Chapter 117
[Come in, it’s okay.]
As soon as he sent the message, the door opened with a creak. The appearance of a sturdy and tall figure, somewhat mismatched with an angelically beautiful face, made the room feel completely full. Hyeon-woo checked to see if Jamie would be uncomfortable with the imposing presence, but fortunately, she showed no such signs.
Instead, she was looking at McRae with eyes full of interest. Well, with black hair that didn’t match his blue eyes, he would be interesting to anyone.
“Nice to meet you, Jamie.”
McRae greeted her with his characteristic honey-sweet smile.
“Are you Ian’s friend?”
“Yes. I’m Danny. I’ve heard a lot about you from Hyeon-woo, I mean Ian. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Jamie, responding with a clear smile, whispered softly to the baby in her arms.
“It’s so amazing. Right?”
“Hm? What is?”
Hyeon-woo, who was giving Jamie his full attention, didn’t miss the sound and quickly asked.
“Ian, come here and look at this.”
Jamie detached the baby from her chest and held it with one arm. Then she showed it to Hyeon-woo as he approached. He had been very curious about the baby’s features.
“Do you want to hold him?”
“Is that okay…?”
“Yes.”
He carefully received the baby wrapped in a thin swaddling cloth and held it in his arms. Along with the warm temperature, a sweet milk scent spread to his nose. Even McRae, who had been standing at a distance, seemed curious and had already come close to Hyeon-woo, looking at the baby.
The baby, keenly aware that the arms holding it had changed, squirmed and whimpered. Although it looked a bit grimy with impurities that hadn’t been removed here and there, its smacking lips were lovely, and there wasn’t a part that wasn’t cute, from its chubby light brown cheeks to its small nose bridge protruding like a chestnut.
As he was thinking that the soft black fuzz sprouting like velvet on its head was identical to Jamie’s, the baby’s closed eyelids gently opened. Soon, sapphire-blue eyes hidden inside were revealed.
At that moment, Hyeon-woo felt as if his breath had stopped.
“…Wow….”
The exclamation burst out from McRae standing beside him. Hyeon-woo, staring blankly at the baby, couldn’t utter a word. The baby’s unfocused eyes, not yet fully functional, mixed with Hyeon-woo’s for a moment before disappearing back behind its eyelids.
In that brief instant when their gazes intertwined, Hyeon-woo felt a moving sensation like a sharp pain passing through his entire body.
“How was it? Did you see?”
He carefully placed the baby back into Jamie’s arms as she reached out, asking. To answer her question, Hyeon-woo cleared his throat with a low cough. He felt like his voice might tremble pathetically.
“…Yes. He has two beautiful sapphires. Is that what you wanted to show?”
“That’s right. They’re exactly like your friend’s.”
“……”
“Black hair and blue eyes.”
Jamie looked at McRae with sparkling eyes.
“…Ah, actually I-.”
As McRae opened his mouth to clear up Jamie’s misunderstanding, Hyeon-woo grabbed his wrist strongly to stop him. McRae twitched his right eyebrow and made an embarrassed expression, but eventually closed his mouth obediently. Then Jamie continued speaking.
“You’re not alone.”
“……”
“You’re not alone like me. So you won’t be lonely.”
The room suddenly became quiet. Hyeon-woo, who understood the meaning behind those words better than anyone, felt even heavier in his heart.
“Jamie.”
“Yes?”
“What did you name the baby?”
McRae broke the silence with a light question, changing the topic.
“…Name?”
Jamie’s expression became serious, as if caught off guard.
“I haven’t named him yet.”
“Oh my…”
McRae let out an exaggerated sigh and closed his eyes, pretending to be deep in thought with his arms crossed. After stroking his sharp chin a few times, he playfully curled the corners of his mouth.
“Can I make a suggestion? How about Jerry? Jamie, Jerry. Isn’t it cute?”
Hyeon-woo frowned at that.
“What’s that? It’s too careless and insincere.”
“I like it! I really like Jerry!”
