Deus Didymus: Rend

Chapter Forty-Five: New Life

Xiaoting crossed her arms. She tapped her foot impatiently against the floorboards of Chaeyeon's office.

"Where is Jang?" she questioned. "We're wasting valuable time."

"She'll be here soon," Chaeyeon waved dismissively.

"We should be planning out our response to the war-"

Chaeyeon, Xiaoting, and Hikaru snapped their gazes to the room's entrance. They glanced toward each other suspiciously.

Wonyoung flung the grand wooden doors open. Next to her, a two year old child clung to the young woman's pant leg. "I will be taking a break from the military."

"Ya..." Xiaoting squinted, "Who's baby did you steal?"

"She is mine," Wonyoung replied. "Ji Hoon oppa and I's child to be specific."

Jaws dropped and eyes widened. Chaeyeon, Xiaoting, Hikaru, Youngeun, everyone.

"WHAAAAAT?!"

"When did this happen??" Chaeyeon questioned.

Hikaru shook her head, "I've never seen you pregnant. I don't believe it."

Wonyoung crossed her arms with a sigh. "We had an... oopsie a couple years ago. Neither of us wanted to abort her, but we couldn't exactly let it be known that Park Ji Hoon had a child. So, we took her to an underground city separated from the rest of the world. There, we earned the favor of a goddess and Da Eun was born a few days after I became pregnant."

"Holy shit..." Xiaoting breathed. She approached the small girl with a gentle smile.

"Yo... This is the slowest I've seen Xiaoting unnie move," Mashiro commented.

The lightning Hanam crouched in front of Da Eun. She extended her arms prompting the toddler to waddle into her embrace.

A soft sense of serenity filled Xiaoting's heart as she lifted Da Eun. The young girl clung to her with a slight smile underneath her rosy cheeks. Though she hadn't matured much, she carried many of Ji Hoon's features.

Da Eun's round iridescent eyes and platinum blonde hair painted her to be an exact copy of her father.

"I missed you..."

"Well," Chaeyeon sighed. "That wellspring tells me it's definitely Ji Hoon's child."

"I didn't know a child could have such an enormous wellspring," Hikaru remarked.

Xiaoting wiped the tear from her cheek. She placed Da Eun on the floor, allowing the toddler to return to her mother's side. "What are your plans for her?"

"I'm training her so she can defend herself," Wonyoung replied.

"How old is she...?" Youngeun asked.

"Two."

"Starting her off early," Hikaru scoffed.

Y/n listened to the rustling of clothes. It sounded like they were hard at work, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what they were doing. Part of him wished to go back to sleep, the dire situation droned at the back of his head. He placed his forearm over his eyes with a sigh.

"Oppa!"

Not a word slipped from the boy's mouth. He didn't smile, move his arm, nor did he acknowledge the girl's presence.

Minju slid off her wooden chair. She paced through Lazarus' workshop, past the workbench and toward the bed Y/n laid on. "How are you feeling?"

Y/n groaned.