‘He probably doesn’t have anything proper to eat.’

But she couldn’t send Seung Jun back to get food either.

When she called, Jin Cheol said in a bright voice,

Seol Ah hung up the phone, thinking it was fortunate.

Entering the hospital lounge, Seol Ah saw that Seung Jun was already opening the packages, so she quickly went to help him set up.

‘What should I say.’

Originally, she had intended to tell him not to approach Yu Min recklessly. But in this situation, it didn’t seem like she could easily say such a thing.

As if her contemplation was for naught, Seol Ah couldn’t say anything for a while.

The moment the food was laid out, Seung Jun ate everything he could get his hands on as if he were a food fighter.

The udon bowl was emptied, and the kimbap was finished too. The tteokbokki and fried dishes also disappeared quickly.

He must have been really hungry.

Seol Ah suddenly recalled herself ordering delivery food to eat after putting her child to sleep when she was raising them.

Afraid the child would wake up, she would make sure to write ‘Please don’t ring the doorbell’ on the delivery app when ordering, and when she got a text that the food had been delivered, she would sneak out to get it and eat.

Of course, she couldn’t do it often because of money, but whenever she did, it would relieve some of her parenting stress. Of course, there was the side effect of gaining weight in return for relieving stress.

“Why is taking care of a kid so hard.”

Perhaps his stomach was a little full now, Seung Jun grumbled as he gulped down water.

“They don’t listen, they’re so stubborn, there’s so much they don’t know. They keep asking why this, what’s that. Am I a dictionary? If I can’t explain, they scold me for not being able to.”

Anyone listening would think he had been parenting not just for half a day, but for several years. Seol Ah chuckled and drank the cola in front of her.

“Children don’t know a lot of things. Yu Min is curious and smart. He usually remembers most of what you teach him once and tells his friends about it too. But I will firmly tell him not to scold from now on.”

After saying that, Seol Ah bit her lip.

Telling him not to do that from now on.

Doesn’t that mean she’s allowing Seung Jun to meet Yu Min again?

What Seol Ah really wanted to say was to never see Yu Min again. Not to reach out to her son without her permission.

But right now, Seol Ah was saying the exact opposite of what she had originally intended to say.

“Does he listen even if you tell him?”

Seung Jun asked, fortunately not noticing any other meaning in Seol Ah’s words.

“Yes, of course. If you talk to him well, he tries to listen. Not that it always works, of course.”

“That means he doesn’t listen. When I was young, if I didn’t listen, I got beat until my legs broke. So I learned to listen well.”

At Seung Jun’s casual words, Seol Ah’s eyes widened.

Even when she dated him, she had never heard about his childhood.

“Of course, I’m not saying to do that.”

Seung Jun said, avoiding Seol Ah’s frozen gaze on him.

“I ate well today. I should get going now. Anything else to say?”

Please don’t ever see Yu Min again. Don’t pretend to be that child’s father. Don’t even think about luring that child away.

She couldn’t bring herself to say such things to the man who had been tormented by the child all afternoon.

“About Yu Min…”

Seol Ah sighed deeply before speaking.

“What are you going to do?”

Seung Jun’s eyes widened.

“You said last time you weren’t going to take him. Then, what are you going to do by showing up?”

Seol Ah’s eyes shone with earnestness. Seeing her lips trembling, it was clear she was nervous.

Seung Jun looked away.

Right, what am I trying to do?

“Because I’m his father.”

Seung Jun blurted out like a groan.

“I’m trying to be a father to him, because I couldn’t do that until now.”

Saying that, he felt irrationally choked up.

Yes, others probably wouldn’t have been able to do that. Enduring all sorts of criticism, taking care of the child, feeding him, cleaning up his vomit.

Playing with him so he doesn’t get bored, wiping the sweat from his forehead when he sleeps, fanning him, asking the doctor several times if the child is okay.

It’s not that he was raising the child to be weak.

It’s because he was a parent.

Not that he lost because he was weak, but he yielded out of love.

“Are you afraid I’ll take Yu Min away?”

Seol Ah couldn’t answer Seung Jun’s question.

Tears were welling up in her downcast eyes.

Why are you crying? I’m the one who wants to cry. I finally met my son, but I can’t even call myself his father, so why are you crying?

“I must seem like an untrustworthy bastard to you. Even though I said I wasn’t.”

At Seung Jun’s words, Seol Ah raised her eyes. Her eyes glistening like glass beads were shaking with anxiety.

“I’m afraid you’ll confuse the child by keep appearing. After all, it’s a relationship we can’t even acknowledge publicly.”

An illegitimate child, like that. That kind. Our child is. That kind.

“You said you wouldn’t marry.”

Seung Jun spat out.

“You said you didn’t want to. Didn’t you say not to even mention it?”

“We could, you know.”

Seol Ah snickered.

“No, I don’t want to. Not just me, but Yu Min too. He doesn’t want to enter that household. I want to raise Yu Min more freely and happily than anyone else.”

Seung Jun narrowed his eyes.

He couldn’t refute her words about that. Certainly, his family was not a free and happy atmosphere.

“You’re right, I couldn’t dress our Yu Min in nice clothes or feed him expensive food. But I raised him not to be disheartened by things like that. Above all, to love his own life.”

