Just earlier, when riding the dragon train, he had giggled with delight… This was a completely opposite reaction.
“I… I w-want to r-ride… the d-dragon train… a-again…”
“Kkotsu enjoyed that one more…”
Now I see that Kkotsu unexpectedly preferred thrilling rides. There weren’t many thrilling rides that children could go on due to age restrictions.
In the end, we were only able to have lunch after riding Kkotsu’s favorite rides about four more times during the morning.
“Woojin-ssi, since we’ve come all this way… can we have hamburgers?”
Because it’s a special day… I added, and when the children and I stared at Baek Woojin, he gave his permission readily.
“I don’t intend to be rigid in a place like this either.”
I wanted to say “You should loosen up more,” but I couldn’t, so I just smiled gently and entered the hamburger restaurant.
While eating the hamburgers we ordered, sitting by the window with the children, my eyes kept wandering to the people passing by. This was because I saw many more same-sex couples than I had expected.
I knew this novel’s world was an omegaverse, and that men could marry men and women could marry women and have children… but there was a huge difference between knowing it intellectually and seeing so many same-sex couples with my own eyes.
Moreover…
“Gasp….”
“What on earth are they doing in public! And in front of a hamburger place no less…!”
“Dad, what’s wrong?”
“H-Hyeol, don’t look…!”
I quickly grabbed Hyeol’s head and turned it in the opposite direction. I still couldn’t get used to casual skinship and even kissing between people of the same gender. When I quickly turned my head, I made direct eye contact with Baek Woojin.
“Hahaha…. In broad daylight, really…”
I laughed awkwardly and pulled down the blinds hanging on the window.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi…”
“Yes?”
Baek Woojin narrowed his eyes and asked me.
“How far have you progressed?”
“Excuse me?”
This person, suddenly asking about progress…!
I shot him a disapproving look, but Baek Woojin smiled gently.
“I mean how far you’ve progressed with the books I gave you to read.”
“Oh…”
And here I thought… But wait, isn’t it too much to ask about studying even at a place like this?
“Well… a little bit…”
“How much is a little?”
“……”
It seemed Baek Woojin wouldn’t stop asking until I gave him the exact page number.
“I’m reading ‘The History of Omegas and Alphas’ and I’m about… halfway through?”
“So you’re at the modern history part?”
“Huh? No… then maybe a quarter…”
“Renaissance…?”
“Half of that… maybe?”
“……”
When I smiled awkwardly and turned my gaze elsewhere, Baek Woojin let out a small sigh.
“Please make sure to read everything.”
“Yes…”
I understand his intention to have me study for my own sake, but difficult books are hard for anyone to read…
“Dad, if you find the books difficult, we can read together.”
“With you, Hyeol?”
Hyeol said something considerate, as if looking after me.
“Yes, I need to finish my books quickly too.”
Now that I think about it, Hyeol had been reading the book series I bought him all day. I even scolded him for trying to read until late at night.
“Hyeol, is that book really that interesting?”
I wondered how entertaining it must be for him to want to keep reading it. But Hyeol gave an unexpected answer.
“No, it’s not super interesting…”
“Really? Then why?”
“…I have my reasons.”
Hyeol didn’t tell me and just drank his cola.
“K-kissy!”
Just then, Kkotsu suddenly pointed at the window and shouted. He must have seen the affectionate couple through the window.
“Kkotsu, don’t look at the window, let’s finish our hamburgers.”
“Y-yes…”
Fortunately, Kkotsu moved away from the window and continued eating his hamburger.
“D-do people k-kiss… when they g-get married…?”
He must have become curious. Kkotsu asked with wide eyes. Baek Woojin wiped the sauce from the corner of Kkotsu’s mouth with a napkin and briefly said, “That’s right.”
“Umm… T-teacher…”
Kkotsu seemed to remember something and spoke to his father.
“T-teacher said… H-Hyeol and I… s-should g-get married…”
Gasp…!
For a moment, my heart sank. Kkotsu had revealed what I’d said while delirious from my heat cycle. I needed to quickly clear things up so Baek Woojin wouldn’t misunderstand.
“N-no, that’s…! Woojin-ssi, I wasn’t in my right mind then… I misspoke to the children…”
Hmm.
