Fortunately, the meeting held after the evaluation ended early.

Seol Ah hurriedly left the company. Jin Cheol must have been exhausted from taking care of Yu Min all day. She packed udon, gimbap, and tteokbokki from a restaurant near the company, got into a taxi right away, and headed to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, Seol Ah saw a man getting out of the taxi in front of her as she was getting out.

The man was wearing a suit and strangely resembled Jin Cheol. Seol Ah thought there was no way it could be Jin Cheol and was about to pass by him indifferently.

But just in case, the moment she turned her head slightly to check the man’s face, Jin Cheol was really looking at Seol Ah.

“Jin Cheol?”

Why is this person here?

Seol Ah stared at Jin Cheol with a dumbfounded look. And what’s with that outfit?

“Wh-, why are you coming out from there? What about Yu Min?”

“Ah, that…”

Jin Cheol scratched the back of his head with one hand. It was a habit that came out when he was flustered.

“What did you do with Yu Min?”

Seol Ah raised her voice without realizing it. If he was here, who on earth was with Yu Min? What if he was alone…

Jin Cheol bowed his head deeply.

“I’m sorry. I had an interview today. I originally wasn’t going to go, but…”

“You had an interview?”

Seol Ah’s eyes wavered.

Entrusting Yu Min without even knowing that…

“Then, you should have told me in advance. I would have, somehow taken off from work…”

Seol Ah’s voice trailed off.

Could she have done that? Today was the evaluation day. If Seol Ah hadn’t been there, the company would have been turned upside down today. Just as Seung Heon had seen through, Seol Ah was overseeing the company’s livelihood.

Jin Cheol, who hadn’t shown any signs in the morning, came to mind. If it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have even been able to go to the company. Thinking that way, she couldn’t get angry.

“I’m sorry. You must have been late for the interview because of me. Yu Min will do well on his own. The hospital must have taken good care of him.”

Seol Ah’s lower lip trembled.

I left a mere seven-year-old with a man who’s not even related by blood and has nowhere to leave him, so he has to go to an interview.

What kind of day did Yu Min have today?

He looks mature, but he’s still seven years old. At an age where he’s inexperienced in everything… Was he unable to say what he needed while being mindful of the nurses and doctors?

If I had family, if there were many people to take care of Yu Min… Yu Min wouldn’t have had a hard day today. Thinking about it, my heart crumbled belatedly.

“No, I didn’t leave Yu Min alone.”

But Jin Cheol said something strange.

“What?”

Then who on earth… Could it be that In Sook is here? She said she had a schedule until this evening. Did she put aside all her plans and come to the hospital because of Yu Min?

“Goodness, even though I told her not to…”

Seol Ah turned around and started walking quickly. Jin Cheol followed Seol Ah in a fluster.

“Wait a minute, Noona!”

However, it wasn’t easy to catch up with Seol Ah, who was almost running.

“That’s, that’s not it, Noona!”

Jin Cheol shouted, but to Seol Ah, it only sounded like he was saying it was okay to go slowly. That can’t be. Seol Ah put more strength into her steps.

Soon she reached the floor where Yu Min was hospitalized.

Without waiting for Jin Cheol, she got on the elevator first and quickly went up to the floor where Yu Min was. She opened the door urgently and was about to enter, but stopped in her tracks.

“Please let me win just once!”

“No.”

“Ahjussi, you’re really stingy pants, a mutt!”

“You’re the one who’s a poop head. How many times have you pooped today already?”

“Ah, I really hate you Ahjussi, let’s go home!”

One was Yu Min’s voice and the other…

Walking down the hallway to where the bed was, Seol Ah looked at the man sitting with his back to her.

Wearing a black suit, he was doing something facing Yu Min.

“Oh, Mom’s here, Mom!”

Seeing Seol Ah, Yu Min smiled.

In front of him, looking much better than yesterday, the man turned his body towards Seol Ah.

Seol Ah didn’t know what to say.

“Why, are you, here…”

Seol Ah was staring at Seung Jun with blank eyes.

“Is it strange for me to be here?”

Seung Jun approached Seol Ah, making thumping sounds with his footsteps.

“Are you going to leave? We have to finish this before you go. Otherwise, I win this round!”

Yu Min said, drawing lines on the paper in front of him with a pen.

“He’s smart, taking after me. He understood the rules of Omok in no time.”

Seung Jun raised one corner of his mouth and let out a quiet sigh.

“But it’s tiring. I’ll get going now, so you take care of the rest. I’ll come again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, you’re coming again?”

As Seol Ah turned her body, Seung Jun pointed to the paper Yu Min was holding with his eyes.

“That kid, he’s saying nonsense that he won this round. We’ll have to do it again tomorrow.”

Then he continued, speaking to Yu Min.

“But Ahjussi can’t come in the morning tomorrow. I’ll come around this time. So keep practicing until then.”

After saying that and waving his hand at Yu Min, Seung Jun tried to walk out of the hospital room leisurely.

That’s when Jin Cheol entered the open hospital room.

“Ah, Hyung-nim, I’m sorry. I said I’d come early…”

“It’s fine. The interview?”

