There were various differences of opinion regarding Yoon-woo’s visitation rights and child support.

First, Yoon-woo called from in front of the house just a few days after his first visit. The emotion of meeting his child for the first time must have been quite significant.

—I miss Woo-joo so much… I came to my senses and I’m already here. Let me see him for a moment.

From his excuses, he seemed to know it wasn’t proper etiquette. He called Ji-hoo, and Yeo-jin said loudly from beside Ji-hoo, “This is difficult for us.” 

However, soft-hearted Ji-hoo persuaded Yeo-jin.

“Since he came all the way here, let’s meet and tell him clearly.”

That day, Yoon-woo got scolded by Yeo-jin. She said that even in divorced households, the non-custodial parent doesn’t visit so suddenly, and told him to respect each other’s lives.

He apologized politely for the moment. Then he brought up something that made Yeo-jin gasp.

“Last time I said I’d see him once a month, but thinking about it, that’s too long. Let me see him once a week.”

Yeo-jin was so dumbfounded she didn’t even respond. Ji-hoo answered firmly on her behalf that once a week was unacceptable.

“Think about someone visiting your house once a week, Mr. Park Yoon-woo. That’s not just a little tiring.”

“Then, how about twice a month?”

“No.”

Yeo-jin answered no the moment Yoon-woo’s question dropped. Then Ji-hoo continued.

“Even if you sue, for infants under 4 years old, once a month is average. But instead of just an hour or two, you can see him for three or four hours.”

This was something Yeo-jin and Ji-hoo had looked up and discussed in advance just in case. Yoon-woo looked happy, seemingly satisfied with even that.

That day he came loaded down with all sorts of things, including clothes for Woo-joo.

“Ta-da, our Woo-joo’s space suit, ta-da, our Woo-joo’s blocks, ta-da…”

From the moment he entered with shopping bags filling both hands, Yeo-jin had a displeased expression. He had to listen to a round of her nagging.

“Children grow so fast, he won’t even wear all this. We’ve already prepared things, and we have more than enough gifts, so take it all back and get a refund.”

She drove the point home that burdening someone isn’t a gift, and no matter how much money you have, spend it meaningfully. 

At Yeo-jin’s reaction, Yoon-woo looked dejected and glanced at Ji-hoo. With desperate eyes asking for some help.

“Still, things like blocks can be given later, and since we change his clothes several times a day, having a few more indoor outfits would be okay…”

When Yeo-jin glared at him, Ji-hoo couldn’t continue. 

After regaining her composure, she picked out the blocks and a few indoor outfits following Ji-hoo’s words, and returned the rest to Yoon-woo.

“Make sure to get a refund! Send me the refund receipt, proof photo.”

“Yes. I’ll definitely do what you say.”

They also squabbled over the amount of child support. While others fight because the amount is too small, they were the opposite. 

They were people with different financial concepts to begin with. After a long argument, they agreed to receive the equivalent of a childcare helper’s cost for the time being.

A few months later, Yoon-woo said their house was too small and it broke his heart that his son lived in such a place, then got scolded by Yeo-jin again. 

Yeo-jin said she was the primary caregiver and they each lived according to their circumstances.

“And this house is a precious home I secured with my own strength. It’s very unpleasant when you talk about it like it’s a beggar’s tent.”

Yoon-woo had to ask for forgiveness again. 

However, even after that incident, showing no learning effect, a few months later he announced another unnecessary plan. He brought up giving a building in Woo-joo’s name.

“If I suddenly die, you’re not the type to claim inheritance rights, Ms. Yeo-jin. Even if you did claim them, there would be many complicated matters…”

“Why would you die, Mr. Park Yoon-woo? Ptui, ptui, ptui.”

That was Ji-hoo’s response. Yoon-woo repeated that too, then continued speaking.

“Life is uncertain. You said it’s good to start gifting early and do it once every 10 years, Ms. Yeo-jin.”

Yeo-jin sighed and explained why she opposed his plan.

“If you move large assets, won’t your parents know, Mr. Yoon-woo? Then it’s only a matter of time before your parents find out about Woo-joo. Will they really stay quiet?”

“Ah, there’s that problem.”

“Please be careful until Woo-joo becomes an adult.”

They adjusted their differences and found answers that way. Of course, since Yeo-jin was the leader, her influence was strongest.

The three people’s love for Woo-joo wasn’t very different. Only their ways of expressing it, their thoughts, and abilities differed. 

As time passed, the relationship stabilized. Yoon-woo came once a month and played with the child, calling himself uncle, just like he’d originally promised.

