SPM 1.8

Up until this point, Harrison had been extremely excited. From the moment they entered the house, every word and action was typical of someone whose mood was elevated with joy and excitement.

Harrison, gripping the front door handle, swung his arms wide like a child unwrapping a present and shouted “Ta-da!” in American style. However, contrary to the exclamation of “ta-da,” what greeted them when the door actually opened was an empty space.

Of course, at this time Ian had no idea what his father was expecting when he opened the door like that. He just thought it was a gesture to show him the house.

“Oh no…”

His expression deflated. Something was unpleasant, but he couldn’t express his raw emotions in front of his beloved son, awkwardly furrowed brows and a forced smile. Troubled rubbing of his creased forehead. No matter how you looked at it, he was someone in a bad mood.

Ian, who sensitively detected his father’s negative mood, hurriedly stepped forward and spoke up.

“The house is wonderful, dad.”

Ian grabbed his father’s elbow and shook it while grinning broadly, acting cute.

“…Is it?”

Looking at his clinging son, Harrison’s expression was brightening again.

“Yes. It’s a very cool house.”

“…Right? Come here, son. Let me show you your room.”

Following Harrison, who had regained his smile, Ian energetically went up to the second floor.

Looking at this direction, it would be the master bedroom, and there are four rooms right here. Ian looked around while earnestly following him as he explained.

And the place they arrived at was truly beyond expectations.

“There’s a bathroom, shower booth, and even a bathtub in the room, so it’ll be comfortable. This whole space is just for you to use.”

“Wow…”

“This is your closet, and I’ve prepared a new desk and bed too. Do you like sky blue?”

Though it was a soft sky blue wall that a young boy might like, it harmonized perfectly with the mature gray-toned furniture to create a perfect atmosphere in the room. With the bright weather visible through the large window, everything was absolutely perfect. Most of all, the room, which was larger than the living room of the house where he’d lived with his mother, left nothing to complain about.

Harrison looked very satisfied with Ian’s amazed and smiling expression, then opened the console drawer next to him. A large bundle of keys emerged from it.

“Wow… It’s been so long since I’ve seen keys.”

“Right?”

In Korea, not only houses but even school classroom doors typically used door locks. Even in communal living, if anything like keys were used, they were all small card keys or electronic keys, so it was natural that Ian hadn’t encountered keys in a long time.

“This is the front door key to get into the house, and this is the button key to open the garage.”

Next to the large hand showing him even a new car key that he’d bought for Ian, something small and silver glinted. It was a keychain with a rugby ball-shaped ornament and the University of Tennessee emblem attached together.

“Isn’t this cool too? I picked it out myself when I heard you were coming. Football is my favorite sport. When the season starts, let’s go watch college league games together.”

Harrison explained with a grin so wide that all his teeth showed as he faced Ian.

It was probably from this moment that Ian began to love American football like his father.

Perhaps… it was inevitable.

*

The reason Harrison had shown a troubled expression about his son facing his first start in the new house became immediately apparent at the dinner table.

The large dining room was filled with the smell of food. The dining table was so packed with elaborate dishes that it resembled a Thanksgiving feast, making it hard to know what to eat first.

However, the expressions of Ian and the people surrounding him were all unfavorable, except for Harrison’s.

“Now, this is Ian. Ian, this is my wife Olivia, and our eldest daughter Della, and youngest Liam. Say hello. Both of them are students at Lloyd Jones where you’ll be attending, and especially Della is in the same high school program, so she’ll be a great help to you.”

At those words, Ian tensely looked carefully at the faces of those he was meeting. The three people sitting as if confronting the father and son duo at the rectangular dining table.

Olivia, his father’s wife, was a person who seemed like a perfect illustration of a typical American upper-class lady, with her shiny blonde hair perfectly styled. A gleaming Cartier watch on her appropriately tanned skin caught Ian’s eye. It was the same model his mother had. The softly curved Baignoire rim sparkled with diamonds, unlike Song Joo-hee’s.

“Welcome, dear. Would you call me Mrs. Bailey?”

The way her face, which seemed like it would never smile, slightly lifted the corners of her lips in a haughty suggestion felt strangely alien.

“…Olivia.”

Perhaps sensing something in her tone, Harrison frowned and called his wife’s name in a low voice, but Ian completely missed the distant nuance and nodded. Rather, he was relieved that she hadn’t asked him to call her ‘mom’ when his real mother was living perfectly well in Korea.

Though he had lived comfortably using English, it was difficult for Ian at this point to pick up on the subtle nuances used by locals in real life. It was natural since he hadn’t grown up here.

“Yes. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bailey.”

