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Chapter 11
“You poor thing. Do you even know what ‘that’s great’ actually means?”
Wooyeon clicked his tongue as if he were fed up.
“W-What do you mean…?”
“It’s called sarcasm, snark, mockery, or ridicule. Greeeat job~, Young-oh~. Like this, exactly.”
“…!!”
Whether Young-oh gaped or not, Wooyeon calmly made a wrap and put it into Yewon’s mouth across the table.
“Hey, kid. Eat your bossam. Looks like your uncle doesn’t have the capacity to take care of you, so this mister will.”
“…Ai airaia-o!! (I said I’m not a kid!!)”
“Mhm. Kid. Chew well and enjoy~”
“…….”
“If I’m a mister, then you’re a kid~ If you want me to be ‘uncle’ again instead, make me your uncle again~”
Yewon chewed diligently despite being furious.
As if. You’re going to be a mister forever.
“…So what did the CEO say this time?”
At Doha’s low voice, Young-oh kept glancing around nervously.
“Well. He said maybe tomorrow, bring Yewon to the company too so she can be introduced. Since you’re family now, shouldn’t you at least know each other’s faces….”
“That’s weird. Our CEO isn’t the type to say warm things like that. Don’t put your own filter on it—repeat his wording exactly.”
“He really said it like that….”
At Wooyeon’s nitpicking, Young-oh replied with a pitiful face.
“That iron-blooded CEO really said that? Then Lee Doha, you’re seriously screwed. I’ll make sure your funeral is lavish.”
“Why me?”
“Come on, that’s how it always is. When scary people suddenly act nice, it’s only when they’re about to kill someone. Death flag. Yep.”
“…….”
At Wooyeon’s nonchalant words, it was Yewon whose face turned pale.
Even Yewon had heard rumors about the CEO of Time Entertainment.
A man who, all on his own, left Wonder Entertainment—one of the biggest agencies—at the age of early thirties, founded Time Entertainment, and turned it into a top three agency in no time. A once-in-an-era genius.
…Rumor had it he was someone you could stab and not draw a single drop of blood.
A truly terrifying man.
And that person wanted to see her?
Yewon looked up at Doha with frightened eyes.
Surprisingly, though, Doha looked calm, not particularly worried.
“We’re going tomorrow afternoon. With Yewon.”
“Seriously? Lee Doha, you’ve really grown bold after raising a kid. Childcare is terrifying, folks.”
As Wooyeon marveled, Doha glared at him.
“Given the situation, it’s only polite to visit once and greet him properly. If he says anything strange, we just don’t renew the contract.”
“!!”
“Re-contract season is coming up anyway. He knows better than anyone who’d be more desperate.”
At Doha’s laid-back voice, the other three clicked their tongues.
“Hard to believe—it’s already our seventh year, huh?”
Wooyeon chuckled.
At times like this, Lee Doha really wasn’t ordinary either.
“I-Is it really okay…?”
Unable to hold back, Yewon asked anxiously. Doha gave a small smile and rested his hand on her head.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
“But still….”
“And CEO Park.”
“?”
“He might be scary, but he’s not a bad person.”
“…!”
Despite Doha’s firm statement, Yewon’s expression didn’t ease.
Will this meeting really be okay…?
✦ ✦ ✦
The long-awaited day.
“I’ll adopt her.”
“!!!”
That’s not okay at all!!!
Yewon and Doha received an utterly shocking proposal from “CEO Park, who isn’t a bad person.”
Crack.
It felt as if stone were splitting somewhere.
That was how frozen the two of them were as they stared blankly at CEO Park.
“Wow. Our CEO. Look at that generosity. Wow. I’m seriously touched. Not by your kindness—by the scale.”
“Shut up, Han Wooyeon.”
“So that’s how badly you want to keep Lee Doha? That boldness! Capitalism, hooray! Wow! Truly something to learn from.”
“Will you not close your mouth?”
