He took a slow step back. Then, without warning, he turned and bolted out of the hospital.

“Jung-hoo!”

Ye-jin shouted his name and ran after him as fast as she could, but she couldn’t catch up with him.

This was bad — terribly bad. He was supposed to be resting and avoiding stress, but now he had been hit with such a shock.

Out of breath, Ye-jin stumbled to the floor, her knees giving way beneath her. Gasping for air and clutching her chest, she looked up to see Jihoon catching up with her and gently patting her on the back.

“He just… needs some time to think.”

Ji-hoon said quietly.

“…”

“Don’t worry too much.”

Why now? Why did he have to find out at this particular moment? His body wasn’t even fully healed yet.

Ye-jin pressed her hands against her head and let out a heavy, trembling sigh. She was terrified that the sudden shock might have worsened his condition.

⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡⟡

She repeatedly called his phone, anxiously waiting for him to answer, but he didn’t. She sent message after message but didn’t receive a single reply.

She didn’t know whether he was ignoring her on purpose or had simply left his phone behind, but either way, the uncertainty was eating away at her.

Clutching her phone tightly in both hands, she paced the hospital room restlessly and chewed her nails nervously.

Finally, she decided that she couldn’t just sit and wait. She started making calls.

“Butler Ok, has he come home?”

It was the first place she called. Maybe he had gone back to rest—his body was still weak, after all.

But—

—”No, ma’am. The CEO said he was heading to the hospital earlier, but he hasn’t returned yet.”

“I see… All right. Please call me the moment he gets back home.”

She ended the call with a deep sigh that seemed to come from her very soul. Disappointment weighed on her chest, but she couldn’t stop there.

Without hesitation, she dialed another number.

“Chief Baek, have you heard from him?”

He was the second person she reached out to.

He might have gone to the office—he was a hopeless workaholic, after all. Or even if he hadn’t gone in, maybe he had at least contacted someone from work.

It was a fragile hope, but it was all she had.

—”No, ma’am. I haven’t heard from him. Is something wrong?”

Ye-jin pressed a trembling hand against her chest and let out a deep, weary sigh.

“He came to the hospital earlier, but he suddenly ran off. I can’t reach him at all. His body’s still weak…”

Her voice broke, the edges soaked in tears. If he’d been healthy, maybe she wouldn’t have been this terrified but he wasn’t. And now, he was simply… gone.

—”What? The CEO just ran out like that? Why?”

“He… found out I lied to him. It was a shock.”

—”What kind of lie?”

Ye-jin bit her lower lip hard. It wasn’t just a small lie—it was enormous. One she could never take back.

“I told him… that Hope was another man’s child. But in truth…”

She drew a shaky breath.

“…Hope is his son.”

Her voice was low, heavy with guilt.

There was silence on the other end. Baek seemed momentarily stunned. Of course. No ordinary person would expect a lie like that.

Several seconds passed before a faint chuckle came through the line.

—”Ah, so Hope really is the CEO’s son. I thought so. They look like they were stamped from the same mold.”

Ye-jin blinked, startled by how light his tone was.

—”Don’t worry, ma’am. He’ll come back soon. Just give him a little time.”

She had expected Baek to sound serious or alarmed and to share her concern. However, his calm, almost amused response left her feeling confused.

Feeling perplexed and torn, she ended the call and stood there for a moment. Should she wait quietly? Or should she call Mrs Han to ask if she had heard from him?

She was still debating when—

Knock, knock.

The door opened.

It was Seo Jung-hoo.

He was holding a vase — not just any vase, but a colourful one in the shape of a cartoon character that children loved.

Ye-jin froze, staring at him as if she had seen a ghost.

Chief Baek had told her to wait, but she hadn’t expected him to return so soon — let alone with a vase.

Without saying a word, he filled the vase with water and took the bouquet from the shelf. He clumsily arranged the flowers, pushing them in at odd angles with no regard for balance or symmetry.

His flower-arranging skills were atrocious, but that wasn’t important.

“Come with me.”

He said, gesturing with his chin before walking out of the room.

Ye-jin quickly handed Hope to the nurse and hurried after him.

He stopped at the small park behind the hospital.

He was dressed casually today—black slacks, a white T-shirt, and a khaki bomber jacket. Even in simple clothes, he looked effortlessly refined. But this wasn’t the time to be admiring him.

He took off the bomber jacket, spread it neatly over a weathered bench, and said dryly.

“Sit.”

“…What?”

“Sit here.”

When she hesitated, he pointed to the jacket himself.

It was an unexpected act of consideration. Flustered, Ye-jin sat primly on the bench with his jacket beneath her.

“You must’ve been… shocked.”

Her heart pounded so violently it hurt. What if he rejected Hope? What if he called him a burden he never wanted?

He had given the boy his liver but still, her fear refused to fade.

“Where… did you go?”

“The hospital.”

He replied curtly.

Ye-jin tilted her head, confused. She had thought he had gone somewhere to cool off, perhaps to a river or the sea. Why the hospital?

He gave a low, bitter laugh.

“I went to grab that quack by the collar.”

“…What?”

“I went to the hospital where I had my vasectomy.”

“…”

“When I got tested last time, they told me everything was perfectly fine.”

Memories she had buried began to resurface—

“Then I’ll head to the hospital as soon as I get back to Seoul.”
“I’m stopping by the hospital before going to the office.”
“I only made an appointment for a checkup.”
“I’m not sick. It’s just a simple test.”

At the time, she had misunderstood, thinking that he had made an appointment to terminate the pregnancy. He explained that it was just a routine examination.

So, was the purpose of the test to check whether the vasectomy had failed?

Was he trying to find out if Hope could be his son?

“I demanded to know how a child could exist when there was supposed to be no way, and that quack had the nerve to say he’d run the tests again.”

“…And the result?”

“It wasn’t reversed.”

“…”

“But…”

“…”

“He said a bypass formed.”

“…What?”

Ye-jin’s eyes widened in disbelief.

‘A bypass?’

“He found a microscopic passageway through the scar tissue. It was a tiny detour that allowed only a few sperm to pass through.”

Ye-jin was speechless. Such a thing sounded impossible.

“The fool apologized, said it was so fine a pathway that he hadn’t noticed it before.”

“…”

“I need to ask you something.”

“…”

“That night at the hotel in Daejeon, did you really bring another man into your room?”

She didn’t look away. Meeting his gaze squarely, she shook her head.

“I spoke to you on the phone that night, and then I went to sleep.”

“…”

“I was exhausted because you made me do something ridiculous.”

She added, recalling his indecent request from that night. He let out a low laugh, remembering all too well.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been on birth control ever since I had Hope. There won’t be a second child.”

She said it gently, trying to reassure him. She knew how much he had once resisted the idea of having another baby. But he just shook his head.

“That’s not what matters right now.”

He said quietly, though his tone left no room for argument.

“Let’s go see him first.”

“…Who?”

“Hope.”

Ye-jin immediately stood up, shook off the jacket he had laid out on the bench, and held it close to her chest. Then she stepped up beside him.

He took her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. His grip was firm, warm and steady.

“Well, your sperm must be incredible. Even a vasectomy couldn’t stop you; you just forced your way through. So very you, Mr Seo Jung-hoo.”

He chuckled softly at her teasing, lifting her hand and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it.