes! he might not have even swallowed a sip of water.
About 2 weeks had passed when everyone was worried and anxious every day.
3 a.m. in the dead of night.
“Theon….”
Marteo opened his eyes wide at the faint sound from the next bed.
Yeon-ho, who had fallen asleep earlier than him, was awake. As if burned by fire, Marteo bounced up.
“Why? Are you sick?! Do you feel like you’re going to throw up again?”
He was someone who hadn’t eaten anything all day anyway. If he threw up again like this, he would have to spill his insides.
Because of that, Marteo was starting to hate the children and himself these days.
They were really children he was so happy to see, a pregnancy he welcomed with such joy…. It seemed like Yeon-ho was the only one suffering because of the children, and ultimately because of him.
If Yeon-ho’s morning sickness continued like this, the children would receive their father’s cold glare as soon as they were born.
Marteo, who was endlessly kind to Yeon-ho and glared at his belly, gently wrapped his arms around Yeon-ho’s shoulders.
“Can’t you make it to the bathroom? Then just throw up here.”
“Uh-uh… It’s not that…….”
“Huh?”
“I, I’m thinking of something…. I can’t sleep because I want to eat it.”
“……!”
Marteo’s eyes, which had been frozen for a few seconds, widened like lanterns.
Something he wants to eat…? It was the first time in a month that Yeon-ho had said he wanted to eat something.
Anything sweet, sour, meat, or fish was all bothersome. Yeon-ho’s taste was extremely picky, to the point where he felt nauseous just thinking about it.
It was welcome news, no, it was a life-saving word. Marteo jumped off the bed without thinking more.
“What. What do you want to eat? Just tell me.”
It was no joke, but right now, he was determined to sell all his assets to get it, even if he had to boil a unicorn horn or wanted to eat dragon meat.
But… The menu that Yeon-ho, who had been hesitating, spat out was unexpected.
“Risotto….”
“……Pardon?”
“I want to eat Risotto.”
It was really unexpected, but it was a hundred times better than a unicorn horn or dragon meat. Marteo, who regained his senses, turned around and tried to press the bell next to the bed this time.
“Okay. Wait a minute. I’ll wake up Moretti now….”
Then Yeon-ho grabbed his arm. Then he shook his head.
“Not that….”
…Not that?
“Not the one Moretti makes, but the one you made for me. I want to eat that.”
Marteo’s mouth dropped open as he wondered what he was talking about.
The dish that Yeon-ho had thought he had a cold and had made and left behind on the day he found out about Yeon-ho’s pregnancy. What Yeon-ho was looking for was not other delicacies, but that bland Risotto.
Marteo didn’t know how to express the emotions that were rushing in at this moment. It felt like his heart was aching because he was upset, and it felt like it was aching because he was happy.
But his feelings were a later problem anyway.
“Okay. I’ll make it right away.”
“Me? Can’t I go downstairs with you?”
“…Are you going to wait in the dining room?”
“No. I want to watch you make it next to you.”
“You might get tired of the smell….”
It was a food he had finally found. He didn’t want to leave even the slightest uncertainty. But Yeon-ho shook his head again.
“I don’t think I’ll get tired of it. I’m drooling just thinking about it now.”
“…Really?”
“Ah, stop asking me. I don’t even have the energy to answer.”
He had been a gentle sheep until just now, but the rooster finally raised his eyes fiercely. Marteo, who immediately corrected his attitude, turned back into a yes-man and lowered his lips to Yeon-ho’s eyelids as if to soothe him.
“Okay, take it easy. It’s hard to put strength in your eyes.”
Then, he hurriedly took the cardigan he had prepared and put it on his shoulders, and then picked up Yeon-ho as he was.
“Tell me if you’re shaking.”
It was an unnecessary request. A man whose movements had been elegant and neat since the first time he saw him. According to his experience of being held many times, Marteo’s arms were comparable to a sedan with excellent ride comfort.
Even so, Marteo carefully left the room with steps that were twice as careful as usual.
When they came out into the hallway, moonlight poured in through the window. Shadows fell on Marteo’s sculpted face, which he looked up at.
As he was moving around the house with his arms around his neck, he suddenly remembered a day in Seoul.
After the first sex, the moment he thought, ‘When else will I be held like a princess if not now?’ by the man who willingly picked him up.
He really didn’t know it then. That this would become a daily routine.
Even in the midst of his lack of strength, Yeon-ho finally carried out the impulse that he had only thought about in his mind as a smile leaked out at the vague memory.
Burying his face in his pounding chest and pressing his lips.
At the same time, Marteo’s arms were filled with strength.
“Do Yeon-ho!”
He was scolded for almost dropping him out of surprise. Even if he did, he didn’t care and slightly raised his head and bit his neck tightly this time. Marteo’s face finally contorted.
“What are you doing, keep doing. Do you have the energy to joke around?”
“I don’t have any… But it tastes good here. Can’t you give me some of your flesh?”
A somewhat gruesome joke. He thought he would frown this time too, of course. But what came out before long was a sincere sigh.
“I want to tear out my heart and give it to you if you can eat it.”
Yeon-ho’s lips, which had been nibbling on his neck, stopped moving. On the other hand, Marteo lowered his lips to his forehead.
“Please just stay still. I cherish you just breathing right now.”
“…….”
Air? It seemed better not to make a sound.
Even Yeon-ho, who was afraid of nothing, knew the difference between heaven and earth in front of a man with such sunken eyes.
Yeon-ho leaned his head back on Marteo’s chest and was able to arrive at the kitchen safely without any accidents.
Marteo carefully placed Yeon-ho on one side of the wide counter and hurriedly looked for ingredients and started preparing to cook.
His skills with a knife weren’t very good, but the way he peeled onions was fresh and fun.
Even the ordinary sight of washing rice and taking out a pot was like a scene from a CF when he was doing it.
‘He would have been very successful even if he had been a real celebrity… I missed a valuable talent.’
But of course, it was twice as good that everything in front of him was his, that he had an exclusive contract all to himself.
In the meantime, Marteo, who had poured the ingredients into the pan that had been heated in earnest, looked back at Yeon-ho with a worried expression.
“How’s the smell?”
“Huh?”
“Isn’t it bothering you?”
Yeon-ho, who came to his senses, sniffed.
In fact… Even though he insisted on following me to the kitchen, Yeon-ho was secretly worried himself. What if, contrary to his heart, his stomach churned at the smell?
But surprisingly, he was fine. It was as if the past month, when he gagged at the mere smell of water, was a lie. As he said, his mouth watered.
“I think I’m okay… No. I’m okay.”
Thank goodness… Marteo, with a relieved expression, sighed and focused on cooking again. For quite a while. As the thick, savory smell wafted up, his stomach began to rumble. And finally, the Risotto was complete.
Marteo approached, holding the somewhat clumsily plated dish. However, his expression wasn’t very good.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Well, it might not taste as good as last time. The onion… It’s acting up again today. This bastard has no patience.”
Yeon-ho chuckled at the way he spoke as if he were dealing with an arch-enemy. As if to say he’d speak after tasting it, Yeon-ho reached out his hand, and Marteo hesitantly handed him the spoon.
Sitting on the kitchen counter to eat. If Tony saw him, he would definitely say something. Even for Marteo, it was an unprecedented act.
But to hell with dignity. Right now, it was important to get food into Yeon-ho’s mouth as soon as possible.
“It’s hot, so blow on it before you eat. If you can’t stand it, spit it out right away. Okay?”
Of course, it was Marteo who said that and even blew on it for him.
Finally, Yeon-ho took a big spoonful, took a deep breath, and swallowed the Risotto. Marteo’s eyes showed more tension than ever.
He was fully prepared to support him right away if it upset his stomach.
After a while, Yeon-ho moved his mouth a few times and swallowed. Marteo, who had nothing in his mouth, did the same.
“How… is it? Can you eat it?”
The question, anxiously asked after a pause, felt like a matter of life and death. It was impossible to joke around. Finally, Yeon-ho’s eyes curved.
“Yeah. It’s delicious…”
“……Really?”
“Really.”
Yeon-ho even nodded his head vigorously. Just that alone made him feel like the dark night, the whole world, had suddenly brightened. He wanted to hug Yeon-ho and shower him with kisses.
Still, the important thing was Yeon-ho’s meal. Marteo stroked Yeon-ho’s back as he began to eat in earnest.
“Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”
“Hey. You try tasting only stomach acid for a month. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted food.”
A much more energetic reply than before, now that he had something in his stomach. Marteo’s eyes curved again as if he were looking at something incredibly lovely.
After a while, another spoonful of Risotto was held out to Marteo’s mouth.
“You eat too.”
“…I’m okay.”
“Okay, my ass. You’re hungry too. You haven’t been eating properly lately, have you?”
“Who told you that?”
“What’s Antonio’s duty?”
“……?”
“Reporting.”
“…….”
“I’m also… that, the mistress or whatever now. Antonio is closer to me now, you know? He spends much more time with me than you.”
Marteo’s face, which had been smiling at the chattering, crumpled.
“…That’s not a welcome thing to hear.”
On the other hand, Yeon-ho burst into laughter. Then, he stubbornly pushed the spoon into Marteo’s mouth.
The Risotto, with a slight taste of burnt onion… was even a bit salty.
“How is it? Delicious, right?”
Even so, Yeon-ho proudly puffed out his chest as if he had made it himself. This time, he couldn’t resist the smug and sparkling face. Marteo’s lips covered Yeon-ho’s lips and bit down.
“Eung～”
The taste of Risotto mixed with saliva in each other’s mouths. Yeon-ho’s feelings were understood a hundred times over. The saltiness didn’t matter at all.
[14 Weeks Pregnant]
Starting from the day he craved Risotto, the hellish period of morning sickness slowly ended.
From this point on, Yeon-ho ate everything well and wasn’t picky.
The sunken cheeks that had been gone for a while became plump again, and his weight gradually began to increase.
It was a relief. But this also had its drawbacks.
When he couldn’t eat properly, Yeon-ho leaned on Marteo quite a bit, perhaps because he had no energy… But Yeon-ho, whose appetite and form had been revived, was overly energetic.
Usually, when pregnant, emotions fluctuate and they easily get upset over trivial things, but Do Yeon-ho couldn’t be seen that way at all. As a result, it was Marteo who accumulated resentment.
“Are you really okay?”
“I told you I’m okay.”
“Think about it carefully.”
“Why do you keep telling me to think?”
“It’s not just one day, it’s three days. Are you really okay with that?”
Yeon-ho, who was sitting on the bed eating strawberries, stopped his hand only after repeated confirmations. Then, he burst into laughter at Marteo’s crumpled face. Marteo pushed the remaining strawberries into his mouth, but his face still didn’t brighten.
“Are you laughing right now?”
“Geez. Should I cry instead of laugh? Anyone would think you’re leaving me on a deserted island. You said it’s only three days, right?”
“Only? We’re going to be apart for three whole days!”
What this means is, the situation is like this.
Marteo had a sudden business trip. If it were a minor issue, Marteo would have handled it himself.
How could he go on a business trip leaving Yeon-ho alone at a time like this? There was no value in reconsidering.
However, it was none other than Marteo’s father, Sergio, who called the house and recommended this business trip.
Although he had allowed (?) the marriage, there was still a frosty atmosphere between him and Marteo.
Of course, Marteo didn’t care at all. They weren’t a close father and son to begin with.
However, Yeon-ho had already glimpsed a side of Sergio. The proud expression Sergio had when he refused his father’s orders and even screwed over his brothers.
The fact that Marteo still held a key position in ATG proves that it wasn’t a misunderstanding. Fabio was demoted to the bottom of the company from that day on, and Lorenzo was even forced to recover his shares.
In this situation, Sergio directly recommending a business trip to Marteo meant only one thing. That Marteo was still the number one successor.
Frankly, whether Theon becomes the head of Averto or not is of no value to Yeon-ho. However… who knows?
Maybe there will be an ambitious one among the children who will be born soon. Considering that, it was better to maintain a certain relationship with Sergio.
Yeon-ho slyly stroked his belly and feigned ignorance, laughing sinisterly inside.
“Anyway. If you’re not going to quit, you have to do your job. If necessary, think of it as a debt to your father.”
“…Debt, my ass. Do you think he’s the type to take care of that?”
“I don’t know? But… he seemed to take care of other things?”
“What?”
Yeon-ho smirked. In fact, Tony was the first to answer the phone when Sergio called the house. And the first person Tony handed the phone to was Yeon-ho, not Marteo.
Yeon-ho recalled the very short phone conversation and turned his eyes to Marteo again.
“He asked if I was feeling okay.”
“…….”
“I guess he’s secretly worried?”
“…Hmph. I guess he’s interested in blood. Well, that’s why he had two children with another woman.”
“Geez. He didn’t ask if the kids were okay, he asked if I, if my body was okay.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to be a beloved daughter-in-law, but I don’t want to be uncomfortable in the middle either? So just go. Don’t make him call the house again under the guise of an excuse.”
It was hard to tell if this was polite or not… Whether he was impressed or annoyed. Anyway, the conclusion was strange.
But the point is that he doesn’t mind being apart from him for three days!
In the end, Marteo, with his cheeks puffed up like a child, flopped onto the bed. Then, he rolled over again and buried his face in Yeon-ho’s lower abdomen.
“Are you really okay?”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
“I didn’t ask you. I asked the kids.”
“……What?”
“They shouldn’t forget their dad’s voice for three days.”
14 weeks pregnant. 3.5 months in terms of months.
Yeon-ho’s lower abdomen, which had been flat, was now slightly swollen. Usually, it’s not noticeable until 3-4 months, but maybe it’s because there are two of them. People with a keen eye could easily tell he was pregnant.
Yeon-ho held back the laughter that was about to burst out at the man who was groaning in despair against that belly. Then, he nodded in a serious tone.
“Don’t worry, they won’t forget. No, they can’t forget even if they want to.”
“……?”
“Their eardrums aren’t fully formed yet. What do they have to hear to forget?”
“…….”
Marteo’s face crumpled miserably again. And for the first time, he prayed. Please, don’t let them resemble their mother in this way….
♥ ♥ ♥
Day 1 of the business trip. After touring the site of the new joint energy complex and finishing a power meeting with local staff, Marteo called Yeon-ho as soon as he arrived at the hotel.
「Yeah.」
It was just a simple word as always, but the fatigue of the day quickly melted away at that moment. Marteo’s face naturally relaxed, and he spoke in a sweet voice as if Yeon-ho were next to him.
“Is it okay to talk now?”
「I just got into the room. Are you at the hotel? It’s quiet around you.」
“Yes. Me too.”
「Dinner?」
“How about you?”
「I asked first.」
“Because I’m more curious?”
It would be nice if he said ‘no～’ at times like this, but it was difficult to expect that from Yeon-ho. As expected, even with words dripping with affection, Yeon-ho snorted indifferently, as if he had crushed the sweet atmosphere with a pestle.
Marteo, who had expected it, continued to speak nonchalantly.
“You ate, right?”
「What time is it?」
“What did you eat?”
「What they gave me.」
“Why are you eating what they give you? Tell them what you want to eat.”
「Everything tastes good these days. Why are you asking when you know?」
“…….”
「What about you? Did you eat?」
“…Not yet.”
「What? What have you been doing until this hour without eating?」
“Work?”
It seemed like he had nothing to say for the first time. But that was only for a moment. Another sulky voice flowed out.
「Then eat first. Why are you calling?」
“Your voice is more urgent than food.”
Marteo was honest even with words that were often hateful.
Usually at this time, he would be off work and having dinner with Yeon-ho, taking a short walk, or lying in bed and putting snacks in Yeon-ho’s mouth.
‘Don’t I have hands?’ Even if he grumbled, Yeon-ho would open his mouth as he gave it to him one out of three times.
As he thought about it, the words he really wanted to say naturally flowed out.
“…I miss you.”
It had only been a day, or rather, not even a full day yet, but time was passing too slowly.
Whether he knew this or not, Yeon-ho didn’t reply. Marteo, who had been waiting for a while, couldn’t stand it and called out Do Yeon-ho’s name… He wanted to hear his voice, even if it was a hateful reply.
That’s when it happened.
「I’m going to the bathroom.」
Crash. A sound that shattered the mood much more than ever before returned. It was okay to have a hateful reply, but this was a bit… shocking.
However, it was a phenomenon that naturally increased in frequency as the baby in his belly grew.
‘I guess they’re not filial sons….’
In the end, Marteo smiled bitterly and rubbed his eyebrows.
“Okay. I’ll hang up now.”
「……Make sure to eat dinner.」
Even with that one word attached at the end, his face softened like an idiot.
Although the call had already ended, Yeon-ho’s name was still on the screen, and he kissed it belatedly. Then, he plopped down on the sofa.
He wanted to hear Yeon-ho’s words, but… he still didn’t feel like eating.
Day 2 of the business trip. There was much more work to do on this day than on the first day.
Preparations for a private meeting with the representatives of the partner company who arrived at the site for a meal continued, and it took a considerable amount of time to review the draft contract and investment statement again.
Even in those gaps, Marteo didn’t forget to send texts to Yeon-ho.
Did you wake up? Did you eat lunch? Is your condition good today?
Yeon-ho sent short answers each time. I woke up. I ate. I’m good.
Yeon-ho never called or texted first. However, just once, he left a question at the end of the text for the first time.
‘Are you not busy?’
It seemed like he was telling him to stop bothering him and do his work.
