“Waah. Waaeeh. Hwaaah.”
The sound of a baby crying startled him awake.
Time must have passed without him realizing it. It felt like he had only dozed off for about ten minutes, but it was already time to wake up.
‘Ha, does a baby’s body come with an alarm clock or something?’
Jae-jin stared blankly at the rising sun outside the window. A day went by so quickly when spent with a baby. As soon as the clock struck 6 a.m., baby Seo Eui-woo would inevitably start crying, forcing an early wake-up.
With groggy eyes, Jae-jin gazed at the sky, which was just beginning to brighten, then slowly stretched out his arm. As he pulled baby Eui-woo into his embrace and gently patted his back, the small movements stirred the Eui-woo awake. Just like Jae-jin, he seemed sleep-deprived, his complexion pale and dark circles visible under his eyes.
“Mmm, it’s 5:47 right now.”
Eui-woo glanced at the clock on the nightstand and murmured, still wrapped in Jae-jin’s arms. His husky, sleep-laden voice was pleasant to hear.
“Oh, you’re right.”
“Jae-jin, you should sleep a bit more. I’ll take care of the baby.”
“No, I’m already awake anyway.”
“But you’re tired. Get some more rest today. You need it, or else you’ll keep collapsing every night.”
For some reason, Seo Eui-woo was taking the initiative to handle the baby today. Without hesitation, he reached over and scooped up the whining baby from Jae-jin’s arms with his large hands.
“Go to sleep, Jae-jin. Right now.”
“Uh….”
“Close your eyes and snore. Like this—kooo.”
“Mm, uh… okay.”
What’s with him?
‘Do I really look that exhausted for Seo Eui-woo to act like this?’
But he wasn’t that bad. Last night, he had actually gone to bed relatively early. Plus, he had already resolved to give his all for ten days straight.
“Uuuh, hic…”
But just then—
The moment he left Jae-jin’s embrace, baby Eui-woo started hiccuping, his face scrunching up as if he were about to cry.
‘Wait. Is he seriously going to cry?’
The lingering drowsiness instantly cleared from Jae-jin’s mind.
And the very next second, baby Eui-woo burst into full-blown wails.
“Huuaaaang!”
“He’s crying. The baby’s crying.”
“Huh? Why is he crying all of a sudden? I only picked him up…”
“I don’t know. Is he hungry? Just fussing? Try holding him and patting his back.”
“I’ll do that.”
Seo Eui-woo quickly picked up the baby and started gently patting his back. But baby Seo Eui-woo showed no signs of calming down. Despite the large hands soothing him with soft strokes, his cries only grew louder.
Jae-jin, startled, pushed the blanket aside and sat up to take a closer look at the baby. He reached out, and at that moment, baby Seo Eui-woo suddenly grabbed onto Jae-jin’s finger.
“Hnng! Aaeeng!”
His tiny hand barely managed to wrap around Jae-jin’s index finger, yet he clutched it tightly, refusing to let go. Seo Eui-woo murmured as if he had realized something.
“…This kind of seems like he just doesn’t want to be away from you.”
“From me?”
“That’s how it looks to me. Try holding him again.”
“Alright.”
What does that mean? Is he already showing signs of attachment to people?
Half in disbelief, Jae-jin took baby Seo Eui-woo back into his arms. And to his surprise, the baby immediately stopped crying. In fact, his round black eyes gazed up at Jae-jin as he let out a tiny laugh.
“Kyaong.”
A baby that had been wailing in Seo Eui-woo’s arms was now smiling just because Jae-jin was holding him?
Jae-jin, dumbfounded by how easily he had stopped the crying, looked at Seo Eui-woo in shock. Seo Eui-woo, just as bewildered, stared back at him.
“Eui-woo, try holding him again.”
“Alright.”
Jae-jin handed baby Seo Eui-woo back to Seo Eui-woo. And, as expected, the moment Jae-jin’s hands left, the baby burst into heart-wrenching sobs. No matter how many times they repeated it, the result was always the same. The crying stopped in Jae-jin’s arms and started the moment he was passed to Seo Eui-woo.
“Why is this happening? Maybe because he’s my clone?”
“I don’t know either…”
“Or maybe it’s something a lot simpler than we think.”
Seo Eui-woo let out a short, breathy laugh as he watched the baby nestled in Jae-jin’s arms. The tiny thing curled his body up as much as he could, clinging desperately to Jae-jin like a baby animal. He was even panting as he put all his strength into staying attached to him.
“It’s probably because he’s an Esper. Instinctively seeking guidance.”
“Ah. Guiding.”
“Right. Every time he makes skin contact with you, he’s receiving guiding, which helps stabilize his abilities.”
“I see… That explains it.”