* * *

During the Lunar New Year holiday, Ji-hoo sent a gift to his uncle. 

His uncle had attended his father’s forty-ninth-day memorial service and said they should keep in touch occasionally. The uncle who received the gift called.

“Yes. Uncle. You’re doing well, right?”

—Ji-hoo, thank you for the gift and I’m sorry. You two are barely getting by, so don’t worry about it from now on. Got it?

The uncle and Ji-hoo asked and answered about each other’s family’s well-being. There was welcome news that the uncle’s son, his cousin, had finally passed the civil service exam.

“Congratulations.”

—Yes. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you.

Ji-hoo congratulated him sincerely. Since his cousin had been the uncle’s burden while preparing for exams for many years, he was happy like it was his own matter. He thought the uncle could finally breathe easier now.

—Did you hear about your aunt?

The story about the aunt’s family that the uncle conveyed wasn’t good news.

The aunt’s husband’s chicken restaurant had actually been running at a loss. 

Even in that situation, the aunt’s husband kept increasing debt because of the family’s already-set high spending habits and private education costs.

They sold the Samseong-dong house right after Su-nam’s funeral last summer. From that time, the aunt stepped up to manage the money entirely herself. 

She heard from a friend that stocks were the only opportunity to make big money and boldly threw 1 billion won into stocks.

The result was obvious, wasn’t it? In a bear market, even experts have difficulty making profits, yet a beginner investing in stocks based on hearsay.

She had heard things somewhere, so when the stop-loss line she’d set came, she mechanically repeated stop-losses. As a result, she burned through 300 million won in just over a month.

Then another tempting story reached her. News that her friend Kyung-hee had made five times her principal in cryptocurrency in just a few months.

“I didn’t even make that much. My principal wasn’t much to begin with. Oh, I should’ve burned hundreds of millions.”

According to her, quite a few people had seen 50 times, 100 times returns. 

She immediately studied cryptocurrency. It wasn’t easy to understand, and she didn’t know what to buy. When she asked Kyung-hee, she answered to look up investment leading rooms or YouTube.

After browsing several leading rooms, she chose one with many profit certifications and favorable comments.

At first, she approached cautiously. Thinking it might be a scam. However, as she repeatedly made and recovered small profits, she came to completely trust the leading room.

She transferred her entire fortune to the scammer’s account. 1.8 billion won—the full amount excluding what she’d paid off in debt and lost in stocks.

She didn’t have huge greed. She thought she’d just make 10 times. 

Then she could leave this beggar-like neighborhood and return to a 60-pyeong newly built apartment in Gangnam. For just half a day, she spent a thrilling time imagining happily.

All of that happened in the second half of last year. 

The aunt is currently pursuing civil and criminal cases simultaneously, but the possibility of recovery is slim. It was a planned and organized crime, and the aunt had almost no evidence.

The aunt begged the uncle to lend her litigation and living expenses, and when the uncle refused, she apparently threw a fit.

—That crazy woman threw a fit saying it’s all big brother and little brother’s fault that she ended up like that.

The aunt was more than capable of that. Though the uncle didn’t say it, she surely blamed Ji-hoo too.

Currently, the aunt’s husband ran away, Jun-young went to the military, and high school senior Jun-hui is holed up in their room and won’t come out.

“That’s terrible.”

—It’s their own doing. Don’t answer if they call.

It’s been two months since the incident, and seeing there’s been no contact, it seemed she wouldn’t call Ji-hoo in the future either.

After ending the long call, Ji-hoo sat lost in thought with a blank expression. 

He didn’t feel even a fingernail’s worth of pity for his aunt. Same for the aunt’s husband. They were adults who had deceived and exploited Ji-hoo.

But he didn’t feel refreshed or good either. Was it because Jun-hui weighed on his mind?

“There’s an older brother, and a high school senior isn’t a little kid. Don’t worry.”

Noona always read his heart perfectly even when he didn’t say anything.

“Yeah. I won’t worry or think about it. I’m too busy thinking about my Yeo-jin and Woo-joo.”

Meanwhile, Ji-hoo studied while working. Time was insufficient, and since he’d stopped studying long ago, there were many difficulties.

Yeo-jin became his tutor again. Like before, she gave quizzes and homework, and nagged. 

When he worked hard or got good grades, she gave rewards. The rewards were in a completely different form from before.

“If you get 80 on math, I’ll allow that position we talked about last time.”

Yeo-jin whispered in Ji-hoo’s ear while solving math problems. Ji-hoo flared his nostrils and burned with motivation. 

