CGC 11

Chapter 11

Anger was bubbling up inside me.

They say a person’s personality gets worse when they don’t get enough sleep.

My naturally impatient personality had become even worse due to the lack of sleep.

I was just thankful that Han Gong-gal wasn’t in front of me right now.

“…Do you really want to die?”

• I haven’t even seen my nephew’s face yet, so I can’t die.

The moment I heard her sarcastic reply, my blood pressure shot up.

However, because Do-ha kept crying, I couldn’t respond.

I quickly hung up the phone and picked up Do-ha.

Do-ha, who had just fallen asleep, woke up and cried even louder than before.

The sound of her crying made my ears hurt, and my head throbbed.

“Phew. Do-ha, baby. Please, stop… no, can you not cry?”

I tried my best to calm her down in the gentlest voice possible, but her cries only grew louder.

Zing- zing-

At that moment, my phone vibrated again with another call from Gong-gal.

This is driving me crazy, really.

I immediately hit the reject button.

Then I picked Do-ha up again, gently rocking her back and forth, only for my phone to vibrate once more.

I didn’t even have the mental energy to turn the phone off, so I just answered the call and gave a warning.

“Don’t call me again-”

• What’s the baby doing right now? Is she sleeping well? Is she next to you? Are you watching her properly?

But seeing Gong-gal interrupt me with questions, I couldn’t hold back my frustration.

• Is she feeling okay? Are you feeding her formula on time? Are you changing her diapers properly?

“…”

• Teacher? Teacher? Why aren’t you answering? You need to make sure the baby is well-fed with either formula or breast milk. And the diapers need to be changed on time. At that age, their immune system is weak, and if she gets a urinary infection or something-

I ended the call abruptly.

I put Do-ha down for a moment and turned off my phone completely.

Do-ha, who I had just put down, was crying so hard that her face turned bright red.

As I held her and listened to her cry uncontrollably for a few more seconds, I cursed my dead brother for the first time.

“Please, help me out, you damn brother.”

Maybe it was because I had just cursed my father, but the crying gradually started to subside.

Seizing the moment, I tried even harder to calm Do-ha down.

I don’t know how many times I circled the living room, but when I lowered my gaze slightly, I found that Do-ha had buried her face in my chest and fallen asleep.

“Hah.”

She looked like an angel while sleeping, but when she cried, she was like a demon.

I sighed in relief and headed back to the bedroom.

On the way, I saw my reflection in the mirror.

I looked like a completely different person.

In my 31 years of life, I had never had such deep dark circles under my eyes.

The word “father” came out naturally.

I was trying to get closer to my nephew, but it looked like I was going to end up killing my father’s second son in the process.

A few moments later

“…Sir?”

Someone tapped me lightly on the shoulder.

“Mr. Director?”

I jumped up in surprise.

It was Mrs. Shim.

Before I could even greet her, I started looking around.

I was sure that, last night, as soon as I put Do-ha in her crib, she started crying again, so I had fallen asleep with her in my arms on the couch.

I patted my chest, feeling empty, and bent over to look at the floor.

Maybe I had dropped her while sleeping.

“Looks like you’re still half asleep. Do-ha’s in her room.”

When I heard Mrs. Shim’s words, I finally calmed down and looked at her properly.

She was looking at me with a gaze full of sympathy.

I rubbed my throbbing forehead and looked toward the room.

The white noise machine I had set up for Do-ha was softly playing in the slightly open room.

“What happened? I don’t even remember when I fell asleep.”

“You were sleeping soundly on the sofa with Do-ha in your arms. You didn’t even wake up when I took her.”

“Oh.”

“While I was feeding and changing Do-ha, you were still asleep, so I figured you must be really tired, so I didn’t wake you.”

I nodded faintly and looked at the wall.

Mrs. Shim, noticing I was looking for the clock, quickly spoke up.

“It’s 6:30. You should get ready for work.”

She looked apologetic.

I slowly closed and opened my eyes, then replied.

