By Zephyria 
Му child.
Do-hyun wаs shоcked tо hear thоsе wоrds. Не wаnted to аsk if hе hаd a child, but hе was so flusterеd that his vоicе wouldn’t сomе оut.
Whilе Do-hyun’s liрs tremblеd, Soo-hyаng added in a сalm voicе.
‘I sent him tо middlе school the yеar beforе lаst, but it sееms hе’s having troublе adjusting tо sсhool lifе.’
‘…Тrouble adjusting? Is he bеing bullied?’
Nо аnswer cаmе bасk. Instеad, hе оnly hеard the sound of Soo-hуang cliсking his tongue whilе narrowing his brow.
‘I tоld him therе was no nееd to be еducatеd with thosе kinds оf kids, but he insistеd…’
А strangе еmotiоn fliсkеred in thosе еxсерtiоnally pale eyes. The emotion that floated to the surface was, even to Do-hyun, ‘worry.’ He was momentarily taken aback by that fact. Soo-hyang shook his head slightly.
‘Anyway, I called you because I thought you might be able to communicate with him. He’ll be more comfortable with someone his own age than with me. Since you got into a good university, you can handle some English tutoring without much burden, right?’
‘Tutoring…’
It had been a continuous stream of baffling statements for a while now. First, he has a child, then that child is being bullied, and now he wants Do-hyun to tutor him in English. The flow of the conversation, which was already hard to follow, headed in an even more incomprehensible direction.
‘There shouldn’t be any difficulty in teaching. He already finished most of his English when he was young, and I’m not expecting professional education from you.’
‘No, I mean, exactly…’
Do-hyun let out a hollow laugh, trailing off. He had no words for a man who hired him for English tutoring while openly admitting that tutoring wasn’t the actual goal.
‘What is it that you actually want?’
When he finally asked point-blank, Soo-hyang’s eyebrows twitched. His expression seemed to ask if it really had to be said aloud, but Do-hyun acted brazenly on purpose.
‘How am I supposed to know if you don’t say it?’
‘…Tutor him, talk about school, and then report it back to me exactly as it is. Three times a week, two hours a day, for a total of six hours. I’ll pay you as much as you want.’
Do-hyun considered calling out an absurdly high amount, but then decided against it. If it was Soo-hyang, he would give as much as requested, but he would expect to get just as much back in return.
‘It would be faster if the Vice Chairman… no, the Chairman just went to the school and threw some money around.’
‘It’s not that simple of a problem.’
Throwing money around wasn’t simple, but Soo-hyang seemed indifferent to such things. Do-hyun blinked his left eye with an expression of total incomprehension.
‘Is it, perhaps, some kind of hidden child?’
‘No. If it were that, I wouldn’t have told you.’
He thought it was a plausible guess, but it was the wrong answer again. Soo-hyang glanced at the watch on his wrist and tapped the desk.
‘You don’t need to know the detailed circumstances. You just need to tell me whether you’ll do it or not.’
His tone was the same as usual, but his eyes were not. His slightly furrowed brow made him look like an anxious person. Do-hyun lowered his gaze slightly and replied slowly.
‘I’ll do it.’
He never imagined that the man he thought was perfect—the man he believed lacked nothing—would show such a side. The feeling of seeing his desperation with his own eyes was thrilling beyond words.
‘Just pay me whatever you think is right. Even if you don’t, well, it doesn’t particularly matter.’
Even the great Ji Su-hyang becomes anxious in front of his own child. Whether that was affection, obsession, or something else entirely. Either way, it was fascinating, and as fascinating as it was, it was strange. The emotion writhing in a corner of his heart was more of a discomfort than simple ‘fascination.’
‘But he’s not an Omega, right? That would be a bit problematic.’
‘Surely. Why would I trust you with that?’
‘…Would I really lay a hand on a kid four years younger than me?’
Regardless of everything, Soo-hyang was a turning point in Do-hyun’s life. Even if he wasn’t something as grand as a lifesaver, he was at least like a Daddy Long Legs. He could grant any small favor (though it was closer to an order).
‘What’s the child’s name?’
‘Seon Woo-yeon.’
Seon Woo-yeon, Seon Woo-yeon. After chewing over the name a few times, Do-hyun nodded. He said it wasn’t a hidden child, yet he hadn’t passed down his own surname. Either he took the Omega’s surname, or he changed it because he had no intention of making him public.
‘It’s a pretty name.’
It was a compliment given out of habit, but Soo-hyang wore a mysterious expression. The faint smile that appeared seemed to be longing for something. Lowering his gaze bitterly, he murmured in a voice that was barely audible.
‘…Yes, it is a pretty name.’
As soon as he heard those words, Do-hyun shut his mouth, unable to ask further. It was the first and last time he saw Soo-hyang’s sad face.
The tutoring they agreed upon arrived sooner than expected. Soo-hyang set the date as a notification without even asking for Do-hyun’s opinion. Since he didn’t have any particular schedule, Do-hyun didn’t refuse the date he set.
And then came the big day of the tutoring. Do-hyun visited Soo-hyang’s house, feeling unusually nervous.
In the grand neighborhood where even taxis were reluctant to enter, there were gaps between houses that were absolutely impossible to walk. After vowing about three times that he shouldn’t refuse the car they offered next time, Do-hyun finally stood before the main gate.
‘It’s practically a prison.’
The towering walls were far too massive to be just for security. Just as it was hard to approach from the outside, it looked hard to get out from the inside. It seemed like locking someone up would be a piece of cake if one set their mind to it.
