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Living with a baby has been a complete challenge for Jaekyung. It's just another level of craziness and adrenaline that he has never experienced before, not even in the ring. Jiae is everything you would expect from a baby; she is loud and smelly, always wanting attention. She cries when she's hungry, cries when she wants to sleep, and cries when she needs a diaper change. And Jaekyung loves her madly.
He didn't know he could love something so small until he held his little daughter in his arms. He is still getting used to the fact that he is the father of a precious baby girl, his little creation. Jiae grows more beautiful every day. Jaekyung loves to look at her every day and caress her soft face. Jiae is chubby with cheeks so chubby you could eat them; she has a small nose and crystal clear eyes so slanted that every day they look like his. Her hair is starting to grow, jet black just like his, but silkier and softer, and it gets lost in his fingers every time he touches it. Every time he sees her, it's like looking at his reflection. Jiae looks more like him every day, but Jaekyung can see traces of Dan in her. And he loves it; he is delighted with his new life.
“You are very beautiful, Jiae,” Jaekyung says as he takes his daughter in his arms after changing her diaper. He settles her in as he moves around; swaying his body gently as he knows his daughter likes it. “You are the most beautiful of all, my little princess.” He tenderly touches her nose, and Jiae lets out a few small gurgles. A childish sound rings throughout the room. Jaekyung smiles as her heart warms with love.
Since Jiae arrived, the house has been filled with endless chaos, and the peace used to inhabit is completely gone. Not that Jaekyung is complaining, but he can't help but love these quiet moments when Jiae is in his arms sleeping peacefully. Jaekyung lets out a sigh and looks out the window towards the big city of Seoul.
Jaekyung has been taking over all of Jiae's care so that Dan can rest. He has taken the night shift to take care of his daughter, who still doesn't know when it's bedtime and sleeps whenever she wants. Her sleep schedule is not yet established, and in the meantime, she messes up her father's sleep schedule. Jaekyung has been staying up in the wee hours of the morning to attend to Jiae's every need. Normally, she only wakes up when she is hungry or for a diaper change and then falls back into a deep sleep that Jaekyung envies. The athlete can't remember when he last slept peacefully.
Once Jiae falls asleep, Jaekyung gets up from the couch where he had been sitting and walks with slow, soft steps to her little girl's crib. He carefully lays her down and tucks her in with her soft blanket. Jaekyung contemplates her for a few seconds before walking to his bed. Once he has finished with his daughter, exhaustion takes over. He lies down without making much movement and gets under the covers. He lets out another quiet sigh and stares at the ceiling before he moves his head and meets Dan's peaceful expression as he sleeps. Jaekyung can't help but smile at the sight of him. Jiae may have his features, but he possesses the same angelic expression as Dan as he sleeps. He knows that the soft and tender expressions his daughter often lets out despite her young age are all inherited from her father, Dan, who now sleeps peacefully beside Jaekyung. The athlete moves his hand to caress his beloved's face but stops instantly. He doesn't want to wake Dan up, so he better decide to divert his hand to the blanket that tucks part of Dan body and tucks him in completely, bringing the soft fabric up to Dan's shoulders. Then he settles in beside him and closes his eyes, taking the opportunity to rest before Jiae demands his attention again.
His daughter's call is heard a couple of hours later, or minutes. Jaekyung no longer knows what day or what time it is. He gets up and hurries to get to Jiae before Dan wakes up. The baby whimpers and squirms, tears streaming down her cheeks. Jaekyung takes her in his arms and moves slowly to quiet her. A few seconds later, the baby calms down and now only lets out soft whimpers under her breath. Jaekyung smiles and crumples her against his arms.
As he does that, he checks her diaper; it's dry, so he knows Jiae woke up to ask for food. Jaekyung walks to the kitchen and opens the fridge, where they have bottles ready to make things easier. He warms up the bottle and, while waiting, entertains Jiae by fiddling with his fingers.
A bark distracts Jaekyung; he looks down to see his furry friend snuggling against his leg. Jaekyung lets out a chuckle. “You're hungry too, huh?” Jaekyung moves to open one of the pantry drawers and pulls out a box of croquettes. He gives a couple of them to the puppy so he has something to eat while he tends to his daughter. It's complicated to tend to two hungry children, but Jaekyung manages.
