Chapter 114: Even Once

‘Even just once, you should have given me a sincere apology!’

There was a day when he screamed those words through tears.

Back then, he hated him to the point of wanting him dead.

Eun-gyeol’s plea—saying life was too hard without him and telling him to come back now—felt unbearably selfish.

He had fled all the way to the ends of the earth because he felt like he would die if he stayed by that boy’s side, and yet even in that moment, Eun-gyeol thought only of himself.

Han-geon’s circumstances and feelings meant nothing to him.

Watching Eun-gyeol fixate solely on dragging him back to his side made Han-geon’s heart grow cold all on its own.

‘This can’t be… I can’t live without you, Han-geon….’

This time, too, Eun-gyeol cried as he said those words.

It was clearly the same confession as before.

And yet, unlike then, Han-geon did not feel angry when he looked at Eun-gyeol.

In the end, he had pushed him away just as harshly, but it wasn’t because he hated Eun-gyeol for begging that he couldn’t live without him.

It was different from that day when he had shouted in rage at Eun-gyeol’s selfishness.

The reason he rejected Eun-gyeol, who had even gone so far as to kneel and beg to take responsibility for the child together…

was because he didn’t want to regret the unbearably long years he had endured.

How had he managed to leave that boy behind.

With what resolve had he decided to escape from him.

The moment he decided to run away from Eun-gyeol, Han-geon buried every feeling, every moment, every memory he had cherished his entire life deep beneath the ground.

He burned the love he had once felt for him like a relic and scattered it to the wind.

And upon that empty foundation, he had resolved to build himself anew.

Escaping from Eun-gyeol was something he did with the determination to discard his entire past life and live a new one.

It was never easy from the start.

The emptiness tormented Han-geon for a long time.

Habits that had always put Eun-gyeol first lost their way and wandered aimlessly.

Living a life meant solely for himself, for the first time, felt unfamiliar for quite a while.

And now, Han-geon could calmly affirm this much.

He didn’t know yet whether he had fully found the self he had lost, but he was finding his way in his own manner.

From here on, he believed he could do even better.

He didn’t want to render meaningless the time he had struggled through with tears in his eyes.

It would be a lie to say his heart hadn’t wavered when Eun-gyeol begged him to at least let him provide support even if they didn’t meet.

In truth, if he thought as a parent about Podo’s future, perhaps he should have accepted that proposal.

Han-geon himself knew all too well that raising a child alone and raising one with help were worlds apart.

But no matter how he thought about it, it was an offer he couldn’t accept.

No matter what his parents said, no matter how Eun-gyeol begged, he couldn’t do that.

Even if he was criticized for being selfish and not thinking of the child, it couldn’t be helped.

Because that would inevitably entail meeting Eun-gyeol again.

Even if it wasn’t immediate, it would surely begin someday.

Once the first meeting became less difficult, one meeting would turn into two, and under the pretense of doing it for the child, habitual encounters would follow.

And before he knew it, he would grow close to Eun-gyeol again.

After all, they shared something stronger than pheromones—a child.

Han-geon didn’t want that kind of relationship with Eun-gyeol.

He didn’t want to grow quietly, vaguely close, only to return to the same place as if nothing had happened.

He didn’t want obligatory meetings bound solely by the intersection of being the child’s parents.

After everything that had happened, he couldn’t pretend it was all for the child and bury it as a beautified memory in his heart.

Eun-gyeol was not that kind of person to him.

He was someone Han-geon had loved with his entire life, and someone he had escaped from with every ounce of strength he had.

There was no way he could ever go back in that manner, even if he died and came back to life.

And yet……

It was true that his heart had wavered helplessly.

No, given how restless he still felt now, it would be more accurate to say it was ongoing.

From the day he left Eun-gyeol behind as he cried and clung to him, not a single day passed without Han-geon thinking of him again and again.

No matter how hard he tried to turn away, the sensation of those hot hands that had begged him to take responsibility together clung stubbornly to his belly and wouldn’t let go.

At the time, he had thought he handled things well, without being swept away by Eun-gyeol’s frantic pleas.

He had turned his back coldly, leaving no room for hope.

And yet Han-geon’s heart was still stuck there, unable to turn away.

Beside the sight of Cha Eun-gyeol kneeling and crying, he couldn’t bring himself to wipe away his tears, nor could he bring himself to strike him coldly.

He simply stood there, blankly.

“Haa…”

A quiet sigh melted into the summer night air.

Han-geon’s unfocused gaze lifted toward the clear sky.

Come to think of it, it must have been around this time last year.

The day he had been overjoyed at Eun-gyeol’s offer to become his manager.

The night he couldn’t sleep at all, his heart racing after receiving Eun-gyeol’s call while watching his videos on YouTube.

It felt like a lie that it had only been about a year ago.

It felt so distant, like something from a far-off past he had to strain to remember.

He had no idea how that single year had slipped by.

Walking wherever time carried him, he had somehow ended up standing here.

The feet that had stopped began to move again.

The bag hanging from his wrist rustled softly.

