Whenever he recalled the last moment he faced her, Jaehun couldn’t help but escape through alcohol.

“I didn’t know you hated working so much.”

“Ah…”

“I’m sorry you had a hard time because of a boss who treated you like a dog.”

“…”

“I’m sorry if I made you drag on for so long. Your teeth must have chattered.”

“…No, it’s not like that.”

Injecting words like a dagger into Lajin, who bowed her head in silence, he continued.

“People who can’t do their jobs properly and just expect to receive their salaries every month.”

“…”

“You’ll know. That’s the category I despise the most.”

“…Yes.”

“I didn’t know my secretary was included in that.”

“…I’m sorry.”

When he recalled the scene of Lajin bowing deeply with her shoulders trembling, he couldn’t stay in his right mind.

“Sorry? Are you trying to console yourself with those words?”

“…I have no excuse.”

“Leave.”

“…Yes, Director.”

“Disappointing.”

Each time he reached that point, Jaehun pounded his chest with his fist to the point of bruising, self-blaming.

Whenever he remembered Lajin leaving the office with sagging shoulders, his heart felt a painful ache.

But compared to the words she spat out upon meeting again, it was nothing.

“I won’t appear in front of you again.”

Thinking of those words, he felt a strong pressure on his heart again.

“Director? Director!”

Suddenly turning pale, Jaehun grabbed his left chest tightly and breathed heavily.

“Ha, ha…”

“Director, are you okay?”

Rushing over urgently, Lajin held his left arm. Her face, close to his, looked worried.

When Jaehun and Lajin made eye contact, his black pupils quivered.

And it was the face of the woman he loved.

Being away from her, Jaehun realized.

That he loved her deeply.

No one else would be able to love someone so deeply.

In this moment, Jaehun remembered Seonok’s words, to be honest about his feelings without adding or subtracting.

“I regretted it.”

“….!”

“Every time I opened and closed my eyes, I regretted it. I didn’t mean to say that to you like that. You should have acted so that you could rely on and trust me.”

Would she have run away without telling him if she had become pregnant with his child?

“I was wrong.”

Lajin’s gentle pupils shook finely.

“You can curse me, trample on me. Hate me and resent me… just stay by my side.”

Jaehun tightly grasped her shoulders and bowed deeply.

“I was wrong… Please don’t leave, please…”

At the faintly trembling and earnest voice, Lajin bit her lower lip.
Jaehun collapsing in such a manner was unprecedented. A person who had been as solid as a mountain in any situation, unshakable, was now bowing his head and pleading for her not to leave.

“I love you.”

In that moment, Lajin’s world came to a halt.

“I love you, Lajin.”

Her long eyelashes blinked slowly. What kind of words did I just hear?

“I realized it clearly after you left. It’s not because you’re a capable secretary, not because of the contract we made due to insomnia, but because I love the person named Lajin.”

Ah…

Lajin learned that when a person is too surprised, they can’t react at all.

“Everything I have means nothing if you’re not by my side.”

“I… I…”

Caught off guard by the sudden confession, Lajin could only part her lips and couldn’t continue speaking.

“I won’t ask you to say you love me. Just stay by my side. That’s all I ask. That’s all I want.”

It was a moment she hadn’t even dreamed of.

Jaehun falling in love with her was something she thought would never happen in her lifetime. She had believed that her destiny was to live, missing him from a distance.

“How… How can you say such things…”

Her words, barely uttered, were mixed with a sob.

“How… can you say such things…”

Seeing Lajin shedding tears, Jaehun’s expression crumbled as if the ground beneath him had collapsed.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m such an idiot who can only say these things, but still, please look at me. Huh? I’ll do better from now on. I’ll try my best so that you’ll like me, Lajin…”

“How can I… How can I think of giving birth to and raising the child of a man I don’t even love.”

His black pupils expanded as wide as the universe.

“What did you just say…”

“Continuously, all along, I’ve been loving Director… I’ve been loving Mr. Jaehun since a long time ago.”

He couldn’t figure out what expression to make.

He just wanted to embrace Lajin. He wanted to hold her tightly in his arms, inhale her fragrance to his heart’s content, and confess his feelings.

But he couldn’t do as he pleased. She was carrying his child right now.

“May I… hug you?”

Whether it was a question, a request, or a plea, in a low voice that was hard to discern, Lajin nodded her head.

Jaehun opened his arms and cautiously embraced her. As soon as he pulled her a little closer, his hard abdomen touched her swollen belly.

In an instant, a movement occurred. It was a significant motion, large enough for Jaehun to feel.

“It seems like the baby is responding to Dad.”

Lajin grabbed Jaehun’s hand and placed it on her belly.

As the baby lightly kicked his palm, he froze.

“Is this…?”

“It’s a fetal movement. Is our strong baby healthy?”

“Strong baby…”

He thought of their baby’s nickname as ‘Strong Baby.’ As he thought of it, his palm was touched again.

The baby was making its presence known. To its dad.