TRIU 15

Chapter 15

At that moment, the expressions of the three men present became strange.

…Why does everyone look like that when they see family?
Ye-won held back the irritation that was starting to bubble up.

“…Daughter?”

Yeon-ho pointed at Ye-won with his finger and asked Do-ha.

“No, she’s my niece.”

At that, Yeon-ho looked her over from head to toe.

“…She really does look the same.”

“Right? I thought I’d faint the moment I saw her!”

He flopped down onto the chair at the dining table and looked at Do-ha.

“Are you going to raise her?”

Raise her, huh…?

Ye-won also found herself curious and looked up at Do-ha.

“…I don’t know yet.”

At that answer, Yeon-ho stared at Do-ha for a moment and then shrugged.
Though much was left unsaid, Yeon-ho seemed unconcerned.

“So, what about Eon?”

At Yeon-ho’s next question, there was a momentary silence.

“Have you contacted her?”

“…Not yet.”

“If you don’t want things to fall apart, you know you need to bring that brat first, right?”

Yeon-ho’s words, dropped casually, caused Do-ha’s eyes to flicker slightly.

“…Yeah.”

“But you don’t ask Ye-won a single thing? You must be curious, right?”

Woo-yeon asked, seeming fascinated.

Ye-won read the meaning behind the question.
It was asking if she had no curiosity at all, even though a member of the team was suddenly taking care of a child.

“She’ll handle it herself.”

“!”

Ye-won’s eyes widened at Yeon-ho’s words.

“Do as you wish. It’s your family… it’s been a long time since you last met.”

Though the tone was curt, Ye-won understood that this was the strongest support Yeon-ho could give.

Watching him, both Do-ha and Woo-yeon were clearly surprised.

Especially Do-ha.

Within Glit, the hardest person to deal with was Eon, but the person whose thoughts were the most impossible to read was undoubtedly Yeon-ho.

Not simply because he didn’t speak much.

In most cases, Yeon-ho didn’t speak at all—he seemed almost as if he had no opinions of his own.

The Glit members, all with strong personalities and strong opinions, managed to function more or less because of Yeon-ho.
When they fought fiercely over their ideas, Yeon-ho would lazily pick one person’s opinion, summarizing the situation like:

“Now it’s majority vote: 2:1:1:1. Anyone who complains dies.”

He rarely expressed his own opinion.

Except… when someone threatened the team.

Even when Tae-young left, Yeon-ho muttered to himself:

“Better if he dies in an ‘accident’ than leaves like this.”

Even the reckless Han Woo-yeon muttered to himself: “Better die than make Yeon-ho my enemy…”

That’s why Do-ha was secretly worried about how Yeon-ho would react.

In Do-ha’s eyes, Woo-yeon was “rough-mouthed but actually kind,” and Eon was “cold but the most fragile.”

So there was room to persuade them to some degree.

But Yeon-ho?

Most of the time, he didn’t oppose Do-ha. He didn’t even speak.

Yet Do-ha knew well how terrifying it could be if Yeon-ho ever did voice opposition.
If Yeon-ho opposed, it meant something would seriously harm the team.

Do-ha had even prepared to leave the team himself if Yeon-ho refused to accept Ye-won.

But now… he accepted her immediately?

The suddenness left Do-ha and Woo-yeon both flustered.

“Don’t tell me to raise her together.”

Yeon-ho’s firm voice shattered everyone’s thoughts.

“….”

Hmm.

Ye-won revised her assessment of Yeon-ho.
Still… he wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

“…Thanks, hyung.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m not actually going to help you raise her. You raise her yourself.”

“….”

Support… right?

The three others looked at Yeon-ho with uncertain faces.
Ye-won herself felt a little helpless.

This family…
It’s really not going to be easy….

After the storm of Yeon-ho’s departure—

“Hey, Lee Do-ha. Now that Yeon-ho brought it up, you’re going to contact Eon, right?”

“…No.”

“I get that you two fought. But can’t you reconcile now? If you two reconcile, the four of you can work well again. Why keep dragging your feet?! I know Eon’s temper too, but this time it’s your fault! As the leader, man up, hold hands, kiss, and make up!”

…Kiss?

Ye-won was taken aback by Woo-yeon’s choice of words, but Do-ha didn’t even flinch.

“Ye-won’s making food. Are you going to eat too?”

“Are you a hula hoop or something? Stop dodging and answer me!”

“I have nothing to say.”

“….”

Woo-yeon’s cheeks puffed up seriously as if billions of harsh words were about to explode.

Danger signal…!!

Ye-won quickly ran over and grabbed one of his arms to prevent Woo-yeon from exploding—

“?!”

“U–uncle.”

She upgraded his title from Mister to Uncle, lightly bopping her head and leaning on his shoulder.

“?!!?!!?”

…So far, so good.

…But what about next…?

Having already shown the maximum amount of charm she could, Ye-won felt cold sweat running down her back.

How did kids in dramas make mom and dad forgive them? How did they do it?

She frantically searched her memory for a reference.

‘Ah.’

Only one thing came to mind.

“Ho-oh.”

Gently blowing on the sore spot!

Ye-won blew a soft puff of air on Woo-yeon’s shoulder (she didn’t have the courage to aim anywhere else).

“?!?!?!?!?!”

“Y-Ye-won blew ho-oh on Uncle’s heart… so don’t be mad…”

Uncle Woo-yeon, you are the only hope for this broken Glit….

Ye-won was flustered by the extremes of avoidance that is Lee Do-ha and the directness (maybe too direct) of Seo Yeon-ho.

But the most shocking thing she realized from this conversation was—
The member who hadn’t appeared yet, “Lee Eon,” was probably the scariest of all.

With this combination in Glit, she instinctively knew that even the UN peacekeeping forces couldn’t unify them.

Since Woo-yeon was the easiest to communicate with, she couldn’t afford to lose him, and thus Ye-won acted desperately.

‘…Ah, is it not working?’

In dramas, this always worked, didn’t it?

Ye-won wondered if maybe just one “ho-oh” wasn’t enough, so she grabbed Woo-yeon’s hand and tried it once more.

“Ho, ho-oh….”

And then—

Flash!

“?!”

This time, there was an immediate reaction.

Woo-yeon lifted Ye-won with one arm and stood up!

As Ye-won was briefly caught off guard by the unexpected development—

“Hey, Lee Do-ha.”

Woo-yeon held Ye-won tight and spoke to Do-ha in a serious tone.

“From today, Ye-won is my niece. Not yours.”

“!?”

Shocked by the sudden declaration, Do-ha and Ye-won stared at Woo-yeon blankly.

What? What did you say?

“That means I’m going to live here from now on.”

“!!!!”

“Why? Because my niece is here. Uh-huh. My niece—who else is going to raise her? Heh-heh.”

[▶Sub-quest Complete!

Reunite the fractured family! ~Gathering Glit~

Sub-quest reward: Reveal maternal grandparents]

[Congratulations! You have completed the sub-quest.
Rewards have been granted…]

Finally!

Ye-won’s eyes widened.

[Your maternal grandfather: Yeon Tae-jung
Your maternal grandmother: Lee Ju-hyang]

“…!”

And as she confirmed their identities, her widened eyes shook violently.

‘…I know those names.’

Both… names she knew very well.