I've Been Possessed, But What If I Get Pregnant First? - Side Story 18

Side Story 18

“Lift Yubumi up!”

“No, Yuwon’s dad is tired right now.”

“Why?”

My face turned bright red at the innocent child’s question. Ah, I’m properly dressed now… Right? Lowering my head under the blanket just in case, I saw that I was indeed properly dressed. I couldn’t hide the faint red marks, but at this level, the child might not notice.

“I’m, I’m okay. Come to Yubum’s dad.”

“Papa, hurry!”

At my words that I was fine, Yubum raised his arms and glared at Taebeom as if to say ‘See?’. Holding back a laugh at the fierce look that was quite intense for a young child, I embraced Yubum.

“Hehe, Papa!”

Yubum was cute, acting like a newborn baby because he hadn’t seen me properly yesterday. Ah, come to think of it, I showed a bad side to Yubum yesterday too. As I was feeling glum about not showing a good image as a father, Yubum kissed my cheek.

“Papa, you came to Yubum’s dream yesterday, right?”

“Huh?”

What is he talking about now? The child’s imagination was becoming more diverse by the day. The dream stories Yubum shared were always pure and cute. I tapped his chubby cheeks and focused on his voice.

“Yesterday, we rode Swoong together and went to see the tiger, right Papa?”

“Swoong? You mean the car?”

“Uh-huh. Swoong, Swoong!”

Every time Yubum bounced his bottom, a sharp pain shot through my waist. As I broke out in a cold sweat and struggled, hyung lifted Yubum and gave him a piggyback ride. Despite being up high, Yubum burst into laughter without any sign of fear, stamping his feet and squinting his eyes as he laughed.

“Um, hyung, you’re not going to work today, right?”

Hyung tried not to go to work on weekends if possible. There were no business trips this week and he hadn’t mentioned going to work, so he would probably be home today. As I thought, hyung nodded.

Then, although it’s a bit difficult, I also feel sorry towards Yubum…

“Yubum, shall we go to the zoo today?”

“Really? Yubumi wants to go right away!”

At my words, the child’s cheeks turned pink as he bounced his bottom and urged us. And so, despite the still cold weather, a sudden zoo outing was decided. We quickly prepared lunchboxes and bundled up in the warmest clothes before heading out.

“Our Yubum’s favorite animal is the tiger, right~?”

“Papa’s favorite animal is the tiger too, right~?”

Hyung, who was driving, smiled happily at the conversation between Yubum and me. Despite it being only a short while since the date changed to March, the weather was warmer than expected, and contrary to our thoughts that there would be many people, we were successful in our timing.

As we entered the parking lot, Yubum’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the cute mascot dolls at the entrance. Without even asking to be carried, he dashed towards the entrance, and we chased after him. Hyung, who caught the child’s hand faster than me, sat in front of the child with a stern face and spoke.

“Kwon Yubum. I told you to hold daddy’s hand well in crowded places, didn’t I?”

“Yeah…”

“Come on, hold my hand quickly.”

The sight of the child pouting but firmly grasping hyung’s hand came into view. Though surprised for a moment, I was proud of Yubum for obediently listening.

Although we’ve managed to marry off the uncles one by one, the child who grew up seeing many people from a young age had no fear of strangers, which was a cause for concern. But since Yubum listens well once told, I put aside my worries and held the child’s other hand.

“Our Yubum, shall we go see the tigers first while holding Papa’s hand tightly?”

“Yeah yeah! I like that!”

The child walked bravely, firmly holding hyung’s and my hands. On the way to see the safari tour where the tigers were, Yubum wore a white tiger headband and held a rainbow-colored cotton candy in one hand, looking the happiest in the world. Hyung, who had stepped back a bit due to the cotton candy, wore the same tiger headband as Yubum and looked very cute.

“Pfft.”

“Papa, why are you laughing?”

“Because Daddy wearing the headband is so funny.”

“Kuk, right, Yubumi thought it was funny too earlier. But I held it in by biting my lips tightly.”

The child nodded and giggled in agreement with my words. Then hyung hugged us tightly as if pouncing on us and held us so we couldn’t escape.

“Who’s making fun of Daddy?”

“Pft, let go, hyung!”

“Ugh, Daddy! Yubumi can’t breathe!”

