Divorce Contract Special Side Story 1

Special Side Story 01

The Epilogue’s Epilogue**

For days on end, the sky remained overcast. Though it was supposed to be spring, the temperature hovered barely above freezing as though winter had never properly left. On top of that, the rain that had begun the night before still showed no sign of letting up, and the chill in the air only seemed to worsen. Go Igyeol’s condition, already fragile in such weather, refused to improve. Knowing that Igyeol was pretending to be fine, smiling through discomfort, Seo Dohyeon spent every day trying to lift his spirits, even if only a little.

On his way home from work, Dohyeon picked up their son, Ihyeon, from kindergarten, then stopped by a café to buy the strawberry cake Igyeol liked. His steps grew quicker the closer he got to home—he couldn’t stop thinking about Igyeol, who must have been alone all day. The moment he parked in the garage, little fists thumped against the backseat window.

“Daddy, open it!”

“Just a second.”

Turning off the engine, Dohyeon stepped out and opened the back door. Their child, who used to insist on being carried every time, had lately started leaping out on his own. Dohyeon extended his arms in anticipation of the jump.

“Ah! I missed.”

“Next time, then…”

It had become one of their favorite little word games. Igyeol had explained to Ihyeon that failure didn’t mean you couldn’t do it—it simply meant you’d earned another chance to try. “So it’s good, because I get to do it again?” the boy had said, and Igyeol had stroked his head proudly.

“Daddy, hurry. Hurrry!”

“Alright, let me grab the cake.”

“Let’s go, Daddy. Quick!”

Trying to soothe his impatient son, Dohyeon gathered the things he had bought and headed toward the door that connected the garage to the house. Ihyeon’s steps grew faster and faster until, at last, he was running, making little “dodododo—!” noises with his mouth. Just as he sprinted across the yard, Dohyeon hurriedly called out:

“Careful, you’ll fall!”

“I’m going to Go Igyeol-ssi. Hurry!”

The ssi still sounded more like jji, but the phrasing was so oddly mature that Dohyeon couldn’t help but laugh—he had grown used to hearing his son imitate him in strange ways. The front door wouldn’t open unless someone let him in anyway; the only thing actually racing was his child’s heart.

“Daddy! Daddy, look! It’s Go Igyeol-ssi!”

A small hand pointed toward the terrace. There, standing outside with a gentle smile, was Igyeol, arms spread wide.

“Daaaddy!”

Thump-thump-thump—little feet slapped across the wooden deck as Ihyeon flung himself into Igyeol’s embrace. Holding the sturdier-than-before child lightly, Igyeol pressed his lips against those soft, plump cheeks. Ihyeon burst into delighted giggles.

“But Daddy, you’re warm.”

“Oh? Am I?”

“Are you sick?”

Reaching out with hands like maple leaves, the boy touched Igyeol’s cheeks and forehead, tilting his head in concern. Then, without warning, he pressed a flurry of loud kisses to Igyeol’s skin—as though convinced his kisses were a cure-all.

“I missed you.”

“Daddy missed you too.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Watching the emotional father-and-son reunion from a short distance away, Dohyeon finally approached. He placed the cake box on the terrace table beside a teacup and stretched his hand toward Igyeol.

“It makes me sad—you two act like I’m invisible.”

“Aren’t you a bit too big to be invisible?”

The playful exchange drew quiet laughter. Like his son, Dohyeon touched Igyeol’s cheeks, brow, and nape in the same affectionate way.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“I am.”

His eyes swept over Igyeol quickly. His cheeks were tinged red with lingering fever as he smiled faintly. He insisted it was only a mild fever, looking away as if embarrassed. But seeing him wearing one of his own cardigans made it obvious—he must have needed pheromones. Had he called, Dohyeon would have come immediately. Imagining Igyeol rummaging through the laundry basket to find his clothes made something deep in his chest twist painfully.

“I think I’m catching a cold. And this—” he tugged at the cardigan, “—is just because it’s cold.”

“Anywhere else hurt?”

“Mmm… Not really. I slept all day, so I’m a little out of it.”

“Let’s go to the hospital tomorrow.”

Agreeing softly, Igyeol kissed Ihyeon’s cheek again—the little boy’s skin was soft and bouncy like pudding.