It wasn’t just his nostrils that flared—he brought Yeo-jin’s hand to his center and got smacked on the back.

In mid-July when the heat began in earnest, a piece of mail arrived for Ji-hoo. 

After staring at the document for a while, Ji-hoo held out the paper to Yeo-jin with a dazed expression. It was a document about public project acquisition.

“…?!”

Since she’d seen the document often while filing capital gains tax, Yeo-jin immediately grasped the content. 

Part of the land Ji-hoo owned would be incorporated into a road, and this was the compensation amount for that land.

“You had land? This big?”

“…It was land with little value for nearly thirty years.”

Shortly after Ji-hoo was born, Han Su-nam bought forest and vacant land in the provinces under his wife’s and Ji-hoo’s names. When Eun-young died, her portion was also transferred to Ji-hoo.

“Until now the annual property tax was around 200,000 won, but starting 4-5 years ago it gradually increased, so it was already a headache…”

It was useless land and the property tax kept increasing, so about two years ago he tried to sell it. 

When he mentioned it briefly to his father, his father quoted an absurdly high price and told him not to sell below that price. 

It was when his father’s mind was coming and going, so he just laughed it off.

Meanwhile, the real estate agency presented an absurdly low price and pushed to sell it for him.

“Oh, rural forest land like that doesn’t even have market prices, and if you can’t find a buyer, you won’t be able to sell it until you die. If it’s not professionals like us, you absolutely can’t sell it.”

The broker was so enthusiastic that Ji-hoo hesitated instead. Then he got busy with life and forgot about it. But now about 23% of that land was being acquired by the government.

“Wait, seeing that compensation guidance came, you knew about this already?”

“Ah, when noona was giving birth and it was hectic, I got contacted and forgot again. I had no idea it would be such a large amount.”

The estimated compensation amount was truly huge. It was similar to the current market price of her apartment.

It was dozens of times the amount Ji-hoo had imagined. 

When the compensation came out, Ji-hoo wanted to first buy Yeo-jin a nice wedding ring and watch. That’s why he didn’t mention it originally, and as time passed, he forgot.

“It is big!”

Yeo-jin rubbed her eyes and slowly looked at the document again, wondering if something was wrong. She mentally calculated the compensation amount per unit, area, and total amount. 

There was nothing wrong with the content.

Yeo-jin froze in shock and daze. 

They say when people are too surprised, their bodies freeze and they can’t do anything—she experienced those words firsthand. Her mind also worked slower than usual.

If all the land were sold, it would easily exceed the price of four apartments. It was a bigger jackpot than the lottery. 

She thought the saying that even when rich people fall on hard times, they last a few years was true.

A beat late, she started jumping around and screaming.

“Ji-hoo, this is huge! Mother and Father must be helping from heaven!”

“Noona, the downstairs neighbors will complain.”

Ji-hoo just smiled faintly with a chuckle, without much change in expression.

“Ji-hoo, aren’t you happy? I’m so thrilled.”

“I’m happy. More because you’re happy.”

“Then smile.”

When Ji-hoo only smiled faintly without laughing heartily, Yeo-jin tickled his sides to make him laugh. He was naturally happy too. Just dazed and it didn’t feel real.

“It would be nice if the country bought all of it.”

“Right. I’m not sure but… it might be possible.”

Yeo-jin said they should find out if they could request acquisition of the remaining land too. She’d inquire with her client’s appraisal expert and lawyer first thing tomorrow.

“Acquisition request? There’s such a thing?”

“We have to consult. What if it doesn’t work? From now on, the land price will jump above the compensation amount, and buyers will come sniffing around.”

Yeo-jin said with sparkling eyes. More than anything, she was happy that Ji-hoo would have an environment where he could quit work and focus on studying. The two hugged each other and savored their joy.

“When the compensation comes out, I’ll give it all to you.”

“Really? I won’t refuse. I’m excited! Min Yeo-jin finally became suddenly rich.”

They had a party that day. After putting Woo-joo to sleep, they drank beer and talked about the future. 

They talked about what they’d do when the compensation came in. Of course, mainly Yeo-jin chattered.

“Jeju Island—no, let’s go to America where Ji-soo is!”

Ji-hoo nodded with a pleased face no matter what she said. The happy couple’s laughter didn’t stop.

“I didn’t know our noona loved money this much. But seeing that you chose me when I had nothing, you must really love me.”

“Dummy, you just realized?”

“We drank today, so is that possible too?”

Ji-hoo already looked at Yeo-jin with sensual, flickering eyes.

