DASH-Chapter 11Vol 2. : Side Story -

Jiheon, wondering if Jaekyung had really been watching him eat the whole time, deliberately picked the largest of the three lamb chops and moved it onto his own plate as he spoke.

“By the way, it looks like Jaejoon might come to the formal meeting.”

“Why would he?”

“What do you mean, why? It’d be good if he did. Your mom seemed subtly bothered that the number of people would be uneven.”

“Why would she care?”

Jaekyung kept replying absentmindedly until, belatedly realizing, his expression shifted as he offered an excuse.

“Sorry. It’s just... I’ve never really liked big family gatherings and stuff. Not because it’s your family—just in general, even with mine...”

Not being able to outright say that he found things like formal family meetings to be a pain in the ass, he fumbled his words trying to say it indirectly, resulting in a rather incoherent excuse. Rarely one to ramble, Jaekyung’s awkward explanation made Jiheon smile and say, “I’m the same.”

“It’s one thing if it’s just my family, but once there are more than two families together, it gets uncomfortable. I don’t think anyone actually enjoys that kind of setting. Especially with formal meetings like this, both sets of parents are probably just wishing it ends quickly.”

“Then why even have them?”

Things would be much more peaceful without them. Jaekyung muttered it sincerely under his breath.

As the meal was wrapping up, a server approached.

“Is there anything else you need?”

Jiheon looked at Jaekyung, and Jaekyung shook his head. Once the server left the bill and walked away, Jiheon finally asked:

“You’re not ordering dessert?”

“Huh...?”

Jaekyung gave him a confused look, as if wondering what the hell this guy was talking about.

“The doctor ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) told you not to eat it.”

“No, I meant you.”

“He told me not to eat it too.”

“Come on, that’s not necessary.”

Jiheon laughed, but Jaekyung only grew more annoyed.

“The doctor said not to, so what’s with you deciding it’s unnecessary.”

“Hey, I’m fine with it, that’s why.”

Jiheon quickly added:

“It’s not like I’m sitting here sulking because you’re eating alone. If anything, I’d hate it more if someone didn’t eat something they wanted just because they were worried about me. You had a rough time with all the dietary restrictions while you were in the hospital, remember? Now that you’re out, you should go all out and eat everything you couldn’t.”

Jaekyung’s hardships during his hospital stay hadn’t just been about salmon and oxtail soup. He hadn’t been able to eat any sweets either, even though he loved them. The doctor had warned that sugar could worsen inflammation, and Shim Yeo-sa had turned into a watchdog, monitoring him with laser focus. For someone like Jaekyung—whose daily routine used to involve burgers and shakes from McDonald’s after training, topped off with ice cream—it must have been torture. He probably got through it by fantasizing about going straight to McDonald’s and drowning his shake with scoops of ice cream as soon as he was discharged. And now, to have to hold back again—not even because of his own cravings but because of his husband’s? How cruel could the world be?

“Some husbands get sympathetic morning sickness, you know.”

The tone suggested, this much isn’t even a big deal. If anything, his expression seemed to say he was bitter he didn’t get to experience it too.

“Wow, that’s really not something to be thankful for.”

Jiheon shook his head in horror. Jaekyung stared at him, then leaned forward on the table, resting both elbows and crossing his arms as he asked:

“Is it still hard for you to ask me for something? Because you think you’re being a burden?”

“Well, depending on the situation, maybe. But this isn’t about that.”

It’s not something you even need to ask about, right? Jiheon crossed his arms in the same way and smiled.

“If I were purposely holding back on something and you started eating it right in front of me, of course I’d want it. But even so, telling the other person not to eat it just because I can’t... I don’t know, I wouldn’t feel right doing that. Whether it’s you or my brother or a coworker, it’s the same. Even if someone offered not to eat in front of me, I’d tell them not to bother.”

“But those people aren’t your husband.”

“Exactly. That’s why my husband should eat even more for me. He should eat all the delicious things I can’t.”

Caught off guard by the unexpected counterattack, Jaekyung was momentarily speechless.

“What the hell...”

He muttered under his breath as he turned his head, incredulous. But the corners of his mouth were already stretching up past his ears.

Before Jaekyung could reel in his grin, Jiheon quickly said:

“And hey, forget the morning sickness stuff—you don’t need to feel bad that I’m not making little requests right now. Because once the baby’s out, I’m going to dump everything on you. I won’t lift a single finger.”

“Oh, of course.”

Jaekyung looked at him like, why are you even saying something so obvious.

