* * *

What was he even thinking?

That couldn’t be his kid.

Seojin was probably here for money.

Maybe the ID was fake.

And the pheromone excuse?

Just a convenient lie.

Letting out an irritated sigh, Junyoung shot Seojin a glare.

“I should report you for fraud. What kind of scam are you trying to pull?”

“What?”

“The ID—where’d you fake it? And the hair? Did you pluck it off my clothes while I wasn’t looking?”

Junyoung dangled the plastic bag mockingly in front of Seojin, who quickly covered the child’s ears to shield him from the harsh words.

Seojin didn’t respond, only exhaling in disbelief. Misinterpreting his silence as victory, Junyoung smirked and continued.

“Always acted so smart, and now you’ve resorted to scams? Guess life really is unpredictable, huh?”

“……”

“Got nothing to say? Good. Don’t come looking for me again. Next time, I’ll go straight to the police.”

Junyoung stood abruptly, turning to leave, but not before casting one last glance at the child.

The innocent eyes staring back at him stung his dwindling conscience.

Clicking his tongue, he spotted a stray strand of hair resting on the child’s shoulder.

Without a word, Junyoung swapped it for one in the bag, thinking it might serve as his own leverage.

“I warned you. Don’t come back.”

With that, Junyoung walked away, head held high.

Seojin watched his retreating figure, letting out a bitter laugh.

“That bastard…”

The child, thankfully oblivious, squirmed under Seojin’s protective hands, unaware of the venom in his father’s voice.

---

Seojin gently patted the small chest of the peacefully sleeping child, his gaze lingering on the little one who had drifted off without a care in the world.

Carefully pressing a hand to the child’s forehead, he let out a breath of relief.

The fever that had risen briefly was now gone, and the temperature was back to something close to his own.

Feeling a weight lift off his chest, Seojin pulled the blanket up to the child’s neck and tucked it in securely.

After switching off the bedside lamp, he tiptoed out of the room as quietly as possible.

The moment he stepped into the hallway, Yeonsoo—who had taken a half-day off to check in on Seojin—spoke softly.

“Is Jinseo asleep?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the fever?”

“Seems like it’s gone.”

“Thank goodness.”

Seojin walked into the living room and plopped down on the floor without much care for appearances.

He’d been fine when he left Junyeong earlier and headed home, but as soon as he got back, Jinseo had started to run a slight fever, and his condition deteriorated rapidly.

Thanks to quick action—getting medicine and some rest—the fever had come down swiftly, but Seojin couldn’t shake the worry that it might spike again.

After taking a deep breath, he heard Yeonsoo, who had been watching him with concerned eyes, finally speak.

Her gaze, filled with worry, now sparkled with curiosity.

“So, how did it go? You said you were going to meet him today. Did you?”

“I did.”

“What did he say? Don’t tell me he just spouted nonsense like, ‘Don’t try to scam me,’ or, ‘Does this even make sense,’ and then you came back empty-handed?”

Yeonsoo leaned in with a determined expression, ready to grab him by the collar if necessary.

Seojin sighed briefly and leaned back against the sofa, still sitting on the floor.

“Pretty much. He said not to scam him and threatened to file a complaint for extortion.”

“What?”

“And he even asked if I’d faked my ID.”

“Wow. That jerk is seriously insane. Hey, let’s just post everything online right now. I’ve already drafted something just in case. We can expose him.”

Yeonsoo, more outraged than Seojin himself, was practically fuming.

As Seojin’s closest friend from college and the only person privy to his situation, her anger was inevitable.

After glancing at the closed door to Jinseo’s room, Seojin gently patted Yeonsoo’s hand.

Realizing her voice had been too loud, Yeonsoo gave an awkward smile, her sudden awareness of the situation dawning on her.

“Sorry.”

With a quick apology and a playful wink, Yeonsoo picked up her phone.

Meanwhile, Seojin glanced at the wall clock. It was already past 6 p.m.

Time had flown by without him realizing it.

Between Jinseo’s fever and everything else, he hadn’t even noticed the hours slipping away.

Only now did it feel like he could finally breathe again.

“Take a look first. If you approve, I’ll finish the rest and post it.”

As she undid the top button of her shirt and settled into the sofa cross-legged, Yeonsoo handed her phone to Seojin.

Surprised, he accepted it and found himself staring at a screen filled with tightly packed text.

[Title: Exposing the Atrocities of Sunwoo Group’s Youngest Heir, Cha Junyeong]

Frowning slightly, Seojin began to read.

[First of all, I’m so sorry for posting this here. 😭 I heard this forum has the strongest reach, so I’m hoping this gets some attention. I’m writing this in a casual tone because I’m too furious to be formal. So here goes.

I went to the same university as the youngest son of the Sunwoo Group chairman. (Proof of diploma attached.) We weren’t in the same department, but we took the same elective course once and even did a group project together. From the start, that jerk was absolutely hopeless. He wouldn’t show up to meetings, ignored every task he was given, and when we went looking for him, he was always drinking with his friends.

When we decided to just do the project without him, my sweet and overly responsible friend ended up dragging him into participating at the last minute.

Anyway, long story short, my friend ended up having a kid with that no-good jerk…]

Seojin slowly scrolled through the post, letting out a long sigh as he read.

“It’s not finished yet,” Yeonsoo said, watching him closely.

“I was waiting to hear how it went with Cha Junyeong before adding the rest.”

Even as he read the honest and straightforward draft, Seojin showed no significant reaction, which only made Yeonsoo more nervous.

She nudged his shoulder with her elbow.

“What? You don’t like it? Should I rewrite it to sound more serious?”

“There’s no need to post it. I don’t want things getting messy.”

“What? But he threatened you with extortion! You should fight back!”

Yeonsoo frowned in disbelief as she snatched her phone back.

But Seojin shook his head.

“I went to him to resolve this quietly. Posting something like that would make it all pointless.”

“Still… Isn’t it clear he has no intention of cooperating? This might be the only way to get a reaction out of him. You can’t just let Jinseo keep suffering.”

Yeonsoo glanced at the door to Jinseo’s room, and Seojin followed her gaze.

To help Jinseo recover, Yeonsoo’s suggestion might indeed be the quickest route.

But Seojin couldn’t bring himself to do it.

If things escalated, the media would surely pick up on it.

His and Jinseo’s private lives would become public in no time, and people claiming to “just want to help” would start to appear.

He didn’t care what happened to himself, but Jinseo was another matter.

The doctor had explicitly warned him to keep the child free from stress, so escalating the situation didn’t seem like a wise choice.

That was why he had tried to deal with Cha Junyeong quietly…

“But he did take the hair sample.”

Seojin recalled the events of the day, remembering how Junyeong had deliberately taken a fresh strand of Jinseo’s hair before leaving.

“Wait, he actually took it? That guy’s unbelievable.”

“He didn’t seem to trust the sample I brought. He picked one off Jinseo’s shoulder instead.”

“Wow, what a piece of work.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Yeonsoo chuckled humorlessly and got up from the sofa.

She headed to the kitchen attached to the living room, her familiarity with the place evident from her frequent visits.

* * *