Chapter 125
Only after making the baby burp did the feeding time end. Hyeji did not hand the baby in her arms over to the nurse.
“I’ll keep the baby with me a little longer.”
“Yes, please call us when you’d like to send her to the neonatal room.”
When the nurse left, Grandma quickly followed her out and called Kanghyeon from the hallway. Unlike the man who usually walked briskly with those long legs, he came in stiffly and awkwardly. Hyeji bit her lip, holding back a smile, but she didn’t need to. Kanghyeon wasn’t able to look her in the eye anyway.
Cute.
They say once you see someone as cute, you’re done for.
While Hyeji sensed her downfall, he set down the paper bags he’d brought in both hands on the table and spoke only to Grandma.
“I brought some sushi and sashimi.”
He had bought raw fish she hadn’t been able to eat during pregnancy. On top of that, it was a crazy lineup, including tuna and salmon she liked, and even seasonal gizzard shad.
“I wasn’t sure if you ate sashimi too, Grandma, there’s eel rice here as well…”
“Oh my, it’s enough that you came at all, why bring all this. Oh dear, look at me. I’ll go make a call, so…”
Grandma began laying the groundwork to leave the two of them alone.
“Go look at the baby. She’s really pretty.”
At the suggestion to see the baby, Kanghyeon’s lips curved upward. But the moment Grandma left and he finally faced Hyeji, his whole body stiffened again. He was like that because he didn’t know whether she would show him the baby or not.
I don’t know either.
Hyeji was still confused about whether this man was just trying to do his duty, or whether he truly wanted the child. If he wanted her, why had his heart changed. He wasn’t that kind of man. Not understanding it made her suspicious of his intentions, and all sorts of thoughts crossed her mind.
Is he trying to use the child as an excuse to bind his matching Guide to his side for life? He’s not that kind of man either, is he?
Then is it because he loves me…?
She was one hundred percent certain of the answer to that.
Absolutely not.
He wasn’t that kind of man, and if it were true, instead of talking about deleting contract clauses, he would have said he loved her.
“Director.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t know what you’re hoping for by coming here.”
“Ah… what I’m hoping for?”
What was the right answer. As if debating whether he should say it, he stared at Hyeji, biting down on his lower lip, then finally confessed.
“Could I hold the baby just once?”
That was all he wanted?
To Hyeji, that simple wish carried a complicated meaning. What if he held her once and then left completely. The baby, who didn’t know anything yet, wouldn’t be hurt. As for her, who knew what that hurt was, she had already learned not to expect anything.
Then it should be okay to grant it.
When Hyeji nodded, the tension resting in the slight curve of his lips shifted into anticipation.
Still, Kanghyeon didn’t approach right away. He carefully disinfected his hands with sanitizer first. It was very much like Han Kanghyeon.
Only after shaking his hands dry and even dispelling the alcohol smell did he face Hyeji and sit on the edge of the bed. The baby, who seemed full even on the small amount of milk, slept quietly as Hyeji slowly handed her over.
Just before taking the baby, Kanghyeon’s chest swelled noticeably. His hands seemed to tremble slightly, but his posture was steadier than Hyeji’s.
“Do you secretly have another kid somewhere? You’re really natural at holding her.”
“I learned from YouTube.”
He had studied childcare methods. Feeling dazed, Hyeji watched as Kanghyeon grinned briefly, then lowered his gaze to the baby. At that moment, the playfulness vanished completely from his eyes.
Like someone mesmerized by the mysteries of the universe, he stared silently at the baby’s face for a long while, then whispered his first impression.
“She’s got my nose.”
The instant she heard his voice, rough and cracking with emotion, something inside Hyeji split open too, creating a fissure.
“And her fingers are already long, just like yours.”
Kanghyeon’s gaze, which hadn’t left the baby, turned to Hyeji. His eyes said thank you for saying that.
She didn’t know why he was grateful. After all, Noh Hyeji was a woman who had violated a contract and gotten pregnant with his child without permission.
“They really are long. I should start looking into piano academies.”
It was while Kanghyeon was spreading the fingers that even the nurses had marveled at, saying how could a newborn’s fingers be this long, that the baby suddenly grasped his index finger tightly with all five fingers. In that brief moment, quiet but vivid emotion spread across the man’s face as he let out a small sound of awe.
Watching as he so dearly gazed at their daughter with moist, shining eyes, Hyeji understood something for the first time.
So this is the look Han Kanghyeon has when he falls in love.
It was love so undeniable that even someone who didn’t believe in love couldn’t reject it.
Children are environmental destruction. Don’t get pregnant with my child. Even if you do, don’t tell me.
With a single look, Kanghyeon completely and unmistakably overturned every consistent and explicit stance he had hammered in through words and writing.
It was a gaze that made Noh Hyeji believe in paternal love, something she had never believed in her entire life.
“She’s got your lips. She’s so pretty.”
Kanghyeon lifted his head and smiled. Between his curved eyes, the pupils, though directed at Hyeji rather than their daughter, still shone with love.
Could she believe in love too?
“What’s our daughter’s name?”
“Let’s decide together.”
Noh Hyeji decided she would try trusting Han Kanghyeon.
– [ Deal Breaker ], Side Story End –
