Hae-won kept making flabbergasted sounds, but his large body had already been kicked out, and his two shoes were tossed out after him with a thud-thud.
“Thanks. Really.”
He didn’t think those words were insincere. Seo-an wasn’t the type to give half-hearted thanks like that.
…But this is a bit…?
Hae-won looked at the closed door with an incredulous expression. He couldn’t hide the hollow laugh that burst from his lips.
Still, there was nothing he could do about being kicked out already. Hae-won stared blankly ahead for a moment, then picked up the shoes that had been thrown out with him and entered his own place.
After finishing his shower, Hae-won, who had been pondering for a bit, called Gong Se-hyeok without caring about the late hour. If he was still working at that job anyway, he would have gotten off work by now. Just as he thought that.
—How did you know I’m getting off work right now?
As expected, Gong Se-hyeok’s displeased voice could be heard. Hae-won let out a shallow laugh.
“Hey, did Seo-an hyung get divorced or something?”
Asking that, Hae-won put his feet up on the knee-high glass table. Crossing his legs and leaning his body languidly back, his expression had already lost its smile and become calm.
It was strange that there were no traces at home at all.
Since Gong Se-hyeok was the most well-informed about everyone’s news among his peers, he thought Se-hyeok might know something, but the answer that came back was disappointing.
—What kind of bullshit is that?
“Got it.”
Since there was only one piece of information to get from him, Hae-won hung up without regret.
Then is he in a weekend marriage….
Hae-won clicked his tongue.
I can just ask again next time I get a chance. And even if I find out, what can I do? He’s already married with a kid.
Hae-won lightly shook his head.
He said “chance,” but he didn’t know if it was really a chance, or if that chance had clearly come. Still, for now…
Hae-won lightly organized his thoughts.
***
Hae-won
When are you going to talk about hyung?
It’s already been several days, hasn’t it?
I want to hear your sincere thanks
Seo-an had been looking at the messages pouring in for several days with troubled eyes. Biting his lips tightly and tapping the screen, Seo-an’s face was full of worry.
It had already been several days since he’d been leaving his child with Hae-won. He was giving enough thanks and apologies, but there was still no progress in finding a new person, so he was anxious too.
He couldn’t keep imposing on him forever, but since it was directly related to the child, he kept being picky about it, which made it more frustrating.
Still, I can’t keep going like this.
No matter how much Hae-won said he was unemployed and playing around at home so to leave the child with him comfortably, taking care of a child was no easy task.
“Um, Dae-hyun-nim.”
Seo-an carefully called out to the senior sitting next to him. Park Dae-hyun, who turned to look at him with a kind expression, raised his eyebrows.
“The company daycare’s care program. Has that started?”
“Oh, it should have started. I heard it’s good. They say you just drop them off when you work overtime. Everyone seems to use it well when they urgently need someone to watch their kid.”
“What about capacity limits? Is there a waiting list for that too?”
“No, I heard you just go and pay on the day. These days everyone uses sitters, and the little kids go to academy too, so there aren’t many people in the afternoon. Why, didn’t you say you weren’t interested since you have a sitter?”
“Ah, there’s been a bit of a problem.”
Seo-an left an awkward smile and thanks, then looked at the company intranet.
The company had a daycare that operated for employees. Ji-yu was going to be sent there at first, but the waiting list was so long and they didn’t know when a spot would open up, so they had to give up.
Then afternoon care started from the beginning of this year. It was called care, but it was essentially providing a space where children could wait for their parents working overtime while using the daycare facilities like a kids’ cafe. Plus, they offered the convenience of eating dinner together.
It was a program for employees who were in trouble because, like Seo-an’s case, their sitter quit and they had nowhere to leave their child, or they suddenly had no place to put their child.
“20,000 won per day…”
After carefully reading even the notice that it operated until 10 PM at the latest, Seo-an let out a deep sigh. He hadn’t looked at it carefully before since he had a sitter, but at this level, the price seemed fairly reasonable.
After pondering for a moment, Seo-an finally gripped his phone again and typed a reply.
