DASH-Chapter 14Vol 2. : Side Story -

The meeting was held at a traditional Korean restaurant in Jongno.

Although one of the grooms-to-be sat there in a suit looking like he’d been dragged to the dentist against his will, the overall atmosphere of the formal family gathering wasn’t bad.

Not that there was any reason for it to be. Aside from Kwon Jaekyung, everyone present possessed the kind of basic social skills and common sense you’d expect from ordinary, functioning adults—some even went so far as to be extremely sociable. And anyway, calling it a “formal family meeting” was generous. They were already in a de facto marriage with a baby on the way, so it was basically just a big family dinner. Both sets of parents casually referred to “our Jaekyung” and “our Jiheon” as if they were each other’s sons, which only made the atmosphere even more warm and friendly.

And surprisingly enough, a big part of setting that tone came from Jaejoon.

He was no longer the sulky middle schooler full of inferiority, always badmouthing his younger brother. Now studying humanities at Cambridge, Jaejoon embodied every positive stereotype people associate with prestigious overseas students. He was clean-cut, dressed neatly, and spoke with wit.

It seemed like he wanted to show Jaekyung how much he’d changed. Not in a show-offy way, but more like someone trying to prove—with maturity and an older brother’s composure—that he’d moved on from his petty past and become someone who no longer needed to feel inferior.

From Jiheon’s perspective, he was just grateful. He appreciated that Jaejoon had taken the time to attend, and that he was working so hard to keep the mood light. But most of all, he was thankful that Jaejoon brought up so many stories from their time in Ilsan. Jiheon knew the adults were curious about those days, but since Jaekyung had only been in elementary school then, he felt guilty bringing up the topic and kept his mouth shut—and of course, Kwon Jaekyung kept silent about everything. So it was a relief that Jaejoon filled in the blanks.

Of course, he glossed over all the embarrassing parts of his past and dressed the stories up as beautifully as possible. But the core message was the same: “To Jaekyung, Jiheon-hyung was like a god. Honestly, to me too. Every time I tried to talk to hyung, Jaekyung would get so jealous. Back then, I never imagined these two would end up together. But I guess fate really is a thing. I’m seriously so happy Jiheon-hyung is becoming family. Honestly, I came more for him than Jaekyung today.”

“Hyung was really good to me back then.”

“He was good to everyone.”

Jaekyung cut in brusquely before Jaejoon ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) could finish. To a stranger, it might’ve sounded like he was just chiming in, but there was no way Jaekyung meant it that way. It was clearly a jab, a way of saying: Don’t kid yourself, he wasn’t good just to you. Sensing this, Madam Shim quickly jumped in to smooth things over.

“Really, no matter who asked him anything, he was always kind and explained things thoroughly. Every time I saw him, I’d think, ‘How can a student be so polite and composed?’ I used to tell Jaekyung all the time, ‘You should learn from Jiheon-hyung. Follow his example.’”

Thanks to Madam Shim’s quick recovery, Jiheon’s parents didn’t pick up on the sibling tension at all. They just smiled contentedly.

With most of the people present being socially adept and pleasant, even an outlier like Kwon Jaekyung didn’t stand out too much. More accurately, there wasn’t room for him to stand out. And that outlier, for his part, behaved just like a quiet, reserved person in front of Jiheon’s parents, so the mood remained calm.

Thanks to that, Jiheon was able to devote all his attention to the biggest challenge of the evening: controlling his appetite as dish after dish appeared.

He hadn’t realized it before, but traditional Korean food was surprisingly high in carbohydrates. Whether the base was gochujang or soy sauce, most of the marinades included sugar or honey for sweetness. So Jiheon carefully picked through everything, skipping the bulgogi in favor of plain boiled pork belly. But at the very end, an unexpected final boss appeared.

“These are sweet rice cakes filled with red bean paste and hallabong pudding. Beside them are bite-sized Gaeseong yakgwa.”

From the moment the beautifully plated dessert tray was set in front of him, Jiheon lost all sense of control. It wasn’t just the strong aroma of sweet red bean paste—just looking at that glossy hallabong pudding made his mouth water. Jiheon had only eaten pudding maybe twice in his life, and even then, he couldn’t understand why people liked it. But now? Now, he felt like he’d go insane if he didn’t stuff that jiggling thing into his mouth right this second. And the yakgwa looked amazing too—made by frying honeyed dough and coating it in sesame oil and syrup, there was no way it didn’t taste incredible. Plus, it was the perfect size for popping into your mouth.

“If you really want it, just have a little,” Jaekyung whispered quietly, seeing how Jiheon couldn’t tear his eyes off the plate.

“...No.”

Jiheon continued to stare at the jiggly pudding and murmured. Just the bit of japchae he’d given into earlier had probably already pushed him past his daily sugar allowance. Eating any more would be a disaster.