Sorting through what he needed to do tomorrow in his head, he walked toward the goshiwon.

Lately, Han-geon had been diligently looking for a new place to live.

The day he would meet the baby was truly not far off now, and he couldn’t raise a newborn in a goshiwon.

‘Tomorrow, I should start calling real estate offices and go look at some places.’

It was the moment he turned into a dim alleyway, steadying his heavy body with his breathing—

Suddenly, a vicious curse rang out from the darkness.

“You bastard!”

It was naturally hard to immediately associate an unfamiliar voice with himself.

But just as he was thinking calmly, Did a fight break out?, it struck him that the voice was far too close.

“f*ck, die!

Die, you bastard!”

There were only a few streetlights in the alley, making it difficult to secure a clear view at once.

A shadow crouched in the darkness suddenly lunged forward.

Han-geon snapped his eyes wide open.

Driven by pure instinct, he caught the wrist that came flying at him.

Even with his wrist restrained, the man shoved forward with brute force, and a sense of déjà vu washed over him.

His heart, thrown into emergency mode, pounded unpleasantly.

Unable to move his right hand, the man attacked again with his left.

Han-geon reflexively caught that wrist too and twisted it upward.

The moment the other man’s face, hidden under a black cap, was revealed, Han-geon jerked his head back and slammed his forehead straight into the man’s nose.

A grunt escaped, and red blood burst forth at the same time.

“You f*cking… huff… bastard!”

The low voice chewing on curses had sounded unfamiliar at first, but after hearing it a few times, it became recognizable.

Who was it.

Who was he.

He was someone Han-geon had definitely met before…!

His head spun.

At that moment, under the streetlight, the man’s face stained with fresh blood was clearly revealed.

“…Huh?”

Han-geon’s eyes widened.

The fragments of memory snapped into place.

A larger-built omega man.

The very man who had charged at him with a knife during a drama shoot, the one he had confronted in the hospital.

“You f*cking bastard.

You—how dare you…!”

The man snarled like a demon.

Looking at his darkened complexion and his two eyes, completely bloodshot and brimming with murderous intent, Han-geon instinctively realized that he was not in his right mind.

“Because of you, I got dragged all over the place, went to court, went through all kinds of f*cking hell.

And you, f*ck… you do that to me, and then you go laugh it up with Cha Eun-gyeol?!”

The man rushed at him with a terrifying expression, suddenly lifting his leg.

He aimed for Han-geon’s stomach, but Han-geon twisted his body and narrowly dodged.

The man screamed at the top of his lungs, his face twisted with malice.

“This—this f*cking thing, that’s Cha Eun-gyeol’s kid, isn’t it?!

Who the f*ck are you!

How dare you carry Cha Eun-gyeol’s child?!”

“Haa, haa… are you seriously insane?

f*ck, calm down first!”

“Calm down?

Don’t talk shit.

I’m killing you first, then I’m going to kill that bastard Cha Eun-gyeol.

Today, we’re all having ourselves a nice little knife fight, huh?!”

He hadn’t even had time to catch his breath when the man lunged again.

With both wrists restrained, he shoved forward with brute force alone.

In that moment, Han-geon keenly felt how heavy his body was.

In his head, countless techniques to subdue the man flashed by like formulas.

If this were before, they would have already translated into action, but now, all he could manage was desperately holding onto the man’s wrists to keep his movements from growing larger.

If this standoff dragged on, there was no telling what would happen.

And in that case, the first thing the man would target would be—

The moment that thought reached him, cold sweat ran down his back.

The man’s crazed gaze was already fixed squarely on Han-geon’s belly.

Desperate to divert his attention, Han-geon abruptly twisted the man’s arm and slammed his elbow into his nose.

Blood sprayed from the man’s face as he took the hit head-on.

The man staggered briefly, then straightened right back up.

“You f*cking bastard!”

Cursing through blood-smeared, slurred speech, the man charged again.

The strength of a man driven to the brink by rage was monstrous.

The man who Han-geon had easily subdued a year ago now exploited the weakness in Han-geon’s body caused by pregnancy and pressed forward relentlessly.

His legs began to tremble.

Unable to use his lower body strength as before, Han-geon’s balance wavered.

The man’s strange eyes gleamed dangerously.

With a scream, the man shoved Han-geon hard and lifted his foot.

No.

‘It’ll hit my stomach.’

In an instant, Han-geon let go of the man’s wrist and pulled his body back.

The kick sliced uselessly through the air, but instead, Han-geon was sent tumbling backward.

Falling onto the ground, he lifted his gaze in despair.

He thought of screaming with all his might.

Or even taking a hit to the face if it meant crouching low and shielding his belly.

Anything, as long as he avoided the man’s attack.

Anything…!

“f*ck, die!

Die, you bastard!”

Just as the man raised his foot again with a howl of rage, a familiar presence sharply twisted through the air.

The instant Han-geon’s eyes flew open and he turned around, the man was struck brutally in the face by a fist that shot out from behind, and he went rolling across the ground.