“Exactly, so don’t worry about me and just eat what you want. Honestly, if I thought I couldn’t handle it, I would’ve asked you not to. But right now, it’s not that bad.”

Jiheon picked up the small folded menu tucked into the napkin holder. He opened it up, flipped to the dessert section, and slid it across the table toward Jaekyung.

“And anyway, I like watching you eat cake or ice cream. It makes me happy.”

“Well, then...”

Jaekyung, swayed by how far his hyung was going, accepted the menu with a mixed expression. He glanced over the list of desserts and then asked:

“But why do you like watching me eat dessert?”

“Because you’re cute.”

“......”

Jaekyung gave him a I knew you’d say that face, then began folding the menu back up.

“You’re not gonna order?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Instead of replying, Jaekyung tucked the palm-sized menu back into the napkin holder. Then, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, he whispered softly so only Jiheon could hear:

“I’m going to eat something else at home.”

“......”

“Something even sweeter and tastier.”

...This little brat.

While Jiheon pretended not to hear and glanced around, Jaekyung straightened up in his seat. Jiheon narrowed his eyes at him, then grabbed the bill and stood up.

“Then let’s go home. Fast.”

Why the hell had he been so smug?

On the third day of cutting sugar, Jiheon was shedding tears of blood not only over his former complacency but over his foolish arrogance as well.

The dietary control he’d thought would be manageable turned out to be far, far harder.

The first day, right after the hospital visit, had gone okay. Even while eating dinner with Jaekyung, he only thought briefly about dipping the dry meat in sauce—he didn’t really crave dessert. Even after coming home and seeing the ice cream in the freezer, he didn’t touch it. As long as he treated it as something completely off-limits, it wasn’t too tempting. Jiheon decided that since things had come to this, he’d commit to a strict routine until childbirth and ordered premade lunchboxes designed for pregnant women.

The second day was also bearable. He had a whole wheat sandwich with no sauce in the morning, and for lunch, went to a salad specialty shop a bit further from the office. He bought and ate three different salad packs, but still seemed hungry—during the afternoon meeting with the legal team, his eyes kept drifting to the snacks and chocolates on the table. He had salad again for dinner. On the way home, he bought 750g of cherry tomatoes and ate half the pack on the spot. Lying in bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. It felt like he was going to break soon. He told Jaekyung, Before I get home tomorrow, eat all the ice cream in the freezer. Please.

And on the third day—this morning—the lunchbox he’d ordered was waiting at the door. It had grilled tofu topped with low-glycemic sauce made with sweetener instead of sugar, served with vitamin-rich baby greens. Jiheon chewed through the tofu and greens mechanically, all the while staring at the freezer. There was still ice cream in there—Jaekyung hadn’t finished it off. Jiheon debated whether to take just one bite.

It wasn’t even bedtime, it was just morning—surely a single bite was okay, right? A little sugar supposedly stimulates the brain and gives you energy... Wouldn’t it be better for his mental health to just eat it rather than torture himself like this? For the baby’s sake, even? Isn’t a happy mom better for a happy baby??

“Hyung.”

Noticing Jiheon locked in a trance with the freezer, Jaekyung deliberately raised his voice. Jiheon snapped out of it and turned toward him.

“I’ve got a hospital appointment today—anything you want me to ask the doctor?”

“Uh... no. They’re doing an MRI, right? That’s enough. Nothing else to ask.”

“Got it. Should I call you after?”

“Mm, nah. I’ll probably be in the meeting room then, so I won’t be able to answer.”

Jaekyung clicked his tongue.

“When is that finally going to end?”

“I’m almost done. I’ll wrap up the paperwork this week and pull out.”

Jaekyung let out a relieved sigh, unwrapping the third of the Egg McMuffins he’d walked twenty minutes to get from McDonald’s as part of his morning workout.

“Hope Kava dies soon.”

...Really. Hope he dies. He probably won’t, but still.

That one line from Jaekyung echoed in Jiheon’s head throughout the meeting. At this point, he just wished Kava would drop dead for the sake of his own mental health. That’s how badly he wanted this wretched meeting to end. Or more precisely, he wanted to escape the torment of dessert temptation gnawing at him the whole time.

Today, CEO Kang had personally bought a full spread of desserts from a famous bakery near the office, saying the legal team was working so hard. Even the usual snack-averse smokers were ditching their cigarettes in favor of sweets, munching on cookies while tapping away on laptops and flipping through sports law manuals.

Jiheon felt like he was going to lose his mind. Now he finally understood why “three-day resolve” always died on the third day. You could get through the first and second day fine, but the third? The third day was pure agony.