Park Woo-jun was perfectly aware that he was good-looking. His self-esteem might’ve been buried six feet under, but judging by how people reacted to him his whole life, pretending not to notice would’ve taken real effort.
Of course, a big part of that came from Lee Han-seo’s nonstop commentary: “My boyfriend has this angelic smile, but when he’s serious, he’s drop-dead sexy. He looks so dependable when he’s just standing there, but when he opens his eyes wide, he’s like a baby—too cute!” That kind of praise was practically a daily chant, repeated a dozen times a day.
“You know the type older folks tend to like? Someone who looks clean-cut and trustworthy.”
“Ah! You should’ve said that earlier. That’s totally our thing. Mind if I fix your hair a bit?”
“Y-Yeah, go ahead.”
Normally, letting anyone other than Han-seo touch his hair would’ve made Woo-jun flinch and bolt. But right now, there was no time to fuss about details. In a rare display of urgency, he ducked his head forward so the staff member could work.
“People of a certain age usually like it when your forehead is clearly visible. Here—if we just push your bangs back a bit…”
With swift, practiced hands, the staff member tidied up Woo-jun’s half-mussed hairstyle and even straightened his awkwardly clutched necktie. He looked like he could walk into a corporate job interview on the spot. It wasn’t a bad look—in fact, it was strikingly different from just moments ago. Woo-jun bowed repeatedly, full of gratitude.
“I was really in a rush—thank you so much.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. But seriously, what’s the occasion? As far as I know, there weren’t any interviews scheduled today…”
And usually, even when we beg you to show up, you act like it’s such a hassle and barely make an appearance… The PR officer swallowed the thought tactfully. The thing was, even when Woo-jun showed up looking half put-together, he outshone a hundred fully styled Espers. It always left them wanting more from him.
“Ah. Someone important is visiting, and I want to make a good impression.”
Deep breath in, deep breath out. His chest rose and fell with nervous excitement. After checking the time, Woo-jun took one last deep breath and returned to the office. A few coworkers glanced at him, curiosity obvious in their eyes, but he didn’t have the bandwidth to entertain questions.
“Oh my god, what do I do? I’m so freaking nervous…”
He swept a hand over his chest as if to calm his thundering heart and pushed open the door to the team leader’s office.
“Hey! Our Team Leader Park is here!”
Sitting comfortably at the head of the table was a middle-aged man with a wide grin—someone who looked uncannily like Lee Han-seo.
“Ah, ah—Father-in-law!”
His heart was pounding like a jackhammer.
***
“Here, take this. Last time you really seemed to like it, so I brought a little extra. Need any more side dishes?”
“Oh—no, I’m okay. You’re already so busy… I don’t even know how to thank you. You didn’t need to bring anything. Wasn’t it heavy? You could’ve just called me.”
“I came by car—it’s nothing.”
Behind his glasses, Attorney Lee Yoon-jae’s eyes sparkled, untouched by time. That’s exactly what Han-seo’s going to look like when he gets older… Woo-jun felt like he was sitting beside a version of Han-seo from the future, and his heart melted all over again.
“Ah, almost forgot—take this too.”
Whether or not he realized he was roasting the metaphorical sweet potato of in-law ambiguity, Attorney Lee smiled with Han-seo’s exact same eyes and handed over a luxury-brand shopping bag.
“I went shopping with Han-seo’s mom the other day. And what do you know—it was just so you.”
“Ah… Father-in-law…”
Inside was a pastel-colored cardigan, neatly folded and carefully packaged. Tears prickled at the corners of Woo-jun’s eyes. It wasn’t the price or the quality that got to him—it was the sheer kindness of an older adult treating him with this much care. He still wasn’t used to it. It never failed to tug at his heart.
“There’s an exchange receipt inside. If it’s not your taste, you can swap it out.”
“No way! I love it. Seriously, it’s perfect. Thank you so, so much.”
“Aigoo… Han-seo, that brat… Tsk, tsk. No matter what we get him, he never wears it. All he does is complain that it’s not his style. He really needs to learn to say thank you when elders give him something. Not like you—you’re so polite, just the way it should be. Right?”
Only two people on Earth could get away with badmouthing Han-seo in front of Park Woo-jun. Attorney Lee was obviously one. The other was Han-seo’s mother, who’d probably picked out the cardigan with him. Smiling sheepishly, Woo-jun slipped off his jacket and slid into the cardigan.
A fuzzy pastel cardigan on top of slacks, dress shirt, tie, and a freshly styled haircut—it was the ultimate mismatch. But who cared? When Attorney Lee gave him a cheerful, “Looks great on you!”, Woo-jun felt like he could float.
“I’ll wear it well, Father-in-law.”
“Good, good. Next time we go see the fall foliage, be sure to wear it. With that fair skin of yours, soft colors really suit you. Makes buying it feel worth it. I’m so lucky to have gained such a sweet, obedient son!”
They’d scheduled this meeting with a clear goal in mind, but now that they were face-to-face, everything just felt warm and cozy. So this is what family feels like… It still felt surreal to Park Woo-jun that he was now, somehow, included under that roof called “family.”
Just falling in love with Lee Han-seo—and being loved by him—had brought so many small miracles into his world.
“But seriously, what’s up with that Han-seo? Calls me over when I’m busy and then just goes off and sleeps? Did he not sleep last night? Bet he stayed up playing games on his phone again.”