Once the bottle is ready, Jaekyung returns to the room; he can feel a pair of paws following him from behind, so he leaves the door open for the puppy to enter. Jiae starts whining at the sight of her father's tardiness. She's as impatient as I am, Jaekyung thinks as he sits back down on the sofa and settles his baby down to feed her. Jiae gladly receives the bottle, quieting her sobs.
Soon the puppy climbs up and moves around the couch until he snuggles against Jaekyung again; this time he places his muzzle on the athlete's thigh, seeming to take a nap as Jaekyung feeds his daughter. The athlete chuckles softly, and if he didn't have his hands full, he would be stroking his puppy's fur.
Once Jiae finishes eating and is satisfied, she falls asleep. Jaekyung carefully gets up from the sofa so as not to wake either the baby or the puppy sleeping peacefully on the sofa. He walks slowly to his daughter's crib and lays her down as gently as he can, tucks her in so she won't be cold, and watches her for a few seconds until he feels some puppy footsteps walking towards him. Jaekyung looks down and sees Dae watching him insistently; he wants some attention too. Jaekyung laughs and bends down to pet his puppy's fur before going to fix him a bowl of croquettes. Once both Jiae and Dae are fed and sleeping in their respective beds, Jaekyung lets out a sigh, and with heavy steps, almost dragging his feet, he reaches the bed and lies down on it. He is so tired that the moment his head touches the pillow, he falls fast asleep; not even a tsunami could wake him up.
Having a baby at home can be a wonder; however, sometimes—not to say most of the time—it can be exhausting. There are nights like these when Jaekyung can't control the surrounding situation.
He is rocking Jiae gently in his arms, swaying as Dan taught him. Jiae, in his arms, cries softly, letting out slight complaints; her face crumples in an ugly way, and Jaekyung looks at her with pity, for he wants to help her, to make her feel better. But minutes pass, and Jiae is still whimpering, unable to sleep. Jaekyung has tried everything; he moves while humming soothing sounds and tries to put the pacifier on her to calm her down. But Jiae, inheriting his temper, whines and screams, kicking her legs and waving her little hands, pushing away the pacifier her father tries to place on her. Jaekyung lets out a sigh and closes his eyes, leaving a caress on his daughter's head. He knows it's not her fault, but he starts to get frustrated that he doesn't know what to do; he feels like he's failing, and that's something that bothers him a lot.
“Jae.”
The athlete turns around when he hears Dan's voice; he looks at him in surprise and then lets out a sigh of defeat, hating that feeling as he understands that he couldn't do something right, something for his daughter. And now, he woke Dan up, dragging him along with him on this.
“I'm sorry; I don't know what's wrong. I fed her and changed her diaper. I even took her temperature to see if she had a fever, but she's all right. I don't know why she doesn't want to sleep.” Jaekyung looks down at his daughter, who is squirming in his arms. Her cheeks are red from crying, and fine tears are slipping down her cheeks.
Dan looks at him sympathetically and approaches, holding out his arms. “Give her to me” is a softly shaped command that Jaekyung attacks with some misgivings. Slowly reaching out to his daughter, Dan lets out a smile and then looks at him. “Go sit down.”
And Jaekyung simply nods because he is tired, and now that he has no one to hold, his body wants him to rest. He almost plops down on the couch and tucks his head in his hands as he listens to Dan talk to his daughter in a low voice.
Dan moves around the room, rocking his daughter gently. He pauses in front of the bay window and looks out at the city at night until he lowers his gaze to his daughter.
“What's the matter, little girl? You're going to wake up the whole city with your crying,” he murmurs tenderly and, with his fingertips, wipes his daughter's cheeks. She begins to calm down at his touch and voice and gradually stops crying. “That's it; it's all right now.”
Jaekyung looks up as he feels the silence in the room; maybe a few gurgles can be heard, but they are so quiet that Jaekyung has never felt so at peace. He looks at Dan rocking his baby and thinks he's looking at an angel, because he can't believe Jiae has stopped crying.
“What… what happened?” he says, perplexed and shocked by what he's seeing. Is his boyfriend really magic, as Kenji thinks?