Mr. Bailey and Mrs. Bailey. On the surface, it seemed like such a natural and trivial form of address, but for Ian, that name made a very strong impression. This person is really my father’s wife. It was a moment of natural realization.

Next, Ian turned his gaze to the girl beside her.

The girl, Della, was openly frowning, unlike Olivia who had welcomed Ian while hiding her emotions like she was perfectly receiving a guest.

“I’m not even in the same grade as him, so what help could I possibly give?”

Della twisted her lips as if chewing unpleasantly flavored gum and found fault with her father’s introduction of her.

Ian’s shoulders tensed slightly at his newly met sister’s blunt reaction.

Harrison seemed displeased with his daughter’s attitude and continued his explanation in a coaxing manner, shaking his head gently.

“You could introduce him to the school facilities and such.”

“There are teachers specifically assigned for that.”

“Or maybe have lunch together.”

At those words, Della’s pretty features, which resembled Olivia exactly, crumpled as if she found it absurd.

“Dad! You don’t actually think I’m going to sit him down at our club table and kindly introduce him to each of my friends one by one while eating lunch, do you? Ha! This is really ridiculous.”

“Della! What kind of rude thing is that to say to your brother?”

“I just met him today, so what brother?”

Watching his daughter suddenly pour out complaints like a car accelerating rapidly, Harrison looked shocked. Only then could Ian realize that she genuinely and completely disliked his very existence from start to finish.

“Besides, all my friends are girls!”

“Of course, but Ian doesn’t know anyone yet…!”

“If you’re so worried about your son eating lunch alone, then Dad can step out from the company for a bit to enjoy it with him and then go back.”

As soon as she said those words, Della stood up hastily with the scraping sound of her chair.

“I’m not hungry, so I’ll go upstairs now.”

“Della…!”

Ignoring Harrison’s attempts to stop her, Della disappeared from the dining room almost at a run.

Their verbal sparring made Ian’s mind stiffen like it had cramped up, turning white and rigid. He had no idea what to do in front of the father-daughter pair fighting over him. What exactly was this situation… The only thing Ian could definitively know right now was that cold sweat was trickling down his back.

“I’m not hungry either.”

Having put just a tiny bit of bean dish on her plate and eaten only one bite, hardly enough to be considered eating, Olivia calmly dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin and stood up from her seat. Then, like her daughter, she left that place and disappeared.

After they left, Ian and Harrison’s gazes naturally focused on the only person remaining seated on the opposite side, elementary schooler Liam.

Perhaps he wasn’t the type to be oblivious, the nine-year-old child shrugged his shoulders while serving casserole onto his plate and opened his mouth.

“I’m hungry.”

Then he began rattling off a story no one had asked for.

“Both mom and my sister seem to be in a bad mood about the issue of my brother coming to live with us. I’m okay with it.”

Judging by how he was chewing with his fork and even drinking soda properly, he really seemed to have no particular thoughts about this issue. And apart from being perceptive, he was also quite honest.

“Oh, the one thing that bothers me is that room my brother got to use, I was planning to use it when I got bigger later, but whatever. That’s okay too. Thanks to it, I got a new iPhone and tons of game cash. Thank you, dad.”

“…Yeah.”

“Please keep your promise to buy me a car as good as my brother’s later too.”

Because he was overly honest, Ian learned exactly what methods Harrison had used to win over his young son to his side.

After that, a silent meal continued.

Occasionally Liam asked Ian a few things about Korea, but since Ian wasn’t particularly good at conversation either, the talks didn’t continue very long. It was somehow a dinner that seemed like it might cause indigestion.

That night, when Ian came out to the kitchen to drink water, he heard Harrison and Olivia fighting.

From the first day, Ian clearly realized that the only person who welcomed him in this house was his father Harrison alone, and that he was an unwelcome guest in this house.

It was a night that felt distant.

* * *

Regardless of the fact that he wasn’t welcomed, time steadily passed.

Before he knew it, Ian was getting used to the detached attitude of those who treated him like a guest.

Actually, if he thought about it quietly, he couldn’t say he didn’t understand them.

On the first night at Bailey House, lying on the large bed in a room too big for one person to use alone, Ian placed both hands over his pounding heart and thought about the existence called father.

To Ian, Harrison had never once not been his father from the beginning.

Even lying with his hands folded neatly, floating through the darkness, what vividly came to mind were Harrison’s words and gentle face as he recited like a spell toward him.

‘Ian, I’m always your dad. Dad loves you no matter what happens. That will always be an unchanging fact.’

From when Ian’s hands were as small as maple leaves in his very young childhood, and throughout his growth. Every time Harrison met Ian, he would hold his son in his arms as if he couldn’t bear how lovable he was, and always whisper the same words in his ear.

And what about when he cried at the airport, sad to part from dad?

