DASH-Chapter 164

“No, what do you mean, sister-in-law?”

Jisoo pouted, muttering, “See, Dad is already taking his son-in-law’s side.” But her dad ignored her complaints and sat down close to the table, asking:

“But seriously, how did it end up like this? Did you two fall in love while working?”

Jiheon’s mom, stopping her overly excited husband, said:

“Didn’t you see them talking about it on TV?”

“They only talked about training.”

“You didn’t notice at all?”

“I don’t know. How am I supposed to know?”

Judging by Jiheon’s dad’s reaction earlier, it might be that he genuinely didn’t know rather than pretending not to know. He was a man who treated affection between seniors and juniors as friendship, trust, and respect, after all.

Jaekyoung probably noticed Jiheon’s dad’s tendency and pointed it out directly without beating around the bush.

“I’ve liked Jiheon hyung very much from the start, sir. He was the athlete I admired and liked the most since I was young, so I purposely signed with his company. I confessed to him about 30 times and got rejected, but I ended up dating him.”

“What, how many times??”

Jiheon’s dad asked in shock. He didn’t say anything, but his expression almost made it seem like he thought Jaekyoung was a bit of a stalker.

“Oh, no. That’s not true.”

Jiheon was shocked and waved his hand. Then he playfully hit Jaekyoung on the arm and demanded clarification.

“Hey, say it properly. It’s not that bad.”

“Yes, but that’s pretty much how I feel.”

Jaekyoung confidently insisted.

“Every time I got rejected, it was really tough for me. It felt like the whole world had collapsed.”

“Oh, I understand that. I don’t know about the one doing the rejecting, but the person getting rejected can feel that way.”

Jiheon’s dad nodded, as if he fully understood. Then he suddenly started scolding his son.

“You punk, if you were going to accept him anyway, you should have done it right away. Why were you dragging your feet like that?”

Surprised by the sudden scolding, Jiheon couldn’t find words and just opened his mouth. Jaekyoung quickly came to his defense.

“No, sir. I preferred it that way. Hyung made his decision after thinking about it carefully.”

In response to Jaekyoung’s words, Jisoo exclaimed:

“Wow, so you’re covering for him like this? What if my brother accepted you right away?”

“Then he’d probably say it was good because your brother is decisive.”

Jiheon’s mom chimed in, putting some japchae [1] on Jaekyoung’s plate. Jisoo burst out laughing as if she hadn’t even considered that.

“Wow, there’s a reason I’m the only single one here. You have to know how to say things like that to date someone and get married.”

“Not really. Look at your dad. He has no sense of this, so he’s never once said anything to lighten up my mood.”

“Oh, really? Then why did you marry Dad?”

“Why? Because he’s handsome.”

When she said that if it weren’t for that face, she wouldn’t have even looked at him, Jiheon’s dad smiled, pushing his handsome face forward. Jiheon’s mom put freshly peeled shrimp into his mouth even though she gave him a sour look.

Jiheon only then realized that it was because of this irresistible gene order that he kept putting something into Jaekyoung’s mouth.

“Jisoo-ya, go and get Macallan.”

Finally, when his excitement reached its peak, Jiheon’s dad told Jisoo to fetch some alcohol. Jisoo got up and brought the whiskey stored in the living room dresser as if she had waited. It was a retirement gift from his subordinates, an expensive liquor costing several million won per bottle. But more than that, it was a precious gift from a subordinate who cared for him like a younger brother, and he only drank a glass when something really good happened.

“Come on, let’s have a drink.”

Jiheon’s dad poured an overflowing amount of that precious liquor into Jaekyoung’s glass. Jiheon thought, “Dad must be in a really good mood today,” but when he saw Jaekyoung hesitating while holding the glass of alcohol, he took the glass.

“Don’t drink.”

His dad looked surprised at his sudden change and asked:

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s because there’s only a month left until the second selection round.”

No matter how understanding his dad was, Jiheon was certain that his dad would be disappointed and ask why. So, Jiheon did what he had to do.

“Dad, it’s the management period now. I’m not allowing him to drink alcohol at all for that reason.”

“Ah, there’s no helping it, then.”

Fortunately, when Jiheon mentioned the selection round, his dad immediately nodded. Since his child used to be an athlete, he knew well the importance ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) of pre-match management, so even though he was disappointed, he just let it go.

“Then you can drink it instead, Jiheon.”

“Oh, right now, I....”

Jiheon quickly put down the glass he was holding.

“Why? Did you bring a car? No, you don’t have a car right now.”

After his son-in-law and then his own son refused to drink, Jiheon’s dad showed his disappointment.

“You don’t even have to go to work tomorrow, so what are you worried about?”

‘What should I do....’

Jiheon was in a dilemma.

Actually, he had come today just to introduce Jaekyoung and let them know that he was going to marry him. Parents catching their child in a shotgun marriage would be less likely to like their son/daughter-in-law, and it could even damage Jaekyoung’s goodwill that he had built up at the bottom. So, Jiheon had initially planned to share the news sometime next month.

But judging by the atmosphere, he thought it might be okay to tell them now.......