In fact, after that, he didn’t have time to be on the phone to coordinate the remaining schedule. And when he came to his senses, it was 11 PM.
Chick
Are you sleeping?
No reply came to the text he sent after hesitating.
Good night. He wanted to send three more letters, but he was afraid of waking him up, so he couldn’t move his fingers in the end. Instead, he sighed several times.
He didn’t feel like eating yesterday, but today he didn’t feel like sleeping at all.
Day 3 of the business trip. After finally signing the contract and finishing the reception dinner, Marteo turned the car towards Nido d’oro, his mansion, instead of the hotel where he had planned to stay for another day.
It was a 6-hour drive from the business trip location to Rome. It would be well past midnight when he entered the mansion.
Considering that, it might have been more reasonable to move according to tomorrow morning’s schedule.
But it was already the limit. Yeon-ho said it was only three days at most, but for Marteo, it was still three days.
Now that the official business was over, he didn’t want to delay even a minute longer.
‘Step on it as much as possible.’
The car, which had been running non-stop through the night at Marteo’s urging, arrived at the mansion as expected around 2 AM.
Tony, dressed in casual clothes instead of his usual uniform, was waiting for Marteo, who had rushed out without even having time to commend the hardworking driver.
“Young master. Weren’t you supposed to come back tomorrow?”
Not only his clothes, but Tony’s hair was also somewhat disheveled, as if he had jumped straight out of bed. But of course, there was no time to look at it for long.
“How’s Yeon-ho? Is he asleep?”
“…Probably. He went to bed early. But you came without contacting Yeon-ho-nim?”
“That’s how it happened. More than that, how’s Yeon-ho’s condition? Was there anything wrong?”
Judging from the calls and texts they exchanged during the business trip, he seemed to be doing well. He said he ate every meal, and this morning he gave a carefree answer, ‘I’m taking a walk,’ when asked what he was doing.
So this was a habitual question that had become chronic. But… Tony hesitated at the words he threw out like that.
Marteo, who had been heading straight into the entrance, stopped moving and quickly turned to look at Tony.
“Why are you hesitating?”
“That’s…….”
“What is it? Don’t tell me something happened?”
When his voice rose, Tony quickly shook his head.
“No, nothing happened. It’s not like there’s anything particularly wrong. But…….”
“But?”
“That… his meals have been noticeably smaller for the past day or two…….”
“What?”
“Besides, he hasn’t been looking for any other snacks for the past three days.”
“Don’t tell me the morning sickness has started again?”
“That’s probably not it. He’s swallowing it well without throwing up what he eats. It’s just… he’s eating, but it doesn’t seem to taste good. He didn’t even eat half of his dinner tonight.”
“…….”
“Besides, he only took a walk on the first day, and he hardly came out of the room after waking up….”
“…….”
“Of course, he’s pregnant, so he might be tired, but… anyway, he seemed to be quite… down for the past few days.”
Marteo’s eyebrows shot up. A report that was the complete opposite of the answers he had heard and received from Yeon-ho.
The thought that maybe… crossed his mind a few seconds later. At the same time, Marteo kicked off with his remaining foot.
“Y-Young master?”
The steps towards the room only got faster, leaving behind Tony’s voice calling out.
Finally, on the second floor. Marteo, standing in front of the door, carefully grabbed the doorknob with a pounding heart, like a child opening a gift box. And as soon as he took a step inside, he knew right away.
The familiar smell that filled the room….
It was the eau de cologne he usually used. It had already been three days since he left the house, so this smell wouldn’t normally be left behind.
Unless someone deliberately sprayed it.
Marteo barely managed to hold back the laughter that was about to burst out and hurried his steps again. The direction was, of course, the bed where Yeon-ho was sleeping.
But…… what is this again?
The bed he approached was flat. No, to be exact, it was flat, but something was messy. Marteo quickly turned on the lamp on the bedside table.
The place where he had naturally expected Yeon-ho to be was empty, but this time, familiar objects occupied it.
From clothes like shirts and ties to accessories like watches and cufflinks. Without looking twice, they were all Marteo’s, his own.
From here, laughter didn’t come out. Rather, the inside of his chest tightened painfully.
He knew he was a man skilled at lying. He had been badly deceived and still… he had foolishly believed the words that he was okay.
Marteo, who had swept his face with his large hands, was now more anxious than ever.
“Do Yeon-ho-ssi?”
Unlike how he had been careful until now, he called out to Yeon-ho and threw open the bathroom door attached to the room. But Yeon-ho wasn’t here either.
Could he be… taking a walk at this hour?
Marteo’s feet were turning back towards the door as he glanced out the darkened window. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the closet, slightly ajar.
‘Could it be…’
Marteo changed direction and quickly approached.
And the moment he pulled the door open, ah… a burst of exclamation escaped him, and his heart completely crumbled.
As expected, using his piled-up clothes as a nest, a rooster curled up in the middle… it was Yeon-ho.
Faced with a sight that was both incredibly endearing and embarrassingly adorable, he didn’t know what to do, and all he could do was suffer.
Marteo stood there blankly for a long time, looking down at Yeon-ho, before finally slowly reaching out his hand.
Just like when he had taken Yeon-ho out of the chicken coop once, he gently stroked his back and then pulled the small figure into his arms.
“Cl… cluck?!”
It was then that the chicken, no, Yeon-ho, who had been trembling, came to his senses.
Realizing he had been attacked (?) while sleeping, Yeon-ho belatedly flapped his wings instinctively and swung his beak, even threateningly, grrrr!
His hand was immediately pecked. The ferocious pecking, enough to make his eyes flash, was not cute even as a joke. The still threatening gurgling in his throat could be interpreted as, “Who the hell are you?!”
Marteo finally burst out laughing. His constricted chest swelled up, and his face, which boasted a perfectly balanced beauty, was all distorted.
With that laughter, Yeon-ho’s movements, who looked like he would sell his eyeballs, also stopped.
“…Cl…? Cluck cluck?”
The neck, much freer than a human’s, turned quickly, and he looked up at Marteo as a bonus.
Even with his hand scratched up, Marteo stroked Yeon-ho’s covert feathers again. Then, with his eyes all bent, he dropped a kiss on the rooster’s comb.
“I’m home.”
“……!”
Can a chicken’s eyes get this wide? Yeon-ho, who had been frozen for a few seconds, pecked Marteo’s lower jaw next!
“Ouch!”
Immediately after the stinging sensation, the rooster flapped its wings and flew out of his arms, landing on the bed.
The plump butt, landed on the mattress, wiggled. He also diligently head-bobbed and lifted the sheets as a bonus, and then even hid inside the blanket.
It was natural that a small, round hill soon formed on the bed.
“Haha, ahahaha!”
Marteo burst out laughing once more at the still adorable sight, and the hill trembled.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!!”
This seemed to mean, “Why are you laughing!” Finally, Marteo, who was wiping his eyes, slowly approached the bed. He ruthlessly threw his now useless belongings to the floor and hugged Yeon-ho, sheet and all.
The voice that flowed out sounded like it could melt the whole world.
“Why are you hiding…”
“……”
“It’s been three days since we’ve seen each other.”
“……”
“Was I the only one who missed you?”
There was no reply, but the body inside the sheet twitched every time he continued to speak. Marteo waited patiently. He felt like he could do this ticklish waiting as much as he wanted.
“Did I… come too early for nothing?”
And the moment he spat out one more complaint, the volume inside the sheet began to change. Before long, what popped out of the blanket was a face as red as chicken feathers.
“What do you mean too early, it’s the middle of the night now!”
You know and I know that’s not what I meant. Of course, the real meaning behind the words “what do you mean too early” too.
Marteo’s eyes softened again helplessly. This time, he hugged Yeon-ho’s smooth body tightly, not the chicken’s, and took a deep breath, the equivalent of three days’ worth that he seemed to have been holding back.
Yeon-ho also finally wrapped his arms around the man’s back. Then, he took a deep breath in the opposite direction.
Something that could not be fully filled, no matter how much perfume he sprayed or how tightly he wrapped himself in Marteo’s clothes. It felt like that was now rapidly filling up.
Before he knew it, he felt a very subtle wave-like sensation in his stomach.
‘Welcome home.’
It was the first fetal movement, and the children’s first greeting.
[25th Week of Pregnancy]
Proliferation of alveoli, rapid brain growth, development of hearing and retina. With each passing day, the babies in her belly grew rapidly.
‘They’re sons.’
At the regular check-up a few weeks ago, they were able to properly confirm the genders of the babies, which had been uncertain due to their position.
However, unlike her belly, which was becoming rounder day by day, sharp thorns were growing in Yeon-ho’s heart these days.
It was because she realized that there had been no insertive sex between Marteo and her for about five months since the day she found out she was pregnant. She was six months pregnant.
‘When was the last time we did it?’
‘Was it two months ago when we did it orally…?’
Of course, it was a matter to be careful about in the early stages of pregnancy. Didn’t this cause a problem in the past?
But as she said, it’s already been half a year. Scientifically and medically, insertive sex was possible in the 6th month. Rather, if this period passed and her belly grew even bigger, then she would have to avoid intercourse again due to the risk of premature birth.
In other words, now was the perfect time.
Did Marteo not know this fact? …Of course he did.
From the day he found out that they were having a child, Marteo had piled up and devoured books related to pregnancy and childbirth. She was sure that Marteo knew more about it than she did, who was pregnant.
But… why. Why. Why didn’t he say anything about doing it?
‘Am I the only one who’s sad? Am I the only one whose lower belly is festering!’
The more she thought about it, the more resentful and wronged she felt. Most of all, what pissed her off was that this wasn’t the first time she had experienced this feeling.
The feeling she had felt whenever Theon, when he was Tony, had repeatedly abandoned her and turned away cheerfully. She was going through that again now.
Yeon-ho finally glared at Marteo.
The two were currently on the bed. Marteo, sitting next to Yeon-ho, who was lying on his side, was reading a fairy tale or something in a sexy voice, whether it was prenatal education or whatever.
What, a bird that went on an adventure overcame adversity and became the king of animals?
‘He picked something just like him. I bet this was written by a bird, too!’
Marteo, noticing her gaze, finally put down the book and turned to Yeon-ho.
“Why… is it not fun?”
“You ask that now.”
“Hmm. Then shall I read something else?”
“No, it’s going to be another fairy tale anyway. Are you reading this to entertain me?”
Even with the rebuke she spat out on purpose, Marteo just smiled gently.
She had said before, but prenatal education was just this bastard’s face. Even while she was growing horns, why was her heart pounding?
She couldn’t let it go like this. Yeon-ho, barely holding back the eyes she wanted to glare at him one more time, got up from his seat.
“Forget the book. You… is there anything you want to eat?”
“Want to eat?”
“Something you haven’t been able to eat for a lo～ng time or something you’re craving.”
“…I don’t really think of anything?”
“……”
“Why. Are you hungry? Shall I tell Tony to prepare a snack?”
He’s been reading fairy tales all the time these days, so he seems to have become very pure.
How could Do Yeon-ho not say that here? Am I the only trash and the only pervert?
But… even if I’m a pervert, there’s nothing I can do. It’s been ages since something came into my backdoor. As she said, I’m too hungry, what can I do?
Finally, Yeon-ho, who had made up his mind, bit his lip tightly and finally stepped off the bed.
“Where are you going. Are you going downstairs to eat?”
“No. I’m going to wash.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“…Now, suddenly?”
Marteo’s eyebrows rose at the unpredictable words.
The season was December. Except for simple brushing of teeth or washing of face, Yeon-ho’s bath was usually during the day these days.
The house was always maintained at a higher temperature than the appropriate temperature for the babies in the belly and Yeon-ho, but there was a temperature difference between when the sun was up and when it wasn’t.
Knowing full well about such concerns, Yeon-ho feigned ignorance.
“I didn’t shower today. I feel uncomfortable.”
“Still, at this hour…. Just do it tomorrow. Huh?”
As expected, Marteo grabbed her hand. Yeon-ho suppressed the laughter that seemed to leak out at the spreading warmth.
“I don’t want to.”
“Do Yeon-ho…”
If she insisted a little more here, Marteo would eventually give up. Then he would say that he had no choice but to wash her, right?
It was the perfect setup to take off clothes together.
‘Come on, say it. Say it quickly!’
With expectations, Yeon-ho pulled his chin up once more.
But, what was this. A quarrel that was too short. Marteo slowly scanned Yeon-ho’s body and sighed. Then he let go of the hand he was holding so easily.
“Then… don’t stay in there too long.”
…What?
Yeon-ho, who was preparing to act coy as if he couldn’t win, opened his eyes wide. But why? The man, tilting his head, had a face that didn’t know what was going on.
Belatedly, Yeon-ho tried to calm his mind.
‘Okay…. Maybe it’s better this way. It’s been a long time since we’ve done it, so I should at least prepare?’
Fortunately, Yeon-ho also had a Plan B. With a renewed determination, Yeon-ho got off the bed and entered the bathroom alone.
However, he suddenly stopped undressing.
‘Has my belly… grown this much?’
Until recently, if he looked down, he could barely see the tips of his toes.
But now, there was nothing to see except for his round belly. When he groped with his hand, he could feel his belly button protruding outward.
Yeon-ho hurriedly went to the mirror and looked at his body again. Then his eyes widened again.
‘What… where did my jawline go? Why are my cheeks so puffy?’
Yeon-ho originally boasted sharpness and sexiness.
Even if his personality was lazy and easygoing, his face was always working hard. That was Yeon-ho’s identity, wasn’t it?
But… right now, even he looked like a chicken right before Boknal.
His flawless white skin was reddish as if chicken feathers had been plucked, and there were small spots and protruding blood vessels here and there.
His arms and legs were still similar to before, but that also had the effect of making his swollen belly stand out even more.
As Yeon-ho stared blankly into the mirror for a long time, Marteo’s face, who had scanned his body a little while ago, flashed through his mind.
‘Was that… a reluctant expression?’
At the same time as the thought, Yeon-ho flinched and quickly shook his head.
No. That can’t be. He always says he loves me?
There’s no sex, but we kiss every day… do… we?
Come to think of it, yesterday, today, there were no kisses… were there? He kissed my nose. He kissed my eyes. He did those things, but he definitely didn’t… mix tongues, did he?
His heart, which had been pounding with anticipation of doing the deed, was now severely agitated. And that agitation reached its peak after entering the shower booth.
Preparations for sex. He was about to wash his ass, but he was hit with another reality check.
No matter how hard he tried, his belly got in the way and he couldn’t easily reach his anus. When he stretched back, his belly tightened, and when he squatted down, his body leaned forward….
Until now, he hadn’t felt any difficulty in washing because Marteo and others had taken care of him in various ways, but he couldn’t even lift one leg as he pleased.
Yeon-ho’s Adam’s apple swallowed involuntarily.
‘Am I… really in a state where I’ve shown everything…?’
Whether what was pouring over his face was water or sweat… this kind of turmoil was a first for him.
“What took you so long?”
As soon as he came out, Marteo, who was about to come to the bathroom to find him, complained as he stepped off the bed.
Yeon-ho, who had spent much more time calming his mind while being hit by the water than washing, was relieved to hear the worried nagging.
‘That’s right. It must be a misunderstanding. How much does he like me?’
Yeon-ho, who tried to walk as lightly and beautifully as possible despite his heavy belly, approached the bed.
“I soaked in the water for a while.”
“I told you not to stay in there for too long, but you never listen.”
“……”
“But where’s the towel?”
“Towel?”
“Your hair is still wet. What if you catch a cold?”
Marteo frowned once more. Then, thinking of drying his hair himself, he was about to head back to the powder room to find a dryer. Yeon-ho quickly blocked his path.
Who came out here not knowing how to dry their hair. Showering and having wet hair is another way to stimulate a man’s heart!
Yeon-ho, who shook his hair that smelled good on purpose, repeatedly spat out the prepared lie.
“It’s okay. My scalp is dry these days.”
Then, he slipped into Marteo’s side as if sliding, wearing a smooth nightgown instead of pajamas.
Marteo, who paused, moved his lips with an ambiguous expression.
“Aren’t you… going to change your clothes?”
“Yeah. I’m going to sleep in this today.”
“You said it’s annoying because the straps get caught on your body when they come undone?”
He has a good memory. It was a problem that he didn’t miss even his trivial words at times like this.
“Ahem. It feels good.”
“The pajamas are the same material…?”
Can you just shut up? He felt like he would say that. Still, Yeon-ho, who bit his twitching lips tightly, tried to smile.
“What about you, you’ve been wearing clothes to bed every night these days? You used to hate it because it was stuffy. …Aren’t you taking it off?”
Yeah. Now that he said it, this was a bit strange too. Since he had sex with him, Marteo’s basic habit was to sleep half-naked.
When did that change? Two months? No, has it been about three months?
Taking the opportunity, he scanned the rather thick texture of the pants with squinting eyes, and this time Marteo coughed dryly.
“…It’s gotten colder.”
Then wasn’t it cold last winter?
Yeon-ho once again held back the words that seemed to leak out immediately.
It must be my inferiority complex that this sounds like an excuse. Yeah. It has to be.
“Anyway, I’m going to sleep, turn off the lights.”
“…Like th…is?”
“Why. What again.”
“Weren’t you hungry? You always look for a late-night snack at this hour?”
“Geez! You’re talking a lot today?”
