“I think I’m digesting it now…” … .”
Then, while caressing my stomach, I left the kitchen and went into the room without even giving Kang Ha-jun a single glance.
The moment the door closed and she was cut off from Kang Ha-jun, Eun-yul took a deep breath that she had been holding. Just as his legs gave out and he was about to lean against the door, his thoughts wandered to Kang Ha-jun who was outside. The moment I lean against the door, Kang Ha-jun will notice. In the end, Eunyul stretched out her arms against the wall next to her and leaned against it, muttering with a dazed look on her face as if she had lost her mind.
“what.”
Eunyul lifted her trembling hand and placed it on her chest.
My heart was beating so loudly that it felt like it was going to explode. Eun-yul, who was trying to calm her breathing by clutching her chest, remembered the time when she placed her hand on Kang Ha-jun’s chest earlier. I think his heart was beating like this… … .
* * *
With the sound of the door closing, Kang Ha-jun raised his head. He looked at the door, feeling his heart beating rapidly without knowing when it had started. When I remembered that the man who went in there had placed his hand on my heart, the flushed feeling did not go away.
Kang Ha-jun exhaled in an attempt to calm his excited mind. But even though his mind knew he needed to calm down, his body kept reacting differently.
It was strange that my body wasn’t controlled by my head, but I wasn’t worried. Because I think I know the reason for this gap.
“When I look at you, I think my heart will go in the direction I like.”
I said out loud what I had said to Eunyul before. Kang Ha-jun let out a self-deprecating laugh as he recalled how he had expressed that he still wasn’t sure of his feelings.
I was stupid. I was dealing with Eunyul without really looking into my heart.
I was trying to be careful not to approach him too hastily, but it clouded my mind. Because I already had a crush on someone else once… … I thought I would get along well with the other person based on just a hint of goodwill, but I ended up failing. This time, I kept hesitating so as not to act hastily, which prevented me from properly looking at the feelings that had already become clear.
“You like it.”
Seong Eun-yul, who lied to me casually, and who still cared about me. I came to like Seong Eun-yul, who shared what she felt while raising Haneul.
I now realize that I was falling for him from the moment I thought he was cool and wanted to be like him.
“You can be this stupid.”
Kang Ha-jun raised his hand and covered his forehead, letting out a soft laugh. Since I wasn’t sure yet, even though Seong Eun-yul felt something, he didn’t express it clearly. It was all my fault.
therefore… … .
“I have to reveal it.”
My true heart and even Seong Eun-yul’s heart that was shaken by me.
Kang Ha-jun lowered the hand that was caressing his stomach and picked up the medicine shell. Before he knew it, his insides felt at ease. It may not be because of the effects of the medicine, but because I realized my feelings.
Kang Ha-jun’s hand moved up from under his stomach and stopped at his chest. The spot where Seong Eun-yul’s hand had touched throbbed as if there had been a stain left on it.
* * *
For the first time in a long time, Haneul sat and played in a jar in the restaurant yard. The jar lid was like a chair to Sky. It was nice that I didn’t have to get my butt in the dirt and the height was just right.
“The ground is sinking in.”
I heard that my uncles dug this place not long ago, and perhaps thanks to that, it was easy to get in by poking it with a tree branch. Usually, the ground was so hard that I couldn’t draw well even if I tried to draw hard, but now the drawing came out just as I drew.
“Out of ten chocolates, if dad eats three… … .”
Haneul was writing addition and subtraction, which I am interested in these days, and looked up when she saw a shadow cast over the letters. He was a tall man.
“hello.”
Everyone who came to Suni’s restaurant said hello to them as they were customers. He was as young as his father.
“hi. “Are you playing here alone?”
“yes.”
“What about your parents?”
“Both my father and grandmother are working.”
As Haneul pointed to the restaurant, the man raised his head and looked at the restaurant. Lim Bong-soon was paying at the cash register, and Eun-yul was busy serving trays. The man who was watching the scene lowered his head again and looked at the sky.
“Your father’s name is Seong Eun-yul?”
“Who are you?”
I just asked Haneul because he was curious about a different question from the customer. Are you your dad’s friend?
They looked very different from Uncle Namgung and Uncle Park Ju who came last time. However, since the number of dad’s friends is increasing these days, it will probably be the same this time as well.
“me… … I am.”
The man closed his mouth for a moment, looked at Haneul, and then spoke.
“Hyeonjaeha.”
Hyun Jae-ha was originally going to meet Kang Ha-jun. And after confirming that the person Kang Ha-jun was meeting was Yul, he tried to tell her that Kang Ha-jun would never like her father.
From the beginning, I thought it made no sense when he said that the person he was meeting was Seong Eun-yul. He didn’t find a partner with better conditions than himself, and his previous last name was Yul.
‘No matter what, it’s not Seong Eun-yul.’
This is the person who tormented him for having a one-night stand with Kang Ha-jun. I really couldn’t understand how we met again knowing how selfish he was. But I couldn’t just ignore what happened because I didn’t believe it.
So Hyunjae changed his mind. I decided to meet Seong Eun-yul, not Kang Ha-jun.
