* * *

As I fumed and looked around, I ran into the house maid.

I held my finger to my lips to signal silence and quietly slipped out through the back door connected to the dining room.

There was more than one door to the house, and it wasn’t like I didn’t know how to leave!

I left the house completely through the back door.

As I approached the main gate, just as my brothers had said, Taeshin was standing there.

“Taeshin…!”

As I clung to the wall and called out, Taeshin turned to look at me.

I covered my mouth with my finger and reached out to the surprised Taeshin.

“Let’s run!”

Staying here would turn into a long-term battle. If that happened, my brothers would really send me abroad.

“How did you get out?”

“I’ll explain later! Let’s go before we get caught!”

Whispering, we quickly moved away from the house. We grabbed a taxi and headed to our new home, with Taeshin still looking bewildered.

“Are you okay, Sunwoo? Nothing happened, right?”

“Nothing happened to me, but my brothers are a mess. What about you? Did you talk to your parents?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?”

“They were very surprised. I explained everything.”

It seemed Taeshin had also had a hard time at home, as he subtly rolled his eyes.

“But more importantly, are your feet okay, Sunwoo?”

“Huh? My feet?”

At his unexpected question, I looked down and finally noticed the tattered indoor slippers I was wearing.

I had been so frantic about sneaking out of the house like in a spy movie that I hadn’t realized my appearance.

My feet were a bit sore, but not to the point of being painful, so I brushed off Taeshin’s concern and entered ‘our home.’

“My brothers want to send me abroad.”

“…When?”

“I don’t know. Judging by their actions, they might send me tomorrow, so I left. What about you? Did your brothers hit you?”

“I’m fine. Sunwoo, wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

As I changed into proper slippers, Taeshin gently pulled me into his arms.

His warm and soft pheromones enveloped me, calming my anxious heart.

“I’m sorry, Sunwoo. I should have told them properly sooner.”

“Don’t apologize… I was the one who said not to say anything…”

We had been apart for only a day, but it felt like much longer. I needed Taeshin by my side, not just his pheromones.

Being with him made me feel much more at ease. I held him tightly and took a deep breath.

Our pheromones harmonized beautifully.

After a long embrace, we got hungry and ate a late meal while discussing our future. We had been preparing for the possibility of being kicked out by our parents, so living on our own wouldn’t be too difficult. However, we didn’t want to cut ties with our families abruptly.

So, we mainly thought about how to persuade my parents.

Taeshin’s parents believed he could handle it, but the problem was my parents and brothers.

Judging by my brothers’ earlier conversation, it seemed my mom was still bedridden.

“I’m not sure about Dad, but Mom will probably oppose it.”

“So both your parents are against it.”

“Yeah. I guess I should have told them sooner, like you said.”

Procrastinating out of fear probably made the shock worse for my parents. It felt like everything going wrong was my fault.

As I regretted not listening to Taeshin sooner, he patted my head.

“They would have been shocked no matter when you told them. Don’t blame yourself, Sunwoo.”

“My brothers are adamant. What if they really send me abroad?”

“Don’t worry too much, Sunwoo.”

“How can I not worry? I’m really worried, you know?”

Even though I left home impulsively, I was scared of severing ties with my family for real.

I wanted to end things on good terms, even though I had decided impulsively.

As I pouted and looked at Taeshin, he smiled and hugged me softly.

“It’ll be okay.”

“It doesn’t seem like it will be okay at all.”

“Have your parents scolded you yet?”

“…No.”

My mom was bedridden, and I wasn’t sure if my dad had even heard the news.

Yesterday and today, my phone was confiscated, and I was locked in my room, experiencing a mock prison life.

“When you get kicked out, you’ll get scolded at least once, but that hasn’t happened yet. And you’re too lovable for them to really scold you.”

“No one knows better than I do how strict my mom can be.”

I knew how strict my mom could be because I had been scolded by her many times.

Pouting at Taeshin, who spoke easily because he had never been hit by her, he smiled and cupped my cheek.

“Sunwoo, let’s go buy new shoes.”

“…In this situation?”