Two times was barely enough, but where would his innate temper go? In the end, it was an explosion of annoyance. He did regret it when he saw Marteo’s raised eyebrows. Yeon-ho, who bit his tongue, quickly continued his excuse.
“Nooo. I showered. I already brushed my teeth, what am I going to eat….”
Fortunately, he looked convinced. Marteo, who had narrowed his eyes that he had widened, lightly swept his hair.
“Still, tell me if you think of anything. Don’t just hold it in and go to sleep. Huh?”
Yeon-ho’s toes secretly wriggled in the blanket at the heart-tickling words. Meanwhile, Marteo turned off the stand lamp as he wished.
The room quickly darkened. But Yeon-ho’s eyes began to emit light at this moment.
Marteo’s upper body, which had been leaning towards the bedside table, was returning to his seat.
“Good night.”
After the greeting, there would naturally be a good night kiss. The time Yeon-ho was aiming for was this time.
Just let his lips touch mine. Then I’ll hug his neck tightly. And I’ll push my tongue in when he’s off guard!
Yeon-ho always loses his mind when he kisses Marteo, but in fact, Yeon-ho is second to none in this technique.
If his physical is lacking, he’ll compete with technique, and if the oil doesn’t want to catch fire, he’ll just set it on fire himself!
Easy-to-remove gown and wet hair, the flammable preparations were done, and now all he had to do was wait. Yeon-ho’s heart was pounding again. And finally, a shadow fell over his face.
‘Okay. Now’s the time!’
……But the second attempt he was aiming for failed this time as well.
Even if it wasn’t his lips. His eyes, his cheeks, or even his forehead! Marteo’s lips, which he thought would naturally land somewhere on his face, never touched Yeon-ho in the end.
Marteo just fixed Yeon-ho’s pillow. Then he lay down quietly in his place.
He thought that they had only been doing pecks without deep kisses for the past few days, but even that ‘peck’ was gone.
For a few seconds, he couldn’t believe it, and for a few seconds after that, the back of his head was throbbing.
‘What is this situation…. Is this really a case where “what if” catches a person…?’
The anxiety he had barely calmed down began to swell. Now the problem wasn’t sex itself.
If he didn’t resolve his doubts now, he wouldn’t be able to sleep, whether in this sense or that.
Finally, Yeon-ho, who had bitten his lips tightly and released them, turned to Marteo. And what the hell! He snuggled into his arms and hugged his waist.
He was definitely going to do that. If his belly, which was stuck, hadn’t poked Marteo’s side before his chest touched him, if he could have rolled his body as he wanted, that is.
Yeon-ho paused and felt Marteo flinch.
After a while, Marteo lifted his head from the pillow.
“Why… is the position uncomfortable?”
“……Huh?”
“Shall I move back a little more?”
It was a damn useless consideration. He used to be so eager to cling to me!
“It’s okay!”
Yeon-ho, who was upset, took off the belly he had attached, no, that was attached, and lay down in the correct position again. He couldn’t tell if it was because the lights were off or because he was angry that he couldn’t see in front of him.
Just then. A presence was felt, sliding towards his chest. It was Marteo’s arm reaching out to him. Just as he thought! Come on, pull him in. Embrace him quickly. The embers of expectation still flickered. Yeon-ho’s lips involuntarily curved upwards.
Not long after, as he wished, Marteo pulled and tugged.
At the blanket, not Yeon-ho! The bed sheet that had slipped down a bit due to the movement!
To top it off, he even covered Yeon-ho right up to his chin. And after all that, the only thing he said was…
“Your gown is thin. You should cover yourself well to sleep.”
Even two nostrils weren’t enough for this.
Before he knew it, data he had heard and seen in various places over the past 30 years began to flash through his mind.
It was said that when a man’s spouse became pregnant, he started seeing her as family rather than a woman. The period when sexual attraction plummeted was also from when her belly started to swell.
Wasn’t there a high probability of cheating during a spouse’s pregnancy for no reason? Being kind at this time was out of guilt, so you shouldn’t let your guard down, and so on!
Of course, every single one of them was garbage.
No, did she make the baby alone? If he hated seeing his own child in her belly so much, then why was he living with her? Was it only eternal love when they were having sex, and nothing else mattered? Did anyone want their belly to swell up!
He felt wronged. His pride was hurt. And more than anything, he was damn pissed.
With the resentment rising every moment, Yeon-ho’s breathing finally became wheezy.
But it seemed that this sound was heard as a deep sleep mode by someone.
A glance. Marteo, who seemed to be looking at Yeon-ho again, turned his back completely and lay down! And even then, there was one last blow left.
“Hoo…”
A long, drawn-out sigh, cutting through the darkness, was heard clearly.
To Yeon-ho’s ears, it sounded exactly like a sigh of relief.
He finally got him to sleep. He got through it safely… something like that!
When he got to this point, he couldn’t take it anymore. The sheet that Marteo had so kindly covered up to his chin with flew up into the air with a pak! At the same time, Yeon-ho abruptly—at least in his mind—raised his upper body.
Marteo, who had turned his back, hesitated and quickly turned to look at him again.
“Do Yeon-ho?”
His voice was still affectionate, but he felt like he hated even this. Lumps of heat kept rising from within.
When he sat there without answering, Marteo turned on the lamp. Then, with surprised eyes at Yeon-ho, who was biting his lips tightly, he hurriedly leaned his upper body.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”
“…”
“Or, do you want to eat something after all? Do you want a snack?”
This bastard, really!
Yeon-ho’s fuse, which was already hanging by a thread, snapped at this moment. Yeon-ho grabbed the pillow at the head of the bed without thinking.
“Do you think I’m a pig?!”
Peok. Marteo didn’t even think of dodging the pillow he swung like that and was hit directly. Even so, he couldn’t shake off his anger because the man’s hair, which was even more disheveled because of that, was infuriatingly handsome even in this situation.
They made the baby together, so why did only he have to be in this state?
Why did he keep sparkling, and he had to be like samgyetang on Dog Days!
Yeon-ho swung the pillow randomly again and again.
“Come to think of it, you were like that on the day we had our blind date, that day too! When someone is really pissed off, you say, ‘Let’s talk about the rest after we eat’? What are you? What do you see me as!”
Just when was this? In his mind, it was almost a past life, but he was bringing it up now?
Beongeong. Marteo’s eyes, which had been taking all the hits as Yeon-ho hit him, widened once more.
But first, that was a problem for later. Finally, Marteo grabbed both of Yeon-ho’s hands, which were raising the pillow again.
“First, put this down. Put it down and talk.”
“This… you let go! Let go of my hand quickly!”
“You’re out of breath now! Hit me while catching your breath!”
He was right. Just moving this much made his throat wheeze, his chest heave. More than anything, his fat, swollen belly was jiggling.
Looking down at it made the pressure rise to his eyeballs, let alone catching his breath.
Maybe Yeon-ho wouldn’t have done this much before pregnancy.
But this was his first pregnancy. The hormonal changes he only knew about from information. The exploding estrogen was no exception for Yeon-ho.
Finally, Yeon-ho’s shoulders began to tremble. He really didn’t want to do this, but his body and mind didn’t listen to him.
The area under Yeon-ho’s eyes finally turned red. Of course, it was Marteo who felt his heart sink at that.
“Do Yeon-ho!”
Marteo, raising his voice once more, finally hugged Yeon-ho in a hurry. He hadn’t even touched him until just now, but he was patting his back in his arms, stroking his face, and seemed out of his mind.
“What’s wrong, what did I do wrong? You have to tell me to know!”
Yeon-ho pushed Marteo away with a pak. It was wrong not to know that. You son of a bitch!
He was going to shout loudly. But the words that actually came out of his mouth were…
“Am I… not attractive anymore…? Because I have an outie belly button, because I’m like a raw chicken, because my belly is sticking out, so I’m not sexy?”
So detailed and pathetic.
Even he himself wondered if this was a bit much after saying it.
It was unlikely that Marteo would be any different. With a face even more blank than when he was hit with a pillow after waking up from sleep, Marteo stammered.
“…What? What… chicken?”
But the words had already been spoken. There was no going back in Do Yeon-ho’s life. Yeon-ho raised his voice again.
“Is it because I look like a raw chicken stuffed with glutinous rice that you’re not making a peep!”
Marteo’s eyes widened this time for sure. He also looked down at Yeon-ho’s swollen belly, which was still heaving with excitement.
After a while.
“…Ha.”
A burst of laughter that couldn’t be more absurd came out of Marteo’s mouth. Yeon-ho raised his eyes in his own way.
“Are you laughing? Are you mocking me now?”
He had at least grabbed a pillow earlier. He had also clenched his bare fist as if he was going to hit him. However, the second violent incident fortunately did not occur. Because Marteo grabbed Yeon-ho’s tightly clenched hand first.
“Really… what am I going to do with you.”
“What?”
Then it was almost simultaneous. He grabbed Yeon-ho’s hand and brought it to his lower body.
‘I’m wearing so little, but why is he so heavily armed?’ The pants that made him feel twisted. The next thing he felt was a heat so intense that it would penetrate the fabric.
‘…Huh? Huh?’
Yeon-ho’s eyes were raised this time in a different sense. Marteo, staring intently at the trembling pupils in them, clicked his tongue as if he was dumbfounded this time.
“What about your belly?”
“…”
“When I think that the seed I planted is still like this inside you, there’s nothing as crazy sexy as this, you know?”
“…”
“What do you think of me? What on earth were you thinking…? There was a lot of resentment loaded into that pillow earlier, wasn’t there?”
The tables had turned. Yeon-ho’s throat went dry in several senses at the man’s thing, which was still throbbing under his hand.
The voice, which had subsided a lot but still hadn’t completely resolved its resentment, was next.
“Then… why haven’t there been any kisses yesterday or today? Why aren’t you saying you’ll wash me?”
“Haa. Are you saying that even after seeing me like this? How can I touch you in this state?”
“That’s what I’m saying! Why aren’t you touching me when you’re in that state? It’s exactly the stable period now. You know that penetrative sex is possible, don’t you.”
Marteo paused for the first time and frowned.
“I know that, but… I don’t know what Do Yeon-ho is thinking.”
“…What?”
“You said that on the day we had our first sex. How can you show me your bulging belly? You scolded me for being clueless.”
Yeon-ho’s mouth dropped open.
No. Is this bastard taking my words as some kind of scripture? How can he not forget even something like this?
“No, hey! That was our first sex, is this the same as that?”
“Besides…”
…Besides?
“You, you don’t talk about what’s really hard for you, surprisingly.”
“What?”
“You toss and turn several times while sleeping these days. Sometimes you even groan.”
“…”
“Knowing that… how can I do as I please. I’m not some horny dog.”
“No, of course you’re…”
“If you’re going to say I’m not a dog but an eagle, then shut your mouth.”
It’s been a long time since he’s been in my ass, but he’s still coming in and out of my head?
Yeon-ho, who was about to say the literal words, pulled his chin back with a startled look. Marteo, who was quietly watching that, finally smirked and slightly stretched his cheek.
“What can I do to make you not look pretty in my eyes? If there’s a way, tell me. Then it’ll be a little easier to hold back.”
“…”
He seemed to have thought this before. That this bastard was prettier. However, Yeon-ho had very little connection with patience.
What was he going to do by holding back something pretty?
Finally, Yeon-ho, equipped with his usual coyness and shamelessness, raised his chin towards Marteo. Then, as if to show off, he opened his gown wide. He proudly showed off his round belly and winked seductively.
“I don’t know about that. So… let’s try until we know.”
Marteo’s face, which had paused, finally crumbled.
He thought he wouldn’t be able to find the answer for the rest of his life.
The positions he could do because of his swollen belly were limited.
After adjusting the angles this way and that like fools, they finally ended up in a position where Yeon-ho was lying on his side and he was hugging him from behind.
“Tell me if it’s hard.”
Marteo, who lowered his lips to his sideburns and shoulders in turn, whispered carefully. Along with the feeling that his eardrums were already melting, his knees were also tingling.
Meanwhile, Marteo’s hand, which continued, went up to Yeon-ho’s chest and gently caressed his nipples.
“Heueung~”
A round moan leaked out of his mouth as if he had been waiting for it, and Marteo, who smiled softly, put more strength into his fingertips.
“Come to think of it, your breasts have swollen a bit?”
“Eueung?”
“Maybe milk will come out like this.”
That was unlikely. Morpheus could get pregnant, but there were hardly any birds that breastfed, and the same was true for chickens.
Yeon-ho bit his lip at the pointless words that were more for the purpose of arousing him. Still, Do Yeon-ho wouldn’t back down in embarrassment with just this much.
Yeon-ho, who was panting, grabbed Marteo’s wrist, which was still rolling his remaining nipple. And he pulled that hand straight down.
“It’s here that’s swollen.”
As he said, Yeon-ho’s penis, which was full of anger, just like his round belly.
Marteo, who almost laughed at the shameless words, cleared his throat with an effort and rubbed Yeon-ho’s slippery glans with his fingers.
“I see. Milk comes out from here?”
Looking at him licking his lips as he said that, he wondered if there would be anything left for the kids to eat even if milk came out from somewhere on his body.
He was sure that he would eat it all up before the kids did…
As he was having such a pointless thought that wasn’t entirely impossible, his body began to heat up even more. Yeon-ho shook his hips.
“Quickly… touch me properly.”
His wish was naturally fulfilled quickly. Marteo’s touch, which made a noose with his index finger and thumb and quickly massaged Yeon-ho’s shaft. Yeon-ho’s moans rang out in succession.
A pleasure that was long overdue, too long overdue. His back stiffened and his eyelids trembled.
At the end of that, ejaculation came so easily that it was absurd.
“Eueut. Ah!”
Below the panting breath, as Yeon-ho’s body, which had been tense, relaxed somewhat, Marteo released his tightly clenched hand.
But even after pouring it out once, Yeon-ho’s penis was still about to touch his lower abdomen. Well, how much had he been holding back until now, how could this excitement subside right away just because he came once. Marteo’s condition was, of course, even more than that.
The hard flesh, which was excited along with Yeon-ho, was already poking Yeon-ho’s buttocks with a terrifying force.
Yeon-ho’s saliva went down his throat. Yeon-ho, who pulled his hips back once more, began to rub the man’s penis between his buttocks.
The wish-like command flowed naturally this time as well.
“Put it in now…”
“Already?”
“What do you mean already? I’ve been waiting for six months.”
He was right. However, Marteo, who was also anxious, shook his head.
“I can’t. What if you get hurt doing that. Let’s loosen up properly. Huh?”
It was also a bonus that he kissed Yeon-ho’s hair, which was already sweaty, as if he was appeasing a crying child. But it goes without saying that this affection made Yeon-ho even more impatient. Yeon-ho, who was breathing heavily, bit and released his lower lip.
“You don’t have to do it… I loosened it up… ”
“…Huh?”
“I loosened it up in the bathroom and came out!”
He guessed that Marteo’s eyes would be wide open without even looking. Marteo, who paused for a few seconds, hurriedly brought his finger to Yeon-ho’s back.
With the tip of his index finger, which parted the two hills and carefully dug in, he felt a hole that seemed to be playing with its mouth. The finger, which was wet with Yeon-ho’s ejaculate, hesitated and slowly pushed into Yeon-ho’s inside.
“Heueunge~”
Yeon-ho’s breath rose with anticipation. It was definitely a wall that swallowed his finger without difficulty, considering that he hadn’t used it for a long time.
“…Did you really loosen it up alone?”
“Then what else could I do. You didn’t wash me.”
“…Still, with this body.”
“That’s why I had a lot of trouble? So put it in quickly before it hardens again.”
It wasn’t hardening, but it was a hole that was still pulling his finger in moistly. Finally, a boiling groan leaked from Marteo’s mouth at the wrinkles that were tightening his joints. The penis, which had been rising for a long time, was filled with a new sense of strength.
If it got any bigger like this, it was obvious that it would be difficult to enter even if he loosened the hole. Finally, Marteo applied all of Yeon-ho’s fluid that was left on his hand to his anus.
And with gritted teeth, he brought his glans to the space between Yeon-ho’s buttocks, which he had grabbed and opened.
Finally! Yeon-ho also grabbed the sheet, trying to relax his body as much as possible.
Unlike his usual elegance, Marteo’s sex was fierce and rough, which he had experienced several times. It was only natural to expect a menacing thing that would pierce through him at once.
However, his thoughts were completely wrong.
“Haeut? Eu, eueung…?”
The heat of the flesh felt through the touching hole was more intense than usual, and it was clear that he was excited beyond measure, but the gesture of opening his body was slower and more gradual than ever before.
How slow was it, he wanted to ask, ‘Are you falling asleep while putting it in?’
But the impatience that was full of dissatisfaction didn’t last long.
Marteo’s movements, which were felt in detail as much as they were slow. Thanks to that, the man’s thing that had pierced through the inner wall was felt even more clearly.
The new stimulus was the excitement that he was experiencing for the first time, with time to catch his breath.
Every movement was endlessly careful, as if handling a fragile object, and the man’s low, subdued breathing echoed right next to his ear. Everything was excessively sweet.
Even if he tried his best, he couldn’t completely avoid the dull pain, but at this moment, that was nothing.
Not the anus where he felt the heat, but the feeling that his heart would melt as it was, Yeon-ho held his breath as much as he could, even though he was gripping the sheet for the same reason.
And finally, the long-awaited insertion filled Yeon-ho’s inside.
