JD 85

“Mm, I’m up. We’ll be out soon.”

“Okay!”

Thump, thump, thump—Hajo’s footsteps echoed as he ran back to the kitchen. Hakyung yawned again and turned to Muheon, then began carefully checking his condition.

Seeing Hakyung sniff around like a detection dog, Muheon gave him a puzzled look.

“What are you doing?”

“How’s your body? Are you okay? Check if you got any bruises.”

Drooling a mouthful as he lifted Muheon’s shirt to inspect him, Hakyung’s eyes glimmered.

“You’re worried about me?”

“Of course I’m worried! We were moving so rough on the bare ground!”

“I’m fine. Not uncomfortable at all.”

A mouse worrying over its tiger. Muheon let out a small chuckle at the adorable concern of his river dolphin and reached over to lift Hakyung’s shirt in return.

Sure enough, there was a bluish bruise on his side. Even though they’d tried to be careful last night, it looked like he hadn’t managed to control his strength.

Judging by how it looked, it might spread with time. Muheon clicked his tongue softly. That small frame of his, now bruised, made him feel sorry. Though, honestly, if he had to do it again, he wouldn’t change a thing.

As Muheon lifted the shirt and Hakyung saw the bruise on his own side, his eyes went wide with surprise.

“Whoa, I’ve never gotten a bruise like this before.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Not at all. It doesn’t even feel sore now!”

Hakyung twisted his torso left and right in fascination. No muscle pain, no discomfort. If anything, couldn’t he think of it as a giant hickey?

It was a mark left from their time together—be it from mouths or hands. Brushing it off with his usual manly mindset, Hakyung let out a goofy grin.

Muheon was just starting to smile at that innocent expression when his face abruptly turned serious. He gave Hakyung’s round nose a light pinch and warned:

“You’ve got a massive bruise and you’re smiling about it? Don’t ever say we should do it in a place like that again. Finish your breakfast—we’re going to the hospital.”

“What…? Wait, why the hospital?”

“You’ve got a bruise. You need to get it checked.”

Even a mother hedgehog wouldn’t overprotect her baby this much. Hakyung grabbed Muheon’s arm, who looked ready to dash out the door.

He wasn’t even in any pain, and going to the hospital over a simple bruise would spread rumors in under an hour. People would be whispering, “Hey, did you hear? The eldest of the river dolphin family ended up at the hospital because of that…”

No matter how bold Hakyung was, he couldn’t bear to leave behind such an embarrassing record.

“Seriously, do you want the whole town to find out? I’m not going, no way. Let’s drop it. Come on, let’s go eat before Grandma scolds us!”

As Hakyung quickly stood up, Muheon reluctantly followed. He wanted to at least go get some ointment, but Hakyung was right—doing that in this neighborhood would cause too much of a stir.

He made up his mind: once breakfast was done, they’d head straight back to Seoul.

Waiting to greet the two late risers was a breakfast table far too elaborate for the morning. Hakyung gawked at the stewed whole hen laid out in the center.

“Grandma! What is all this?”

“What do you mean? It’s breakfast.”

“Stewed chicken? For breakfast?”

Grandma didn’t answer. She simply tore off a thick chicken leg and placed it on Muheon’s plate.

“Go on, try it. You’ll like it.”

“Thank you.”

Muheon bowed politely and picked up the leg. Grandma distributed a drumstick to each of the grandchildren as well.

Hajo and Hawon gleefully tore into theirs.

“Wow, Grandma made something super yummy ‘cause the new family member’s here, huh?”

“Yeah! And it’s not even Boknal! Grandma, is there sticky rice too?”

“Of course there is, sweetie. And when you’re done, I’ll make chicken porridge.”

As Grandma and the younger siblings chatted, Hakyung’s ears turned red. It wasn’t like she was a mother-in-law doting on her son-in-law, but still—it was a little too obvious how much the family was fussing over Muheon. He wasn’t upset—just bashful.

Hakyung glanced over at Muheon. He had already finished the drumstick and was now digging into the breast meat. Sensing Hakyung’s gaze, he raised an eyebrow.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah. Are you gonna eat? Want me to debone it for you?”

Thinking Hakyung wasn’t eating because it was hard to handle, Muheon immediately started pulling apart the chicken leg for him.

Watching from the side, the river dolphin family chimed in with a chorus of playful “oohs.” Hakyung’s ears burned even redder.

