Hero’s Child C50

Chapter 50

“The guardian says they only want one child. If you’re a doctor, you should just keep your mouth shut and give them options.”
“Haah…”
“Three babies in a first pregnancy—can you imagine how hard it must be for Uichan? Oh, but I think I did hear about a way to handle that… Something about a seminar?”

At those words, Uichan abruptly threw off the sheets. He twisted his body, trying to get off the bed, but before he could, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back onto it. The moment his back touched the bedding, he began to struggle.
“Don’t—don’t do this…!”
“Don’t do what?”
“Hyde…”
“Call me hyung. Unless you want to make a scene.”

At the swift correction, Uichan’s gaze darted to the side. Oh Juhyuk, who had risen halfway, was staring at him with a stiff face. His hand, suspended awkwardly in midair, seemed almost embarrassed that he hadn’t managed to intervene. And in truth, Uichan looked a complete mess.

His ears, neck, and jawline were flushed red, blooming like flowers in full spring. One could only imagine how many more marks might be hidden beneath his exposed skin. Even his fingers bore faint bite and suction marks.

When Oh Juhyuk had first seen Uichan in another man’s arms, he had genuinely doubted whether the relationship was consensual. The shock had been that severe.

When a black portal had suddenly appeared in the door and a man had stepped out, Oh Juhyuk initially thought he was a villain. But then—he realized who it was. La Epee, ranked among the very top of Korea’s heroes.

La Epee had told him to stabilize Uichan, and Oh Juhyuk had used his ability to scan Uichan’s physical condition. What he discovered left him speechless.

“…We need to extract the fluids from his body as soon as possible. Otherwise, the babies will be in danger. Mr. Ha Uichan can’t keep suffering like this! La Epee is completely fixated on the survival of his own child right now. But Uichan, that’s not what you want, is it?!”
“…What an unnecessary fuss.”

The low, chilling voice from above made Uichan’s breath hitch. Afraid of what he might do next, Uichan hastily grabbed La Epee’s arm.
“Don’t, hyung!”
“…You talk as if I’m about to do something awful. What, are you afraid I’ll brainwash the doctor?”

“Mr. Ha, those marks on your body—if they were caused by violence, you must tell me now. Even if he’s La Epee, this isn’t something that can be overlooked! I’ll report it myself—”
“Violence?”

As La Epee began to turn toward the doctor, Uichan pulled him sharply into his arms, holding him tight. He spoke in as calm a voice as he could muster.
“Doctor… I’m fine. Please, could you step out for a moment? I need to talk with La Epee.”
“But—!”
“It’s fine… really. This was consensual. He’s not trying to hurt me. Please, just give us a moment.”

Oh Juhyuk, who had been about to protest, faltered at those words. With a weary sigh, he removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, looking between La Epee and the quietly compliant Uichan. Finally, he nodded.
“…If anything happens, shout immediately. I’ll come running.”
“Yes… thank you, doctor.”

Uichan didn’t release La Epee until he heard the soft click of the door closing. Neither of them spoke.

“……”

In truth, Uichan still felt as if everything from last night had been a dream. The fact that La Epee was Hyde—and that they had slept together—and that he was the father of the children inside him—none of it felt real.

By all logic, he should have been furious, red-eyed with anger. But instead, there was an unexplainable sense of relief deep in his chest. Perhaps because when he looked at La Epee, he couldn’t help but see Hyde. Because there was no need for guilt if they were one and the same.

Now that he thought about it, he’d often looked into La Epee’s eyes and been reminded of Hyde—without realizing why. Subconsciously, he had recognized him all along. How ridiculous. Fate truly had a twisted sense of humor.

“You didn’t send him away just because you wanted to be alone with me, did you? What, are you planning to persuade me?”

Uichan clutched tightly at the hem of the man’s clothes. If Hyde had indeed planted some kind of mental manipulation in him, then perhaps… it would be easier to reach him as Hyde than as La Epee.
“Then… come back as Hyde first.”
“…The face is the same either way, but if that makes you more comfortable, sure.”

In an instant, the constellation of the Big Dipper shimmered in Hyde’s eyes. The air around him changed completely—sharp tension melting into a soft warmth that was unmistakably his. This was the Hyde that Uichan knew.