“What did you do today?”

“I went on a walk and it suddenly started raining! So I watched worms.”

“Worms?”

“Yeah! Worms came out like this. Wiggle-wiggle!”

As Ihyeon wriggled in demonstration within Igyeol’s arms, Dohyeon swiftly scooped him up. Seeing how unsteady Igyeol looked made him nervous; the last thing he wanted was for him to fall or get hurt.

“I told you that’s dangerous, Seo Ihyeon.”

“Nooo, I was showing Daddy the worm!”

“Worms crawl on the ground. How can you show Daddy a worm while being carried? What you were showing him was just you.”

“Oh! Then put me down!”

He looked ready to get on all fours and crawl right away. But as soon as Dohyeon set him down, Igyeol stopped him, saying the deck was wet. The rain, which had only paused for a moment, threatened to pour again under a sky packed with dark clouds. The air was damp and heavy.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Okay. But what’s this?”

“You said you hadn’t eaten anything today. You like the cakes from here.”

He had wanted to eat it. The craving had been so persistent he’d been drinking bitter persimmon-leaf tea just to suppress it. Face flushed pink from fever, Igyeol bowed his head slightly.

“I wanted some.”

At the soft confession, Dohyeon set Ihyeon down and gently pulled Igyeol closer. He pressed a light kiss onto Igyeol’s warm cheek, only for a startled hand to push at his chest.

“Ihyeon’s watching.”

“You just kissed Ihyeon earlier.”

“……”

“And it’s fine if he sees. We do a lot more than that anyway.”

The sweetly teasing remark made Igyeol blush all the way to the tips of his ears. He spun around and hurried inside with Ihyeon, leaving Dohyeon to gather the tiny shoes the boy had kicked off. Laughing despite himself, Dohyeon followed them in.

That evening, Igyeol skipped dinner, saying he had no appetite. Even the cake he had wanted so much—after two or three bites, he set the fork down. A sense of wrongness gnawed at Dohyeon as he helped Ihyeon eat, bathed him, and tucked him into bed earlier than usual. The child whined that he wanted to sleep with Igyeol, but toys and ice cream eventually won him over.

When Dohyeon finally returned to the master bedroom, Igyeol had already drifted into a light sleep.

His cheeks were still flushed, his lips tinted red. His breath was warm with fever. Dohyeon brushed a careful hand along his cheek. Igyeol’s eyes fluttered open.

“…Ah.”

“Should we go to the hospital now?”

“It’s not that bad.”

His voice, thick with sleep, cracked hoarsely. Dohyeon’s brow furrowed. The fever had been rising and falling for days, steadily wearing him down.

“It feels like a cold. Maybe it’s the weather.”

“A heat-cycle?”

Taking Igyeol’s limp hand, Dohyeon pressed his nose to the pulse point and inhaled. His skin smelled warm and sweet—but it was just scent, not pheromones. His already irregular heat cycles had become unpredictable after giving birth. Sometimes it occurred every six months, sometimes twice in a month.

“I don’t think so.”

“Mm… seems like it.”

Igyeol laughed faintly and pulled Dohyeon’s hand away.

“It’s just the rain, I think.”

The fever made Dohyeon’s cool hand feel nice. Moments ago he had felt chills like he was freezing, and now he felt unbearably warm. Stepping outside the covers sent shivers through him, but burrowing deeper made him sweat. More than anything, he wanted Dohyeon to hold him.

“If you’re not sleeping yet… can you lie with me for a bit?”

“Should Daddy put you to sleep like Ihyeon?”

“…Yes.”

His teasing voice held the unmistakable lilt of worry. Igyeol gathered a little more courage—he didn’t want to hide how much he had missed him all day.

“Pheromones… just a little.”

“I can’t tell whether you were waiting for me or waiting for pheromones.”

“…Both.”

His already pink cheeks deepened to a vivid red. Dohyeon pressed a gentle kiss to his warm face and released his pheromones. After spending the whole day trying to soothe himself with the faint scent left on Dohyeon’s cardigan, receiving a cascade of fresh pheromones felt like rain after a drought. Igyeol exhaled a deep, relieved breath.

“It feels… really good.”

Murmuring dreamily, Igyeol relaxed completely as Dohyeon climbed up onto the bed beside him.