“She fell asleep,” is Dan's simple answer without taking his eyes off Jiae, who now sleeps peacefully in his arms.
“How did you do that?” Jaekyung asks in amazement, his eyes sparkling, marveling at the magic his boyfriend had managed to do.
Dan smiles and looks up to see Jaekyung, and while the athlete waited for his boyfriend to reveal his secret, Dan decided to answer him in another way.
“When was the last time you slept, Jaekyung?”
Jaekyung frowns lightly and thinks for a second before answering, even though this was not the conversation he wanted to have. “I don't know… a day before Jiae was born… I think.”
Dan rolls his eyes; that's something he was already deducing, but hearing it come out of his boyfriend's lips rather surprises him.
“That's the problem; you're tired, and your body feels heavy and tense. And she feels that, and it makes her uncomfortable, and the only way she can show it is by crying. That's why she couldn't sleep.”
“I'm sorry…”
Dan lets out a faint smile and walks towards Jaekyung; he releases one of his hands to caress his boyfriend's cheek gently. “Go to sleep; you need to rest.”
Jaekyung quickly shakes his head, and Dan already knows he's going to let out his stubbornness.
“No, I'm fine. You go back to bed; you need it more than me. It's supposed to be my job to take care of her so you can rest.”
“Jaekyung.”
The athlete stops talking and looks at Dan. The brown-haired man hardly ever calls him firmly, and from the look on his face, he knows he's being serious.
“Go to bed, I'll take it from here,” and I don't take no for an answer, he says in his gaze, and Jaekyung knows it will be a waste of time to put up a fight.
With a tired sigh, he gets up from the couch and, like a zombie, walks and climbs the stairs. Dan watches him until he hears the door to his room close. Then he lowers his gaze to Jiae, and Dan smiles.
“You'll have to excuse your father, honey; he's new at this,” he says softly before leaving a tender kiss on her forehead.
He goes back to the room and enters without making much noise; he doesn't want to wake his daughter and Jaekyung, who sleeps sprawled on the bed. Dan puts Jiae down in the crib, and once he settles her in, tucking her in, he smiles and lets out a soft sigh.
“One down, two to go.” Dan walks to the bed and pauses before climbing in to admire the way Jaekyung sleeps.
Even though the bed is big enough, Jaekyung managed to completely take hold of it. His legs and arms are spread wide like a starfish, and his head spans the entire pillow with messy strands of hair all over the place. Dan chuckles under his breath, looking down at his sleeping boyfriend. He didn't even get under the covers; he just sprawled out on the bed. He's a mess.
But Dan wants to sleep too, so he grabs one of Jaekyung's arms to move him to the side so he has some room to lie down. He manages to move him until he's on his back, but Jaekyung is so heavy that all the force he used only made Dan end up falling. He falls on the athlete's chest, letting out a slight scream that he quickly stifles so as not to wake up the sound sleepers.
Dan lets out a sigh; he's so tired that he's not going to move anymore and simply decides to stay lying on his boyfriend's chest. He grabs the sheet and, as best he can, tucks himself in. Once he's comfortable, he closes his eyes, smiling slightly when he feels Jaekyung's arms wrap around his body.
When Jaekyung wakes up in the morning, it is because of the light rays of sunlight coming through the half-open curtain. He frowns still with his eyes closed and moves around the bed, looking for Dan's warmth. But when he doesn't find him, he decides to open his eyes slowly. The room is quiet, and there is no one beside him. That part of the bed is tidy, as if no one has slept in the bed with him. It is at that moment that he realizes that it is already daylight and that he fell asleep sometime during the night while he was taking care of his daughter.
My goodness…! Jiae!
Jaekyung quickly gets out of bed, kicking the sheets to get out. He takes a second to get out of the entanglement between his legs and, without stumbling, runs to the crib. He finds nothing when he reaches it and lets out a sigh. If Dan isn't in the room, it means he's already awake and has Jiae with him. Coming to that conclusion, Jaekyung allows himself to relax and decides to go to the bathroom.
