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Genius Through and Through
The man was sleeping so deeply that despite sweating profusely, he showed no signs of waking up. Fortunately, the cool breeze from the circulator soothed the sweat on his forehead, but to a child’s eyes, an adult sleeping while sweating appeared to be sick. After wiggling around and trying to shake the large body awake several times, the little creature finally ran off to seek help from an expert in the field.
Knowing the child was naturally curious and often rummaged through books, the man usually left the study door slightly ajar even when working. With his infuriatingly handsome face enhanced by the authority of his glasses, he immediately removed them and looked toward the doorway upon hearing the pitter-patter of running footsteps from afar.
A smile formed on his lips as he watched short, chubby fingers appear through the slightly open door. He wondered what our little prince was curious about today to come running like that. However, the words that came from the urgently approaching child were different from what he expected.
“Daddy! Daddy sick!”
The man immediately jumped up, lifted the child, and headed to the living room. A currently popular drama was playing on the TV, and on the sofa was Jeonggwan, sleeping with his mouth open and sweating. He’d been completely absorbed in that drama lately, and it was endearing to see him fallen asleep after insisting on watching it despite being exhausted.
“Jeonggwan.”
“…Mmm.”
“Are you hot?”
“…Yeah.”
Jeonggwan was naturally sensitive to heat, so the house temperature was always set at 25°C, but this summer was said to be record-breaking hot. Seeing Jeonggwan sweating profusely even at 25°C, Junjae felt the severity of the heat coming from outside and lowered the air conditioner temperature by one more degree. Normally, Junjae wouldn’t readily comply even if Jeonggwan wanted to make the house like a refrigerator. Too much temperature change wasn’t good for Jeonggwan during pregnancy.
“Daddy’s not sick, he’s just sweating because it’s hot.”
“Hot?”
“Yes. Now that I’ve lowered the temperature, he’ll be fine.”
Junjae gently stroked Yongjae’s head as the child rested his chin on the sofa, watching Jeonggwan. This daddy’s little shadow would hover around Jeonggwan all day, reading books, eating snacks, and playing with toys. But whenever there was something unusual about Jeonggwan’s body, he would sense it like a ghost and seek out Junjae first.
Thanks to this, they were able to quickly discover Jeonggwan’s second pregnancy because of Yongjae.
It was about a month ago. The two had merely thought they might have conceived a second child due to an unexpected knotting, but Yongjae began staring intently at Jeonggwan’s belly earlier than when a blood test could detect pregnancy.
‘Something there.’
‘Hmm? Daddy’s clothes?’
‘Daddy’s belly.’
Honestly, at first, Jeonggwan hadn’t expected a second child to be in his belly. Is it full of food? Did I eat too much in front of the child earlier? Thinking this, he responded, “Yes! Daddy ate a lot! My belly is full!” But Yongjae shook his head firmly, as if that wasn’t it. And then,
‘Wriggling.’
That’s what he said. Hearing this, Junjae immediately understood: “Wriggling? Wriggling…!” He instantly realized Jeonggwan was pregnant. Yongjae, being an exceptional alpha even more outstanding than his father, had an uncanny ability to detect omega pheromones other than Jeonggwan’s. Thus, Junjae, who realized there was an omega in that belly, immediately took Jeonggwan to the hospital where they confirmed the pregnancy.
Yongjae’s remarkable abilities didn’t end there. When Jeonggwan was six months pregnant, Yongjae suddenly began asking, “Daddy okay? Daddy hurt?” Jeonggwan’s body was considerably heavier than when he was pregnant with Yongjae, but he assumed his memory was faulty since it had been so long since his last pregnancy. However, the result was a giant baby. The doctor initially concluded Jeonggwan was carrying twins because his belly was larger than other pregnant people’s. This became noticeable from the seventh month, but Yongjae had known a month earlier—that the little wriggler in his daddy’s belly was absorbing nutrients at an alarming rate and growing rapidly.
Everyone called Yongjae a complete genius. Not only was he intelligent, but his intuition was also extraordinary. People jokingly said that if he had been born in the Joseon Dynasty, he would have usurped the throne even if he wasn’t the Crown Prince’s legitimate first son born from the queen.
“Holy…!”
And right on cue, Jeonggwan, who had fallen asleep watching that kind of drama, suddenly sat up.
“What? Had a nightmare?”
“Holy!”
“That’s a crude word. Yongjae.”
In the past, Yongjae would have continuously asked, “Why? What does it mean? Why?” at the mention of crude language, but now he quickly accepted that adults’ prohibitions had their reasons and temporarily stored it deep in his mind.