“Uh… w-well, that is…”
“It’s true Han-seo went to bed late last night,” Woo-jun admitted, “but it wasn’t because he was up playing phone games…”
He was the one who’d stolen every minute of Han-seo’s sleep, yet here he was, flinching with guilt like a caught thief. Before he could say more, Attorney Lee waved his hand dismissively, cutting him off.
“Aigoo, no need to cover for him. He’s my kid—I know how he is.”
While Woo-jun would never dare, Attorney Lee—well-seasoned in the art of waking his son—marched right over and shook Han-seo awake with the kind of vigor that could rattle a soul.
Han-seo, come on. Wake up. Eat something before you sleep again, okay? Still tired? Alright, just ten more minutes… Compared to Woo-jun’s soft, coaxing morning voice that always blurred the line between waking and lulling back to sleep, Attorney Lee’s method had immediate results. Han-seo yawned and blinked his eyes open on the spot.
“Haaaahm… Slept great. Huh? Dad, why’re you here so early?”
“Yeah, kid. You call someone over and then go take a nap?”
“I got sleepy after lunch, that’s all. But I thought you said you’d come by in the evening. Why so early?”
“Meeting got canceled. Figured I’d use the extra time to drop in. No harm in seeing my boys more often.”
As he exchanged a quick greeting with his father, Han-seo glanced around the room—only to spot Woo-jun sitting across from him and burst into laughter. His hair was clearly styled with intense effort, and it looked… well, hilariously obvious.
Woo-jun still couldn’t seem to get used to being around Han-seo’s parents. Every time felt like the first. And the fluorescent mint cardigan awkwardly thrown over his sharp outfit? That was the cherry on top. Sure, his handsome face managed to pull off even that blinding color, but the overall vibe was painfully mismatched.
“Woo-jooon, come here.”
“Coming!”
At Han-seo’s call and the light pat on the seat beside him, Woo-jun perked up and trotted over like a happy puppy only he could see. Han-seo leaned his head on Woo-jun’s shoulder and immediately stuck his palm out toward his dad.
“Where’s mine?”
“You don’t get one.”
“So unfair, Dad. Whose dad are you, huh?”
“You wouldn’t wear it even if I bought you something. No fuss now. Didn’t we come here for the notarization? Let’s get started.”
Adjusting his glasses, Attorney Lee pulled out a pen and slipped into full-on work mode. While Han-seo thought, He might be my dad, but when he’s working, he’s a completely different person…, Woo-jun was off in la-la land thinking, I should make Han-seo wear glasses like that in bed on our 2,000-day anniversary…
With both of them lost in their own thoughts, neither said a word. Not until Attorney Lee, now in lawyer mode, gave them both a sharp look.
“What are you two doing?”
“Ah, sorry! Got a bit distracted. So—do we need a specific format for the agreement? Or can we just write the terms ourselves?”
“Just write the terms. I’ll take care of the structure and legal bits.”
That was the whole reason they’d brought in Attorney Lee—as a lawyer, not a dad. They needed official notarization for Woo-jun’s written agreement.
After a big fight about dungeon deployments—and a dramatic, boozy reconciliation—the next morning they’d sat down and had a real talk. Let’s go on missions together from now on. I’ll be more careful, too. It had ended on a high note. A clean, hopeful conclusion.
At least, that’s what Han-seo thought.
But turns out, he’d seriously underestimated just how slippery Woo-jun could be.
Okay, okay. But this one’s too risky. Starting with the next one, for real. This one’s S-Class, remember? Next one. Promise. And just like that, he’d kept delaying, until Han-seo hadn’t even gotten near a gate in weeks.
Finally fed up, Han-seo had drawn the line. No more excuses. They were writing a formal agreement, bringing in a lawyer, and getting it notarized. Period.
And if they were going to do that, might as well bring in someone who already knew the full story—no need to embarrass themselves in front of a stranger.
“Okay, Park Woo-jun. Start writing. I, Park Woo-jun…”
“I… Park Woo-jun…”
“Hereby swear to take Lee Han-seo into the dungeon with me at least half the time, every month!”
“At least… half… W-Wait, half the time?!”
Woo-jun, who had been carefully copying each word onto an A4 sheet with a black marker, suddenly stopped, eyes wide.
“What, you don’t like it? Then maybe we shouldn’t be a Bonded Pair.”
“H-Han-seo! H-How could you say something like that—in front of your dad?!”
His voice shook with shock, and his eyes wobbled like he was about to cry. Seeing this, Attorney Lee stepped in calmly before things got messy.
“Alright, time-out. You two, take a breath. And Han-seo—you can’t just say ‘half the month.’ There’s no way to predict how many dungeons will appear. You can’t lock in a number like that.”
“Now that you mention it… yeah, that makes sense.”
“Exactly. Let me decide. According to the data, our Team Leader Park averages around nine dungeon runs a month. So you’ll go with him for four of those.”
As Han-seo nodded in agreement, Attorney Lee shot a quick wink at Woo-jun behind his son’s back. Woo-jun mouthed a grateful Thank you in return. The real trick? They hadn’t mentioned dungeon rank at all.
With it capped at four entries, Woo-jun could easily pick lower-risk B-Class dungeons to meet the quota, and continue soloing the dangerous ones.
They both breathed a silent sigh of relief—until Han-seo spoke up again.
“Alright, sounds good. We’ll go with Dad’s plan. Then for the S-Class dungeons… how about I wait about six months to adjust, and then start joining those too?”
…Unfortunately, Lee Han-seo was no pushover. And he’d already found the loophole.