‘Because Mr. Hajun won’t tell.’
It would be easier to understand the situation if I went to Seong Eun-yul rather than hearing something from that person. He was busy talking about even the smallest thing related to Kang Ha-jun. He was someone who thought that was a way to turn my stomach, so I had no doubt that it would do the same this time.
However, while finding out where Seong Eun-yul was, I received some very unexpected information. That Seong Eun-yul had a child.
‘The reason he didn’t die… … Could it be because she’s pregnant?’
Namgoonghyuk’s words about leaving the inn without dying came to mind, and I naturally connected with the child.
The result was this.
“hello.”
A child who looked exactly like Kang Ha-jun was looking up at him.
Hyun Je-ha, who announced his name, raised his head and looked around Suni’s restaurant. Despite its shabby appearance, quite a lot of customers came in, and the assistant busily served food.
Hyun Je-ha, who was looking at them, lowered his eyes again and looked at the child. Seong Ha-neul, the son of Seong Eun-yul. However, as he looked at the innocent eyes of the child who clearly resembled Kang Ha-jun in appearance, Hyeon-jae suddenly said something grumpy.
“You are alone.”
So, I think Seong Eun-yul will be sad if I take you away.
“Are you going to protect me?”
The shadow on Hyun Je-ha’s face receded a little at Haneul’s pure answer.
“Can I protect you?”
“Because you said I was alone.”
“that is… … “Is this why I have to protect you?”
Rather, it meant that you could be dangerous.
At that time, Haneul got up from the jar lid. Nevertheless, Hyun Je-ha looked down at the child for a long time at a low level.
“hey.”
Haneul stretched out his finger and pointed at something.
“And there too.”
When he pointed to the other side, Hyun Je-ha wondered something and obediently turned his head to check. Under a sign that read Sooni’s Supermarket, three old men were looking at us with fierce eyes. And in the iron hardware store, a middle-aged man looked at himself with his chains and pipes resting on both of his shoulders.
“I have someone to protect me, so it’s okay if you don’t protect me.”
Haneul stretched out both hands and patted one of Hyeonjeha’s hands.
“Thank you, though.”
“uh… … .”
Hyun Je-ha turned his hand over. Then the sky and my palms collided. Hyeon Je-ha looked at him and asked in a hesitant tone.
“What if I’m not protecting you?”
Haneul didn’t understand the meaning of those words and was still clapping his palms together, but Hyeonjaeha was the only one talking.
“What if I tried to take you away?”
“mister.”
When Haneul called, Hyun Je-ha looked up from his hands and made eye contact with Haneul.
“I think you have the prettiest eyes of anyone I’ve ever seen. Wow, it’s really pretty.”
“Snow… … Pretty?”
“My dad’s eyes are handsome, but your eyes are pretty.”
“But I…” … .”
When he said he was taking Haneul away, it was purely out of spite. I felt bad because I felt like I had been betrayed by Kang Ha-jun, and with that feeling, I didn’t look good when I met Ha-neul.
But the child’s words, saying that her eyes were pretty, melted Hyun Je-ha’s heart.
“Are you really Seong Eun-yul’s son?”
There is no way such a pretty girl could come from that person.
As Hyun Je-ha spoke in disbelief, Haneul pressed her cheek with her finger and thought about it in her own way.
“If the person who is handsome, smiles easily, and is good at flying planes is Seong Eun-yul, then he is my father.”
The only thing I remember is his fiercely raised eyes. Also, can you take me on a plane?
“I don’t know about that.”
Hyun Je-ha shook his head. I couldn’t bear to tell Haneul what kind of person the Seong Eun-yul I knew was. Earlier, he felt bad because he felt like he had said something he couldn’t say to Ha-neul, so Hyeon-jae-ha was even more reserved in saying anything.
“My dad’s name is Seong Eun-yul… … .”
Hyun Je-ha seemed confused, and even the sky shook. So, as the conversation continued, unable to reach a clear conclusion, the awkwardness between us grew.
“Sky!”
A strong cry calling out to Haneul. Hyun Je-ha could feel the wariness, anger, and embarrassment buried within him, and he regained his composure.
“dad!”
Sky looked back at Eunyul and shouted happily.
“Come on.”
Eunyul, who would normally have accepted it with a smile, extended her hand towards Haneul with stern eyes. Hae-neul, who had rarely been scolded except when she got hurt, was startled and quickly ran to Eun-yul. And as soon as she held Haneul’s hand, Eunyul turned the child’s small body behind her.
Eunyul reached back and held Haneul’s small shoulder tightly. Just thinking about who Haneul was just facing made his whole body tremble.
“you… … .”
Eunyul forced out a voice that would not come out.
“It’s been a while.”
Hyeonjeha put his hands in his pockets and gave a dry greeting to Eunyul.
“So I thought you wouldn’t recognize me.”
Hyeonjaeha didn’t seem to mind that he recognized himself right away in Eunyul’s wary gaze.
As Hyun Je-ha said, Eun-yul may not have recognized him because it was her first time seeing him for a long time. No, actually, it wasn’t at the level it had been in a long time. The current Eun-yul saw him for the first time.
