CGC 14

Chapter 14

A deep frown creased Ji-hyeok’s forehead.

She really doesn’t quit, does she? Just when I forget, she pops up again with calls and texts.

Bzzzt—

As if she somehow knew he’d read the message, Gong-gal immediately called.

Ji-hyeok glanced over at Doha.

Doha was still locked in a fierce battle with his toy chicken.

Thankfully, he seemed to be entertaining himself well enough, so Ji-hyeok pressed the call button.

He figured even if he was going to block her, saying one thing to her face would make him feel better.

“Hello.”

— Teacher?!

But the moment Han Yool’s voice came through, Ji-hyeok was struck speechless again.

She sounded ridiculously bright, like she was greeting a boyfriend who’d just come back from military leave.

— Teacher! Do you know how much I wanted to hear your voice?! Ah, I can finally breathe now!

Why do you want to hear my voice? And why do you keep calling me teacher?

And what? Talking to me makes you feel alive?

He knew she was just pulling tricks to get Doha from him, but imagining her calling him with sparkling eyes made him feel strangely unsettled.

— Teacher! Is my nephew doing well? You know you didn’t even tell me his name, right?

Ji-hyeok almost said Seo Doha before clamping his mouth shut.

He wasn’t planning to send Doha to her anyway, and he had no intention of letting him get tangled up with Sooyoung’s family ever again. So there was no need for her to know the name.

— Why aren’t you answering? Teacher?

“Hey, Gong-gal.”

— Yes, Teacher! I’m listening!

“You know how much trouble you caused me yesterday? Because of you I woke up your nephew who had just fallen asleep.”

— Ah… is that so? My nephew… is… with you then?

Her voice shrank.

She was trying to feel out whether Doha was with him.

Fine, whatever. Let’s say she was.

But why did she suddenly sound sad once he confirmed it?

— Actually, Teacher… I’m his only aunt, you know. I’m worried. Last time you told me…

“What did I say?”

— You… told me to get lost… And after that…

“Oh, ‘cash cow.’”

— Yes! You said the baby was your cash cow, and then told his only aunt to get lost… I mean, what aunt wouldn’t be worried after hearing something like that?

Ji-hyeok inwardly rebuked himself.

No matter how annoying she was, he shouldn’t have said that about Doha.

It was enough to make her think he was unstable and unfit to care for the child.

“Haa…”

Letting out a sigh, he spoke.

“Gong-gal.”

— Yes, Teacher.

“I’ll say this once. Listen well.”

— W-What… what are you going to say…?

Her voice trembled nervously.

Ji-hyeok spoke colder than ever.

“No matter what tricks you try, you’re not taking the baby. Financially, socially, you don’t even come close to the Sehan Group’s main family. A court won’t rule in your favor.”

— …Having money doesn’t mean you can raise a child well.

“At least he won’t starve. So do yourself a favor and stay out of this. Live your life.”

— …Then at least show me some proof that he’s doing well—

“I’m already stressed to hell because of the baby, and you annoying me nonstop is pushing me to the edge. Before I get pissed and dump the kid somewhere, just stop.”

— ……

“If you’re an adult, you understood that.”

Click.

Ji-hyeok ended the call.

And immediately blocked her number.

Finally, the weight in his chest felt like it was lifting.

After this, she wouldn’t dare show up at the company again… right?

Most people flattened themselves pretty quickly once they saw real power.

Han Yool would soon realize that letting an unmarried woman raise a child alone made far less sense than letting the Sehan chairman’s grandson grow up in Sehan.

And she had to know the chairman wouldn’t stay quiet if she kept pushing.

“Waaaah!”

Doha’s sudden wail made Ji-hyeok whip his head around.

Apparently, he had lost interest in his toy chicken. He stared at Ji-hyeok with a wide-open mouth, tears falling like rain.

Ji-hyeok scooped him up and lay back down on the floor, lifting Doha above him to play airplane.

Right then, something poured from Doha’s mouth directly onto Ji-hyeok’s face.

It was the formula he’d fed him just minutes ago.

Never give an airplane ride after feeding…

He mentally engraved that sentence into his brain as he squeezed his eyes shut.

After hanging up, Han Yool replayed the call to make sure it had recorded properly.

Thankfully, Ji-hyeok’s voice had been captured perfectly clearly.

She walked out from the kitchen and tapped the shoulder of Ji-eun, who was editing videos on her laptop.