Before Hyeon-woo’s criticism ended, Jamie exclaimed with shining eyes.
“You like it…?”
McRae, as much as Hyeon-woo, couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“I like Jerry. I’ll go with Jerry. I hope he grows up smart and wise. Like brave and cheerful Jerry who never gives in to mean Tom in any situation.”
Tom.
Only after hearing that name did Hyeon-woo and McRae realize the identity of the brave and cheerful Jerry that came out of Jamie’s mouth. She was referring to the character based on the cat and mouse from the long-running classic American animation.
“Is it really okay as a person’s name?”
Hyeon-woo whispered to McRae in a voice so low that Jamie couldn’t hear. Hyeon-woo, who hadn’t been in America for long, couldn’t possibly have a sense for American naming conventions.
Names have trends according to the times and can be considered outdated after just a few years. In some East Asian countries, there’s even a belief that a person’s fate is determined by their name, leading to the existence of naming services that charge money to create names.
Although he didn’t worship shamanism, Hyeon-woo believed that the name a person is called by for their entire life has a significant impact on their life, so he felt somewhat reluctant to decide on it so playfully.
“It’s a bit old-fashioned, popular in the 50s…”
McRae, with a troubled expression, scratched his forehead and trailed off.
“I didn’t expect her to like it so much either.”
“Isn’t there another name? One that has Jerry as a nickname?”
“…Jerry as a nickname, huh.”
McRae, deep in thought, whispered discreetly.
“How about Jerome?”
Jerome…!
Hyeon-woo’s eyes sparkled. Even with his rock-bottom naming sense, he could tell that Jerome was a hundred, no, a thousand times better than Jerry.
“Jamie, how about Jerome? Jerry is the nickname for Jerome!”
“Nickname?”
“Yes. A nickname you can only use among close people. I think it would feel more meaningful and lovable if you use Jerry as a nickname, what do you think?”
“I like it! I really like it!”
Watching Jamie nod enthusiastically, Hyeon-woo let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, the door opened again and the midwife who had been absent entered the room.
“I’ll continue with the treatment now.”
As Hyeon-woo was about to leave to give Jamie privacy, she grabbed his sleeve.
“Don’t go, Ian.”
“……”
“Don’t leave me alone.”
“Would you like to stay as well, guardian?”
At the midwife’s question, Hyeon-woo glanced at the wall clock. It was already 1 AM.
“I’ll stay here. You have training in the morning. Go back first.”
At Hyeon-woo’s firm dismissal, McRae complained with a face full of regret.
“I want to stay too.”
“Jamie will be uncomfortable.”
“…If that’s the case, I can’t help it. Alright.”
Heading towards the door, McRae turned to Hyeon-woo and Jamie to say goodbye.
“I’ll go first then. Jamie, it was nice to meet you. See you, bye.”
“Yes. Take care, goodbye.”
As Jamie waved back at him, just as McRae was about to leave the room:
“Thanks for today. Take care, Danny.”
McRae’s shoulders flinched at the voice that flew to the back of his head. Then, as he turned to look at Hyeon-woo, his rosy lips drew a pleasant arc, forming a bright smile.
“It’s the first time, you know? You calling me Danny.”
“…I don’t know, just go.”
Hyeon-woo’s ears were slightly red as he turned his head, pretending not to care. McRae’s heart fluttered at this discovery.
He had felt a similar sensation earlier. When Jerome, held in Hyeon-woo’s arms, lifted his closed eyelids to reveal the blue jewels hidden inside, his chest had felt dizzy just like now.
Black hair and blue eyes. If a child were born between him and Hyeon-woo, would it look like that?
Hyeon-woo, looking at Jerry with eyes so tender they could drip honey, seemed so lovable that McRae almost hugged him tightly without realizing it.
McRae, who had been in a foul mood because of Hyeon-woo’s former lover, regained his composure. Anyway, it was he, not that person, who was by Hyeon-woo’s side now. The fact that he, not that person, was sharing Hyeon-woo’s present was most important.
McRae left the building with a cheerful step.
