Chapter 163: The Weight of What We Protect

“……!”

“……!”

The two of them looked at each other in shock.

An enormous crying sound echoed throughout the house.

Min-ah had woken up from her sleep.

Soon, the two of them ran toward the room in a panic.

“Waaah!
Aaaah!”

“Min-ah, shh!”

“What’s wrong with our Min-ah?”

But no matter how much they tried to soothe her, she was relentless.

If they hadn’t moved into a detached house after returning to Korea, they would have caused serious trouble for the neighbors at this hour.

“She ate before sleeping, burped, and we even changed her diaper….”

“When babies wake up suddenly, they cry loudly.”

“Min-ah, look, here’s Pengshik!”

“Aaaah!”

Seunghyuk pulled out Pengshik as his secret weapon, but Min-ah cried even harder.

The two of them were drenched in sweat as they struggled to calm her down.

“Ha… should we call Hyunjin?”

“Absolutely not.”

Exhausted, Hyunwoo thought of Hyunjin.

Min-ah especially liked Hyunjin, who was a dominant omega.

Even in the U.S., whenever Hyunjin came over, Min-ah would immediately stop crying.

Already revealing her omega preference at this age.

As Hyunwoo clicked his tongue, Seunghyuk’s eyes flared beside him.

Seunghyuk said he had known about Hyunjin’s feelings for a long time.

That was why their relationship had been so bad after the regression.

Seunghyuk didn’t even like Hyunwoo meeting Hyunjin alone.

When Hyunjin visited them in the U.S., Seunghyuk had treated him so coldly that they almost had their first marital fight.

“But Min-ah really likes Hyunjin.”

“How could we call him at this hour.
That’d be rude.”

“Mm… that’s true.”

Calling someone this late was definitely inconsiderate.

Hyunjin seemed to like Min-ah quite a bit too, but still.

On top of that, he was busy preparing to open a café.

Calling him just to calm a baby was far too shameless.

“Waaah, aaaah!”

“Min-ah, look at this!
Hmm?”

Seunghyuk tried every trick he knew to calm Min-ah.

Though clumsy, it was the best he could do.

Hyunwoo also awkwardly picked Min-ah up and tried to soothe her.

“She didn’t cry when the caregiver did this….”

“That person’s skills must be really good.”

“Ha… I guess so.”

Even while being held and rocked, Min-ah only cried louder.

It felt like his ears were about to fall off, and Hyunwoo grew more miserable by the second.

“Hngh… waaah….”

“There, there, it’s okay.”

Only after crying at the top of her lungs for nearly an hour did Min-ah finally quiet down.

After crying so much, she seemed sleepy again.

Sucking on the pacifier Seunghyuk gave her, she began to nod off.

“I’ll put her to sleep now, so go wash up.”

“Ah… thanks.”

Completely drained, Hyunwoo handed Min-ah over to Seunghyuk and trudged out.

When he entered the bathroom, the bathwater Seunghyuk had prepared was already cold.

“Haaah….”

He was too exhausted to even think about taking a bath.

Hyunwoo raised his hand and grabbed the showerhead.

Shaaah.

Hot water poured down over Hyunwoo’s body.

Even inside the bathroom, he felt like he could still hear Min-ah crying, making his ears twitch.

His hands moved faster.

He had been worn down by work all day and still couldn’t rest properly after coming home.

Was this the life of a working mom and a working dad?

At least they didn’t have to do housework.

Hyunwoo sighed as he looked around the spotless house, maintained by hired help.

“How’s Min-ah?”

“Shh, she just fell asleep.”

“Thank goodness….”

The two whispered and quietly left the room.

If they made any noise and woke Min-ah again, it would be a disaster.

“Go to sleep quickly.
It’s already late.”

“What about you?”

“She might wake up again, so I was thinking of staying up for now.”

“Don’t do that.
Come sleep with me.”

“But….”

Seunghyuk hesitated.

But when Hyunwoo pulled him, he couldn’t bring himself to resist.

“You need rest too.
You leave for work at dawn.”

“I’m fine.”

“No matter how dominant an alpha you are, if you push yourself, you’ll collapse.
You’re the one who told me to be careful.”

“…….”

At that, Seunghyuk couldn’t say anything and was dragged along by Hyunwoo.

When they reached the bedroom, Hyunwoo turned off the lights and laid Seunghyuk down on the bed.

“Go to sleep, darling.”

“…Hyung, you sound like such an old man.”

“Once you’re over thirty, you’re an old man, you punk.”

Hyunwoo snorted and lay down beside Seunghyuk.

