Seo Jun’s confidence did not lose to Won Hoo.

His tone was as relaxed as if lying on the floor with one foot propping up his head.

“Well. At least I won’t have anything to be responsible for like someone else? My goodness, what has that father figure been doing all this time until the child turned 4 years old.”

“……”

On that point, there was nothing to say even with ten mouths.

It was then that Seo Jun, pressing his lips into a thin line, was twirling the crystal glass.

Director Yoon Ji Wan, who had been staring out the window with a clear view of the North Han River, slowly opened his mouth.

“Even without the child, Ms. Eom So Yeon would not have been able to forget Tae Seo Jun. There’s a type of person like that from the beginning. Like a baby duck following only the first mother it sees. That was my first impression of Ms. Eom So Yeon.”

The day Director Yoon Ji Wan first saw Eom So Yeon, an aspiring actress, Seo Jun and So Yeon also met for the first time. Even if he didn’t know that much, Director Yoon, knowing it was around the same time, summoned Eom So Yeon’s old image from the audition room to this place.

“I felt I absolutely couldn’t give her a worn-out role. Her shining appearance was so pure and clean that it was captivating at first sight. The reason I mercilessly rejected her at the audition with harsh words was because I was afraid my initial resolve not to mix personal feelings in casting an actress would waver. But when I met Ms. Eom So Yeon again in this drama, I noticed her eyes had changed quite a bit. There was a mature beauty that transcended life’s hardships, a strong will to live that was deeply felt.”

“Oh my, you were completely smitten. Twice, even.”

As soon as Director Yoon finished speaking, Won Hoo chimed in. It was intended to tease Tae Seo Jun, who still maintained his loftiness despite having made a woman an unwed mother.

“What does that matter? She was already busy loving one man earnestly.”

“Gasp! You knew that from the beginning of drama production?”

“That’s why people’s intuition is scary. Anyway, I’ve decided to become a fan of Ms. Eom So Yeon now. In that sense, I plan to pour my heart and soul into this upcoming movie where So Yeon will star for the first time, staking everything I have.”

It was literally true.

The female lead for Director Yoon’s next work was set to be Eom So Yeon. The contract had already been signed. Thus, to Yoon Ji Wan, Eom So Yeon was the muse of his work and a pleasant memory he could easily recall anytime.

But was it untimely jealousy? Seo Jun casually threw out a playful threat.

“Aren’t you being too greedy for my woman? If you’re doing this out of personal interest, we might have to cancel this contract.”

Tae Seo Jun is also participating in Director Yoon’s next work. In other words, Tae Seo Jun took the male lead role in the movie where Eom So Yeon got her first leading role.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do that?”

“Ah, that’s right. Let’s consider what I just said a mistake.”

Seo Jun, retracting his words, smiled with a slight chuckle.

It was unprecedented for Tae Seo Jun to lower his tail. He wouldn’t be trembling over the issue of triple the penalty fee, so what could have made him take such a submissive stance?

In fact, there was a separate reason for this.

The stubborn Eom So Yeon would try to finish Director Yoon Ji Wan’s work no matter what anyone says. Knowing how much she has become known to the world thanks to whom, she’s the type of person who would try to keep that loyalty even if the sky falls.

Therefore, since the genre of Director Yoon’s next work is romantic fantasy, wouldn’t the intimate scenes between men and women be inseparable? Knowing this, Tae Seo Jun, who couldn’t stay still, personally stepped up to take on the male lead role.

“If you mention the contract one more time, I’ll take it that you’re giving up on the male lead.”

Perhaps because of this, Director Yoon’s voice grew a bit louder. He knew that Tae Seo Jun extremely disliked Eom So Yeon having contact with other male actors.

“Who’s saying anything? Can’t you see I’m keeping my mouth shut?”

As Director Yoon came on strong, Seo Jun lowered himself once again.

Is this even possible? Anyway, Won Hoo, finding Tae Seo Jun’s flustered attitude strange, poured alcohol into the empty glasses and proposed a toast to everyone.

“Come on, let’s stop talking about uninteresting things and drink more!”

The clear and cheerful sound of crystal glasses clinking together rang out.

Thus, the three men continued to tilt their glasses, using pleasant conversation as a side dish, until the dawn began to break faintly.

Leaving all the attendants at the hotel, Chairman Tae and his wife moved to the Shaughnessy Heights area of Vancouver, accompanied only by Secretary Kang.