‘Please wait here for a moment.’
The employee who handled the housework sat Do-hyun in the living room and disappeared upstairs. Upon hearing that they would call the young master, Do-hyun finally realized that Soo-hyang’s child was a son. Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard anything about him other than his name.
‘I wonder if he looks like the Chairman…’
Do-hyun looked around the spacious living room and vaguely imagined ‘Seon Woo-yeon.’ Since he was Soo-hyang’s child, he must look like him; since he grew up without lack, his personality probably wasn’t the best. Those thoughts vanished completely the moment he saw the boy coming out with the employee.
‘…Hello.’
He was a child with a slender voice, whose voice hadn’t even broken yet. His gaze was two spans lower, he was fleshier than expected, and his face was as white as if it smelled of baby powder. Even the shape of his eyes behind the high-prescription glasses looked nothing like Soo-hyang’s.
‘I am Seon Woo-yeon.’
He didn’t know why, but that image overlapped with his own self back at the orphanage. Why those untainted, pure eyes remained in his heart. Why that baby-like gaze was so chillingly disconcerting.
‘Your name is… Seon Woo-yeon?’
According to Do-hyun’s thoughts, he should have been a spoiled brat who received plenty of love. He should have been a child who monopolized Soo-hyang’s affection, acted arrogantly while receiving everyone’s attention, and then got bullied.
‘It’s a pretty name.’
Do-hyun absolutely did not want the child to be shy at a kind word. He didn’t want him to blush at the ears at a habitual smile, nor did he want those deep brown eyes to be flawlessly clear.
‘I look forward to working with you, Yeon-ah.’
It felt as if sand were stuck in his throat. The way the boy touched his earlobe and bowed his head was like a stray cat unfamiliar with kindness. The child nodded and replied in a small voice.
‘I look forward to working with you too. Um…’
‘Call me Teacher.’
Those words were like a kind of defense mechanism. A sudden sense of crisis told him he had to keep his distance from the child. However, Do-hyun impulsively added this as well.
‘When you become a college student, I’ll let you call me Hyung.’
He was different from the children Do-hyun usually saw. Unlike those full of mischief and liveliness, the child showed a subtle sense of deficiency. To the point where if Do-hyun tried to open his heart with a gentle smile, the boy would show wariness and run away.
‘…Is Teacher an Alpha?’
That was why. That was why he couldn’t easily answer ‘Alpha’ to the child’s question. Do-hyun was quick-witted, and the look in the eyes asking that question clearly showed a desperate hope that the answer was ‘no.’
‘Why, do I seem like an Alpha?’
As soon as he asked back, several emotions flickered in the child’s eyes. He frowned, lowered his eyes, and then his cautiously raised gaze met Do-hyun’s. The slowly blinking eyes suddenly touched his heart.
‘…No.’
The tension vanished from the eyes that had been covered in wariness. What emerged again was a stability he had never seen before.
‘You don’t seem like an Alpha.’
Instinctively, he realized that the wall the child had built had crumbled. He felt a surge of guilt, but it was only for a moment. The gaze filled solely with trust satisfied a thirst Do-hyun had harbored for a long time.
After that day, Do-hyun looked forward to the tutoring sessions more desperately than anyone. Sitting side by side with the child and listening to him, a sense of satisfaction he had never felt before blossomed. The child would look at him with round eyes and reveal the worries deep in his heart, his cheeks flushing.
‘So… I don’t think there is any physical violence.’
On days when there was no tutoring, Soo-hyang would call Do-hyun to hear the child’s stories. When he was truly busy, he would call on the phone, but he seemed to make time to meet in person whenever possible. His obsessively observant gaze contained worry about school life and concern about the relationship with Do-hyun.
‘Come to think of it, he’s playing quite an obvious game.’
‘A game?’
‘Calling you “Yeon-ah,” I heard.’
He found out that the child’s name was ‘Woo-yeon’ around the second time they met. The employee, hearing Do-hyun call him ‘Yeon-ah,’ had corrected him, saying the young master’s name was ‘Woo-yeon.’ However, Do-hyun had no intention of changing the address until Woo-yeon told him himself.
‘Keep the lines that need to be kept. Don’t make him like you when you have no intention of taking responsibility.’
‘…’
‘Of course, I won’t let you take responsibility anyway.’
A whirlwind of emotions crossed his mind. Guilt, displeasure, and a slight sense of superiority. A base feeling of rebellion that rose upon realizing that all of this was ‘jealousy’ toward maternal—or paternal—instinct.
‘…Since when did things ever go my way?’
Even Soo-hyang, who seemed like he wouldn’t bleed a single drop if stabbed, cared for his own child. Even if that looked like control and obsession, Do-hyun had never received even something similar. The loneliness stemming from a fundamental deficiency always manifested in a twisted direction.
‘If you’re that worried, go tell Yeon himself. That his tutor was actually someone you hired.’
He pictured Woo-yeon’s disappointed face in his head. His throat stung and ached, and his chest felt tight as if pressed by a stone. Nevertheless, Do-hyun stared at Soo-hyang as if nothing were wrong.
‘If you can’t do that, then don’t threaten me either. You know which side would be more disappointed if I quit, right?’
Soo-hyang did not answer, and Do-hyun walked out of the office just like that. He looked like a man without regrets, but his inner thoughts were different. Because Do-hyun himself couldn’t gauge who would truly be the one feeling the loss.