PIA 149

He should have left Hae-yi with the housekeeper and come alone. At the very least, he shouldn’t have parted with Woo-seok, but told him to wait outside the building with Hae-yi.

If not that, he should have called Jeong Hee-seo out, you dummy. While bitter regret filled his mind, there was nothing he could do now. The water had already spilled.

Only when the elevator was packed with people did reason return, but it was already too late.

“Mam-mam-ma…”

Even in this situation, Hae-yi showed off his cuteness with plump white cheeks and chubby lips. His constant babbling made everyone in the elevator try to hold back their smiles. Quite a few people seemed to be suppressing the urge to respond to his continuous “mam-mam” sounds, as if he had something to say to these unfamiliar adults.

As he stretched out his maple leaf-like hands and made grabbing motions in the air, everyone’s attention turned to Hae-yi and Ji-an holding him.

‘Who did he take after to be so talkative?’

“Mam-meum-meum-mu… Bbyak! Kyaak!”

Ji-an could do nothing but squeeze his eyes shut. He could feel the piercing stares. For some reason, the elevator seemed to move unusually slowly today, stopping at every floor. Even the shy compliments about how cute the baby was only added to his embarrassment.

Ji-an could finally breathe when the elevator stopped at the floor with Jeong Hee-seo’s office and they got off. He wasn’t burdened by showing Hae-yi to the General Manager’s office staff, as he had often seen them in private settings. Ji-an’s face gradually returned to its original color.

“Oh, Hae-yi!”

No sooner had he caught his breath than Secretary Yoon, recognizing Hae-yi, came running with quick steps.

“Mam-mam-ma! Ppaang! Aeuang! Kyaaa!”

Ji-an had to admit it. Hae-yi was a child who enjoyed attention. As familiar faces gathered around him, he excitedly wiggled his bottom.

Resting his round body on Ji-an’s shoulder, he twisted his chubby waist and happily shouted as he examined each face surrounding him.

As Ji-an was exchanging greetings with people, wearing an awkward smile, the sound of footsteps echoed from the inner corridor, and Jeong Hee-seo walked out.

“Ji-an, what’s going on?”

As soon as he saw Ji-an’s face, Jeong Hee-seo sensed something and immediately stiffened his expression. The man were terrifyingly quick to notice things. Just from seeing Ji-an appear here with Hae-yi, he had already calculated the whole situation.

Thanks to Jeong Hee-seo getting straight to the point, Ji-an felt instantly relieved.

“Ah… hyung, well…”

“I’ll take care of Hae-yi.”

As the two were about to start their conversation, Secretary Yoon quickly washed his hands and came to take Hae-yi. When Ji-an tried to decline out of guilt, Jeong Hee-seo stepped in, thanking him and patting Secretary Yoon’s back, asking him to look after Hae-yi. This was as good as telling the staff to take a break, and they all smiled brightly.

“Ppa!”

Only Hae-yi, who had happily reached out his hands upon seeing Jeong Hee-seo, became sulky at that moment. Thanks to Secretary Yoon, who skillfully drew Hae-yi’s attention and rushed into the break room, Ji-an was able to go to the General Manager’s office with Jeong Hee-seo.

To be honest, Ji-an felt that everything was alright the moment he saw Jeong Hee-seo’s face. Would Jeong Hee-seo laugh if he said he felt reassured just by the warmth of the hand supporting his lower back as they walked to the General Manager’s office? But that was truly how he felt. So as soon as the office door closed, he immediately hugged him.

“You smell nice. What cologne are you wearing?”

“I’m a married man.”

Ji-an couldn’t help but laugh at his old-fashioned response as he buried his nose in his chest.

Jeong Hee-seo, still hugging Ji-an, stepped backward until he was half-sitting on the desk. Then he gently pushed Ji-an’s shoulders away with both hands. His eyes scrutinizing his face were almost like a microscope.

Finally, Ji-an surrendered. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the business card. Jeong Hee-seo raised his eyebrows as he received and unfolded the crumpled card that had been hastily stuffed in.

“Woo-seok said he wanted to see Hae-yi, so we met outside, but a photographer was secretly following us and taking pictures.”

“I know this Sports Q place too.”