“Yes. Now that your parents know, we should tell them properly. We’re going to get married and have the most beautiful gift in the world.”

…A gift. At Taeshin’s words, I looked down at my belly. Our Haeju, the gift.

My eyes stung slightly. Sniffling, I rubbed my belly, and Taeshin placed his hand over mine.

In this situation, my parents might get even angrier when they meet me…

My brothers have been calling Taeshin’s phone non-stop… I peeked at the messages on the lock screen, and they were terrifying.

[Moon Jinwoo> Before I beat Lee Taeshin to death, send Moon Sunwoo back immediately…]

[Moon Geonwoo> You crazy bastard, do you want to die? Where did you hide our youngest…]

[Moon Daewoo: If you so much as touch a single hair on the youngest, I’ll cut everything off…]

[Moon Jung-woo: Answer the phone]

…I shouldn’t have seen it.

“…Will it really be okay?”

“Yeah. Everything will turn out fine, to the point where Sunwoo’s worries will seem pointless.”

I rolled my eyes at the firm answer and nodded. Feeling his gentle hand stroke my cheek, I looked up at him.

“We’ll meet your parents first. At our house, we have the final boss and the mid-boss too.”

“Yeah, just as you want, Sunwoo.”

In my house, not only did I have my parents, but also my older brothers who stood tall like the Four Heavenly Kings.

So, the first target was Taeshin’s parents.

Originally, games are meant to be cleared step by step. As I took a deep breath to muster my courage, Taeshin chuckled and kissed my forehead.

---

Taeshin, who said he’d come to greet my parents, forgot that we were in the position of convincing them and asking for their permission after causing trouble.

So, when I saw his message just before he sent it, I smacked his back and grabbed his phone.

[Me: I will be coming with Sunwoo tomorrow at noon to greet you. I hope you can make time despite being busy. Also, I’m doing well, so please don’t worry. (Heart cat emoji)]

I deleted what Taeshin wrote and sent my message to his parents instead.

“Hmm.”

“What? Should I have sent something less worrying?”

“No. I think the message is enough to keep them from worrying.”

Taeshin gave a peculiar smile after reading my message.

There were no typos, and the content seemed fine, so why was he smiling?

Puzzled, I sent a message to my parents as well.

[Me: Sunwoo is with me. I’m sorry. We’re fine, so please don’t worry. We will visit soon once Sunwoo calms down a bit.]

The message to my parents was written by Taeshin.

Compared to the message he originally planned to send to his own parents, it was very normal and even showed filial piety.

Seeing how he could write so well, I wondered why he acted like that earlier and smacked his back again.

Together with Taeshin, we went to a department store and bought yellow baby shoes and blue pacifiers, two sets each, and had them gift-wrapped.

They were intended as gifts for both sets of parents. The original plan was to present the baby items and inform them about Haeju’s news, but it was all because of the prenatal care book.

I thought I had hidden the ultrasound pictures well, but I kept forgetting about them.

Blaming the situation on that, we packed the gifts and headed to Taeshin’s place.

“Alright. Don’t get too excited, don’t tremble, just speak sincerely, okay?”

“Yeah. Sunwoo, you too, don’t tremble and don’t worry.”

“Who said I’m trembling?”

Taeshin held my hand tightly. The hand holding the shopping bag with the gift box was trembling slightly.

“…Have you really never been hit by your mother? What if she’s harsher than my mom?”

“Don’t worry, Sunwoo. If anything, I might get hit this time.”

“Why would they hit you? Where would they even hit you?”

Taeshin should be designated as a national treasure from head to toe, how could anyone think of hitting him?

The thought of someone hitting Taeshin made me furious.

With my eyes wide open, I got agitated, and Taeshin gently calmed me down, holding my hand as we entered the house.

The moment we stepped inside, I got nervous. As the tension built up, I held Taeshin’s hand even tighter and entered the house to find some unexpected people.

“Moon Sunwoo, you brat!”

“…Dad?”

“Moon Sunwoo! How dare you leave home without a word?!”

“M-Mom?!”

Oh my god! My mom and dad were at Taeshin’s house.

“Run, run!”

* * *