‘Dad will come see you again. Until then, you have to stay strong and well, buddy.’

Those words that comforted him were still vivid now. And the promises that never failed to follow.

‘My beloved son, I’m always your dad.’

That’s why even when apart, he never once doubted.

His father’s words had become a spell that was magically engraved tenderly and beautifully in his young heart, so even living far apart, Ian was always certain. That he too had an existence called dad, and that Harrison loved him.

But that might not have been natural for them.

“Olivia… Della. Liam…”

Ian mouthed the names of his new family members silently in the darkness.

As he thought of them, it was natural and inevitable that he came to consider their position.

If he were Olivia, or Della or Liam, what would he feel? He continued his thoughts while blinking his sleepless eyes.

‘If my mom suddenly came home one day saying she had another child and brought them…?’

He imagined Song Joo-hee opening the front door and entering, with a completely unfamiliar older sister behind her. As soon as he pictured it, his heart became complicated like a disorganized bookshelf.

“…Is it natural…”

If even he felt like this, what about someone who had lived their entire life since birth with the existence called ‘father,’ and for whom having both biological parents present was so natural? If another sibling suddenly entered and lived together from one day, accepting that fact amicably wouldn’t seem like an easy thing.

Of course, Harrison’s marriage to Song Joo-hee came first and Ian was Harrison’s first child born earliest, but regardless of that fact, to Della and Liam, Harrison had been their dad alone from the beginning, so feeling hostility as if their father’s illegitimate child had popped up from somewhere wasn’t incomprehensible.

When he considered it from Olivia’s position as well, it was the same. If his spouse suddenly brought a child they had with someone else into their family one day? It would probably be really awkward and difficult. This isn’t some polygamous era.

So it’s natural. Ian comforted himself like that and tried hard to close his eyes.

And by deliberately reviewing such thoughts every day thereafter, he was indeed becoming somewhat more composed.

His father’s family also seemed to gradually soften their sharp demeanor from the first day.

Olivia treated Ian indifferently, like a homestay student who had come to stay at their house, and while Della remained consistently cold, she wasn’t going out of her way to expend her energy being obviously spiteful like on the first day. Ian could only speculate that she had probably received some kind of request or warning from their father. So as long as there was no reason to run into his sister, there was no particular reason to clash. They simply treated each other like invisible people.

‘Yes… this is actually more comfortable.’

Right now he was attending a private school and commuting from home out of necessity, but in just two years he would go to college, and dormitory life would be mandatory then. So wouldn’t it be easier for him too, like Olivia, to think of himself not as a member of this household but as a temporary guest?

Continuing to instill this mindset in himself, Ian gathered up his wounded heart. The events of the first day had not left him unscathed.

Ian had no choice but to think this way.

Wouldn’t it be nothing short of self-harm to face people who didn’t want to accept him into their family circle every day and be endlessly hurt by it?

So let’s just live quietly on this side too.

The habit of gradually watching his mother’s moods, having grown up in a busy single-parent household, remained unchanged here as well.

Not standing out, not making anyone uncomfortable because of him. Being there but not being there. Being a good son.

He spent the entire summer holding his breath this way.

Given the Bailey family’s characteristics, it wasn’t particularly difficult either.

His father Harrison was always busy with business, and Olivia’s daily routine involved going out almost every day for regional or charitable organization work as part of her duties as an upper-class wife, always living busily.

Everyone gathering together for meals only happened about twice a week, and when hungry or craving snacks, they would just go to the kitchen and take what they needed.

The daily dinner routine was an implicit rule where whoever was home around 7 PM would come down to the dining room to eat the prepared food. As a result, Juanita, the housekeeper who looked after the household, was the face Ian saw most often at home. And this was the same for Della and Liam as well.

Apart from his initial fear, there was no discrimination, just less warmth, but simply a busy family, that’s all.

That was the Bailey household Ian had come to live in.

The summer days flowed diligently like a stream on a hill.

Ian spent time attending summer camps hosted by prestigious universities that Song Joo-hee had meticulously selected in advance, and also started driving practice to get his license.

If not for that incident, despite the precarious peace like walking on thin ice, that tranquility wouldn’t have been broken, and he could have gotten along fine with the three of them until summer vacation ended and the new semester began…

But the incident suddenly occurred during a rare meal where everyone was together.

“Ian and I are planning to go on a trip together for about a week.”

Was his excitement and anticipation about living with his eldest son still not cooled down? Harrison dropped a small bomb in front of the entire family.

The peaceful dinner table instantly froze like an iceberg.

“We’re going hunting near Lake Montana. I want to clean the cabin after a long time, and I’ve been thinking about showing Ian the fireflies. The timing is just right too. Have you ever seen swarms of fireflies, Ian?”