“By any chance, are you pregnant?”

At his mom’s unexpected question, Jiheon, deep in thought, unconsciously exclaimed, “What?”

“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?”

Jiheon’s dad gave his wife a puzzled look, wondering why she said that. Despite the question, Jiheon’s mom continued peeling the shrimp without a pause.

“Well, you’ve been sniffing the food for a while now.”

“What? I, I did that...?”

Jiheon was bewildered and stumbled over his words.

“Yes. So I wondered if the food went bad or smelled weird. But then again, you suddenly stopped drinking. You never say no when your dad offers you a drink.”

In an instant, Jiheon’s dad’s expression changed completely. He put down the glass with a thud and turned to his son.

“Hey, is that true?”

Seeing his dad’s reaction, Jiheon forgot everything he was planning to say. Jaekyoung glanced at him, and he stood up first, grabbing one of Jiheon’s dad’s hands and said:

“Yes, sir. I did it.”

“What do you mean you did it....”

“Hyung said he really wanted to show his parents their grandchild within this year.”

‘When did I......?’

─There was no way he could say that.

“Yes, that’s right, dad.”

Jiheon quickly stood up and patted Jaekyoung on the shoulder.

“I asked for it, so, uh, Jaekyoung worked hard. Even though he was busy preparing for the Olympics, he did his best, so... congratulations, dad. You will be able to see your grandchild within this year.”

Jiheon held onto his dad’s other hand and went along, pushing as if it was his dad’s own wish to welcome a grandchild this year.

Jisoo quickly came to his rescue. Taking the glass in front of her brother, she poured it into her dad’s glass and shouted cheerfully.

“Wow, dad is finally becoming a grandpa! Congratulations, grandpa!”

Jiheon’s mom laughed as she watched her kids enthusiastically shouting out congratulations. Then, she casually put freshly peeled shrimp into her husband’s mouth.

“Are you happy?”

“I am, but....”

Jiheon’s dad chewed and swallowed the shrimp in his mouth with both hands being held by his son and son-in-law.

“I’m happy, but it’s too sudden. Why is this happening so fast? Why are they so fast?”

To her husband still mumbling in bewilderment, Jiheon’s mom said while rubbing his arm next to him.

“I guess because they’re swimmers, right?”

Jiheon’s dad burst into laughter at his wife’s joke.

“Oh, is that so?”

Jiheon’s mom exchanged amused glances with her husband, who couldn’t stop laughing. Then, she turned her head and looked at her son and son-in-law across from her.

Observing the two fast and tall swimmers, she offered some advice to her son in a casual tone.

“You must go for a C-section.”

After the meal, they all moved to the living room and had a chat. After downing not one, not two, but three glasses of the precious Macallan alongside the cake Jisoo brought, Jiheon’s dad sealed the bottle and posed a question:

“But what’s the plan for the wedding? It won’t happen before the Olympics, so are you gonna do it after the Olympics and give birth?”

“Well, I’m not sure about rushing into it.”

Jiheon subtly hinted that he wasn’t keen on an immediate wedding.

“How about just a family meal and a commemorative photo?”

“Hey, what about the support money I give you? If you take all of that, you could buy a house.”

When Jiheon’s dad was urging him to have a wedding, Jiheon’s mom spoke quietly to him.

“Just put it in your account. Whether you’re going to use it to rent a wedding hall or not. If you want to hold a wedding, rent the fanciest place.”

“That’s right. And you can’t buy a house with that money, dad. Do you know how expensive houses are these days?”

Jisoo chimed in. Sensing the disadvantage, her dad suddenly seized Jaekyoung’s shoulders and shook him.

“What do you think? Don’t you want a wedding? Don’t you want to gather everyone and make it grand? Don’t you want them to know that you two are finally married?”

Jaekyoung, who had been quietly eating cake without participating in the conversation because he had already exceeded his daily average speaking quota, frowned and muttered, “Hmm,” with a fork in his mouth.

From the looks of it, he didn’t seem to like the event itself because he found it annoying, yet he wanted to spread the word about his marriage. He didn’t like crowds, but he wanted pictures to hang up. It seemed that he was grappling with these conflicting thoughts.

“We can take wedding pictures even without a full-blown wedding.”

Jiheon subtly hinted to Jaekyoung.

“Really?”

Jaekyoung’s face lit up.

“Hey, if you take a picture and hang it at home, only you will see it. Who else will know that?”

Jiheon’s dad quickly countered. Jaekyoung nodded as if agreeing with him. In a hurry, Jiheon jumped in to prevent Jaekyoung from falling for his dad’s trick.

“The company will publish an article about it anyway. If we send out a press release, the whole world will know.”

“Oh.”

Jaekyoung smiled at Jiheon.

“When you publish the press release, do you also share the pictures?”

“I, I don’t know. As for the pictures....”

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Jaekyoung’s expression darkened again. Jiheon quickly added.

“We can just post them on the company Instagram. Then the reporters will publish the article on their own.”

Before Jiheon could finish speaking, Jaekyoung turned to Jiheon’s dad.

“I vote for skipping the wedding.”