Even Yeon-ho’s thing, which had been poured out once, was still holding its remaining head upright, more than the pulse that was throbbing and beating in his inside.
But even with the excitement at its peak, neither the one who put it in nor the one who received it still moved easily.
The warmth flowing between the bodies connected as one and the full sensation that was filled with pride. He wanted to feel this state a little more now.
He wasn’t even moving his hips, let alone a finger, but he was so satisfied that it was almost miraculous.
It was at that moment.
“Eut?”
Yeon-ho let out a low groan.
“What’s wrong?”
Marteo raised his head in a hurry for the first time. Yeon-ho, who was groaning for a while, frowned.
“It’s full…”
“Me?”
“Who else would it be?”
Ah, Marteo made a rare and embarrassing expression a beat late. At that moment, ppeong again! A signal came from Yeon-ho’s belly.
Marteo’s hand carefully rose to his round belly at the bulging movement that was felt enough from the outside.
He stroked the swollen skin as if he was newly amazed, even though he had experienced it several times already. Following him, Yeon-ho’s body trembled.
A soft, hot, and ticklish touch. It was the revival of the desire that had been put off for a while.
Yeon-ho, who was rolling his head, soon chattered in a coy voice with a sparkling face.
“What are you doing?”
“……?”
“The kids are awake. Aren’t you going to put them back to sleep?”
“…Put them to sleep?”
“Soothe them quickly.”
It was also a bonus that he tightly squeezed the anus full of the man’s thing along with the words. Marteo’s thing, which was squeezed by the wriggling inner wall, immediately perked up.
Only then did Marteo burst out with something that was neither an exclamation nor a laugh. How could he not know what the words ‘soothe them’ meant.
To use ordinary words so seductively…
It was definitely impossible to hold back any longer than this. Marteo, who repeatedly wrapped his arms around Yeon-ho’s belly, finally began to thrust his hips.
“Haa. Eung. Eueung~”
It was still a more gradual and slower thrust than usual, but this much might have been just right for Yeon-ho, whose senses had become twice as sensitive after pregnancy.
Instead of rough groans, round, sweet nasal sounds continued to flow out of his mouth.
Every time Marteo’s hand stroked his belly in accordance with the heaving hips, such sweet sounds increased even more.
I thought the protruding belly button on my bulging stomach was unsightly, but every time his long fingertips touched it, a new horizon of sensuality opened up.
In the past, I thought I could feel with my elbow during sex with Marteo… but now I see that this belly button is no joke either.
How can such a concave mark be so electrifying?
I’ve done it over and over again, more times than I can count on my fingers and toes, but there’s still something new left. I felt like I was beginning to understand the true pleasure of slow sex.
If the usual was a tsunami of pleasure, this was a pleasure that permeated my whole body without me even realizing I was getting wet.
“Theon… haa… Theon.”
Finally, Yeon-ho tilted his head back, his damp, nasal voice uttering the man’s name. His bent neck and upturned eyes were excessively erotic.
His lips, half breath and half name, were even more beyond words. As if waiting for it, Marteo’s lips immediately pounced on Yeon-ho.
It was a slow but intense kiss above. Marteo sucked Yeon-ho’s tongue hard, and the hot tongue that poured down his throat was replacing his Cock, which he couldn’t thrust as he pleased.
Yeon-ho’s urgent moan leaked out of his lips, which had been taken without a gap, for the first time.
Saliva that he couldn’t swallow in time dripped down his chin. Even such a trivial sensation was unbearably good. The moment Marteo’s Cock pierced a spot on my inner wall with a gesture that was clearer because it was slow, my vision finally blurred.
“Heeu…!”
It was a pleasure with long waves, enough to fill every inch of my head. Yeon-ho’s swollen belly trembled. The situation was the same with his twitching asshole, which clenched and loosened around Marteo’s Cock.
His toes and fingers curled inward, and Yeon-ho’s Cock, which was already erect, erupted with a second orgasm. If it weren’t for his swollen belly, it would have shot up to his chest.
At the same time as the ejaculation, the hole that had been constricting Marteo’s Cock repeated its contraction and relaxation once more.
“Keu-heut.”
Soon, Marteo’s fluids began to pour into it as well.
Endless ejaculation and an enormous amount. To exaggerate a bit, it felt like my body was swaying much more from the ejaculation filling me than from my swollen belly.
The movements of the two people, trembling in many ways, gradually subsided after a long time. Normally, Yeon-ho would have turned and hugged him at this point, but instead, Marteo, who had pressed his lips to his neck, only shared his rough breaths.
“Do Yeon-ho…”
Along with a voice that sounded like his heart was melting away now that he had poured out as much as he could. Yeon-ho couldn’t help but feel sorry for Marteo.
Especially the lower body, which was already slowly pulling away, unlike usual.
Yeon-ho, who had been biting his lip, finally gave up. He turned his body with a grunt! towards Marteo, who had completely separated from him.
And as soon as their eyes met, he instinctively smiled and pushed the man’s shoulders back with all his might.
Instantly, no. It probably wasn’t instant, but anyway. At the same time, he climbed onto Marteo’s belly with the fastest movements he could muster.
“Do Yeon-ho…?”
It was the same call, but the end of Marteo’s words trembled slightly. Of course, so did the Cock under his butt.
As if he had once turned into a chicken and embraced Marteo’s balls, his firm buttocks pressed down on Marteo’s thing once more.
As expected, the mass and heat were clearly felt. The corners of Yeon-ho’s lips turned up with a grin.
‘That’s right. How can you be satisfied with just this after so long?’
As before, Yeon-ho proudly stuck out his round belly.
“Hey, were you lying when you said that earlier?”
“…Pardon?”
“You said I was the sexiest with a belly. So why are you pulling out on your own?”
“…….”
“This is a limited season, you know? A two-month limited edition!”
The point is that this isn’t an opportunity that comes every day. When else are you going to do it if not now? It was an invitation close to solicitation.
Should I laugh at this? Should I stop him? Marteo, who couldn’t figure it out, finally covered his forehead with a rough sigh.
“Really… can’t you be just a little less sexy?”
I feel like I’m going to die from happiness….
His words were full of sincerity.
[37 Weeks Pregnant]
Summer, autumn, winter. And after passing a new year, the season returned to spring, when all things come to life again.
Yeon-ho’s belly was now as swollen as the full moon, and it was a time when it wouldn’t be strange for the babies to be born at any moment.
Multiple fetuses, Morpheus, and a male pregnancy.
Yeon-ho and Marteo, after finishing several consultations with the doctor in charge about the birth with many variables, decided to be admitted to the hospital next week.
Ten months of waiting. The day to finally meet the children was just around the corner.
But before that, there was a very important issue left.
“Giovanni?”
“Sounds like a perfume name.”
“Francesco…?”
“Are you going to make him a pope?”
“Then Leonardo….”
“Isn’t Leo a lion?”
They had been contemplating and worrying for ten months, but they still hadn’t decided on the children’s names.
Well, it was understandable. It was a name that would be used and called for a lifetime, and ten months was relatively short compared to that.
Moreover, not just one, but two. How easy would it be to come up with a name that was similar yet different, while also fairly giving meaning?
It was truly like an order that was eye-catching yet simple, leaving room while also filling it up, uh? You know, that kind of feeling～.
In the end, Yeon-ho and Marteo let out a sigh that sounded like they had rehearsed it.
Even so, Marteo’s hands didn’t stop massaging Yeon-ho’s swollen calves and feet.
“Naming is much more difficult than M&A negotiations.”
“Don’t you have places like that here? Like a naming center.”
“Usually, they borrow the names of saints. Or inherit the names of ancestors.”
“Hmph…. What about you? Come to think of it, what does your name mean? Marteo… did you get it from Mateo?”
“Half of it.”
“Half…?”
“I heard the other half is from Mars.”
“Mars as in… the god of war?”
“Mateo means a gift from God, and among them, Mars, who symbolizes strength, gave a gift… that’s how it was named.”
“Who?”
At this point, Marteo paused for a moment. Then, with an ambiguous look, he mumbled the remaining answer.
“……My father.”
Yeon-ho couldn’t help but laugh.
‘See? I told you that expression I saw back then was prideful, right?’
Then he playfully raised his eyebrows again.
“Wow. Your father had a sense.”
“…….”
“You really have to think hard about the kids’ names. If you don’t want to lose to Sergio,”
“Hey, is it just my babies? Don’t do that, let’s think about it together.”
“I gave you the nicknames for the babies, didn’t I?”
Yeon-ho denied it again. On the other hand, Marteo couldn’t help but frown again at this part. It was followed by a sigh that was twice as deep as before.
“I really…. I’m just saying, but don’t you think you have a strange sense?”
“Me? Why me?”
“Don’t you know? I mean, who names their babies’ nicknames like that?”
It was a rare glare from Marteo. Yeon-ho, still looking like he didn’t understand, tapped his swollen belly.
“Geez. What’s wrong with Jujube and Ginseng?”
Ginseng and Jujube. As he said, these were the nicknames Yeon-ho had given to the babies in his belly. If Yeon-ho’s Anima wasn’t a chicken, Marteo might have laughed it off.
But no matter how he thought about it, Yeon-ho’s naming definitely contained a somewhat cruel self-deprecating joke.
Ginseng and Jujube in a chicken’s belly! No, is this a medicinal chicken soup?
Marteo’s face didn’t brighten at all, and Yeon-ho finally pouted his lips.
“Oh, well. It’s good because it’s not common, right? It sticks in your memory. It’s also good for your body. It contains a deeeep meaning that they’ll grow up healthy and nutritious?”
If only he couldn’t talk! Marteo even covered his forehead.
Still, they couldn’t just keep doing this. If they weren’t careful, they would end up writing giuggiola and jinseng on the children’s first name tags. They had to avoid this at all costs.
Marteo, who had straightened his posture, repeatedly pondered over the names he had shortlisted once more.
After a while, ah! Yeon-ho snapped his fingers.
“Hey. How about we just do this?”
“Do… what? You’re not going to say something weird again, are you?”
A look of vigilance immediately appeared on Marteo’s face. Yeon-ho, who had been glaring at the emerging impurity, soon raised his cheekbones with a smile.
“Let’s have the kids decide.”
“Have the kids……?”
“When I think about it, they’re the ones who are going to use the names, so they should have some say in the decision.”
“So?”
Yeon-ho pulled Marteo’s arm, which was still massaging his legs. Then he put the hand he was holding on his belly, which was like a hill.
“Say the names, one at a time. Who knows? Maybe there will be a reaction to the ones they like?”
Marteo, who hadn’t let his guard down, wondering what kind of absurd thing he was going to say, finally had a look of realization on his face. Then he pulled his chin, half serious and half joking.
“Be honest. Aren’t you doing this because you’re too lazy right now? You’re trying to pass it on to the kids.”
“Geez. It’s early education. Self-directed learning ability. How important is this?”
The laughter he had been holding back finally burst out. How can you ever beat Do Yeon-ho?
Even so, he was secretly moved. It didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Marteo cleared his throat and began to gently stroke Yeon-ho’s belly. A voice that always stuck to his ears fell on it one by one.
Luigi, Diego, Aldo, Giuseppe, Davide…….
Yeon-ho, who had been giggling at first, gradually became quite tense.
How long had that time passed?
“Elio?”
Suddenly, his belly twitched. Yeon-ho and Marteo, who had stopped moving at the same time, looked at each other’s faces. Then they hurriedly lowered their heads back to their bellies.
“…Elio?”
The belly was kicked with a more violent movement than before in response to the name he called again with half doubt. It seemed like he was responding to the call no matter who looked at it.
Yeon-ho, who had been hesitant, widened his eyes.
“He seems to like this…. Call out some other ones too.”
Marteo immediately recited another name. Like a lie, the fetal movement stopped. Like that for a while again.
“Lucio?”
The signal came again in front of this name. The belly moved with a bang! from a different direction than before. It was too coincidental to be a coincidence.
Yeon-ho rubbed his chin at the bulging fetal movement.
“I think both of them have been decided…?”
“I guess so… it works.”
“See? What did I tell you? They have thoughts too, you know?”
Marteo also curved his eyes, which were different colors, to the fullest at Yeon-ho, who finally burst into laughter.
Elio and Lucio. The sun and the shining one, derived from Latin.
The pronunciation and meaning were perfect for twins. Above all, Yeon-ho liked the names that seemed to have been born from Marteo’s eyes.
“Elio, Lucio….”
As Yeon-ho whispered as if to recall them, two kicks returned at the same time this time. Once again, Yeon-ho and Marteo’s laughter shattered.
But this moment didn’t last long.
“Ah……. Aheuht?”
It was because Yeon-ho, who had been laughing so well, let out a shallow moan not long after.
“What’s wrong?”
Marteo, whose expression had changed as well, hurriedly wrapped his arms around Yeon-ho’s shoulders. Yeon-ho, who had been biting his lip, groped his belly down again.
“That’s…… the feeling is a bit….”
“What’s wrong with the feeling? Does your belly feel tight? Is it because the babies are kicking?”
“No, it’s not because of the fetal movement…. Ugh!”
The rest of the words weren’t finished. Yeon-ho grabbed his belly once more.
The subtle pain that suddenly surged in his lower abdomen, waist, and pelvis in succession. It felt different from the pain he had occasionally felt in the later stages of pregnancy.
As expected. Even if he changed his posture or tried to breathe evenly, the pain that was repeated once in a while gradually became more intense.
Before he knew it, Yeon-ho’s complexion had hardened to white, and cold sweat began to form on his forehead. Yeon-ho roughly grabbed Marteo’s arm.
“Euht, Theon… haa… Theon.”
At this point, Marteo couldn’t help but notice the abnormality that was different from usual. The color drained from Marteo’s face as much as Yeon-ho’s.
“W, wait. Tony… no, contact the hospital!”
“Heu-heut. Ah, euph! Do anything, quickly～!”
A birth with many variables for a Morpheus. The due date was still several days away, but labor had suddenly started.
As if the names were a signal that they had now finished preparing to go out into the world.
Marteo immediately pressed the bell next to the bed at Yeon-ho’s face, which was changing every moment.
No matter how much he had prepared and braced himself, he couldn’t help but feel anxious in front of Yeon-ho, who was groaning. His heart was racing so much that his ears were numb. With a voice and hands that were trembling without him realizing it, Marteo kept stroking Yeon-ho’s back.
“Breathe, breathe slowly. It’s okay. I’m here with you. It’s okay.”
But unlike his words, it was Marteo who didn’t look okay. He was the one experiencing the labor pains, but why did he look like he was about to die right away….
But ironically, Yeon-ho was the one who regained some composure in that state. Yeon-ho, who had barely caught his breath, holding his breath as he was told, grabbed Marteo’s arm tightly once more.
“Theon…….”
“Yeah!”
“Listen carefully. If… if, I mean. If I happen to die while giving birth…….”
“What are you talking about!”
Marteo, who had become much more pale than ever before, shouted like a thunderbolt before the words were even finished. The expression that looked like he was already dead instead of about to die was a bonus.
Even so, Yeon-ho was serious. Then he forced himself to continue the remaining words.
“If, I said if. If that happens… stay focused…. Stay focused, heuht, first of all…….”
Take care of the children first?
That was usually what would be said in this situation.
But Yeon-ho gritted his teeth with glistening eyes.
“Secure the medical records first. The circumstances of the surgery…… witnesses, things like that….”
“……Wh, what?”
“Originally, medical lawsuits aren’t easy. They’re all in cahoots. So unconditionally, heut. Get the evidence first. Do you understand?”
“…….”
“And…… this is really important, haa. Don’t even dream of remarrying within the next 50 years, no, 100 years! Then you’ll really die by my hand….”
“…….”
“Heuht. Why aren’t you answering?!”
He had thought about it countless times since meeting Do Yeon-ho.
That Do Yeon-ho is Do Yeon-ho no matter when or where. That this man never moves according to his expectations.
But even in this moment of desperation. Even in the midst of labor pains, his form was still the same.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t answering, but that it was absurd.
But he couldn’t not answer in front of Yeon-ho, who was shaking his arms. Finally, Marteo hugged Yeon-ho’s body tightly once more.
“Even if I don’t know about anything else… don’t worry about that.”
“……?”
“Because if something happens to you, I won’t be able to live either. How can a dead guy remarry?”
Sincerity that was too full. Yeon-ho’s eyes wavered. The hand that had been holding his arm tightly until now barely rose to Marteo’s cheek.
But the next moment, he grabbed and tore at his cheek instead of his arm.
“What did you hear! You have to file a medical lawsuit. What if you die too! Even if you die, die after winning the lawsuit!”
I’ll say it again, Do Yeon-ho is still…… the rest is omitted.
Marteo showed a hazy look with his cheek stretched out without even thinking of letting go of his hand. Still, only one thing was fortunate.
At least he has the mental capacity to take care of these things!
Yeah. That’s enough. What more could he want…….
Just as he was feeling a sense close to resignation, Tony burst into the room.
Tony immediately grasped the situation at the sight of the two people hugging on the bed and their similar complexions.
“Yeon-ho-nim! I, is it labor pains?!”
“Yeah. Contact the hospital. Prepare the car right away.”
“Yes, sir!”
There was no need for long words. Tony, who immediately answered, ran back outside. It was the first time he had seen him running so frantically.
Meanwhile, Yeon-ho’s labor pains were becoming more frequent.
Marteo finally held Yeon-ho’s body tightly, whose breathing was becoming increasingly rough.