“Ah, no.”

“They’re quite a sight. Hard to see in other regions. A spectacular view you can’t see anywhere else. I’ve always thought I’d want to see them together with you when you came to Tennessee.”

Harrison, looking only at Ian and his plate alternately while explaining their itinerary in an excited voice, completely failed to notice what kind of looks Olivia and his other daughter and son were giving him.

Especially how hard Della was biting her lips with a face full of reproach and sadness.

“…What about me?”

Finally, she spoke in a hurt voice.

“Why aren’t you taking me?”

Ian couldn’t understand how the situation was unfolding at all. Since Harrison had brought it up so naturally, he thought it was something that had been discussed with all of them, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

But seeing Olivia’s nonchalant expression as she shrugged and poured more wine, seemingly unconcerned whether the two of them went on a trip or not, she didn’t seem particularly displeased. Was it only news to Della and Liam? The situation was flowing rather strangely.

“Della, you don’t particularly like outdoor activities. I’ve heard you say several times that you hate getting grass stains on your carefully manicured nails.”

“…But not even asking at all…”

“And you’ve already been to Cancun with your mother. Ian hasn’t been anywhere since coming here except for summer camp. University camp, strictly speaking, that’s not even a vacation.”

At those words, Della pressed her lips tightly shut.

“Besides, deer hunting requires spending several days outdoors, which isn’t suitable for a girl. You can’t even wash, and for you to handle bathroom issues in the forest…”

“Enough! I understand, so stop it!”

Della cut off Harrison’s words with obvious irritation.

Her contorted eyes showed a slight watery film. Though she knew her father’s words were reasonable, she seemed displeased and hurt by the fact that she had been excluded from the start.

On top of that, Olivia scolded her daughter.

“What’s there to be irritated about? I’m just grateful they’re not asking me to go to that rough, dirty place.”

Having already emptied her wine glass, she shuddered with her alcohol-flushed face, saying she detested things like hunting. The sound of her long fingernails, set more elaborately than her daughter’s, flicking against the crystal glass rang out irritatingly between them.

Ian seemed to be the only one feeling restless in that situation.

“I…”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that once again, discord had arisen in this family because of him. So Ian found himself looking at Liam and suggesting in a small voice.

“Uh, well. Then maybe Liam could come too…”

“I’m sorry, but it’s equally unsuitable for a young child. How about it, Liam? Can you patiently and quietly follow along on the hunt all day long?”

Perhaps thinking that a child with quite scattered tendencies might cause enough commotion to prevent them from even seeing a deer’s tail, let alone hunting, Harrison repeatedly emphasized being ‘quiet’ and ‘patient.’

Liam stirred his lasagna with his fork, seeming to think for a moment, then shrugged and answered.

“Hmm. I want to go, but I just won’t. You and my brother go together.”

“Good.”

Harrison chuckled with satisfaction and rubbed his palms together. Ian thought to himself that the only person happy that things were going as planned seemed to be his father.

Of course, the trip itself turned out to be really not bad.

Harrison spent the entire week talking about how happy he was to be with Ian, how wondrous and beautiful the nature before them was. He was constantly moved, saying things like how he had wanted to go on a hunting trip with him like a real Tennessee man since Ian was born, and how the vacations they spent together at resorts were nice but he had wanted to share his hometown’s traditions and atmosphere like this.

High-pressure air was injected into the precisely assembled air rifle cylinder from his thick-jointed fingertips. When the pressure gauge on the air tank moved, Harrison beckoned his son with a gesture. Ian approached closely, carefully swallowing as he confirmed the gauge reached the appropriate level.

Pop. With a faint sound, a 22-caliber lead bullet shot out like an arrow toward the practice target.

“This is what a Southern man is, Ian.”

Harrison pressed down the dry dirt in front of the cabin with his foot while helping Ian adjust his posture again.

“It’s different from the rifle I use to hunt deer, but it won’t hurt to know how to handle an air gun. Here you always have to protect yourself, and you especially…”

“Especially…?”

“You know. Being a dominant Omega…”

Harrison held back his words. Instead, he promised to help him get a proper gun license when he became an adult.

From then on, while teaching shooting, he never stopped worrying and expressing concern.

Sometimes he didn’t forget to demonstrate himself. Thanks to this, Ian learned from his Alpha father how to hide his pheromones to an extreme degree that could fool not only people but even sensitive animals.

Ian was satisfied that this had been a very beneficial and wonderful time. Of course, though he had grasped the technique, it didn’t work as well as expected unless he was conscious of it, so it seemed like a lot of practice would be needed.

After returning like that and spending each day, Ian found himself facing a new beginning at school.