The dining table was laden with soft, easy-to-eat foods in the morning.

“Um, if I eat this, can I go home?”

“No.”

“Are you planning to keep me captive in your house and raise me like a pet, sir?”

“I’m taming you. A stubborn, disobedient child.”

“…”

Yesterday, he treated her like a criminal, and today, like a child.

Still, it was better than being treated as a criminal. It seemed his mood had improved that much. Relieved by this, So Yeon ate her food diligently again without a word.

Last night, Seo Jun had to go out briefly. When he left the house without a word, So Yeon had considered going to Dogok-dong. However, leaving this place without resolving anything would only anger him further, wouldn’t it?

Pondering this point, So Yeon eventually succumbed to overwhelming drowsiness and burrowed into the bed covers as if surrendering. However, feeling uncomfortable continuing to use Seo Jun’s master bedroom, she slept in the next room.

Then, just past midnight, Seo Jun entered the guest room in his suit to check that So Yeon was asleep. Sighing with relief, he turned around. Afterward, he changed into pajamas, returned, and lay down next to So Yeon.

From then on, her rapidly pounding heart bothered So Yeon. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at Seo Jun endlessly. His sleeping expression and handsomeness were exactly like Hyun Woo’s. So Yeon stared at him, losing track of time, and eventually closed her eyes.

That was how morning came, and the atmosphere between Seo Jun and So Yeon, who woke up in the same bed, went from rough and rigid like a cold wind to soft and tender.

The silence remained, but after finishing breakfast in a relatively pleasant atmosphere, Seo Jun instructed the helper who brought the tea to leave for the day.

It had become a time that neither of them could avoid.

Seo Jun not asking meant So Yeon should confess on her own. Aware of this, So Yeon carefully parted her lips.

“After I found out I was pregnant, I tried to find you, sir. But I couldn’t. You had enlisted.”

“Hmm…”

As So Yeon began her story, Seo Jun quietly exhaled, clasped his hands together, and assumed a listening posture.

“A military doctor has to serve for over three years, so I gave up. But I couldn’t give up on the baby. A precious life had come to me, and all I could think was that I had to give birth and raise the child well. Of course, it was my first time, and I was scared to make this choice alone without you, sir. But if you set your mind to it, nothing is impossible.”

“Then why didn’t you think to contact me with that determination?”

Seo Jun’s voice was low and subdued after a long time. However, his calm, dark eyes actually held anger that would explode with the slightest provocation.

Unaware of this, So Yeon spoke more candidly.

“You, who were everything for just one night. Moreover, could you have thrown away your entire life for a soldier who couldn’t move freely, for a woman you didn’t want or care for, just because she was pregnant? Or would you have provided sufficient material compensation? No. I didn’t want to live as a parasite. I didn’t want to make my choice seem pitiful.”

“Quite a plausible excuse.”

His response was short compared to So Yeon’s. Seo Jun, with a wry smile on his neat lips, clenched his fingers deep into his palms. At the same time, thick veins protruded on the back of his hands and wrists with the force applied.

“When we met again on the company rooftop, I really couldn’t tell you. Although we were strangers, you had become even more of a stranger after years passed. You were the sun that I could never reach or touch no matter how much I tried.”

“Strangers? There’s clear evidence that’s not the case, and you say that?”

“It’s the truth.”

“Eom So Yeon! What’s the truth! You should have told me. You should have come to me no matter what and told me about the child.”

As Seo Jun pressed down on So Yeon with his deep, low voice, her trembling lips immediately let out a highly agitated voice.

“How could I do that! I shouldn’t have!”

“Why shouldn’t you have? Who said you couldn’t? You thought on your own and shut your mouth, covering everything up! There were many chances to tell the truth even after we met again. In the company practice room, in the car taking you home, at my villa, on the plane, in Spain. But you were only focused on hiding that enormous fact.”

As Seo Jun spoke furiously, So Yeon also fought back. With that, their conversation suddenly escalated into a tense argument.

“I can’t do it without Hyun Woo! He’s my only lifeline, so how could I easily bring up that matter!”

“So, you did well by keeping your mouth shut as you pleased?”

“I didn’t want to burden you! I didn’t want to forcefully insert a child between us!”

“Forcefully? Does that make sense? I also have the right to raise my child.”

My child? The right to raise? Saying that so easily when he didn’t know until now?

Ha, I knew it! That’s why this man…

“What do you mean? Are you saying you might take the child away from me?”

So Yeon had considered raising the child as solely her responsibility. Out of premature fear, she couldn’t help but interpret his words sensitively.

“Don’t exaggerate! What were you thinking with that tiny brain of yours, Eom So Yeon!”

The furious voice clawed at So Yeon’s hearing fiercely.

It was something she had worried about countless times. What would happen if things turned out this way? What if Hyun Woo was rejected by his father, or if he tried to take the child away? Even briefly imagining it was a terrible thought.

That fear seemed to pierce her heart like a dagger. The pain spilled over So Yeon’s frowning face. Her screaming voice also sounded excruciatingly painful.

“No! How can I live without Hyun Woo! That can never happen! Never…”

A member of a family with immense wealth and someone who had it all. This was just the first line of his illustrious background.

If it became known to the world that there was a child between Tae Seo Jun and her, it would be a trivial matter for Tae Seo Jun, like a speck of dust on his well-polished shoes.

However, she, who had essentially stolen and hidden what was his, would have to endure an endless fall, and that was the natural order.

But who would… my child…

After such anguish, So Yeon calmly explained that she couldn’t say it.

But Seo Jun chewed out each word with an even colder expression.

