DASH-Chapter 3Vol 2. : Side Story -

“Really? I don’t see it.”

At Nam Daeri’s tilted-head comment, Jiheon smiled and replied, “I’ve gained a lot of weight.”

“Well, I mean, you’re pregnant. Gaining weight is just part of it.”

“Right. But the weight I gained these past few days? That’s a whole different issue.”

“What kind of issue?”

“Well... I’ve been snacking a ton lately.”

As he broke the egg yolk in the center of his bulgogi rice bowl, Jiheon continued.

“There’s this pile of snacks and chocolate in the meeting room, and I’ve pretty much been eating it all by myself.”

Both Team Leader Lee and Nam Daeri sighed in unison.

“Well, that can’t be helped. Sugar cravings hit hard when you’re stressed.”

“But why only you, Deputy Jeong? Don’t the others eat too?”

“They do. But not as much. The others—well, this is their main method.”

He brought his index and middle fingers to his lips.

“Ahh.”

Nam Daeri, who regularly smoked under the pretense of stress relief, nodded right away. He tapped Jiheon’s thigh with a laugh.

“Well, still—sweets are better than cigarettes.”

They’d been smoking buddies until just a few months ago.

“Yeah, I think so too... But with substitutes, you have to be careful. Sweets are surprisingly addictive.”

At Jiheon’s remark—saying sugar was just as bad as nicotine—Team Leader Lee, who was a well-known energy bar addict, nodded hard in agreement.

“At first, I’d only nibble on one or two pieces when other people went to the smoking area. But now, I find my hand reaching for them even during meetings.”

Then he admitted he’d spent tens of thousands of won over the weekend at the convenience store near his house—on snacks, bread, and ice cream. Team Leader Lee clicked her tongue at the wrong thing.

“If you were gonna eat it anyway, you should’ve at least gotten something good.”

“Still, sugar really is a habit. An addiction. You can go without it for a while, but once you start, it’s hard to stop. Sugar just keeps calling for more sugar.”

“Now that I think of it, your lunch today is sweet too.”

Nam Daeri pointed at Jiheon’s bulgogi bowl. freēwēbnovel.com

“This? Isn’t it salty?”

Jiheon looked surprised, but Nam Daeri clarified with perfect precision.

“No, it’s sweet and salty. Bulgogi seasoning’s got a ton of sugar in it.”

“Oh. Right.”

Only then did Jiheon realize it. Back in the day, he’d have classified this as a “sweet” dish and wouldn’t have gone near it. But after eating so much candy and sugar lately, this kind of sweetness didn’t even register anymore.

Crazy how fast your taste buds can change.

He dug into his bulgogi rice bowl, fascinated. Maybe because of what Nam Daeri said, he could suddenly really taste the sweetness of the marinade. But it was delicious.

The three of them, chatting and eating, finally finished their late lunch and stepped out of the restaurant.

“Ah, but Deputy Jeong, your belly’s definitely popped. You really look pregnant now.”

While waiting for their drinks at a /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ takeaway café, Nam Daeri commented.

“Of course I do.”

Jiheon responded with a sheepish smile as he took the orange juice from the employee.

The strange thing was, up until week 13, clothes had covered it up perfectly. But the moment week 14 hit, it started to show, even with clothes on. Still, only people who knew could tell. With a vest under his jacket or a slightly loose trench coat, he could still manage.

But come week 15—not only had his pregnancy gone public, but his belly had visibly popped. People now openly said, “Ah yeah, you’re definitely showing.” Now that he was into week 16, even strangers could tell he was pregnant just by looking.

“It always pops at this point. You’ll probably wake up tomorrow and it’ll be bigger.”

Team Leader Lee grimaced as if to say this was just the beginning of the struggle.

“But isn’t it only, what, four or five months now? Do you really show this much already?”

“It varies. If the baby’s big, the bump’s big. If the baby’s small, not so much.”

“Well, both dads are tall, so...”

Nam Daeri joked that the baby was probably already oversized. Team Leader Lee didn’t jump in, instead eyeing Jiheon sipping his juice. As Nam Daeri stepped away to grab his coffee, she slowly leaned closer and whispered, “Deputy Jeong, you might want to cut back on the sugar a little.”

***

When Jiheon entered the hospital room, Jaekyung was, as usual, watching something on his laptop.

“What are you watching this time?”

Rather than answering, Jaekyung kept his eyes on the screen and asked,

“Hyung, do you have any allergies?”

“No? Why?”

Jiheon set his bag on the chair and perched on the edge of Jaekyung’s bed. Jaekyung shifted slightly to the side so Jiheon could sit more comfortably and said,

“They say babies’ allergies are heavily influenced by their parents. If one parent has allergies, the baby has a 50% chance of inheriting it. If both do, it’s over 75%.”

