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Usually, firstborns initially dislike having a new sibling. Generally, between ages 2-7, they’re at a stage where they want to monopolize all their parents’ attention, but when a younger sibling cries for their parents, that attention shifts away. So it’s inevitable that firstborns often feel jealousy and envy toward their siblings.
“Waaah!!!”
“I’ve changed his diaper, he’s been fed, and it’s not naptime yet.”
“Oh my, this is definitely my child. Look at those lungs.”
And this applied without exception even to Youngjae, who was known for being mature.
“…”
Once a month, on the third Saturday, was Youngjae’s Day. What was Youngjae’s Day? It was simply a day when the family gathered together to do whatever Youngjae wanted. They could spend the whole day sitting in the living room watching children’s detective shows, go to an amusement park Youngjae wanted to visit, or take a camping car trip—a day to do whatever Youngjae wanted. This might naturally disappear as the child grew older, but it was a Youngjae-day specifically designated by Junjae, who hoped that his child would not follow the same path he had grown up on and would instead have many family memories from childhood. And today was that day, and Youngjae had been waiting since morning, having prepared a consonant matching quiz with the help of his sitters to do with his dads.
But because of that little squirt who was crying loud enough to bring the house down, Youngjae’s day had already been ruined twice. Youngjae quietly stared at the little squirt in Junjae’s arms. That little squirt hadn’t cried much for the first few months after coming home, but from a certain day, he would cry for Junjae or Jeonggwan as soon as he opened his eyes. And his dads, who used to play with him and focus on his stories, would rush over as soon as they heard that crying.
“We aren’t finished yet…”
“Youngjae. Let’s do it later, okay?”
“…Yes.”
He used to be the one who received all the attention in this house. His dads said he was their treasure number one, and the nannies and caretakers said he was the cutest… But somehow, everyone now prioritized that little squirt’s crying. So Youngjae was now quite displeased with that little squirt.
“Won Jeongwoo. What’s the matter now, hm?”
“Looks like he’s hungry. His eyes are following the bottle.”
“What? How long has it been since he ate? Did you inherit that from me too?”
“Ah. So cute.”
Love was pouring from Junjae and Jeonggwan’s eyes. Even though he had just emptied a bottle of milk earlier, that little squirt was whining about being hungry again, but somehow they found it cute… Youngjae looked at Jeongwoo with resentful eyes while fiddling with the consonant quiz cards he had made. Jeongwoo, who had been a giant baby since birth, was truly large, and despite being only one year old, he had an extraordinary appetite, was very stubborn, and cried loudly, but Junjae adored him all day because he looked exactly like Jeonggwan. Youngjae, who could remember even his earliest infancy, became more depressed thinking Junjae hadn’t adored him this much.
My dads definitely love Jeongwoo more than me.
With this conclusion, tears began to well up in Youngjae’s eyes—eyes that had only cried twice since birth.
“…I hate Jeongwoo.”
Hmm? Junjae was the first to turn his head after hearing Youngjae’s small mumble. The moment their eyes met, tears began to pour from Youngjae’s eyes. Youngjae dropped his consonant cards on the floor and began to cry while rubbing his eyes. Jeonggwan and Junjae, who had been soothing Jeongwoo, froze in surprise.
Youngjae is crying? Youngjae is crying? The Youngjae who didn’t cry even when his chin was split last year is crying?
Bwaaah-. Jeonggwan and Junjae, who had been frozen, snapped back to attention as Youngjae began to cry louder, and rushed to him while still holding Jeongwoo. And then, still holding Jeongwoo, both of them embraced Youngjae simultaneously. They had been ignorant to think that Youngjae was so mature that he wouldn’t mind such things. Youngjae was still a child. Only six years old. They should have paid more attention. Jeonggwan and Junjae, feeling sorry for the pitifully crying Youngjae, patted his back and head, waiting for him to calm down. Meanwhile, Jeongwoo, squeezed between them, seemed surprised that someone was crying louder than him and was just sucking on his empty bottle with his eyes wide open.
The four of them stayed huddled together for a long time, and before long, Jeonggwan and Junjae’s lips were wearing contented smiles. The realization that Youngjae, who had always surprised everyone by doing things well without being told, their firstborn, was still a baby.
“Jeongwoo!”
“What.”
“Come here!”
“No.”
“Quickly!”
“Ah, no!”
“Hyung will give you something!”
And in fact, there were quite many—no, quite a few good things about having a younger sibling.
“What is it.”
“Turn off the light.”
“Are you really crazy?!”
The first benefit was having your own minion. Youngjae, wrapped tightly in his blanket with only his face exposed, shamelessly asked Jeongwoo who had entered his room to turn off the light. Despite cursing under his breath, Jeongwoo flicked the switch, turning off Youngjae’s room light. Youngjae giggled, thinking of him as a large, scary, but very convenient minion.
Youngjae, who was expected to approach 190cm in height since he was a dominant alpha who looked exactly like Junjae, unexpectedly stopped growing at 179cm. Meanwhile, Jeongwoo, who resembled Jeonggwan but was born a giant baby from the start, was already over 191cm at the age of twenty, as expected. However, since he had dominant omega traits, whenever paparazzi photos appeared, people commented that the brothers’ physiques should have been switched.
