Lee Young-jin awoke much later to the gentle vibration of his phone. Opening his eyes, he found the baby’s gaze fixed on him—a weighty, warm being resting on his chest. The baby’s curious eyes silently observed him as he lifted and lowered his heavy eyelids. Fascinated by the fluttering eyelashes, the baby reached out to touch Lee Young-jin’s eyelids. Fully awakened now, Lee Young-jin retrieved his phone from under him to check the alarm. It was time for the baby’s meal.
Feeling the warmth of the baby’s hand wandering down from his eyes to fiddle with his lips, Lee Young-jin was amazed at the miraculous sensation of those tiny hands with all five fingers attached. Holding the baby, he rose from the sofa.
Realizing it was being taken to the kitchen, the baby started to express its opinion with a sound that could be interpreted as a discussion about the dinner menu. Unfortunately, these opinions were difficult to accommodate, as Manager Yoon had already prepared all meals for Lee Young-jin, Seo Seung-hyun, and the baby that morning.
Lee Young-jin placed the baby in a high chair next to the island bar and securely fastened the belt. The baby, displeased by the restricting belt, furrowed their thick eyebrows and grumbled in protest, but Lee Young-jin ignored these complaints. Sometimes, firm discipline is necessary.
Lee Young-jin took a container of baby food from the refrigerator and heated it in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. The baby’s nose twitched, likely smelling the savory aroma of the finely blended rice porridge.
The baby, exactly 148 days old since last week, had shown a preference for their newly introduced solid foods over any other meal of the day. Though this dignified creature rarely made their preferences blatantly known, Lee Young-jin had discerned that the baby preferred sweet pumpkin over potatoes, bok choy over seaweed, and beef over chicken. The baby’s tastes were complex and varied but with some consistency. They enjoyed rice porridge mixed with milk and cooked until sweet, as well as thick baby food made from ground beef and sweet pumpkin.
Unfortunately, tonight’s dinner menu was far from the baby’s preferences.
Lee Young-jin retrieved the warmed container from the microwave. Seeing today’s dinner—a clear blend of chicken thigh meat, tofu, and carrot with glutinous rice that had been cooked for a long time—the baby grimaced. The dissatisfaction with the color of the carrots was unmistakable.
Lee Young-jin pulled a chair next to the baby and tasted the baby food with a small spoon. It was bland but nutty. The baby closely observed Lee Young-jin tasting the food before quickly slipping a spoonful inside the baby’s mouth. The baby evaluated the taste with a “Hoo-oobh,” seemingly not too displeased, as they accepted the second spoonful without much resistance.
After the meal, Lee Young-jin rubbed the baby’s back until they burped satisfactorily. He also gently cleaned the baby’s gum, still devoid of any teeth, with his finger.
Then, with the baby’s belly full, Lee Young-jin placed them back in the baby room, encouraging physical activity by tossing large stuffed animals and fabric blocks, spinning them around to assist the baby’s exercise.
It was then that Seo Seung-hyun called.
Lee Young-jin, while shaking a Tyrannosaurus stuffed toy with one hand, answered the phone with the other.
“Yes, CEO.”
[What are you doing?]
“Just….”
Lee Young-jin’s gaze drifted towards the baby. The baby, having lost interest in the Tyrannosaurus, was crawling towards the opposite side, seemingly wanting to dive into the ball pit filled with colorful fabric balls. Lee Young-jin quickly stood up, scooped the baby by the side with one arm, and gently placed them into the ball pit. The baby thrashed among the fabric balls, swimming through them.
[Just?]
A hint of amusement tinged Seo Seung-hyun’s voice.
“Just being here.”
[And Ji-won?]
“Uh… the baby’s just being here, too.”
Seo Seung-hyun chuckled softly.
“When are you coming?”
[Soon. Get ready. We’ll eat out tonight. Leave Ji-won with Manager Yoon.]
“Manager Yoon’s coming? Did she go to bed already?”
[She’ll just drop by for the evening.]
Even though he knew Seo Seung-hyun couldn’t see him, Lee Young-jin instinctively nodded.
[See you later.]
Listening to that gentle bass humming in his ear, Lee Young-jin found himself nodding again and again.
As if they had caught snippets of their half genetic donor’s voice through the phone, the baby had at some point climbed up to the edge of the ball pit, staring intently at Lee Young-jin. After ending the call, Lee Young-jin approached the baby and tenderly tickled under their chin with his fingers. The baby, not laughing but with a blank expression, plunged back into the ball pit.