“Just hold on a little longer. No, don’t hold back, shout if it’s hard.”
He had his cheek pinched, but he didn’t forget to give Yeon-ho’s sweaty forehead a tender and small kiss.
Before he knew it, a groan leaked out of Yeon-ho’s mouth again.
“Haeuh. Heut. If I had known this would happen…… I wouldn’t have done anything cool…….”
Of course, that groan was… still unusual.
Hesitating, even in the midst of his haste, Marteo stopped and stood still again before he could even take three steps. Yeon-ho was bursting out with another bitter regret.
“Just, heeu. Just… I should have done something delicious…!”
─I mean. I think a man should be one of two things? Cool or delicious.
─So. Which one are you?
─Me? I’m obviously…… the cool one.
It was a few seconds later that he realized what he meant, along with the faint memory that flashed by.
Top or bottom. The conversation he had with Yeon-ho when confirming their positions someday.
It really wasn’t the time for this, it really couldn’t be happening… Marteo’s arms, holding Yeon-ho, tightened once more.
He desperately bit his lip, raising his voice repeatedly.
“Please don’t make me laugh when you’re holding me!”
But he knew. How meaningless those words were.
Even the birth of their children wouldn’t bring this much joy. He couldn’t possibly love anything more than Do Yeon-ho, not light, not the sun, nothing.
A ridiculously wonderful rooster in any moment. He would surely laugh even as he died, as long as Yeon-ho was in his arms.
A heart reborn every day, every second.
It was a love that would be persistently, eternally, and tenderly everlasting.
Feather Two Fin.
-15-
Side Story 3
Ginseng and jujubes. Elio and Lucio.
Identical twins, born on the same day, at the same time, with the same weight and appearance, had finally arrived. From the moment they entered the world, the two boys amazed everyone.
Seriously. How can a newborn be this handsome?
Usually, newborns are like that. After being immersed in amniotic fluid for ten months, they’re somewhat swollen and red. Making you wonder, is this a person or a freshly steamed sweet potato? That’s the kind of impression they give.
But the twins were completely different.
Their babbling lips looked as if they were drawn with a brush. Their already prominent noses, even as babies, looked as if they were sculpted.
They had no heat rash, their hair was thick, and above all, their honey-colored eyes, exactly like their father’s right eye, hadn’t even focused yet, but they sparkled with the ultimate loveliness.
The doctor and nurses who delivered the babies all agreed.
‘These are the prettiest babies we’ve ever seen!’
If that’s how it was in the eyes of strangers who weren’t even related by blood, how much more so for Marteo, their father?
He found even their fingers and toes so fascinating, he kept looking at them whenever he had a chance…
He was even more of a fool for his kids than Yeon-ho had predicted, so thrilled by their every little breath and bubble.
Of course, Yeon-ho was inwardly proud too. Looking at the wriggling babies in his arms, he felt like he understood a little bit about what fatherhood was for the first time.
Because he was incredibly worried about their future.
‘…Seriously. How can they look so much like Theon? Did I give birth to him instead of my kids? They’re going to make both girls and boys cry for sure, 100%?’
For reference, Yoon Seung-won, after receiving the babies’ photos, said he would send the contract right away without further ado. These kids are the future of our DO:IT! They will be the light and sun of the entertainment industry!
Anyway, the point is that the birth of these beautiful babies surprised everyone, parents and people around them alike.
But Yeon-ho soon realized. Being pretty is one thing, reality is another.
He couldn’t lie down straight on his swollen belly, he got out of breath no matter what he did, and his hands and feet swelled up all the time. When he was carrying the babies in his womb, he wished for this suffering to end as soon as possible, but only after giving birth did he realize.
That being in the womb is the most comfortable! was the truest saying in the world.
Pregnancy and childbirth are at least limited to a certain period, but childcare is literally all the time. The grand beginning of that was breastfeeding.
Four in the morning, before dawn had even broken.
Waaaaah. Like they had planned it, Rio and Chio cried at the same time, and Yeon-ho and Marteo also sat up in bed at the same time.
“What… what is it. Is it time already…?”
“Shh. I’ll take care of it, you sleep more.”
Marteo soothed Yeon-ho first, before the crying babies. But unfortunately, that wasn’t possible. If there was only one baby, maybe. But there were two parents and two babies. Even four hands weren’t enough.
Yeon-ho, who was awake but still couldn’t open his eyes properly, finally rubbed his eyelids with a deep sigh. Then he turned to look at the two small beds next to their bed, placed side by side.
“It’s okay… bring the babies over.”
Marteo, looking pitifully at Yeon-ho, kissed his hair and soon approached the small beds.
The babies, who had been crying loudly, only reduced their sobs after seeing their father’s face and being moved into their mother’s arms.
In the meantime, Marteo turned on the bedside lamp and began to prepare the bottles with a skill that had become completely familiar to him recently.
Putting a certain amount of formula and water into the sterilized bottles, checking the temperature of the milk by dropping it on the back of his hand…
Watching him do that made Yeon-ho chuckle even in his exhaustion. Marteo, who happened to turn around, raised his eyebrows.
Why are you laughing? His face seemed to ask.
Nothing… Yeon-ho shook his head.
In fact, before the babies were born, their mornings were often filled with a different scent than milk. A scent that changed the ‘i’ in milk to an ‘o’.
But now, they were so busy feeding the babies that they didn’t have time to think about anything else.
Even spending the night having sex was more relaxing than this…
The unknowing babies were held in Marteo and Yeon-ho’s arms, vigorously moving their mouths.
The eyes looking down at them were so clear. He had thought they woke up because they were hungry, but did they just wake up?
Yeon-ho, who was suspicious, moved his lips in a serious tone.
“Could it be that they’re doing this… because of me?”
“…Huh?”
“Am I waking them up every morning because I’m a rooster, because half of their blood is mine?”
Marteo, who was tilting Elio’s bottle, chuckled briefly. The feeding interval for newborns is usually between 2-3 hours. This is just everyday life. Nevertheless, Yeon-ho stuck out his pursed lips.
“I’m not kidding? I didn’t sleep in when I was a kid either. What if they keep doing this when they grow up?”
“What are you worried about? We’ll be using separate rooms by then.”
“Separate…?”
“Did you think we’d be using the same room forever?”
In fact, there were plenty of people to help with childcare at home. They could have hired professional nannies if they wanted to. But it was entirely Marteo’s insistence that they put the baby beds in the master bedroom.
Of course, Yeon-ho was also concerned about the newborns… but he was holding the babies like they were the most precious treasures in the world, yet he was so good with words.
He looked like he was going to wear a baby carrier to work every morning.
Yeon-ho shot him a look of disbelief at his words and actions, which seemed impossible to believe right now, and Marteo, who smiled faintly, tilted his head.
Then he dropped a light kiss on Yeon-ho’s lips.
“Believe it or not, I’m trying hard to hold back.”
“Hold back what?”
“Giving up your arms to the babies. It’s only for now.”
Yeon-ho’s lips, which had been protruding quite a bit, slowly returned to their place. He smacked his lips without realizing it, like the babies sucking on their bottles…
Marteo, who laughed again at his expression, which couldn’t be misunderstood, changed the angle of his head and reached for Yeon-ho’s lips again.
But the fluttering, sweet and sour mood was quickly broken.
The bottles were slightly misaligned because they were leaning towards each other.
“Hng? Hwaaaang～”
“Waaaaah.”
Why aren’t you focusing on us? Elio and Lucio started showing off their voices again.
Yeon-ho and Marteo’s tongues, which had been trying to explore each other’s mouths, immediately changed their purpose. Cooing and comforting them was almost a reflex.
Only then did their eyes meet, and they both burst out laughing again.
“When can we use separate rooms?”
Yeon-ho asked sulkily, and
“…Let’s feed them quickly and raise them quickly.”
Marteo replied solemnly.
Happy yet tiring, difficult yet full of laughter. These times accumulated steadily afterwards.
It was common for their shoulders to get wet from the vomit they spewed out while burping them. They got peed on while changing diapers, and they were horrified when poop got on their hands while wiping their butts. Even so, they—mainly Marteo—couldn’t come to their senses at the babies’ beaming smiles…
As their parents had hoped, the twins continued to grow rapidly, fueled by affection.
The first babbling, the first rollover, the first crawl, and with the first steps, the first Morphosis finally arrived.
Even though they had been diagnosed as ‘Eagle’ through examinations after the babies were born, the feeling was different when they saw the true Anima with their own eyes.
Insignificant and fluffy down that hadn’t yet acquired its color. A sound like a reed flute, chirping. Even so, their beaks and claws already had the appearance of birds of prey.
So cute, yet so cool!
Did these really come out of my belly? Whose babies are so great?
Yeon-ho’s shoulders were unusually puffed up. But unlike Yeon-ho’s pride, Marteo’s suffering began in earnest from this point on.
The amount of exercise increased noticeably as the children grew.
They put anything they could get their hands on in their mouths, and they moved somewhere in an instant even if you took your eyes off them for a moment. As their range of activity widened, everywhere was full of danger.
Around this time, the most common words from Marteo’s mouth were ‘No,’
Of course, Yeon-ho understood to some extent, as there were many times when his heart dropped.
But there was one thing he couldn’t laugh off.
“It’s dangerous! Don’t climb up high!”
“Piiiii?”
“Tsk. Don’t cry either. Play here, only on the floor.”
How could you tell an Eagle not to climb high… was that even logical?
Just as it was the parents’ job to teach their children to walk, it was also the parents’ job to show and teach their Anima-unleashed offspring how to flap their wings.
But instead of demonstrating as an Eagle, he was even forbidding them from jumping off the bed… This was overprotection like no other.
“I’m asking just in case, but you’re not planning to raise them as snakes instead of Eagles, are you?”
“…Huh?”
“What do you mean, huh? Ah, if you don’t let them Flapping, when will their wing muscles develop!”
“Well, that’s… gradually, little by little…”
“Gradually, my foot. Move. If you can’t teach them, I’ll do it!”
“Wait, just a moment. Then let’s put a mat on the floor…”
“Seriously, if they can’t even fly this much, are they even Eagles?”
“No, you might get hurt too…”
“…What? Are you looking down on me right now? You used to be so adamant that even chickens can fly!”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Pii, piipi…?”
“Piiii～”
“No. Stay still for a moment!”
“No, jump! Try to fly!”
…The first educational disagreement between the Eagle and the Rooster, which had changed a lot.
In the midst of the frequent quarrels between the couple, the people in the Nido d’oro had to put all their efforts into holding back their laughter, unable to take sides with either of them.
Even amidst the noisy commotion, the days were still overwhelmingly happy.
And 4 years later.
Unlike the parents who were worried that they would get hurt or unable to fly, the young Eagles, who had been as fluffy as dandelion seeds, had already surpassed the size of a full-grown rooster and were growing steadily.
The terrible fours had arrived.
♥ ♥ ♥
“Elio, Lucio! Where are you?”
2 p.m. on a fine afternoon. Nido d’oro. Tony’s desperate voice echoed inside and outside the mansion.
Yeon-ho, who had just finished his walk in the garden and was entering the house, collided with Tony, who was rushing out, in the entrance hallway.
When their eyes met, Tony, who had been hurrying, quickly closed the remaining distance and spoke hastily.
“Yeon-ho, have you seen the young masters?”
“Huh? Aren’t they in their room?”
“They’ve been missing since a little while ago. Monica is already waiting…”
Monica Meloni. She was a tutor who had been visiting Nido d’oro as the twins’ teacher for three weeks.
Until now, Marteo and Yeon-ho had been mainly in charge of the twins’ education, but Marteo was short on time, and Yeon-ho had limitations in teaching the history, environment, and curriculum of this place like a local.
The children, who looked exactly like Marteo, even had their father’s brains, were twice as smart as their peers, and as such, they wanted to know and were curious about many things.
But the kids were still kids, it seemed.
Well. It would be strange if they liked studying on time. It was about time they got tired of it after almost a month.
It was obvious that the children had deliberately hidden themselves, and Yeon-ho waved his hand nonchalantly.
“It can’t be helped. Tell her to just go back today.”
“J…just like that?”
“There are days like this and days like that. The best part is skipping school, right?”
“……”
“Why? What are you looking at?”
“No…thing.”
He said no, but Yeon-ho was smart and had a good sense of things.
‘Isn’t that exactly the expression you make?’
When Yeon-ho raised his eyebrows, Tony cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Will you be going up to your room, Yeon-ho?”
“Well… I was thinking of having a cup of tea in the tea room.”
“I’ll let Letizia know.”
The butler, who was always attentive, even though his expression was awkward, took care of the details, and Yeon-ho turned around and walked away.
On the way to the tea room after parting ways. Yeon-ho, who had walked about a dozen steps, suddenly stopped.
“Come out now.”
“……”
“Tony’s gone, so come out.”
The voice, which seemed to be speaking into the air, echoed in succession.
At the same time, the sound of light and quick footsteps echoed behind him.
Then, with a burst of giggling laughter, two arms wrapped around his waist.
“Mamma～”
A duet as if they had planned it. The children’s unique high body temperature and the sweet scent of their flesh wafted up.
Yeon-ho, raising one eyebrow, finally looked down at the short, but long-limbed, identical children clinging to his body.
The young masters that Tony had been calling for so desperately. It was Elio and Lucio.
“Where were you? I was the only one getting glared at because of you.”
“…Nun‥chong?”
“Non so cosa significa～”
As if they weren’t twins. The children, who had added one word each in harmony, tilted their heads to the right and left, respectively. They were so lovely that any creature with eyes would feel their heart ache.
But Yeon-ho, who snorted briefly, grabbed and stretched the plump, fleshy cheeks of each child with one hand.
“Oh, you’re not speaking Korean? You only pretend not to understand when it’s to your advantage.”
“It hurts.”
“Mommy, I love you.”
Yeon-ho bit his tongue. Usually, they would say, ‘Mommy, I hate you!’ if their cheeks were pulled. One was acting cute, pretending to be in pain, and the other was appealing that he loved him.
Where did they learn these tactics…
‘Well. Why bother asking? There’s only one person they could have learned from, isn’t there?’
In the end, he couldn’t resist for long and let go of the cheeks he had been holding, and the two children quickly grabbed Yeon-ho’s hands as if they had been waiting for it.
The way they looked up and deliberately curved their eyes was exactly like someone else.
The words he had said to Marteo a long time ago were resurrected after years.
“Don’t act cute whenever you want.”
“Woong?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. I know you understood with your senses.”
Still, it was motherly of him to gently readjust the soft hands they were holding.
Following Yeon-ho, who had slowed his pace, the children also moved their feet diligently like baby birds.
When they arrived at the tea room, Letizia, who had been waiting, widened her eyes.
“Oh my. Elio, Lucio. Antonio has been looking for you… Were you with Yeon-ho?”
“Don’t accuse me of being an accomplice. I met them right in front of here.”
Letizia, guessing the situation from Yeon-ho’s firm assertion of innocence, bit back her laughter. Then, she naturally pulled out the chairs for the two young masters to sit on.
More than anything else, the children’s chairs, which were high in the legs and narrow in the seat, could now be easily found anywhere in this house. Because furniture tailored to the twins’ growth was being made every time they grew.
“Yeon-ho, I’ve prepared Ceylon tea for you, but what about the young masters? Would milk with honey be okay?”
“We’re not kids anymore, Letizia.”
“Yeah. We don’t need honey.”
Is milk grown-up? Yeon-ho, following Letizia, suppressed his laughter. Still, the way they were pretending to be dignified, unlike when they were with their mother, seemed plausible.
The way they drank the prepared drinks with fairly neat movements was also so polite that it was hard to believe they were only four years old.
Putting food in their mouths one by one, when did they grow up so much from being so fluffy and downy?
Yeon-ho’s eyes were unknowingly filled with pride as he watched them. But the moment was fleeting.
“Okay, now, can you explain?”
“……?”
“It’s supposed to be class time right now. Why were you hiding?”
The reckoning was the reckoning. The two children looked at each other at the belated questioning(?). But the hesitation was only for a moment.
“We weren’t hiding.”
“We weren’t hiding.”
“Oh? You’ve been caught red-handed, where are you lying?”
“No. Tony just couldn’t find us.”
“Yeah. We just didn’t answer when he called us.”
“……”
In the past, he was reminded of Marteo’s words when he asked why he had hidden his identity, and whether it was a sensible thing to do. He wasn’t deceiving, he was just seizing the opportunity when it came.
Seriously, no matter how much they looked alike, did they have to resemble him in this way too?
Yeon-ho, who had almost been persuaded for a moment by their clear replies with their golden eyes wide open, quickly regained his composure.
“Anyway, the teacher went home after waiting for you. You should have asked for permission first if you wanted to play. Is it okay to do this just because you don’t want to study?”
Even their voices turned somewhat cold, and the children finally shrank back. But it wasn’t because they were afraid of being scolded, anyone could see that.
Rather, they wore an unfair expression, as if holding back what they wanted to say. Yeon-ho, who had been keeping his distance, frowned.
“What is it? You weren’t hiding because you wanted to play?”
“…No-uh.”
“Then why were you hiding?”
“……”
“Perhaps… do you dislike the teacher? Does she get angry and scold you?”
Yeon-ho knew that couldn’t be the case. Gentle and soft-spoken, she was kinder than Yeon-ho, their own mother.
However, Yeon-ho knew there was no quicker way to get the children to open their mouths. As expected, the effect was immediate, and the children, who had closed their mouths again, shook their heads vigorously.