Seunghyuk naturally reached out and pulled Hyunwoo into his arms.

“What’s so good about an old man that you cling to him?”

“I’ve always liked old men.”

“Seriously….”

At Seunghyuk’s shameless answer, Hyunwoo clicked his tongue.

Then he rested his head comfortably against Seunghyuk’s arm and let out a long breath.

“Hoo… maybe I shouldn’t have gone back to work.”

“Why?”

“Just… feels like I’ve gotten way too busy….”

“You can’t say things like that on your first day back.”

“That’s true too….”

Seeing Hyunwoo muttering in exhaustion right after returning, Seunghyuk scolded him sternly.

Hyunwoo simply nodded at his words.

Not even a month had passed, and he was already complaining after just one hard day.

It seemed that living leisurely in the U.S. had spoiled him instead.

“Life in the U.S. was really nice.”

“But you’re ambitious about your company work too, hyung.”

“That’s true.”

“You’re the only one who can become Chairman of Moonseong.”

“…….”

Hyunwoo had lived thinking that was only natural.

That one day, that huge company would completely become his.

That the day he stood at the top wasn’t far away.

But while living leisurely with Seunghyuk in the U.S.

When Min-ah was born.

When he spent sleepless nights soothing a wailing Min-ah.

Through those moments, Hyunwoo’s values slowly began to change.

That family was more precious than the company.

“If I become chairman, I can never say Min-ah is your daughter.”

“Hyung….”

“I’ll have to live pretending to be an alpha forever… and Min-ah will become a child born to an unknown omega.
Even if you and I get married, it’ll be the same.”

“…….”

They still hadn’t held a wedding.

Even when registering Min-ah’s birth, she was recorded only as Hyunwoo’s child.

Seunghyuk’s name was nowhere to be found.

If they married formally, Min-ah would become his adopted daughter.

Knowing all of that, Seunghyuk still understood and accepted it.

As long as the family could stay together, he said it didn’t matter to him.

The one who felt more pain over it was Hyunwoo.

“Should I just reveal that I became an omega?”

“Hyung!
You can’t do that.”

“I’m fine with not becoming chairman.
I just want to tell the world that Min-ah is our daughter.”

“But….”

Seunghyuk couldn’t answer right away.

Having stayed by Hyunwoo’s side longer than anyone, he knew what Hyunwoo cherished most.

Moonseong.

That company itself was Hyunwoo’s everything and his pride.

That was why, before the regression, Seunghyuk had restored Moonseong to the top domestic company as an act of atonement.

And now Hyunwoo was saying he would give it all up.

Seunghyuk couldn’t bring himself to tell him to do that.

“For now, let’s think about it slowly.”

“Mm….”

“There’s still time.
If you decide and act too rashly, you might regret it.”

“You think so?”

At Seunghyuk’s words, Hyunwoo nodded.

Just as he said, if Moonseong’s stock plummeted and the country fell into chaos, he might deeply regret it.

The company wasn’t just his.

It was tied to the livelihoods of countless people.

Calming down again, Hyunwoo pulled Seunghyuk tightly into his arms.

The familiar pheromone filled his nose.

It was now something he couldn’t live without.

Infinitely soft, and warm.

The next day, after arriving at the office, Hyunwoo received Jung-hoon’s report and started working.

Another very busy day was expected.

Hyunwoo stared seriously at the computer screen.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the director’s office door.

Hyunwoo casually called out toward the door, and someone entered.

“What is it, Assistant Manager Oh?”

“Ah… um, well….”

The employee who came to see him was Assistant Manager Oh Hye-na.

She had been a senior staff member when she trained Seunghyuk during his internship.

Now she had just been promoted to assistant manager.

“Well… there’s something I need to tell you….”

“Is that so?
Come over here and sit down.”

“Yes….”

Assistant Manager Oh sat down hesitantly.

She looked unusually anxious.

Hyunwoo watched her curiously and then spoke.

“Would you like some tea?
Coffee?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

“……?”

Was it not a long story?

But she looked far too nervous for that.

As if she had caused a major accident.

I should brace myself.

Hyunwoo decided not to be surprised no matter what she said.

“Then shall we get straight to the point?
What is it?”

“Um….”

Had something big happened with Company XX after all?

Or had trouble broken out somewhere else?

Even if a major deal had collapsed because of her mistake, he was prepared to forgive her.

Her performance so far had been outstanding.

Hyunwoo resolved to handle it gently.

“I… I’m pregnant, Director.”

“……!”

He had sworn not to be surprised.

But being shocked was unavoidable.

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