Minhyung, who arrived later than Yeo Reum, also reached the end of the balance beam. Jae Kyung felt frustrated but couldn’t show it to Yeo Reum. He had an urge to pick up Yeo Reum and run.

Jae Kyung’s mouth went dry as he faced the crisis of not getting first place for the first time.

For the first time, he realized that while everything else went according to his will, children were the exception.

Jae Kyung glanced at Bo Mi in the cheering section. Bo Mi was cheering for Jae Kyung and Yeo Reum with flushed cheeks and clenched fists.

“Dad. I’m sorry.”

I can’t lose like this.

“Yeo Reum! You can do it.”

Yeo Reum didn’t give up and continued walking on the balance beam.

“Yeo Reum. Slowly. That’s it. That’s it. Be careful.”

Jae Kyung patiently led the frightened Yeo Reum.

Yeo Reum finally reached the end of the balance beam. His expression upon landing looked very bright.

Jae Kyung felt proud as if he had accomplished something himself and held Yeo Reum’s hand.

“Dad! Let’s run quickly.”

Minhyung, who had gotten down a step ahead of Yeo Reum, was running hard towards the obstacle.

Seo Rim and Min Ah were already passing through the cloth obstacle.

“Han Yeo Reum! Fighting! Elder brother Jae Kyung, fighting too!”

From afar, Mi Rae and Bo Mi’s cheers for Yeo Reum and Jae Kyung could be heard.

Minhyung, as if disliking that sound, covered his ears and glared at Yeo Reum chasing after him. You think you can beat me?

Even if he couldn’t help losing to Min Ah and Seo Rim, he couldn’t lose to Yeo Reum.

“Uh… Oops.”

Just as they reached the cloth obstacle, Minhyung’s father fell and pulled Minhyung down. The father and son rolled on the ground like a ball.

“Ah! Dad! Get up quickly! What am I going to do if I lose!”

Minhyung jumped up and pulled his father.

“Damn! Yeo Reum is here!”

Yeo Reum and Jae Kyung, who had good coordination, arrived at the cloth obstacle in three-legged race style.

Is it possible to turn the tables from here? Jae Kyung was still aiming for first place as he waited for Yeo Reum to enter the cloth obstacle. It was advantageous for the small-bodied Yeo Reum to navigate through the cloth.

Minhyung entered the cloth obstacle with Yeo Reum by a hair’s breadth.

It’s okay! There’s no way I’ll lose to someone like Han Yeo Reum.

Minhyung felt anxious about losing to Yeo Reum. He could see Yeo Reum’s legs crawling ahead of him. Minhyung reached out and grabbed Yeo Reum’s foot.

“Hey. What are you doing?”

When Yeo Reum couldn’t move his foot, he started to struggle. Minhyung took off Yeo Reum’s shoe and threw it behind.

“My shoe!”

Yeo Reum stopped moving in surprise.

My new Gigatron robot shoe that Uncle Ga Jin bought me! Hong Minhyung. I can’t forgive you!

The angry Yeo Reum put strength in his foot and kicked straight at Minhyung.

“Aagh!”

A child’s scream echoed inside the tent. The teachers ran over, seeing the tent swaying more than expected. When they lifted the tent, two children were tangled up fighting inside.

“Damn! You! Poor thing.”

“Why do you always do this to me!”

“Yeo Reum! Minhyung.”

The teachers rushed in and separated the two children.

Yeo Reum breathed heavily with flushed cheeks. Minhyung’s nose started bleeding as he struggled.

“Minhyung!”

Minhyung’s father shouted in surprise, cupping Minhyung’s face.

“No! How dare they do this to our child’s handsome face! What if his nose is broken?”

After examining Minhyung’s face, his father turned and swung his arm at Yeo Reum.

“You little brat!”

“Calm down.”

Jae Kyung grabbed Minhyung’s father’s arm.

“Let go of this! Both father and son are violent.”

Minhyung’s father looked up at Jae Kyung with a frown. Jae Kyung was dumbfounded by the accusation of Minhyung’s father who was about to use violence against Yeo Reum. This was Jae Kyung’s first time in such a situation, but he couldn’t understand Minhyung’s father’s attitude. Is it normal for adults to raise their fists in children’s fights?

“I don’t think you should be saying that when you tried to hit a child without even hearing what happened.”

As Jae Kyung frowned and looked down at the man, Minhyung’s father stood on his tiptoes and tried to match eye level by lifting his chin. He gritted his teeth, but as his arm didn’t budge, Minhyung’s father gradually lost confidence.

“Hmm… I guess I got a bit excited. As a parent, I can get emotional when my child is hurt.”

Jae Kyung let go of the man, worried about Yeo Reum’s condition.

“Yeo Reum’s father, Minhyung’s father, I apologize for this unfortunate incident.”

The teachers also stepped in to mediate between the two.

Ga Jin, who had been excited holding his medal, looked at Yeo Reum with a serious expression.

The atmosphere was already as if the competition had been ruined.

Ha. I’ve completely lost.

Although it was an unexpected situation, Jae Kyung had to accept his first defeat.

Jae Kyung realized for the first time that there was something he cared about more than winning or losing.

“Yeo Reum… Are you okay?”

Yeo Reum’s shoulders shook, still not having calmed down. Jae Kyung, having had no opportunities to interact with children, was ignorant of how to handle such situations.

If it were adults fighting, calling a lawyer would solve it…

At that moment, short bobbed hair brushed past Jae Kyung. Instinctively following Bo Mi with his eyes due to her scent, Jae Kyung watched as she quickly knelt in front of Yeo Reum and checked his condition. Yeo Reum’s face was scratched here and there and in a mess.

What on earth happened inside the obstacle?