Contrary to Lee Young-jin’s expectation that Seo Seung-hyun would return in about an hour, he came home twenty minutes later.
He greeted Lee Young-jin at the entrance with a “Have you been well?” bending to kiss him on the cheek before heading straight to the dressing room. Seo Seung-hyun removed all the sparkling, hard accessories like his tie pin, cufflinks, and wristwatch, then went to wash his hands in the bathroom. Only after that did he take the baby from Lee Young-jin’s arms. The sudden change in elevation seemed not to the baby’s liking, as they furrowed their brow.
With proficient movements, Seo Seung-hyun supported the baby’s bottom on his forearm, holding the baby securely while asking Lee Young-jin, “How about the meal?”
“They’ve been fed.”
“Good job.”
Seo Seung-hyun once again bent down to press his lips against Lee Young-jin’s face, while the baby squeezed between their chests protested noisily with a “Eubb!”
“I’ll wash Ji-won, so you get ready to go out. Manager Yoon will be here shortly.”
Lee Young-jin nodded agreeably and poked the baby’s chubby cheek. The baby, looking suspiciously at Lee Young-jin as if wondering why he was doing this, began to protest discontentedly as Seo Seung-hyun turned and walked towards the bathroom with him. The baby flailed their short arms and legs, vehemently demanding to be brought back in front of Lee Young-jin. Of course, Seo Seung-hyun ignored the demand.
The baby finally accepted their fate when the bathroom began to fill with warm steam.
Seemingly humiliated by being stripped of their clothes, the baby continually wrinkled their nose in displeasure. However, when Seo Seung-hyun, with his shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows, gently placed the baby in the shallow water of the infant tub, the baby expressed satisfaction with the perfect water temperature by cooing contentedly.
Seo Seung-hyun washed the baby with expert hands.
While the baby was distracted playing with a squeaky rubber duck and various sea creatures, Seo Seung-hyun shampooed their hair with baby shampoo free of chemicals and surfactants and washed their plump body with soap that smelled of soft milk. Finally, he wrapped the baby’s body in a soft towel and carried them out of the bathroom.
Lee Young-jin, who had finished changing and getting ready to leave, waited in the powder room connected to the bathroom and stretched out his arms towards Seo Seung-hyun as if asking for the baby. Instead of handing over the baby, Seo Seung-hyun naturally kissed Lee Young-jin on the cheek. Lee Young-jin blinked. But it was only after Seo Seung-hyun had passed him, still holding the baby, that Lee Young-jin hurriedly followed.
“I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Check how far Manager Yoon has gotten.”
“Uh….”
Lee Young-jin, hanging on to Seo Seung-hyun’s arm, alternated his gaze between the baby’s wide-eyed face and Seo Seung-hyun’s smiling face, and eventually turned around to look for his smartphone.
The baby fiddled with his fingertips and called out “Mmm…” to Lee Young-jin, but before Lee Young-jin could hear it, Seo Seung-hyun laid the baby, wrapped in a towel, on the marble countertop of the powder room and dried their hair with the gentlest breeze from the hair dryer.
Seo Seung-hyun dressed the resigned baby in a grey outfit with bear ears that he had prepared in advance.
Lee Young-jin’s voice came from outside the powder room.
“CEO, Manager Yoon says she’s now in front of the house.”
“Got it.”
Seo Seung-hyun, holding the baby, now fluffy like a small grey bear, in one arm, stepped out of the powder room.
Lee Young-jin leaned in and sniffed the baby, smelling the fragrant soap and baby scent. The baby fiddled with Lee Young-jin’s cheek and earlobe with their fingers.
Seo Seung-hyun chuckled and suddenly pushed the baby towards Lee Young-jin. Lee Young-jin, with wide eyes, hurriedly embraced the baby.
“Keep him. I’ll go change my clothes too.”
Lee Young-jin nodded, looking at Seo Seung-hyun’s wet dress shirt.
After Seo Seung-hyun changed clothes, Manager Yoon arrived at an appropriate time. The elderly lady, who had access permission, deliberately didn’t ring the bell and called Lee Young-jin instead. As Lee Young-jin and Seo Seung-hyun went out to the entrance, Manager Yoon, carrying a large bag over her shoulder, put her cell phone into the bag and looked at them, or more precisely, at the baby with sparkling eyes.