“I would have delayed my enlistment. No, even after enlisting, I would have returned from the deployment site as soon as possible to be by your side. I would have been with the child being born. No matter how unexpected, I would have done my part! If I had known that fact, I definitely would have! But you, resorting to living as a parasite? Strangers? A burden? Forcefully? How far are you going to push me into being trash, woman?”

Seo Jun’s thick eyebrows shot up sharply.

Eom So Yeon’s man.

Not knowing who the child’s father was, I cursed, hated, and was even jealous of that bastard!

Not knowing that scumbag was me, like a fool.

Seo Jun got up from his seat and approached So Yeon step by step, speaking. Pushed by his intense momentum, So Yeon’s back pressed tightly against the chair.

“So how fun was it for you, Eom So Yeon? Me acting up ignorantly, me fidgeting around you, desperate to have you but unable to… it must have been quite a spectacle.”

“Don’t say that! How could I…”

How could I make fun of you! Just looking at you makes my heart race and feel so good. I was afraid of tainting you, unable to even step on Tae Seo Jun’s shadow…

“No, you did. You thoroughly ignored me!”

Seo Jun grabbed her with one hand.

Her slender arm that looked like it would snap with just a little force.

His long fingers, filled with intense emotions beyond love and hate, dug harshly into her delicate skin. However, rather than her tightly gripped arm, his gaze looking down on her with contempt hurt So Yeon more to the bone.

The more he liked her, the greater his sense of betrayal. This man might have no intention of forgiving me at all.

Even her sincerity that she hadn’t forgotten him for a single day while the child was conceived, born, and growing up seemed useless now. So there was no other option. Other than doing her best to explain her situation and plead.

Holding back the tears that nearly burst out, So Yeon calmly cleared her throat and spoke.

“Mom took Hyun Woo back to Canada. She said if I want to raise the child in Korea, I should come with you. She also said I can’t introduce you as the child’s father unless we get together because it might hurt Hyun Woo. I think she said that out of a desire for us to become a family.”

“Then does Eom So Yeon also wish for that?”

When Seo Jun asked with a cynical gesture, brushing his bangs aside with a dry expression, So Yeon hesitated for a moment. She wanted to say yes, but it wasn’t easy to say those shameless words out loud.

“How far are you willing to go for us, sir?”

When she asked about his intentions, Seo Jun let out a low scoff. Because of himself, who had to make a choice regarding his own child whom he hadn’t even met yet, and because of her, who only thought of the child until the end.

“Why don’t you just say you want me instead? Why don’t you say you desperately need me as your man, as the child’s father? Then it would be fine, so why can’t you say that!”

He wished she had yelled at him to take responsibility now. He wanted her to at least pour out the contempt and resentment she couldn’t express to others for enduring alone. But this woman was a foolish idiot who couldn’t even voice a small complaint.

Seo Jun lifted So Yeon’s lowered chin.

“Eom So Yeon is stubborn and even arrogant. Despite not having done anything well, you never admit defeat.”

“Then should I kneel? Should I beg and plead? Will that do it?”

Now that she thought about it, it felt a bit unfair. The child wasn’t made by her alone, and it was heartbreaking that he was only reprimanding her coldly like a snowman.

“Who said to…”

Seo Jun stopped mid-sentence because tears were rapidly welling up in her large eyes.

It was a quiet moment after a big collision.

Revealing her sorrow in her glistening eyes, So Yeon finally recited what she had never been able to say to anyone in a soft voice.

“Suddenly, a baby came. At that time, I only had one choice. You were gone, and I had to become a mother alone. With my parents’ help, I gave birth to the child. I was so happy but sad, and the baby was so, so pretty but pitiful. How could I make my child even more miserable…”

The teardrops gathered in her large eyes burst and flowed down.

“I couldn’t do that. I had to become strong so that no one could treat my child carelessly. If I didn’t have this stubbornness, how could I have endured that process? I probably…”

The tears on her lips soon dripped down her chin, and her chest heaved endlessly with overflowing sorrow, soaking it.

“Sob…”

“Don’t cry.”

Seo Jun’s dark eyes looking down at So Yeon’s crying face seemed complex. As her tears turned into thicker streams, he spoke again.

“Don’t cry, Eom So Yeon.”

The more she cried, the more his heart burned up. It was driving him crazy. His aching heart seemed to reproach himself.

Asking if he had no choice but to make her cry, let alone embrace her who had endured difficult times and a thorny path. Asking if he, who had neglected his woman and child, even if unknowingly, had the right to make this woman cry.

Before he knew it, Seo Jun was wiping So Yeon’s face with both hands.

Perhaps because his touch was so gentle, So Yeon started sobbing again. Seeing her crying even more pitifully than before, Seo Jun’s heart ached even deeper.

“You hate me. But then why are you wiping my tears… Sob…”

So Yeon mumbled in a voice muffled by crying. Seo Jun chuckled, finding it a bit cute and funny.

“You think I hate you?”

“Of course… I hate myself too… So how much more would you hate me?”

Crying, talking, and even nodding her head. So Yeon, busy doing multiple things at once, seemed unaware.

That Seo Jun was looking down at her with a burning gaze.

“I hate you so much.”

“That’s what I’m saying. As much as you hate me…!”

Seo Jun quickly lowered his head and captured her wet lips.

As Seo Jun lightly lifted So Yeon’s body while kissing her, her legs naturally wrapped around his waist. Then, Seo Jun began to pour out even more passionate and deeper kisses without hesitation.

I hate you so much, but you’re also driving me crazy with how lovable you are.

Because there was no other woman in the world who shook him up so wildly like this.