Tae Seok Ho and Cha Yeo Jin, who got out of the gray sedan, stood in front of the entrance of Professor Eom’s mansion, passing through the elegant arched portico.

As if waiting for the two, the front door opened with barely a moment’s delay.

“Oh my, you’ve arrived.”

Professor Eom and his wife, who greeted Chairman Tae and his wife with a polite greeting, guided the guests into the house.

“Professor Eom, you’re still the same. Haha.”

“How can I compare to you, Chairman? When I saw you at the Toronto event recently, you looked very good, but now you seem even younger.”

“Isn’t this all thanks to Professor Eom? Let’s sit down first.”

Exchanging cheerful laughter and conversation, the two couples moved to the reception room and sat on the sofa, and a maid who came out from the kitchen placed tea and refreshments on the table.

As mentioned earlier, it had been 5 years since Tae Seok Ho and Eom Eun Hyuk last met in Toronto.

The two men, who had so much to talk about after such a long time, were already engaged in a heated discussion before they knew it. Meanwhile, the two ladies created a gradually warm atmosphere with talk about their children while sipping fragrant tea.

“We have something in common too.”

“Hoho, that’s right. I have three daughters, and you, Mrs. Cha, have three sons.”

Cha Yeo Jin and Jo Yeon Hee had been in this kind of situation a few times long ago. However, as they weren’t as close as their husbands, they treated each other with cautious smiles.

“Oh my, what a connection. How could I have known that Tae Seo Jun, who co-starred with our So Yeon, was Mrs. Cha’s son? I was really surprised.”

Is that the only connection?

There’s already a child between their children.

But Cha Yeo Jin held back her words. It seemed Mrs. Jo still didn’t know anything about the child’s father. So it was awkward to bring up the main point prematurely.

Tae Seok Ho also couldn’t touch on the core issue for the same reason. He just kept glancing around the reception room, hoping the child wouldn’t suddenly appear out of nowhere.

“I saw your daughter once when she was a baby, didn’t I? I was even more surprised that that baby had grown up to be so pretty.”

Yeo Jin conveyed her sincere feelings with a calm tone, contrary to her impatient inner thoughts. It was based on a desire to apologize on behalf of her son, who had been irresponsible regardless of the reason.

“Oh my, you’re too kind. Though he’s a man, if we’re talking about beauty, your youngest son is much more splendid. Anyway, he’s so handsome and good-looking that our So Yeon was barely noticeable because of your son.”

Yeon Hee burst into a bright smile. There’s nothing better than praising one’s children. And it was the same for Yeo Jin.

“What’s the use of just looks? He’s been a disobedient son since childhood.”

“Aren’t all children like that? I’m just grateful if they live healthily without getting sick.”

“By the way, I don’t see the child?”

Although Yeo Jin had firmly told Seok Ho that she couldn’t agree to discussing marriage when they didn’t even know with what intention Eom So Yeon had given birth to the child, she couldn’t help being very curious about her grandchild.

“You mean our Hyun Woo?”

“……”

Yeo Jin, who had just learned the child’s name from context, nodded.

“It should be time for him to return from kindergarten soon, but just a moment.”

Yeon Hee approached the male servant standing at the back of the reception room and made a gentle request. To send a car to the kindergarten and bring the child quickly.

Just then, as Professor Eom also left his seat for a moment, Tae Seok Ho took the opportunity to wink at his wife and whisper:

“You seem very curious about that child too, but you should brace yourself. The real thing is even more breathtakingly pretty than the photos.”

However, Yeo Jin countered Seok Ho’s advice with unwavering eyes.

“I came this far because of your incessant nagging about the grandchild, but anything beyond this is out of the question!”

About 10 minutes passed.

Perhaps because she was somewhat excited and thrilled by the visit of Chairman Tae and his wife, before showing Hyun Woo, Yeon Hee candidly brought up a story she had never revealed before.

“As you know, our Hyun Woo doesn’t have a father. My daughter said he died in an accident, so I thought that was the case, but recently she said that wasn’t true either. Anyway, it seems that guy thought of my daughter as just a passing acquaintance, but it wasn’t like that for our So Yeon. It was upsetting, but what could I do? Even if she was immature, she’s my daughter, so I had to embrace her.”

“……”

Saying the child’s father who was perfectly alive had died means she intended to raise the child alone till the end, doesn’t it? Then it means she had no intention of meeting our Seo Jun again…

The garden was visible through the large window. Yeo Jin, who cast her gaze in that direction, took a sip of tea and quietly stretched the corners of her lips. It was an elegant smile, but with complex emotions.