“Your skin’s so delicate. Even a gentle touch leaves a mark. Does it hurt?”
“Hyde… were you really La Epee all along?”

Uichan asked directly. Hyde smiled faintly and brushed the tip of his nose against Uichan’s cheek.
“You already knew, didn’t you? Let’s just say… at first, I needed another identity. Remember what your brother said? That he’d tried several ways to erase the Big Dipper? After several… experiments, this face just happened to stick. Maybe because it resembles the one I had in life.”

In life. He must have been referring to the time when he was La Mut. Uichan didn’t know much about La Mut. After the Seolhyang Village tragedy, La Mut had risen to fame as a hero in Seoul, but it hadn’t lasted long. To ordinary citizens who didn’t follow hero affairs closely, he was just a name that had faded as quickly as it shone.

The one time Uichan had met La Mut had been after his face had already been torn apart, hanging upside down in an abandoned building. There had been no chance to study his features closely—and even if there had been, with his skin ripped away, there would have been no way to recognize him.

“Why… why La Epee of all people?”

Hyde was silent for a moment, simply watching him. Then, with a snap of his fingers, the world around them began to change. The door creaked open and shut several times; paper screens slid into place one after another, surrounding them.

Through the shoji screens, the scenery shifted rapidly. When the sounds died down, the sterile hospital room was gone.

They were now in a quiet, lantern-lit chamber of a traditional tiled-roof house. Outside, tree leaves rustled softly in the wind. A silk curtain embroidered with orchids hung by the window. It was Hyde’s usual dwelling.

Somehow, they were lying on a futon instead of the hospital bed. Hyde turned onto his side, propping his head on one arm as he spoke.
“…At first, it was for my brothers. If any of them got captured or surrounded by heroes, they needed someone powerful enough to get them out. That someone was La Epee.”

Given his extraordinary abilities, rising to the top ranks as La Epee must have been effortless for him. He claimed it was for his brothers, but Uichan suspected that part of it came from Hyde’s unfulfilled dream of being a hero.

“And, well, the difference in personality… that’s because I placed a bit of mental conditioning on myself. Whenever I took on La Epee’s form, my personality would shift. What I suppressed most strongly was my feelings for you, my youngest. As La Epee, I didn’t want to see you. I thought I’d just act arrogant and insufferable. Which, well… I did.”

Hyde’s hand brushed gently across Uichan’s lower abdomen. Reflexively, Uichan caught his wrist—but Hyde’s touch was only light, tender, tracing warmth across his skin.
“…So I tried to avoid contact as much as possible.”
“Wait—you mean you manipulated your own memories?”
“Only at the beginning. It didn’t last long, though.”

When they had met for the first time on the Daegyo Bridge, they were officially strangers. Yet La Epee had said that Uichan’s voice sounded oddly familiar. Perhaps the conditioning had already begun to unravel back then.

“Of course, I never thought it would last. It was just a temporary safeguard.”

Uneasy at the hand stroking his stomach, Uichan tried to sit up—but Hyde wrapped his arm around him and pulled him back down.

Dragged back into his embrace, Uichan’s back pressed against his broad chest. Hyde’s hand slid lower, resting just above his navel.
“But Uichan…”

Moist lips brushed against his ear. Outside, the wind rose sharply, rattling the leaves like a beast’s growl. The lantern flame flickered violently. And in that trembling light, Hyde whispered—

“You’re saying you’re carrying three babies… and each has a different father?”

Silence fell—so heavy and cold it made Uichan’s spine tingle. Then—

Clatter!

Uichan tore himself from Hyde’s arms—but was yanked back by the waist almost immediately. He kicked out in panic, knocking over a nearby water bowl. Water splashed across the futon as Hyde pinned him down.

“N-no… They’re all mine… I’ll give birth to them… and raise them…”
“How can you raise them when you’re in this much pain?”
“It—it doesn’t hurt that much—ah!”
“Doesn’t hurt?”

When Hyde pressed down on his lower abdomen, Uichan squeezed his eyes shut. Yet even in pain, he continued to claw at Hyde’s arm, resisting him desperately.

He could guess what Hyde wanted—to purge the fluids from his body. There was still La Epee’s seed within him, and Hyde must have believed that if the first child grew strong enough, it could force out the other two, leaving only his own offspring in the womb.