“It seems he’s still far from sleepy.”
She said this as she entered through the front door.
Seo Seung-hyun handed the baby to her. The woman, with a stony, cold face, took the baby with familiar hands, and the baby greeted Manager Yoon with a familiar face, showing his happiness with a “Hubbubbub” in a dignified manner.
“Please enjoy your meal without worries.”
“Thank you.”
Seo Seung-hyun wrapped his arm around Lee Young-jin’s waist and pulled him outside.
Lee Young-jin waved briefly to Manager Yoon and the baby in her arms before following Seo Seung-hyun out of the entrance.
The car waiting for them in the underground parking lot was one Lee Young-jin had never seen before. The sleek, streamlined blue sports car was something Lee Young-jin had briefly seen on TV before. Then, Seo Seung-hyun pulled Lee Young-jin’s hand, opened his palm, and dropped the heavy logo-embossed car keys onto it.
Lee Young-jin’s eyelids slowly dropped and then rose again.
“What’s this?”
“It’s yours.”
Seo Seung-hyun, with a pleased expression, grabbed his wrist and led him in front of the car.
“You were looking at this closely last time.”
Seo Seung-hyun had not missed that Lee Young-jin had stared at this sleek sports car, which had appeared in a drama, for quite some time.
Of course, the reason Lee Young-jin had stared at the car for so long was merely because this shimmering bluish sports car reminded him of the mackerel he had eaten the day before.
“No, I mean… I don’t need a car….”
“What does it matter?”
Seo Seung-hyun was not disappointed because he had anticipated such a response from Lee Young-jin.
The era when the value of an item was determined by its necessity had ended hundreds of years ago. Like the luxury yachts rotting in storage for 300 out of 365 days, mansions around the world that were lucky to be used for a day or two a year, wristwatches costing hundreds of millions, custom suits worth tens of millions, and handmade leather shoes that couldn’t even be worn on rainy days, this sports car was just one of those items.
Seo Seung-hyun opened the car door and pushed Lee Young-jin into the driver’s seat. Lee Young-jin muttered under his breath before finally climbing into the driver’s seat.
Seo Seung-hyun, sitting in the passenger seat with a face as satisfied as a well-fed carnivore, laid his hand over Lee Young-jin’s hand and explained one by one the numerous features of this expensive, latest model sports car.
Listening to the explanation, Lee Young-jin connected the sports car’s control system to Bluetooth. [A new device has been connected.] A small notification window popped up on the LCD screen.
“Did you come home in this today?”
“Yes.”
Now, the reason for Seo Seung-hyun’s earlier arrival than Lee Young-jin had anticipated became clear.
“Why? Do you dislike it because I drove it first? Should we exchange it for a new one?”
Seo Seung-hyun, who had since moved his lips close to Lee Young-jin’s ear, asked.
“No, it’s not that….”
Lee Young-jin responded casually as he registered the sports car’s GPS as the eighth target on his tracking system. He thought about changing the method since vehicle location tracking often lacked accuracy due to too many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables.
“Drive it, let’s see how fast it can go.”
Seo Seung-hyun urged him, and Lee Young-jin nodded.
The car, worth a house, rolled out of the parking lot and onto the road as Seo Seung-hyun entered the destination into the navigation system.
During rush hour, Seoul’s traffic jams treated all types of vehicles equally. Their car joined the slow-moving stream of cars.
Lee Young-jin reported his day to Seo Seung-hyun at the same leisurely pace as the traffic. His day was filled with mundane details like boring math formulas, difficult Korean history passages, a cruise ship passing through the Han River, what the baby ate today, which toys he played with, and how much banana he had eaten—peaceful content filled Lee Young-jin’s everyday life.
Seo Seung-hyun, already familiar with these stories, listened as if they were incredibly fascinating, and then stretched his arm to overlap his hand on the back of Lee Young-jin’s left hand, which was holding the steering wheel. He played with the ring fitted on those long fingers and smiled softly.
Lee Young-jin turned his head to look at Seo Seung-hyun with wide, moist eyes, reminiscent of those of a newborn baby. In those eyes, Seo Seung-hyun discovered the continuity of a species that spans generations and generations.
“Why?”
“It’s nothing.”
With a light smile and a shake of his head, Seo Seung-hyun urged him to continue the already-known story.
“Keep talking. So, what did Ji-won do then?”
“So….”
[End of Origin of Species Side Story]
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