They worked and raised Woo-joo. On top of that, Ji-hoo studied and Yeo-jin taught. Daily life was more exhausting than expected. So they decided not to drink or have s*x on weekdays.

Yeo-jin fell fast asleep the moment her head touched the bed every day. On the other hand, Ji-hoo seemed tormented by his floodgate-burst s*xual desire. 

But Yeo-jin was cold. She nagged him to conserve his energy, asking when he’d get into university if he did everything he wanted. So Ji-hoo lived waiting only for weekends.

But on this day, they decided to ignore all the rules.

“On a miraculous day like this, we naturally have to celebrate specially. I’ll wash up first.”

“Let’s wash together.”

“Should we?”

Already fully excited, the two started undressing each other in the living room. 

Their tongues were already tangled, and his center swelled and throbbed. In the midst of slurping and drinking Yeo-jin’s saliva, he released her lips and said painfully.

“I think Woo-joo woke up.”

The crying that started with a whimper gradually grew louder. The new babysitter must have let him nap a lot during the day again. Ji-hoo hurriedly put his legs through his pants and said.

“We need to change sitters. Wash up first. I’ll put him back to sleep quickly. Today, you absolutely cannot fall asleep first.”

Ji-hoo put his hands together with desperate eyes. Yeo-jin nodded and headed to the bathroom.

Yeo-jin was overwhelmingly happy. Though she had no religion, she offered a prayer of thanks to an unknown great being. 

She also thanked Father and Mother who had passed away. For giving birth to and raising such a kind and beautiful person, and for giving such a gift.

He once said he’d resented the past when he lived abundantly. Because of that, his poor reality felt even more miserable. But it seems there’s no meaningless time. 

Because he was once so poor he couldn’t see ahead, he could feel the current abundance even more joyfully.

* * *

At the same time, Ji-hoo spoke while holding and rocking Woo-joo to put him to sleep.

“You and noona are my miracle.”

To Ji-hoo, they were miracles. All the days he’d lived and would live meeting and loving her were like miracles.

She once said. That miraculous days might come in life.

Of course, they might never come, but still, it seemed much better to live believing in miracles. 

Just like people find people who like them, miracles seem to come to people who believe in miracles.

Thanks to meeting her again, Ji-hoo came to believe in miracles. And now he wishes for a new miracle. The miracle of Woo-joo quickly falling into deep sleep.

“Woo-joo, daddy’s in a bit of a hurry. Let’s sleep fast.”

Woo-joo looked at Ji-hoo with bright eyes and started babbling. He thought it was babbling like usual, but Woo-joo suddenly raised one hand and clearly said “Daddy!”

Ji-hoo was so surprised and moved his mouth opened by itself. He even got goosebumps all over. Woo-joo repeatedly called daddy.

“Daddyyy!”

“What’s this sound?”

Yeo-jin’s eyes, who entered with a towel on her head, widened like they’d pop out. Ji-hoo kissed her cheek and apologized.

“Sorry, Woo-joo called daddy first.”

“It’s okay. What does it matter who he calls first? He’s only 7 months old and already… Could our Woo-joo be a genius?”

“I told you. He repeated one, two right after being born.”

“You just heard wrong. Right? Mommy, mommy, mommy…”

Yeo-jin, who said it was okay, stared at Woo-joo intently and begged him to call mommy. Woo-joo kept calling only daddy, teasing her.

“Call mommy tomorrow too.”

Yeo-jin gave up and turned around. She sat in front of the vanity and muttered while applying lotion to her face.

“What miracle will come to us tomorrow?”

Her expression was full of overflowing joy. Waiting hopefully for tomorrow. Yeo-jin knew that itself was a miracle.

“No, the miracle is already in my hands. Han Ji-hoo, Han Woo-joo.”

Yeo-jin said exactly what Ji-hoo had said earlier. Ji-hoo found it fascinating. He approached Yeo-jin and kissed her cheek.

We—the three of us—were each other’s miracles. And we believe we’ll continue to be each other’s miracles and fill a beautiful life.

Noona, I love you.

Ji-hoo, I love you.

Woo-joo, I love you.

Daddyyy! Mommy! Mommy!

It was a miraculous night. Hearing the word mommy, Yeo-jin burst into a scream-like cheer. Unable to contain her overwhelming emotion, her eyes even welled up with tears.

Much later, the miracle of Woo-joo falling asleep happened. The bigger miracle was Yeo-jin, who for once wasn’t asleep but wide awake. 

The two who laid Woo-joo in the crib tiptoed out of the room. The moment they closed the door, Ji-hoo urgently captured Yeo-jin’s lips.

A long, long night of celebration began.

fin.