Please just until this week
I think I can apply for the company afternoon care
Sorry for taking up your time
Still, it would have been really hard without you
Thank you so much, Hae-won-ah
Putting aside the discomfort remaining between them, Seo-an once again sincerely said he was sorry and grateful. Either way, he was indebted to him, so he had to say what needed to be said properly.
But even after reading the message, Hae-won didn’t respond for a long time. He could have brushed it off thinking he was busy, but… Hae-won had always deliberately not answered right away when he was sulking since before.
What is he unhappy about now? Seo-an stared quietly at his phone and let out a deep sigh.
I’ll reply when he answers, he thought, and just as he put down his phone, a call came from Hae-won.
“Hello?”
The moment he answered with a bewildered expression, words came pouring out from Hae-won.
—Is what hyung just said sincere thanks?
“Huh?”
—Who said to leave him somewhere else? I said from the beginning, leave him with me. Just leave him with me.
“No, but you should start working soon too—”
—Why are you deciding that? I don’t plan to work for a while anyway. I’d rather watch the kid and have dinner with hyung.
“……”
Then what more sincere thanks am I supposed to give? Does he want me to keep imposing on him…?
He tilted his head in confusion for only a moment.
—Just come and let’s talk, I was watching the kid and called because I was surprised.
“No, so why—”
He couldn’t even say words like “surprised.” The phone cut off abruptly without listening to the end, and Seo-an made a dumbfounded expression.
He thought he was a guy whose intentions were completely incomprehensible, but if he didn’t even properly say what he wanted, what was he supposed to do?
Seo-an let out a deep sigh and decided to go home and continue talking as Hae-won said. Fortunately, today was Friday, and tomorrow was the weekend, so there was plenty of time to talk.
Still, he was glad the company care program was well organized. Seo-an felt somewhat relieved and thought he should stop by the company daycare on his way home. It was natural to check out the place where the child would be staying in advance.
***
“Samchon, samchoooon!”
“Yeah, Ji-yu.”
“Samchon, you know this? Did samchon play with this too when you were little?”
The child ran out of the room and asked. Not yet at the age to play with robots, the child who mainly played with cushioned cars or dinosaur figures making “kwaaang!” dinosaur sounds that didn’t even sound right was now holding a top bigger than her hand and smiling brightly.
“Yeah, samchon played with stuff like this when I was Ji-yu’s age.”
“Really? You know this, you pull it all the way and then?”
“You can’t cry if you lose to samchon.”
Samchon will play with you, but I can’t comfort you when you cry.
Hae-won took full advantage of his pretty face to smile with his eyes and sat across from Ji-yu. Then Ji-yu would look at him intently with sparkling black eyes.
Hae-won knew those eyes. They were familiar eyes, and that’s why the shock of betrayal was so great.
Kwon Seo-an definitely liked, no, loved his face too, so when on earth did he make a girlfriend and prepare for marriage?
No matter how much he thought about it, it was still a mystery. Even though 4 years had already passed.
After playing with the child for a while, he could hear the sound of the password being entered at the front door. Whether he commuted on foot, there was no vehicle entry/exit notification heard this time either.
“Daddy!”
Ji-yu immediately threw down the top she was holding and jumped up from her seat. At that, Hae-won looked up at her with an incredulous expression.
“Wow, Kwon Ji-yu. Samchon was just playing with you, but now that daddy’s here, you’re dumping samchon right away?”
“Mm, I love daddy.”
“What about samchon?”
“Sam… chon… I like.”
Does she already know the difference between love and like?
Hae-won’s eyes widened in surprise at the child’s unexpected cleverness. But that was only for a moment. As if telling him not to be disappointed, the child stroked his cheek once with her small, cute hand, then immediately ran toward the entrance with a pitter-patter.
The spot where the child’s hand had brushed was so absurdly funny that Hae-won let out a low laugh. But he quickly composed his expression and stood up.
Today he planned to have a showdown with Seo-an. After playing with the kid exhaustingly for a whole week, hearing the notification that he was “going to find someone else” — did that make sense?
