Secret Baby (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5
“Min Jun? He’s 5 years old. He’s grown so much, hasn’t he? Some people even mistake him for a 7-year-old.”
“Oh…”
Tae Kyung was even surprised himself at why he’d asked such a question.
Was it because he couldn’t bring himself to believe that the child was Seo Ha’s?
All sorts of scenarios were spinning through Tae Kyung’s mind.
If he’s 5, that means she either got pregnant while we were together or after she disappeared. Could he possibly be my child?
No, if he were my child, she wouldn’t have vanished like that.
Then could he really be that man’s child? Did she get pregnant with that man’s child and that’s why she couldn’t contact me again?
Tae Kyung felt as if he were plummeting into an abyss.
He doubted whether she was truly the Seo Ha he once knew.
When had she gotten pregnant with another man’s child?
Unaware that Yoon Hee was watching him, Tae Kyung’s face remained openly consumed by despair.
Yet soon, he steadied his falling heart, downed the honeyed water in one gulp, and stood up from his seat.
“Honey water—thank you.”
“Sure thing. Next time, don’t wait outside all night. Come during the day instead. I won’t tell you not to come.”
Tae Kyung gave a slight bow and left the principal’s office.
Yoon Hee simply watched him go.
As Tae Kyung walked through the kindergarten, trying to soothe his aching stomach, he glanced around. He’d visited many kindergartens before, but none were as old as this one. Though worn, it radiated warmth.
From his years in business, Tae Kyung had learned that a kindergarten’s atmosphere always mirrored the principal’s character.
Perhaps that was why he could feel the same warmth from Yoon Hee radiating through the building itself.
Passing down the hallway, his eyes lingered on Seo Ha’s photo hanging beside a classroom door.
Her smile—bright as sunshine—remained unchanged.
There had been days when she’d smiled at me just like that.
Without realizing it, Tae Kyung slowly reached out and gently brushed his fingers across Seo Ha’s photo.
“Teacher Chae Eun, Teacher Seo Ha will be a bit late today. Min Jun had a fever last night, so she stopped by the hospital before coming in.”
“Oh dear, I hope Min Jun’s okay. Teacher Seo Ha must’ve been up all night.”
Hearing the teachers’ voices, Tae Kyung flinched involuntarily—as if he’d done something wrong—and quickly hid himself. Joo Ri and Chae Eun, unaware of his presence, continued their conversation.
“Yeah, raising a child alone isn’t easy. Her father’s been working night shifts lately too. By the way, isn’t Teacher Min Seob being way too obvious about liking Teacher Seo Ha?”
“Why? Are you jealous?”
“Yeah, actually, I am. If I were Teacher Min Seob’s mom, I’d probably throw a fit. Even if things worked out between them, raising someone else’s child isn’t exactly easy, you know.”
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself. In your head, they’re already married, aren’t they?”
Tae Kyung couldn’t believe his ears.
The man she’d referred to as the child’s father—wasn’t her husband after all?
An unmarried mother? How was this possible? Had she been lying to me?
If she left me, why did she become a single mother?
Though his mind swirled in confusion, Tae Kyung focused intently on Chae Eun and Joo Ri’s conversation, desperate for answers.
“Teacher Joo Ri, that’s harsh. Everyone has their own circumstances. If Teacher Min Seob likes her, what’s it to you? Unless… you’ve had a thing for Teacher Min Seob yourself?”
“Me? No way! Even if I liked him, being so obvious at work would be inappropriate. Honestly, with Teacher Seo Ha’s situation, it’s awkward both for the kids and the parents.”
Joo Ri protested vehemently. Chae Eun waved her hands to calm her down.
“You don’t act like that in front of the kids. Only when we’re alone. Love can’t really be hidden, you know.”
“Ugh, still… Teacher Seo Ha’s lucky. There’s a man who’s okay with her having a child. Where’s my prince charming…?”
As Joo Ri muttered to herself, Chae Eun gave a soft chuckle and comforted her.
“Your soulmate is out there somewhere.”