Before he knew it, he ended up eating only the pieces Muheon had neatly deboned for him—making him the only one to finish the meal with perfectly clean hands.

After breakfast, while everyone was munching on fruit for dessert, Hawon, still glued to her phone screen, tapped Hakyung on the arm.

“Oppa, oppa!”

“Yeah?”

“Look at this. My friends shared this video—this is a video of you singing, right?”

In Hawon’s group chat, a video of Hakyung covering an idol song had been shared.

It had been filmed at a coin karaoke booth, so the colors were all muddled and the quality was a mess, but his clear voice still shone through.

“Are your friends fans of that idol too?”

“Yeah! That’s why your video keeps getting shared on loop. I really want to say, ‘That’s my brother!’ but I’m holding back.”

Hawon’s shoulders practically reached the sky. Even if no one else noticed, she was bursting with pride over her big brother.

Feeling flustered all over again, Hakyung gave an awkward smile. He was even more touched knowing how much his siblings had once felt bad seeing him sing in place of Kim Taeyoung—and how thoughtful they were now, never bringing up those old times in front of him.

“Just wait a bit! Once I’m on break, I’m gonna start uploading hyung’s videos for real!”

“Really? You have more songs?”

“Yup! He sang over ten that day. Right, hyung?”

Hajo showed one of the still-unreleased videos to Hawon.

Hawon squealed with joy like she was watching a real idol.

Watching her, Hakyung’s shoulders bounced. Praise always made the river dolphin dance.

Muheon gently ran his fingers through Hakyung’s hair. A voice that could earn love from so many—on voice alone—was a rare and precious talent.

“You love singing, so that’s good.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m seriously so happy.”

A hum slipped from Hakyung’s lips. Listening to it, Muheon burst out laughing. Even in the countryside, his lyrics were still completely unhinged.

They had properly shared the news of the wedding with Grandma, and life in Seoul had been going smoothly. As long as the ceremony next week went off without a hitch, the biggest hurdle would be behind them.

It had been the calmest, most peaceful stretch of days so far.

“Happy, happy, our family’s river dolphin is happy! H, A, P, P, Y!”

While cleaning the stairs, Hakyung sang cheerfully. The office hyungs had grown so used to his singing that they could work with it as background noise—this was now their normal.

He was right in the middle of belting out his tune when someone tapped him on the back.

If it were one of the hyungs, they wouldn’t have approached so cautiously… Who could it be?

Hakyung quickly turned around. Sure enough, an unfamiliar face was looking up at him from the bottom of the stairs.

A petite woman with a short bob was smiling sweetly at him. Her hair was so vividly red that Hakyung briefly wondered if she might be another sibling from the Bu Geunrim’s family.

“Hello.”

“Ah, hello.”

Caught off guard by her bright greeting, Hakyung replied automatically. She looked like a guest visiting one of the hyungs, but why had she come to the stairwell instead of the office?

As Hakyung tilted his head in confusion, the woman’s smile grew wider. She stared directly at his lips with sparkling eyes.

“That song just now… that was you singing, right?”

“Uh, sorry?”

“The weird lyrics one. Something like ‘happy, happy’?”

Flinching at her bold words—calling his lyrics weird right to his face—Hakyung froze.

Was it… that weird?

The one who had just totally deflated the joyful river dolphin looked at him with wide, blinking eyes, as if she’d just given a compliment.

“Really? It was you singing?”

“Uh, yeah… I did.”

“Oh wow, oh my gosh! You’re amazing! You sing so well!”

Clapping like a seal, the woman held out her hand with a bright, “Nice to meet you!”

Hakyung was used to conversations jumping all over the place, but this woman’s topic shifts moved at lightning speed. He had a strange feeling—like something big would happen if he took that hand.

While he hesitated, caught between politeness and alarm, a large shadow suddenly fell over the two of them.

“What the hell? I told you to come to the CEO’s office—why are you here?”

It was Muheon.

Startled, Hakyung darted up the stairs and glued himself to Muheon’s side, like a cautious puppy guarding its territory from a stranger. Muheon, in turn, casually wrapped an arm around his shoulders, like a calm owner comforting his nervous pup.

The woman stared at them, wide-eyed, then burst into laughter. With this unpredictable stranger, whose every reaction threw him off, Hakyung looked up at Muheon.

Just who is she…?