After seeing Ji-Heon off, Jin-Seo returned to the conference room and spoke to Team Leader Mi-Ran.
“I’m back. The meeting fell through.”
“What did the Director say?”
“He said he has things to do today and to see him tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
Contrary to Jin-Seo’s expectations, Mi-Ran looked relieved.
“The AE gave me a rough idea of the research results, and there are parts we missed. So, we’ll need to put our heads together a bit more. Let’s do our best until tomorrow morning.”
There were definitely parts that needed supplementing.
*Sigh.* Jin-Seo let out a sigh as well.
If she hadn’t stopped Ji-Heon from leaving the company, she could have ended up in a difficult position with both sides.
Only after she felt relieved could she go back to thinking about what had happened in his office just moments ago.
“Oh? Assistant Manager, are you sick?”
Gihun asked as he walked by, noticing Jin-Seo’s complexion.
“Oh? No. Why?”
“Your face is red. It looks like you have a fever.”
“No, it’s just that the conference room is a bit hot.”
Jin-Seo made a vague excuse.
*
Ji-Heon drove Seung-Gyu to his house.
“Aigoo. I should be the one driving. Our Director, who usually has a driver, is personally driving his car to visit my humble home. I’m so honored, truly honored.”
Happy that his friend had kept the promise he made three weeks ago, Seung-Gyu kept flattering Ji-Heon throughout the ride.
Despite Seung-Gyu’s sweet talk, Ji-Heon didn’t react much. In truth, he was nervous. He had never spent time playing with children. He didn’t even know how to hold a conversation with them.
If he could escape even now, he would have run back to the company. The expression Jin-Seo had shown him before he left the office was still vivid in his mind.
“I can just show my face to the kids and leave, right?”
“Why? Are you busy?”
“I don’t know how to handle kids, so it’s a bit burdensome.”
“Hey, there’s no rulebook for seeing kids.”
“Still, I can’t play with them as well as you do.”
“What do you mean, play well? You just watch them from the side. Smile to meet them at their eye level. Move your body a little.”
“Move my body…”
“I don’t mean dance and sing, but anyway, being with kids makes you move your body a lot. It’ll be a good experience. You’ll be a father someday, too.”
When Ji-Heon winced, Seung-Gyu noticed and asked, “Why?”
“No. My head hurts a little.”
“…”
“It’s fine now. It just happened for a second.”
Ji-Heon answered as if it were nothing.
The car, having sped through the road without traffic, reached the apartment complex—a place not far from where Jin-Seo lived. Thinking of Jin-Seo once more, Ji-Heon walked along with Seung-Gyu.
“Dad’s home!”
As Seung-Gyu opened the front door and shouted, his lovely children came running.
“Daddy!”
Seung-Gyu lifted his daughter, Do-Yun, into his arms and patted Do-Bin. A few steps away, Ye-Na was also visible. Wearing a cute red outfit, Ye-Na looked like a little Santa.
“Ye-Na is here too.”
“Hello.”
Ye-Na greeted Seung-Gyu.
Ji-Heon cast his gaze toward Ye-Na as well. Her pretty face seemed to have become even prettier in the time he hadn’t seen her.
Seung-Gyu pulled Ji-Heon’s arm and said to the children, “Kids, you should say hello to the uncle, too.”
“Hello, Uncle!”
Do-Bin greeted him playfully, almost shouting. Ye-Na also greeted him with sparkling eyes.
“Hello.”
“Yes. Hello.”
Ji-Heon returned Ye-Na’s greeting with an awkward smile.
Jin-Seo also came out of the kitchen to welcome Ji-Heon. For some reason, Jin-Seo’s complexion was exceptionally pale today.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Ji-Heon.”
“Yes. Pardon the intrusion.”
“No, the intrusion is on our part, asking you to come over when you must be busy. You haven’t had dinner, right? Please wait just a moment.”
Jin-Seo only showed her face briefly before rushing back to the kitchen.