“She didn’t say anything. Monica doesn’t get angry.”
“Yeah. It’s not that we dislike her.”
“It’s not?”
“But… class is boring.”
“That’s right. Not fun at all.”
Studying isn’t supposed to be fun. Yeon-ho barely managed to suppress the words that almost slipped out. In the meantime, the children pursed their lips like beaks once more and began to chatter the remaining words as if they had rehearsed them.
“Last time, and the time before that, they always make us do easy things. I don’t like drawing lines or sticking stickers. And we can memorize the puzzles after doing them once?”
“And it’s not fun to distinguish between animals and insects.”
“Yeah. We know that Ornitorinco lays eggs but feeds milk as a Mammalia, and that Ragno is an Arachnida?”
…Is that so. But I have no idea what you’re talking about?
Yeon-ho wore a dumbfounded expression at the mix of Korean and Italian. But the children’s grumbling wasn’t over yet.
“And no matter what we ask, they keep giving us different answers.”
“…What did you ask?”
“You said the Earth is round. So we asked why it’s a circle?”
“And they said if it were square, the ship would fall off… That’s not what we asked. Right?”
“Yeah. The book said it’s because of Gravitational Force.”
“But Mom, do you even know? The Earth is actually an ellipse. The equator bulges out?”
“And if the Earth is round because of the pulling force, why are the mountains inside pointy?”
“And Dark Matter is invisible, but how do we know it holds the universe together?”
“Stupid. It’s because the stars are moving, right?”
“Stupid. How does the movement of stars prove it?”
His head suddenly felt dizzy. Thinking about it again, he seemed to be the stupid one here.
Could it be that when they said studying was boring… they meant it was too easy and tedious…? What kind of books have they been reading to know about ‘gravity’ and ‘dark matter’ already? And when did they learn to talk about proofs?
Of course, the children spoke early and started reading much faster than their peers. In two languages, no less, Italian and Korean.
Thanks to that, the study had become the children’s playground early on, and their understanding of numbers and discrimination of objects was also very high…
Still, that’s too much. He never imagined their level would improve this much…
No wonder the teacher couldn’t answer properly. A four-year-old suddenly asking physics questions.
It was understandable to misunderstand it as pure curiosity, like saying, “Since the Earth is round, we’ll get to meet all the children in the world~.”
Yeon-ho, deeply and sincerely sympathizing with Monica, couldn’t quite decide whether to laugh or not at his extraordinary children.
“Young masters. You were hiding here!”
Tony’s panting breath burst into the tearoom.
The twins, who were still questioning the structure of mass and the balance of forces, whether it was dark matter or dark energy, had their shoulders raised.
The Metz Rat, Tony, whose nostrils were greatly flared, even if he didn’t know about the universe. Yeon-ho turned towards the door with a relieved expression.
But immediately after, the expressions of the children and Yeon-ho changed again.
‘What? Tony’s not the only one here?’
Behind the panting Tony was another familiar face, as they say. The twins, recognizing him, jumped off their chairs.
“Zio~!”
The call, shouted in unison as expected, was Zio… a term for the father’s male sibling.
Zio ‘Fabio’s’ cheek twitched as the two children ran straight towards him. He looked unsure whether to open his arms or step back. But fortunately, the dilemma didn’t last long.
“Young masters! Show some decorum, decorum.”
Tony’s stern voice followed once again.
The children, who had stopped in front of Fabio, clicked their tongues softly. Even so, their eyes, as they looked up at Fabio, held a rather friendly air.
“Zio, long time no see.”
“Did you come to see us?”
The answer to the question flowed from Tony’s mouth.
“I heard you were here to see Monica, so I came along… I received permission from the master to visit.”
Counting by years, it had already been six years since the wedding. Along with the growth of the children, there had been various changes in recent years.
First of all, Tony no longer called Marteo ‘young master’. The young masters of this house were now these young Eagles before his eyes.
Also, Marteo was no longer the number one successor of Averto. A year ago, he had gone through the official succession process and was confirmed as the next head of Averto in name and reality.
Sergio’s decision was opposed by Enrico and Fabio, of course, but it was not a meaningful struggle.
Whether it was business performance, the legitimacy of bloodline, or even the ability to produce Morpheus’s heirs, there had to be a loophole to find fault with.
The two men had fallen into the plight of chasing a chicken they could never catch in front of Marteo, who had taken over the family, the company, and even the chicken.
However, not long after confirming his victory, an unexpected thing happened.
Marteo reached out to Fabio. He asked if he would like to take charge of the premium food distribution business. The partner company was, of course, Yeon-ho’s family home, Gyerim.
Fabio, who had completely fallen out with Enrico around the time of their wedding and had no place to lean on, was bewildered but quickly grabbed the lifeline that Marteo had thrown him.
Even so, he couldn’t understand it at all.
Instead of crushing him to the point of extinction, what kind of charity was this? Moreover, what was even more incomprehensible than Marteo was…
“Zio~ sit here.”
“Why haven’t you come all this time? Didn’t you miss us?”
Even those little ones, who were exactly like Marteo, were being friendly to him.
No sooner had Tony finished speaking than the children were pulling at his collar, and Fabio hesitantly approached the table.
There was a time when he was almost shot, his wrist was twisted, and he was treated as if he was only good enough to bring out a footrest…
His face was still bitter at the feeling of a world turned upside down, and the twins tilted their heads towards Fabio.
“Zio, aren’t you listening to us?”
“Zio must not have missed us…”
Small heads drooping sadly. Fluttering eyelashes. Lips protruding forward. Fabio flinched once more.
It was obvious, but Fabio had never once thought his half-brother, who was six years younger than him, was cute.
If anything, there were times when he felt a chilling shiver down his spine.
But… he really didn’t understand.
Looking at them from the front or the back, lying down or sitting down, these two, who were exactly like their father… why, how, were they so cute?
When the children came towards him, his heart would drop as if Marteo was approaching, but their smiling eyes were lovely, and if they raised their smiling lips, he felt like his face would soften as well.
It was the same now. Seeing them disappointed that he didn’t seem to miss them, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Finally, Fabio cleared his throat.
“Wh-who said I didn’t miss you? I w-wouldn’t have come if I didn’t miss you.”
“Really?”
“How much?”
How, how much…?
“Who did you miss more, Elio or me?”
“Did you miss me more than Lucio?”
Hey. You two look exactly the same, is it fair to ask something like that?
Fabio wore a flustered expression again. Even so, he still didn’t know one thing.
That the one who said ‘Elio and me’ was Elio, and the one who chattered ‘more than Lucio’ was actually Lucio.
‘Anyway, he always seems a bit slow… Is he really related to Marteo by blood?’
When Marteo reached out to Fabio, Yeon-ho had asked. Was it perhaps out of guilt for ruining the engagement? Or was there even a sliver of brotherly affection? But the answer that came back was bitterness itself.
‘Fabio can’t hunt on his own. And of course, he doesn’t have the courage to bite the hand that feeds him.’
‘So…?’
‘We need to put Enrico, who’s cornered, back in the cage before he takes him back. If we cut off even the remaining feathers after taming him, he won’t even think about flying away.’
It was the same with Elio and Lucio. These Eagles, who looked and thought exactly like their father, would have instinctively recognized Fabio.
The weakest in the group. Someone who, no matter how you looked at it, was not a threat to them. In short, they liked him because he was easy to handle.
Even now, Yeon-ho thought the children were playing with Fabio.
Like a well-fed predator playing with an easy target.
Yeon-ho, watching Fabio struggling and her children pretending, finally separated the three of them after a snort.
“Both of you, stop it. Stop it and sit down.”
“We haven’t heard the answer yet?”
“Yeah. You didn’t say who you missed more.”
“You two? If you keep this up, Tony will scold you later?”
Probably for disappearing without a word today. For jumping around before greeting the guests. They would hear all about it.
But the one who reacted immediately to this was surprisingly not the twins, but Fabio. Fabio’s eyebrows shot up.
“What are you talking about? Scold? Who’s scolding who? How dare a mere butler scold the master?”
Just when he seemed completely lacking, the aura of sympathy would disappear at points like this. Yeon-ho frowned as well.
“How dare you say ‘mere’? Watch your words. Besides, why are they Tony’s masters? Do they pay him a salary?”
“Ah, whether they pay him a salary or not, how can an Eagle be scolded by a Metz Rat! Especially the blood of Averto? What are you teaching the children!”
Definitely not like you. Everyone’s thoughts were in agreement.
But Fabio, unaware of this, firmly grabbed Elio and Lucio’s shoulders.
“Hey, you little guys. Listen to what this Zio says. We are the masters of the sky. Beings above all Morpheus! Especially us, we’re Golden Eagles! King of Eagles! The best of the best. The king of birds! The king of birds is not someone who gets scolded by anyone. He’s someone who rules and dominates! Do you understand what that means?”
Lucio and Elio looked at each other with blinking eyes. Then, they tilted their heads in unison.
“Masters of the sky?”
“King of birds?”
“That’s right!”
“Hmm. No, that’s not right…?”
“The king of birds is the chicken?”
“…What?”
“Zio, you don’t know. Chickens are stronger than Eagles?”
“The king isn’t an Eagle.”
“Wh-what??”
“Eagles can’t beat chickens. They’ve never won.”
“Yeah. Their beaks are strong and their claws hurt. Chickens are so scary.”
What, what kind of Golden Eagle turning into a pigeon is this?
Fabio blinked his eyes just like the children.
Tony had long since cocked his head to the side and cleared his throat loudly. Letizia also trembled, clutching the hem of her skirt.
You can’t even drink a glass of water carelessly in front of the children. How could their observational skills be so excellent…
After a while, Fabio finally turned to Yeon-ho with cloudy eyes.
“…These kids, they don’t have a tutor yet, do they? Get them one. Now that I see it, they don’t take after their dad in the brains department.”
These were the kids who were just talking about Gravitational Force and Dark Matter. How could he say that it wasn’t because they didn’t know, but because they knew too much…
“Ahem! We don’t need you adding to the education of someone else’s kids, and more importantly, what’s going on? Did you really come to see the kids?”
“Hmph. Do you think I’m that free? I’m telling you, I barely made time!”
“Zio…”
“Ah, no. It’s true that I came to see you guys too… but first, I have something to do!”
Fabio was sweating profusely, trying to argue with Yeon-ho and appease the children. It was then.
Thump, thump. Footsteps began to be heard again from outside the tearoom.
The sound of footsteps approaching quickly, yet there was not a hint of frivolity.
Large yet elegant strides, Yeon-ho knew only one person who walked like that. The children knew it too.
The children, who had been clinging to Fabio until now, suddenly tilted their heads.
“…papà?”
“It’s Dad!”
Then, with a shout, they turned their backs on Fabio like worn-out shoes.
“Hey. Where are you going!”
It was clear that their feelings for Fabio were only half-hearted. The speed was incomparable to when they were with Fabio. How eager they were, the twins even released their Anima.
“Y-young masters!”
Tony hurriedly picked up the clothes scattered on the floor and raised his voice, but this time, he couldn’t stop them.
Small but dignified wings, a wind-like movement soaring into the air with a flap. The two children, who had disturbed the air with Morphosis, flew straight out of the tearoom without looking back.
Anyone would think they were seeing off someone who had come back from the dead…
But she understood to some extent.
In the early days of their marriage, Marteo would often leave work early with this excuse or that, but after the official succession, he didn’t have the time to do so.
In fact, for the past few months, he had been leaving for work early in the morning and returning late at night every day, so he didn’t even have time to see the children properly.
Whenever he had time to call, they would both be so desperate to see their dad. It was a sight that couldn’t be watched without tears.
But for Marteo to come home at this time…
It was impossible for Elio and Lucio not to be excited.
Before long, the sound of loud cries of “peep peep” and “chirp chirp” echoed from outside the hallway.
And finally, a tall figure and an even more striking face entered the room. As expected, it was Marteo.
Yeon-ho burst out laughing as soon as she saw him.
Not because she was happy, but because it was really funny…
The young ones must have rubbed their feathers against him so much that his neat hair was disheveled. Here and there in the gaps between his spiky hair, there were even downy feathers that had fallen out in the process.
And that wasn’t all. Even now, the Eagles, each occupying one of Marteo’s shoulders, were still peeping and burying their heads in his neck or pecking at the hair behind his ears.
Fabio, narrowing his brows, moved his lips with a disgusted expression.
“…Does he really come home like that every time? Did he go on some kind of military deployment?”
Yeon-ho burst out laughing again, and in the meantime, Marteo, who had closed the remaining distance, dropped small kisses on Yeon-ho’s forehead and then on her lips, regardless of who was watching.
“I’m home.”
Around this time, the children jumped off Marteo’s shoulders and landed on the table. As if to say that this was something they should never interrupt.
Thanks to that, Fabio’s face was once again in trouble.
The words about whether he came home like this every time were meant for Marteo, not the children. It was obvious who the little ones had learned to greet from.
He was jealous and disgusted… Finally, Fabio coughed loudly.
“Hey. Am I invisible to you?”
Marteo, who had taken his lips off Yeon-ho, finally turned to Fabio with a weary look.
“You came earlier than I expected.”
“That’s what I should be saying. It hasn’t even been an hour since we talked on the phone… Don’t tell me you were on your way home?”
It was a question without a question. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed Fabio’s visit.
Even if their relationship wasn’t as hostile as before, Marteo still hadn’t forgotten. Before the flood, Fabio had dared to put his hand on Yeon-ho’s shoulder in the tearoom when he wasn’t there.
The memory was still unpleasant even after a long time, and Marteo snorted, while Fabio wore an even more disgusted expression.
Of course, Yeon-ho also tilted her head.
“What really happened? I thought you wouldn’t be home until late tonight?”
Marteo, who had ignored Fabio’s question, easily changed his expression. His eyes, curved into a smile, were like sugar candy.
“I haven’t had time to see you and the kids properly because of work. I can’t take it anymore.”
“So, you came home in the middle of work?”
“No. I passed it all on and came.”
“What?”
“I’ve been slowly finishing up what I can handle, and I took a vacation while I was at it.”
“Vacation…?”
“I need to be compensated this much to make up for not being able to see you and the kids as much as I wanted while working. Besides, I’m going to Korea for the first time in a while, so I need about two weeks, right?”
“Two… weeks? Wait, you took two weeks off? No, are you going too?”
“What are you talking about? Did you think I was going to leave you behind? Is this what I worked so hard for all this time?”
Yeon-ho’s eyes widened once more, and Marteo burst into a mischievous laugh.
What this means is that the situation is as follows.
The changes, both big and small, that had occurred while the children were growing up. Korea was no exception.
Grandmother Shin had now completely retired from the front lines, and Gyelim, now managed solely by Seo-jin, had grown even larger through its collaboration with Averto.
Thanks to this, he still spent every day as if married to his work, but that was Seo-jin’s happiness.
Doit had also moved beyond being just an entertainment company and had now established a foundation capable of production. Seung-won’s dream of one day having a company with everything from A to Z was gradually becoming a reality.
But among all these changes, the biggest one was with Seo-hee.
After being diagnosed with infertility for several years, Seo-hee had said she was happy and content just watching her nephews grow up. But to her, to his infinitely kind and good-hearted older sister, a happiness beyond that, a gift like a stroke of luck, had arrived.
It was an unexpected natural pregnancy. Just like Yeon-ho, Seo-hee told Yeon-ho about the pregnancy first.
That day, Seo-hee called out, “Yeon-ho,” in a trembling voice, then ended up crying and laughing. Yeon-ho had struggled to hold back the prickling sensation in his nose…
And so, Seo-hee’s child, born with the blessings and gratitude of everyone, would be celebrating her first birthday next week.
A month ago, when Seo-hee cautiously asked if he would be able to attend, Yeon-ho had replied without hesitation that he would. However, the problem that arose after that was Marteo.
Even if he took the twins with him, Marteo was quite busy at this time. When he asked, “Could you possibly go too?” Marteo had replied that he would try to adjust his schedule.
But from then on, his work had only increased. He had hoped to take two or three days off, including the weekend… But seeing Marteo unable to even see his own children properly, he had given up hope these past few days.
But to think that all that busyness was for a two-week vacation…
It was an unexpected surprise. It had been a very long time since he had taken such a long vacation.
Yeon-ho was still stunned, and Marteo was smiling broadly. Before they knew it, the two Eagles began to tilt their heads as if asking what was going on.
Marteo chuckled and patted the heads of the two Eagles.
“It means I can be with you guys all the time for a while.”
“Piii?”
“Yeah. Even during the day.”
“Pipipi?”
“Yeah. I won’t go to work.”
“……!”
Even though they had turned into Eagles, he could still see his children’s expressions so clearly.
Their chest feathers were puffed up, and their golden eyes were sparkling. And finally, Pipipi! Piiiik! The two of them began to flap their wings with all their might.
Fabio, who was directly hit by the flapping wings, grimaced. But even in the midst of that, seeing the boys happily clicking their claws, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry, which was frustrating.
“Hey, you guys, stay still. It’s driving me crazy!”
Fabio finally pulled the two Eagles tightly into his arms.
Telling them to stay still seemed like an excuse. Marteo’s smiling eyes turned subtly dark. He immediately snatched the children back into his arms.
“Why are you holding other people’s kids without permission?”
“Huh… Wow. I’m seriously petty and disgusting. Are you showing off your kids now?”
“I have every right to.”
