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Join the ServerYoonwoo heard a voice calling to him. It was a familiar sound.
The voice wavered, then sobbed, before calling Yoonwoo’s name once more. So utterly plaintive was it that Yoonwoo, his mind only half-awake, wondered if he was dying. He had a foxy husband, and a rabbit-like baby was soon to be born. It felt terribly unfair to die here when only happiness awaited him.
Yoonwoo wished to live for about seventy years with his young husband, then die just a month before Yeon-chae. It would be even better to close their eyes on the same day, at the same hour, but as things rarely go as planned, he’d allotted a month’s grace period.
Thus, Yoonwoo exerted all his strength and snapped his eyes open. He truly could not die now.
“Hyung?!”
Yeon-chae, his face streaked with tears, urgently called out to Yoonwoo.
“Yeon-chae…”
His voice emerged, cracked and hoarse. Only after blinking several times did his surroundings slowly come into view. The white ceiling and white walls were the first things he noticed, making him wonder if he had truly died.
Then, the crushing grip on his hands jolted him awake. Yeon-chae, trembling, had seized both of Yoonwoo’s hands in his large ones. It truly hurt.
“Looks like I’m not dead after all.”
“What kind of talk is that!”
Yeon-chae snapped, his voice sharp. The stinging in his ears certainly confirmed he wasn’t dead.
“You’re perfectly fine, though. The surgery went well, and your prognosis is excellent.”
A nurse, whose presence Yoonwoo hadn’t even noticed, added calmly.
Yoonwoo attempted to sit up, but the moment he moved, his abdomen felt as if it would tear apart. Yeon-chae frantically reached out and gently laid Yoonwoo back down.
“You shouldn’t move yet.”
“Right… Is the baby born already? Did you see them?”
“Yes, yes. They’re truly beautiful.”
Yeon-chae smiled broadly, tears still glistening in his eyes.
A short while later, Yoonwoo met the baby for the first time. Yeon-chae carefully carried them over to show him. Yoonwoo gazed silently at the child he had borne, then hesitantly opened his mouth.
“Why are they so ugly…?”
“Ugly?! Hyung, have you ever seen such a beautiful newborn?”
Yeon-chae flared up in anger.
Yet the baby was truly tiny, wrinkled, and bright red. This minuscule person, unable to even open her eyes, had a small head dense with hair, resembling an ugly doll he’d once planted in a pot and watered as a child. Or perhaps, a newborn monkey.
Letting Yeon-chae’s indignant protests about his words wash over him, Yoonwoo fell deep into thought. ‘Is this really our baby? Why does she not resemble Yeon-chae at all?’ This ‘ugly’ baby was supposedly a girl, yet she looked neither like a girl nor a boy. She seemed like a third kind of creature entirely.
However, a few days later, Yoonwoo, despite clutching his still-aching abdomen, finally managed to pick up the baby and burst into tears. He wasn’t sure what had caused such a change of heart, but from the moment he woke up after a good night’s sleep, the baby appeared like a celestial being. It seemed people truly needed proper rest to discern things clearly.
“What should we name her?”
Yeon-chae, sitting close beside Yoonwoo, whispered.
“Hmm…”
Yoonwoo wanted to give her a name derived from one character of his and his husband’s names, much like Seowoo had named his son. His nephew, Eun-hyung, had been given ‘Eun’ from Eun Seowoo and ‘hyung’ from Han Sihyung.
“Eun-chae?”
“That’s too similar to my name, isn’t it?”
He had a point. Oh Yeon-chae and Oh Eun-chae. They sounded like twin sisters. Suddenly, Yoonwoo felt a pang of annoyance toward Yeon-chae’s parents for naming him Yeon-chae. ‘That’s a pretty name. It would be perfect for our daughter.’
“Then, Yoon-chae?”
“That’s even more similar…”
“Woo-chae…?”
“Is that even a name? For a daughter? It would be strange even for a son.”
“Hey, then you name her!”
They racked their brains, pondering various options, but no suitable name came to mind. They should have decided earlier, but caught up in the joy of spending time with Yeon-chae, the pregnancy had flown by, and the baby was called simply ‘baby,’ without even a prenatal nickname, let alone a proper name.
“Oh Chae-eun.”
