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Chapter 17
“Yewon is uncomfortable. Get out.”
“What kind of false rumor is that now? Hey, if you’ve got eyes, open them properly and look. You see this tiny fern-like hand? That’s Yewon’s hand grabbing my clothes, telling me not to go.”
And indeed—
At some point, Yewon had come over and was tightly clutching the hem of his clothes beside the chair, as if by coincidence.
“Uncle, don’t go.”
She even delivered an unbearably cute, heart-rending line like that!
“Did you see that?!?! Huh?!?! Did you see it or not?!?!!”
“……”
Watching Wooyeon huff and puff in excitement, veins popped out on Doha’s forehead.
“…Yewon, come here.”
Suppressing the intense urge to smack Han Wooyeon on the back of the head, Doha called Yewon over.
It was to prove that no matter what, he was still Yewon’s favorite uncle.
But then—
“I don’t want to.”
“!!!!”
Yewon betrayed Doha’s trust far too easily.
“Y-you don’t want to…?”
“If I go, Uncle Wooyeon will kick you out. I don’t want that.”
“…….”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
As Doha fell into instant despair, Wooyeon laughed gleefully and scooped Yewon up, bouncing her in his arms.
“Hey!! Yewon!!! Let’s seriously live together forever!! Please!!!!”
“That’s kind of… no….”
No matter what Yewon said, Wooyeon lightly ignored her.
Found it—my personal soda.
Wooyeon shed a tiny tear in his heart.
I’ll never let go now. My little baby soda.
Meanwhile, at Time Entertainment.
CEO Park had been feeling strange lately.
To think that Doha had finally found something that resembled a real family.
As someone who had practically raised Doha since his trainee days, it made him genuinely happy.
Of course, aside from that one fact, nothing else about the situation was good.
CEO Park let out a sigh.
The future of Glit was completely unpredictable.
‘…At times like this, the most grown-up one—me—needs to keep it together and hold the center.’
Just then—
Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Rubbing his throbbing head, CEO Park spoke.
“Um, CEO….”
Young-oh cautiously peeked his head through the door.
“What is it?”
“…We got a call from that person.”
“That person?”
Which person?
CEO Park looked at Young-oh with a puzzled expression.
“The one who claimed to be a relative on Yewon’s dad’s side—the person we were going to entrust Yewon to.”
“What?”
That bastard?
“He contacted us first? The one we were about to slap with a lawsuit, but let go because Yewon begged us not to? He’s got no shame. Why? Is he asking for money?”
“Yes. Th-that is….”
Young-oh hesitated for a long moment before speaking.
“He said that if we don’t pay… he’ll expose that Yewon is Doha’s daughter.”
“!”
CEO Park’s expression instantly hardened.
Time Entertainment headquarters, CEO’s office.
Doha, Wooyeon, and CEO Park gathered in one place.
The reason was—
Yewon’s fake uncle had threatened to expose Yewon and Doha’s relationship (?).
Meanwhile, Yewon was staying briefly at the dorm with a ‘babysitter who can truly be trusted,’ arranged by CEO Park.
“Normally, we’d laugh this off and say no one would believe it. But not right now. The situation’s too bad.”
“…….”
“Before we decide how to respond, Doha, we need to clearly establish your stance first. Only then can we decide our next move.”
In the end, it came back to square one.
Whether to raise Yewon or not.
“I….”
Doha opened his mouth to say, ‘I plan to send Yewon to a good family.’
But—
“I’m… I mean….”
The next words simply wouldn’t come out.
It had been such a short time—far too short to prepare himself to let Yewon go.
Right. They hadn’t even found a good family yet.
And finding a truly perfect family you could trust with a child would take a long time.
…At least a year. Maybe… two.
Yes. Then—
Let’s just stay together for that long.
One or two years pass quickly.
Having finished organizing his thoughts—
“I plan to take care of Yewon until we find a place to entrust her to. Just for about one or two years.”
“Rejected.”
“Rejected.”
“…?”
What was with these reactions?
Doha frowned at the simultaneous responses from Wooyeon and CEO Park.
“Just raise her yourself. You’re an amazing uncle. Yeah. I’ve watched you for three days, and yeah. There’s no other uncle like you. And no other uncle like me either. I want to build a picture-perfect house on a green meadow and live with our Yewon for about a hundred years.”
“I say if there are four uncles, that’s basically the same as two parents. Four halfwits multiplied together equals about two decent people. Just raise her. You only need to raise her for 13 years until she grows up—13 years out of a 100-year life is nothing. Let’s just raise Yewon first and think later.”
