Chapter 18: Misunderstandings and a Child’s Intervention

But still, when Noah mentioned he was curious about his child’s father, his friends had repeatedly warned him not to say anything about having a child until he had figured out what kind of person he was.

This was because they had witnessed Noah thoughtlessly blurting things out on numerous occasions.

Thankfully, it seemed he hadn’t made the mistake of speaking out of turn earlier.

Instead, he had been a bit of a fool.

After the shocking confession, Noah had frozen in his seat.

When he didn’t react, as if he were in a trance, Director Lee Hanjoo had apologized, saying he hadn’t expected such a reaction and that he was sorry if it had been sudden, and then he had driven him home.

From extreme fear to comfort.

It felt like he had just gotten off a rollercoaster.

When he first met him at the meeting, his impression of the man was that he was a kind but somehow scheming b*stard.

Of course, he was grateful for the kindness he had shown, but he felt that coming to see him a second time, knowing he had a pheromone problem, had crossed a line.

That first impression had naturally been reversed.

On second thought, he was truly relieved that his child’s father wasn’t a strange person.

To think that Seolu’s father was a chaebol!

And for some reason, he couldn’t believe that he had a favorable impression of him!

Noah’s heart pounded.

He would have to wait and see, but on second glance, he didn’t seem like such a bad person.

He gave high marks for his very kind and cautious demeanor when he drove him home yesterday.

Noah upgraded his evaluation of Director Lee Hanjoo to “a kind and scheming person” and got up from his seat.

He decided to think about the proposal to meet later.

For now, he was just so relieved that he hadn’t made a scene on that forgotten, fateful day.

It was past midnight, but he couldn’t sleep.

He shot up, went down the stairs, and headed for the room where his mother and Seolu were sleeping.

He opened the door slightly and saw his two loved ones sleeping soundly.

Noah smiled as he looked at their sleeping faces.

“Mom, it seems Peanut’s father isn’t a completely despicable pervert. Peanut, I’ve found your other father.”

A white face with a gloomy smile whispered secretly in the darkness.

“Secretary Yoon. What should I do?”

Hanjoo asked after dropping off the trembling Noah, who seemed to have lost his mind, and returning to the car.

He wasn’t usually one to share his personal concerns with his secretary, but the unexpected situation had led him to make an impulsive choice, different from his usual behavior.

He sought a third party’s opinion, feeling as if he were grasping at straws.

“He seemed to be very surprised.”

“…”

He was more than just surprised.

When he mentioned what had happened four years ago, his already pale face had turned deathly white, and he had trembled with fear.

He felt like a rapist who had assaulted him and then fled.

He was already regretting his proposal to meet in such a situation.

He wished he had had a chance to take back the words he had already spoken, but the slender, fragile body had been trembling the entire way, so he had been cautious.

When he first saw him, he hadn’t been intimidated by him and had even talked back boldly, so he had thought they could have a straightforward conversation, but he had been mistaken.

He had no idea what he was thinking.

“Was my assumption wrong? Are there cases where only one side imprints?”

“…”

Hanjoo had naturally assumed that since he had imprinted on him, he would also be imprinted on him.

That’s why he had reacted to him.

It was questionable that he couldn’t control his pheromones even though he was a Dominant, but he had thought it was an intense reaction to meeting his imprinted partner after so long.

But…

“It seems Mr. Yunoah hasn’t imprinted on me.”

“…I will look into whether there are cases where only one side imprints.”

“No, there’s no need. The result is right in front of my eyes, isn’t it?”

“Still, it would be better to be certain.”

“Hah… this is so humiliating…”

The day they met again, even before he opened the conference room door, a faint but somewhat familiar scent had seeped into his skin.

No way, he had never expected to meet him in a place like this.

The moment he opened the door and found the face that had been etched in his mind and wouldn’t leave, his body had frozen as if he had been shot with a tranquilizer gun.

For a moment, he couldn’t control his own body.

He wasn’t wearing his hair in the curly style he had when they first met, but had it neatly slicked back and was dressed in respectable clothes.