Knowing she would be busy enough just looking after the children, Ji-Heon felt unnecessarily sorry, thinking of how she must have hurried around due to the sense of obligation to treat a guest.
Ye-Na, who had been standing blankly, tugged at Ji-Heon’s clothes. Ji-Heon lowered his head. Ye-Na was looking up at him with bright, alert eyes.
“I’ve been waiting.”
Ji-Heon was surprised by the child’s words. Three weeks is a long time for children; what was it like to count down those long days? They had only spent a few minutes together three weeks ago.
*Were those few minutes with me really worth that much to the child?*
Regardless, he was grateful she remembered.
Ji-Heon was led away by Ye-Na as she tugged on his pants. A Go board was already set up on the living room table. Ye-Na sat in front of the black stones and blinked her eyes. It meant for him to sit across from her.
The reason she had been waiting for him was clear. She wanted to resume the Go game from long ago.
When Ji-Heon sat down, the child opened the bowls for the black and white stones and placed them on the board one by one.
Ji-Heon watched quietly to see what she was doing. His eyes widened as he confirmed the moves being laid out on the board.
It was the exact record of the game from three weeks ago. His hair stood on end and his head tingled.
“You remembered all of that?”
The child nodded instead of answering. The way her eyes scanned the board was quite prudent. Ji-Heon thought the child might become a Go player.
“From here. We can start from here.”
Having recalled the entire game from three weeks ago, Ye-Na said to Ji-Heon. It was his turn.
When Ji-Heon placed a stone, the child smiled slightly, as if she had anticipated the spot, and placed her move right next to it.
After a few moves were exchanged, Ji-Heon became quite absorbed.
Had the child been studying by reviewing this game? He thought that he might actually lose. The child had certainly improved tremendously compared to three weeks ago.
“Ye-Na, are you going to win or lose?”
“I don’t know yet.”
To the question from Do-Bin, who was watching with vacant eyes, Ye-Na answered in a mature tone.
“Wow! What if Uncle loses?”
Do-Bin asked seriously. It was a trivial question, but it sounded like he was teasing him.
A strange stubbornness took hold. *I didn’t come all this way just to lose a game like this.*
Ji-Heon played several moves without mercy.
When Ji-Heon came out aggressively, Ye-Na flinched. The last two moves seemed to be something she hadn’t anticipated. While Ye-Na bowed her head deep to stare intently at the board, Ji-Heon felt an itch in his heart.
At that moment.
*Thump.*
“Do-Bin’s mom! Honey!”
There was a sound of something falling in the kitchen, followed by Seung-Gyu’s shout.
Ji-Heon also stood up and headed to the kitchen.
“Honey!”
Jin-Seo had collapsed.
He had wondered why her face looked so pale—she had lost consciousness while working in the kitchen.
“Mom!”
Do-Bin screamed in shock. Ji-Heon hurriedly held Do-Bin back as he tried to run to his mother.
Seung-Gyu laid Jin-Seo down and checked her pulse and pupils. Her lips were blue, but her breathing was fine.
“I’ll call an ambulance.”
While Seung-Gyu checked Jin-Seo’s condition, Ji-Heon called 119. Seung-Gyu’s face was turning as pale as Jin-Seo’s.
Fortunately, the paramedics arrived quickly.
As Seung-Gyu left with the unconscious Jin-Seo, he said to Ji-Heon, “Ji-Heon, I’m truly sorry. Please look after the kids for a moment.”
“Don’t worry and go quickly.”
Ji-Heon sent Seung-Gyu off, praying it was nothing serious.
As soon as they left, the young Do-Yun burst into tears.
“Mom, Mom…”
She was at an age where it was difficult to be separated from her parents. At the sound of her sorrowful voice calling for her mother, Ji-Heon picked up Do-Yun.
“Mom…”
He kept patting the child while holding her, but the crying didn’t stop. It was an incredibly shocking situation for Ji-Heon as well, but he knew that if he didn’t show composure, the children would be even more terrified.