“I think I failed. I couldn’t prepare at all.”

Only then did Seol Ah seem to understand the situation properly.

From the beginning, Jin Cheol had no intention of going to the interview, so he didn’t even mention it to Seol Ah, but somehow Seung Jun found out about Jin Cheol’s interview, sent him off, and stayed himself instead.

So Seol Ah herself was able to go to the company, In Sook was able to carry out her schedule without difficulty…

And Jin Cheol was able to attend the interview well.

However, Seung Jun will probably be extremely busy tomorrow. He’s someone who rarely takes time off in the first place. He must have taken a sudden vacation to come.

“Jin Cheol, can you watch Yu Min for a moment?”

Seol Ah asked Jin Cheol and hurriedly left the hospital room to follow Seung Jun, who was leaving.

Seung Jun was waiting for the elevator, and upon hearing footsteps coming towards him, he turned his head.

“What.”

When he asked like that, Seol Ah was suddenly at a loss for words.

It was clearly a situation to be grateful for, but she didn’t feel grateful. Because she didn’t know his ulterior motive. She was afraid he would take her son away.

“Let’s talk for a bit.”

For now, she felt she needed to hear his inner thoughts.

“What talk?”

However, Seung Jun frowned in annoyance and turned his body the other way.

“If you’re going to do it, do it here. Summarize it briefly.”

At his attitude, as if dealing with a subordinate employee, Seol Ah also fired back without holding back any longer.

“Why did you come here? What’s your ulterior motive?”

Seung Jun let out a sigh that sounded like air escaping.

“Ulterior motive…”

“Why did a busy person like you grace us with your presence here? What do you want?”

Looking at the woman staring at him with a guarded gaze, Seung Jun was dumbfounded.

“Did it look like I came here wanting something? Or like I’m going to pay you?”

At his words, said with a smirk, Seol Ah became even more on guard.

“Don’t joke around.”

A tense atmosphere hung in the air.

Seung Jun glared at Seol Ah, then averted his gaze first.

What’s the point of being sharp now, he thought. He was terribly tired at the moment.

“That Jin Cheol or whoever went to the interview, and the kid complained to no end all afternoon while going in and out of the bathroom. I had a hard time too. Ha, if I had known, I should have just hired a caregiver.”

Seung Jun rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

In fact, Seung Jun had to endure one of the most difficult times in recent memory.

In the end, he had to clean up after Yu Min, who said he would hold it in the bathroom until his mom came, and on top of that, he had to attend to the child who vomited while eating porridge.

Bring this, bring that, there was no master like that master. He was about to scold Yu Min properly, thinking it was harder than taking care of his grandfather’s illness, but he just suppressed it and endured, thinking what he was doing to a sick child.

“How did you raise the kid’s habits to be like that? He’s just smart and has become a terrible fellow. Huh? Ordering an adult twice his height around like a servant.”

As Seung Jun shook his head as if he was fed up, Seol Ah had to bite her lip to hold back a laugh that was about to escape inappropriately for the situation.

Seol Ah also knew exactly what Seung Jun was talking about. No matter how mature a child may seem, a child is a child. Moreover, in the worst condition, he would have shown even more childlike aspects.

That situation was naturally visualized in her mind, and she could almost see Seung Jun floundering in front of her eyes. That man, who was as huge and strong as a rock…

“Still, Yu Min is a gentleman. Do you know any other seven-year-old as mature as him?”

When Seol Ah spoke, Seung Jun responded with a deep furrow between his brows.

“If that’s being mature, are all the other kids ruffians? When I was young, I didn’t even step on adults’ shadows.”

“There’s no way. All kids are the same. Whether they’re smart or not. They’re becoming human as they grow up.”

At the words “becoming human,” Seung Jun suddenly recalled his own seven-year-old days when he had to become human even by force.

According to Hye Won’s testimony, the process of a mischievous and willful child being tamed through rigorous education…

If someone had told him during that time, ‘It’s okay. It’s because you’re a child’… Could his past have been a little different?

Seung Jun unconsciously lowered his eyes and looked at the item in Seol Ah’s hand.

“What’s that?”

Only then did Seol Ah look at her own hand where Seung Jun’s gaze was directed. In a hurry, she had brought the food to give to Jin Cheol all the way here.

A savory smell was still coming from inside the plastic bag.

“Ah, this is…”

“For the caregiver? That’s good.”

When Jin Cheol was there, he had gone to a restaurant to eat for a bit, but now, as evening was approaching, there was no time to eat something separately.

Perhaps because he was nervous about caregiving for the first time, he hadn’t even realized he was hungry until now. Seeing the food and smelling the aroma, his stomach finally started to churn.

Before Seol Ah could say anything, Seung Jun took the bag from her hand. She looked at Seung Jun with a dumbfounded expression.

“I just bought whatever from near the company. It probably won’t suit your taste.”

“It’s fine.”

After saying that, instead of getting on the elevator, Seung Jun walked down the corridor next to it. As Seol Ah stood there wondering where he was going, he turned around.

“You’re not coming?”

“Yes?”

“Let’s hear the rest of the talk while eating.”

Seung Jun walked on with heavy footsteps.