Ji-eun pulled out her earbuds.

“Hm?”

“Ji-eun. It finally worked!”

“What… gasp! You got a recording of Seo Ji-hyeok being a jerk?!”

Han Yool nodded vigorously.

Then let Ji-eun listen to the call.

“Wow. Trash. How does someone say they’ll dump a baby somewhere, no matter what?”

“My point exactly… ha.”

“But Yool… if this spreads online, he’s gonna get dragged for his personality.”

“Right?”

Han Yool gripped her phone tightly.

She planned to edit the recording and send it to Seo Ji-hyeok as blackmail.

At first she wondered if it was right to threaten and bother him, considering he was technically her nephew’s uncle by marriage.

But this call settled it.

There was no need for courtesy toward someone who talked harshly and treated a baby like disposable property.

The next day.

Ji-hyeok, who hadn’t slept a single minute, heard a ringing in his ears.

Doha was sleeping right beside him, but he kept hearing a baby crying.

Just how worn down had he become these past few days?

Even with extreme academic pressure and a murderous schedule since childhood, he’d never once gotten really sick.

He prided himself on strong mental fortitude and excellent physical genes.

And yet here he was—already exhausted from childcare.

Parents in this world… how amazing are they?

Did superhuman strength come from shared blood?

“Ugh…”

A groan slipped out as he sat up in bed.

Barely managing to steady himself on his feet, he secured the crib guard and went to the living room.

Last night had been a war.

He’d run out of the baby food Housekeeper Shim made, so he searched online for recipes and tried making it himself—but the baby cried, he tried soothing him, and ended up burning the pot completely.

So Doha didn’t even get to eat. He had to rely on formula.

And when changing diapers, Doha had screamed so hard that Ji-hyeok lost his temper.

He knew a six-month-old wouldn’t understand, but after that one time he snapped, Doha barely cried… and barely drank his formula.

Still, he couldn’t let him go hungry, so he fed him right on schedule with the alarm. And got vomited on countless times afterward.

Thinking about all that war-like chaos, Ji-hyeok headed to the front door.

He had urgently ordered baby food in the middle of the night.

He carried the delivered package to the kitchen and carefully read the instructions.

Once he had everything in place, he looked at the clock.

“Why’s he sleeping so late today?”

“Waaaah!”

The moment he wondered, Doha began crying.

Ji-hyeok hurried to the room.

They say it’s taboo to say things like “He doesn’t cry much” or “He sleeps well.”

They weren’t wrong at all.

Babies might actually be little demons determined to keep their caretakers from resting.

8 p.m.

Ji-hyeok looked helplessly at the fussy, crying Doha.

Doha had refused baby food all day—and now he wouldn’t even drink formula.

Naturally, he’d neither peed nor pooped.

Why was he like this?

Was it because Housekeeper Shim wasn’t here? Or because he got angry yesterday?

“Doha. What’s wrong?”

He picked him up.

Their cheeks touched—Doha’s was burning hot.

“What?!”

Panicking, Ji-hyeok hurriedly grabbed a thermometer and checked.

39°C.

Seeing the unexpected high fever made his vision go white.

He felt furious at himself for not noticing sooner.

More than that—how long, how much had the baby been hurting?

“Doha!”

Facing a problem he’d never dealt with in his life, his mind went blank.

Even the most complicated company issues had never troubled him.

But now? He couldn’t think at all.

He was terrified something might happen to the child.

He rushed around the room, grabbed a big towel, and wrapped Doha up tightly.

Go to the hospital—right? Do babies go to the ER?

He picked up his phone to call Housekeeper Shim, but right then an unknown number appeared.

He should’ve ignored it, but in his panic he answered.

— Teacher? Can you talk for a second? Is my nephew okay? Yesterday you said you’d dump him somewhere and now I’m—

“Ah…”

It was Han Yool again.

— Is that the baby crying?! Why’s he crying so much? Teacher?!

“…”

— Should I come right now? Something’s wrong, isn’t it?! Answer me!

Doha was crying, Han Yool was frantically asking questions, and everything was chaos.

But Ji-hyeok’s brain had shut down; he couldn’t think logically at all.

— Why aren’t you answering?! Is the baby okay?!

“…Ah. I think he’s sick.”

— What?! Where are you?!

Without realizing it, Ji-hyeok blurted out his home address.