“Ah, ahjussi, go away! Ahjussi!”

Yu Min shouted as if he was having a fit.

He wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t fully awake yet, plus his mom had disappeared so he was in a bad mood. And now, the ahjussi he hated the most had shown up too.

“Go away!”

Seung Jun bent down to look at Yu Min who was causing a commotion. Matching Yu Min’s height, he stared blankly at the child.

As the other party showed no reaction, Yu Min gradually lost energy and stopped shouting while panting for breath.

“Now, are you done?”

When Seung Jun asked, Yu Min opened his displeased eyes.

“Ahjussi, why did you come?”

Only then did Seung Jun stand up and sit in the chair across from him.

“I came to see you.”

Fortunately, he looked much better than yesterday. While Seung Jun was groaning from being unable to sleep, it seemed Yu Min’s condition had improved after getting some good rest.

“Who are you to keep coming?”

Seung Jun was about to say he was the father, but shut his mouth. If he said it now, it would only be shocking. Since Yu Min didn’t know his face at all. Moreover, he would surely react that way in his sick state.

“Just someone who knows your mom.”

Seung Jun explained only that much.

At those words, Yu Min’s face contorted. Seung Jun wondered why, but Yu Min suddenly hugged Jin Cheol tightly beside him and shouted,

“You’re not going to marry our mom, right?”

“What?”

When Seung Jun asked in disbelief, Yu Min said firmly,

“This uncle here is going to be my dad. So don’t even dream of trying to be my dad!”

Seung Jun’s mouth fell open.

This was akin to being kicked out before he could even reveal the truth. To think that his own son was rejecting him.

He wondered what the point was of tenderly stroking Yu Min’s damp forehead yesterday, worrying about him after returning home, and being unable to sleep.

Was this the treatment he got for going out of his way to take time off work today to be here?

“How are you feeling? Better than yesterday?”

Seung Jun asked, grasping the reins of reason again. However, Yu Min turned his head as if he didn’t even want to answer.

This put Jin Cheol, who was caught in the middle, in an awkward position. He couldn’t tell Yu Min that Seung Jun was his biological father, but he also couldn’t just go along with what Yu Min was saying.

“Yu Min, he’s asking you a question, so you should answer him.”

Jin Cheol managed to say that much in a trembling voice. But Yu Min shook his head.

“I don’t like that ahjussi. I hope I never see him again.”

Seung Jun got up from his seat and walked over to Yu Min. Jin Cheol also jumped up in surprise.

“Hyung, even so, Yu Min is still sick and…”

Jin Cheol was afraid Seung Jun might hit the child, but Seung Jun lightly brushed him aside and sat down on Yu Min’s bed.

His anger soared to the very top, but there was nothing he could do. He thought this must be the price he was paying for treating Yu Min according to his own feelings when they first met.

“You dislike me that much?”

“Yes.”

Yu Min answered, opening his eyes wide.

“I’m disappointed. It’s the first time someone has directly told me they dislike me.”

Seung Jun narrowed his eyes.

“Really?”

No way. While looking down on people like that. He seemed more arrogant than any adult Yu Min had ever seen.

“You may not be in a position to say that.”

Seung Jun lowered his gaze and looked at Yu Min’s small white hand.

He meaninglessly placed his own hand on top of the small one.

Yu Min quickly pulled his hand away and turned his head. Seung Jun laughed in disbelief. Then Yu Min opened his mouth.

“My mom is kind and nice so she’s very popular. She works hard at her job too so she often comes home late. But you don’t have any friends or work, which is why you’re here now, right?”

In order to make time for this somehow today, Seung Jun had unusually had to call his secretary late at night.

For important appointments, Seung Jun made the calls himself. To think Yu Min would speak so carelessly about the time he had barely managed to free up.

However, Seung Jun grabbed hold of his emotions again. Now was the timing to try to resolve this well.

“That makes some sense too. But no. I’m here because I’m in a position where I can adjust my schedule.”

“A position where you can adjust your schedule?”

“It means I don’t work under anyone else.”

Seung Jun took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Meetings or conferences would have been better. This kid was someone who made things harder for him than even the chairman.

Just then, a growling sound came from Yu Min’s stomach. His brows furrowed and his face flushed red.

“Ah, I need to go to the bathroom for a bit, Uncle.”

“Okay.”

As Yu Min got up, Jin Cheol pushed the IV stand connected to him from the side. A moment later, Jin Cheol came out of the bathroom alone.

Until then, Seung Jun had been sitting blankly in the spot where he had talked with Yu Min earlier.

When Jin Cheol emerged, Seung Jun lifted his head to look at him. Unlike before, his eyes had softened.

“What did I do so wrong?”

As soon as Yu Min went in, Seung Jun felt the emotions he had been suppressing rising up again.

“Well, I think it’s because his first impression of you wasn’t good.”

Jin Cheol said, scratching the back of his head with one hand.

“Kids are like that. It’s really hard to change their first impression. But Yu Min is a kind and pretty child. It’s just that he’s sick right now too…”

He couldn’t say anything even if Yu Min said he was hurting. Seung Jun could only swallow the bitter taste of receiving such treatment for the first time.

“If you keep being good to him, he’ll come around. He’s not a completely thoughtless kid either.”

