Min-woo, who had been staring at her for a moment, nodded and stood up.

“I’ll send a lawyer soon regarding this matter. I’ll make sure to have custody.”

“Do as you please.”

As Min-woo turned away, Se-a’s voice rang out as if shouting at his back.

“Don’t forget to send the pocket money! As much as possible!”

It was all about money.

In fact, he never wanted the child and had no expectations.

No, before these things happened, it was actually more of a nuisance.

The baby in the belly felt like a shackle on his ankle created to ruin his future.

A shackle created to shatter his own future during the months of living like a recluse.

However, the conclusion that emerged during the recent months of anguish…

Whether it was guilt or something else, he just didn’t want to recklessly bring this child into the harsh world.

That was all.

“Oh, you must be Yewon’s dad! Nice to meet you for the first time. Welcome.”

It seemed like Yewon was the name of his daughter.

When Min-woo mentioned Se-a’s information, the nurse who had received a prior contact greeted him warmly.

“Yes, I had some circumstances, so I was away, but I returned recently.”

“Oh, yes! Let’s go together to where Yewon is right now.”

Following the nurse’s guidance into the hospital room, there were two beds, and one of them was empty.

“The patient who was here happened to be discharged yesterday, so Yewon can meet you quietly today.”

As she opened the curtain that served as a partition, a small baby lay quietly in the high bed.

She was lying quietly with a face smaller than the palm, attached to a large oxygen respirator.

“Our Yewon wasn’t sleeping? Yewon, Daddy is here!”

When the nurse greeted the baby with a smile, the baby looked at her curiously.

“Now Yewon’s respiratory condition has improved, so it seems okay to remove the oxygen respirator. I’ll remove it.”

The baby Min-woo met for the first time was smaller than expected.

Born prematurely at eight months, she was now thirteen months old.

She was much smaller in size compared to the number of months, and there were comments about slower development than other children.

Although the respiratory symptoms had improved, the nurse left a note that it would be better for her to stay in the hospital for a day or two more, then moved aside.

The baby didn’t cry or look at Min-woo as if seeing him for the first time.

As if it wasn’t the first time.

“Ah… Hello, Yewon?”

Awkwardly and clumsily, Min-woo asked the baby.

A few seconds of silence.

“Ah-poo? Ah-poo Ah-poo.”

Words spewed from the baby’s mouth, making Min-woo wonder if it was a deliberate word or just something that came out.

Although he didn’t know whether the words coming out of Yewon’s mouth were intentional or just random, they pierced Min-woo’s heart.

After saying ‘Ah-poo’ several times, Yewon closed her eyes cutely and laughed.

When their eyes met while the baby was laughing, and when the baby called out ‘Daddy,’ Min-woo realized.

“Oh, I’ve fallen in love. With this child.”

Yewon soon reached out, gesturing for Min-woo to hold her.

A small butterfly-shaped mark on Yewon’s outstretched hand caught his eye.

“It seems Yewon recognizes Daddy. Do you like Daddy so much? Yewon only smiles like that for me and the assigned teacher.”

At the nurse’s words, Min-woo, who felt unexpectedly pleased, picked up Yewon.

Holding the baby in his arms felt awkwardly small, even smaller than before.

“I know about Yewon and Yewon’s mother’s situation. But listening to what the welfare officer said… Maybe because of the situation, it seems Yewon’s mother isn’t taking good care of Yewon. Other people in the same room take care of her more. So, Yewon always asks to be held, missing people’s warmth. Oh… I feel like I said too much.”
The nurse, seemingly upset, spoke casually but quickly closed her mouth when she realized she didn’t know the relationship between Min-woo and Se-a.

“Now, I’ll take her. Yewon will be with me.”

In Min-woo’s arms, Yewon made small sounds and giggled again.

“Ah-poo, Ah-poo, Ah-poo, Ah-poo.”

Yewon seemed to really like Min-woo.

Min-woo quickly went through the procedures related to the child’s custody through a lawyer and, shortly after, brought Yewon to his home.

It was a hastily obtained house, but he decorated a room for the child.

Having never seen a child before and having no experience in raising one, everything felt awkward.

He briefly thought of his mother’s turmoil a few days ago, but soon shook his head.

A few days ago, he received calls and messages from Juran and Dogang, but he ignored them all.

He still didn’t want to meet her, or him.

Or rather, he couldn’t meet them.

What face would he meet them with…

No, would he be able to control himself? He wasn’t sure.

After laying Yewon down on the floor for a moment, he turned on the computer.

He felt that he might need to find someone to take care of the child.

While searching various online sites for someone to look after the baby, he heard the baby’s voice.

“Ah-poo, Ah-poo, mam-ma-ma, mam-ma.”

Although laid down, the baby somehow turned over, crawled over, grabbed Min-woo’s legs while sitting on the chair, and uttered babbling words.

“Is Yewon hungry?”

“Mam-ma-ma-ma-ma, mam-ma, mam-ma-ma-ma.”

Seeing the baby laugh and say ‘mam-ma’ as if understanding Min-woo, he smiled slightly on his frowning face.

The next few days were like a war.

Unable to find someone to take care of Yewon, he eventually found a nearby daycare center.

After that, he spent time buying baby supplies that were woefully lacking.

Meanwhile, there was another message from Kim Ji-won, the lady.

[What I talked about last time is still valid. Think about it carefully. I heard you’re not in a good place right now. It might be different from before, but you should gather your courage and start something step by step.]

For some reason, she offered to help.

He hadn’t responded to her messages so far.

During the past three months of living like a hermit, he had been asking acquaintances he knew from past business about job opportunities.

But the responses he got back were, “There’s no suitable position,” for the most part.

He was fortunate that some people responded to his calls.

Most of them ignored Min-woo’s messages.

It was the same with numerous headhunters.

“Sorry. Manager, there’s currently no suitable position.”

“Director Kim, there must be a position available. It’s just that you’re not showing it to me, right?”

“Actually, Manager, your case was such a big issue. Since it became a big controversy, it’s hard for me to suggest anything. And also… to be blunt, Manager, you’ve gained a bad reputation.”
This process threw Min-woo back into the abyss and led him into alcohol.

During that time, Kim Ji-won, the lady, contacted him, but he ignored her.

He couldn’t trust her.

Moreover, the position she suggested made Min-woo’s pride cringe.

One of the subcontractors of C&C, SemoXX. It was the position of the Sales Department Manager at that company.

He, who used to be an executive at a large company, now becoming a manager at a small company.

Instead of being pleased with such an offer, it hurt his pride.

So he ignored it and fell into drinking.

Now, three months later, he opened his eyes to reality a bit.

Looking at it objectively, his career had completely collapsed due to the previous incident.

Once the protagonist of an event that made a big splash in the world, he even became a criminal because of it.

After paying the fine, the money left for himself was used to buy a small house and a car, with a little money remaining.

He could live for a while, but now, with Yewon, the money was not something he could feel secure about.

The range of choices was so narrow, but he had no other option.

“It’s been a while since I contacted you. I’ll give the position you mentioned a try.”