“Hey, Yoo Jeongwoo, be honest with me. Do you have a son you’ve been hiding from me?”
He asked with a grin, but Yoo Jeongwoo didn’t answer.
Instead, his hand that had been twirling a pen paused for a moment, then started moving again. Though he acted like he didn’t care, there was an awkward energy in the air. Kang Doyun’s eyes narrowed.
Yoo Jeongwoo, who had been looking at documents, shifted his gaze toward the window as if avoiding his scrutiny.
“What was that reaction just now? Answer me properly, you.”
“Wait.”
Yoo Jeongwoo seemed to have spotted something.
He had casually glanced down at the window of the adjacent building when a familiar head of hair caught his eye.
Jeongwoo’s eyes instantly narrowed. As his focus sharpened, a strange light flickered in his pupils.
Could it be?
He immediately set down his documents and pen and pulled out his phone. He turned on the camera, focused on the face, then slowly zoomed in.
The high-performance camera clearly showed the person’s face. He had recognized correctly.
A smile spread across his lips very slowly. But at the same time, it was a puzzling sight.
His muttered words—wondering why the kid came here—contained a hint of curiosity mixed with an odd sense of delight. Then he spoke with a voice tinged with slight resentment.
“Drunkard.”
Whatever ridiculous thing he was up to again, this was a busy district not far from home anyway, so it wasn’t a place he couldn’t come to.
Is this originally the kid’s hangout zone?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a chuckle escaped him. His usually cold face had momentarily softened.
With the corners of his mouth turned up, he pressed the shutter repeatedly. Click, click.
Click, click, click, click.
“Hey, what’s that sound? What are you taking pictures of?”
Yoo Jeongwoo gently ignored his business partner’s question. The kid had a notebook spread open on the table and was holding a pen. He sat completely still, as if deeply pondering something. What could he be writing so intently?
Though he knew he should respect privacy now that he was an adult, Jeongwoo felt the urge to know what was in that notebook.
‘I used to change his diapers and give him baths anyway.’
Does privacy even exist between us in the first place?
Though less so than in the past, he still often lacked logic and conscience. Even now, he couldn’t stop his shameless thoughts.
He tried to aim his phone at the notebook too, but unfortunately the camera’s capabilities didn’t seem to reach that far. He couldn’t see at all what Hajin had written on the paper with his pen.
Just as he was absorbed in rather conscienceless thoughts about how he could see it, the kid’s head started bobbing down, down.
At the same time, something caught his eye. It was a backpack placed on the chair. For a college student’s casual outing with nothing to do, the stuffed bag was suspiciously full. As if he had run away from home…
“I chose a good location for my office.”
He let out a hollow laugh, grabbed his jacket that he had taken off, and stood up.
His movements were elegant. The moment he put on the jacket, his broad shoulder line stood out prominently, and his height—much taller than average—was overwhelming even in the spacious office.
Kang Doyun, who was almost finished with his cup noodles, rolled his eyes at that impressive sight.
“Just saying weird things, you punk… Where are you suddenly going?”
Before leaving through the door, Yoo Jeongwoo turned around briefly.
At that moment, an expression completely different from usual appeared on his face. His cold gaze had become warm, and an affectionate smile spread across his firmly closed lips.
“I’m going to pick up a lost child.”
A mischievous smile spread across Jeongwoo’s lips for the first time in a while. As if meeting a moment he had long awaited, his steps had a lighter bounce than usual.
***
My eyelids felt incredibly heavy. I must have dozed off with my face buried in the notebook. My head dropped with a jolt and I snapped awake.
“Huk!”
I had only dozed off for a brief moment, but I seemed to have had a dream. It resembled my actual hazy memories.
“I’m going to be an elementary school student now too!”
It was a dream of my elementary school entrance ceremony day—me holding a bouquet of flowers while Jeongwoo hyung-nim in his school uniform took my picture.
That day remained ambiguous as a vivid memory for me. Rather, it should be considered a scene imprinted because I grew up looking at the photos taken that day.
For some reason, my expression in the photo taken at school during the entrance ceremony was apparently really bad. So Mom and Dad printed out a photo of me taken in our yard that same day and stuck it on the refrigerator.
Though a bit embarrassing, Mom and Dad still often shed tears looking at that photo even now. And the words they always say are the same.
“Our little Hajin who was this small has grown up so much…”
And I’ve heard countless times that that photo was Jeongwoo hyung-nim’s work.
It might be my wishful thinking, but the look in hyung-nim’s eyes that I saw in the dream was full of such affectionate and loving light. It was filled with as much affection as if looking at his own child.
“Why am I having this kind of dream after running away from home…”
It just makes my heart more complicated.
Both my cheeks were warmly flushed, and the milkshake had already melted like water.
I rubbed my eyes and straightened my back. The cafe on Monday afternoon was quiet.
This was a spacious cafe located on a high floor, where the afternoon sunlight gently filtered through the entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, making the white-toned interior even brighter. Large planters and vines placed throughout created a sophisticated plantscape, adding a fresh atmosphere to the entire cafe.
Perhaps because of that dreamlike scenery, the world was still one layer blurry, as if I were still in a scene from the dream.
Ding~
The moment I stretched in my seat and turned my neck, the cafe door opened with a small, cheerful bell sound. A cool breeze swept into the spacious store, and a familiar shadow entered.
Familiar gait. A presence that dominated the space while seeming indifferent yet distinct.
It was Jeongwoo hyung-nim.
“Huh?”
The moment I recognized hyung-nim, my heart dropped.
Hyung-nim’s appearance in a perfectly tailored deep gray suit was even more dazzling in the sunlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The way he had loosened his tie was strangely sexy. Hyung-nim approached the counter with a relaxed face, unbuttoning his jacket with one hand.
Hyung-nim’s broad shoulders and tall silhouette immediately captured attention in the white-toned cafe. The sight of tall hyung-nim walking was like a scene from a fashion pictorial. His perfectly groomed dark brown hair sparkled in the sunlight, and his sharp yet elegant features stood out even more.
Americano, hot please.
The voice, heard softly due to the distance, was unchangingly low and calm. As if this was a familiar cafe, he naturally pulled out his wallet and offered his card.
Even the gesture of handing over the card was elegant. Long fingers, neat nails, and even the luxury watch peeking out from his wrist. Everything was perfect.
Compared to me with a chocolate-covered plate in front of me from devouring a smoothie and donut, hyung-nim was adulthood itself. Even in the cafe’s high ceiling and spacious area, hyung-nim’s presence was overwhelming.
From the moment I spotted hyung-nim, I remained frozen, holding my breath. And I thought briefly.
Am I about to die, so now I’m seeing things?
No, it was too vivid for that. It was an even more wonderful and handsome appearance than I usually imagined. Hyung-nim was slowly looking around the interior of the cafe while waiting for his coffee.
He looked at the downtown scenery visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows, checked his watch, and took out his phone to check something.
Every movement was leisurely and natural.
The sight of the sunlight illuminating hyung-nim’s perfect profile was truly picturesque. His high nose bridge, handsome features that still retained alpha characteristics with a distinct jawline, and even his elongated neckline.
To think such a wonderful person is our hyung-nim.
My gaping mouth corners naturally loosened. I’m probably making a really stupid expression right now. But hyung-nim is so handsome that I had no choice but to stare blankly at that sight.
Hyung-nim’s deep, dark eyes scanned the entire cafe, then suddenly changed direction. That’s when it happened.
“!”
Hyung-nim’s head turned slightly toward this direction.