“Don’t worry about breakfast.”

My slightly hoarse voice made it clear how exhausted I was.

“You’re not having breakfast? You’re going to get sick, Mr. Director…”

“Maybe it’s better that way. My father will suggest something else.”

Leaving a cryptic remark, I headed straight to the bathroom.

It didn’t feel like I had slept for hours, but somehow, I had.

And yet, I felt just as tired as before.

My neck, back, and shoulders were all stiff.

Compared to my body, Do-ha wasn’t heavy or large at all, but I must have been tense holding her.

After a quick shower, I finished getting ready and left the house.

Secretary Choi, who had been waiting outside, greeted me.

“Ah, Mr. Director, I was about to go in if you didn’t come out in five minutes, but you came out just in time.”

I checked my watch.

“Am I late?”

It was 7:28.

It was routine for me to leave the house at 7:30 and get in the car.

“It’s not even 30 minutes yet.”

“No, it’s not that. Your phone was off.”

I narrowed my eyes at Secretary Choi, as if saying it wasn’t possible.

I took out my phone from my pocket, and when the screen didn’t turn on immediately, I remembered yesterday’s events.

• Mr. Teacher? Mr. Teacher? Why aren’t you answering?

I recalled the struggle I had with getting Do-ha to sleep after she woke up because of that annoying call from Gong-gal yesterday.

I ground my teeth and exhaled deeply as I got into the car.

Secretary Choi, who followed me in, looked at me.

“Why did you turn off your phone?”

“I was told the chairman wants to see me before I go to work.”

“Seongbuk-dong?”

“No, just go straight to the office.”

The thought of seeing the chairman first thing in the morning made me feel even more tired, and my mood darkened.

However, a part of me also thought it was a good thing.

At least I could ask Mrs. Shim to stay with me for a month, 24/7, to help me adjust.

A Little While Later

Yul decided to take a break from running her bakery for a while.

Managing a store required early mornings to bake bread, regularly develop new products, place orders, and handle many other tasks.

Since the issues with her nephew were far from resolved, she decided it would be better to close the shop for a few days and rest rather than trying to focus on work.

But this only made her feel more anxious.

She was planning to expose Director Seo Ji-hyeok’s unethical comments on Ji-eun’s show and blackmail him.

But he didn’t give her any opening.

Even last night, she called him, but he didn’t say anything controversial or refer to her nephew as a “money source” like last time.

In fact, it was hard to even get through to him.

How was she ever going to find evidence?

Would she even be able to?

A big corporate executive would be faster than her, and there was no way he would say anything suspicious over the phone.

“…This is hopeless, hopeless.”

She sat at a table in the shop, staring blankly into space, mumbling to herself when the door opened with a bell sound.

“Unnie’s here!”

It was Ji-eun.

As soon as she entered, she put a lunchbox on the table and said,

“Mom made kimbap for you because she said you haven’t been eating breakfast.”

“Huh?”

Yul, who had been wearily greeting Ji-eun, was surprised and looked at the lunchbox.

It was wrapped in a pretty flower handkerchief, which made her heart feel heavy.

“She said you haven’t been eating properly, so I told her that. She told me to make sure you eat and take care of yourself.”

Yul reached out and pulled the lunchbox close to her chest.

Then, she hugged it tightly and leaned her face against it.

“…I’m sorry… please thank her for me.”

“We’re not strangers. You know I’m grateful too. I’ll make coffee, so get ready to eat.”

While Ji-eun went to make drinks, Yul unwrapped the handkerchief.

There was a note on top of the lunchbox.

“You know that blood ties can’t be broken, right? Take care of yourself.”

Yul’s heart felt heavy.

Her nose tingled, and her vision blurred for a moment.

“…Blood ties…”

That’s right.

I’m the younger sister of my unnie. My nephew is family, connected by blood.

If I keep trying to see him, I will.

I’ll hang in there.

Yul closed her eyes while holding the note in both hands.

Then, silently, she sent her thanks to Ji