By Zephyria For a while, only the rhythmic sound of the waves echoed gently between them. Winston belatedly realized what he had said, but he couldn’t just back down. Meeting Angela’s gaze as she stared up at him with wide eyes, he waited for an answer. Hoping she would say something even slightly encouraging. But the child, who was usually so clever, only tilted her head with a puzzled look today, and said nothing. Winston became impatient. He opened his mouth to ask again, but the opportunity quickly disappeared. He saw Yu-jin running towards them.
“What’s wrong? What are you doing?”
Yu-jin, who had run so hard he was out of breath, immediately stood between Angela and Winston. Winston felt unfairly treated by his behavior, which was so sensitive as if Winston would do something harmful to the child. What had he even done? He had just said something.
“I wouldn’t do anything bad to the child.”
Saying it with an openly unpleasant feeling, Yu-jin replied curtly without letting his guard down.
“Just stay away from her, Angie is scared of you.”
Scared? Angie calls me Winnie.
Winston wanted to retort immediately, but Yu-jin didn’t give him a chance. Pushing his chest away with both hands, urging him to hurry, his face was full of anxiety. Yu-jin was rejecting him with all his might, but Winston didn’t budge. He pushed his chest again, but Yu-jin staggered and stepped back instead, and soon bit his lip and glared at Winston. Winston stared back at him with a blank expression.
It would be easy to grab Yu-jin’s arm and render him helpless with one hand. He seemed to know it too, and was gritting his teeth with a resentful expression. Then, Angela came into Winston’s view. Seeing the child’s face, which was clearly anxious about the adults’ power struggle, Winston’s unpleasant feeling quickly disappeared and was replaced by bitterness.
“It’s not me who’s making Angela anxious, it’s you.”
“What?”
He retorted sharply to Winston, who pointed it out with a frown, but he didn’t say anything more and turned away. Yu-jin stared intently at his back as he headed towards the mansion, then belatedly turned his attention to the child.
“Angie, are you okay? Did anything happen?”
He quickly bent down to make eye contact, and Angela nodded, saying yes. Only after touching the child’s body here and there and checking her face did Yu-jin finally sigh in relief.
“I didn’t expect him to suddenly talk to you… I’ll never leave you alone again, Angie.”
He vowed sincerely, but unexpectedly, Angela didn’t readily answer. Instead, Yu-jin was puzzled by the child’s reaction, who tilted her head as if she was wondering, and then Angela opened her mouth.
“Mr. Campbell didn’t do anything to me.”
The child was so calm. Seeing his daughter saying it as if it was nothing, Yu-jin blinked and asked,
“Angie, weren’t you scared of Mr. Campbell?”
“Um…”
The child seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
“No, it was okay. Mr. Campbell just talked to me.”
At Angela’s words, Yu-jin inadvertently frowned.
“What did Mr. Campbell say to you?”
He might have said something bad that the child didn’t understand. Yu-jin, immediately on guard, asked, and his daughter answered innocently.
“He asked me if I didn’t need a Papa.”
For a moment, Yu-jin just stared intently at Angela’s face. Unable to react immediately and just looking at his daughter, he finally let out a gasp after a few seconds.
“What?”
To her bewildered Daddy, Angela explained clearly.
“He asked me what I was doing, and I said I was going to play in the sand. When I said Daddy went to get the basket, he asked me if I needed anything else. I said it was okay because I had Daddy, and then he asked me if I didn’t need a Papa.”
Yu-jin lost his words again. Angela smiled brightly at him, who was dumbfounded and his head was empty, and declared bravely.
“Don’t worry, Daddy. I don’t need a Papa like that. If Mr. Campbell asks me again, I’ll say that. I only need Daddy!”
Only then did Yu-jin relax his expression and hug the child. While warmly stroking the back of his daughter, who was nestled in his arms as if it was natural, he frowned again.
What on earth is he thinking, that man.
He couldn’t imagine how Winston’s mind was working at all. What was certain was that he was definitely plotting something.
Whatever it is, I have to run away with Angie before that.
Yu-jin renewed his resolve. And even while playing with the basket and building sandcastles with the child, he was constantly thinking about how to escape from this place.
* * *
“You’re staying the night?”
Yu-jin, who had vaguely thought he was just going to leave a little late, was surprised by Winston’s words during dinner and asked. He hurriedly closed his mouth at his unconsciously raised voice, and Winston replied nonchalantly.
“Yeah, you want to spend more time with the child, don’t you? I took a vacation for once, so I’ll rest a bit.”
Yu-jin was momentarily bewildered, not knowing how he should feel. He was happy to be able to see the child for longer, but he was uneasy that Winston was included.
“I thought you’d be a little happier.”
A careless voice returned, as if his reaction was unsatisfactory. Yu-jin asked with a frown, not hiding his emotions.
“What are you plotting? You shouldn’t have anything more to gain from me now.”
Winston, who had been drinking wine, put down his glass and looked at Yu-jin. He took his eyes off Yu-jin, who was somehow startled, and turned his gaze to Angela, who was sitting across from Yu-jin.
“Angie says she only needs you, so I’m just doing what she wants. It’s her birthday, isn’t it?”And Winston, surprisingly, smiled at Angela. For a moment, Yu-jin blinked rapidly, almost involuntarily. What was that? What did I just see?
But it didn’t end there. Angela, who was sitting quietly and eating her meal, looked at Winston and nodded.
“That’s right.”
The child added clearly, as if determined not to miss the timing this time.
“I only need Daddy! I don’t need Papa!”
Suddenly, silence fell. Yu-jin couldn’t help but steal a glance at Winston’s face. He was inwardly disappointed to see that his expression wasn’t much different from usual. What was with asking Angela if she didn’t need Papa?
Angie must have misunderstood.
That made much more sense. Why would Winston suddenly ask Angela something like that? It had nothing to do with him.
Just then, the meal was over. Yu-jin declined dessert and asked Winston,
“It’s time for Angie to wash up and go to bed, so can I get up first?”
Winston simply nodded briefly. Yu-jin picked up Angela, who had finished her meal earlier, and quickly left the table. And a moment later, Winston was left alone in the silence.
“Is there anything else you need?”
He ordered a whiskey in response to the employee’s question. It was alcohol that wouldn’t even get him drunk, but he couldn’t help but drink it.
‘I don’t need Papa!’
His heart ached as he recalled Angela’s words. He frowned and emptied the whiskey in his glass in one gulp. He managed not to show it, but hearing those words from Angela was more shocking than he had anticipated.
Be patient.
He refilled his glass for the second time, scolding himself. His relationship with Angela had only just begun. To be so disappointed already, wasn’t he being too hasty?
This was only the second time he had put so much effort into someone. Was it because she was Yu-jin’s child? Angela was perhaps even more demanding than Yu-jin. He sighed and rubbed the wrinkles etched on his forehead with his fingertips. He felt a premonition that even more difficult days lay ahead, but he couldn’t easily accept it.
…Right, there was that method.
After pondering for a while, he realized something and immediately took out his phone. After a few rings, he heard the voice he had been waiting for, and Winston immediately got to the point.
“Keith, I have a question. How did you become close to your child?”
“What?”
The man on the other end of the line sounded bewildered. As if he was asking what kind of nonsense he was spouting. Winston’s pride was hurt, but this was no time to worry about that. After a sigh, he quickly continued.
“There’s a child I want to get close to, but it’s not easy. She’s even afraid of piggyback rides. How did your child get so comfortable with piggyback rides?”