“Hey, you rascal! At my age, what…”

Hearing grandfather’s scolding after a long time, it wasn’t an unreasonable thing to say.

He was someone who could get anything he wanted.

“Since you’re so healthy, well, why wouldn’t it be possible?”

“You rascal, you’re really playing with your grandfather whom you haven’t seen in a long time.”

Geon Hak looked at the little girl sitting comfortably on the large sofa. The child was also looking up at Geon Hak, blinking her eyelids.

It seemed amazing that all those tiny features – eyes, nose, mouth – could fit on that small face.

“Who is this child?”

“She’s your aunt’s daughter.”

Geon Hak’s brow furrowed naturally.

“Aunt’s daughter? When did she have a child? It’s impressive that she secretly had a child in the 8 years since she left home. Who’s the husband? Did she really not come along with this tiny child she sent here?”

As Geon Hak looked at the child with a curious expression, tears quickly began to well up in the child’s large eyes.

The child’s lips began to quiver, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Geon Hak involuntarily flinched at the child’s appearance.

“What’s this? Why are you about to cry?”

“Waaahh!”

As expected, the child burst into tears.

Geon Hak looked down at the child with a slightly bewildered expression, not knowing the reason for her tears.

The way she cried, looking up at Geon Hak with a reddened face, resembled someone in a strange way.

A short breath escaped from Geon Hak’s lips in surprise.

Cha Seong Gu pushed Geon Hak aside and comforted the child crying sadly on the sofa.

“Our Ye Na, stop crying. Who made our Ye Na cry?”

“Hwaang.”

“Should grandfather punish them? You rascal!”

As Cha Seong Gu raised his hand and smacked Geon Hak on the back, Geon Hak looked at Cha Seong Gu with an incredulous expression. Even so, Ye Na’s crying did not easily stop.

As if Ye Na’s crying was too loud, Geon Hak narrowed his brows and glared fiercely at Ye Na, causing her to wail even louder.

“Hwaaaaang!”

“How can such a tiny child have such a loud cry?”

“Oh, this rascal! Why do you keep making the child cry? Manager Lee, Manager Lee!”

At Cha Seong Gu’s call, Manager Lee hurriedly entered.

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Send Mrs. Kim over here and tell her to make a snack for Ye Na to eat.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Manager Lee hurriedly left, Cha Seong Gu bent down to face Ye Na.

“Our Ye Na is a good girl, stop crying.”

Geon Hak, who was dumbfounded by the sight of his grandfather comforting with a gentle expression, crossed his arms and looked at Ye Na.

“At this rate, she’ll lose her voice. Alright, I was wrong. Stop crying now.”

At Geon Hak’s words, Ye Na, who had been crying with tears falling like chicken droppings, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked at Geon Hak.

Geon Hak also stared intently at Ye Na’s face.

“I know your name is Ye Na now. How old are you? Introduce yourself.”

“……”

Geon Hak asked Ye Na, but Ye Na kept her lips tightly sealed.

“Ha, you’re more stubborn than I thought. You’re not going to talk to me? That’s disappointing.”

With a knock on the door, Mrs. Kim entered. She then faced Ye Na sitting on the sofa.

“Ye Na, I’ll make you a delicious snack. Want to come with me?”

“……”

Mrs. Kim held out her hand to Ye Na, but Ye Na just stared blankly at Mrs. Kim, not moving, to the point of making those watching feel embarrassed.

Cha Seong Gu let out a deep sigh.

What are four adults doing gathered here now? Geon Hak spoke hurriedly.

“Let’s not do this and call my aunt. Don’t trouble Mrs. Kim unnecessarily. No matter how much you want to see your young grandchild, you shouldn’t have let such a young child come over alone from abroad. Quickly call my aunt and send her back.”

Cha Seong Gu gave a look to Manager Lee. He quickly picked up Ye Na sitting on the sofa and hurriedly left the reception room.