As I tried to explain urgently, something felt off. I stopped talking and looked at Baek Woojin.
“Let’s finish eating and go for a walk. There’s a garden nearby.”
Was he pretending not to hear? Or maybe he didn’t think it was worth worrying about. I just silently finished my hamburger as he suggested.
*
After finishing our meal, we took a walk through a huge greenhouse called the Palace of Flowers. Though it was still the middle of winter outside, beautiful flowers that one would normally see in spring decorated every path.
“Hyeol, Kkotsu. Don’t go too far.”
Hyeol walked on top of a brick flower bed with a bored expression, while Kkotsu buried his nose in the flowers blooming along each path, inhaling their fragrance.
“Don’t breathe in too deeply. You’ll get pollen in your nose.”
“Achoo! Y-yes…!”
Despite acknowledging Baek Woojin’s concerned warning, Kkotsu continued to deeply inhale the flower scents and sneeze. He was an adorable little rabbit who never really listened to his father.
“Ah… So cute. I have to take a picture of this…”
It was so adorable that I quickly took a photo with my phone.
“Woojin-ssi, look. Isn’t Kkotsu cute in this?”
When I showed him the picture of Kkotsu with his eyes closed, smelling the yellow daffodils, Baek Woojin gave a subtle smile.
Phew… It’s amazing how relieved I felt from just that one smile. Actually, I had been watching Baek Woojin’s reactions ever since the hamburger place.
‘T-teacher said… H-Hyeol and I… s-should g-get married…’
I really was out of my mind…
It’s understandable if he’s upset—I rashly encouraged his precious son, a child only six years old, to marry someone.
But thinking about it, this is something Baek Woojin should know about eventually…
Perhaps I should just tell him that I’ve read part of the original novel and explain the relationship between the children?
But it’s unlikely that Baek Woojin would understand properly. He might even get angry, wondering why I hadn’t mentioned it sooner. This thought made me feel conflicted.
“Let’s rest here for a moment.”
Baek Woojin, who had been walking in step with me, stopped in front of a flower bed densely packed with sunflowers. There was a bench placed with the sunflowers as a backdrop.
“Alright, for a bit… Kkotsu, Hyeol, don’t go far! You need to stay where I can see you!”
“Okay.”
“Y-yes…!”
When I called out loudly, the children played separately but within our sight.
“…Woojin-ssi, please sit down too.”
As I slid onto the bench, Baek Woojin walked around to the back of it and called me.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Yes?”
When I turned my head toward Baek Woojin, he was looking at me with the sunflowers behind him.
“About what Kkotsu said earlier… I won’t ask why.”
As I thought… He had been keeping it in mind.
“But my unhappy expression wasn’t because of you. It was disappointment in my own incompetence.”
“What? You, incompetent? That’s nonsense…”
“If not that, then it must be because my appeals to you have been insufficient.”
“Appeals…?”
Appeals? Why does he keep talking like that, as if…
“I have something to tell you, Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
While I was confused, Baek Woojin finally sat down beside me.
“Something I’ve wanted to say since we first met.”
Since we first met…?
I recalled the day I first opened my eyes in Chae Seungyeon’s body in this novel. The icy cold wind, the extreme chill, and the dark river below were terrifying memories for me.
‘What is your name?’
It was also the day I met my savior.
What could he want to say? From the atmosphere, it seemed like something Baek Woojin had been contemplating a lot.
Because of that, I felt nervous too. My heart was beating fast, and my face felt hot. Was it because I hadn’t taken my medicine on time? I became anxious.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi…”
He called my name once more, then slowly leaned toward me. A shadow fell, and the pleasant scent coming only from Baek Woojin brushed my nose.
“Suddenly, why…”
“Please stay still.”
He spoke firmly and plucked the apple brooch attached to one side of my chest with a small tap.
“What, what is this…?”
“I suspected as much.”
Before I could even be surprised, Baek Woojin threw it on the ground and stomped on it hard with his shoe.
“W-Woojin-ssi?!”
Startled by his sudden action, I cried out. Baek Woojin then showed me something hidden inside the broken apple brooch, placing it in his palm.
“This is…”
“If I’m not mistaken… it’s a listening device.”
To be continued in volume 3.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
