Chapter 12
After work, Lee Ji-seok found himself in a strange mood.
“Big guys… huh.”
That wasn’t the kind of phrase you’d expect from a four-year-old. She looked like a cute rice cake, but she talked like she’d grown up in a gang.
“She’s definitely not your average four-year-old.”
But that was one thing—this was another.
‘I’ll walk you to the door.’
‘There are too many big guys around. It’ll be crowded.’
The way she brushed off his hand, her pink hair fluttering as she walked herself to kindergarten—
and how she grabbed some little boy’s wrist and led him inside together…
that image kept replaying in his mind.
Right around then, another child nearby was screaming and crying.
“Nooo! I wanna stay with Mommy! Nooo!”
Watching that, Ji-seok felt an odd pang of envy.
The natural whining, the simple, unfiltered affection—
those were the kinds of emotions you normally saw in kids that age.
So, while preparing for a procedure, he casually asked one of the staff,
“Se-jung, you said you have a daughter, right?”
“Yes, she’s four.”
“How does she do at daycare?”
“Don’t even get me started. This morning she lay on the living room floor for half an hour shouting, ‘I’m not going! I’ll die here!’ before I managed to drag her out.”
Her face was pale, dark circles sagging down to her chin.
“She barely eats, just wants snacks all day. And when we go out, she clings to my leg so tight my back nearly breaks.”
Ji-seok nodded.
But for some reason, all those little hardships sounded… enviable.
Why? Maybe because even that kind of whining seemed precious.
“Chaeri isn’t just mature… she’s too mature.”
He remembered the little boy whose wrist she’d grabbed—how his face flushed red.
“Um, Director? Are you okay? You look a little off.”
As usual, Chaeri neatly set the table.
“This is Daddy’s spoon.”
“This is Mommy’s.”
“And this is for Chaeri.”
She sat down in her child’s chair, waiting quietly for dinner. Ji-seok felt an odd tug in his chest.
“Chaeri.”
“Yes.”
“How’s kindergarten?”
“It’s good.”
In truth, it was exhausting. But she couldn’t show that.
Her mother, Kim Ha-seon, had just begun mild morning sickness.
Not enough to vomit, but enough to make her tired and irritable.
‘This is when I really can’t be a bother.’
A child who needs no attention.
A child who causes no trouble.
A child who doesn’t make life harder.
That was the ideal position in this household.
“Are you getting along with your friends?”
“Yes. I made up with Seo-ah unnie, too.”
Ha-seon turned to her husband.
“Oh, right. Seo-ah’s mom sent over a big fruit basket saying she was sorry. What was that about?”
“Ah.”
Chaeri’s ears perked up.
“There was some misunderstanding, I think.”
Even Seo-ah’s father had come to the hospital to apologize—shaking, almost in tears.
But to Ji-seok, the whole thing still felt like a mystery.
Chaeri glanced at him.
‘Will Dad apologize to me too?’
He’d yelled at her to apologize to Seo-ah without even asking what had happened.
That had hurt. A lot.
And now, he didn’t even seem to remember.
‘Why do I keep expecting things?’
Her mind and heart weren’t quite in sync yet.
Ji-seok, oblivious, spoke up again.
“I saw in the parents’ chat that next week’s the open class?”
“Yes.”
Chaeri sneaked a look at her mother.
She hadn’t mentioned it—didn’t want to bother her.
“Chaeri would like it if Daddy came, right?”
Chaeri stayed quiet, gauging her mother’s face.
As expected—
“And what about your patients?”
“I can take one day off.”
“You’re self-employed. You can’t just take days off like that.”
Ji-seok cleared his throat awkwardly.
Chaeri sensed danger.
‘Uh-oh. This isn’t good.’
If they started fighting—and if she was the reason—
that was definitely bad.
“Daddy, Chaeri thinks Daddy is very cool.”
“…Huh?”
“You heal sick people. You’re a doctor.”
“….”
“There are lots of sick people that day too. Daddy needs to heal them.”
It was her way of saying don’t come.
But the emotional toll was heavier than she expected.
Because deep down, she did want one of them to come.
So she forced herself to whisper inside,
‘Chaeri, don’t expect anything. If you expect, you’ll only be disappointed.’
She kept teaching her heart that lesson—
that these two people’s love was that of real parents.
She sneaked another look at her mother.
“See, honey? Chaeri clearly looks up to you. Don’t disappoint her. Do your best at work.”
“….”
“Our baby’s coming soon. You need to be responsible. Right, Chaeri?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Ji-seok frowned faintly.
“Then maybe you should go instead?”
“What did you just say?”
Her tone rose sharply, and Chaeri flinched.
“I’m only six weeks in. You know how careful I have to be during early pregnancy. How could you even suggest that? Are you really her father?”
Choi Deok-gyu opened his old phone gallery and stared at a picture of Kim Myeong-ja.
Back in their twenties, he was a third-generation chaebol heir.
She was an ordinary woman.
‘I don’t need your stupid inheritance!’
She had thrown everything away. And then—
‘Let’s break up.’
She said that.
Then suddenly, a wedding invitation arrived.
From that day on, he buried her deep in his heart.
Until this morning.
‘Teacher Kim Myeong-ja really likes you, Mr. Choi Deok-gyu.’
Had she talked about him that much—to the point a child knew?
His heart thudded.
And oddly enough, he felt a twinge of anger.
‘But she said she got married.’
Ever since that fake wedding invitation, he’d deliberately ignored all news about her.
‘Fine. I’ll just check. That’s all.’
He quietly ordered one of his assassin-type subordinates to look into her.
‘No marriage record?’
The wedding invitation—was a fake.
For a long moment, Choi Deok-gyu stared blankly at the white wall.
“…So she never got married.”
‘Then marry her.’
His heart, long silent, suddenly began to race.
After losing her, he had thrown himself completely into work.
His world had been gray ever since.
But now—
color seeped back in.
‘Then why did she break up with me back then?’
Thinking back, there were so many odd details.
He hadn’t noticed at the time—he’d been too devastated.
Her firmness had stopped him from pressing further.
He thought he’d only make her miserable.
So he let go.
‘I don’t know.’
He couldn’t understand any of it.
Part of him wanted to go see her—talk to her face to face.
But he couldn’t summon the courage.
Even the bravest man in Korea—
the mighty Seoul Guildmaster, Choi Deok-gyu—
was a coward in front of Kim Myeong-ja.
He chewed his thumbnail, torn.
‘Am I seriously being swayed by a kid’s words?’
What would a little girl even know?
How could a man like him, respected by all the top-ranked Awakeners, be shaken like this?
Everyone said it—
not even a typhoon could sway him.
And yet here he was, restless over a child’s comment.
‘No. This is ridiculous. It’s late. I can’t just show up at a civilian’s house. I’m the Seoul Guildmaster—Choi Deok-gyu. I don’t waver.’
Ding-dong.
“Who is it?”
“Is this the home of Miss Lee Chaeri?”
He wavered.