“…….”
For the first time, Doha truly disliked the fact that he even knew these people.
“Being stubborn and throwing tantrums won’t make this work,” Doha said, barely holding onto his reason.
“A child needs a good family—”
“Yewon says you’re a really good family.”
That was Wooyeon.
“A family that can spend lots of time with her—”
“You’ve already been here seven years. If we adjust your schedule a bit, it’ll be fine. Our company isn’t that greedy. We’ll absolutely guarantee an environment to raise a child and work-life balance. Isn’t that what’s great about big companies?”
“…….”
“Well? Feeling a little convinced now?”
“…….”
Annoyingly enough, he was convinced—so Doha closed his mouth.
“…Alright.”
“!!!”
“Hey!!! Lee Doha!!! That’s honestly the only good decision you’ve made all year!!!”
“…….”
At Doha’s hard-won, resolute answer, everyone jumped up in joy.
“Excellent choice. Then we’ll immediately move to deal with that bastard. And we’ll also figure out how to preemptively announce Yewon’s existence.”
At CEO Park’s words, Doha nodded heavily.
Even from Doha’s perspective, making a preemptive announcement seemed like the least damaging option for everyone.
“Then… please take care of it.”
Doha said as he stood up.
Even as he said it, everything still felt overwhelmingly uncertain.
That evening.
Doha returned home with a complicated heart.
He sent home the ‘really trustworthy babysitter’ CEO Park had arranged.
Then he looked down at Yewon, who was sleeping soundly, unaware that Doha had come home.
Was it the right decision—to raise this child?
“…….”
This tiny little child… was my family.
A family who truly needs me and wants to live with me.
It felt incredibly strange.
Throughout his life, there had been countless people who needed “Glit’s Lee Doha.”
From the moment he joined Time Entertainment as a trainee, Doha quickly rose as the company’s ace.
He’d received dozens of love calls from other agencies.
After debuting with Glit, he received more love than he deserved.
Wherever he went, attention and affection poured down on him, to the point where he sometimes wondered if he might truly be—just a little—someone worthy of being loved.
Of course, those thoughts always shattered the moment he returned to the dorm after his schedules ended and saw his reflection in the mirror—his face that looked exactly like his father’s.
‘…….’
The instant the word father surfaced, Doha’s face twisted.
He remembered the buzz his father-resembling face had caused right after debut.
[“Buzz After Debut! Glit’s Lee Doha Resembles Former Actor and Renowned Director Yeon Tae-jeong?”]
[“Netizens Warmly Respond to Lee Doha, Saying He Reminds Them of Yeon Tae-jeong”]
[“Full of Warm Charm! Lee Doha Draws Attention with His Resemblance to Yeon Tae-jeong”]
[“‘Visual Genius’ Lee Doha Gains Attention as Yeon Tae-jeong Look-Alike at Debut”]
[“Will Glit’s Lee Doha Follow in Yeon Tae-jeong’s Footsteps?”]
Watching articles like those, Doha had swallowed his bitterness countless times.
What must that man have thought, seeing those articles?
Seeing the son he wanted so desperately to hide step boldly into the world—and immediately become a topic of discussion for looking like him.
He didn’t know.
But he hoped it hurt.
He’d wished for that with all his heart.
Maybe that was why—
‘C-can I… live with Uncle…?’
When Yewon had said that,
It felt like something in his chest was tearing apart.
As if, in a childhood he could barely remember anymore, he himself must have said the exact same thing.
Doha rubbed his chest with one hand. Ever since Yewon came into his life, his chest had felt tight.
It wasn’t pain.
‘This is more like…’
As he searched for a word to define the unfamiliar sensation—
Yewon opened her eyes.
“Uncle…?”
“!”
Yawn.
Yewon looked up at Doha, yawning.
“When did you get here…?”
“Mm. A little while ago.”
“You should’ve woken me up….”
“I wanted you to sleep well.”
“Where’s Uncle Wooyeon…?”
“He went to pack. He’ll be back later.”
“Ohhh….”
Yewon smiled, looking genuinely relieved.
Did she really like living with Han Wooyeon that much?
Feeling a bit sulky yet amused, Doha let out a small laugh.
“You like living with Uncle Wooyeon that much?”
“Yes. My family came back.”
“!”
At Yewon’s answer, it felt as if Doha had been struck on the head.