“Huff. Huff… Huh… Sob.”

Yeo Reum, who had been breathing roughly, burst into tears.

“Waaah.”

“Yeo Reum!”

“M-mom. Sniff.”

Bo Mi tried to assess the situation. Did Yeo Reum hit Minhyung since Minhyung had a nosebleed?

“Yeo Reum… Can you tell mom what happened?”

“Huuuh. My… Gigatron… Huuh.”

Yeo Reum couldn’t continue speaking and started crying more pitifully.

Minhyung’s mother, who had been chatting in the cheering section and only belatedly realized her son was hurt, came running breathlessly, pushed aside her husband, and narrowed her eyes looking at Minhyung’s face.

“No… What happened to my child’s face?”

“Waaah. Mom! I’m dying… Blood! Blood! I’m dying!”

Minhyung started crying as if the world was ending when he saw his mom.

“My goodness! Did you raise your child to be some kind of thug? This is why I told the daycare not to accept children from abnormal families… Do you think I don’t know you brought some man to play daddy?”

Minhyung’s mother glared at Bo Mi while shouting.

“Minhyung’s mother. You’re going too far.”

“Is it normal to have a child without getting married? Korea has improved a lot.”

Minhyung’s mother suddenly started clapping.

“What a wonderful prejudice-free society.”

“Minhyung’s mother!”

Bo Mi raised her voice angrily, but Yeon Ga Young’s image overlapped with Minhyung’s mother. The damn trauma was even taking away Bo Mi’s fighting spirit for verbal arguments.

“Did I say anything wrong? Yeo Reum hit him. Hitting a friend’s face because you want to win during a competition, the child’s character is showing.”

“If Yeo Reum used violence, there must have been a reason.”

Bo Mi believed in Yeo Reum. Yeo Reum, who resembled Nakwon with a tender and warm heart, would never hit someone without reason.

“Ha. Look at her defending her own child. Did you hit our Minhyung or not?”

Minhyung’s mother pointed at Yeo Reum and asked. Yeo Reum shrank back behind Bo Mi, seemingly frightened.

“Yeo Reum… Did you hit him?”

Bo Mi couldn’t believe it but asked Yeo Reum to confirm.

“Huuh… Uuuh.”

Yeo Reum shook his head while crying pitifully.

“You think the child would admit it if you ask? Kids these days are so cunning. Look at my son’s nosebleed! You think this will just heal on its own?”

“Waaah… Mom! Am I dying? You die if you lose a lot of blood, right? My nose! My nose! It hurts so much!”

Minhyung exaggerated, clinging tightly to his mother’s waist.

“Yeo Reum…”

As Yeo Reum mumbled something, Bo Mi bent down to listen.

“Yeo Reum didn’t do it. Huuh.”

“Oh my, look at this child lying. If you hit a friend, you should say you’re sorry and that you did wrong. Isn’t that right? What on earth has the mother been teaching?”

Bo Mi bit her lip helplessly at Minhyung’s mother’s continued criticism. No one had taught her how to be a mother. Bo Mi had lost her mother at a young age and had endured in that absence ever since. Perhaps that’s why she wanted to quickly create her own family when she met someone she loved.

Just when she thought she finally had her own complete family, she suddenly lost Won.

Raising Yeo Reum alone while taking responsibility for everything, she was always an insufficient mother to Yeo Reum.

When things like this happened, she felt like it was her fault and became infinitely small. She shouldn’t feel sorry…

“It seems Yeo Reum should be the one receiving an apology.”

Jae Kyung stood up and held out Yeo Reum’s shoe in his hand.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Yeo Reum. Did you take this shoe off yourself?”

Jae Kyung remembered Yeo Reum’s shoes being up high when they first met.

He had suspected someone might be continuously bullying Yeo Reum.

“No… I didn’t do it. Sob. My shoes. The ones Uncle bought me. Uncle Ga Jin sob. bought them… Minhyung sob. grabbed my foot and sob… sob. threw away my shoe.”

Struggling to speak through tears, Yeo Reum poured out his grievances to Jae Kyung.

“Mom! It’s not like that! He always wears big shoes that keep falling off. So it came off on its own!”

As Minhyung hurriedly made excuses, Jae Kyung put the shoe on Yeo Reum’s foot.

“It fits perfectly, so there’s no way it would come off on its own.”

“Ah… uh… ah.”

Minhyung gaped at Yeo Reum’s shoe.

“So… So what if the shoe came off? He could have taken it off. How is that evidence? Trying to frame someone with such nonsense! How shameless.”

Minhyung’s mother persisted.

“Well. If you look here, there’s a clear bite mark from your son on Yeo Reum’s leg.”

Around the red arch-shaped mark on Yeo Reum’s leg, a blue bruise was forming.

Bo Mi could barely open her eyes, seeing the tender flesh with blood beading, looking so painful.

“Th-that can’t be. Our Minhyung biting a friend. He’s such a kind-hearted and gentle child. He can’t even kill an ant.”

“Your son’s personality isn’t important here.”

Jae Kyung picked up Yeo Reum, and Yeo Reum wrapped his arms around Jae Kyung’s neck.

“I’d like to go to the hospital and confirm if the bite mark matches your son’s.”

“What? W-wait a moment. Why go that far.”

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to call our lawyer as well.”

“Lawyers for a children’s fight!”

“Even if it’s a children’s fight, I think it’s better to clarify things.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t it be less unfair if we legally clarify who’s the perpetrator and who’s the victim?”

“O-our child had a n-nosebleed…”

Minhyung’s mother seemed intimidated, sensing Jae Kyung’s sincerity in his eyes, and spoke less.

“A nosebleed?”

Jae Kyung’s eye corners curved gently.

“Do you have evidence that our child did it?”