TO 29

Chapter 29

Seo-ah backed away, but Taehyuk kept closing the distance between them. She had poured so much of herself into getting away from him, yet Taehyuk managed to erase seven whole years in just three short steps.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“I came for my kid.”

His words hit her with chilling clarity, making her heart drop right into her stomach.

“W-What do you mean? I lost the baby back then. You know that.”

“No, I don’t.” Taehyuk’s brow furrowed. “I couldn’t verify it because you ran off.”

“Th-That’s… Your father said he would explain everything for me.”

“It’s my child, not my father’s. Since it’s my kid, you should have talked to me.”

His low growl sounded like distant thunder warning of an incoming storm.

“I… I wasn’t in my right mind. You know that! You know why I did it…” Seo-ah turned her head away.

“Sure, I know everything you went through,” he said. “Taking tranquilizers, trying to prevent pregnancy, and then losing the baby we worked so hard to conceive. That’s why I didn’t come after you. I thought I shouldn’t. I felt like I didn’t even have the right to. But if you lied to me and had my child after all, that changes everything.”

“W-What are you on about? What child?”

Despite her words, her chin trembled uncontrollably.

“Look at me.”

Taehyuk stepped closer—so close that her chest pressed flat against his. Startled, Seo-ah tried to step back, but he had already wrapped a firm hand around her waist.

“What are you doing? Let go of me!”

Seo-ah squirmed and thrashed, but Taehyuk didn’t budge an inch. She felt utterly crushed, like a giant mountain was leaning over her.

“Look me dead in the eye and tell me. You didn’t lose the baby back then, did you?”

His voice was cold and demanding, pricking at her like sharp iron needles.

“I absolutely did! I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you have, but please just leave.” Seo-ah shook her head fiercely.

Watching her denial, Taehyuk’s brows twitched.

“Is that so? What a bizarre coincidence then. October was the month my child was supposed to be born, and October happens to be the date on that cake over there.”

Taehyuk’s gaze shifted to the cake sitting on the table.

He still remembered it crystal clear—the text message from Seo-ah saying their baby would arrive in the fall. Ever since then, autumn always left an empty ache in his chest. Thoughts of a child who never got to be born, who never had a real birthday, haunted him like a ghost until the season faded away.

Seven years ago, he hadn’t refrained from tracking Seo-ah down purely out of consideration or guilt. It was mostly a self-imposed punishment. Taehyuk couldn’t forgive himself for standing by helplessly while his own child withered away before even getting the chance to bloom. He felt completely unfit to be a father. Failing to protect his own flesh and blood made forgiving himself almost impossible.

That was why he couldn’t bring himself to hold on to Seo-ah back then. But the second he heard she was raising a child, the heavy chains he had locked himself in completely shattered. He felt a surge of rage, realizing that Lee Seo-ah hadn’t just duped him—she had painted him as a heartless, absentee father.

“That’s a custom cake for a customer! Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“Jump to conclusions?” Taehyuk tilted his head slightly. “Shall we go over what’s a ‘conclusion’ and what isn’t? Why don’t we start with how you broke our deal, stole my child, and ran off?”

“S-Stole?”

“Lee Seo-ah, don’t play me for a fool. I could investigate this and find out everything in a heartbeat if I wanted to. But I came here because I wanted to hear it straight from your own mouth. So talk.”

Taehyuk grabbed her chin. The spot where his fingertips touched felt scorching hot, as if burning her skin.

He hadn’t changed one bit—not his solid chest pressing against her, nor the intimidating aura radiating off him. If anything, he seemed to have lost whatever little warmth he once had.

Staring straight into the fear swirling in her eyes, Taehyuk spoke up. “You haven’t changed at all either. You still jump straight to running away the moment you see me.”

“Let me go. I’m not your wife anymore, Sunbae.”

At the word Sunbae, Taehyuk’s eyes darkened. “It’s been a while since I last heard that.”

Seo-ah bit her lip hard. She had to get rid of him right now. If Su-bin happened to run into the bakery this very second, everything would be ruined. Taehyuk would recognize her instantly.

Su-bin’s stubborn streak, her fierce pride that refused to lose, her large dark eyes, her sharp nose, and her tall frame compared to other kids her age… Every single one of those traits was inherited from Taehyuk. And…

Seo-ah’s eyes darted toward the carrot muffins.

Even her love for carrots.