Once he has washed his face and is a little more awake, he walks out of the room straight to the dining room, where he can hear faint murmurs. He smiles when he hears Kenji's voice, as sing-songy as ever, even if it is morning. When he makes his presence in the dining room, both Kenji and Dan stop what they are doing to look at him and give him a smile. They both sing in unison, “Good morning.” Jaekyung reciprocates the gesture before approaching Dan.
Jiae is resting on his chest, wrapped in a cloth kangaroo that fits Dan's body. She looks like a cocoon, and Jaekyung can't help but smile at how small she looks. At least someone can rest easy, the athlete thinks.
“She looks so comfortable,” he murmurs, feeling a little envious as he sees his little girl sleeping peacefully on Dan's chest. Then he looks up, meeting brown eyes that look at him sweetly. “Why didn't you wake me up?”
“I wanted you to sleep some more.” Dan brings a hand up to the athlete's cheek and strokes it a little. “Go sit down; I'll make you breakfast.”
Jaekyung simply nods; he sits down in the dining room, resting his elbow on the table to use it to support his head. Once he is seated, tiredness begins to resurface. He yawns a little and closes his eyes for a second.
“Are you tired, Dad?” Kenji asks.
Jaekyung opens his eyes and looks at his son sitting on the chair next to him; he already has his school uniform on and eats breakfast quietly. “Yes, Jiae hasn't let me sleep.”
“I can help you with Jiae, if you want.”
Jaekyung smiles at his son and looks at him sweetly. “You can't do it, buddy; children should sleep at night. Jiae just needs to get used to it.” He brings a hand towards his son's brown hair, stroking it lightly in an expression that shows he's grateful for his offer but that he'll be fine on his own.
Kenji nods at the same moment Dan arrives at the table, setting down a cup of coffee in front of Jaekyung. With Jiae snug against his chest, his hands are free, and he can move around easily. Jaekyung looks at him, amazed at his agility to move.
“Kenji, if you're done, goes brush your teeth.”
The boy gets up and takes his now empty plate and empty bowl, which he leaves in the dishwasher before going up to his room. Dan watches him leave and then sits down in the seat previously occupied by his son. He looks at Jaekyung, who has placed his head on the table, closed his eyes, and seems to have fallen asleep.
“Hey, don't fall asleep at the table; your body will ache later.” Dan murmurs softly, his hand leaving caresses in the athlete's hair in an attempt to wake him up.
“I have… to… take… Kenji… to school.” Jaekyung murmurs between dreams, causing Dan to laugh softly.
“All you'll do is carrying him to the door,” he says, and at the very moment he mentions it, the doorbell rings, signifying that Maya has arrived for Kenji. But at that moment, Jiae decides it's time to wake up and demand attention. She begins to fidget among the fabric, whimpering slightly.
That action causes Jaekyung to open his eyes and become alert, ready to come to his daughter's call. But Dan has everything under control; he stands up from the chair as he starts rocking Jiae.
“Can you go with Kenji? I'll take care of her.”
Jaekyung simply nods and, while rubbing one eye to wake up, gets up from the chair and walks towards the entrance. He opens the door for Maya and greets her. Kenji comes running in seconds later. Jaekyung helps him put on his shoes, completely ignoring his son's complaints.
“I'm a big boy now; I can do it on my own,” grumbles the little boy, puffing out his cheeks as he lets out a pout.
“Well, for me, you will always be my baby,” says the athlete. He never imagined he would say something so corny, but here it was. He leaves a tender kiss on his son's forehead and then tousles his hair, chuckling lowly at his pout. “Have fun at school, okay?”
Kenji simply nods, smiling as he is finally free to grab his backpack and go to his babysitter. He says a cheerful goodbye to his father and then leaves. Jaekyung also sends him off with a smile. His son's pouting never lasts that long.
He goes back to the kitchen and finally gets the cup of coffee. It's already a little lukewarm, but it's still enough to wake him up a little. He leaves the empty cup in the sink and walks to his room. As he walks in the door, he sees Dan's back in front of the changing table. He walks over to him and hugs him around the waist. Jiae is on the changing table, swinging her legs freely and putting her little fist in her mouth.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, it just required a diaper change,” Dan replies, seeing his daughter being happy to be able to move around.
Both parents smile at her, and then Jaekyung takes her in his arms. It had only been a few hours, but he had missed having her in his arms. Dan looks at him gently, smiling slightly.