Come to think of it, baby Seo Eui-woo had always quieted down noticeably whenever Jae-jin held him. But the moment he was separated, he would start crying again.
They had worked so hard to take care of the baby, yet the reason for his constant crying wasn’t hunger, sleepiness, or a dirty diaper. It was simply because he was craving guiding. The fact that they were only realizing it now was almost laughable.
‘Well, baby Seo Eui-woo is still Seo Eui-woo. And it’s only natural for an Esper to seek guiding.’
Jae-jin let out a heavy sigh as he looked at baby Eui-woo, who was smiling brightly. Completely unaware of his conflicted feelings, the baby gazed up at him with sparkling, round eyes, looking as cheerful as ever. His soft pink lips parted as he let out a “Kyaoo, Bbaaha!” and laughed, revealing a tiny, squishy tongue and small, white baby teeth that resembled grains of rice. Four on the top, two on the bottom. A total of just six.
“Then I guess I have to keep holding you.”
Jae-jin tapped the baby’s chubby cheek with his fingertip. As he caressed the soft skin, he guided him in the process.
Seo Eui-woo, who had been carefully watching, suddenly spoke up.
“You know… if you guide him properly, he might be able to control his abilities much sooner than expected. Maybe we won’t even have to wait ten days before we can reverse this.”
His tone was filled with certainty, and for a moment, Jae-jin froze.
“What did you say?”
“Think about it. Even though his body is underdeveloped and immature, if you stabilize the imbalance with guiding, he should be able to handle his abilities.”
So… he could be turned back? Even faster than ten days?
“Uh… yeah. I guess that’s possible.”
“Then what do you think? Want to try it right now? How about we do a proper guiding session?”
Seo Eui-woo extended a hand, gathering his ability. A luminous force began to coalesce above his palm, forming into a bright sphere of energy. The glow intensified, pulsating with immense power. Even though they were indoors, a gust of wind stirred, making the floor tremble.
‘Wait, right now?’
Was he seriously suggesting they reverse baby Seo Eui-woo immediately?
Before Jae-jin even had time to think, his body reacted first—he instinctively shook his head.
“No. Later.”
“Later?”
“Yeah, later… Doing it right now feels a bit sudden, don’t you think?”
What was this? Why was he hesitating? They had to return baby Seo Eui-woo to normal eventually, and it wouldn’t make much difference if they did it a little sooner.
‘But still, I already made up my mind to take care of him wholeheartedly for these ten days. And…’
Jae-jin reaffirmed his stance, his grip tightening around the baby.
“The family welcomed him so warmly. We can’t just send him off without even saying goodbye. And besides, uh… we haven’t even given him a name yet. Shouldn’t we at least do that?”
“Oh. A name.”
“Yeah, Eui-woo. You said we should give him a childhood name, right? We need to name him.”
“That’s true. Now that you mention it…”
“I was thinking… after naming him, we should let the family say their goodbyes before we send him off. And actually… I was also wondering if we could take a few photos before that.”
“Photos?”
Seo Eui-woo’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You want to take pictures of the baby?”
“Well… I mean, he’s you.”
Feeling a little awkward, Jae-jin glanced away and mumbled under his breath.
“You don’t have a single photo from your childhood. So… I thought maybe we could take a few. Is that weird?”
Seo Eui-woo made it a habit to take a photo of Kwon Jae-jin from the family album every time he visited the main house in District 6.
At first, he had at least the decency to ask for permission before taking them. But at some point, after skillfully coaxing and persuading his parents, he started bringing back a chosen picture without hesitation every time he went.
“I know it’s a little late for me to be acting like this… No, forget it. Just pretend I didn’t say anything. Let’s feed the baby first.”
Hearing that baby Seo Eui-woo could be returned to normal in an instant must have made him anxious.
Tsk. Clicking his tongue inwardly, Jae-jin shifted to get off the bed. Just then, a strong arm wrapped around his waist. Seo Eui-woo pulled him close, embracing him fully while holding the baby between them. Their faces nearly touched, and Jae-jin could see Seo Eui-woo’s clear gray eyes up close.
“Alright. Let’s take pictures. A lot of them.”
“Eui-woo…”
“I want to leave behind pictures of my childhood for you, Jae-jin. More than anyone, I want you to see them.”
“…”
“And we should name the baby, too. Thinking about how you’re the one giving me my childhood name… it makes me feel like we absolutely have to do it.”
Seo Eui-woo lowered his head and kissed Jae-jin on the lips. Jae-jin had been about to say it was fine, but the sudden kiss silenced him. With no choice but to receive it, he found the kiss urgent and forceful, their lips pressing together in a fevered clash.
‘Yeah… In the end, we’ll have to send the baby back. But not now. Ten days later. After exactly ten days… Then…’