When CEO Park growled, Wooyeon immediately mimed zipping his lips shut.
Once it was finally quiet, CEO Park cleared his throat and spoke again.
“I’m serious, Doha. And I truly think this is the best option for everyone.”
“…….”
“I heard all about Yewon’s situation from Young-oh. I’m already 53 years old—wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t have a granddaughter by now? Getting a daughter at this point would be great for me.”
“…….”
Even Lee Doha seemed completely caught off guard, at a loss for words.
…Wow.
For someone in his fifties, he looked incredibly young.
Yewon found herself admiring him inwardly.
If I look like that in my fifties, that’d be nice.
CEO Park had a sharp, charismatic appearance.
“Wow. One shot and you get a daughter—huge profit, CEO. I mean, skipping a husband who’d only cause trouble and immediately getting such a pretty daughter? Clearly you’re the one winning here—”
“I told you to keep your mouth shut.”
“My mouth itches, what can I do~”
Regardless of Wooyeon’s chatter, CEO Park looked Doha straight in the eyes, utterly sincere.
“Anyway, Doha, I heard you turned down the person Young-oh found for you. Right there at the funeral, in front of everyone. Apparently, it took real effort to track down an actual blood relative.”
“…….”
At the words ‘actual blood relative,’ Yewon’s gaze wavered.
Wait.
That fake uncle… was a real relative?
But Jeyeon said we weren’t really family.
What was going on?
She thought she was just some unrelated kid Doha had ended up taking in.
What kind of relative had that man been?
Yewon resolved to ask Doha properly later.
“…What were you thinking, doing that?”
“…That’s—”
“I said I didn’t want to!”
“!”
At Yewon’s sudden interruption, CEO Park looked at her in surprise.
“That man said really scary things to me. That’s why I said no.”
“He said scary things…?”
“Yes.”
CEO Park looked taken aback.
That was understandable. Hearing that a child had been told frightening things by someone his manager personally vetted would be shocking.
But she had things to say too.
The man you introduced abused me and, in the end, even killed me.
“…May I ask what he said?”
“He told me I’d have to work very, very hard in the future. That I’d have to pay off all the debt my mom left behind. He whispered it to me!”
…Not at the funeral, and technically something he’d said about the future—but let’s skip that part.
Either way, he had said it.
“!”
At Yewon’s words, the adults’ faces hardened dangerously.
“…What did you say?”
(This was Doha.)
“Is that true? He said something like that? What else did he say?”
(This was the CEO.)
“Wow. How did Park Young-oh find such a bastard again? Shouldn’t we report this to the police? Is he insane? No—bring him here first.”
(This was Wooyeon.)
“S-S-Sorry…! Ah, this isn’t the time—we need to talk to a lawyer again, right now!”
(This was Young-oh.)
All the adults were furious—for Yewon’s sake.
Yewon blinked, a little unfamiliar with it.
It was the first time since her mother that someone had been genuinely angry for her.
“…I’m an idiot.”
“!”
Doha spoke, clenching his fist.
“I should’ve looked into it more. If he was a relative willing to raise Yewon, there’s no way there’d have been zero contact until now. I should’ve been suspicious the moment he said he’d never even met her.”
“…He said Yewon’s father passed away early, and that there hadn’t been much contact. How could we not believe him? There weren’t any other relatives, either. At the time, he probably seemed like the best option.”
At Doha’s furious voice, CEO Park tried to calm him.
From what she could tell, the fake uncle seemed to be from her father’s side, not her mother’s.
…Then why did he say he was from Mom’s side?
Nothing made sense.
“I’m sorry, Yewon. I didn’t know that man was such a terrible person. We’ll make sure he’s dealt with.”
CEO Park apologized sincerely.
Instead of answering, Yewon nodded and tightly hugged Doha’s arm.
That was when CEO Park spoke again.
“…Anyway. That just means even more that I’m the best option. If you can’t trust anyone else, then I’m the best alternative.”
“!”