Jin Cheol looked at the bathroom Yu Min had entered with sympathetic eyes.

“Even when he’s sick, Yu Min doesn’t usually show it. Since he knows his mom is always busy. He’s good at pretending to be strong and okay. Right now too, he’s probably enduring a lot of pain.”

Seung Jun silently followed Jin Cheol’s gaze to the bathroom.

Was I like that too?

At seven years old, he had slept well on his own, acting all tough, but perhaps he had missed his mother’s embrace. And little helping hands too.

Seung Jun sat with his mouth shut, scuffing the floor with his foot for no reason.

Yu Min’s attitude of clearly drawing the line with Seung Jun. And the way he shouted that Jin Cheol, not his blood-related father, would be his dad. It made Seung Jun angry, but it also made him feel miserable.

Had he freed up his time for nothing today? Was he not just begging Jin Cheol?

Lost in thought, the door Yu Min had entered suddenly thumped loudly. Jin Cheol stood up.

“All done?”

What did he finish? Seung Jun looked at the door in puzzlement, and Yu Min’s voice came again with more thumping.

“Yes, Uncle. Please come in.”

Come in where? Seung Jun furrowed his brow. However, Jin Cheol walked to the bathroom with an expression that was not displeased in the slightest.

“Where are you going?”

Seung Jun opened his mouth.

“Ah, Yu Min still can’t wipe himself properly. So I’m going to help him.”

Jin Cheol answered and went into the bathroom.

Wipe himself, huh.

Seung Jun laughed without realizing it.

Unlike when he had been talking back firmly, hearing that Yu Min couldn’t even wipe himself made Seung Jun think he really was just a little kid.

He had his cute points too.

Seung Jun suddenly imagined himself helping the boy wipe. It wasn’t bad. Of course, he didn’t know how the boy would take it.

Some time passed, and Yu Min came out of the bathroom with a clean face, looking much better than when he went in.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

“No problem. How are you feeling?”

“It hurts way less than yesterday. My stomach is fine too. I think I could go home.”

As he spoke, Yu Min looked at Seung Jun with a stiff expression. Seung Jun stood up from his seat. Yu Min’s face brightened.

“Are you leaving?”

“I’m going to have a cup of coffee.”

“Ah, since you’re going, I’d appreciate it if you could get me a cup too. An iced Americano. I’m so sleepy, hahaha.”

Jin Cheol said, bowing his head.

Was he really ordering Seung Jun around so boldly? Seung Jun found it unbelievable, but he also couldn’t ignore the words of Jin Cheol who was taking care of Yu Min.

“I will.”

How had he become someone running coffee errands? It was unimaginable at the company.

Seung Jun stepped out of the hospital room with a wry smile.

“Why isn’t that ahjussi leaving?”

“Don’t be like that. He’s here because he’s worried about you.”

Seung Jun squeezed his eyes shut at the words he heard through the door crack and slammed the door shut with a bang.

*

“Please have a seat over here.”

Department Head Kang guided Seung Heon and the other employees to the sofa in the president’s office with an unusually soft smile.

Seung Heon looked around the small president’s office.

“The president’s office isn’t very lavish.”

“Ah, yes, it’s a bit lackluster, isn’t it? We’re planning to renovate it completely next month. The wallpaper color is dark and all.”

“No, I like it better this way.”

Seung Heon smiled brightly.

“That means more money is going to the employees, doesn’t it? A company where the president only tries to satisfy his own greed is unlikely to succeed. That’s why I always look at the president’s office first wherever I go. It shows where this company spends its money.”

“Ah, is, is that so…”

Even while smiling, his words seemed to have a sharp edge. Department Head Kang took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his temples.

A moment later, there was a knock and President Moon entered. He bowed to Seung Heon who was sitting at the head seat.

“I had no idea an influential figure from JK would grace us with his presence. Please look upon us favorably.”

Seung Heon was also Chairman Han’s grandson after all.

At those words, Seung Heon waved his hand with a serious expression.

“No, what influential figure. Please don’t say such things, even in jest. You must be working hard running the company.”

“Not at all.”

President Moon said with a smile. Just then, there was a knock and Seol Ah entered in a suit, carrying a tray.

“Hello, I’m Assistant Manager Yu Seol Ah. Nice to meet you.”

After bowing politely, Seol Ah served the coffee from the tray one by one. Watching her fondly, President Moon said,

“Haha, she’s our company’s top beauty, isn’t she?”

Seol Ah unconsciously lifted her head to look at President Moon’s beaming face.

She wasn’t too pleased with President Moon’s introduction. She wanted to be known as the hardest working employee at the company, not the top beauty.

But she had no chance to say that to him. Right now, she was here just to run a coffee errand.

And then Seol Ah’s eyes met Seung Heon’s.

Of course Seol Ah knew Seung Heon. He probably didn’t know her well though.

Seung Heon, who had been looking at Seol Ah blankly, opened his mouth.

“Do you hire employees here based on looks?”

“Ah, hahaha, our Assistant Manager Yu is quite beautiful, isn’t she?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Seung Heon tilted his head and continued.

“Introducing an employee you’re meeting for the first time as the company’s top beauty. It shows how this company evaluates its employees.”