“Doesn’t it feel strange?”

He had put her to sleep when Secretary Yoon called. The documents Detective Park sent had arrived. After a moment of hesitation, Tae-yang told Yoon to come to the house. Sitting in the study, he toyed with the envelope.

“What exactly do you mean, sir?”

He could have opened it and checked immediately, yet for some reason he didn’t want to open it at all.

“Hyesung.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Doesn’t he look… nothing like me?”

Tae-yang lifted his gaze from the envelope. Secretary Yoon hesitated, choosing his words with care, his expression carefully neutral. It must have been unsettling, his boss asking such a question out of nowhere.

Tae-yang knew it too. He knew better than anyone how absurd the question was, and yet he asked.

“You know how people say that living together makes you start to resemble each other.”

“Ah… yes.”

“And how they say people in love tend to look alike too? They don’t say things like that for no reason.”

There was another saying—raising a child creates a stronger bond than giving birth to one.

“That’s all.”

Tae-yang murmured.

When he finally relaxed his mouth, Secretary Yoon’s face returned to its usual composure.

“Good work today. You may go.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

At Tae-yang’s nod, Secretary Yoon bowed and left the study.

Tap, tap.

His fingertips brushed the envelope. For a long while, the only sound in the study was the faint tapping of his fingers.

Then, as if making up his mind, he opened a drawer and placed the envelope inside. The expression on his face as he closed the drawer was unyielding.

No matter what was written inside, he would not change his mind. That was exactly why he chose not to read it. It didn’t matter what she had done or how she had lived.

Tae-yang opened the photo app on his phone. His eyes curved like a crescent moon.

“Cute.”

He had taken a picture of the snowman Hyesung made. Sweet little Hyesung had said the snowman It might be cold, so he tied a scarf around its neck. How could he not be grateful that such an adorable child had been born into this world?

There was a photo from yesterday, too.

It was the day that Hyesung wore his kindergarten uniform for the first time. The sight of him in that yellow hat was so cute that even Tae-yang, who almost never used a camera, ended up taking a picture.

Tae-yang brushed his fingertips across the screen.

Bzzz— bzzz—

The moment the phone vibrated, his face shifted back to its usual, impassive expression. The caller was Detective Park. Since he should at least acknowledge receiving the documents, Tae-yang tapped the call button and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

—”Hello, sir. This is Detective Park.”

A rough voice came through the receiver.

“I just received the documents. Thank you for your work.”

—”There was something unusual, so I called. It wasn’t in the paperwork.”

“What is it?”

Whatever it was, he wasn’t interested. He planned to discard everything anyway.

—”Do you remember President Gu?”

Tae-yang froze. His eyes narrowed immediately.

“President Gu? Wasn’t he the last person to speak with my father on the phone?”

—”Yes, that’s right. You remember.”

Detective Park had overseen his father’s death case. Because of that connection, they’d stayed in contact. Hearing President Gu’s name now made him curious about that so-called unusual detail.

“What about him?”

—”He definitely fled to the Philippines, but he recently returned to Korea. And we confirmed he’s been going in and out of Ms. Lee Eunha’s parents’ house. He’s meeting Lee Sun-han.”

The fact that President Gu had come back to Korea didn’t matter. But if he had been visiting her family, then it was a different story.

President Gu was a vile gangster.

“He went to her father’s house? Why?”

—” I don’t know about that. But people around him say he’s planning to do something big before returning to the Philippines. He’s short on money right now. He has a lot of gambling debt.”

Hmm. President Gu claimed that he had called Tae-yang’s father on Lee Sun-han’s behalf. Nothing seemed suspicious at the time and the conclusion was that it was a sudden accident. The detectives didn’t investigate further. President Gu even attended the funeral.

“Detective Park, something feels off to you, doesn’t it?”

He had quit the force now, but a detective’s instincts shouldn’t be ignored. And Tae-yang himself felt an uneasy tug.