“Oh!”
Yeon-chae had achieved such a shift in perspective. By simply reversing the order, it became a beautiful name with a different feel.
“Oh Chae-yoon.”
“Oh!”
“Oh Chae-woo.”
“How is that different from Woo-chae?”
“You’re right. Let’s scratch that one.”
After much deliberation between Chae-eun and Chae-yoon, the decision was finally made for Chae-yoon once their parents arrived. Yoonwoo and Yeon-chae had agonized over the two options without reaching a conclusion. However, the mothers from both families, clutching a book on ‘saju nameology,’ whispered together and declared Chae-yoon to be the one. They said it was auspicious for her fortune.
“Mom, aren’t you Catholic?”
Yeon-chae, lacking tact, made the comment and received a smack on the back. Yoonwoo thought to himself, ‘My mom’s religious too,’ but kept quiet and pretended not to notice.
Just then, the baby gurgled in his arms. As he met her gaze and cooed at her, her cheek fat creased, forming a smile-like expression. Finding it adorable, he pressed his lips to her cheek, then lifted her tiny hand and kissed each of her fingers.
Yeon-chae simply watched, his eyes appearing a little red-rimmed. Yoonwoo was suddenly afraid Yeon-chae might cry in front of their parents, declaring himself happy enough to die—which he had actually done before in front of Yoonwoo—but thankfully, the crybaby managed to hold it in. Yoonwoo reached out a hand and patted Yeon-chae’s cheek, praising him.
On the day of their discharge, snow began to fall just as they arrived at the apartment parking lot. Yoonwoo, carrying Chae-yoon in his arms as he stepped out of the car, smiled to himself, recalling the day she was born. Yeon-chae held an umbrella over them and asked, “Why are you smiling?”
“When I was in labor, you cried the whole time you were driving, didn’t you? I saw everything.”
Even amidst his labor pains, Yoonwoo found it amusing to see Yeon-chae, covered in tears and snot, clenching his jaw and turning the steering wheel. Yeon-chae’s cheeks quickly puffed out in a pout.
“How could I not cry? You were in so much pain.”
“Everyone’s in pain when they give birth.”
“Next time, I wish I could be the one to give birth.”
“Huh?”
Yeon-chae muttered with a serious expression. His brow was deeply furrowed, and the intense stare he fixed ahead was far from ordinary.
“Seeing you this time, it looked too difficult… They say male Betas sometimes get pregnant. Couldn’t an Alpha?”
“…”
He had learned that it was not possible. The obstetrician who had consistently handled Yoonwoo’s case had stated that while Betas might, with extremely rare probability, be able to conceive, it was close to impossible for Alphas. Yoonwoo knew this because he had, in fact, brought up the topic with the doctor before. ‘Why am I the only one getting pregnant? Yeon-chae is younger, healthier, and much more energetic than me—couldn’t he get pregnant next time?!’ The doctor had kindly replied to a whining Yoonwoo.
‘If you were an Alpha, Mr. Yoonwoo, there would be a slim chance, but you are an Omega.’
‘Why? That’s Omega discrimination!’
‘…’
The attending physician, with a kind expression, called a nurse and had Yoonwoo escorted out.
Yoonwoo shook his head with a regretful expression.
“They said no. You can’t get pregnant.”
Yoonwoo’s long sigh woke the sleeping baby.
The baby, who had been like an angel while sleeping, cried clamorously like a little devil the moment she opened her eyes. Yoonwoo’s sigh grew louder. Yeon-chae burst into laughter. He found Yoonwoo adorable, hugging the crying baby while looking even more miserable, as if the world had ended.
“Hyung, give Chae-yoon to me. And take the umbrella.”
“Mhm.”
Yeon-chae was good at soothing the baby. While in Yoonwoo’s arms, she would wail as if dying, but the moment Yeon-chae picked her up, she would instantly quiet down. Yoonwoo, finding this both amazing and a little disheartening, grumbled at the baby, who had quickly fallen back asleep.
“You, only liking Yeon-chae, your dad. You shouldn’t be like that.”
“Why would you say that? Chae-yoon loves you so much, Hyung.”
“Lies… It seems like she only likes you. Who went through all that pain to give birth? I’m truly disappointed.”