“Don’t you ever date, Teacher Chae Eun?”
“I’m a lifelong single. I love kids, but I can’t stand husbands.”
The two headed upstairs toward the staff room. Tae Kyung quietly slipped out of the kindergarten building.
So she was an unmarried mother.
Not divorced—an unmarried mother.
Did that mean she’d never been married at all?
If so, could Min Jun really be my child?
Tae Kyung tried picturing Min Jun again, but no matter how hard he thought, the boy didn’t feel like his.
There hadn’t been any time when Seo Ha and he could’ve conceived a child.
Back then, Seo Ha had still been preparing for job interviews and being extra careful.
Concluding at last that Min Jun wasn’t his child, Tae Kyung’s feelings toward Seo Ha grew even more complicated. She’d abandoned him, disappeared, and now lived as an unmarried mother.
It wasn’t anger he felt toward her—it was sorrow. It hurt.
Why couldn’t she just live well—somehow beyond my reach—instead of becoming a single mother?
If she was going to live as a single mother, why didn’t she just come back to me?
What a foolish woman.
Tae Kyung clenched his teeth tightly.
He felt ridiculous even entertaining such thoughts.
Why couldn’t I forget her, even after she betrayed me so cruelly?
Resentment toward Min Jun surged sharply within him.
If it weren’t for that child, Seo Ha wouldn’t be suffering so much.
Maybe she wouldn’t have left me at all.
Just how irresponsible and worthless was that biological father?
How shameless was that man—abandoning his child just like my own father had?
Tae Kyung wanted nothing more than to drag that so-called father back himself and force him to take responsibility for his own child.
[This is the timeline separator]“Mom.”
“Yeah, Min Jun.”
Min Jun called out to Seo Ha in a weak voice.
The IV needle stuck into his small hand felt like it was piercing Seo Ha’s heart.
“Why don’t I have a dad?”
At Min Jun’s question, Seo Ha’s pupils trembled violently.
He’d never asked about his father before.
“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“Just… everyone else has a dad, but I don’t have a real dad—only a fake one.”
“A fake dad?”
“Yeah. Teacher Teun Teun said he’d be my dad, but he’s not really Min Jun’s dad.”
Min Jun spoke with surprising clarity for a 5-year-old. Seo Ha had tried twice as hard to ensure Min Jun never felt his father’s absence.
Yet now, hearing him speak, she realized perhaps a boy really did need a father—and his words weighed heavily on her heart.
Moreover, recently Min Seob had been spending more time playing with and caring for Min Jun, making her worry that instead of filling the void, he might be highlighting it even more.
“Not everyone has a dad. Every person has their own kind of family. Some have dads, some don’t. Min Jun, would you like to have a dad like the other kids?”
At Seo Ha’s question, the boy’s dark, sparkling eyes wavered for a moment—but then he shook his head.
“I just need Mom and Grandpa.”
Seo Ha pulled Min Jun tightly into her arms.
Would the day ever come when I could tell him the truth?
She recalled Tae Kyung’s cold, sharp presence.
How would he accept this child? Could he look at Min Jun with the same gentle affection he’d once shown his daughter?
Even though she knew it was a foolish hope, Seo Ha hated herself for not being able to let it go entirely.
He was already married—how could I possibly break up that family?
For a brief moment, Seo Ha had even considered returning to Tae Kyung. She’d thought that maybe, just maybe, he would protect her—and that once the child was born, neither of them could simply ignore him.
But the news she’d heard shattered that hope like thunder from a clear sky.
“They say Senior Tae Kyung and Jin Yu Na are engaged! They’ve even set a wedding date. What happened to all that desperate chasing after you, saying how much he loved you? He got engaged just one year after breaking up with you?”
When Hyo Jae—her high school classmate and college friend—delivered this news, Seo Ha nearly dropped her phone.
Jin Yu Na had been Tae Kyung’s classmate who’d persistently flirted with him even while he was dating Seo Ha.
She was the second daughter of Congressman Jin Cheol Wook and famously known as the “perfect daughter” at school.