But that was no obstacle in recognizing his imprinted partner.

The clear, bright eyes that were watching him.

The sight of him looking at him with a curious expression, not a face drenched in pleasure and pain, but a gentle one, was like a gift for the long suffering he had endured.

And the Omega’s pheromones, seeping deep within him.

He had pursued him, his fighting spirit castrated by the scent that was like a chain binding the imprinted one.

He had naturally assumed that he too would have recognized his imprinted partner.

He couldn’t not have.

It was a survival instinct.

He himself had barely suppressed the urge to throw everything away, embrace him, bury his face in the nape of his neck, and take a deep breath.

The unfortunate thing was that he could clearly feel through his pheromones that he wanted to avoid him.

Why on earth?

Hanjoo couldn’t understand his reaction at all.

He had been aware of the PR team leader’s corruption, who had canceled the contract extension with a company that had been working without any problems and had chosen an insignificant one.

Of course, he hadn’t been pleased, but now that he knew his Omega was working there, he had no choice but to go along with the corruption for the time being.

It was force of habit that had led him to visit his office, pretending to be in favor of the deal.

He had asked him to contact him, but he already knew through his emotion-laced pheromones that he wouldn’t.

On the off chance, he had even arranged for the company dinner today.

He hadn’t really expected him to show up, but it was a great relief to him to be able to see him even one more time.

The power of the imprint, which instantly swayed his actions and emotions, was greater than he had expected.

But when he saw him not only lying but also smiling brightly with an innocent face while being marked by another Alpha, he thought his blood would boil.

A violent desire raised its head.

He wanted to beat that damn Alpha to a pulp right then and there.

As if he didn’t know his feelings, the Omega only continued to be wary of him.

He finally realized that he hadn’t imprinted on him.

A sense of impatience arose, and in the end, he had brought up what had happened four years ago.

He wasn’t sure if that would serve as a binding force.

He had thought he had suffered all the humiliation he could by going from a promising heir to a nuisance in an instant, but he never thought he would feel so lost even after finding his Omega.

What should he do?

Hanjoo, who had been deep in thought, raised his head when he realized the car had stopped.

It wasn’t the hotel room he had been frequenting almost every day before meeting Noah again, but the underground parking lot of his own home.

“Secretary Yoon, let’s go see that child soon.”

[This is Lee Hanjoo.]

[Did you sleep well?]

The next morning, a text notification from an unknown number appeared on Noah’s phone.

Without much thought, he checked his phone, thinking it was a spam message, but the sender was Director Lee Hanjoo.

“Oh, it’s not a chat. Oh… that’s kind of fresh.”

Noah didn’t use messaging apps much.

He had even turned off the app’s notification function.

He had no idea how people had gotten his number in the past, but it was too much to handle the number of unwanted calls he received.

But he couldn’t just delete it, as he had to maintain his social and modest personal relationships.

These days, when most people preferred messaging apps, it was rare for someone to send a text for the first contact.

In that sense, Hanjoo’s text felt a little old-fashioned, but it was effective on Noah.

[I slept well (smiley)(smiley)]

Noah, who had been writing the text without much thought, suddenly stopped.

He felt something was strange.

He stared blankly for a moment, then immediately pressed the delete button.

For a moment, he wondered if it was okay to do this.

His face flushed when he realized his reply felt too intimate.

How should he reply to a text like this?

“I don’t know!”

Noah decided to wash up first and then think about it, leaving his phone and heading for the bathroom.

Creak.

The old hinge on the bedroom door made a creaking sound.

The door opened, and a child’s small hand, which had run in with a patter, grabbed the phone on the bed.

His serious expression, with his brow furrowed, was not at all childlike.

The child’s short fingers, which had been staring at the text window that was displayed as if on purpose, tapped the screen.

(Horror)

(Despair)

(Scream)

As yellow-faced emoticons expressing various emotions appeared on the screen, the phone began to vibrate a few seconds later.

The child glanced at the name on the screen, then buried the phone deep in the blankets to hide it, got off the bed, and left the room.

His departing footsteps and expression were bright.