“Hyung, why did you suddenly come back today? Without saying anything.”
“Just because. Why aren’t you drinking and came home early?”
“Just because too. Oh, when are you leaving again?”
“Next week. This time I’ll probably be gone about three months before coming back.”
And there was another benefit to having a younger sibling: having to give things up, whether you wanted to or not. In Youngjae’s case, though he truly didn’t want to, he had to yield the succession position to Jeongwoo. Unlike Youngjae, who had been exceptional since childhood, Jeongwoo only cried and threw tantrums, but apparently his stubbornness showed “the qualities of a businessman” or something. So Jeongwoo began succession training as soon as he entered high school, and Youngjae was freed from the succession lessons he had been receiving, gaining his freedom.
“You’re leaving for three months to look for a skull?”
“It’s not a skull, it’s an archaeological site.”
Youngjae, who had been regrettably pushed out of the succession line, was now able to pursue the archaeological explorations he had wanted to do since childhood, without time constraints. As soon as he woke up, he would travel east and west, from country to country, researching ancient artifacts and ruins. Earlier this year, Junjae had even gifted him a small museum named after him, displaying the artifacts he had collected.
“Is that fun?”
“Yes.”
“…Ugh, as long as hyung enjoys it.”
“What about you? Isn’t the succession training hard? Grandfather is scary.”
“Grandfather? Why is he scary? I’m taller than him.”
“…Right. As long as you’re not struggling.”
When Junjae strongly pushed for Jeongwoo to be the successor, Youngjae actually felt both very grateful and sorry for Jeongwoo. Grandfather had firmly opposed it, saying that their family had always been led by dominant alphas, so Youngjae had felt suffocated thinking he would eventually become the company’s next successor. But Jeongwoo, whether out of ignorance or courage, had shown his determination to take over the company to their grandfather when he was in middle school and actually received the succession training.
Since Youngjae found this life suffocating, he thought Jeongwoo would feel the same and had seriously offered to take the succession training as the older brother, so Jeongwoo could live doing what he wanted. But Jeongwoo had responded by asking what nonsense that was and challenging Youngjae to a fight, saying there was no law stating only dominant alphas could be successors. Surprised to realize that Jeongwoo genuinely wanted to be the successor, Youngjae coolly yielded the position to him. Still, he had secretly planned to return if Jeongwoo found it difficult, but now he had abandoned that idea altogether.
“When is Dad coming?”
“Dad, soon.”
“And Dad?”
“Dad, eleven o’clock.”
The two, who could now distinguish which dad they were referring to just by the pitch of their voice, slowly checked the LED clock in Youngjae’s room. 7:30 PM. Plenty of time for the three of them to commit a perfect crime before 11 o’clock.
“Jajangmyeon?”
“Isn’t jajangmyeon too heavy?”
“I need high-calorie food to maintain this height.”
“You sound just like Dad.”
“Dad maintains his figure, I maintain my height.”
“Ridiculous.” Hearing Jeongwoo say that Jeonggwan maintained his figure while he maintained his height, Youngjae chuckled and picked up his phone to open a delivery app. They needed to order quickly, eat, and destroy the evidence to avoid getting scolded by Junjae. He had limited them to delivery food only twice a week, saying they would order endlessly if not restrained.
“Call Dad and ask what he wants to eat.”
“Dad always gets one jjamppong and one fried rice.”
“Then one jjamppong, one fried rice, one jabchae rice. What about you?”
“Extra-large gan jajangmyeon, Chinese cold noodles, and large sweet and sour pork.”
“You should be filming mukbang, not taking succession training.”
Jeongwoo smiled comfortably at Youngjae’s disgusted face and called Jeonggwan. They needed to call in their champion eater to quickly consume the evidence before Junjae arrived at 11 o’clock.
“Dad must be driving. He’s not answering.”
“Just leave a message.” Youngjae told Jeongwoo to call later, saying Jeonggwan would surely call back when he checked his phone. But stubborn Jeongwoo dialed Jeonggwan again and walked out to the living room with the phone to his ear, when at the same time, they saw the lights turn on at the front door.
“Oh? Dad’s here.”
Jeongwoo, thinking Jeonggwan had arrived early, happily ran to the entrance.
“Da! Daad…”
“…”
“…Weren’t you supposed to go drinking tonight?”
And what he encountered were his two dads passionately kissing against the shoe rack wall. Their kiss was so intense that their clothes were half undone—if he had discovered them a little later, he might have seen something he shouldn’t.
“Is Dad here?”
Then Youngjae’s voice was heard from behind, and Jeongwoo immediately turned around and ran quickly to Youngjae. Jeonggwan and Junjae made faces that said, “Why is Youngjae here too?” but then smiled gently as they fixed their clothes, finding it cute that Jeongwoo had run to his brother out of embarrassment.
But the reason Jeongwoo ran wasn’t embarrassment.
“Hyung. Cancel it. Cancel.”
“Cancel what.”
“The delivery. Cancel it. Both dads are here.”
“Oh shit.”
