That Yeonsu didn’t have the ability to raise Siwoo anyway. That it was better for him to become part of the Taeseo clan than grow up under Yeonsu.

“Ha, and you still call yourselves……human?”

They were demons wearing human skin.

Thinking of the two who’d been smiling so casually made her stomach churn.

Hyunjeong opened the water bottle in the cup holder and gulped it down.

“Trash……”

Her voice came out strained and unsteady.

Outwardly, Sukgyeong had pretended to scold Yeonsu while praising Hyunjeong, but that wasn’t her true intention.

She’d wanted to tell Hyunjeong to follow her obediently before ending up like Yeonsu.

Today was the day Hyunjeong’s resolve finally solidified completely.

All this time, she’d been afraid of that mother-daughter pair. She hated and despised them, but she’d feared their arrows might turn toward her.

So she’d always been anxious that something might happen to her child.

Because it seemed like Sukgyeong wouldn’t think twice about trampling on her life.

That’s why she’d just wanted to pretend she didn’t know about Yeonsu’s situation.

As Hyunjeong’s eyelids fluttered closed, past memories suddenly surfaced.

It was after she’d finished her consultations, when she was about to head home as usual.

“Dr. Kim, you have a visitor.”

Someone had come looking for her as she was about to leave work.

“A visitor? At this hour?”

Bewilderment showed in Hyunjeong’s voice as she questioned it.

When she turned her head, she saw the clock had passed six.

Not only was it after work hours, but the visitor had come to the hospital.

Even her own mother rarely came to the hospital like this.

“Is it a patient?”

Hyunjeong was asking the nurse as she was about to remove her doctor’s coat.

The consultation room door opened and a man entered.

“I came because I wanted to speak with Dr. Kim Hyunjeong.”

His straight posture, and his stride as he walked toward where Hyunjeong stood.

“I’m Moon Seonjae.”

He walked in as naturally as flowing water and stood facing her.

And Hyunjeong’s eyes shook violently as she looked at the man.

This was the first time Hyunjeong had actually met Seonjae in person.

She’d heard the man’s name countless times in the media or on people’s lips.

She’d never imagined she’d face him with her own eyes like this.

After standing there dumbfounded, she came to her senses and sent the nurse out.

“I’m Kim Hyunjeong. I’m an instructor in the OB-GYN department at Daeguk Hospital, and also……”

Just as Hyunjeong was belatedly continuing her self-introduction—

“I know. I know that you’re classmates with both Managing Director Hong Sehee and Yeonsu.”

Her words were cut short by Seonjae.

The consultation room was now empty with just the two of them. Seonjae looked down at Hyunjeong, then approached a seat.

“I heard Yeonsu went to see you, Dr. Kim.”

He sat down, crossing his legs and leaning back deeply.

Even as Hyunjeong sat across from Seonjae, she couldn’t compose her expression.

Her endlessly trembling pupils clearly revealed her bewilderment.

“She didn’t seem certain yet, so I wanted to help.”

‘Help?’

A heavy voice emerged from those smooth lips.

When speaking Yeonsu’s name, he was infinitely tender, but his gaze toward Hyunjeong was sharp.

Whenever his coldly chilled black eyes touched her, Hyunjeong flinched and shook.

“Moon Siwoo. Do you know who the father of that child who was stolen from Yeonsu?”

The moment she heard Siwoo’s name, Hyunjeong gulped.

Even the surrounding air seemed to gain weight, pressing down on Hyunjeong.

Though she needed to answer, her body stiffened rigidly and wouldn’t move.

Hyunjeong, who’d been sitting there frozen, barely managed to shake her head.

「Hyunjeong, you don’t know who the father is of the child Yeonsu gave birth to, right?」

「I don’t know.」

「Well, how would you know? If you ever find out, tell me.」

Even Sehee and Sukgyeong, who’d lived together their whole lives, hadn’t known.

Whenever she met with Sehee occasionally, she’d ask Hyunjeong too.

When she’d faced Seonjae back then, Hyunjeong hadn’t known who Siwoo’s biological father was.

She hadn’t dared even imagine it.

“Well, I suppose since you didn’t know, you participated in this without fear.”

“……”

“I’m Moon Siwoo’s father.”

Hyunjeong’s eyes widened endlessly as she heard Seonjae’s following words.

She couldn’t believe it.

How…… could Moon Seonjae be Siwoo’s biological father!

“The child’s biological father. I’m the dad those people searched so desperately for.”

And in that moment, Hyunjeong realized.