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with the food?” asked Jisoo, seated beside them, overhearing their conversation.

“No, it’s not that. I’m just... cutting carbs right now.”

The moment Jiheon said it, both mothers immediately went, “Ah, because of diabetes?”

“Not yet. But I was told it’s good to manage in advance.”

Both moms responded at once with sympathetic sighs.

“Then give it to Jaekyung,” said Jiheon’s father, seemingly remembering that Jaekyung liked sweets.

“No, I’m not eating it either,” Jaekyung replied.

“Oh? Why? Sharing the pain?”

“Yes.”

Jaekyung answered seriously, even though it was clearly a joke, prompting Jiheon’s dad to burst into laughter. Jiheon’s mother smiled warmly and looked at Jaekyung before saying to Madam Shim,

“Jaekyung is so sweet. Even when we had dinner before, I noticed how thoughtful he was—always taking care of things for Jiheon. You raised him with so much love.”

“Ah... Yes... Jaekyung... He really is... very affectionate... Oh ho, hohoho...”

Madam Shim, used to hearing her son described as rude, arrogant, and insufferable, didn’t know how to react to suddenly hearing him praised as a sweetheart. Jaejoon, having twitched the corners of his mouth for some time, eventually gave in and cracked a joke.

“But does it really count as sharing the pain if you’re both just abstaining? Sounds like Jaekyung’s just getting credit without doing anything.”

“Oh, don’t say that. Just saying the words means so much,” Jiheon’s mother replied quickly.

“Jaekyung’s so considerate. He really is full of love.” She kept praising him.

Watching her, Jiheon wondered silently: Did Dad eat by himself when Mom was pregnant with me? Is that why she’s so touched now?

Given his father’s personality, it was entirely possible. He wasn’t completely oblivious, but he did lack a certain finesse. Probably started off saying he wouldn’t eat either, then the moment his wife said, Don’t worry about me, just eat what you want, he ordered everything on the menu.

Thinking about that, Jiheon felt like Jaekyung more than earned the title of sweetheart. He deserved it and more. freёweɓnovel.com

Moved anew, Jiheon looked across the table at his sweetheart. Said sweetheart was glaring at Jaejoon like he wanted to eat him alive—as Jaejoon casually devoured the yakgwa Jiheon had declined. Jaekyung’s eyes didn’t lose their murderous gleam for the rest of the meeting.

After the meeting ended, everyone exchanged farewells in front of the restaurant. Once the taxi carrying Jiheon’s family to Ilsan disappeared from view, Madam Shim turned and said,

“We should head out too. Before that—Jaekyung, don’t you have something to say to your brother?”

Jaejoon had come to Korea solely for this meeting, with no other plans. With the semester in session, he had to get right back on a plane, so Madam Shim was taking him to Incheon Airport.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Jaekyung stared blankly, as if thinking, Say what?, then seemed to remember and went, “Ah,” turning to Jaejoon.

“I’m not coming to yours.”

“Kwon Jaekyung!”

Madam Shim exploded. Next to her, Jaejoon responded with a dry laugh.

“Thanks. I was worried you’d say you were coming.”

He spoke with an air of total nonchalance, clearly never having expected anything anyway.

“I’d rather Jiheon-hyung come alone.”

“Why would he go if I’m not?”

Are you stupid? Jaekyung replied seriously, not even cracking a smile.

“Don’t you know the saying, ‘husband and wife are one’? Oh, right, you wouldn’t know. You’ve never been married and never will.”

“Yeah, well, thank you for your wisdom, Mr. Shotgun Wedding.”

“Wrong. I won a gold medal at the Olympics.”

Jaekyung replied flatly.

“I’m about to win back-to-back titles and become an eight-time champion.”

“Right...”

How amazing. Jaejoon smiled leisurely to the end.

“Well then, Mr. Kwon Jaekyung, best of luck with that Olympic repeat. And I sincerely hope you don’t end up divorced. Take care.”

With a snide smirk, he turned and walked off. One hand in his pocket, he strolled toward his mother’s car, opened the passenger door, and started to get in—but suddenly stopped, spun around, and shouted:

“YOU NOT COMING IS THE BIGGEST HELP! A guy like you who doesn’t know when to shut up would just ruin everything! What, you can’t even call him ‘hyung’ properly and think you have the right to show up? Who even invited you? Huh? WHO?!”

Unable to hold it in anymore, Jaejoon screamed as Madam Shim hurried to shove him into the passenger seat. She quickly climbed in behind the wheel, and as the car sped off, she rolled down the window halfway and called out:

“Great job today! Jiheon, you must be tired—go home and rest!”

Watching the car with his brother in it disappear fast into the distance, Jaekyung smirked smugly.

His expression clearly said: I win.