—”I can’t say anything for sure. But there’s something I want to check.”

“Find out why President Gu came all the way to Korea to see my father-in-law.”

If there was even a chance she might be in danger, they needed to be careful.

“And look into where he’s getting his money from.”

—”Yes, sir. I’ll do that.”

As soon as the call ended, Tae-yang sent Detective Park the payment. The thought of having yet another problem to deal with annoyed him, and he exhaled a tired sigh.

Then he heard a soft knock, barely as faint as her breath.

Knock, knock.

He looked toward the door and saw Hyesung standing there. Tae-yang’s eyes warmed instantly.

“Mister… can I come in?”

“Of course. Come here.”

Hyesung ran towards him and climbed onto his lap naturally. While she had been unwell, they had grown much closer. Whenever Tae-yang worked in the study, Hyesung would sit beside him, either building with Lego or reading books.

During breaks, she would chat excitedly about what had happened at nursery or during her lessons. Sometimes Tae-yang wanted to stop working entirely just to listen to her. She was such an impossibly lovable child.

“Are we… not having cake today?”

It seemed cake tasted better when eaten behind his mother’s back. If they told her, she would surely allow it anyway, one bit of whining from him and her soft heart would give in.

“Wait here.”

Tae-yang went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, cut a slice of cake, and placed it on a plate. He brought a fork as well. When he returned to the study, Hyesung greeted him with a beaming smile.

Tae-yang often stopped by a distant atelier on purpose just to see that smile. Hyesung loved the cakes from there.

“Enjoy it.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

He answered cheerfully and dug into the cake. Love came in many forms. Wasn’t the feeling Tae-yang experienced whenever he looked at Hyesung a form of love, too? He wondered.

He hadn’t told her about buying the cake because she had yelled at him for bringing one home once before. If she found out, she would definitely be upset. He’d get scolded.

“…It’s so good! It’s the best!”

But seeing that child’s joyful face, how could he not buy it?

“Is Mister taking me to kindergarten again tomorrow?”

At kindergarten, the child called him ‘Dad’ without hesitation. But the moment they stepped away from the building, he switched back to ‘Mister’. It stung in a small, ridiculous way.

For ten days straight, Tae-yang had been the one to take the child to kindergarten. Due to work commitments, he left the pick-up to Secretary Yoon, but he wanted to handle everything himself if he could.

Then he could spend more time with Hyesung. Any inconvenience would be well worth it.

“Hyesung.”

“Yes?”

He called out to Hyesung, who was busy saving the strawberries—his favorite part—to eat last after finishing the rest of the cake. Hyesung opened his eyes wide and looked straight at him.

Taking after his mother, Hyesung was a child who inspired a wellspring of love just by looking at him.

“Are you going to keep calling me ‘Mister’? You don’t call me that in front of the kindergarten.”

Hyesung’s bright red lips moved pensively.

“Then should I call you ‘Dad’?”

Tae-yang let out a laugh as Hyesung lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret, even though they were the only two in the study. How clever.

“I can’t do it when Mom is here. I have to get her permission first.”

Despite saying he shouldn’t call him Dad so recklessly, the boy climbed onto his lap. Tae-yang held Hyesung tightly as he settled into place.

“Then will you call me Dad when Mom isn’t around?”

“Yes.”

Hyesung swung his legs and laughed, crinkling his nose, as Tae-yang pressed a kiss to the boy’s cheek. It felt different from kissing her cheek.

“Then try saying it.”

“…Dad? Dad. Dad!”

Had Hyesung missed having a father too? Calling him Dad, Hyesung threw his arms around Tae-yang’s neck. A tickling sensation rose from the soles of his feet, and unable to hold back, Tae-yang stood up abruptly.

Hyesung gripped Tae-yang’s arms with all his might, seemingly afraid he might fall. Even that was just like his mother.

“…Son.”

Tae-yang murmured in a barely audible voice.

Now, his heart was the thing that tickled.