“Would you mind staying with her for a while? I'd like to take a shower; I'm all full of baby spit-up.” Dan chuckles, looking down at his white shirt with light dirt stains.
“Of course, we'll be fine,” Jaekyung replies.
Dan nods and leaves a kiss on both Jiae's and Jaekyung's cheeks before running to the bathroom. Dan takes his time in the bathroom, taking a shower that lasts more than a minute. When he comes out of the bathroom, he feels clean and relaxed, in dry and freshly washed clothes, smelling like flowers. He dries his hair as he opens the bedroom door only to find Jaekyung in bed, sleeping with Jiae on his chest, also sleeping. Jaekyung's whole hand covers Jiae's body, protecting her from falling, while the little girl sleeps snuggled against her father's chest.
Dan lingers for a few seconds admiring the beautiful scene before his eyes, slightly smiles, and wants to capture this moment forever. And so he does; he takes a photo of father and daughter before retreating from the room to let them rest.
Jaekyung and Jiae spend the rest of the morning sleeping; it is only when it is noon that the athlete finally wakes up, feeling more rested and relaxed. He takes his little girl, who is still sleeping, in his arms and goes downstairs to the living room. He looks for Dan, finding him in the playroom, petting the puppy as he plays with him. Dan looks up as soon as he senses his presence and smiles at him, inviting him to sit next to him.
“I thought you were going to sleep all day,” he jokes a little and looks down at Jiae in Jaekyung's arms. She is slowly waking up, familiarizing herself with her surroundings. The puppy slowly approaches the little one and sniffs her foot covered by the soft fabric of the jumpsuit. But when the little one does nothing, he decides it's more fun to be on Dan's lap, who hasn't stopped petting him.
Dan smiles at the puppy; he trusts his pet completely and knows he would never hurt Jiae. He then looks at Jaekyung and takes his face gently by his chin.
“While you were sleeping, I was thinking,” he says softly. “I know you want to take care of everything so I can rest, and I know you're used to doing everything by yourself. But you and I are a team now, and we have to work together so we can both take care of Jiae. So, from now on, we will take turns at night to take care of Jiae.”
“But you went through a lot in pregnancy; there were nights you couldn't sleep because of the discomfort. It's only fair that I should be the one to take care of Jiae at night so that you can rest and recuperate.”
“That's very nice of you, honey,” Dan says and now brings his hand to Jaekyung's cheek. “But it doesn't do me any good to see how it wears you down how you don't rest from taking care of her. I know you do it with all the love you have for her, but it's not good for you, and it's not good for me, and it won't be good for her either. Do you understand?”
Jaekyung is no fool; of course he understands. Last night was an experience that showed he must take care of himself, or he won't be able to take good care of Jiae. Honestly, he doesn't want to see her cry again because of him; he doesn't want to see her crying because her father is a stubborn fool who won't listen. Jaekyung lets out a sigh, accepting defeat. This isn't like being in the ring; he can't win on his own; he needs help. The puppy lets out a bark, bringing him out of his thoughts; he looks at it, and it seems that he too agrees with Dan's words. Yes, now he's not alone; now he's a team with Dan.
“It's okay,” he says and looks down at Jiae. She looks at him gently, almost as if she's thanking him for finally stopping being a fool. He smiles at her, and she lets out a gurgle in response.
“Now, it's time for you to go eat.” Dan takes Jiae in his arms and adjusts her in a way that he can cradle her in his arms and continue to hold his puppy in his lap. “You haven't eaten all day, and even someone strong like you can't stand to go without food.” Jaekyung is ready to protest, but Dan comes in again. “Honey, if you don't listen to me, I'm going to get angry.”
Jaekyung slightly blushes and looks at Dan in astonishment. “Stop calling me that,” he says between stutters as he gets up and runs to the kitchen, running away from Dan and that affectionate word that makes him freak out. When did this start? Why did he get like this just because of a simple word? Something is definitely wrong with him.
Dan smiles mischievously as he watches his boyfriend run away from him; he seems to have found a weakness in the athlete that even he doesn't know he has. Dan bites his lip to keep from laughing, but he can't help but feel like he just won a battle; he feels like he's won all the gold in the world.