“Let go of me. Please, just leave. Leave me alone.”

“I thought I already told you why I’m here.”

“There is no child! Your baby died back then!” Seo-ah raised her voice, borderline hysterical.

“Then if it’s not my dead child, whose kid are you raising right now?”

Seo-ah’s eyes widened in shock. “W-What do you mean… How did you…?”

“Don’t try to fool me.”

“Th-That child belongs to another man! I met someone else right after we broke up.”

At those words, a murderous glint flashed in Taehyuk’s eyes. “And you expect me to buy that?”

“Why shouldn’t you?! I was sick and tired of everything! I wanted to escape you and your family no matter what! So I ran! To another man! I love him, and I’m so happy right now. So just leave. Don’t even think about ruining my life all over again.”

A wave of pure rage rushed through Taehyuk’s veins.

As he watched Seo-ah go on and on in front of him about loving another man, anger spread through his dark eyes like spilled ink. Or maybe it was jealousy. Either way, Taehyuk found it hard to pinpoint this uncontrollable emotion surging inside him.

Hadn’t he wished for her happiness at one point? To the extent that he forcefully suppressed his urge to find her? But actually hearing her claim she loved another man… that was completely unacceptable—just as unacceptable as her secretly raising his child on her own.

“I guess you really can’t hide your bloodline, huh?”

Taehyuk’s sharp, venomous remark—blinded by sudden jealousy—made Seo-ah’s eyes flare up with anger. He was making a jab at her mother, Yeong-ran, who treated divorces and remarriages like a casual routine.

A deep sense of humiliation washed over Seo-ah from head to toe.

“Watch your mouth,” Seo-ah warned.

However, her warning didn’t do a thing to Taehyuk, who was completely consumed by rage.

“So, where is this guy?”

“None of your business.”

“Tell me! Or did you get divorced again? Just like what you learned watching your mother?”

SLAP!

At that exact moment, Seo-ah struck Taehyuk across the cheek. Even though her fingertips only grazed him, a bright red handprint flared up on his skin. Taehyuk glared up at her, while Seo-ah glared right back, her eyes brimming with tears.

“You’re awful, Jang Taehyuk.”

Seeing the sheer disgust etched in her eyes, Taehyuk actually took a step back.

“Get out of my life. Don’t you ever come back.”

“If you don’t want to see me ever again, give me my child. Then I won’t come looking for you either. Because there is no way in hell I’m letting my kid grow up calling another man ‘Dad’.”

“She’s not your child! She’s MY child!” Seo-ah screamed out in desperation.

Right then—

“M… Mommy?”

Su-bin was standing right at the front door.

Startled out of her mind, Seo-ah shoved Taehyuk aside and rushed over, pulling Su-bin tightly into her arms.

Please, please…

She couldn’t let him see the child’s face. No, she didn’t want him catching sight of even a single strand of her hair. Holding Su-bin tightly against her chest, Seo-ah shouted out, “Leave! Right now!”

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Su-bin squirmed in her arms. Her mother’s embrace, which usually smelled like sweet baked cookies, felt unusually hot today. Terrified by the frantic beating of Seo-ah’s heart, Su-bin grew scared.

“N-Nothing. Everything’s okay,” Seo-ah whispered, trying her best to soothe her.

“What’s going on here?”

Jin-won, who had walked into the bakery a moment behind Su-bin, asked with a tense, hardened expression. Seeing Jin-won, Taehyuk’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

He recognized the man—it was the guy from the park. Which meant…

Taehyuk shifted his gaze toward the child wrapped in Seo-ah’s arms. Although he couldn’t see her face since Seo-ah was blocking it, the denim overalls the child wore looked painfully familiar.

‘But Choi Min-soo kept making me so mad!’

It was the little girl from the park.

Taehyuk’s eyes narrowed to sharp points.

‘My dad IS real!’

Images of Su-bin getting teased at the park flashed through his mind one after another.

‘Why shouldn’t you?! I was sick and tired of everything! I wanted to escape you and your family no matter what! So I ran! To another man! I love him, and I’m so happy right now. So just leave. Don’t even think about ruining my life all over again.’

For a split second, he had actually worked himself up over the terrifying thought that her words might be true. Straightening his tie, Taehyuk spoke in a cool, collected voice.

“You really are something, telling a lie that’s going to get exposed in two seconds flat.”