The child stuck out his tongue, which had turned blue from the food coloring, and panted heavily. The sight seemed familiar and made me smile, but hyung hugged me and the child once more with extra strength.

“Ugh, o-okay, I’m sorry. Let go!”

“I’ll let go if you both shout that you love me.”

“Here?”

“Daddy, Yubumi loves you!”

Yubum betrayed me and shouted his love confession to hyung alone. Although passersby looked at us, hyung released Yubum with a satisfied face. And me?

With one hand firmly holding Yubum’s hand and the other tightly embracing me, our appearance became even stranger. My face quickly heated up at the sight of us looking like a couple sharing affection inappropriately while leaving the child alone. Reluctantly, I quickly glanced around and hastily said.

“I-I love you!”

“I can’t hear you well.”

A dominant alpha can’t hear this? This is ridiculous! Although I felt very wronged, I couldn’t bear Yubum’s gaze peeking through his fingers covering his face and the gazes of passersby, so I quickly shouted.

“Honey, I love you!”

My voice, trembling with embarrassment, was well packaged in the atmosphere and became a shy love confession. It became even more so as passersby clapped, saying we looked good together and wishing us a beautiful love in the future.

As I glared at hyung while gritting my teeth, he moved forward, seemingly finding this situation amusing, giving Yubum a piggyback ride and holding onto me. Feeling like everyone passing by was looking only at me, I covered my face with my scarf and followed hyung.

“I have a reservation for 11 o’clock under Kwon Yubum.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Kim Haewon, your guide. Your reservation is confirmed, please follow me this way.”

It was a safari tour we had luckily booked before departure. Although I felt a bit scared seeing the dedicated car with iron bars on both windows, I got on following the excited child. Not long after the car started, the pure white tiger that Yubum wanted to see the most appeared first.

“Wow, Daddy, it’s like the one on your back! Tiger!”

“You’re right, it really is like what Yubum said.”

“Yeah! Daddy’s back goes roar too, roar!”

Thanks to Yubum suddenly wrinkling his nose and imitating a tiger’s roar, the adults, including the guide, burst into laughter.

As we slightly lowered the window and handed over meat using a long stick, the white tiger, who had been yawning with a bored face, approached us.

“Grrrr!”

“Eek!”

Seeing it up close in real life, I inhaled sharply at its large teeth and fierce face. I hope Yubum wasn’t too scared? I was worried that the child, sitting on the window side in hyung’s arms, might burst into tears from shock.

However, the child was looking at the white tiger with sparkling eyes. After staring for a long time with twinkling eyes, Yubum firmly told the white tiger.

“Tiger, stay still! Then I’ll give you a snack!”

As expected, although still a young child, Yubum, who was the spitting image of hyung, was incredibly brave.

***

“It was really really fun! Yubumi wants to go again!”

Yubum, with an excited flushed face, drooled. I wiped the child’s drool with a handkerchief and brought warm water to his mouth.

“Okay, let’s come again next time. First, drink some water.”

With a gulping sound, the child started chattering again about the animals he had seen earlier. Seeing this made me regret not bringing Yubum here sooner. As I stood up, holding the excited child in my arms, hyung, who had found a seat, gestured to us.

“You must be hungry. Give me Yubum and eat quickly.”

“It’s okay, we can eat together. Yubum, do you want inari sushi or kimbap?”

“This one!”

The child’s small finger pointed towards the kimbap with thick fried shrimp inside. I took the chopsticks hyung handed me and picked up the kimbap to put it in the child’s mouth. It was just the right size to fit in the child’s mouth, as if it had been prepared specially for Yubum.

“Delicious!”

In the past, what went into my mouth came first, and my comfort was the most important. But after marrying hyung and having a child, I learned that others could come first. It felt like I had grown a bit more mature, enough to notice it myself. After wiping Yubum’s mouth, which was smeared with sauce as he ate, I lifted my head and hyung put an inari sushi in my mouth.

As I was busy feeding Yubum and hyung was feeding me, when we were somewhat full, I noticed a kimbap lunchbox different from the chef uncle’s style. I wondered if we had been eating the kimbap I made all along, and the lunchbox placed in front of hyung reminded me of the old days.

“It reminds me of the old days. The day I brought a lunchbox to your company. It’s not that long ago, is it?”

“It was when Yubum was still Ho-ppang, so it is quite a while ago.”