What the hell was he watching now to be talking about allergies? Jiheon leaned down to peek at Jaekyung’s laptop screen. Well, at least studying up on diseases was better than some of the other stuff...

“Homemade First Baby Food with a Pediatrician”

“Hey.”

Jiheon laughed out loud in disbelief. The baby hadn’t even latched once yet—hell, it was still a 16-week-old fetus—and here Jaekyung was, already planning baby food. But more than that—

“You’re gonna make baby food?”

“I was thinking about it... But after watching this, I think it’s better to just buy it.”

Jaekyung said with a conflicted look. Not long ago he was going on about how it’d be better to grow their own vegetables at home—utter nonsense—and now he was finally starting to realize reality.

“Good. Smart decision.”

Jiheon patted his shoulder and looked around the room.

“Where’s your mom?”

When he asked if she’d stepped out, Jaekyung tapped his laptop touchpad and answered,

“She didn’t come today.”

“Oh? Not at all?”

“Yeah. Said she had plans this evening.”

So she hadn’t even swung by at lunch. She must be pretty tired of this by now. Well, it wasn’t like Jaekyung was bedridden—he just couldn’t use his right shoulder. Calling it “nursing” was a stretch; it was more about making sure he didn’t rip off the brace and start moving around again. He spent all day lying in bed watching videos, and mealtimes just meant microwaving something from the fridge. There wasn’t really a need for someone to hover 24/7. Honestly, the fact that she’d taken care of him so diligently for the past ten days was admirable.

“You’ve finally been abandoned, huh? Poor thing.”

Jiheon ran his fingers through Jaekyung’s hair with exaggerated sympathy. Jaekyung gave a little laugh, closed the laptop, and pulled Jiheon close by the waist. Still lying down, he curled toward Jiheon’s chest and mumbled,

“Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Can I just go home?”

He looked up from below as he asked. So that’s what this was all about—clinging to him in this awkward pose just to ask that.

“I’ll be careful not to move my arm too much. And if you don’t trust me, I can wear the brace again.”

He even made a pitiful face, trying to play on Jiheon’s emotions.

And... honestly, it worked. Jiheon was always weak to that face, especially when Jaekyung looked up at him from below. He almost said, “Yeah, let’s go,” and hugged him back. But he caught himself just in time and quickly pried Jaekyung’s hand off his waist.

“Nope. You’re staying till next week, like we agreed.”

He told him to quit whining and just stay put in the hospital. Instantly, Jaekyung’s pathetic expression disappeared, replaced with a sulky pout as he shot him a side-eye.

“Why not? Why can’t I go?”

“Because you’re bored, that’s why.”

“You think it’ll be any different at home? You’re not going to training or anything—you’ll just be stuck at home watching YouTube.”

“What’s the difference between that and being here?”

Jaekyung gave him a look like, You seriously don’t get it?

“You’re at home, hyung.”

“And I’m at work during the day.”

“But you’re there at night.”

“So? What, you think we’re gonna do anything but sleep at night? And honestly, you’re more comfortable sleeping here by yourself than crammed together on that tiny bed.”

At that, Jaekyung suddenly shut his mouth. He lowered his head and started fiddling with the laptop lid, opening and closing it. The awkward silence made it obvious—he hadn’t been planning to just sleep at night.

...Which meant Jiheon definitely couldn’t let him go home right now. Not that next week would be much better, but still—not now. They needed time. Time to prepare emotionally.

“Just stay.”

Jiheon said it firmly on purpose.

“Stick to the plan. Two full weeks. You’re out next week.”

“No, hyung, this is actually counterproductive.”

Jaekyung shut his half-open laptop in a rush and said urgently.

“What is?”

“Keeping me holed up here when I don’t need to be. That just makes it worse. It kills motivation. Don’t you know that athletes in rehab after serious injuries are supposed to get psychological treatment too? I’m not getting that—and now I’m about to develop depression on top of it.”

“Oh, please.”

“I’m serious. You have to time things right. You’ve gotta loosen the reins exactly when the moment calls for it. That’s how you boost morale.”

If it hadn’t been Jaekyung saying this, Jiheon might’ve agreed. Everything he said was technically correct—he just had terrible timing.

Jiheon sighed.

“Fine. I’ll ask your attending physician. If they say it’s okay, we’ll schedule your discharge.”

“Okay, sure. Sounds good.”

Jaekyung replied far too calmly, like he’d already been given the green light. With a confident look, he reopened his laptop—not to YouTube, but to a portal site—and started typing into the search bar.

Jiheon pretended to get up from the bed, sneaking a glance at the screen. He thought for sure Jaekyung would be googling “sex during pregnancy” or “is intercourse safe in second trimester” or “effects of sex on fetus” or something along those lines... but no.

The last thing he saw on Jaekyung’s screen before leaving the room was:

“Department store opening hours.”