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park danggu and seo yul seemed to be busy these days and while jang uk spent a lot of time with them, training new students and assisting where he was needed, they hadn’t had a moment to talk about the baby.
jang uk was way too excited to keep it a secret and it had been a week since they had told park jin. they knew they would have to start telling people soon. the only reason the healers haven’t said anything is because they feared what jang uk would do.
cho yeong, buyeon, was about to be 3 months pregnant and while she was showing yet, it was safe enough to make it public. jang uk wanted to share the news with his childhood best friends before then. they had time to pay a formal visit to jinyowon, where they would tell jin hogyeong, since cho yeong had shared the news with her sister just that morning.
“you’re distracted” seo yul says, “i could’ve knocked you on your ass”
“perhaps” jang uk grins, “but i’d recover faster than you would in my position”
“stop being a show off” danggu complains, “i thought we were getting food”
it was clear jang uk was buzzing with newfound energy and they both knew it had nothing to do with the ice stone.
“out with it” seo yul says, amused, “we know you’re hiding something”
“my wife is pregnant” jang uk whisper yells, loud enough that no one else can hear him but his friends. he has a wide smile on his face and it looks like it could ache if he kept smiling like that.
“congratulations, wow.. i’m so happy for you both” seo yul says, smile only slightly strained and jang uk understood. he could sympathise with his friend, especially after everything seo yul had been through.
“finally!” danggu says excitedly, waving his hands around like an excited child, “i was beginning to think the twins would have to be a lot older before they had a cousin”
“or cousins” seo yul adds, smirking a little at the panicked look on jang uk’s face
“one at a time” jang uk clears his throat, ears turning red once again, giving away his embarrassment.
cho yeong had no reason to be scared. she had jang uk by her side and he’d do just about anything for her. it wasn’t like her mother despised her and she was certain, at least according to her younger sister, that lady jin had been waiting for their return.
“sit still” jang uk whispers, placing his hand on her shaking leg as they sit around the table outside. lady jin had invited them over for a late lunch and while jang uk was not over how his beloved had been imprisoned, he could learn to forgive his mother in law, for the sake of cho yeong and their family.
“sorry” cho yeong says, sitting upright. a habit she had gotten after being around the jin family for so long. her posture was important. she didn’t want to give jin hogyeong any reason to disapprove of her.
“buyeon-ah”
out of habit, once again, she stands immediately to greet the lady she now called her mother. to her surprise, jin hogyeong looked pleased, a soft smile gracing her lips as she greeted her daughter and then her son in law.
the dinner itself goes smoothly. jang uk only makes one small remark that seems to go by unnoticed by jin hogyeong.
“mother… i- we have something to tell you” Cho yeong begins, glancing up at jang uk who looks calm. she takes the hand he had placed on her thigh sometime after they ate and holds it tightly.
“what is it?” jin hogyeong asks, “is everything alright? are you sick?”
“no, nothing like that” yeong says, reassuring her mother, “we’re expecting a baby”
“oh..” jin hogyeong says
and in the moment of silence, cho yeong feels uneasy. she didn’t think her mother would be over the moon exactly but she had hoped for something different.before she has a chance to panic though, jin hogyeong is getting up faster than they expected and is rushing to hug her. their first proper hug since her mother had slapped her that night.
“buyeon-ah” hogyeong says wetly, holding the woman she once knew as her own daughter, “this makes me so happy”
jang uk lets them have their moment. he knows it’s just as important to cho yeong as it is to jin hogyeong. he can’t imagine the older woman’s pain of losing a child she treasured so close to her heart. in more ways than one, jang uk was grateful to jin buyeon, the real jin buyeon.
“are you happy?” her mother asks and she smiles
“the happiest i have ever been in my life” cho yeong says seriously, “jang uk makes me happy”
“then i’m happy” her mother says softly and hugs her again.
cho yeong is certain jin hogyeong will always see her as her own.