“So is your noona married now?”
“She died from a chronic illness.”
Died from a chronic illness…?
That’s strange, I think I heard that before…
Gasp, could it be…?
“That’s right.”
Baek Woojin continued as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Actually, Kkotsu is my nephew.”
“Your nephew?”
It wasn’t unexpected, but I was surprised that it was really true.
“Yes, after my noona, who was an unwed mother, passed away, I went through the procedures and adopted Kkotsu as my legal child.”
Baek Woojin, who had delivered only clear facts to me, quietly drove again.
“That’s…”
I couldn’t grasp what to say about this completely unexpected birth secret. So, Baek Woojin and Kkotsu weren’t father and son, but uncle and nephew. Raising his nephew alone like this in place of his sister…
After belatedly organizing the relationship between Baek Woojin and Kkotsu in my head, I thought of Kkotsu calling him Dad.
“Then Kkotsu doesn’t know this fact at all…?”
“Not yet. But I’ll have to tell him someday.”
Baek Woojin answered my question calmly.
I had no idea that Baek Woojin and Kkotsu had such complicated circumstances. Even though I thought their relationship was like father and son who seemed similar yet different, I never imagined there was such an incredible story…
I didn’t know what words to use to comfort him. No, I wondered if I was even in a position to offer comfort right now.
But… even if he was a blood-related nephew, it must have been really difficult raising him alone…
“…Were you very surprised? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
That’s when Baek Woojin looked at me while waiting for the traffic light and spoke. The black eyes that met mine were calmly settled like a lake soaked with rainwater.
“I was a little surprised, but… thank you.”
At my words of thanks, Baek Woojin’s expression changed to look somewhat puzzled.
“Ah… that is… because Woojin-ssi told me this story. How difficult it must have been for Woojin-ssi all this time… what kind of feelings you had when making such a decision, I can’t know clearly but…”
“It wasn’t particularly difficult. There were many people around who helped.”
“Ah… that’s good, that’s really good.”
When I expressed relief and said it was good again, Baek Woojin kept looking at me without taking his eyes away. Just when I was getting embarrassed thinking that gaze was persistent, I heard Baek Woojin’s gentle voice.
“Since Chae Seungyeon-ssi told me a secret, I thought I should tell you one someday too. It came up a bit early, but… I hope you don’t feel burdened.”
Had he taken seriously my story about entering a book? Knowing that Baek Woojin was taking my story seriously made me feel at ease.
In gratitude, I also had something I wanted to say to him.
“It’s early for me to say this too, but… Woojin-ssi seems like a really warm person.”
“……”
“Ah… I didn’t mean it in a strange way…”
Setting aside the cringe factor, I wondered if I had spoken too incoherently, and my face heated up belatedly. I regretted not just saying something simple like “amazing” or “cool.”
“A warm person… I see, even though I’m from a strange kindergarten.”
Baek Woojin, who made a joke that didn’t sound like a joke, smiled gently. Even that made me feel grateful that he was being considerate of me.
Meanwhile, the light changed. The car began moving smoothly toward its destination again.
“Here.”
I carefully handed the photo of his sister to Baek Woojin. Baek Woojin looked over the photo once and then put it back in place.
“Let’s get out here.”
The car stopped after we hadn’t been driving for long.
“Huh? Did we already arrive home?”
I was puzzled since we arrived earlier than the time it took to drop the children off at kindergarten. Baek Woojin unbuckled my seatbelt and said,
“It’s not home.”
“Then…?”
“Let’s go get a shot.”
*
How did he know I hate shots…!
“Nurse! G-gently… gently… Ahhh!”
Despite my pleading, the nurse painfully gave me a shot in my butt. My screaming echoed loudly in the injection room.
“Sob, it hurts…”
Shots were tearfully painful whether in reality or in a novel.
“Now let’s go home…”
Coming out of the injection room, I sniffled and rubbed one side of my butt with my hand. Baek Woojin, who was staring intently at my butt, answered indifferently,
“We need to go get medicine.”
While following Baek Woojin after finishing the payment at the hospital, I looked over the diagnosis I received as a patient. Since it was just a simple cold, the remaining amount after insurance wasn’t that much.
“Phew…”
I quietly sighed behind Baek Woojin’s back. Since Chae Seungyeon didn’t have a single penny right now, these things kept bothering me.
No matter how much Baek Woojin was the future father-in-law, it was still someone else’s money for now. I had to make it clear.
“Um, Woojin-ssi. The medical fees, I’ll pay you back later…”
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Yes?”
I approached Baek Woojin to talk about the debt, but he stopped abruptly. His large frame like a stone statue stopping right in front of me was threatening. I quietly stepped aside.
“There’s one thing I must always observe when counseling patients.”
But Baek Woojin suddenly started talking to me about work. I was a little flustered but nodded and walked beside him. The shadows of two people were cast on the floor. I was startled again. I knew Baek Woojin was tall, but the physiques in the walking shadows were definitely different.
I had the useless thought that with such a physique, he might never catch a cold.
“Ah… what is it that you must observe…?”
I came to my senses belatedly and asked Baek Woojin back. Maybe because I got a shot, my mind was a little hazy from the medicine. Baek Woojin observed my condition for a moment, then said with a serious face,
“Focusing on the patient.”
“…?”
Focusing on the patient… wasn’t that natural as a professional?
When I was in university, there were many classmates interested in child psychology or youth counseling, so I know that the role of a counselor is very important. And that it’s a very difficult job too.
“Even if counseling goes long, you can’t look elsewhere or think about other things in front of the patient. You must focus only on the patient.”
Baek Woojin was explaining calmly when he suddenly stopped walking. Then without warning, he slipped off the mask I was wearing.
“Oh…!”
While I was flustered by my face suddenly feeling empty, Baek Woojin raised the corner of his mouth.
“Right now, I’m focusing on you.”
“Pardon?”
Focusing? I had no idea why that focus switched from patients to me, but I waved my hand asking for my mask back first.
Grab.
“…!”
My wrist was caught. It didn’t hurt, but even though it was just lightly held, I couldn’t move at all due to the strength I felt in his grip.
Why is this person so strong? Or am I relatively weak because I’m an omega…?
As I just blinked in confusion, Baek Woojin’s face came closer and closer.
“Since you have a face that knows nothing, I have no choice but to tell you directly.”
“Wha… what…?”
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi, I…”
Bzzzzzz! Bzzzzzz!
That’s when it happened. The phone vibration rang unusually loudly as if interrupting us. Baek Woojin frowned deeply, then took out his phone from his coat’s inner pocket.
“It’s a call. It seems urgent… I deliberately cleared my schedule…”
Baek Woojin, apparently having confirmed something somewhat serious, told me to go into the pharmacy first. I awkwardly received Baek Woojin’s card and entered the pharmacy hesitantly.
“It’s been processed. We’ll call your name, so please sit and wait a moment.”
After completing registration at the reception desk, I sat in an empty waiting chair.
“Huh, huuk… ugh…”
“…?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