Meanwhile, Jeonggwan had dreamed that he was a servant in a noble household who somehow got entangled with Junjae, who was the Crown Prince, entered the palace, gave birth to genius Yongjae, used him to usurp the original Crown Prince’s position, and even unprecedented for a commoner, took the queen’s position. Just as he was about to be assassinated by existing powers for disrupting the country, he woke up from this spectacular palace intrigue action dream, gasping heavily as he looked around.
“Jeonggwan. Are you okay?”
“…Your Majesty?”
“…Huh?”
“…Crown Prince?”
“What?”
Realizing it was all a dream, Jeonggwan let out a big sigh of relief at Junjae, who was looking at him as if bewildered, and Yongjae, who was looking at him with interest.
“Ah, hyung. It’s you.”
“Did you have a bad dream?”
“Wow… I literally just had a knife at my throat.”
“So that’s why you were so startled. But what’s with ‘Your Majesty’? Was I the king?”
“Yeah. I was some servant, and I fell in love with you, became queen, even made Yongjae the Crown Prince, and then nearly got killed for real.”
“Daddy. Almost died?”
“Yongjae. That’s crude language.”
“Yes.”
Junjae should have reminded Jeonggwan to refrain from using bad language in front of the child, especially Yongjae with his 2000% absorption rate, but he refrained. Jeonggwan looked extremely shocked, so he just briefly cautioned Yongjae and then sat beside Jeonggwan, gently embracing his dazed head.
“So we fell in love there too.”
“That’s not the important part.”
“It is to me. Even in your subconscious, I should be the one you fall in love with.”
“…This hyung, really.”
With a face that said, “What am I going to do with you, hyung,” Jeonggwan glanced at Junjae and reached out toward Yongjae, who was looking up at him with bright eyes. Yongjae, who had been waiting for his daddy to embrace him, quickly snuggled into Jeonggwan’s arms.
In the dream, Jeonggwan had been so full of ambition that, not content with placing Yongjae on the Crown Prince’s seat, he even plotted treason to oust the queen and take her place. Despite daily petitions from all over the country saying it was madness and he should be brought down, with Junjae’s backing, he fearlessly continued his greed. Then they nearly died—both Yongjae and himself. Thank goodness it was just a dream. Jeonggwan sighed in relief and shook his head.
“…Whew. But the dream content was really brutal.”
“I know. Why did you suddenly dream about the Joseon Dynasty?”
“That’s what Daddy was watching! There.”
Responding with a “Huh?” Junjae and Jeonggwan turned their attention to the TV. “His Highness the Crown Prince and Deoki” was the drama Jeonggwan had been enjoying lately.
“Ah…!”
Come to think of it, the content had seemed very much like a historical drama—because it was actually a historical drama. The actor playing the Crown Prince was to Jeonggwan’s taste, so he had become quite immersed in it, to the point of even dreaming about it. But that wasn’t the issue.
“But Yongjae, do you understand what this show is about?”
“Yes.”
“…”
It was a drama Jeonggwan had watched with Yongjae nearby, thinking a five-year-old child wouldn’t understand it at all, but his thinking had been shortsighted. There was a reason everyone called the child a genius. Jeonggwan stared down at Yongjae. A cute baby with chubby cheeks was looking up at him with innocent eyes. Afraid that Yongjae might believe the content was real, Jeonggwan spoke to him with a rather firm face.
“Won Yongjae. That’s not real. Understand?”
“Yes. Fairy tales aren’t real either.”
“Huh? Uh… Yongjae, you know about that too?”
“Yes. But there are even more amazing things in the world.”
Is this really my own child that I gave birth to? How does a five-year-old know such things? When I was five, I didn’t cry even when my brothers teased me from two days before Christmas, afraid Santa wouldn’t bring presents if I cried.
“…Yongjae, then do you believe in Santa Claus?”
“Santa Claus originated from Saint Nicholas, who was born in Patara. He threw gold coins down chimneys to help poor neighbors. They happened to fall into socks hanging in front, which made children believe Santa Claus comes down the chimney.”
“…Wow. Really? Was there actually an origin for Santa Claus?”
“Yes. And in Europe, from the 12th century, the day before Saint Nicholas’s day, nuns distributed gifts to poor children in his memory. And…”
Yongjae’s eyes sparkled as he rattled off explanations with his short tongue. And Jeonggwan’s eyes also sparkled as he listened with genuine curiosity, as if hearing this for the first time. Who was the child and who was the adult? Seeing the adorable pair, a smile naturally formed on Junjae’s lips.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