By the time Do-Yun stopped crying, Do-Bin began to sob.
“What do I do about Mom? Is Mom going to die?”
“No, no. She’s fine.”
“Then why is she like that?”
“She’ll go to the hospital and get better and come back soon.”
“What if she can’t come back?”
“She will. Don’t worry.”
“Waaaah…”
The child, who had seemed so mature when he was watching Ye-Na earlier, crumbled at his mother’s collapse. Fortunately, Do-Yun, whom he held in his arms, had fallen asleep from crying. Ji-Heon put Do-Yun down and picked up Do-Bin.
“What if my mom dies?”
“She won’t. Don’t worry.”
“How does Uncle know?”
“Uncle knows everything.”
He barely managed to soothe Do-Bin until he stopped crying.
“Now, stop. What will you do if you cry in front of your girlfriend? You shouldn’t do that, right?”
Do-Bin sniffled, sucking back the snot dripping from his nostrils, and nodded stubbornly. My shoulders felt stiff after finally putting Do-Bin down as well.
As Ji-Heon moved his shoulders to loosen his muscles, another challenge arrived.
Ye-Na was looking at him, blinking her fairy-like eyes.
*What about me? What about me?*
*Aren’t you going to hold me?*
*What about me? What about me? What about me?*
It was as if an aura of question marks was surrounding the child.
“Uh….”
Cold sweat trickled down his spine.
Ji-Heon bent his knees to meet the child’s eye level and spoke gently.
“……I’m sorry, but I can’t hold you.”
The child’s large eyes began to shimmer with a transparent film. Her lips were also beginning to pout.
*No. I can’t make this child cry, of all people.*
Ji-Heon’s voice trembled in panic.
“……Alright. I’ll hold you, but let’s make one promise.”
At the mention of being held, her chubby, protruding lips instantly retreated.
“Later, when you go to your mom, you can’t tell her that I’m a bad person. Okay?”
Ye-Na nodded vigorously.
The handsome man reached out his arms very cautiously. As she felt her bottom rest on his sturdy arms, her body was lifted up into the air. Instinctively trying to balance herself, Ye-Na wrapped her arms around Ji-Heon’s neck.
*Wow….*
Her heart felt like popcorn popping in a frying pan, thumping *thump-thump-thump-thump*.
She had never been held by someone and lifted this high before.
It was a height different from her mom’s, and a firm warmth that was also different from her mom’s.
A safe, cozy warmth that felt as if it could block out everything scary in the world.
He had held her, so she shouldn’t cry anymore. She felt like crying just because she was so happy.
When he lifted the child up and she wrapped her arms around his neck, Ji-Heon felt a strange fluttering in his chest.
A child who trusted him completely despite having no ties to her. The novelty of the feeling was mysterious.
He had never once thought about marriage, but he found himself thinking that if a child like this called him ‘Dad,’ marriage might be worth it.
But still, he was wary of someone else’s child, so he couldn’t quite move. Besides, he felt like the child’s body was unusually warm. Concerned, Ji-Heon’s hand naturally went to Ye-Na’s forehead.
“Are you sick?”
“No.”
“You have a bit of a fever.”
“I don’t hurt at all.”
Fearing that Ji-Heon might put her down, the child grabbed tightly onto his clothes.
Ji-Heon, who had pushed back her bangs to check her forehead, was about to pull his hand away when he recognized the red patch right in the middle of the child’s forehead. Since the child had fair skin, the birthmark stood out even more.
A salmon patch.
“You have one of these, too.”
“Do you have one too, mister?”
Ye-Na asked, reaching out toward Ji-Heon’s forehead.
“It disappeared now, but I had one in the past.”
A salmon patch, also known as an “angel’s kiss.”
It truly felt as if it were a mark left by an angel who had kissed the child, and Ji-Heon couldn’t help but keep looking at Ye-Na.