“Who's the one blushing now, huh?” he says to himself, petting Dae and rocking Jiae with one of his arms.
Once they both come to an agreement, things become easier for Dan and Jaekyung. They create a schedule that allows them to be there for Jiae when she wakes up at night without either of them passing out from sleep. This way they manage to maneuver their times to attend to their daughter without any problems.
As the days and weeks go by, Jiae gradually grows up and gets used to sleeping through the night without any problems. This gives both parents a chance to get back to their daily routines and their respective jobs. Jaekyung being the first to return. Since before Jiae was born, he had taken paternity leave to stay at home; he continued to do his exercise routines at home and sometimes had meetings with his technical team via video call. He hadn't been to the gym for a while, until now.
And it's costing him more work than he thought.
“Are you sure you'll be okay?” he asks as he walks toward the door.
“I promise we'll be fine.”
“But what if something bad happens while I'm gone?”
“Nothing will happen.”
“But what if Jiae does something extraordinary and I miss it?” Jaekyung looks down at his little girl in his arms, pouting as he remembers having to leave her.
Dan laughs lightly at the athlete's quip, “I don't think that's going to happen.”
“But what if…”
“Jaekyung,” Dan stops him before he keeps blabbering nonsense and is late for work. “We'll be fine, and if something extraordinary happens, I promise to record it for you. Now give it to me; you'll be late.”
Jaekyung grimaces in annoyance and reluctantly hands Dan to Jiae, who all she does is fidget in her father's arms, unfazed by what's going on around her. Jaekyung looks at his little girl once more as he caresses her cheek.
“I'm leaving now, princess; don't miss me too much,” he says to Jiae, who ignores him completely, leaves a small kiss on her forehead, and then walks away to put on his shoes and grab his keys.
“She will be here waiting for you.” He takes his daughter's little hand and moves it slightly by way of farewell. Jaekyung looks at the tender scene and is about to drop everything to stay with his daughter when his phone rings again, insisting that he answer it and attend to his responsibilities as an athlete.
Jaekyung snorts lightly and finally leaves the house. It's torture as he drives to the gym; all he wants to do is turn around and go home, but his manager keeps insisting with his texts and calls. He would have pretended to be sick, the athlete thinks, and at the same time grumbles for not thinking faster and using that excuse to miss his meeting.
When he arrives at the gym, he is scowling and walking with loud, quick steps. He doesn't want to see anyone, and he doesn't want to talk to anyone. He completely ignores the others in the gym as he walks straight toward the offices.
“I'm here,” he says, opening the door abruptly. Quickly, he plops down on the couch. He's annoyed and wants to get this over with quickly.
Namwook looks at him from his desk, and all he can do is let out a sigh. He knows his star player is in a bad mood.
“Why do I have to be here? Can't we do this from home? What a hassle,” Jaekyung expresses with boredom as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and quickly looks up the chat he has with Dan.
“We would if it weren't because every time we do a video meeting call, you never pay attention because you have Jiae in your arms, and you keep talking about how beautiful she is.”
Jaekyung rolls his eyes and says nothing. He knows it's true, but he's not going to agree with his Hyung. Just then, Dan sends him a picture of Jiae; she's asleep, and Jaekyung can't help but smile. Then he lets out little whimpers of annoyance; he should be with her.
“Ahhh, I miss her so much,” he says and starts kicking the sofa, showing his discontent about this situation.
His second trainer walks in just as Jaekyung is throwing his tantrum. Yosep looks at him with a raised eyebrow and then looks at Namwook. “What's wrong with him?”
Namwook lets out a sigh. “He's experiencing parenthood.”
Both trainers have to reluctantly drag Jaekyung out of the office so they can go to the meeting room where the rest of the team is waiting for him. When he arrives, he greets politely but without any interest. He sits down in front of the table with the others beside him. He leans back in the back of his chair, looking disinterestedly at Namwook, who begins to talk about his next opponent, someone Jaekyung cares little about. As much as he's been away from the ring, he knows he'll tear whoever it is apart the moment he steps into the octagon.
He lets out a snort and grabs his phone. Dan hasn't texted him in several minutes, so he texts him to find out what his daughter is up to. Quickly, he gets distracted by his phone, completely ignoring the meeting taking place in front of his eyes.