“Woo-seok smashed the camera, but I said I’d pay for it.”

“Well done.”

It wasn’t clear whether he meant smashing the camera was well done, or offering to pay for it. Jeong Hee-seo immediately took out his phone. He held up his index finger to Ji-an, asking him to wait a moment, and straightened up.

Ji-an watched him press the call button and walk to the window, then quietly sat down on the sofa.

A brief phone call followed. Ji-an could guess the content. It seemed he was contacting the secretarial staff at the main house who manage various incidents involving the owner’s family. There was talk of legal teams and quick responses.

“Ji-an, you must have been upset and scared.”

After ending the short call, Jeong Hee-seo came over and sat on the sofa, hugging Ji-an. He planted deep kisses on his temple, gently rubbing his thigh. The gradual release of pheromones was somewhat instinctive. It was effective. Feeling the tension slowly melt away, Ji-an leaned into him.

“More than being upset… I think I was a bit scared when Hae-yi was photographed, hyung.”

With someone there to look into his feelings, understand and comfort him, Ji-an could pinpoint exactly what he had felt. He had vaguely run to his arms like a chick fleeing to its nest without thinking, but it turned out it was fear.

“I stupidly didn’t notice anything until Woo-seok caught on.”

“Why is that stupid? Everyone has different levels of sensitivity.”

“Anyway… I’m worried they might have been secretly photographing me and Hae-yi all this time.”

Seeing the large camera in the reporter’s hands made him worry about all his past activities. When he went to the market holding Hae-yi with messy hair because he suddenly craved something, or when he took a walk pushing the stroller with bedhead, or when he took Hae-yi out to see flowers on a nice day…

It gave him chills to imagine cameras following his every move. The thought of Hae-yi’s unguarded face in photos falling into strangers’ hands.

Jeong Hee-seo, who had been staring at Ji-an’s profile, poked his cheek with his finger.

“You haven’t seen any photos posted anywhere, right?”

“No, but still…”

Ji-an exclaimed, “Ah!”

“You’ve been removing them all, like you’re doing now, haven’t you?”

“Even if you hadn’t discovered that reporter today, our side would have taken care of it. We place quite a lot of ads with that company.”

When Ji-an tightly pressed his lips together without answering, Jeong Hee-seo let out a small sigh and added one more thing.

“I had hoped you would never find out. I didn’t want you to worry about cameras.”

They exchanged silent glances. Ji-an clenched his fists. He thought he had become a bit more perceptive living with him, but he still had a long way to go.

“Is that why you insisted on such an extravagant wedding? To prevent any petty gossip about me or Hae-yi?”

Ji-an suddenly recalled everything from the reporter’s baseless comments about sponsorships and troubles, saying he should think of the child, to Woo-seok’s remark that weddings are for show.

So that’s why he had allowed all those photos and videos to be taken. He had thought he was just indulging Jeong Hee-young’s love for glamour.

Seeing Ji-an’s teary eyes, Jeong Hee-seo clicked his tongue briefly.

“That’s part of it.”

He admitted it cleanly.

“It’s not just that. Grandmother’s management style is so well-known that it’s bound to generate a lot of talk. There are various complicated interests involved… After experiencing Han-joo’s situation, Grandmother thought it would be better to make a clear statement. I agreed, and my sister is an ally in this.”

He gently uncurled Ji-an’s fist. He firmly rubbed his pale palm with his thumb, as if to soothe it.

“Why are you making that face? I didn’t tell you because I was worried you’d react like this. It’s also because you two are getting unnecessary attention because of me.”

Why hadn’t he thought of it before? With a wedding involving Hae-yi, who was almost a year old, there was bound to be gossip. Although it seemed strange that Jeong Hee-seo was uncharacteristically accepting everything his sister was doing, their daily life together was so comfortable that Ji-an hadn’t even thought to guess the underlying reasons.

Yet he had been complaining and nagging all along about not wanting a lavish wedding. If Jeong Hee-seo had just given one reason, he could have silenced his complaints without having to indulge them. Instead, every time Ji-an grumbled, he calmly talked with him, sometimes even joked around, enduring until this day.

All for the sole reason of not wanting to burden him.