Clack. As the door closed, Cha Seong Gu’s voice flowed out.

“From now on, try not to bring up Mi Yeon in front of Ye Na. I’m doing this because we can’t send her back to America.”

“So what’s the situation? What kind of situation is making you do this?”

At Geon Hak’s question, a dark shadow appeared on Cha Seong Gu’s face.

There was deep worry on the face of his grandfather, who was always confident. As even his lips trembled, Geon Hak’s expression naturally hardened.

“Mi, Mi Yeon… died in a car accident 7 months ago.”

“……”

At Cha Seong Gu’s completely unexpected words, Geon Hak’s eyes shook.

At the news that she, who had abandoned her family name and left suddenly 8 years ago, had died, Geon Hak’s lips didn’t easily open.

“It’s, it’s all my fault…… Mi Yeon had the accident because of me. If I hadn’t opposed that marriage, Mi Yeon wouldn’t have had an accident abroad, and there would have been no reason for her to die like that.”

Geon Hak looked at his grandfather, who seemed deeply worried. His eyes, which normally never showed tears, gradually became wet.

“Then what about that child’s father? Where is he that you brought her here? Is it okay to just bring the child here as you please?”

“He’s someone who’s not in his right mind after suddenly losing Mi Yeon. What state of mind would someone be in who only told me the news long after sending Mi Yeon off? When I went to the house in America, I found the child being neglected. The house was in disarray, with electricity and water cut off. I couldn’t leave the child in that situation, so I decided to take care of her for a while.”

A deep sigh escaped from Geon Hak’s lips as well.

“Once Ye Na’s father finishes depression treatment and gets his mind in order, I plan to send her back then, so you should know that too.”

“I understand.”

I thought the atmosphere in the house was different from usual this morning, but now my curiosity has been resolved.

“Earlier it seemed like the child couldn’t speak properly.”

Cha Seong Gu plopped down heavily on the sofa where Ye Na had been sitting earlier and rubbed his face with his wrinkled hands.

“How could the grief of suddenly losing Mi Yeon have only affected Ye Na’s father? It must have been a big shock to five-year-old Ye Na too, because they say the child hasn’t been able to speak since Mi Yeon’s accident.”

“……”

“We already had her checked at the hospital, but there were no special findings. They said it’s due to emotional trauma that she’s closed her mouth, so you should embrace Ye Na well so she can adapt.”

Geon Hak nodded his head.

“I understand.”

Cha Mi Yeon had always been outgoing and easygoing.

She had a refreshing personality, so Geon Hak also got along well with her and liked her. The sudden news of her death pained Geon Hak’s heart as well.

* * *

Jae Yi looked at the box blocking the front door.

The package she had sent this morning had been returned.

Jae Yi looked at the box placed in front of the door, then slightly pushed it aside and pressed the door lock. Then she brought the boxes that were outside back into the house.

Jae Yi’s body collapsed straight onto the bed. Jae Yi raised her hands to cover her face.

“Now, what should I do from now on……”

Since he appeared before me once.

Now he would surely appear before me frequently.

Even though he had become a celebrity, Park Tae In acted as if nothing had changed.

He didn’t care about the eyes of those around him or others.

He was like that in the past too.

When he got fixated on something, he would act as he pleased without looking at what was beside him.

Was it now just a matter of time before he found her home?

If he found this space…

Jae Yi lowered the hands covering her face and sat up in bed.

Even if that happened, there was nowhere to run away to now.

There was no place left to avoid the two siblings.

“Hoo.”

A deep sigh naturally escaped from Jae Yi’s lips.

As the phone in her jacket pocket rang, she quickly checked it.

It was a message from Su Bin.

[Jae Yi, you went to the hospital, right? Make sure to go to the hospital since you got off work early. Then I’ll see you tomorrow.] [Yes. Thank you for your concern, Team Leader. See you tomorrow.]