“Jaekyung.”
They call him, but he doesn't answer; he's more interested in the screen of his phone. Namwook keeps calling him for a couple more seconds, but he keeps ignoring it.
“Jaekyung…”
“Wait, I want to know what Jiae is doing at this very moment,” he replies absentmindedly, looking at the chat he has with Dan, impatiently waiting for his boyfriend to send him another picture of his daughter—as if he doesn't have enough—.
Namwook brings a hand to his temple and strokes that part of his head slowly to chase away the coming headache. He looks at Jaekyung once more and lets out another sigh.
“Jaekyung, I am so glad that you are experiencing this stage of being a father. I myself know how beautiful it is, and I understand; you don't want to miss anything. But now it's important to focus on your return to the championship.”
Jaekyung puts down his phone and looks at his coach; he knows he is talking firmly, and if he ignores him again, it will cost him a beating. He lets out a snort and puts the phone down on the table.
“Okay, but what does it matter? It's obvious I'm going to win no matter who's in front.”
“It's important, so pay attention,” he says with a scathing look that, if Jaekyung ignores, will cost him dearly.
The athlete simply nods, supporting his face with his hand to keep it steady in front of the coach and not get distracted. They talk and talk about things he doesn't care about. Just tell him the date, time, and place of the fight—that's all he needs. Once the meeting is over, he is the first to leave. He is desperate to get home.
He walks quickly towards the exit, completely ignoring the people around him. However, it is impossible to ignore Potato, who intrudes into his personal space and almost trips him. Jaekyung takes a step back, avoiding colliding with the younger one.
“Hyung, when do we get to meet Jiae in person?” is the first thing the younger man asks with his eyes full of anticipation as he waits for Jaekyung's answer.
“Never.”
“What? Why!!!?” Potato's joyful expression soon changes to one of tragedy, and in his eyes you can see the tears gathering, ready to roll down his cheeks. Jaekyung can't be so bad as to not let him see Jiae, can he?
“Because your face is so ugly that you're going to scare my daughter, and I don't want that,” he says expressionlessly as he pushes Potato away with a light tap on his shoulder to step aside.
Jaekyung arrives home and quickly takes off his shoes, throwing them on the floor no matter where they fall. Soon his scowling bad boy expression that hates everyone fades away to the cheerful and gentle expression Jaekyung has exclusively for Dan, Kenji, and Jiae.
“Jiae, I'm home!” he expresses excitedly as he walks into the living room, hoping to find his daughter. He smiles when he sees her in her portable chair and quickly walks over to her, crouching down to be at her height. “Hi, beautiful, did you miss me?” He says as he takes Jiae's free hand, while the other plays with a small stuffed animal hanging on the chair.
Jaekyung removes all the safety supports from her and desperately takes her in his arms, leaving a kiss on her cheek in the process. “Did you grow while I was gone? You feel heavier. And what about those nice clothes? You didn't have it when I left.” Jaekyung admires his little girl in his arms, smiling at her always.
“It's a new onesie; I put it on her after giving her a bath.”
Jaekyung is startled to hear another voice in the room and looks down to the sofa, where Dan is sitting with a book in his lap. “Ah, Dan, you were here too.”
“Yes, I've been here the whole time,” he says with obviousness; he's practically sitting next to the chair where his daughter was previously.
“Well, you can rest for the rest of the day; I'll be with Jiae now.” Gently, he leans down to leave a kiss on his boyfriend's forehead and then leaves, chatting with Jiae as if she might respond to him. She does, though, letting out faint gurgles that Dan hears until Jaekyung comes up the stairs.
Dan watches with an expression of disbelief as his boyfriend walks away; he's perplexed by Jaekyung's manner. Not even in his wildest dreams would Dan have dreamed of Jaekyung being so gentle and soft-spoken, speaking in a sing-songy and sweet voice for someone as rough as him.
“I guess all I needed to turn him into a teddy bear was to give him a daughter,” the chestnut mutters to himself and then chuckles softly before going back to his book, leaning back on the couch and relaxing for the rest of the day.
He could definitely get used to this new Jaekyung.