“That’s nonsense. It’s just that you’re still awkward with your posture, Hyung. If you hold Chae-yoon comfortably like this, supporting her…”
Yeon-chae bent slightly at the waist, demonstrating how to hold the baby. Yoonwoo stared blankly at the sight, then shook his head gently and chuckled.
“The baby’s completely the boss, truly the boss.”
“That’s how it is, I suppose.”
Yeon-chae laughed along with Yoonwoo. For the next few years, they would undoubtedly have to live in constant tension, always mindful of the baby’s moods. If the baby was the boss, then Yoonwoo must be the super-boss. Yeon-chae was walking, lost in such silly thoughts, when—
Yoonwoo suddenly said something out of the blue.
“Now I’m going to be living with two ‘bosses.’ One is hard enough, what am I going to do?”
‘Bosses? Who?’
Yeon-chae found what he had just heard so absurd that he stopped walking, unable to reply. Yoonwoo, who had also halted beside him, brushed back the abundant straight hair covering Yeon-chae’s forehead, then sighed with a hint of laughter.
“No, wait. If Chae-yoon is the boss, then Yeon-chae must be the super-boss, right?”
“…”
Yeon-chae wanted to clear up Yoonwoo’s enormous misunderstanding, but feeling both abashed and a flutter in his heart, he simply pressed his lips together and received the touch.
However, his mouth was itching to speak. In the end, his lips parted on their own after a short while.
“I’m the boss?”
“Of course. Didn’t you know?”
“Then you’re the subordinate? Why are you the subordinate, Hyung?”
“Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”
Yoonwoo said it so casually. Yeon-chae was speechless.
“The one who loves more always loses. Of course, I’m the subordinate.”
Yet, Yoonwoo couldn’t leave Yeon-chae alone for a moment.
“Ah, seriously, Oh Yeon-chae… Why are you so handsome?”
Yoonwoo kneaded Yeon-chae’s cheek, then pressed his lips firmly to his well-formed mouth. He buried his face in Yeon-chae’s neck and fidgeted. His other hand incessantly stroked Yeon-chae’s shoulder. He seemed to like it, murmuring about how broad they were.
Yeon-chae, feeling both shy and brazen, allowed Yoonwoo to touch him as he pleased.
‘Hyung says he’s the subordinate. I can certainly allow this much for a subordinate, can’t I?’ Such a haughty thought suddenly surfaced.
Yeon-chae himself thought his fourteen-year tenacious crush on Yoonwoo was excessive. That’s why he never had the courage to confess when he had first fallen for Yoonwoo. It had long been decided to bury it as an eternal secret. It was a story known only to Yeon-chae and his diary.
However, in that moment, the thought suddenly struck him: what did it matter if Yoonwoo knew now? What was the point in debating who liked whom first, or who liked whom more?
‘Hyung says he’s the subordinate.’ Yoonwoo had even called Yeon-chae not just the boss, but the super-boss. A sudden, well-founded confidence swelled within Yeon-chae, puffing up his pride to no end.
“Hyung, listen. There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Yoonwoo, who had been subtly caressing Yeon-chae’s chest in the middle of the street, looked up. Heavy snow fell over Yoonwoo’s shoulder. The world was entirely white.
Yeon-chae felt as if he had waited for this moment for a very long time. The moment he would bare his heart to the one person who had long shone uniquely in his colorless world.
“Do you know when I first started liking you?”
“No, I’m curious. When was it?”
Butterflies, a whole swarm of them, fluttered within his chest. His stomach felt entirely ticklish. Feeling as if he might laugh and cry simultaneously, Yeon-chae slowly regulated his breathing.
“It was when…”
Yeon-chae finally opened his mouth with a proud expression. Yoonwoo looked up at him, eyes filled with anticipation.
That day, Yeon-chae, holding his and Yoonwoo’s baby in his arms, walked toward their home amidst the heavily falling snow, recounting the past fourteen years. Yoonwoo listened attentively, his lips sealed. He occasionally glanced back at Yeon-chae, his smile so profoundly gentle that it felt wonderful.
‘We are all subordinates to each other.’ And so, Yeon-chae wanted to share the memories of his arduous fourteen-year crush with Yoonwoo as well.
– The End
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It was a nice read. Thank you for translating!