On paper, Han Tae Kyung and Jin Yu Na were the ideal match—but Tae Kyung had chosen Seo Ha over Yu Na.
Thinking back on it now, Seo Ha let out a quiet sigh.
She pulled herself out of her memories and gently stroked Min Jun’s face as he slept soundly beside her, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.
Looking at her baby boy, still smelling faintly of milk, she resolved once more to erase Tae Kyung from her heart.
The sight of him with his daughter recently had driven the final nail into that resolve.
Meanwhile, Min Jun had regained some strength thanks to the IV fluids.
“Seo Ha! Min Jun!”
“Dad! Did you just get off work?”
“Yeah, I came straight here after work. Is Min Jun okay?”
“Grandpa!”
Myeong Hoon—Seo Ha’s father and Min Jun’s grandfather—stroked Min Jun’s head.
“Oh, my little puppy! Were you feeling really sick?”
“Nope. I’m all better now.”
Min Jun smiled brightly.
A nurse entered and placed a thermometer in Min Jun’s ear.
“Guardian, Min Jun’s IV is finished, and his fever has gone down. You can proceed to billing and discharge. If his fever returns, please come straight to the ER.”
“Thank you.”
The nurse removed the needle from Min Jun’s tiny hand. Min Jun squeezed his eyes shut tightly, clearly frightened by the sight.
Seo Ha touched Min Jun’s forehead—damp with cold sweat—and found it pleasantly cool, as if nothing had happened.
“Min Jun, stay home with Grandpa. I’ll try to leave work early.”
“Okay, Mom. Don’t worry, go ahead.”
“Right. Don’t worry about Min Jun—I’ll take good care of him.”
Myeong Hoon patted Seo Ha’s back.
“But Dad, don’t you need to sleep too?”
“I took a day off, so don’t worry.”
Watching Myeong Hoon lift Min Jun into his arms, Seo Ha bit her lip and turned her lingering steps back toward the kindergarten.
[This is the timeline separator]Hearing that Seo Ha was an unmarried mother, Tae Kyung’s resentment toward her transformed into a desperate longing to be beside her.
For the past five years, he’d never forgotten her—not even once. It was more accurate to say he simply couldn’t forget.
Life without Seo Ha held no meaning for Tae Kyung. It was just a mechanical cycle of eating, working, and sleeping.
At times, he’d run forward fueled by yearning for her; at other times, by missing her; and at others, by anger and resentment—all in a futile attempt to forget everything.
He’d never cared about any rumors swirling around him.
Even when false gossip spread that he was engaged to Jin Yu Na, he saw no reason to correct it or make any public statement.
If it wasn’t Seo Ha, marrying anyone else—or not marrying at all—made no difference to him.
Before returning to Seoul, Tae Kyung wanted nothing more than to see Seo Ha’s face just one more time.
Yellow shuttle vans kept coming and going through the kindergarten gates, ferrying children back and forth. Their cheerful chatter sounded like birdsong.
Yet even after the kindergarten gates closed again, Seo Ha didn’t appear.
“Is the child really that sick? Is Seo Ha okay?”
Tae Kyung felt pathetic for how naturally his worry for Seo Ha surfaced—even after all the pain she’d caused him, he still couldn’t stop caring.
As Tae Kyung paced around the kindergarten, his phone rang incessantly.
He didn’t want to answer work calls, but he had no choice.
“Yes. This is Han Tae Kyung.”
—Where the hell did you disappear to?! Jung Hoo said he sent you home, but you’re not there either! Where are you right now?!
Tae Kyung pulled the phone away from his ear. Kyu Won—his high school classmate and company co-CEO—was shouting at him angrily.
—How can you just vanish without a word? And what’s with this unexcused absence?
“Sorry, my ears hurt. Stop yelling.”
—Han Tae Kyung, you bastard. Do you even know that Chairwoman Park from HY Group is visiting this afternoon?!
“My mother?”
Tae Kyung’s brow furrowed deeply.
Why, of all times, would his mother—who he thought he’d cut ties with—insist on seeing him now?
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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