How Yeonsu had come to meet Seonjae. Why that random scandal had broken out between the two.

And just how foolish Sehee and Sukgyeong’s actions had been.

“Unlike Yeonsu, I have no patience. If you don’t become one of my people, I don’t know what I might do.”

“……”

“I’m someone who has nothing left to lose now. Be careful.”

Seonjae’s eyes glinted sharply as he uttered his warning.

Just from his gaze alone, she felt like her entire body was being sliced apart.

“The sooner you decide, the better.”

He rose from his seat.

It was as he was about to turn around, as if that warning was everything he’d wanted to say.

“Is it because of the child? Or do you really……”

‘Are you in love with Yeonsu?’

Hyunjeong swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to add.

Moon Seonjae’s brow narrowed slightly as he looked down at Hyunjeong, then relaxed.

“If you want to ask whether I love her, then yes. I haven’t forgotten her for even a moment.”

With those final words, Moon Seonjae left the examination room.

Hyunjeong’s closed eyelids fluttered as she awoke.

After meeting Seonjae, the words they’d exchanged kept circling through her mind.

Hyunjeong had learned about Siwoo’s biological father from Seonjae, who had come to her even before Yeonsu.

However, she’d merely postponed her decision, afraid of retaliation from Sehee and Sukgyeong.

But the moment she saw Sukgyeong threatening her over the child in her womb, she became certain.

They were people who might even target her life if she didn’t comply.

She had to protect the child.

And once she made up her mind, her heart ached. Because she could feel Yeonsu’s pain as if it were her own.

‘I’m sorry.’

I’m sorry, Yeonsu.

Hyunjeong sobbed while gripping the steering wheel.

※※※

Dinnertime consisted solely of the sound of dishes clinking.

The atmosphere, awkward at first, gradually softened as time passed.

Yeonsu lowered her gaze to stare at the fried rice on her plate.

The texture chewing in her mouth and the flavor of the sauce were familiar. It was delicious even though it had cooled.

Yeonsu raised her head and glanced at Seonjae.

Five years had passed.

The man before her was no longer the vigorous twenty-something he’d been. And the same was true for Yeonsu.

They’d both changed so much……

Yet the fried rice he made remained unchanged.

The taste evoked nostalgic feelings from the past, making Yeonsu’s throat tighten.

“I can make it without looking at the recipe now.”

In truth, Yeonsu had been the one who taught him the recipe.

Since Seonjae had no talent for cooking whatsoever, she’d taught him how to make fried rice so he could easily prepare it on days when she wasn’t there.

At first, he’d struggled even with the recipe in front of him—had he been making it often even after they broke up?

She picked up her water glass, forcefully suppressing the emotions welling up inside her.

She deliberately tucked her feelings away.

It was just because it was late at night that she was getting sentimental so easily.

So many things had happened today—it was natural for her emotions to be heightened.

Repeating this like a mantra, Yeonsu spoke.

“If I’d known you were Moon Seonjae of Taeseo Group, I wouldn’t have taught you.”

“……”

“Back then, I didn’t know you had someone to cook for you.”

Of course, she was also at fault for believing so readily that he was a poor international student.

Seonjae simply smiled at Yeonsu’s curt response.

Only after they’d emptied all their dishes did the meal end.

Yeonsu approached the sink to do the dishes.

She was putting on the rubber gloves she’d found by opening the cabinets when—

“Why are you doing dishes? The dishwasher can handle it, so come out.”

Seonjae had approached and stopped her.

“You can’t just put the frying pan in. It’s greasy.”

Yeonsu was flabbergasted.

He was a man who thought you could just put everything in the dishwasher.

Come to think of it, it had been similar when they were in America.

When Yeonsu didn’t cook for him, he’d always eaten out.

She sighed at the endless flood of old memories.

All she could think about was finishing quickly and going home.

She was wiping the grease remaining in the pan when—

“The housekeeper will come tomorrow, so just leave it.”

Along with a familiar scent tickling her nose, Yeonsu’s body was pushed backward.

Firm arms wrapped around her waist.

With his other free hand, Seonjae pulled off the gloves Yeonsu was wearing.

And……

“Can’t you express your gratitude in a different way?”

He whispered in her ear with a languid voice.

“What do you mean?”

Before she could even hear an answer, Yeonsu’s lips were consumed.

His flesh that had parted her teeth tangled with hers, urging her to respond.

Even when they’d finished eating, an awkwardness had lingered.

Yet now, as if that had never happened, she grew dizzy from kissing him.

Yeonsu saw Seonjae lift his closed eyelids halfway.