“Oh, does anyone hold them because they like it? Speaking of which, they like me more, you know? Tell me, did you miss me earlier? How much did you miss me? Did you, or did you not?”
“Piii?”
“Pipipi.”
At the right moment, Elio and Lucio tilted their heads.
What are you saying? We don’t understand. As if to say.
Marteo stroked the children’s heads again with a proud look. Then he scanned Fabio with a sneering gaze.
“Stop talking nonsense and tell me what you came here for.”
You guys… How could you. Fabio, trembling with betrayal, repeatedly puffed out his nose and rummaged through his pockets irritably. Thud! He placed a small box on the table with a rough gesture.
The young Eagles, who were inevitably rubbing their beaks against their father’s chest, peeked out of curiosity. Marteo, raising an eyebrow, also tilted his chin.
“What’s this?”
“Father told me to give it to you.”
…Sergio did?
Yeon-ho opened the box. Then his eyebrows rose.
Inside the box was a thin, small bracelet. However, although it was small in size, the thin gold band was densely studded with what were clearly diamonds.
The Eagles, drawn to the sparkling accessories, no, the jewelry-grade bracelet, left their father’s arms and surrounded the box.
“Pipi?”
In response to the question-like cry, Fabio continued with the rest of his message.
“You’re going to Korea soon to see your niece, right? The kid is one year old now? In Korean, it’s called… Dol?”
“…And?”
“Even though they’re cousins, this is their first sibling. An Averto man doesn’t go to an invited sibling’s birthday empty-handed.”
“So… you’re telling me to give this? To a one-year-old?”
“Because she’s one year old? You said it yourself at their first birthday. In Korea, you’re supposed to give rings or something for the first birthday. Doesn’t that mean you have to give jewelry?”
“…….”
“Anyway, take it. Father prepared it for them instead.”
He had nothing to say, and on the other hand, he had a lot to say.
Of course, it was true that he had said that to Sergio. However, the problem was how that statement came about.
Before the flood, for the twins’ first birthday… Sergio had prepared a villa in Lombardy as a gift for the children. Of course, the attached forest and land were also options. So that the children could fly as much as they wanted when they grew up.
…In other words, it was a real estate donation.
That’s why he had said that you just give rings or something for the first birthday… He didn’t expect him to remember that.
Now that he thought about it, Theon’s habit of not missing a word was derived from his father.
When Yeon-ho remained silent for a long time, Fabio tilted his head.
“What’s wrong? Does it have to be a ring? It’s hard for kids to wear anything on their short fingers, right?”
“…Yeah. Kids have short fingers, and I was short-sighted.”
“Huh?”
“No. It’s nothing. Just… tell him I said thank you.”
There was no point in saying more. Honestly, it was one thing for Fabio, but even Marteo, who was standing next to him, had a look on his face that said, “Why are you like this?”
It was too much trouble to explain. When he saw them like this… they really were brothers.
“Anyway, is that all you came here for?”
“There’s one more thing.”
“…Again?”
Fabio, nodding his head, once again pulled Elio and Lucio, who were pecking at the bracelet with their beaks, into his arms.
“He said you should take his private jet when you go to Korea.”
“Pri…vate jet? No, why go that far?”
“He also said to tell you this. He’s giving it to you so the kids don’t have to suffer, so if you don’t like it, you guys can buy your own tickets.”
“…….”
“Seriously. I laughed for a long time when I heard that. I mean, since when has he liked kids so much? He never even hugged us when we were little.”
He said that, but Fabio didn’t seem to be in a position to talk about others.
Not only was he holding the twins in his arms, but he was also scratching their feathers with his raised fingers. Lucio shook his body, Piii～, and he nodded his head in agreement.
“Yeah, yeah. Feels good, right? This Gio is better at picking feathers than your dad.”
“Piii?”
“Oh? If you don’t believe me, Lucio, you can put it right up against it.”
“Bpiiii.”
“Where, here? Is it cool here?”
On the other hand, Marteo’s eyes were already blazing with anger at his sons being taken away again.
“Who’s better than who? And that’s Lucio.”
“…Huh?”
“You can’t even tell them apart.”
“Wait, why are you taking them again? That’s not fair. Give me one!”
“They’re my kids. Get out if you’re done with your business.”
Was it just his imagination, or did they seem more childish than the twins?
Yeon-ho, shaking his head, finally burst out laughing.
The saying “terrible twos” seemed to be wrong. No matter how you looked at it, they were well-loved four-year-olds.
♥ ♥ ♥
Even though the private jet was fully equipped with all conveniences, it was still a long-distance flight of over ten hours to Korea. Although they had some flying experience, Yeon-ho was worried that the still-young children might get bored or tired.
But it was a completely unnecessary worry.
“Daddy～ look at this.”
Were they that happy to be stuck in a narrow (?) space with Marteo all day? The children wouldn’t leave Marteo’s side at all.
Whether they were playing, eating, or even dozing off, they stubbornly burrowed into his arms. He even began to suspect that he had given birth to leeches instead of Eagles.
Of course, Marteo was just as bad with his own children.
“Doesn’t your arm hurt?”
“Not really?”
“Want something to drink?”
“Later.”
Eating and drinking were secondary. Just making eye contact was enough to make them rub their cheeks together and press their lips to his head. The sound of their rolling laughter never stopped.
But finally, they arrived in Korea. The father and sons’ perfect love, which seemed like it would last forever, unexpectedly met its end after arriving at Yeon-ho’s family home.
“Oh, my little darlings, welcome.”
Grandmother Shin ran out with open arms, and
“Oh my, our little princes have grown so much?”
Seo-jin mischievously smiled as he stretched their cheeks.
“We’re Eagles.”
“Italy is no longer a monarchy.”
It was good that the twins answered so clearly… but the problem was after meeting Seo-hee.
To be exact, it was right after meeting their cousin, who had plump cheeks, whom Seo-hee was holding in her arms.
In fact, Elio and Lucio were good at smiling, acting cute, and stealing people’s hearts and livers, but Yeon-ho knew.
That most of the expressions they made were actually for external use.
The clever twins knew very well how to make people give in to them and which expressions were advantageous.
In short, when necessary, they could stretch their tongues as much as they wanted and pretend to be children who didn’t understand what was being said.
But, the expression they had now was 100% genuine.
“Ji-yul, say hello to your older brothers. Older brothers, hello? I’m Seo Ji-yul. I missed you～”
In front of the tiny child that Seo-hee had put down, Elio and Lucio, without their usual tactics or cheerful agreement, just stared with wide eyes.
After several seconds of no response, Seo-hee belatedly gave an embarrassed smile.
“Did… did I overdo it? Well, it’s the first time she’s meeting them, so her aunt was too friendly. Right?”
But even to the ordinary words that had given up on ventriloquism, the twins still just stared blankly.
Yeon-ho and Marteo, after examining their sons once more, looked at each other.
Then, suppressing the laughter that seemed about to burst out, they spoke in voices that pretended to be indifferent.
“I guess. Ji-yul was being too friendly, wasn’t she?”
“Well. Elio and Lucio didn’t really want to see their younger sibling.”
“Sister, take Ji-yul into the room.”
“Yes. That would probably be best.”
Uh… uh? Seo-hee, even more flustered, let out a dazed voice and, seeing Yeon-ho’s gesture of “What are you doing?” awkwardly picked up her daughter, whom she had placed on the floor. Or at least, she was about to.
If it hadn’t been for the twins’ duet that burst out like lightning at that moment, if it had been…
“No!”
“Don’t take her away!”
It was also a bonus that they glared at their beloved father with the eyes of birds of prey.
“Papà bugiardo! (Daddy liar!)”
“Quando ho detto che non mi mancavi? (When did I say I didn’t miss her?)”
“Scemo. Non l’ho mai detto! (Idiot. I never said that!)”
As if they were in a hurry, they also spoke in rapid Italian.
Yeon-ho felt like he was going to burst out laughing again at the more intense protest than he had expected. However, Marteo’s situation was slightly different.
A liar… an idiot??
It was a natural yet difficult thing, but Marteo had never broken a promise with the twins.
Above all, weren’t these the twins who, even when they were sulking and protesting, would use their amazing negotiating skills to manipulate people with the phrase, “I like Daddy so much, but why does Daddy make me sad?” But… an idiot?
Marteo’s face instantly hardened, and Yeon-ho finally burst into the laughter he had been holding back. Only the Korean family, who couldn’t understand the children’s words, had bewildered expressions, wondering what was going on.
After a while, Yeon-ho, wiping the corners of his eyes, gestured towards Elio and Lucio.
“You’re the idiots. You just stood there awkwardly when your younger sibling said hello. How can you call yourselves Averto men like that?”
“…….”
“…….”
“Now, if you understand, say hello to Ji-yul properly.”
Yeon-ho gently pushed the children’s backs. Finally, Elio and Lucio looked at each other and, as if they had planned it, gave a splendid bow.
“Hello? I’m Lucio Averto.”
“I’m Elio. Nice to meet you. Ji-yul.”
“Abu…ppa?”
Perhaps because she was gentle like Seo-hee, even among the many unfamiliar faces, Ji-yul, who had only been staring with wide eyes, reached out her hand towards the twins for the first time, babbling.
At the same time, the twins’ faces brightened.
“Mom! The baby just called us older brothers!”
“I don’t know about that.”
“She did say it. Right, Ji-yul?”
“Uppappa…ppaa.”
“See! She said older brother.”
“……No. Anyone can hear that it’s closer to ‘daddy.'”
“Huh? Do you treat your own kids like this too? How are you still the same even as you get older?”
Seo-jin, who had approached them, pinched Yeon-ho’s side. At the scream that burst out, “It hurts!” Marteo, who had been dazed by the words “Daddy liar idiot!” finally came to his senses. His large body hurriedly and naturally wedged itself between Seo-jin and Yeon-ho.
“Ahem. Let’s just… talk about it.”
Seo-jin made another dumbfounded expression.
“Wow… there’s one here too. A bird who’s still the same even as he gets older. Yeah. There’s a reason why they say ‘a devoted couple.'”
“Are you jealous? Do you wish your matchmaker sister had gone out?”
“Oh? You want your mouth torn off, too?”
“Theon, hand! Hold your aunt’s hand.”
“Brother-in-law. I’m older than you?”
“Um… I don’t really know what ‘older’ means…”
“Huh? Hey, hey! I’m telling you, they’re the same!”
Yeon-ho and Seo-hee spun around Marteo as if chasing each other’s tails. Shin, who had been watching to see how far they would go, finally raised her voice.
“Stop it, stop it! You’re all noisy. Don’t be a nuisance and sit down first! It’s driving me crazy.”
“Oh my? Grandmother. How can you say you’re going to die so easily at your age?”
“I know. Are you going to ruin your great-grandchild’s first birthday?”
“What? Are these guys serious! Jeonju’s wife, salt, where’s the salt! Bring me a whole bowl of it!”
A seamless back-and-forth, just like people who see each other every day. It was funny, but only now did Yeon-ho feel like he had come home (?). Yeah. This is our family’s style.
However, even amidst all this, whether the adults were bickering or not, Elio and Lucio’s attention was only on their soft, squishy cousin.
Ji-yul, whom he had occasionally seen in videos and photos when Yeon-ho and Seo-hee were on the phone, was much smaller and smelled much more softly of milk than he had imagined when he saw her directly in front of him.
Above all, blood was truly amazing. This tiny child somehow resembled her aunt. And that inevitably meant that she had something in common with Yeon-ho as well.
A small human who resembled his mother. It was only their first meeting, but the two twins liked this young creature quite a bit. Finally, Elio and Lucio looked up at Seo-hee with sparkling eyes.
“Aunt, can we touch the baby?”
“I want to hold Ji-yul.”
Seo-hee, her initial worries that they might be unfamiliar with the child seemingly gone, smiled brightly and readily nodded her head.
“Of course. Of course, you can. Come on, Ji-yul, shall we go to your older brothers?”
“Wait. Just a minute. You have to wash your hands first!”
“That’s right. Babies are weak, so you can’t just touch them. There are a lot of Stafilococco Stafilococco: Staphylococcus aureus
on your hands.”
…St, Sta…phi, what?
“Mom and Dad, wash your hands too. You have to wash your hands when you come in from outside!”
“And Grandma and Aunt, shh! What if the baby gets startled?”
“Then Ji-yul, wait just a little bit?”
“We’ll be right back.”
Anyone could see that the twins were the smartest of all the people gathered here. The adults, who had been having a boring argument, and the baby’s mother, who had been about to hand over the child right away, all shut their mouths, feeling awkward.
Then, Seo-jin, clearing his throat, uttered a quiet word.
“How did those things come out of your stomach…?”
…Well, because we did it day and night.
Yeon-ho barely swallowed the words, but still.
♥ ♥ ♥
The dinner table, which Yeon-ho and Marteo, and especially the twins, had put so much effort into preparing, was truly overflowing.
But the twins, who were much more interested in the baby being fed bland baby food than in putting anything in their own mouths, had their hearts set on something else.
Seeing this, Marteo handed Elio and Lucio each a side dish… But alas. Another unexpected situation occurred.
“Dad, we’re not babies anymore.”
“We can eat by ourselves.”
“That’s for babies like Ji-yul.”
Perhaps their pride was hurt by being treated the same as their younger sibling in front of her, the twins pushed away their hands as if they had planned it.
Just a few hours ago, he was chirping and acting cute with his dad on the plane, asking him to share his snacks. It felt like a lifetime ago.
Marteo looked quite shocked at the extreme refusal, even accompanied by a shake of the head. If Fabio were here, he might have said, “How about that? Do you understand how I feel now?” gloatingly.
Yeon-ho secretly chuckled to himself. But he pretended to be nonchalant.
“That’s why they say raising kids is useless. Here. Forget it, just eat.”
Yeon-ho picked out a large piece of ribs and placed it on Marteo’s plate.
Marteo’s hesitant expression instantly melted away.
“Do Yeon-ho, you eat a lot too.”
He even added an extra-large piece of meat onto Yeon-ho’s rice bowl, even bigger than the one he received.
Seo-jin, who was watching the chopsticks busily moving back and forth, finally couldn’t stand it and cringed.
“Ugh, why is everything so sweet today? It’s not just sweet, it’s bitter. Bitter!”
“You old hag, that’s menopause. Your sense of taste is getting old.”
“Grandma!”
“Oh, how pitiful. You’re getting so old and there’s no one to take care of you, no one to give you anything. Here. You eat too. I’ll give it to you, at least.”
“Tsk. Are you going to be like this? I’m not eating!”
“Seriously, in front of your nephews. Look at this. Your aunt is such a child. Right?”
Seo-jin, who usually never loses an argument, was constantly suffering today. There was no other choice.
Seo-jin, searching for a scapegoat to suffer in her place, soon glared at Yeon-ho, who was munching on the meat her husband had given him, with a resentful look.
“By the way, you two. How long are you going to be like that?”
“Like what?”
“Brother-in-law, you still call him Do Yeon-ho. Right?”
“What… out of the blue?”
“You just did it a moment ago. Do Yeon-ho, you eat a lot～ Do you still use honorifics with your brother-in-law?”
“Seriously. You’re meddling in other people’s family affairs. What does it matter if we use honorifics or not?”
“I know, right? I still call Jongsu ‘Jongsu-ssi.’ Why are you like this, for no reason?”
“No. My sister’s case is different. My sister only calls him ‘Jongsu-ssi’ in name. She speaks casually. Does Yeon-ho scold you if you speak informally? Does he hit you if you don’t call him Do Yeon-ho?”
It was just a pointless complaint, a pointless provocation. Yeon-ho snorted, not even worth responding to. Marteo, for his part, wore a gentle smile.
Do Yeon-ho…. Calling Yeon-ho’s full name clearly, it’s just because he likes the sound of Yeon-ho’s name kept within his lips.
Seeing that her deliberate provocation had no effect on either of them, Seo-jin’s face only twisted further.
That’s when it happened.
“No. Dad also calls Mom ‘Yeon-ho’…”
“Yeah. But Mom doesn’t hit Dad.”
Even though their eyes were on their younger sibling, their ears were half-listening to this conversation. The twins suddenly chimed in. Seo-jin, taken aback, turned to look at Elio and Lucio.
“Dad calls you ‘Yeon-ho’…?”
“Yeah. He said, ‘Yeon-ho, come here～'”
“But when Dad calls Mom ‘Yeon-ho,’ we can’t go to Mom.”
“Dad doesn’t read us books either, and pretends not to hear us when we knock.”
“That’s right. We definitely heard him say ‘Yeon-ho.'”
“And Mom wakes up really late the next day.”
“Yeah. So we like it better when Dad calls him Do Yeon-ho.”
“……!”
“……?!”
It took a few seconds for Yeon-ho, Marteo, and the other adults to understand what they were saying.
Seo-hee’s hand, which had been patting her daughter’s back after feeding her baby food, slipped first, and Madam Shin quickly coughed and reached for her water glass.
Even Yeon-ho, who was usually the most shameless person in the world, felt his neck flush.
Only Seo-jin couldn’t hide her disgustingly jealous expression.
Of course, the twins, unaware that they had dropped a bomb, chattered on and then chased after Ji-yul’s toddling steps, whom Seo-hee had set down.
‘Those fire-attribute filial sons!’
“Ahem! Lucio, Elio, if you’re done eating, take Ji-yul to the living room and play.”
“…Really? Is that okay?”
