Hyeol, who spoke boldly, tapped my shoulder asking to be put down. Without time to be flustered, as soon as I put the child back on the floor, he brought a kindergarten bag that he had somehow prepared and placed behind the stairs.
“Let’s go.”
Right now…?
Even though it was the perfect opportunity to escape, I became somewhat dumbfounded.
“What about the chocolate… muffins…?”
From the kitchen, the mother-in-law’s nagging and savory smells were wafting out.
“I hate sweet things.”
“……”
“Daddy doesn’t even know that?”
Hyeol, who sneered while lifting the corners of his mouth, walked toward me again. It seemed like he wanted to say something, so I bent my knees to match his eye level.
Hyeol took a small deep breath and said:
“This time, promise you’ll take me with you.”
“……”
“Promise you won’t abandon me again.”
“……”
“Promise.”
At the child’s repeated requests, I held back the tears that were about to come and took Hyeol’s hand.
“Yes, I will… I promise…”
*
I don’t know much about Chae Seungyeon. No, I don’t know him at all. In the original novel, he was a character expressed only through a few sentences of description. Naturally, I couldn’t remember his name either. Just the fact that his death had a very significant impact on the obsessive maniac’s life, and that he was a person with outstanding beauty equal to the main shou of the original novel… that was all.
Perhaps because of that, no matter how much his husband had died, I thought how could he abandon his child like that, how heartless.
However, after becoming Chae Seungyeon and experiencing firsthand what the inner circumstances were like, I felt I could understand just a little bit. Of course, I’ve never been married or had a child, so I can’t fully understand his feelings… but this one thing is certain.
[I love you. My son. Gwak Hyeol.]
That he loves his son more than anyone else.
Crash!
So in this current situation, safely bringing out his beloved son was not an easy task.
“Where, where do you think you’re going?!”
The mother-in-law dropped the plate containing the finished chocolate muffins and lit fires in both her eyes. The nanny who had been helping her beside her frantically brought a broom.
“I’m going with daddy, to daddy’s friend’s house.”
“Friend?”
At Hyeol’s following explanation, the mother-in-law looked at me with strange eyes at the word “friend,” just like Hyeol had done.
Was the fact that Chae Seungyeon had a friend such a strange thing? Or was receiving the fact that he had a friend strangely a characteristic of this family? I couldn’t know, but what was certain was that the mother-in-law was very weak when it came to Hyeol.
“Hahaha… My daughter-in-law. This is all of our home, isn’t it? But how can you leave all your family behind and go to a friend’s house?”
The mother-in-law now talked about family and smiled falsely. Perhaps because the child was there, her tone was very kind, but her words had thorns in them. I don’t know how Chae Seungyeon would have acted in this situation, but I wasn’t him.
I readjusted my grip on Hyeol’s hand and said.
“…Hyeol and I will be staying out for a while.”
“By whose permission!”
The mother-in-law seemed to have nothing to lose now and shouted loudly even while Hyeol was watching. The maid who was putting broken dishes into a dustpan was startled and dropped them on the floor again. Crash! The dishes broke into pieces again.
Hyeol seemed startled by that sound and hid behind me. At the child’s wary gaze, the mother-in-law’s distorted face brightened completely.
“Hyeol…? Was grandmother’s voice too loud…?”
“……”
She made a smiling expression as if wearing a mask, but Hyeol had a stiffly frozen face.
“Hyeo… Hyeol…?”
The anxious mother-in-law reached her hand toward Hyeol. The child avoided her and hugged one of my legs tightly. The mother-in-law’s eyes reddened as if she had received a great shock.
It was truly ironic. While revealing all her ugly true self to others, she seemed to want to remain a good grandmother in front of Hyeol.
But I had to steel my heart. Because if I couldn’t get out of this house now, there would clearly never be another chance.
“Mother-in-law.”
I took a deep breath and spoke to the mother-in-law.
“Hyeol is my son. He’s my only son, so as his father, I’ll take responsibility and take him with me.”
The mother-in-law, who had been dumbfounded for a moment at my words, suddenly burst into laughter, going “Ohohohoho.” At that cloying laughter, the older brother and big guy who were watching this situation trembled.
“Of course, naturally! Hyeol isn’t my son but our daughter-in-law’s son, yes, I know that well!”
The mother-in-law, who had only been shouting angrily, suddenly changed her attitude. Her face, which couldn’t erase its vicious expression, instantly turned sad.
“But my son…”
Thud.
Suddenly the mother-in-law collapsed onto the sofa like a tragic heroine and her eyes glistened with tears.
“My son… *sob*, chased after whatever man he liked and abandoned his mother… went away like that before his mother… *sob sob*… Oh, my fate… No matter how preciously I raised my child, it’s all useless, *sob*, now if even my grandson leaves, how will I live…”
“Ma’am, the two are leaving.”
At that moment, the maid approached the mother-in-law and spoke politely.
“What, what?!”
The mother-in-law belatedly noticed the father and son’s absence and shot up.
“Why didn’t you stop them!”
“You told us to stay. Put. And. Not. Move…”
At the older brother’s words, the mother-in-law screamed so loudly the mansion could have blown away. In the meantime, I quickly left the mansion with Hyeol.
*
As soon as we left the mansion, I was worried that not only the mother-in-law but also the guys who kidnapped me might chase after us, so I quickly picked up Hyeol and ran as fast as I could. I ran straight down the downhill road and when I saw a narrow alley, I went in there as if hiding. Struggling through the gaps with Hyeol, we came out into an open space.
Fortunately, there was a neighborhood playground nearby. I sat Hyeol on a wooden bench in the corner of the playground and caught my breath. Was it because I ran too urgently? My breathing was rough.
“So where is daddy’s friend’s house?”
At that moment, Hyeol tapped my shoulder and asked a question.
“Wait… Hyeol… just… wait…”
I don’t know why I’m so out of breath. Even though I ran while carrying a child, my heart was beating too rapidly. Could it be that Chae Seungyeon’s stamina is weaker than average? Or are omegas in this novel usually like this?
I couldn’t know for sure, but… it seemed like I’d need to build up some stamina if I was going to raise a child from now on.
“Yeah… Hyeol, I’m okay now. What did you say earlier?”
I barely managed to regulate my breathing and asked Hyeol.
“Daddy’s friend’s house, where is it?”
“Huh? Well…”
I did say friend as an excuse earlier… But can I really call Baek Woojin a friend?
I suddenly fell into thought. We’re not even in-laws yet. Both Hyeol and Kkotsu becoming adults is still far in the future. Or would it be better to arrange their engagement in advance? But doing that without a proper justification doesn’t seem right either…
“Hyeol, you know what. Daddy actually just left some luggage at that friend’s house…”
I wanted to take a different route if possible.
“You didn’t pack your luggage?”
“Yeah…”
I couldn’t exactly say that I was kidnapped by your grandmother so I couldn’t pack my luggage. Or maybe I should have delayed time and packed some luggage from the mansion. Though the really necessary luggage would be at Baek Woojin’s house anyway…
Rustle, rustle.
“…?”
While I was lost in various thoughts. Hyeol suddenly opened the bag he was carrying and rummaged through it. Then he took out something slightly bigger than his palm.
“Oh…”
What Hyeol was holding was a cell phone. From the shape, it didn’t look like a toy but seemed like a dedicated kids’ phone that children carry around.
“That…”
If it’s something that can make calls, I’d like to borrow it…
“This is mine.”
“……”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