At Seol Ah’s words, the corners of Seung Jun’s mouth lifted.

“Didn’t you instill too much pride in him?”

“No, it’s just that your first meeting with the vice chairman wasn’t very good. It may have seemed like he was attacking me. Yu Min only has his mother. So he was trying to protect his mother.”

Hearing that, Seung Jun seemed lost in thought for a moment.

Trying to protect his mother, it felt unpleasant yet peculiar.

On one hand, he felt like what can that little kid protect his mother from, but on the other hand, he could understand that feeling.

“Yu Min is my child.”

After a while, Seung Jun spoke with a calm gaze, as if organizing his thoughts.

“Just as he is your child, he is my child. That doesn’t change, and I have no intention of giving up my role as a father.”

For the first time, I held my son. Fed him, bickered with him, but also played with him.

It was the most bizarre experience I had since being born.

A small being that resembles me, but is not me. A young, immature being that is sometimes devilish. But one that I can never hate.

My son.

“And you have no right to make me give that up.”

Seol Ah lowered her eyes.

Of course, it was Seung Jun’s fault for suddenly announcing their marriage without a word, but at least in terms of depriving Yu Min of a father, Seol Ah had done nothing right either.

“It’s already this late. I’ll come tomorrow. Around this time, but it might be later.”

Watching Seung Jun’s back as he turned to leave, Seol Ah swallowed her conflicted feelings. She felt like she should stop him now, but what he said wasn’t wrong.

Saying he wants to be a father now.

After seeing Seung Jun off, the hospital room was quiet when she returned. Jin Cheol and Yu Min were doing something.

“What are you doing?”

Looking closely, they were drawing circles on gridded paper.

“Ah, elder brother, no that man seems to have taught Yu Min how to play Omok. He’s pretty good at it.”

Jin Cheol said with a grin. Seol Ah looked at Yu Min. His eyes were shining brightly.

“You’re sick. Don’t overdo it. You need to rest and recover.”

Yu Min responded to her words as she felt his forehead.

“He said he’ll come again tomorrow. I lost all five games to him today. I’m going to win tomorrow.”

Does he really think he can win? While looking at him thinking that, Seol Ah realized Yu Min’s attitude had changed in the meantime.

‘He’s waiting.’

The relationship she had tried so hard to prevent had finally been forged.

The next day.

Seung Jun finished his work in a frenzy and let out a small sigh.

He had to rush like crazy without even having lunch. Because of his promise with that little kid.

‘Why did I say I would go.’

Although he had such thoughts, whenever he thought of that kid, he would find himself smiling without realizing it.

− Vice Chairman, did something good happen?

He even heard such a thing from the chief secretary.

“I have to get off work. Let’s push the rest of the work to tomorrow.”

Seung Jun said that and got up. Nam Gi Hyun, the chief secretary, stared at Seung Jun for a moment before tilting his head.

In his fifties, Secretary Nam was fifteen years older than the thirty-seven-year-old Seung Jun and had more experience.

Even seven years ago when Seung Jun and Seol Ah were dating, although Seung Jun didn’t tell him anything about their relationship, he had roughly figured it out.

But today, Seung Jun was glowing just like he did back then.

‘Has he met someone again?’

Knowing how Seung Jun had lived since then, Gi Hyun wanted to support his superior if possible. Of course, his support wouldn’t change anything.

“I understand.”

Gi Hyun bowed politely. Just as he was about to leave, Seung Jun’s cell phone rang.

“Mother.”

At the word mother, Gi Hyun’s body flinched. Hyo Young was gentle but not an easy opponent. And these days, there seemed to be a subtle battle of nerves going on between Seung Jun and Hyo Young.

Gi Hyun’s way of dealing with them was also important. He slowly turned around to look at his superior.

Seung Jun’s face had hardened, completely different from earlier.

“Right now? I can’t right now. I have an important appointment.”

As far as Gi Hyun knew, there were no business meetings. Then an important appointment meant Seung Jun’s personal appointment. What on earth could a personal appointment that even Gi Hyun didn’t know about be?

Yesterday too, Seung Jun took a day off claiming he wasn’t feeling well. But no one knew where he went or what he did.

If he was really unwell, there should be lingering effects today too, but he didn’t look like it.

“What?”

Seung Jun’s voice rose. Gi Hyun swallowed his saliva.

“Hah, what the. Alright. Let’s go.”

Seung Jun irritably hung up the phone with a very angry face and closed his eyes tightly. It was an action he did when he was really furious, so Gi Hyun approached his superior again.

“What’s the matter?”

Seung Jun opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead once.

“All sorts of things, it’s nothing.”

Seung Jun said that and picked up his cell phone again. Then he gestured with his eyes to Gi Hyun. As Gi Hyun bowed and left, he spoke to the person on the other end of the line.

“I can’t go today. Something came up. Please tell Yu Min and…”

Seol Ah’s cold voice was heard.

Was that so? Did I spend the day so anxiously by myself? I tried my best not to work overtime. I even ordered an Omok board to give to the kid as a gift.

As the day’s tension washed away, fatigue took its place.

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Seung Jun left the company with heavier steps than before.

Where he arrived, Hyo Young and one other person were seated.

“Seung Jun.”