“She almost died when giving birth. Our So Yeon’s blood type is Rh−AB, and there was so much bleeding that it was difficult to find that much blood. Fortunately, my husband has the same blood type… But isn’t transfusion from relatives dangerous? So I was so worried until the child recovered. Still, because the child’s father is a doctor, we were able to safely overcome that crisis with appropriate measures.”

“Oh my……”

The father saved his daughter, whose life was in peril, with his blood, and the daughter, drifting in and out of consciousness, held on with willpower and never gave up on the baby.

How desperate must have been the heart watching this scene? How agonizing must that heart-wrenching feeling have been? It must have been a pain where the heart was squeezed to the point that the internal organs turned black and the bones melted.

Yeo Jin couldn’t help but empathize as she listened to Yeon Hee’s difficult situation.

“I felt something similar when my husband had heart surgery, but how hard must it have been for Mrs. Jo in a situation where the lives of your child and grandchild were hanging in the balance.”

Yeo Jin’s eyes, fully understanding Yeon Hee’s feelings, had already become moist.

“It’s beyond words. But you should have seen how happy our So Yeon was when she first saw Hyun Woo born after all that hardship. She smiled so brightly without a care in the world, it broke my heart.”

“Then, why didn’t you let the mother raise the child…”

“I’m a mother too. How could I not understand the heart of my daughter who didn’t want to be apart from her child for even a moment? But I couldn’t agree with So Yeon giving up her life as a woman and her dreams. So I forcibly sent her back to Korea.”

“Ah… I see.”

Not only Yeo Jin but even the husbands who were listening to the wives’ conversation had somber expressions at Yeon Hee’s detailed story.

“Then, do you plan to keep the child?”

“He’s not a nursing infant anymore, so I should send him to my daughter. But before that, there’s someone who must see him, so I’m keeping the child.”

“By someone, you mean…”

“Who else could it be but that guy, the child’s father? I’d like to curse him out to feel better, but I can’t because of Hyun Woo. Anyway, I thought he was dead because she said so, but recently my daughter said she had been lying all this time. I was really dumbfounded! So I told her that if the two of them don’t come together, she won’t be able to see Hyun Woo.”

“Then do you want them to get back together?”

“Not at all. We can take good care of the child ourselves. It’s just that that rotten guy should know at least some of what So Yeon went through, shouldn’t he? If he’s such a bad guy that he turns a blind eye even to that, then there’s no need to consider him Hyun Woo’s father anymore. What worries me now is that when we left Korea, I spoke too harshly and So Yeon just kept crying, perhaps hurt. Whenever I think of that scene, my heart aches.”

“Ah, I see…”

Oh, what a headache…

Even if he didn’t know, from So Yeon’s parents’ perspective, he’s a guy who just planted his seed and walked away, so they might not be satisfied even if they cursed him worse, but the problem is that ‘rotten guy’ is my son, isn’t it? The repeated phrase ‘that guy’ grates on her ears, but Yeo Jin found her position, unable to say anything, very awkward.

Still, Yeo Jin gathered her thoughts and barely managed to offer words of comfort.

“As parents, worrying about our children is endless. Won’t your daughter someday understand Mrs. Jo’s feelings like this?”

“If she does, I couldn’t ask for more.”

It was just as Yeon Hee finished speaking and sighed.

“Grandma, Grandpa!”

Suddenly, it seemed as if a dazzling light had fallen over the reception room. And soon after, a little child who had run in from the entrance jumped into Yeon Hee’s arms.

“Hyunwoo is back from kindergarten.”

“Oh, Hyun Woo!”

The child’s black hair, softly rubbing against Yeon Hee’s skirt, and the round eyes, which seemed to have grown larger in awareness of the unfamiliar people, were unusually dark.

“!”

Yeo Jin’s eyes, fixed on Hyun Woo, shook greatly. It was because the child’s appearance seemed to be an exact copy of Tae Seo Jun’s childhood.

“Did Grandma say to bring Hyunwoo back quickly because she missed me?”

“Of course! Grandma always misses Hyun Woo!”

“Hehehe, me too!”

Above all, the child’s clear laughter and bright expression that shattered like sunshine were so identical to Seo Jun’s.

So, was it a shock?

“…!”

Yeo Jin, with her gaze fixed on the cotton-like child, couldn’t even blink.