“But watch her carefully so she doesn’t fall.”
“Okay!” The children answered cheerfully and, not forgetting to say “Thank you for the meal” politely, dashed out of the kitchen as if they had been waiting for it.
Only after the little ones disappeared did Seo-jin narrow her eyes.
“Look at this. Are you trying to get rid of the witnesses like this?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Hmph. Don’t pretend you don’t know. Hey. Your ears are burning.”
“Don’t blame innocent people. Are you already getting presbyopia?”
“Yes, yes. Let’s just say that. Let’s just say that, but please, while we’re in this house, don’t say ‘Yeon-ho’?”
“……The entire time?”
Marteo, who had been silent all along, raised his eyebrows at this moment. Seo-jin’s eyes turned into those of a wildcat.
“Of course, the entire time! Don’t forget. Your room is right above Grandma’s room.”
“Oh my. Look at this girl? No, why are you bringing me into this? Ahem. Don’t worry about me. I think my ears are getting bad these days? Once I fall asleep, I can’t hear anything else. So don’t worry about me and call him as much as you want. As much as you want.”
What do you mean, call him as much as you want!
Is she feeding them or helping them…? As she said, Yeon-ho’s ears were heating up again. Seo-jin’s idea was probably right. In situations like this, there’s nothing better than changing the subject.
Yeon-ho racked his brain and immediately turned to Seo-hee.
“Oh! By the way, where are you having the first birthday party?”
“Oh, right. I didn’t tell you the location? It’s over there～”
Seo-hee, realizing Yeon-ho’s SOS signal, quickly tried to take over the conversation.
But at that moment, Elio’s exclamation of “Ah!” and Lucio’s voice calling “Ji-yul!” came from the living room.
The first to react as if struck by lightning were, of course, the children’s parents, Yeon-ho and Marteo, and Seo-hee.
“What’s wrong?”
“What happened!”
The adults, pushing back their chairs, rushed to the living room all at once. And as soon as they came out, their eyebrows shot up.
“Ji, Ji-yul?”
Small pieces of clothing scattered on the floor and a small body wriggling among them. The situation was immediately clear.
Morphosis that comes at the time of taking the first steps. Ji-yul’s Anima was released for the first time.
At the same time as the realization,
“Cheep…? Cheep cheep.”
From within the scattered pile of clothes, a small cry, and a body just as small, peeked its head out.
The twins’ pupils dilated even further. They were wide open, unable to look away.
A body so small that it could fit in their hands. A pathetic beak and claws that made them doubt if it could even peck properly. Above all, the fluffy feathers like newly bloomed forsythia.
It was a bright yellow chick.
They already liked the young human who resembled their aunt and mother, but this was on a different level.
“Cheep. Cheep cheep.”
The chick, crying diligently, even started toddling towards Elio and Lucio, not towards its mother.
Even with a very clumsy gait, struggling to get over a single piece of clothing.
Finally, Elio and Lucio’s pheromones began to surge.
“Elio, Lucio!”
Yeon-ho, noticing something was wrong, raised his voice, but it was already too late.
Bang! At the same time as Yeon-ho’s shout, a part of the twins’ Anima was released.
“Cheep?!”
Wings suddenly sprouted from where their arms had been. Their eyes were now completely those of a bird of prey.
The chick, unaware of the terror of the young Eagle, jumped up from its spot. Of course, even such movements were very pathetic and cute to the twins.
“No. Ji-yul. You’re supposed to use your wings, not run!”
“Look at us!”
Elio and Lucio spread their wings wide in front of the terrified chick.
They were trying to demonstrate as older brothers, but they must have also wanted to show off to their younger sibling… The sudden shadow and the flapping that created wind made the young chick tremble.
Yeon-ho’s head throbbed.
“Hey! Aren’t you going to fold your wings? No, your eyes! Fix your eyes first!”
When was it? He had once watched a kindergarten teacher sweating while trying to manage the Morpheus children and thought, “That must be tough,” while watching from across the river.
He never dreamed that the karma would come back to him like this….
The twins, oblivious to his burning heart, were still excitedly chattering.
“Mom. It’s all. Completely yellow!”
“It’s so small. It looks like it could fit in my pocket!”
And finally, the voices that echoed in unison.
“Mom, we want a chick too!”
“We want a little sister～”
It seemed like everything in front of him was a little yellow.
♥ ♥ ♥
Instead of hearing “Yeon-ho,” on their first day in Korea, Marteo and Yeon-ho had to listen to chick talk all night long.
Jongsu, who came to pick up Ji-yul and Seo-hee after work, also sweated buckets at the twins’ desperate and adorable pleas, “Uncle, you can’t leave her behind?”
‘Seriously, do they have to be so similar that they even like chickens?’
Yeon-ho glared at Marteo with unfounded resentment, then turned to look at the twins sitting side by side in the back seat.
“You two, are you going to release your Anima again today?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’? Are you going to transform into Eagles in front of Ji-yul again?”
“We won’t. We were just trying to show her how to fly then?”
“Ji-yul is a baby, so the older brothers have to teach her.”
“But, Mom. When are we going to see Ji-yul? Is it still far away?”
Using honorifics only when it’s advantageous. The skill of exchanging words back and forth appropriately. He didn’t want to admit it, but it seemed like they took after him in that regard.
As if thinking the same thing, Marteo, who was driving, glanced over here and tried to suppress a smile.
Yeon-ho pouted and checked the navigation.
“Just wait 10 minutes.”
As he said, it was only 10 minutes to their destination. Today was Ji-yul’s first birthday party.
No child is not special to their parents, and who even celebrates a first birthday in this day and age, but… Ji-yul was a child who had come to Seo-hee and Jongsu after much difficulty. If they could, they probably wanted to advertise it all over the country, not just rent a party hall.
Yeon-ho, remembering Jongsu smiling broadly while holding Ji-yul in his arms the other day, chuckled to himself. At the same time, Elio and Lucio started to move their lips again.
“Then we only have to count 600 times?”
“uno, due, tre, quattro….”
What? Are they geniuses? They calculated that so quickly? Seriously. And why is their voice so cute?
There were times when he wanted to pinch their cheeks when they were driving him crazy, but the fact was that Yeon-ho was probably even more prone to feeling proud of them.
Who gave birth to these things?
Marteo and Yeon-ho’s faces both fell as they listened to the clear counting coming from the back seat.
Ten minutes passed like that. Finally, when the car arrived at its destination and stopped, the children, who had unbuckled their seatbelts on their own, dashed out.
“Auntie.”
Usually, four-year-olds don’t have well-developed fine motor skills and can’t buckle or unbuckle their seatbelts on their own, but it was nothing for the Eagle Morpheus children.
Seo-jin, who had been waiting for the children, had driven ahead of Marteo’s car with their grandmother.
“Hey. Don’t run! What if you fall?”
Even while quickly hugging the children, Seo-jin didn’t forget to nag.
However, until then, Yeon-ho, and also Marteo, didn’t say a word. No, they couldn’t.
Their expressions were the same this time as well. Their wide eyes were simply too busy scanning the building in front of them.
It was only after hearing Seo-jin’s voice approaching them that they came to their senses.
“What’s wrong? What are you looking at?”
“…The place where they’re having the first birthday party… was here?”
“I heard it back then… Ah. You couldn’t hear it because of Ji-yul. The weather’s nice these days. And the kids will like being outside more than inside.”
“…….”
“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, do you remember? You came here once when you were in middle school?”
“…….”
“You ran away without telling us that day. Just thinking about how I searched everywhere for you…”
Yeon-ho and Marteo’s eyes met and trembled slightly. Then, before long, they both burst out laughing.
So it was here…. The place where we first met.
They had been forcibly dragged here, so they didn’t remember the exact address. It was a completely unexpected situation.
Seo-jin flinched at the laughter that erupted at their realization.
“What, what’s so funny? Is it funny that I suffered?”
The twins pulled on Seo-jin’s hand.
“Auntie, when are we going in?”
“Ji-yul, quickly.”
“Hey. Why are your mom and dad like that?”
Huh? The twins, who had been urging her, finally looked up at their parents with round eyes. But they soon shook their heads as if it were nothing.
“I don’t know. But Dad’s always like that?”
“…Always?”
“Yeah. He says he’s happy just looking at Mom’s face.”
“He’s going to kiss her in a little bit too.”
There was nothing to say. Seo-jin shuddered and quickly grabbed her nephews’ hands as well.
“…Ugh. Okay, let’s go. You guys shouldn’t see such terrible things.”
The two people’s laughter continued to echo behind her as she turned away.
♥ ♥ ♥
Ji-yul, who was celebrating her first birthday, was dressed smartly in a colorful striped jeogori and a bokgeon with a butterfly decoration.
The gentle child, who didn’t fuss even once despite the uncomfortable clothes and unfamiliar place, only rolled her eyes around, was definitely Seo-hee and Jongsu’s child. The guests praised Ji-yul, saying, “What a filial daughter.”
But there was another presence that stole the guests’ eyes and hearts as much as, or perhaps even more than, today’s protagonist.
It was Yeon-ho and Marteo’s twins. Elio and Lucio.
At least Ji-yul was being held in her parents’ arms. The twins, who could walk on their own and were fluent in Korean, were bound to become the target of adults who suddenly intervened every time they took a step.
“Oh my, Madam Shin. Who are these handsome young men?”
“Oh ho, Oh Madam, you’ve arrived? Why～ They’re Yeon-ho’s sons. My great-grandchildren.”
“So, these children are the Averto?”
Some people’s eyes sparkled at the children’s background,
“How old are you? Oh my, four years old? But you speak so well?”
Others were amazed at the children’s intelligence.
Of course, the overwhelming majority,
“But how can their eyelashes be so long?”
“Oh my. And why are their noses so straight?”
They couldn’t hide their admiration for the loveliness of their appearance!
Even Seung-won, one of the invited guests, shouted, “Wait, wait!” and rushed to the children first, pushing even Yeon-ho, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, to the back.
“Elio, Lucio! Do you remember your uncle? We met in Italy last year. Wow～ You guys look more and more like Tony… Ah, no. You look just like your dad! Wait a minute. This is your uncle’s business card. Your mom tore it up last time…….”
And then the nonsense he spewed out…. The embarrassment was still Yeon-ho’s burden.
In the meantime, the two twins were finally trapped in a circle of people.
Endless attention and curiosity. Questions that could be uncomfortable in some ways.
Nevertheless, Elio and Lucio maintained smiling faces. Sometimes they nodded sweetly, and sometimes they moved their pretty mouths with dignified voices.
Yeon-ho, who had been pushed to the back, frowned without realizing it.
“Who did they get that from…?”
“…I wonder.”
Marteo also raised his eyebrows in the same way.
A mother who hated anything troublesome and a father who didn’t cater to anyone’s whims except for Yeon-ho.
It was clear that they didn’t take after their parents.
“They’re putting on a show right now, aren’t they?”
“It’s definitely social skills.”
“No, why are they already doing social life?”
“It’s more likely to be business life.”
The Blue Out of the Blue. Whatever they became, it was certain that they would have a promising future.
“Those foxes….”
“Black Eagles.”
Yeon-ho’s sharp eyes turned to Marteo’s face this time.
…Did you really have to point that out in the middle of this?
But looking at his expression, which said that he could never let anyone call his children someone else’s species, he didn’t think there was any point in saying more.
Yeon-ho shook his head and then turned his gaze to the back of the building. Marteo, realizing his gaze, turned to look at the same place.
The expression that had been somewhat stiff at the fox remark finally relaxed. It seemed like they were thinking the same thing.
The place where they had hidden to avoid the hassle and fatigue, unlike their children…. The same place where they had first met.
“Shall we go…?”
As if he had been waiting for it, Marteo took his hand at the naturally flowing words. Yeon-ho, feeling the warmth that was conveyed, gave strength in the same way and moved his feet as if being pulled.
From the edge of the lawn, the sound of music and people’s laughter gradually faded. The white cloths and colorful balloons of the dazzlingly bright party hall also moved away.
Instead, the leaves rustling in the wind and the deepened smell of soil filled the space.
Yeon-ho, stepping a few more steps beyond the boundary of the neatly trimmed shrubs, finally stopped. Marteo did the same.
“It was here. The place where I bumped into you….”
The shady shade and the streaks of light that seeped through the leaves, making them shine especially brightly, at the back of the building.
Old memories, landscapes once forgotten, flooded into Yeon-ho’s mind.
It felt like stepping into a treasure chest.
Memories wrapped in reminiscence instead of colorful ribbons were carefully stored inside.
Yeon-ho looked around once more. Then, his gaze stopped at a tree.
The very tree Yeon-ho, turned into a chicken, had flown up to. Marteo was looking at the same spot.
“It’s smaller than I remember…”
“It’s bigger.”
The two, wearing similar expressions, diverged at this point.
Yeon-ho looked up at Marteo with a questioning face, and Marteo looked down at Yeon-ho as if to say, “Huh?”
He immediately realized the reason for their different impressions was the difference in their perspectives.
Yeon-ho, who was a middle school student at the time, noticed the overgrown branches first, while Marteo, who was much younger, would naturally see the tree as smaller compared to how it was back then.
After a moment of silence, Yeon-ho was the first to groan.
“Well, the tree isn’t the problem… Hey, now that we’re talking about it… Even if you were told to come back when you were bigger, aren’t you a little too big?”
“Who was it that said they wouldn’t play with me if I didn’t get bigger?”
“……”
“I’m curious myself, but come to think of it, what did you mean by that back then?”
“That back then?”
“You told me to grow other sizes besides height.”
“……Huh?”
“When I was young, I thought it meant to become a cool man…”
“……”
“Could it be, was that size… this size?”
Marteo’s chin subtly tilted downwards as he spoke. Yeon-ho also looked down. At Marteo’s crotch, no less.
Yeon-ho, who almost swallowed his saliva without realizing it, hurriedly cleared his throat.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Oh, but you do. You have a face that remembers everything right now?”
“……”
“How could you say something like that to a seven-year-old? If you think about it, didn’t you seduce me first?”
It was unfair. He just teased him a little because the kid was so persistent. Who was he calling a criminal?
Yeon-ho, who had been feigning ignorance for a while, finally raised his head, feeling indignant.
“Hey. If you’re going to be like that, what about you? Is it normal to keep liking someone you only saw once when you were a kid?”
“Hmm… Who says I only saw you once when I was a kid?”
“…What?”
Yeon-ho’s eyes widened at the incomprehensible retort. But Marteo just smiled with a leisurely face that was infuriating.
Then, it was a moment. He pulled Yeon-ho’s waist, which he was still looking up at and now fit perfectly in his arms, close to him.
“I thought about it every time I saw you. I wished the day I could hold you like this would come soon…”
Gulp. Yeon-ho’s Adam’s apple, which he had been holding back, finally went down. The gaze that licked him and the warm voice whispering next to his ear.
In this atmosphere, curiosity was a later problem.
Before long, Yeon-ho raised his eyes again with a sulky face.
“Only that thought? You only thought about holding me?”
Marteo’s lips, who couldn’t possibly not know the intention, also turned upwards,
“Do Yeon-ho…”
With the name still tickling his mouth, he tilted his head towards Yeon-ho’s face. Filled with anticipation, Yeon-ho also slowly closed his eyes.
That’s when it happened.
Rustle, rustle. Pitter-patter!
He felt a presence rapidly approaching from over there.
‘Huh?’
‘…Huh?’
A strange sense of déjà vu. A situation he had experienced sometime. The two, who had stopped their heads right in front of each other, blinked. At the same time, something popped out from beyond the last bush with a whoosh! The clear, ringing duet accompanied it.
“Mom!”
“Dad!”
It was twins. The children who found Yeon-ho and Marteo ran to their side after rummaging through the grass once more.
“What are you doing here?”
“We found you!”
In a tone that anyone could see was accusatory, Yeon-ho and Marteo completely missed their kiss timing. They barely mumbled with their lips that had lost their way.
“What about you guys? Why are you here…?”
“Auntie told us to keep a good eye on Mom so she doesn’t run away.”
“It’s too much. You left even Dad and us behind.”
“Were you really going to leave only us behind?”
Small faces filled with injustice repeatedly pouted towards Yeon-ho. I can’t, no way. They also firmly grabbed the hem of his clothes on both sides.
Yeon-ho, who had been blankly looking down, Ah… Finally, he burst into a bitter smile.
The same season as then. The same place as then. And faces that looked exactly like Marteo.
Did Theon on that day also grab the hem of his clothes like this…?
Yeon-ho, who had run like he was flying over the fence, had actually looked back only once.
‘I wonder if he’s okay. He’s not still there alone, is he?’
What was that unusual feeling he had that day?
I don’t know. I don’t know, but… maybe it was the same as now.
Finally, Yeon-ho hugged the two children who were making a fuss in his arms.
“Geez. Where would I go leaving you guys behind?”
This time, Marteo’s long arms wrapped tightly around that body.
“Does that include me too?”
Laughter burst out at the voice that had flowed in seriously. When he tilted his head back, Marteo’s lips, which had finally curved into a smile, fell on his forehead. Elio and Lucio also added kisses to Yeon-ho’s cheeks, not wanting to be outdone.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Mom!”
The three fathers’ breaths matched perfectly as if they had planned it.
His heart was beating even more violently than when he was running away far beyond the fence.
Cute, lovely, and wonderful, my Eagles.
It was a happiness wrapped in big and small wings that would never fly away.
Feather Three Fin.