Jae Yi sent the reply and put down the phone in her hand. Then she went back into the contacts list and looked at Cha Geon Hak’s number.

Earlier, Su Bin had asked the question Jae Yi wanted to ask, as if she found Director Kim Yong Su’s behavior strange.

‘By the way, how did the director know that Jae Yi wasn’t feeling well?’

He scratched his forehead awkwardly and said.

‘Executive orders.’

‘What?’

‘He said Han Joo In seemed very sick so send her home early. No, if Han Jae Yi is sick, she should tell me directly. Then I would have let her go home right away. Next time if you’re sick or something, tell me directly. Even though I may not look it, I care deeply about our team members.’

Jae Yi nodded her head with a faint smile on her lips.

As Su Bin returned to her seat first, Director Kim looked at Jae Yi with a face full of things he wanted to say.

‘Joo In. This is a personal question, but are you perhaps in some kind of relationship with the executive director?’

‘What? What do you mean…’

‘If I look carefully, it seems the executive director thinks of you particularly fondly. Perhaps, were you acquainted from before? If it’s something like that, you can give me a little hint. I’m actually very good at keeping secrets.’

Jae Yi shook her head.

‘No. I wasn’t acquainted with the executive director before.’

‘Then why does he care about you so much? He’s absolutely not the type to do that.’

As the image of Director Kim asking her earlier at the company came to mind, Jae Yi stared at Cha Geon Hak’s number saved in her phone and muttered.

“Today too… thank you. Executive Director.”

* * *

“Hwaaaang!”

At the sound of a child crying hysterically, Geon Hak bolted upright in bed.

The LED clock on the bedside table showed 3:20 AM.

Geon Hak roughly brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead and went out the door to find Ye Na crying in front of his bedroom.

“Why aren’t you sleeping and crying here?”

At Geon Hak’s low voice, the child began to cry even more sadly.

Ye Na’s cries must have been heard on the first floor too, as Sung Kyung came running up breathlessly and hugged the crying Ye Na, but the child’s cries did not stop.

“Ye Na, stop. Our Ye Na is a good girl, right?”

As Ye Na’s crying didn’t stop no matter how much she was comforted, Geon Hak pressed his temples firmly.

“Is she perhaps sick somewhere?”

“The chairman said it seems like night terrors in children, but it’s severe. The poor child must be under a lot of mental stress from such a big shock.”

Geon Hak furrowed his brow and looked at the hysterically crying Ye Na.

As Mrs. Kim, who had recently sprained her leg as well, looked strained trying to comfort the child while holding her, Geon Hak took the child in his arms instead.

“Oh my, our executive director is holding a child for the first time but doing it so well.”

“Mrs. Kim, you must be tired, so go down and rest now.”

“Oh my, executive director, you must be even more tired, what are you saying?”

“I wasn’t able to sleep anyway, so this is fine. I’m alright, so please go down now.”

As Sung Kyung still didn’t seem to want to go down, Geon Hak entered his room first, holding Ye Na in his arms.

Perhaps Geon Hak’s embrace was stable, as Ye Na’s cries gradually subsided.

Geon Hak sat on the sofa and began to slowly pat Ye Na’s back.

This was the first time since Han Jae Yi that he had comforted someone like this with his own hands.

With Geon Hak’s patting, Ye Na’s crying slowly stopped, and soon Ye Na fell asleep in Geon Hak’s arms, making soft breathing sounds.

“She looks cute when sleeping.”

Finding the chubby, flushed cheeks cute, Geon Hak reached out and tapped the child’s soft cheek with his finger.

At that moment, Han Jae Yi came to mind.

‘If you don’t like me, don’t be nice to me, Executive Director.’

Why did she come to mind?

The image of Han Jae Yi looking at him with tears welling up naturally overlapped. Geon Hak leaned his head against the sofa headrest and closed his eyes tightly.

“I guess I must have had a different reason after all.”

So that’s why you come to mind again, Han Jae Yi.